Burleson City Council Recap from July 22nd, 2024
A long meeting with discussions on ITS and next year's budget
The Burleson City Council meeting on July 22, 2024, was called to order at 5:31 PM by Mayor Chris Fletcher. The posted agenda included one proclamation, three presentations, four consent items, one development application, fourteen general items, and five reports by city staff. Frank Pace from Wings of Hope delivered the invocation. Dan McClendon, city councilmember for place 5, was absent from the meeting. All other councilmembers were present. (As a note, due to the absence of McClendon, all votes mentioned here that were passed “unanimously” were done so with a 6 person number instead of the usual 7).
The meeting began with Mayor Chris Fletcher declaring that July 2024 is Parks and Recreation month in the city of Burleson — congratulations to the entire Parks & Rec team for the wonderful work that they do, and thank you to the director, Jen Basham, for the fantastic leadership!
Further congratulations to Crispin Gipson, who was recognized by Cheryl Marthiljohni, director of human resources, as the employee of the quarter for the 2nd quarter of 2024!
DeAnna Phillips, who is the director of community services, presented this quarter’s “adoptable pet of the quarter". Thor is an estimated one-year-old Beagle mix, and he seems extremely lovable, even licking the face of an attendee during his showoff. Last quarter’s adoptable pet, Wesley, was successfully adopted out after the council meeting and is, as described by DeAnna, “very loved.”
Lastly during the public presentations portion of the meeting, DeAnna Phillips also presented to recognize the communications team for winning several awards at the TAMIO event (Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers). Totally, the team brought home eight awards, including awards of excellence for the 311 “Who You Gonna Call” PSA, best use of innovation for the trail etiquette signs, best use of photography for Burleson’s event photos, and several others. She pointed out several people on the team who should be recognized, including Christina Brinkman, Collin Gregory, Marcus Jackson, Kerry Chavez, and Jessica Pells, saying, “We wanted to thank the City Council for trusting us”.
During the community interest items of the agenda, where the councilmembers speak about things going on in or around the community that people may be interested in, Victoria Johnson mentioned Sonic the K9’s fifth birthday is on August 9th, and donations will be accepted to benefit the Animal Shelter. Mayor Chris Fletcher also spoke on the Cleburne Railroaders game on August 21st, where they have partnered with the Burleson Animal Shelter, and $5 from every ticket sold will benefit the shelter.
Citizen Appearances
A citizen named Jacqueline Avila did request to speak to the council, and spoke about homelessness. “So many veterans and minorities are disproportionately affected by homelessness” says Avila, requesting that the council adopt a stronger and more effective policy to assist with homelessness in the city.
Consent Agenda Items
Originally, there were four items on the consent agenda. However, one item was moved to the general discussion part of the agenda as requested by the city manager Tommy Ludwig due to it being related to ITS items that were being discussed. The remaining three items were approved unanimously:
Approval of the minutes from the June 17 regular council meeting.
Approval of a community facilities contract with Yourang, LLC. for the modification of pedestrian street lights in the amount of $12,950.44.
Approval of a minute order ratifying the 4A economic development corporation board’s action approving speaking contracts for the 2025 Project U Leadership Conference.
Development Applications
Only one development application was presented at this council meeting, and it was regarding changing 3162 S Burleson Blvd from a Commercial/Agricultural zone to a Planned Developmental zone for industrial development. Rob Orr, the applicant, agreed to higher building standards to match the requirements by the city code for business park design standards, as it would assist with the change of zone. There was no discussion by the councilmembers about this change request and it was approved unanimously. To note, this vote was taken manually with raised hands due to an IT issue.
