Agenda

AGENDA

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
City of Garland

REMOTE MEETING

Monday, January 11, 2021
6:00 p.m.

DEFINITIONS:

Written Briefing: Items that generally do not require a presentation or discussion by the staff or Council. On these items the staff is seeking direction from the Council or providing information in a written format.

Verbal Briefing: These items do not require written background information or are an update on items previously discussed by the Council.

NOTICE: Due to the COVID-19 emergency, and pursuant to Section 551.125 of the Texas Government Code and the executive orders of Governor Greg Abbott suspending provisions of the Texas Government Code and other applicable laws of the State regarding normal open meetings, the City Council will hold this meeting by internet/telephonic remote means.

The meeting will be broadcast by webinar or telephone at the following URL:

https://garlandtx.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vec1lQAFSVSVIFZUpvn2eA

Registration for the online meeting is required. The meeting will be recorded and will be available for viewing the next day at www.garlandtx.gov.

For those without internet access to the meeting, a dial-in option is available. The numbers are:

346-248-7799
470-250-9358
470-381-2552

The Meeting ID is: 939 9155 7688

For participants (online and by phone) who wish to speak, a public comments period is provided as the first item on the agenda. If you desire to address the City Council on a matter that is posted on this agenda, please be prepared to do so at the beginning of the meeting. After the City Council has begun its discussion of the agenda, you will not be recognized to speak. The public comments portion of the meeting is provided for citizen comments. You are invited to offer a comment or make a statement on any item on the agenda. However, please bear in mind that offering comments should not be done in the form of posing questions. Generally, due to legal restrictions, the City Council is not able to answer questions during the public comments portion of the agenda. Your comments must relate to an item on this agenda - non-germane comments are not in order.

If an Executive Session is included as part of the agenda for this meeting, the Executive Session will be conducted by teleconference between and among the members of the City Council and relevant City staff. Public access to that call is prohibited by State law.

COUNCIL HOUSE RULES

1. Decisions based on issues, goals and vision.	9. Follow goals, principles and action agenda.
2. Do not take things personal.	10. Decide, vote and move on.
3. Project a positive attitude.	11. Avoid ambushes - Council or staff.
4. Focus on issues, not on the person.	12. Talk to staff before meetings.
5. Be prepared to discuss issues.	13. Vote our convictions, but be willing to compromise "What is best for Garland."
6. Maintain decorum.	14. Follow Roberts Rules of Order consistently.
7. Keep your sense of humor.	15. Agree to disagree.
8. Honor and respect each other; accept each other as individuals.	16. Be open and honest.

NOTICE: The City Council may recess from the open session and convene in a closed executive session if the discussion of any of the listed agenda items concerns one or more of the following matters:

(1) Pending/contemplated litigation, settlement offer(s), and matters concerning privileged and unprivileged client information deemed confidential by Rule 1.05 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. Sec. 551.071, Tex. Gov't Code.

(2) The purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property, if the deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the City in negotiations with a third person. Sec. 551.072, Tex. Gov't Code.

(3) A contract for a prospective gift or donation to the City, if the deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the City in negotiations with a third person. Sec. 551.073, Tex. Gov't Code.

(4) Personnel matters involving the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee or to hear a complaint against an officer or employee. Sec. 551.074, Tex. Gov't Code.

(5) The deployment, or specific occasions for implementation of security personnel or devices. Sec. 551.076, Tex. Gov't Code.

(6) Discussions or deliberations regarding commercial or financial information that the City has received from a business prospect that the City seeks to have locate, stay, or expand in or near the territory of the City and with which the City is conducting economic development negotiations; or to deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect of the sort described in this provision. Sec. 551.087, Tex. Gov't Code.

