For a report of the regular city council meeting on May 10, scroll down.
Headlines:
Cosper in the chair. The mayor is not present. Neither is Billy Workman.
Zoning
Zoning items were reviewed (same ones as last week). Wilkerson had a few cursory questions.
Committee Reports:
Sister Cities Program: Rivera reported they have put a hold on the trip to San Juan, PR. They may revisit it later.
Added agenda item:
Wilkerson asked for a discussion on the 195/201 corridor. He brought in a company to give a presentation "Buxton Community Analytics" -- "Customer Intelligence". They apply the same techniques to city services, planning, etc. Based in Fort Worth. Purser questioned whether we were giving them some sort of unfair advantage or thinking of doing business with them; the answer seems to have been no. The pitch was not very strong: they didn't make it clear why a city council would be interested in hiring them, except that the focus on "long-term sustainable" development. [Billy Workman walked in.]
[There's more talk about using the "citizens' money" wisely at this workshop than I've heard before.]
Larry Cole said this is more for the Chamber of Commerce. Billy Workman said the council should give more oversite to the Chamber. Ken Wells said the Chamber does a very good job.
Briefing from staff on possible questions for outside investigation:
A packet was handed out to members containing documents related to the questions that Larry Cole thought needed investigation.
The City Attorney read the memo:
The first question was to explain the paymments in the harrassment case. Original demand was $250K. Negotiated down to $110K, of which the city had to pay $50K. That was the extent of payments by all parties, as confirmed by the city's outside auditor.
Any fraud in the EMS Billing? 2009 audit had 9 findings. Finding 7 mentioned "double billing", which occurred when a secondary insurer was billed after the primary insurer did not respond in a certain time; but the secondary was always reimbursed. Both internal and external auditors found no exceptions in 2009 or 2010.
Was there descrimination of former employees in the EMS billing department? One (Gordon? Wharton?) was given the option to move to any other open City position; state EEOC found no grounds for here complaint. Texas Workforce Commision also found no grounds. Another (Ramirez) filed with EEOC, but requested the investigation be terminated. City should not discuss these cases openly because of pending litigation.
Evidence of walking quorum? County Attorney Miller said that there was no violation based on the evidence he had. He made the same comment about EMS doulble billing. Also said he doesn't feel his actions are restricted by his marriage to the city secretary.
Texas Rangers said that they have no evidence that warrants investigation.
According to the City Attorney, copies of the packet will be available to the public through an open records request.
Headlines:
Cosper in the chair. The mayor not attending.
. Kudos from everyone for the Lions. Workman asked about closing costs. They will be around $5000, per Parks and Recreation. Donation of land accepted unanimously.