The text of my letter is below. I'll follow-up in comments with his response, if any.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Waco City Council to Consider Establishing a Poverty Solutions Commission
RES-646 will be considered at the next Waco City Council meeting. This will establish a Poverty Solutions Commission. Details of how this commission might work were discussed at the council meeting on September 21, 2010 . A summary is below.
After the initial planning of nine to ten months, a full-time city staff position may be considered in the next budget cycle.
Summary of the Poverty Solutions Presentation to City Council on September 21, 2010
Video: http://www.waco-texas.com/videos/Gallery/wccctv-council-meeting-work.asp - search for “Poverty Solutions” in the “Search Videos” box at the top right.
Jeff Wall made a presentation to the city council during the work session. There was a roomful of people who were there to support the initiative. I noticed that Ralph Cooper was there as well as former mayor Virginia DuPuy.
In September 2009, the Poverty Solutions group was formed. They met every two weeks. They also held focus group with community leaders and “listening opportunities” with community groups with people who are currently in poverty. In April 2010, they made a presentation to the council requesting a resolution in support of solving the poverty situation in Waco
They do not believe they can make meaningful progress with volunteers meeting every two weeks. They are asking the City of Waco Waco
Key points of the resolution are that:
- Chronic poverty drags down our economy.
- A small reduction in poverty can improve quality of life for everyone.
- The people in poverty are “us” – not a separate segment of the population.
- Poverty is commonly thought of as a financial issue, but it is related to poor health and educational deficiency.
- People involved in job creation must work with people focused on education, poverty alleviation, and social issues to outflank the problems.
- The Mayor and Council should commit to work to develop and implement ad results-oriented plan to reduce poverty over the next 10 years. That means they would bring together organizations and individuals currently dealing with poverty and prosperity and they should support the research, planning and ongoing administration necessary for this poverty reduction initiative.
The next immediate step is for Dr. Yancy and The Baylor School of Social Work will work to help to begin to formulate the plan.
Longer term steps:
- Identify a champion
- Put an administrator in place, perhaps a full-time person working for the City of
- Establish a board or commission to drive this initiative.
- Establish cross-organizational task teams, subcommittees.
Questions:
Toni Herbert - Q: How would board fit in with boards/commissions for City of Waco
A: Similar to the Homeless plan. The city would schedule and help administer meetings, but the members would make decisions and report directly to the council. City staff would assist with research.
Randy Riggs - Q: Stated that 26.7% were in poverty – how is that measured?
A: Measured by gross income.
Q: Some of those are students?
A: Had a Baylor student pull those out and the number was still about 24%
Q: He supports this initiative, but he concerned about resources.
A: Can support with staff in short-term. PSG is prepared to seek funding for a person for at least one year.
Malcolm Duncan - Q: Is a year too long? Can we have something in place to be able to make a decision about if this new person is a worthwhile expense?
A: Yes, about 9 to 10 months would be a workable time frame.
Alice Rodriguez - Q: Would this come under purview of boards and commissions or just council decisions?
A: A lot of folks will have interest in this issue and will discuss it with their council representative. He doesn’t know if it would be a board or if it will be similar to other initiatives where they just report to council.
Toni Herbert - Comment: We can’t focus on just financials, but also health and education. Non-profits are already working on this, but they are constantly putting out fires and cannot work on the problem from a base level. Small changes can make a huge impact.
Jeff Wall - We already have a master student working on this full-time and a class at Baylor working on it.
Malcolm Duncan - Q: Can we set a timeline on having the plan?
A: General agreement.
Toni Herbert - Q: Can we hear something about the class?
A: There are seventeen master degree students in their last year. It is for an advanced practice class. It’s not just crunching numbers, but seeing the end product and the people who they are helping. They are divided into teams and will be operating as if they were a 501(c)(3). An unpaid intern will be working with the city 35 hours per week starting in January and possibly another for 16 hours per week.
Kenneth Moerbe: They are working with Greater Waco Education Foundation. It’s important that this be seen as a community-wide effort.
Wilbert Austin - Comment: The African-American clergy will also be involved.
Unidentified offscreen voice: RES-532 was asked to be pulled. According to meeting minutes, it passed 6-0.
Toni Herbert - She wrote the philosophical statement that the council passed on September 21, 2010 .
Monday, June 14, 2010
COW to consider spending $65k on License Plate Reader
Click here to access the agenda for the 6/15/2010 meeting
Tomorrow night, the Waco City Council will vote on a resolution authorizing the purchase of an Automatic License Plate Reader System for $65,000. The City of Waco is facing a $2.5 million shortfall. This is a luxury we cannot afford. Besides the cost, this technology may allow police officers to check the status of registration, insurance of the likely driver, and the status of the likely driver's driver license WITHOUT probable cause. It's main purpose is to generate revenue for the City and NOT to improve public safety. If used this way, this would be a violation of our Fourth Amendment right protecting us from illegal searches.
The council will meet at the City of Waco Operations Center, 1415 N. 4th Street, Waco, TX in the Training Room at 6:00 pm. I will be addressing the council on this issue. If you wish to address the council, they will have cards to fill out and you may make a statement up to three minutes long. Your attendance is appreciated.
MEANWHILE.....
I wrote that earlier today but didn't get it entered on the blog. I wrote to my council member Randy Riggs (and all the other council members, except Mr. Duncan because he's not set up yet, and the mayor) saying that I do not believe we should be spending $65,000 on this when we will have a budget shortfall.
Here is his response:
Lisa,
Thank you for your email. I will consider your input as the council discusses the purchase of the license plate reader system. The funds used to purchase the equipment are forfeiture funds and are specifically restricted for certain use under state law. Police officers currently run license plates manually. There have been numerous arrests based on this procedure and the reader will allow our officers to provide a better service. This equipment was recommended by Police Chief Stroman. Would you rather spend the forfeiture funds on different equipment? Please let me know.
Thanks,
Randy
Here is my response to him:
I'm confused by the sentence "There have been numerous arrests based on this procedure...." You may mean there have been numerous FALSE arrests based on manually running plates. I agree that false arrests should be avoided. Through careful attention and cross-checking the make and model of the vehicle these false arrests can be greatly reduced if not eliminated.
What happens to the funds if they are not used? To whom are they returned? I have no problem returning funds to the state or federal government. If local governments do not request grants then taxing authorities will not have to tax citizens.
Governments at ALL levels are in budget shortfall and accumulating debt. It has to stop and stop soon! Someone has to stop spending the money and I would like to see Waco be a leader in that trend. I believe that will attract businesses. City staff often state that we must use the money or it won't be used. Everybody (including me, sometimes) thinks to themselves, "Oh, OK, that's fine then." The other argument is that someone will get the money, it might as well be us. That kind of thinking leads to spending we (global "we" as in our country) can't afford. If cities across the state and across the country will stop spending grant money and stimulus money, the federal government will stop allocating it and borrowing money to fund it.
My other concern is that this equipment can be used to gather information about a vehicle and/or it's driver without a stop. In my opinion, this would amount to an illegal search because there is no probable cause. In general, I'm opposed to any electronic device intended to "catch" someone breaking a law. Electronic devices do not have the judgment and sense of fairness as we hope to find with a trained and professional police officer.
If the money MUST be used and cannot be sent back, I would much rather see the funds used on something that will actually improve public safety or the safety of our officers rather than just prevent data entry errors. This could be sidewalks or bicycle lanes. I don't know the options and restrictions, so I cannot make an informed recommendation.
Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I truly appreciate that.
Lisa
I did not receive a second response. This was most likely because the second email was sent after normal business hours. I will update if another response is sent.
I did not receive a second response. This was most likely because the second email was sent after normal business hours. I will update if another response is sent.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Preview of the 5/18/2010 Meeting
You can find the agenda for the meeting here: Agenda for 5/18 Waco City Council Meetings
Remember that I LOVE comments....any kind of comments....anonymous comments are accepted and welcomed. If they are just plain mean for no constructive purpose, I will delete them.
Since this is the first council meeting after the election, the schedule is changed. The work session will be at 3:00 pm. They will go into executive session at 3:30 pm. The business session starts at 4:30 pm. All of these meetings will be at the Operations Center at 1415 N. 4th St.
At 5:30 pm in the Phoenix Ballroom at 401 S. 3rd St., there will be an election ceremony.
In the work session they will discuss the process filling the District V vacancy created when Jim Bush was elected mayor.
In the business session, there are several public hearings about changing the Comprehensive Plan land use designations.
RES-265: The contract for the MLK Drive Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation project is being raised by $186,840.25 so that the total amount will be $1.761,011.15.
RES-266: The contract for construction of the Runway Safety Area and Runways 1-19 and 14-32 Rehabilitation Projects at Waco Regional Airport will be increased by $116,306.47.
RES-267: Amends a contract with SCS Engineers for engineering work and compliance assistance at the 1419 Landfill which is now closed. They will provide contruction phase services and materials testing. The amendment will be for $28,340 bringing the contract total to $88,340.
RES-268: This will extend the contract with Krishna Ram, Inc. for the Staybridge Suites Hotel Construction Project for a maximum of 3 years. This is at the 700 block of South 5th and 6th Streets.
The next two items are about assigning residential tax abatement rights. I do not understand this yet. It will definitely require more research. If anyone knows what this means, please educate me or direct me to a resource that can explain it.
RES-269: Will approve the assignment of residential tax abatement rights of Edanbra Development, L.C. to Eddy and Sylvia Gomez.
RES-270: Will approve the assignment of residential tax abatement rights of Edanbra Development, L.C. to Terry Ridge and Melissa Washington.
The next three involve supplying the police department.
RES-271: This will allow the City Manager to submit an application to the US Dept of Justice for reimbursement of up to half the cost of purchasing bullet-proof vests.
RES-272: Authorized the purchase of ammunition under an existing contract for $64,123 for FY2009-10.
RES-273: Approves awarding a 12-month contract for supply of police uniforms with an option to renew for two additional 12-month terms. The amount is not to exceed $46,500 during FY2009-10.
RES-274: Authorized the purchase of a breathing air refill station for $52,460. I would guess this is for the fire department and other public safety uses. I can see how it would be better to have an onsite refill station rather than sending bottles out for refill. I do not know what the city is currently doing.
RES-275: Allows the City Manager to accept bids for services to process refuse derived fuel (RDF). From what I could gather quickly on Wikipedia, this is AWESOME! Maybe it's only awesome to people who like to take trash and make it into something useful (i.e. me). I don't take Wikipedia as a primary source, but I do use it to give me the basic idea and as a jumping-off point for further research. Non-combustible materials like glass and metal are removed. The remaining material is treated to remove heavy metals and pollutants. What remains can be shaped into pellets, bricks, or logs that can be used in coal power plants to produce electricity. This article states that RDF is a new concept so the financial advantage cannot be known.
Is this related to RES-267 about the engineering services for the landfill?
Link to the Wikipedia article about Refuse Derived Fuel: Refuse Derived Fuel on Wikipedia
RES-276 and RES-277: Nominates Owens-Brockway Glass Container, Inc. and Mars Chocolate North America as Enterprise Projects and submitting the Enterprise Zone application to the Office of the Governor Economic Development and Tourism's Texas Economic Development Bank for improvements to their respective properties.
RES-278: Authorizes the sale of a tax foreclosed property to a citizen.
RES-279: Invites and requests the Bellmead Development Corporation (BDC) to participate in the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC) Project and grants permission for BDC to act in support of BRIC. This permission is required since the BRIC Project is within the city limits of Waco.
I wonder if this is related to the action taken a few weeks ago by the Bellmead City Council to change the status of their Economic Development Corporation. This is an example of why it is helpful to keep up with the activities of all the cities in the area. They often work together and the action of one body may have influence on another.
Since this is the first meeting after the election, a committee to canvass the results of the election will be appointed. After a short recess, the committee will report its results.
At the Election Ceremony, the oath of office will be administered to the new mayor and they will elect a Mayor Pro Tem. There were will be presentations by several groups including the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, The Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce. A reception will follow.
Remember that I LOVE comments....any kind of comments....anonymous comments are accepted and welcomed. If they are just plain mean for no constructive purpose, I will delete them.
Since this is the first council meeting after the election, the schedule is changed. The work session will be at 3:00 pm. They will go into executive session at 3:30 pm. The business session starts at 4:30 pm. All of these meetings will be at the Operations Center at 1415 N. 4th St.
At 5:30 pm in the Phoenix Ballroom at 401 S. 3rd St., there will be an election ceremony.
In the work session they will discuss the process filling the District V vacancy created when Jim Bush was elected mayor.
In the business session, there are several public hearings about changing the Comprehensive Plan land use designations.
RES-265: The contract for the MLK Drive Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation project is being raised by $186,840.25 so that the total amount will be $1.761,011.15.
RES-266: The contract for construction of the Runway Safety Area and Runways 1-19 and 14-32 Rehabilitation Projects at Waco Regional Airport will be increased by $116,306.47.
RES-267: Amends a contract with SCS Engineers for engineering work and compliance assistance at the 1419 Landfill which is now closed. They will provide contruction phase services and materials testing. The amendment will be for $28,340 bringing the contract total to $88,340.
RES-268: This will extend the contract with Krishna Ram, Inc. for the Staybridge Suites Hotel Construction Project for a maximum of 3 years. This is at the 700 block of South 5th and 6th Streets.
The next two items are about assigning residential tax abatement rights. I do not understand this yet. It will definitely require more research. If anyone knows what this means, please educate me or direct me to a resource that can explain it.
RES-269: Will approve the assignment of residential tax abatement rights of Edanbra Development, L.C. to Eddy and Sylvia Gomez.
RES-270: Will approve the assignment of residential tax abatement rights of Edanbra Development, L.C. to Terry Ridge and Melissa Washington.
The next three involve supplying the police department.
RES-271: This will allow the City Manager to submit an application to the US Dept of Justice for reimbursement of up to half the cost of purchasing bullet-proof vests.
RES-272: Authorized the purchase of ammunition under an existing contract for $64,123 for FY2009-10.
RES-273: Approves awarding a 12-month contract for supply of police uniforms with an option to renew for two additional 12-month terms. The amount is not to exceed $46,500 during FY2009-10.
RES-274: Authorized the purchase of a breathing air refill station for $52,460. I would guess this is for the fire department and other public safety uses. I can see how it would be better to have an onsite refill station rather than sending bottles out for refill. I do not know what the city is currently doing.
RES-275: Allows the City Manager to accept bids for services to process refuse derived fuel (RDF). From what I could gather quickly on Wikipedia, this is AWESOME! Maybe it's only awesome to people who like to take trash and make it into something useful (i.e. me). I don't take Wikipedia as a primary source, but I do use it to give me the basic idea and as a jumping-off point for further research. Non-combustible materials like glass and metal are removed. The remaining material is treated to remove heavy metals and pollutants. What remains can be shaped into pellets, bricks, or logs that can be used in coal power plants to produce electricity. This article states that RDF is a new concept so the financial advantage cannot be known.