(7) Discussions, deliberations, votes, or other final action on matters related to the City’s competitive activity, including information that would, if disclosed, give advantage to competitors or prospective competitors and is reasonably related to one or more of the following categories of information:

generation unit specific and portfolio fixed and variable costs, including forecasts of those costs, capital improvement plans for generation units, and generation unit operating characteristics and outage scheduling;
bidding and pricing information for purchased power, generation and fuel, and Electric Reliability Council of Texas bids, prices, offers, and related services and strategies;
effective fuel and purchased power agreements and fuel transportation arrangements and contracts;
risk management information, contracts, and strategies, including fuel hedging and storage;
plans, studies, proposals, and analyses for system improvements, additions, or sales, other than transmission and distribution system improvements inside the service area for which the public power utility is the sole certificated retail provider; and
customer billing, contract, and usage information, electric power pricing information, system load characteristics, and electric power marketing analyses and strategies. Sec. 551.086; Tex. Gov't Code; Sec. 552.133, Tex. Gov’t Code]


1.		Public Comments on Work Session Items Persons who desire to address the City Council on any item on the Work Session agenda are allowed three minutes to speak. Speakers are taken only at the beginning of the meeting, other than invited testimony. Speakers are grouped by Work Session item and will be taken in the order of the Work Session agenda. Speakers must submit to the City Secretary a completed speaker’s card before the beginning of the meeting. Speaker cards will not be accepted after the Mayor calls the meeting to order. Speaker cards are available in the lobby, at the visitor’s side of the Work Session Room, and from members of staff. Speakers are limited to addressing items on the Work Session agenda – any item relating to a Regular Session agenda item should be addressed at the Regular Session and any item not on an agenda may be addressed during the open microphone at the end of the Regular Session.

2.		Consider the Consent Agenda A member of the City Council may ask for discussion or further information on an item posted as a consent agenda item on the next Regular Meeting of the City Council. The Council Member may also ask that an item on the posted consent agenda be pulled from the consent agenda and considered for a vote separate from consent agenda items on the regular agenda. All discussions or deliberations on this portion of the work session agenda are limited to posted agenda items and may not include a new or unposted subject matter.

3.		Written Briefings:

	a.	2020-21 Budget Amendment No. 1 Council is requested to approve the 2020-21 Budget Amendment No. 1 for the Electric Utility Fund as proposed. This item is scheduled for formal consideration at the January 12, 2021 Regular Meeting.

	b.	Update on CARES Act Funding An update to Council on the final allocation and proposed strategy moving forward related to the $13.2 million CARES Act funds received from Dallas County is being provided. Staff will be available to discuss this update with Council, if needed.

	c.	Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Grant - John Paul Jones Park Staff is pursuing a Boating Access grant through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to improve Chaha Boat Ramp and other park amenities in John Paul Jones Park. This item is to brief the Council on the grant application and what may be included in the submission. This item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the January 12, 2021 Regular Meeting.

4.		Verbal Briefings:

	a.	COVID-19 Response Update and Further Actions Staff will provide an update to Council and ask for Council direction, if needed, on various matters related to COVID-19 and actions being taken by the City.

	b.	Library Master Plan Draft Report The Library Master Plan Draft is in the final stage of development. The draft was developed by Library staff. After reviewing data and recommendations originally prepared by Godfrey's Associates and receiving feedback from City Council. The draft provides analysis, recommendations and action plans for the Library Department in the following areas: Strategic Plan, Technology Plan, Staffing Plan and Facilities Plan.

	c.	Preview of 2021 Proposed CIP Staff will provide an overview of the 2021 Proposed Capital Improvement Program (CIP), which will be formally presented by the City Manager at the January 12, 2021 Regular City Council Meeting.

	d.	Zoning Notification Procedures Update Staff will provide an update to the Council on the proposed notification procedure changes, including the notification letters, zoning posting sign, and proposed interactive website as recommended by the Mayor's Ad Hoc Committee.

	e.	Garland Development Code Sign Regulation Amendment Discussion Staff will discuss proposed changes to the GDC regarding on-premise and off-premise signs and digital displays.

