The first agenda item was Yard of the Month awards, to the Reynold, Jennings, Stone and Cannon families. However, none were present to receive the awards.
The second agenda item was to hear from visitors, but no one wished to speak.
The third and fourth agenda items were to consider approval for a final replatting and for an application to develop in a zoned area near the Hollywood Theaters. These refer to a planned Christian Brothers Automotive repair facility. Jonathan Wakefield was present to describe the history and philosophy of the company, which has nearly 100 stores open and has never closed a single location since 1982. This is a light repair facility with unusually good aesthetics and very conscientious management. The Council approved both items, with Councilperson Jane Kittner abstaining.
For item 5, the Council voted to accept an application for a granite counter facility proposed along Hwy 84.
Item 6 involved consideration for approval of an agreement between Woodway and the Extraco Events Center (formerly known as the Heart of Texas Coliseum) to advertise for the Woodway hotels at various events. Mr. Wes Allison was present to discuss the details. It turns out that the Woodway hotels are the closest ones to the Extraco Center. The proposal had strong support from local hotel operators, and the Council approved it unanimously.
Note: During the discussion it was mentioned that the Woodway hotels increase their rates to $200-300 per night during Baylor football weekends. City staff knew of one incident where business was lost to the less expensive Hewitt hotels because of this.
Item 7 was renewal of a special use permit to operate the Verizon communications tower in Woodway. This sits on one of the highest points in McLennan County, and Woodway has a good deal of equipment that uses this tower. The Council approved this unanimously.
Item 8 dealt with adopting an ordinance that would implement a change in the rate that Atmos Energy had proposed to charge for replacement of steel natural gas lines within the City. The allowed increase was less than half of what Atmos had sought, and this was approved.
Item 9 was the consent agenda, minute of the last meeting and also an agreement with the Waco Humane Society dealing with the cost of holding animals at their facility. The cost has gone up to $75 per day, which will be charged to any Woodway resident who brings an animal to their facility or claims an animal from there or is ultimately found to be the owner of any animal taken there by Woodway Animal Control.
Item 10 was approval of the consent agenda.
Item 11 was acceptance of the 2011 tax roll valuation. The taxable property in Woodway was assessed at $832,950,416, and the Council accepted this figure.
Item 12 was agreement of what the Woodway tax rate should be for the upcoming fiscal year. For 10-11 years now the rate has remained at $0.4569 per $100 of valuation (or 0.4569% of total assessed valuation). Of course, total tax revenue has increased significantly over this period because assessed valuations have risen (especially in the last 2 years, in my experience) and there has also been new construction in the City, adding to the tax rolls. There was a good deal of debate among the Council about whether to make a slight decrease in the tax rate this year, in light of the fact that every year the City has a surplus of roughly $500k. But this surplus is always moved to the capitol projects fund (covers expensive things like road resurfacing, etc.), which in many cities would have been a budget item anyway. So there really isn't a surplus if you consider the need for long-term budgeting for expensive projects. In the end, the Council voted 6 to 1 in favor of the current tax rate. Councilperson Jane Kittner dissented, having favored a rate of $0.4565.
Interestingly, Hewitt has raised their rate by $0.03 last year and is expected to raise it another $0.05 this year to give an overall rate of $0.55, well above that of Woodway. The quality of our City planning has prevented that kind of increase in Woodway, with credit going to mostly to City Manager Yost Zakhary.
Incidentally, anyone who knows Finance Director William Klump would know that there could not be anything unscrupulous going on with Woodway finances. William is one of the most honest people I have ever met, and is extremely knowledgeable about the City's finances.
Item 13 approved placement on a future agenda for possible adoption the proposed tax rate.
Agenda item 14 set dates for public hearings on the proposed tax rate, chosen as August 15th (5:30 pm) and August 18th (8:15 am).
The Council went into Executive Session at 6:50 pm to discuss a personnel issue. This concluded at 7:31 pm.
Items 16 and 17 (City Manager's and Council reports, resp.) were dealt with in short order and the meeting adjourned at 7:34 pm.