Is this related to RES-267 about the engineering services for the landfill?
Link to the Wikipedia article about Refuse Derived Fuel: Refuse Derived Fuel on Wikipedia
RES-276 and RES-277: Nominates Owens-Brockway Glass Container, Inc. and Mars Chocolate North America as Enterprise Projects and submitting the Enterprise Zone application to the Office of the Governor Economic Development and Tourism's Texas Economic Development Bank for improvements to their respective properties.
RES-278: Authorizes the sale of a tax foreclosed property to a citizen.
RES-279: Invites and requests the Bellmead Development Corporation (BDC) to participate in the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC) Project and grants permission for BDC to act in support of BRIC. This permission is required since the BRIC Project is within the city limits of Waco.
I wonder if this is related to the action taken a few weeks ago by the Bellmead City Council to change the status of their Economic Development Corporation. This is an example of why it is helpful to keep up with the activities of all the cities in the area. They often work together and the action of one body may have influence on another.
Since this is the first meeting after the election, a committee to canvass the results of the election will be appointed. After a short recess, the committee will report its results.
At the Election Ceremony, the oath of office will be administered to the new mayor and they will elect a Mayor Pro Tem. There were will be presentations by several groups including the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, The Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce. A reception will follow.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Preview of the 4/20/2010 meeting
NOTE: Unlike certain local newspapers, I LOVE feedback and comments!!! I accept anonymous comments or there are several ways to login without having to create a new account. Lately, I've gotten more comments in person than I get on the site. That's VERY cool, but hopefully people will have comments about the items I discuss telling me what you like and don't like. Let's start a conversation.
Most of all.....start a conversation with your council member. THEY represent YOU! They really like it when you ask them for information. I'm not sure they like it so much when you call or write to gripe about something, but if I were in their shoes I would prefer that to silence.
Here is the link to the full agenda: http://www.waco-texas.com/meetings.asp Click on the date to get this meeting's agenda.
I apologize for missing the last meeting. I did not see anything of great importance and the rest of my life got in the way. Although I'm still very busy, there are several things I would like to call attention to. I have learned that once it gets on the agenda it's pretty much a done deal, but we should still be aware of what our city council members are doing and tell them how we feel about it.
I'm short on time, so I can't go through every item. I also won't be able to attend the work session today. It's getting hard for me to miss work. I will try to catch it online or on TV and give an update.
PH-202 - This is approval of a permit to raze a building so that a new animal emergency clinic building can be built. This will be at 3901 S. Jack Kultgen Expressway. No money spent and not infringing on our personal liberties, but I thought it was cool and you might like to know about it.
PH-207, 208, 209, 210 - Several alleys are being abandoned. What is interesting about these is that the Planning Commission did not unanimously vote to approve all of them. There may be issues behind this.
PH-211 - Section 28-577 in Chapter 28 Zoning of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Waco will be changed to allow retail sales from 7pm to 12 midnight and from 5am to 7am by special permit in the O-3 Office-Limited Commercial District.
RES-213 - Authorizes the City manager to execute a 12-month lease agreement with Enterprise Rent-a-Car for nine lease vehicles with the amount not to exceed $90,000. There will be an option to allow renewal of the agreement for one additional twelve-month period. There may be reasons for leasing rather than purchasing a car. My calculations say this is an average of $833 per car per month. That sounds high to me. I suppose that maintenance is included, though.
RES-214 - The Waco McLennan County Economic Development Corporation will be giving $5 million to the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative. This is the renovation of the old General Tire facility. There are news stories available online about this. $2.5 million will be given by the City of Waco and $2.5 million by McLennan County. It is contingent upon a $20 million investment. I believe this to be a good investment, but citizens should know it is happening.
RES-215 - There is a change of amount from $944,900 to $890,100 on the contract with Kimley Horn and Associates, Inc. Irving, Texas for design services for the Ritchie Road Street Construction and Water Transmission improvement project.
RES-216 - The Waco Community Development Corporation is providing funding of $60,000 to World Changers 2010 Waco Roof Rehabilitation Project. It is not clear what roof will be rehabilitated. I searched for World Changers and found a Baptist church that does a lot of mission work. I'm not sure if it is the same entity. It sounds like something they would do. I have a question about this in to my councilman, Randy Riggs.
RES-218 and RES-220 - These two talk about a "Loan Committee", "Interim Construction Loan Program", and "New Acquisition Loan Program". I wrote my councilman, Randy Riggs, requesting more information about these programs. It almost sounds like the CoW is funding the building and purchasing of homes and protecting home buyers who are forced from their homes by condemnation. Does this bother anyone else? This is not the business of government. I may be wrong.
RES-229 - The city is going to purchase mobile data computers and docking stations from PCS Mobile of Denver, Colorado. The amount is not to exceed $84,212. It does not state what the computers are for.
RES-230 - Approves a resolution reappointing Christopher D. Taylor as Municipal Judge for a two-year term.
Remember: I LOVE feedback and comments, especially when you have more information to add to my understanding.
Most of all.....start a conversation with your council member. THEY represent YOU! They really like it when you ask them for information. I'm not sure they like it so much when you call or write to gripe about something, but if I were in their shoes I would prefer that to silence.
Here is the link to the full agenda: http://www.waco-texas.com/meetings.asp Click on the date to get this meeting's agenda.
I apologize for missing the last meeting. I did not see anything of great importance and the rest of my life got in the way. Although I'm still very busy, there are several things I would like to call attention to. I have learned that once it gets on the agenda it's pretty much a done deal, but we should still be aware of what our city council members are doing and tell them how we feel about it.
I'm short on time, so I can't go through every item. I also won't be able to attend the work session today. It's getting hard for me to miss work. I will try to catch it online or on TV and give an update.
PH-202 - This is approval of a permit to raze a building so that a new animal emergency clinic building can be built. This will be at 3901 S. Jack Kultgen Expressway. No money spent and not infringing on our personal liberties, but I thought it was cool and you might like to know about it.
PH-207, 208, 209, 210 - Several alleys are being abandoned. What is interesting about these is that the Planning Commission did not unanimously vote to approve all of them. There may be issues behind this.
PH-211 - Section 28-577 in Chapter 28 Zoning of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Waco will be changed to allow retail sales from 7pm to 12 midnight and from 5am to 7am by special permit in the O-3 Office-Limited Commercial District.
RES-213 - Authorizes the City manager to execute a 12-month lease agreement with Enterprise Rent-a-Car for nine lease vehicles with the amount not to exceed $90,000. There will be an option to allow renewal of the agreement for one additional twelve-month period. There may be reasons for leasing rather than purchasing a car. My calculations say this is an average of $833 per car per month. That sounds high to me. I suppose that maintenance is included, though.
RES-214 - The Waco McLennan County Economic Development Corporation will be giving $5 million to the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative. This is the renovation of the old General Tire facility. There are news stories available online about this. $2.5 million will be given by the City of Waco and $2.5 million by McLennan County. It is contingent upon a $20 million investment. I believe this to be a good investment, but citizens should know it is happening.
RES-215 - There is a change of amount from $944,900 to $890,100 on the contract with Kimley Horn and Associates, Inc. Irving, Texas for design services for the Ritchie Road Street Construction and Water Transmission improvement project.