5.		Announce Future Agenda Items A member of the City Council, with a second by another member, or the Mayor alone, may ask that an item be placed on a future agenda of the City Council or a committee of the City Council. No substantive discussion of that item will take place at this time.

6.		Adjourn

GARLAND
POLICY REPORT


City Council Work Session Agenda		Work Session Item 3.b.
Meeting Date:	01/11/2021
Item Title:	Update on CARES Act Funding
Submitted By:	Matt Watson, Finance Director
Strategic Focus Areas:	Sound Governance and Finances

ISSUE
An update to Council on the final allocation and proposed strategy moving forward related to the $13.2 million CARES Act funds received from Dallas County is being provided. Staff will be available to discuss this update with Council, if needed.
BACKGROUND
At the June 2, 2020 Regular Meeting, Council authorized the City Manager to execute an inter-local agreement related to the Dallas County CARES Act funding. This agreement provided the City with approximately $13.2 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds to be used by the City in responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency. As part of the inter-local agreement, the City would have to spend these funds by November 30th, 2020 or be forced to return any unspent funds to the County after this date. After the execution of this agreement, the City allocated significant portions of the CARES Act funds towards programs designed to assist Garland residents and business owners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These programs included a Residential Mortgage/Rental Assistance Program, a COVID-19 Resident Testing Program, and a Small Business Assistance Program. However, as reported by staff at the October 12, 2020 Work Session, a significant portion of the funds allocated towards these programs were unspent and in jeopardy of being returned to the County due to the accelerated deadlines imposed by the County and Federal government. At the November 6, 2020 Work Session, staff informed Council that clarification was received on guidance issued by both the Treasury Department and the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) that gave the City the opportunity to reallocate funds toward public safety, and public health labor cost budgeted for in FY 2020. Staff submitted a budget reallocation to the County on October 28, 2020 requesting that these unspent funds be reallocated towards public safety and public health payroll cost incurred between June 14, 2020 and August 15, 2020. At the time, this timeframe represented the height of new COVID-19 cases in Garland where public safety and health employees’ time was substantially dedicated to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This reallocation of CARES Act funds would ensure that a minimum amount of funds would need to be returned to the County. In addition, this strategy will provide additional General Fund Balance to be used to meet the community’s needs beyond the deadlines imposed by the County and Federal government. After the November 6, 2020 Work Session, staff continued to communicate with Dallas County and was allowed to make one last budget reallocation on December 15, 2020. This final reallocation allowed the City to ensure that no funds would be returned to the County and provides approximately $8.8 million of additional General Fund Balance. A copy of the final budget allocation submitted to the County is attached, as well as a report detailing key metrics associated with the Small Business Program and Residential/Mortgage Assistance Programs administered by Catholic Charities Dallas and the Garland Chamber of Commerce.
CONSIDERATION
On December 27, 2020, the President of the United States signed into law the Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 that totals $2.3 trillion. The Consolidated Appropriation Act, 2021 did not appropriate any new funding for local governments but this Act did extend the period during which recipients may incur eligible cost associated with the Coronavirus Relief Fund to December 31, 2021 (previously the deadline was December 31, 2020). As mentioned above, the City has already allocated all $13.2 million of Coronavirus Relief Funds towards eligible cost outlined in the latest Treasury guidance and will have $8.8 million of additional General Fund Balance. As recommended by staff and the City Attorney’s Office at the November 6, 2020 Work Session, these funds will be held in an escrow account until more information becomes available regarding the audit process and in the meantime these funds will only be utilized to continue the City's efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff anticipates that a substantial amount of public safety/health personnel cost, equipment, and supplies will be required to administrating the COVID-19 vaccine to the community, as well as continue the COVID-19 testing and tracing programs. Staff will continue to seek out additional grant opportunities and will provide updates to Council at future Work Session's on the status and use of the funds.

Attachments
Garland CARES 2020 Cost Summary
Metrics for Residential & Small Business Program (1)