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Quarter 3 Key Policy IssuesMayor, Members of the Council, The purpose of this presentation is to familiarize you with the key policy issues currently underway for Quarter 3 of the FY 2009 Fiscal Year. Key policy issues can be defined as projects of significant interest to the community and City Council, projects which have complex political aspects to them, or projects that involve cross-departmental coordination requiring involvement of the City Manager’s Office. Key policy issues are defined each quarter in the CMO, as a way to focus time and resources to ensure that the projects are completed timely. 1 For Q3, the issues shown on your screen have been identified as priorities. These include the development of multi-purpose fields at the north DPS property, the design of the TW King water line and the development of the needed interlocal agreement, and exploring options for expanding the senior center. We are also working on the budget, and are actively recruiting applicants for the Southlake Business Council. In addition, we are planning a dedication ceremony for Safety Town Park, and are working with Carroll ISD to address the development of their bond projects and to determine what, if any, opportunities exist for joint use at the new site. As you all know, we have prepared and presented “State of the City” reports to City Councilmembers as a means for orienting new members to current issues and getting everyone on the same page. We are working with SPIN and SPARK to develop an old-fashioned Town Hall meeting to talk about the issue of teens in Town Square, and we are actively developing options for a Community Center. Sidewalks are of paramount importance to this community and we continue to work to deliver on this needed facility. Finally, staff has kicked off the 2030 planning process. I’ll briefly address each of these with the slides that follow. 2 I think you are all well-aware of the efforts to date to get the design process started for the multi-purpose athletic complex on the northern portion of what is now DPS property. The contract with Schrickel Rollins has been approved and signed, and design is officially underway. We will now begin the process of involving all of the stakeholders in the discussion of the look, feel and functionality of the site. Let Chris Tribble know if you have any questions on this item 3 We recently discussed this project with Council, so I know you are all up-to- speed on the details. The project is under design and we continue to work with TxDOT to nail down the matter of the ROW/easement. As we discussed, we are also working with the City Attorney’s Office to finalize a proposed interlocal agreement with the Town of Westlake. Bob Price can assist you with any questions you may have on this item. 4 If you have had lunch at the Sr. Center lately, you know that it is bursting at the seams! Best case scenario it will be a few years before we can offer a different facility, so we are exploring the option of expanding the facility. The project would be as minimal as possible, recognizing our desire to build the ultimate facility in the near future, but we feel we must bridge the gap between the inadequate existing facility and the ultimate Sr. Center. Note that we are working to secure private in-kind services as a way to make this project happen. We are currently surveying the site and developing a proposed scope and budget. Once we get to the point where we have some details to offer, we will visit with the Council about the plans and begin the process of obtaining the necessary development entitlements. Contact Ben Thatcher with questions. 5 Budget…this is always the big summer project for staff. At the Retreat we will be providing you with several presentations to officially begin our budget preparation. The items shown on the screen are the items that are being handled this Quarter. The intense effort will begin in Quarter 4, or next month. Let Shana Yelverton or Sharen Jackson know if you have questions on this item. 6 An initial group of business leaders came together early this year in a roundtable format to discuss the ideas for a program to strengthen the relationship between the City of Southlake and the business community and to provide feedback on the ideas staff had generated. The City Council then approved a resolution in March to create the Southlake Business Council, a program which will eventually evolve into a “business SPIN program.” Through the SBC, the city will be able to build upon our good working relationship with the business community by formally involving them in our work. We are currently in the process of advertising for applicants who would wish to serve on the Council and hope to bring the list of names to you for your appointment in the near future. In the meantime, we are also working on the guiding principles for the group to ensure its success. Call Greg Last if you have questions about this program. 7 Planning and fundraising efforts continue, but it is time to dedicate the site at West DPS for this park and to place a sign letting everyone know that it is coming. The ceremony will be simple and is intended to generate ongoing awareness of the project. Let Pilar Schank know if you have questions about this item. 8 With the passage of the CISD bond program, a number of school projects will be coming forward in the next few months. As was mentioned at the joint meeting, we are doing what we can to keep the projects on track and moving forward through the process so that the CISD can meet their timelines for the construction and rennovation of these building. In addition to working through the entitlement process, we are also in discussions about the possible joint use opportunities that these new facilities might create. We are planning a joint staff meeting to brainstorm ideas and are bringing the Joint Utilization Committee into the discussion. Call Ben Thatcher with questions you have on this item. 9 First of all, we want to thank Councilmembers for the time you have taken to sit with us for these reports. With new members on the Council, we thought it would be a good idea to take a little time to familiarize everyone with the city’s structure, basic budget information, accomplishments and ideas for FY 2010. These reports were formatted after our department strategic plans and we hope that they provide you with some valuable insight into the workings of the city as we head into budget season. Let Shana Yelverton know if you have any questions or comments. 10 The issue of teens in Town Square was a topic of great interest during the recent City Council election season and has been a point of discussion for some time as we have added a movie theatre, barns and nobles and “cheap eats” to the town square. In conjunction with SPIN and SPARK, it is our intention to host a Town Hall meeting to facilitate community dialogue on this subject. Tentatively scheduled for late July, this will be a good opportunity for us to talk about the efforts we have made to date and ideas we have for the future, as well as to hear what people in the community have on their minds on this topic. Contact Jim Blagg with questions on this item. 11 Finding a home for a recreation center, performing arts programs, seniors and possibly even the library has been discussed since we developed our Facility Master Plan a few years ago. The current question on the table is “Do we acquire an existing facility and retrofit it to meet our needs or do we build –to- suit? Council will be briefed on our efforts to date in the Executive Session planned for the Retreat. Let Shana Yelverton know if you have questions on this item. 12 The number one question we get is about when we will be building more sidewalks. Of course, we have made significant efforts to extend sidewalks throughout the community over the past three years, so our first order of business is to make sure that the community knows what has been accomplished and what our plans are to continue to expand our inventory through implementation of the sidewalk plan. But we also want to find a way to involve our residents in the process so that they can help promote the dedication of easements and other cooperation out in the neighborhoods. Watch for more information on this coming soon. Call Shana if you have questions. 13 Finally, there is a great deal of work that has occurred in Quarter 3 to develop the Southlake 2030 plan. A full presentation on this topic will be made at the Retreat. Ken Baker can answer your questions on this topic. 14 As you can see, Quarter 3 is very active! We hope this briefing brings you up- to-speed, but we recognize that you may have additional comments or questions. Don’t hesitate to call us and we will be happy to discuss any of these items with you. We will keep you posted of our progress on these topics. Thanks for taking the time to watch this presentation. 15