General Agenda Items - Item 7M
Item 7M on the formal agenda was moved forward to the beginning of the general agenda due to some citizens in attendance who may need to make comments or ask questions but could not stay till the end of all general agenda items. This item, presented by Alex Phillips, had to do with the review and approval by council of the Hotel/Motel grant applications. The council had previously approved up to $130,000 in grant rewards from the Hotel/Motel tax fund. For those who are unaware, the Hotel/Motel tax, or Hot/Mot for short, is a tax collected from Burleson areas hotels and motels that can only be used for items that create or promote local tourism, promote arts, or anything similar to the advancement of tourism and community engagement. As such, the grants are awarded to specific applicants who are hosting, or planning to host, events within the city that has the potential to increase tourism or increase community engagement.
The grant application opened up on April 1st and closed on April 12th. On April 24th, potential grant recipients (pending council approval) were notified and this council meeting was for presentation and rewarding of grants requested pending any changes requested by council. This year’s grant applicants selected for potential rewards include:
Harvest Moon Festival, requesting $6,000 to extend promotion and advertisements to bring more people’s attention to the event. This event’s goal is to attract visitors to an up & coming area of the city outside of the downtown district, and this request comes after receiving $5,000 for the 2023 year.
Halloween Pub Crawl, requesting $6,000 to extend promotion and advertisements. This is a new request, not previously awarded, and the goal is to encourage patrons to visit a multitude of area retail stores and restaurants in downtown.
St. Paddy’s Day Pub Crawl, requesting $6,000 to extend promotion and advertisements. The goal of this event to encourage patrons to visit a multitude of area retail stores and restaurants in downtown, and this request comes after receiving $6,000 in 2023.
City on a Hill, requesting $12,000 (same award as 2023), for the event’s 12th year that “provides a platform for all pillars of the community to cultivate unity amongst community members, local businesses, schools, churches, and non-profit organizations” as noted in the presentation.
Autism Awareness Music Fest, a new event, requesting $5,850 for a community fundraising event that provides a platform to raise funding for Autism awareness.
Vineyard Vibes, another new event, requesting $14,950 for a community fundraiser to benefit Harvest House.
BTX Brewfest, requesting $18,000 for the 4th annual event. The grant funds will assist with marketing costs including mailers, social media ads, radio promotions, and video marketing. This event “offers engaging activities, quality entertainment, food, beverages, and partners with local businesses” as noted in the presentation.
North TX Jellystone Park requested $93,500, an increase from 2023’s award of $75,000, to assist with an events marketing campaign to bring awareness to their events like the “Fall-O-Fun Event” in October 2024, the “Thanksgiving Holiday Break Event” in November 2024, and several others.
After the presentation by Alex, discussions began by the councilmembers. Larry Scott (Place 4) expressed concern that the total amount requested was $162,300, approximately $32,300 over the initial budgeted amount, and asked what could be done to bring it back under the initial amount. Alex replied that a 20% across the board cut to all requested grant rewards would do just that, and Councilmember Scott suggested doing that.
Afterward, Victoria Johnson (Place 1) said that while she agrees with reducing the amount, she wants to discuss each request individually instead of an across the board decrease, saying that, specifically for Jellystone Park’s request, “the $75,000 given last year was a good amount and we should give that again”, with Alexa Boedeker (Place 3) repeating Councilmember Johnson’s sentiment. Adam Russell (Place 6) suggested a different approach of giving all of the applicants who were repeat applicants exactly what they got the previous year, while approving the new ones, for a total of $141,800. Councilmember Boedeker asked Mr. Phillips if there was a way to track the impact on local hotel/motel stays that these event would have, with him replying “If you don’t have hotel operators willing to be a partner with you, it’s really hard, if not impossible, to track what these events are bringing in”.
After this discussion, Councilmember Russell announced a motion to approve with a 20% decrease across the board, and the vote passed unanimously. Again, this vote was done manually by hand count due to an IT issue, and the council then took a ten minute break while IT resolved the issues.
General Agenda Items Continued
Item 7A was presented by Richard Abernethy, Director of Administrative Services, and it was for a resolution authorizing ratification of expenditures for credit card processing payments to Paymentus Corporation in the total of $121,000. Mr. Abernethy stated, “We are not asking for additional funds. These have already been approved. This is for compliance purposes to have this authorized”, and also noted that they will not be renewing their contract with Paymentus after this current contract expires in October of 2026. There was no discussion by the council on this and the vote was unanimous for approval.