RES-216 - The Waco Community Development Corporation is providing funding of $60,000 to World Changers 2010 Waco Roof Rehabilitation Project. It is not clear what roof will be rehabilitated. I searched for World Changers and found a Baptist church that does a lot of mission work. I'm not sure if it is the same entity. It sounds like something they would do. I have a question about this in to my councilman, Randy Riggs.
RES-218 and RES-220 - These two talk about a "Loan Committee", "Interim Construction Loan Program", and "New Acquisition Loan Program". I wrote my councilman, Randy Riggs, requesting more information about these programs. It almost sounds like the CoW is funding the building and purchasing of homes and protecting home buyers who are forced from their homes by condemnation. Does this bother anyone else? This is not the business of government. I may be wrong.
RES-229 - The city is going to purchase mobile data computers and docking stations from PCS Mobile of Denver, Colorado. The amount is not to exceed $84,212. It does not state what the computers are for.
RES-230 - Approves a resolution reappointing Christopher D. Taylor as Municipal Judge for a two-year term.
Remember: I LOVE feedback and comments, especially when you have more information to add to my understanding.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Churchill quote says how I feel about local government (editorial)
If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law. ~ Winston ChurchillThis has been my thought all along, but this morning on Twitter (hat tip to @HenryJennings) I saw the sentence that said it succinctly.
I don't have studies by social scientists to back this up. I'm sure they are out there somewhere. These are my own thoughts based on my own feelings. In any situation where there are too many rules, I feel like I there is no way I can obey them all so I just give up. That's fine if it's a game or even a relationship. It's quite different when it's laws instead of rules and we are talking about life.
We've had civilized society for awhile now. There has to come a point where we have enough laws. They may need tweaking from time to time as new technology comes along or as attitudes change, but I think we pretty much have it covered. For example, we already have laws about reckless driving. Do we really need one against texting while driving? Are we also going to make laws against putting on make-up, reading, or eating while driving?
Bottom line is this....I hope we never get to a point where I'm afraid to leave the house because I might do something wrong that I forgot was illegal and get a ticket or a fine or worse yet go to jail.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Additional $500,000 grant to Waco Regional Airport for Safety Improvement
Click here to see an article about improvements to the Waco Regional Airport. I had questions about what was going to be done. This pretty much describes it.
http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-us-federal-government/14204899-1.html
Highlights:
The airport received $13.1 million in federal funds last year for major runway improvements and safety enhancements. That funding will be used to extend the airport's main runway by 500 feet, rehabilitating both runways and regrading runway safety areas. Those improvements are expected to be completed by 2011.
http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-us-federal-government/14204899-1.html
Highlights:
- The Waco Regional Airport will receive an additional $500,000 in grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Airport Improvement Program.
- The alpha taxiway will be separated from the two other taxiways. As it is now, planes must make a hard left or hard right at a certain time or risk going on the wrong taxiway.
- Add air conditioning and ground power units to the passenger-loading bridge - This eliminates the need for large generators on the ramps now used to cool airplanes during boarding and deboarding.
- Some overhead utilities in the runway safety areas also will be relocated underground on the airport's two runways to keep them from interfering with approaching airplanes.
The airport received $13.1 million in federal funds last year for major runway improvements and safety enhancements. That funding will be used to extend the airport's main runway by 500 feet, rehabilitating both runways and regrading runway safety areas. Those improvements are expected to be completed by 2011.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Notes from Waco City Council Meeting - March 23, 2010
I'll just hit the highlights for this update. The agenda can be found at this link CLICK HERE and everything passed.
RES-143 and RES-144: My commentary can be found on an earlier entry, but I'd like to add the new information I learned. AHP exceeded their first contract's requirement for jobs. The contract called for 136 jobs and they ended up with 151. In response to my email, Ms. Herbert asked whether foreign ownership was a consideration. Mr. Groth indicated it is not currently, but it could be in the future if the council wishes. A question arose about the jobs created being local jobs. Mr. Groth answered that at least 40% of the jobs were to be filled local employees. They audit to check this. The city will be giving up about $78k in tax abatements, but there will be $325k in receipts.
I'm not thrilled with this money going to a foreign-owned company, but it will create local jobs and increase the tax base. The more money we collect from companies reduces the chance that property taxes will have to increase.
An interesting fact came to light during this discussion. I learned that at least one of the city council members either reads or has seen this blog. My first reaction was to freak out a bit. I'm used to sitting in the background and having my writing read by my circle only. My second reaction was that this is a good thing. It demonstrates that the council members are interested in knowing what the citizens think about what comes before them. Ms. Herbert brought up another point on a different subject that I had received a comment about. I do not know if the person who left the comment also contact Ms. Herbert or if she saw it on this blog. Either way, the council DOES care about what we think. We should do our duty and tell them what we think and ask questions when we don't understand.
Related to ORD-172: I'm totally fine with the dropping of the speed limit in the area covered by this ordinance. There was MORE discussion about dropping the limit on the section of New Road that was left at 40 to 35. I drove this road today to see what I thought. I think this is ridiculous. This section of road is much wider and in better condition than the other section. There is NO residential and no back out drives. More than that, it was VERY busy and I believe that dropping the limit would cause congestion - assuming people obeyed the limit (which they don't). Actually, I wanted to see how many signs would have to be changed. This is not as big a deal as I thought it might be because there are only two on that stretch of road and both of those were on the overpass. I think only one would be in Waco's part. The city limit is not clearly delineated. I don't think that's enough signs. In fact, I don't think there enough speed limit signs in this city anyway. That's a fight for another day.
One last note about Chief Brent Strohman. When I returned for the business session of the meeting, Chief Strohman commented on how many notes I was taking. He told me that he would be glad to share his public safety presentation with me. I don't know if he knows about the blog or thinks I'm merely a concerned citizen, but I was very encouraged by his openness and willingness to share this information with a citizen and the public. From what I have seen, the Chief is a well-respected man and we are lucky to have him.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Spay or neuter law in Waco - may charge to keep pets not spayed or neutered
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/88891967.html
This will be discussed at the 3pm city council work session.
This will be discussed at the 3pm city council work session.
Article about the Associated Hygienic Products deal with WMCEDC
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3969396
I searched on the Trib and could not find an article about this, but I got it in a Google alert. This tells about the deal. I really hate that these articles come out on the same day as the city council meeting and citizens do not have a chance to research.
I searched on the Trib and could not find an article about this, but I got it in a Google alert. This tells about the deal. I really hate that these articles come out on the same day as the city council meeting and citizens do not have a chance to research.
Monday, March 22, 2010
WMCEDC to give $440k and tax abatements to locally run, but foreign owned company???
The following two items are on the Waco City Council consent agenda for tomorrow. Items on the consent agenda do not have to be discussed in the open meeting and can be approved en masse with one vote.
RES-143
Consider approval of a resolution authorizing a Program Project Agreement between the Waco McLennan County Economic Development Corporation (WMCEDC) and Associated Hygienic Products, LLC (AHP) in an amount up to $440,000.00 (of which up to $220,000.00 will be provided by the City of Waco) in exchange for a $10,000,000.00 investment in personal property, the creation of 55 new full-time jobs, and the retention of 152 current full-time jobs at AHP’s facility located at 2101 Texas Central Parkway in Waco, Texas; and authorizing the City Manager to execute all necessary documents in connection therewith.
