MINUTES
City Council
Work Session
100 East Main Street, Suite 500
Tuesday - October 21, 2008 - 07:00 PM

1. Call to Order. Mayor Jeff Coleman called the City Council worksession to order at 7:04 PM. Councilmembers Mayor Coleman, Wayne Cooper, Darelle White and Starlet Sattler were in attendance.  Councilmembers Mike Marsh and Victor Gonzales were absent.  City employees in attendance: David Buesing, City Manager; Floyd Akers, City Attorney; Lauri Gillam, Assistant City Manager; Susan Word, Human Resources Administrator; Christa Deamer, Deputy City Secretary; and Patricia Rinehart, Administrative Technician.  Personnel Appeal Board members Emmett Eary, Richard Hunter, Linda Atkins, Cheryl Callicott, David Clay, Dian Shircliff and Carol Robertson were in attendance. Keep Pflugerville Beautiful Members Mary Esther Garza and Eva Barragan were in attendance.

2. Discuss Only.

A. Annual worksession with the Personnel Appeal Board for general discussion related to the responsibilities of the Personnel Appeal Board and the appeal process.

Mayor Coleman welcomed the Personnel Appeal Board Members. There were introductions of each board member to the Council. Mr. Eary opened by stating that there had only been three appeals in six years. Mayor Coleman explained that the City of Pflugerville is on cutting edge with the Personnel Appeal Board and its system and that he is impressed with the natural employee turnover within the City to only have had to use the Board three times in six years. The Board briefly reviewed the three cases. Mr. Cooper asked if they met on a regular basis and Mr. Eary explained that they do not except for the occasional meeting with Susan Word and when there is an appeal. Dian Shircliff stated that the past recommendations of the Board were adopted into the Charter. Carol Robertson expressed concern, citing the case of Mr. Glasgow, that the appealer had to do his own questioning and thought it was unfair that the appealer had to present his own case due to the emotionality and having to question his superiors. She suggested that it might have been better to have a lay advocate or spokesperson, possibly from within his department, to represent him. There was discussion with Council. Mayor Coleman asked if it is a matter of policy and who is in a position to change it. Mr. Akers answered that Mr. Buesing would be in such a position and Ms. Word explained the process. There was further discussion with the Board, the Council and Mr. Akers concerning the Glasgow hearing and the hearing processes and practices. Mayor Coleman suggested that the Personnel Appeal Board conduct further discussions regarding an appealer having a representative to present his/her case and then bring Mr. Buesing any recommendations.

B. Annual worksession with the Keep Pflugerville Beautiful Committee for general discussion regarding the projects, priorities, events, and goals of the Keep Pflugerville Beautiful Committee.  The members of the Keep Pflugerville Board introduced themselves to the Council. Mary Esther Garza stated that she would like to push the recycling issue and wants to help Pflugerville grow more green including encouraging recycling. She stated that they have applied for a grant (Governor’s Award funded by Keep America Beautiful) for recycle containers and hope to apply for a grant this year for beautification along streets that are maintained by TXDOT in the TXDOT Right-Of-Way at FM 685 and FM 1825. Ms. Gillam and Ms. Garza explained that there is a lot of coordination and cooperation between the Committee and City staff. Mr. Akers suggested applying for a grant through PCDC. Ms. Garza stated that the Committee is also working with the Tree Care Advisory Board with planting activities. She expressed that the Committee plans to continue the City Clean Up Days and will rehabilitate the empty stone planters around the City. Ms. Rinehart explained that the cost of the last Clean Up Day was $4,595, which was about $4,000 less than the Spring 2008 Clean Up Day. She also stated that 542 cars were counted at the most recent Clean Up Day. There was discussion with the Committee and Council regarding the advertising of Clean Up Day to citizens in subdivisions that are new to the City or further away from the center of town. There was also discussion about the possibility of being proactive about restricting access to Clean Up Day to residents of Pflugerville. Ms. Garza mentioned that they have talked to Mr. Buesing about a paper shredding day. There was also discussion about the City’s own permanent recycling facility in the future and adjustments to Clean Up Day. Mayor Coleman suggested looking into driver’s license scanners suggested by Mr. Cooper for surveying citizens at events, such as Clean Up Day. He also suggested working with the Salvation Army in recycling efforts of furniture and such. The Mayor talked about the City not recycling glass anymore and stated that they are in the second year of a contract with IESI but after the contract is up the contract would be bid out again. Ms. Garza concluded by saying that the emphasis of the Keep Pflugerville Beautiful Committee is beautification and being green. She thanked City staff and Mr. Buesing for their help. The Council discussed the possibility of using kids that need to do community service or need volunteer hours to help with Clean Up Day, cleaning up the creeks or other such activities. Mayor Coleman thanked the Committee for their service.

3. Adjourn. Ms. Sattler made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Cooper seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 8:44 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Christa Deamer
Deputy City Secretary

Approved as presented on November 11, 2008.