The next item, 7B, was presented by Jen Basham, who is the director of Parks & Rec. After public art was designated in the 2022 strategic plan as a priority, Jen and her team got to work and created a five-member committee. Now, they are wanting to have a master plan developed, and are asking for $75,000 to assist with the creation of that master plan. There was no further discussion by the council and the vote was unanimous for approval.
Items 7C and 7D were presented together, again by Jen Basham, and it was discussing changes to Meadowcrest Park including the creation of two Pickleball courts (7C) and also the installation and replacement of playground equipment (7D). The Pickleball court installation would be through a company named Dobbs Tennis Courts LLC in the amount of $88,914, and the playground equipment would be through PlayWell for a total of $293,853.89.
During Jen’s presentation, she also presented Parks & Rec’s new approach to designing and redesigning any park playgrounds in the city, including an entire “Park Design Mindset” with seven principles to “be fair, included, smart, independent, safe, active, and comfortable.” Their approach is to make sure that any new park design and development is inclusive to as many groups as they can, including items like synthetic turf, custom play systems, sensory panels, musical features, inclusive swing sets, and celebration spinners as are being suggested for Meadowcrest Park. The new design will also make sure that there is more shade for the kids and other attendees. After the presentation, Mayor Fletcher asked if the Pickleball courts had nets around them, and Jen confirmed that they would. Councilmember Russel further asked how far away the courts will be from the residences, and Jen Basham confirmed that they will be as far away as they can be given their location in the park. Councilmember Scott suggested that if extra funds were available after everything, that they put grass down around the area of the playground and pickleball courts so that moisture will be better soaked up when rain events occur. After this, there was no further discussion, and both 7C and 7D passed unanimously.
ITS on the General Agenda
The next nine items (including items 7E through 7L as well as 5D from the consent agenda that was requested moved by the city manager) were all regarding the city’s work on implementing the new Intelligent Traffic System (ITS). All items were presented by Eric Oscarson, Deputy City Manager.
This included the following items:
7E - Executing an agreement with TxDOT to take over the 27 traffic signals within Burleson that they currently maintain, thereby bringing control as well as obligations of repair, replacement, and maintenance under Burleson
7F - Approving a purchasing agreement with Iteris for equipment related to the ITS, including software and hardware for the ATMS (Advanced Traffic Management System), vehicle detection systems, signal performance measures, travel time modules, build-out of the traffic management center including the video wall, and hardware installation and system integration in the total amount of $1,831,392.99.
7G - Approving a purchase agreement with Paradigm Traffic Systems to purchase and install an emergency vehicle preemption system within the vehicle units and the units on the signals (this would allow for emergency vehicles to trigger a command that would turn all lights red, for example, within a specific path, so that they could advance unencumbered). This contract is for a total amount of $350,910.
7H - Approving a contract for services with LJA Engineering to design a website for the ITS where it can be used for monitoring traffic, seeing and receiving alerts, access to traffic cameras, and more for the citizens of Burleson, in the amount of $150,000.
7I - Approving a purchase agreement with Solid Border, Inc. in the amount of $488,670.64 for firewall services for the ITS and ATMS.
7J - Approving a purchase agreement with CDW-G in the amount of $118,831.50 for Axis Camera/Mounts/Milestone/Switches.
7K - Approving a further purchase agreement with CDW-G in the amount of $93,259.76, also for Axis Camera/Mounts/Milestone/Switches.
7L - Approving a purchase agreement with GTS Technology Solutions in the amount of $198,261.64 for a Cradlepoint system.
5D - Approving a purchase agreement with Iteris, Inc. in the amount of $400,000 for replacement parts for traffic signal systems.