RES-144
Consider approval of a resolution authorizing an Industrial Tax Abatement to exempt a percentage of the taxable value of new Personal Property at Associated Hygienic Products (AHP) facility located at 2101 Texas Central Parkway; and authorizing the City Manager to execute all documents necessary to complete this transaction.
I found that AHP is a wholly owned subsidiary of DSG, Disposable Soft Goods International. DSG is based in Hong Kong with operations centers in South East Asia and Greater China. They make diapers - at least at the Waco facility which is located at 2101 Texas Central Parkway.
The website says that the Waco facility opened in 2009, but I believe that there was some kind of takeover. Didn't Weyerhauser make diapers? I wish I had time to investigate that further.
It is not clear whether the $10m will be new investment or if it's on their current holdings.
Comments? Do we tell our city council that we do not want to support foreign interests? It is not on the County Commissioners agenda for this week and they would also have to approve. In the past, we have seen the commissioners act the week following the city council.
Links:
AHP Company History: http://www.ahp-dsg.
Waco City Council meeting agenda: http://www.waco-texas.
Contact information for the city council: http://www.waco-
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
WCCC-TV: For your safety
I was flipping through channels tonight (Tuesday are awful for TV in my opinion) and I landed on the Waco City Cable Channel. A show called "For Your Safety" was on. There were three guests: the police chief, the Emergency Management Coordinator, and on more that I already forgot. (My memory is terrible lately!)
Anyway, the part I want to call attention to is the interview with Frank Patterson, the Emergency Management Coordinator for Waco-McLennan County. I found it interesting because I had heard that we didn't HAVE an emergency management plan in McLennan County. Maybe this will shed some light on the situation. It seems they have done a poor job of communicating this plan to the public. Maybe they are exaggerating about how big the plan is. I don't know, but here is a place to start to learn more about it.
The interview with Mr. Patterson starts at the 8:55 mark.
Here's the link: http://www.waco-texas.com/videos/Gallery/wccctv-for-your-safety.asp
Anyway, the part I want to call attention to is the interview with Frank Patterson, the Emergency Management Coordinator for Waco-McLennan County. I found it interesting because I had heard that we didn't HAVE an emergency management plan in McLennan County. Maybe this will shed some light on the situation. It seems they have done a poor job of communicating this plan to the public. Maybe they are exaggerating about how big the plan is. I don't know, but here is a place to start to learn more about it.
The interview with Mr. Patterson starts at the 8:55 mark.
Here's the link: http://www.waco-texas.com/videos/Gallery/wccctv-for-your-safety.asp
City Council Meeting is rescheduled for May 23rd
The Waco City Council would normally have met today, but a couple of months ago they rescheduled this meeting for next week, May 23rd.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The ballot is set for Waco City Council Races
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/87104492.html
The above is a link to a story on the Trib describing the races for seat on the Waco City Council. Yesterday, March 8, was the last day to file.
Here are the candidates:
MAYOR
Jim Bush
Addis McNamara
DISTRICT III
Randy Riggs
DISTRICT I
Wilbert Austin
Carol Dugat
I am happy to see some competition for the seats. The only way for citizens to have a voice is to have a choice.
The above is a link to a story on the Trib describing the races for seat on the Waco City Council. Yesterday, March 8, was the last day to file.
Here are the candidates:
MAYOR
Jim Bush
Addis McNamara
DISTRICT III
Randy Riggs
DISTRICT I
Wilbert Austin
Carol Dugat
I am happy to see some competition for the seats. The only way for citizens to have a voice is to have a choice.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Notes from Waco City Council Meeting - March 2, 2010
PH-112 - This is the one about the man working as an open air vendor at Parkwood and Bosque. The gentleman decides to withdraw his request and resubmit again as an O-3. I believe Larry Groth said this would allow for some special permitting and would be a better fit.
The consent agenda passed unanimously with no exceptions.
RES-114 - Adding $240,621.91 for an Aviation General Consultant. I have a question as to what this is and why it's needed. I arrived late and did not hear the explanation for this in the work session. My apologies.
RES-118 - This is to approve the acquisition of an easement on nearly 4 acres owned by Skinny's, Inc. It states that it's for the "Waco Regional Runway Safety Area Project." During the work session, it was stated this was for "slope and navigation easements." It will cost some money because the city will have to remove some signs and lightpoles.
RES-119 - This is for an additional $75,000 to be added to the total amount of $435,035 for the Panther Way Reconstruction Project. Groth stated that some of the residents were requesting $500 or so. Instead of coming back one at a time for these additions, they are lumping in an additional $75,000 to cover these costs. It is not expected that all these funds will be used.
RES-121 - Release of proposed amendments to the Consolidated Action Plan in an amount not to exceed $309,744.00 for public comment. This is for the HUD Consolidated Plan regulations. There is an amount associated with this because money is being moved around from project to project. Some projects got cancelled and the money was moved to another where it could actually be used. Some of these were for sidewalks - that's a good thing. Part of this is stimulus money which can't be used on parks, so it was moved to another project where it could be used. There were timelines associated with some of the money and it could not be used on the project on which is it designated. The money was moved to projects who could spend the money in the time frame.
SPECIAL NOTE: Larry Groth thought it was a good point to mention that two men were at the meeting who had won awards and should be recognized. I missed the first gentleman's last name, but his first name is Dennis. He was named Equipment Operator of the Year for the state of Texas. Groth mentioned that he is an excellent equipment operator who can operate every piece of equipment the city uses. His supervisor, Steve Boyles, was recognized with a state award for his asphalt recycler. This project saves the city about $90k a year. When the project was first planned and approved, it was thought to have a 5-year payback; now it appears it will have about a 2-year payback. GOOD STUFF right there!!! Way to go, Steve and Dennis!!!!
RES-122 - Some used equipment will be bought at a public auction. The council asked who would check out this equipment to make sure it was serviceable. Groth stated that the purchasing department and the people who will use the equipment will check it out before purchase. This is a significant cost savings.
RES-123 - Approving $248,974.80 for 30-month leases on golf carts from a company in Atlanta. I didn't get the answers to the questions I had. It seems this is the normal course of business. They are renewing a few months early because some of the batteries are going dead and it's cheaper to replace early than it is to buy the new batteries. These carts are used on the golf course and in some other departments (like the zoo).
RES-124 - This awards a contract to TTG Utilities, LP in Gatesville for the Barron-Landon's Branch Open Cut Sewer Line Rehabilitation Project. Groth stated 55% of the funding for this is from the EPA.
RES-126 - Accepting a grant from US Department of Transportation for the Airport Improvement Program. It's for $526,315.78 which includes a local match of $425,315.78. It was mentioned this would be for a taxiway.
ORD-127 - Changes the speed limit of New Road from Cobbs Dr. to Waco Dr. to 45 mph and to retain a speed limit of 40 mph from Waco Dr to the Beverly Hills city limit. I thought this would be cut and dried and a very good thing. The council spent what I considered to be an inordinate amount of time discussing whether the limit from Waco Dr to the BH city limit should be dropped to 35. Herbert and Rodriguez were the main parties of the discussion. They were concerned that there are lots of drives, a school, and a Walmart entry which could be made safer by a lower limit. For one thing, they couldn't take action in this meeting anyway. Secondly, the street is much wider in that section than the other section. Thirdly, the city spends a great deal of time and money on studies and professionals whose job it is to keep the traffic moving while maximizing safety. To her credit, Mayor DuPuy asked Larry Groth if any study about speed limits would contain accident information. He indicated it would. I appreciate her being the voice of reason in this matter.
