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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council-Minutes-3/9/2017  City of Colleyville                                                                                                  Page 1   City of Colleyville City Council  Worksession Agenda City Hall 100 Main Street Colleyville, Texas 76034 817.503.1000 www.colleyville.com Thursday, March 9, 2017 6:00 p.m. Executive Conference Room Third Floor ­ City Hall 1.CALL TO ORDER 2.PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION    2a Discussion of Economic Development and Communications strategy 3.ADJOURNMENT I hereby certify this agenda was posted on City Hall bulletin boards  by 5:00 p.m. Amy Shelley, TRMC City Secretary A quorum of any Colleyville board, commission, or committee may be  present at this meeting.  Any matter on this agenda may, at the discretion of the governing body, be  opened for public comment and discussion. If you plan to attend this public meeting and have a disability that requires  special accommodations, please advise the City Secretary at least 48 hours in  advance at 817.503.1133, and reasonable accommodations will be made to assist  you.  City of Colleyville Page 1 City of Colleyville City Council Worksession Minutes City Hall 100 Main Street Colleyville, Texas 76034 817. 503.1000 www.colleyville.com Thursday, March 9, 2017 Executive Conference Room Mayor Richard Newton called the Colleyville City Council Worksession to order on March 9, 2017, at 6:02 p.m. ROLL CALL: Mayor Richard Newton, Mayor Pro Tem Chris Putnam, and Councilmembers Tammy Nakamura, Bobby Lindamood, Jody Short, Nancy Coplen and Mike Taylor City Manager Jennifer Fadden, Assistant City Manager/Director of Public Safety Mike Holder, Interim Assistant City Manager and Executive Director of Economic Development and Communications Mark Wood, Marketing Coordinator Dustin Dangli, SH26 Project Coordinator James Hubbard, and City Secretary Amy Shelley 2. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION 2a Discussion of Economic Development and Communications strategy Interim Assistant City Manager and Executive Director of Economic Development and Communications Mark Wood presented this item. Mayor Newton asked staff if there is any way to define or understand who the people are who work from home. Director Wood replied it is a very hard number to get and difficult to quantify. Mayor Newton stated it may take a survey in order to find those numbers. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam asked staff if demographic type questions are asked in the citizen’s survey. City Manager Jennifer Fadden replied questions such as age, how long have you lived in Colleyville, and if children are in the household are asked. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam replied it could be asked. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam asked staff if qualifying questions about the types of businesses citizens want to see are in the survey. City Manager Jennifer Fadden replied yes. Mayor Newton concurred. Mayor Newton asked staff what is the definition of small corporate or regional businesses. Director Wood replied there is a corporate business in the Village with 31 employees, Greenbriar. He added about 30-50 employees would fit that definition. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam asked staff if there is a thought about having more hotels. Director Wood relied that might go along with more corporate offices and City Council Minutes March 9, 2017 City of Colleyville Page 2 amenities. The market has suggested there might be room for one more hotel, maybe a boutique type model. Councilmember Nakamura asked staff if people are hesitant about coming to Colleyville because of the SH26 project, or do they have concerns about it. Director Wood replied prospects have not shown concerns, only the existing businesses. He stated staff SH26 Project Coordinator James Hubbard has done a good job with providing maps, and showing them where the project will be. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam asked staff if the big box development ordinance is still in the code and if it could be reconsidered for elimination. Director Wood replied it could be reconsidered. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam asked the City Council if anybody has issues with big box businesses. Councilmember Taylor stated there was a concern in the past about big box development. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam stated not sure the big box ordinance is still relevant. Mayor Newton stated he believes the ordinance was put in place solely for political reasons, by Mayor Arp. Mayor Newton stated the ordinance is probably not needed today, and maybe it could be eliminated because it could be misinterpreted by businesses. Councilmember Lindamood asked staff if there has been any interest in doing a big box development. Director Wood replied not yet, but the developers are probably aware of the ordinance. Councilmember Nakamura asked how many years ago that happened. Mayor Newton replied 17-18 years ago. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam suggested we should remove any blockers in the ordinances. Councilmember Taylor added there are requirements in the code relative to building aesthetics and design. Councilmember Short asked staff how the executive suites is different from the entrepreneurism concept. Director Wood replied executive suites are private but the entrepreneurism concept encourages collaboration with those going through the same situation you may be going through, such as starting a new website, etc. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam asked staff how the public portion gets funded with the entrepreneurism concept. Director Wood replied general fund money is used, with the taxes being passed through as the lease payment. He added a non-profit is created, with the dues being paid through them. The goal would be for the non- profit to eventually run the facility. Councilmember Nakamura asked staff if any statistics have been released on this concept. Director Wood replied the National Business Incubator states 84 percent of the businesses started in this concept stay where they start. City Council Minutes March 9, 2017 City of Colleyville Page 3 Councilmember Taylor asked staff what the incubator business pays. Director Wood replied there is a rate structure created such as fees for a desk, conference space, etc., with a tiered system of access. Mayor Newton asked staff what is the participation rate with the space Flower Mound has. Director Wood replied that all dedicated spaces are taken and there are a lot of general memberships. Councilmember Taylor asked Councilmember Lindamood if there is a public entity involved in his friend’s business. Councilmember Lindamood replied there are partners in the business. Councilmember Coplen asked staff if people can be a part of this concept, even if they are working for a corporation from home. Director Wood replied yes. Mayor Newton asked the City Council if there is an interest in this concept. Councilmembers agreed. Mayor Newton asked staff if facilitating tenant/landlord relationships is something that could be done. Director Wood replied absolutely, especially if they are willing to connect and meet. Mayor Newton asked staff how success is judged with the Cash Mob events. Director Wood replied by having people show up and participate in the event. Mayor Newton asked staff how many people typically show up at these events. Coordinator Hubbard replied there were eight persons in December, 30 at the Snuffers event, and 18 at the February event. Councilmember Lindamood suggested boosting the Facebook post so that persons in Colleyville will see it better. Councilmember Taylor suggested having “buy” in Closebuy as a different color and written as “CloseBuy”. Mayor Newton stated he has had people ask him how they can find out about the program. Councilmember Lindamood suggested having it set as a flat percentage, rather than having miscellaneous items each time. It might help to eliminate the confusion. Councilmember Coplen suggested having people opt into receiving texts about the program. Director Wood stated staff is working on revamping the program because there are confusing components to using it. Councilmember Lindamood suggested having another item, not a card, but maybe something that can be used on your phone. Councilmember Short agreed. Director Wood stated staff is looking to have a shop local program; however, not sure how it will look. City Council Minutes March 9, 2017 City of Colleyville Page 4 Councilmember Lindamood asked staff if these items (Cash Mob, Colleyville Closebuy) can be features on the new website. Coordinator Dangli replied yes, there will be references to them on the website; however, it is undetermined how it will look. Councilmember Lindamood suggested the incentive policy should also benefit those business owners who live in Colleyville. This provides them to want to invest back into their hometown, and incentivize them to want to stay. Mayor Newton stated the businesses that may be having retention issues may not only be the top employers and sales tax payers. Something needs to be set up to meet regularly with those businesses because they are also very important, but how do we know them or maybe provide advice to them. Councilmember Nakamura suggested that City Council should stop in and ask the business owners questions. It is also upon us to get involved. Mayor Newton suggested a formal process in which businesses have to provide input. Director Wood stated staff could also hold quarterly roundtable discussions. Councilmember Short asked staff if they have honed in on what our citizens spend their money on. Director Wood replied there are obvious ones, such as shoes, clothes, and sporting goods; the online purchases are also big in Colleyville based on the sales tax receipts and confidential report. Mayor Newton recessed the worksession at 7:05 p.m. Mayor Newton reconvened the worksession at 7:08 p.m. Councilmember Nakamura asked staff about the projected date for the launch of the new website. Director Wood explained the design process and the work being done on the project; and, Mayor Newton explained what he has done to provide help and input with the design of the entire website. Mayor Newton passed out written suggestions made by a professional graphics designer who reviewed the new Colleyville website. Director Wood stated the expected launch could be later this summer. Councilmember Short asked Mayor Newton if these design elements are items in which the web designer did not realize. Mayor Newton replied he did not know. Councilmember