After the presentation of all of these items, a long and lively discussion commenced. Councilmember Scott asked if there was an agreement in place with Iteris to store or warehouse surplus equipment in the event that more is needed, but Eric Oscarson replied that there was not, but the plan was for Burleson to purchase the surplus and stockpile it within the city so that it could be replaced or repaired as needed. Councilmember Johnson continued this discussion asking about interlocal agreements about sharing items needed for repairs and replacements and if they would look into it.
Councilmember Johnson continued with her discussion after pivoting to a different topic, saying “We have a lot of needs in this city for roads and signals, and our needs are so much greater than the funds we have available — we may be getting ahead of ourselves here”. The worry that she has is that the city, through the executed agreement with TxDOT, will be taking on 27 extra signals when we’re already having issues maintaining what we have, noting that with the exception of this agreement, “we are not obligated to take these over until we hit, by census numbers, over 50,000 citizens.”
She continued with “Knowing we’re in the negative on the current management, taking on more doesn’t make much sense to me right now —- I just don’t know if right now is the right time to take on this much of a step — there is a potential to bring a lot of chaos with a system we don’t know much about.”
Mayor Fletcher stated that since the money for this system was approved by a citizen vote in a bond package (a sentiment that Councilmember Russell echoed later on), it couldn’t just be taken to be used elsewhere. However, Councilmember Johnson states that she doesn’t want to use the money, but having it there without using it should increase capacity that could help push more work toward fixing streets and potholes. Councilmember Scott comes out in approval of the system and the proposals, stating that Burleson should take over these signals and take care of and have control over our own city instead of TxDOT, which Councilmember Russell agreed with.
Next, Councilmember Johnson expressed concern that the number of full time employees in the traffic management system could potentially not be enough (as discussed at the June 17th council meeting, there would be two full time employees here). Eric Oscarson talks about implementing this same system when he was employed with Sugar Land, Texas, stating that the city had over double the population of Burleson and two employees were plenty for the needs of the system.
Councilmember Boedeker speaks up after a brief conversation about 174 repairs needed by Mayor Fletcher and says, “I’m not saying no (that) it doesn’t need to be done — just not right now,” and follows it up with “roads are in terrible shape, and we’re not going to take care of those, we’re going to take on a whole new project.”
Councilmember Russell asks Eric Oscarson if the project will be completed before the expected widening of 174 (this roadway has been approved by TxDOT for a widening from Elk Drive to Wicker Hill Road, with an expected start date of mid-2025. You can learn more about this on TxDOT’s Project Tracker - Control Section Job #001901146), and it was confirmed that it should be completed by then.
Councilmember Phil Anderson (Place 2) also states similar objections as Councilmembers Johnson and Boedeker, but ultimately says that he is unsure of how he feels about this overall. The Mayor follows up with “Do you get more bang for your buck on the light system? This is the policy question at hand.”
After this, the discussion ends and there are several motions to bring each item up for a vote. Items 7E, 7F, 7G, 7I, 7J, 7K, and 7L all passed 5/1, with Councilmember Johnson being the single “no” vote. Items 7H and 5D passed unanimously.
General Agenda Item 7N
Item 7N was presented by Tony McIlwain, Development Services Director, and was regarding the PID at Panchasarp Farms. The ultimate outcome of this presentation was to approve an order scheduling a public hearing on August 5th to discuss an ordinance that would levy assessments on the property within the district. There was no discussion by the council after this presentation and the vote passed unanimously.
Reports and Presentations - Low Water Crossings
There were five reports/presentations at this meeting. The first presentation was given by Michelle McCullough, Deputy Director of Development Services and City Engineer regarding low water crossings within the city. Of primary concern within the presentation included CR1019, South Fox Lane, Hulen Street, and SW Tarrant Avenue. CR1019 is already slated to be realigned, which will solve the low water crossing issue. South Fox Lane, currently ending at a guardrail, has several issues because once it is flooded, there are very little options for people to leave or for emergency services to respond. A possible suggestion would be to connect it to Hidden Creek Parkway. A suggestion was put forth for Hulen Street for there to be a bridge over the railroad, but there is currently no plan to do this and the estimated cost would be over $20 million dollars. Lastly, for SW Tarrant Avenue, the council had already approved a sewer erosion control project that should begin construction in 2025, so this should help mitigate the issues.