ORD-128 - This is the second reading of a rezoning ordinance. They want to change 820-1006 N 4th St. and 807-1009 N 5th St. from R-1B to Planned Unit Development. This passed with no further discussion.
Two presentations were made at this meeting. One was about public safety and the other was concerning Cooperative Purchasing agreements. I watched the public safety presentation, but I had to leave to go vote and I missed the one about purchasing agreements.
These are my notes on what I considered important. Please remember that replays of the meeting broadcasts are on WCCC-TV and online at http://www.waco-texas.com/wccctv-council.asp. The video from the latest meeting is not up as of this writing, but I'm confident it will be there. This link will also lead to the television schedule.
FIRE SAFETY
Fire prevention is credited with a drop in structure fires. This is due to the placement of early detection devices, and fire prevention education.
Waco has not seen a death from a structure file in several years.
Smoke scares are up probably due to education. People are calling when they see only smoke instead of waiting for a fire.
The chief made an interesting note: Three things start fires: men, women, and children.
Larry Groth also credited better code enforcement for the good report about structure fires.
Randy Riggs asked if transport could move to the city instead of being contracted out. The Chief responded that it's something to look into. It would require an investment in equipment and personnel.
Riggs asked what improvements were needed. The Chief responded that better dispatch would help. It would be good to be able to have two people on dispatch at all times. He would like to eliminate cross-scheduling. Better coverage would also be good. I believe it was Groth who stated that we have *enough* stations, but they aren't in the right places. There is at least one station that should be relocated. This will be handled as part of the budget process. A new one would be built and the other would be retired.
TRAFFIC
There are 3200 crashes annually. Intersection crashes of of the greatest concern because they are the most severe and cause the most damage. Right angle and head on crashes were the type of crashes causing greatest concern for the same reason.
The council was surprised to see how few accidents involved drugs and/or alcohol.
There was a discussion about red light cameras. Although they had been discussed before the council before, it has been decided that the city will not proceed with these. In places where they have been placed, they are being pulled out for legal reasons. They are too expensive and not as effective as they should be for that kind of investment.
The Chief informed that the cameras we see are for detection of vehicles to regulate the traffic lights. These cameras are better at detecting the vehicles than the induction loop detectors. This is the "old-style" detector where loops in the road create a magnetic field that is interrupted when a ferrous vehicle drives over it.
Only 2.5% of crashes involve pedestrian/cyclist. This is a 16% reduction most likely due to improved sidewalks and crosswalks. Riggs asked about countdown times for pedestrians. The Chief would like to make sure they are effective before seeking to install them here. Some people appear to have trouble recognizing that the flashing hand on the current signals means that it is not safe to enter the intersection and have sufficient time to cross safely.
Larry Groth, to his credit, mentioned that as a ratio these counts would not appear nearly as bad.
Riggs stated that these types of accidents should be "at all costs." He may have misspoken here and did not truly mean that we would spend any amount of money necessary to eliminate these accident. It struck me wrong as there is a line of diminishing returns.
The Chief indicated that 18th and Bosque is much safer now that there is better coordination of the lights. A longer light enables most drivers to clear the entire intersection as the light is longer. 18th Street in general is much better because they reduced the number of lanes from 4 to 3 by installing right turn lanes.
POLICE
There has been an 8.5% decrease in calls. Reported crimes have also increased. The Chief indicated he could not identify a factor that might have caused this. We normally expect an increase in both crimes and calls during hard economic times.
Animal control calls is the third largest segment of calls behind the Waco Police and the Sheriff.
Crime rate for 2008 (the last year counts are available) was 6837/100,000. That's and 8% decrease while the decrease was 2% statewide. In this timeframe, the population increased by 3% which contributes to the drop in the rate.
88% of crimes are property crimes and 12% are violent crimes.
Riggs asked The Chief what could be done to improve. The Chief indicated that public education and marking your property (so that it can be returned if found) are two ways to improve results.
SPECIAL NOTE: The Chief also indicated that the city will perform - FREE OF CHARGE - a home or business security audit to find weaknesses or where security could be improved.
It is CRITICAL that thefts are reported. This is how trends are tracked and improvements can be made. Groth stated that he has heard people complain about how many thefts there are in their area, but when he asks if they reported them, they have not. The police cannot know what isn't reported.
There were 23 traffic fatalities this year. This is up from 19. None of the fatalities where in areas indicated as high volume areas.
For police traffic patrols, speeding and DWI are their primary focus. Beat officers work in the same places at the same times so that they learn what is going on in the area.
The City Council received an ethnicity report. This was not shared in the meeting.
The police like that WISD has closed their campus. The WISD police have an agreement with the WPD that if students are observed not in school, they will be picked up and brought back to school.
Councilmember Herbert asked about ordinances against texting while driving. She made a joke about making it against the law to put on make-up while driving or to READ while driving. Groth asked if we want to apply the necessary manpower for those types of offenses.
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS
This is the first work session I have been able to attend. I realize this is where the majority of the work happens. In the future, I'll try to attend these as much as possible. It's also the first one I've attended after I thought about running for a council seat myself. Although I have decided not to pursue that at this time, it has changed my perspective.
EDITED NOTE: Removed the words "I agree" since I had removed the sentence preceding. Corrected "Gross" to "Groth" (One of my bosses is named "Gross".)
The consent agenda passed unanimously with no exceptions.
RES-114 - Adding $240,621.91 for an Aviation General Consultant. I have a question as to what this is and why it's needed. I arrived late and did not hear the explanation for this in the work session. My apologies.
RES-118 - This is to approve the acquisition of an easement on nearly 4 acres owned by Skinny's, Inc. It states that it's for the "Waco Regional Runway Safety Area Project." During the work session, it was stated this was for "slope and navigation easements." It will cost some money because the city will have to remove some signs and lightpoles.
RES-119 - This is for an additional $75,000 to be added to the total amount of $435,035 for the Panther Way Reconstruction Project. Groth stated that some of the residents were requesting $500 or so. Instead of coming back one at a time for these additions, they are lumping in an additional $75,000 to cover these costs. It is not expected that all these funds will be used.
RES-121 - Release of proposed amendments to the Consolidated Action Plan in an amount not to exceed $309,744.00 for public comment. This is for the HUD Consolidated Plan regulations. There is an amount associated with this because money is being moved around from project to project. Some projects got cancelled and the money was moved to another where it could actually be used. Some of these were for sidewalks - that's a good thing. Part of this is stimulus money which can't be used on parks, so it was moved to another project where it could be used. There were timelines associated with some of the money and it could not be used on the project on which is it designated. The money was moved to projects who could spend the money in the time frame.
SPECIAL NOTE: Larry Groth thought it was a good point to mention that two men were at the meeting who had won awards and should be recognized. I missed the first gentleman's last name, but his first name is Dennis. He was named Equipment Operator of the Year for the state of Texas. Groth mentioned that he is an excellent equipment operator who can operate every piece of equipment the city uses. His supervisor, Steve Boyles, was recognized with a state award for his asphalt recycler. This project saves the city about $90k a year. When the project was first planned and approved, it was thought to have a 5-year payback; now it appears it will have about a 2-year payback. GOOD STUFF right there!!! Way to go, Steve and Dennis!!!!
RES-122 - Some used equipment will be bought at a public auction. The council asked who would check out this equipment to make sure it was serviceable. Groth stated that the purchasing department and the people who will use the equipment will check it out before purchase. This is a significant cost savings.