Short asked Mayor Newton if these items are more of a personal preference. Mayor Newton replied no, not necessarily, but there should be features that are not distracting. The items people visit the most frequently on the website, should be the easiest to find, and the fundamentals are there. City Council Minutes March 9, 2017 City of Colleyville Page 5 Councilmember Coplen stated we should decide on the basic outcomes of the website and what is subjective. Councilmember Nakamura stated there are some basics still missing. Mayor Newton asked staff if the current vendor has a graphic designer. Coordinator Dangli replied yes, and the criteria was followed as provided to the vendor at the time of project initiation. Mayor Newton stated he did not believe the concept of Colleyville has been portrayed through the layout of the website, especially with the blocks and shapes, distractions, on the side. Councilmember Taylor stated the City Council was not brought into this website process along the way. He suggested getting the input at the beginning of projects versus at the end of the project. Councilmember Nakamura stated this design would not be pleasing to our citizens. Councilmember Coplen asked staff how much has been spent on the new website. Director Wood replied $38,000, which is 80 percent of the contract. Councilmember Short asked staff if the content is good, but the aesthetics of the layout is what is still being worked on. Director Wood replied if we change the layout to look like Pflugerville, it would take a lot of work. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam stated there should be wire frame templates available, especially if the same company has done that website. Mayor Newton stated he wants something generally easy and consistent. Director Wood replied staff will take these recommendations back to the website vendor and will follow up with the City Council about cost, time and process. Mayor Newton asked staff about the quote from the other vendor. Director Wood replied $14,000 to redesign the website. Councilmember Taylor suggested labeling the items like what the people on the street call it, like “City Council,” not “Government” etc. Councilmember Coplen asked staff how many views the cable channel receives. Director Wood replied we are unable to identify those numbers, but we can view numbers based on website clicks for webcasts. Councilmember Coplen asked staff if it is only during meetings. Director Wood replied he would suspect so, but cannot tell for sure. The cable channel offers some opportunities for change. Mayor Newton asked staff what is the strategy relative to content in the Colleyville Communicator, website, social media, and the weekly newsletters. Director Wood stated all content is consistent with all communication efforts. Staff has to be City Council Minutes March 9, 2017 City of Colleyville Page 6 mindful of the timelines for publishing and there are marketing plans for certain issues. Mayor Newton asked staff how do you decide which issues get the marketing plan. Director Wood replied the larger items, such as City Council priorities and initiatives. Mayor Newton suggested keeping the priorities up front to keep reminding citizens about them. He stated the issues that pop up are then added, and there are more items to address than we actually have space for. Director Wood agreed. Mayor Newton asked staff about the strategy for Facebook to define Colleyville. Director Wood replied the strategy is to only use the Colleyville Government page. City Manager Jennifer Fadden added the purpose of the Colleyville Government Facebook page is to speak with one voice, and philosophically be opposed to creating department pages. Councilmember Coplen suggested using videos. Councilmember Taylor agreed and suggested staff should build a video library to use in all communication areas, such as Facebook and the cable channel. Director Wood agreed, and stated staff will be working on videos to load in the future which are evergreen to be shown at any time. Councilmember Coplen suggested having high school students put together the videos, there is a lot of talent to be used. Councilmember Taylor asked staff if they are putting posts about the SH26 project on Facebook or are you texting about it, such as the shifting of lanes etc. Coordinator Hubbard replied that is a good point. Director Wood replied the Facebook posts also include links to the Colleyville website. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam suggested meetings should be streamed on Facebook, more so than the actual web page. Director Mark stated it is an option. Mayor Pro Tem Putnam stated you may actually get more views with it being on Facebook Live. Coordinator Dangli added there have been communities that have used this feature and it is something we can consider in the future. Councilmember Taylor suggested continuing to store the videos on the City’s servers. Mayor Newton stated the worksession was very informative and there were no other questions or discussion. 3. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the City Council, Mayor Newton adjourned the worksession at 8:07 p.m. APPROVED BY A VOTE OF 5 AYES, 0 NAYS, AND 0 ABSTENTIONS ON THIS THE 21ST DAY OF MARCH 2017. City Council Minutes March 9, 2017 City of Colleyville Page 7 Minutes taken and prepared by: Amy Shelley, TRMC City Secretary