RES-123 - Approving $248,974.80 for 30-month leases on golf carts from a company in Atlanta. I didn't get the answers to the questions I had. It seems this is the normal course of business. They are renewing a few months early because some of the batteries are going dead and it's cheaper to replace early than it is to buy the new batteries. These carts are used on the golf course and in some other departments (like the zoo).
RES-124 - This awards a contract to TTG Utilities, LP in Gatesville for the Barron-Landon's Branch Open Cut Sewer Line Rehabilitation Project. Groth stated 55% of the funding for this is from the EPA.
RES-126 - Accepting a grant from US Department of Transportation for the Airport Improvement Program. It's for $526,315.78 which includes a local match of $425,315.78. It was mentioned this would be for a taxiway.
ORD-127 - Changes the speed limit of New Road from Cobbs Dr. to Waco Dr. to 45 mph and to retain a speed limit of 40 mph from Waco Dr to the Beverly Hills city limit. I thought this would be cut and dried and a very good thing. The council spent what I considered to be an inordinate amount of time discussing whether the limit from Waco Dr to the BH city limit should be dropped to 35. Herbert and Rodriguez were the main parties of the discussion. They were concerned that there are lots of drives, a school, and a Walmart entry which could be made safer by a lower limit. For one thing, they couldn't take action in this meeting anyway. Secondly, the street is much wider in that section than the other section. Thirdly, the city spends a great deal of time and money on studies and professionals whose job it is to keep the traffic moving while maximizing safety. To her credit, Mayor DuPuy asked Larry Groth if any study about speed limits would contain accident information. He indicated it would. I appreciate her being the voice of reason in this matter.
ORD-128 - This is the second reading of a rezoning ordinance. They want to change 820-1006 N 4th St. and 807-1009 N 5th St. from R-1B to Planned Unit Development. This passed with no further discussion.
Two presentations were made at this meeting. One was about public safety and the other was concerning Cooperative Purchasing agreements. I watched the public safety presentation, but I had to leave to go vote and I missed the one about purchasing agreements.
These are my notes on what I considered important. Please remember that replays of the meeting broadcasts are on WCCC-TV and online at http://www.waco-texas.com/wccctv-council.asp. The video from the latest meeting is not up as of this writing, but I'm confident it will be there. This link will also lead to the television schedule.
FIRE SAFETY
Fire prevention is credited with a drop in structure fires. This is due to the placement of early detection devices, and fire prevention education.
Waco has not seen a death from a structure file in several years.
Smoke scares are up probably due to education. People are calling when they see only smoke instead of waiting for a fire.
The chief made an interesting note: Three things start fires: men, women, and children.
Larry Groth also credited better code enforcement for the good report about structure fires.
Randy Riggs asked if transport could move to the city instead of being contracted out. The Chief responded that it's something to look into. It would require an investment in equipment and personnel.
Riggs asked what improvements were needed. The Chief responded that better dispatch would help. It would be good to be able to have two people on dispatch at all times. He would like to eliminate cross-scheduling. Better coverage would also be good. I believe it was Groth who stated that we have *enough* stations, but they aren't in the right places. There is at least one station that should be relocated. This will be handled as part of the budget process. A new one would be built and the other would be retired.
TRAFFIC
There are 3200 crashes annually. Intersection crashes of of the greatest concern because they are the most severe and cause the most damage. Right angle and head on crashes were the type of crashes causing greatest concern for the same reason.
The council was surprised to see how few accidents involved drugs and/or alcohol.
There was a discussion about red light cameras. Although they had been discussed before the council before, it has been decided that the city will not proceed with these. In places where they have been placed, they are being pulled out for legal reasons. They are too expensive and not as effective as they should be for that kind of investment.
The Chief informed that the cameras we see are for detection of vehicles to regulate the traffic lights. These cameras are better at detecting the vehicles than the induction loop detectors. This is the "old-style" detector where loops in the road create a magnetic field that is interrupted when a ferrous vehicle drives over it.
Only 2.5% of crashes involve pedestrian/cyclist. This is a 16% reduction most likely due to improved sidewalks and crosswalks. Riggs asked about countdown times for pedestrians. The Chief would like to make sure they are effective before seeking to install them here. Some people appear to have trouble recognizing that the flashing hand on the current signals means that it is not safe to enter the intersection and have sufficient time to cross safely.
Larry Groth, to his credit, mentioned that as a ratio these counts would not appear nearly as bad.
Riggs stated that these types of accidents should be "at all costs." He may have misspoken here and did not truly mean that we would spend any amount of money necessary to eliminate these accident. It struck me wrong as there is a line of diminishing returns.
The Chief indicated that 18th and Bosque is much safer now that there is better coordination of the lights. A longer light enables most drivers to clear the entire intersection as the light is longer. 18th Street in general is much better because they reduced the number of lanes from 4 to 3 by installing right turn lanes.
POLICE
There has been an 8.5% decrease in calls. Reported crimes have also increased. The Chief indicated he could not identify a factor that might have caused this. We normally expect an increase in both crimes and calls during hard economic times.
Animal control calls is the third largest segment of calls behind the Waco Police and the Sheriff.
Crime rate for 2008 (the last year counts are available) was 6837/100,000. That's and 8% decrease while the decrease was 2% statewide. In this timeframe, the population increased by 3% which contributes to the drop in the rate.
88% of crimes are property crimes and 12% are violent crimes.
Riggs asked The Chief what could be done to improve. The Chief indicated that public education and marking your property (so that it can be returned if found) are two ways to improve results.
SPECIAL NOTE: The Chief also indicated that the city will perform - FREE OF CHARGE - a home or business security audit to find weaknesses or where security could be improved.
It is CRITICAL that thefts are reported. This is how trends are tracked and improvements can be made. Groth stated that he has heard people complain about how many thefts there are in their area, but when he asks if they reported them, they have not. The police cannot know what isn't reported.
There were 23 traffic fatalities this year. This is up from 19. None of the fatalities where in areas indicated as high volume areas.
For police traffic patrols, speeding and DWI are their primary focus. Beat officers work in the same places at the same times so that they learn what is going on in the area.
The City Council received an ethnicity report. This was not shared in the meeting.
The police like that WISD has closed their campus. The WISD police have an agreement with the WPD that if students are observed not in school, they will be picked up and brought back to school.
Councilmember Herbert asked about ordinances against texting while driving. She made a joke about making it against the law to put on make-up while driving or to READ while driving. Groth asked if we want to apply the necessary manpower for those types of offenses.
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS
This is the first work session I have been able to attend. I realize this is where the majority of the work happens. In the future, I'll try to attend these as much as possible. It's also the first one I've attended after I thought about running for a council seat myself. Although I have decided not to pursue that at this time, it has changed my perspective.
EDITED NOTE: Removed the words "I agree" since I had removed the sentence preceding. Corrected "Gross" to "Groth" (One of my bosses is named "Gross".)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Cool Feature on the City of Waco Website
The City of Waco website has a cool, new feature. When you go to one of the pages, there will be a black "Notify Me" button hovering on the left side of the page. Click it, and it will ask for your email address and it will notify you by email when the page is updated.
I have signed up for notifications on the "Meetings" page so that I will be notified when the agenda for the next meeting has been added and when the agenda is updated after the meeting.
COOL!!!
Here is the link to the meetings page and it's also on the right. http://www.waco-texas.com/meetings.asp
I have signed up for notifications on the "Meetings" page so that I will be notified when the agenda for the next meeting has been added and when the agenda is updated after the meeting.
COOL!!!
Here is the link to the meetings page and it's also on the right. http://www.waco-texas.com/meetings.asp
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Preview of the March 2 City Council Meeting
The agenda for the March 2nd Waco City Council meeting is now online here: 2010-3-2 Waco City Council Meeting Agenda
Here are a few things I think we should pay attention to:
RES-114 - Adding $240,621.91 for an Aviation General Consultant. I have a question as to what this is and why it's needed.
RES-118 - This is to approve the acquisition of an easement on nearly 4 acres owned by Skinny's, Inc. It states that it's for the "Waco Regional Runway Safety Area Project." This sounds like a good thing. I need to learn more. It sounds like they are working to improve the airport which is something one of the Republican District 17 Congressional candidates believes should be done. I agree.
RES-121 - Release of proposed amendments to the Consolidated Action Plan in an amount not to exceed $309,744.00 for public comment. This is for the HUD Consolidated Plan regulations. I do not currently understand why the release of records to the public requires such a large sum of money.
RES-123 - Approving $248,974.80 for 30-month leases on golf carts from a company in Atlanta. That sounds like a lot of money for golf carts to me. Why are we leasing them? Couldn't we buy them cheaper and from a company in Texas? How many golf carts are we talking about?
RES-126 - Accepting a grant from US Department of Transportation for the Airport Improvement Program. It's for $526,315.78 which includes a local match of 425,315.78. This might be a good thing. What types of improvements are being made to the airport?
ORD-127 - Changes the speed limit of New Road from Cobbs Dr. to Waco Dr. to 45 mph and to retain a speed limit of 40 mph from Waco Dr to the Beverly Hills city limit. No big deal, but we should know about it. This is on first reading.
ORD-128 - This is the second reading of a rezoning ordinance. They want to change 820-1006 N 4th St. and 807-1009 N 5th St. from R-1B to Planned Unit Development. The property is to become high-end condos. Toni Herbert stated at the last meeting that there is an "emotional connection" to this property. I'm not positive what she means.
Here are a few things I think we should pay attention to:
RES-114 - Adding $240,621.91 for an Aviation General Consultant. I have a question as to what this is and why it's needed.
RES-118 - This is to approve the acquisition of an easement on nearly 4 acres owned by Skinny's, Inc. It states that it's for the "Waco Regional Runway Safety Area Project." This sounds like a good thing. I need to learn more. It sounds like they are working to improve the airport which is something one of the Republican District 17 Congressional candidates believes should be done. I agree.
RES-121 - Release of proposed amendments to the Consolidated Action Plan in an amount not to exceed $309,744.00 for public comment. This is for the HUD Consolidated Plan regulations. I do not currently understand why the release of records to the public requires such a large sum of money.
RES-123 - Approving $248,974.80 for 30-month leases on golf carts from a company in Atlanta. That sounds like a lot of money for golf carts to me. Why are we leasing them? Couldn't we buy them cheaper and from a company in Texas? How many golf carts are we talking about?
RES-126 - Accepting a grant from US Department of Transportation for the Airport Improvement Program. It's for $526,315.78 which includes a local match of 425,315.78. This might be a good thing. What types of improvements are being made to the airport?
ORD-127 - Changes the speed limit of New Road from Cobbs Dr. to Waco Dr. to 45 mph and to retain a speed limit of 40 mph from Waco Dr to the Beverly Hills city limit. No big deal, but we should know about it. This is on first reading.
ORD-128 - This is the second reading of a rezoning ordinance. They want to change 820-1006 N 4th St. and 807-1009 N 5th St. from R-1B to Planned Unit Development. The property is to become high-end condos. Toni Herbert stated at the last meeting that there is an "emotional connection" to this property. I'm not positive what she means.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
City Council Business Meeting - 2/16/2010
Click here for the agenda for this meeting: 2010-2-16 Waco City Council Meeting Agenda
10-084 - A trailer operating as an open air vendor at Parkwood and Bosque was identified as not having the proper permit because of zoning. They want to help the man since that business has been there for 3.5 years without any trouble. It fits in with the neighborhood and the neighbors are supportive. The council did not want to rezone to C-2 because that would allow for several other kinds of businesses to be operated there. They are continuing the public hearing. It would have been very easy for the council to simply tell him he had to shut down. I applaud them for taking into account that this business has contributed to the community for the last 3.5 years.
10-086 - Toni Herbert states there is an emotional attachment to this property. She requested the management company meet with the neighborhood association and the neighbors. This will be high-end condominiums. Herbert clarified that this action ONLY changed it to a Planned Unit Development. It did not approve any plans for the property.
10-087 - Abandoning Plum Street between 4th and 5th Street and 10-088 to abandon Plum Street between Brooklyn Avenue and E. 4th Street. This was requested by Wells Fargo bank. Wilbert Austin suggested this would bring additional revenue to the city.
Jesus Ayala - cleaned up a empty lot and built a house. He ran the sewer line 300 feet at a cost of $27,000. Now, it is considered the cities sewer line. He would like some financial help with this. They will look into it.
Kermit Mitchell and wife Ann - Ann helped to close four drug houses and has helped in the community. Waco East Support Systems. Office space for small businesses (incubator). He is introducing Waco East Support Systems and is asking for their support.
10-090 - was pulled from the agenda. Reuben Navarro - this is a continuation of a previous discussion. They want to continue this until June 1. I'm very concerned that this is taking so very long.
10-105 - Oordinance No. 2010-105; authorizing the issuance and sale of City Approved of Waco, Texas, General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2010, in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $13,805,000.00. ---- This came to the council for emergency approval. I wonder why.
10-084 - A trailer operating as an open air vendor at Parkwood and Bosque was identified as not having the proper permit because of zoning. They want to help the man since that business has been there for 3.5 years without any trouble. It fits in with the neighborhood and the neighbors are supportive. The council did not want to rezone to C-2 because that would allow for several other kinds of businesses to be operated there. They are continuing the public hearing. It would have been very easy for the council to simply tell him he had to shut down. I applaud them for taking into account that this business has contributed to the community for the last 3.5 years.
10-086 - Toni Herbert states there is an emotional attachment to this property. She requested the management company meet with the neighborhood association and the neighbors. This will be high-end condominiums. Herbert clarified that this action ONLY changed it to a Planned Unit Development. It did not approve any plans for the property.
10-087 - Abandoning Plum Street between 4th and 5th Street and 10-088 to abandon Plum Street between Brooklyn Avenue and E. 4th Street. This was requested by Wells Fargo bank. Wilbert Austin suggested this would bring additional revenue to the city.
Jesus Ayala - cleaned up a empty lot and built a house. He ran the sewer line 300 feet at a cost of $27,000. Now, it is considered the cities sewer line. He would like some financial help with this. They will look into it.
Kermit Mitchell and wife Ann - Ann helped to close four drug houses and has helped in the community. Waco East Support Systems. Office space for small businesses (incubator). He is introducing Waco East Support Systems and is asking for their support.
10-090 - was pulled from the agenda. Reuben Navarro - this is a continuation of a previous discussion. They want to continue this until June 1. I'm very concerned that this is taking so very long.
10-105 - Oordinance No. 2010-105; authorizing the issuance and sale of City Approved of Waco, Texas, General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2010, in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $13,805,000.00. ---- This came to the council for emergency approval. I wonder why.
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