Councilmember Scott did suggest that for other places within the city with low water crossing issues that they look into technologies that could trigger an alert to emergency services when water reaches a certain threshold that would send them directly to the issue instead of having to wait on reports or eyewitness accounts of low water crossings.
Reports and Presentations - Budgetary Supplemental Requests
The next presentation was regarding supplemental requests and a top-level overview of where the city stands fiscally going into budget season. For the general fund there were some supplemental requests by the City Manager with very little discussion by the council. This included:
ITS Equipment and staffing
Slope mower for parks and rec
Real time crime center and addons to the Flock LPR system for the police
Axon tethered drone and air streaming software for the police
On-site vet for community and animal services
Further funding for the Burleson Opportunity Fund
Tactical gear for the police
The only item with discussions was regarding the tactical gear for the police, where Councilmember Boedeker suggests that it may not be needed, stating that she “doesn’t want it to just sit on a shelf and not be used.” The city manager did reply that “It’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”
There were no other important councilmember discussions for the other supplemental requests, and those include:
A full time Economic Development Analyst through the 4A fund
Concrete repairs at Chisenhall, a wireless alert system at the BRiCk, scoreboard controllers, and funding for a Monday Day Camp since JISD is going to a four-day school week starting this year. All of these were through the 4B fund and were for parks and recreation. Additionally, there was a request for tree installation and irrigation.
Hidden Creek Golf Course requested a Chemigation system (this is used for purifying the water so that the greens are healthier)
A full time radio technician position through the IT fund.
Furthermore, discussed in this presentation was the potential requested rate increases at Hidden Creek Golf Course. For the discussions on the fiscal standing of the city and the five-year forecast, the overall outlook was the same, with a few positives on increases expected in the amounts coming in.
Reports and Presentations - Capital Improvement Program
The next presentation, presented by Eric Oscarson, was about the proposed 2024-2025 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). This is going over street rebuilds, storm sirens, fire apparatuses, police expansion, and other capital projects to be expected to be started and finished within the next five years. There were no comments or discussions from the city council.
Reports and Presentations - Human Resources
Next up was Cheryl Marthiljohni, Director of Human Resources, to present the 2024-2025 compensation, employee policy updates, and employee benefits plan. Upon talking about the compensation strategy on base pay, which they’re planning to look at peer cities and target a base pay of 90% of the midpoint for like-positions, Councilmember Scott asks what drove her to that 90% percentage instead of just targeting the exact midpoint. Tommy Ludwig, City Manager, stated that that policy was in place long before even he started in his position as City Manager and that it is a very aggressive policy and he believes that it has been successful in bringing over fantastic talent.
Other proposed changes including adding an extra personal day for employees, reviewing a 4x10 work schedule for certain departments and a 48/96 work schedule for certified fire personnel, adding a benefit that focuses on well-being for first responders, pet insurance, work from home policies, and an enhanced training and development program. After the presentation, Councilmember Anderson made comments that he does not like the pet insurance, or the work from home policies, admitting that it is a little old fashioned of him to dislike it. Tommy Ludwig does remind the council that the pet insurance would not be paid by the city, and that while he understands the concerns about work from home, it’s a push to be more flexible and competitive in the job market.
Reports and Presentations - Delivery of Ambulance Transportation Services
The last report of the evening was presented by Casey Davis, Fire Chief, regarding the Burleson Fire/EMS delivery of Ambulance Transportation Services. Between October 2023 to June 2024, Bureslon EMS ran 3,921 calls. The average time it took for a unit to be notified for them to be enroute was 33 seconds, while the average time it took the unit to arrive at the scene as 4 minutes and 34 seconds — the total average time spending time on calls was 1 hour and 7 minutes.
Additionally, there was a discussion about a possible EMS subscription plan, where households or businesses can make an upfront payment of an established fee so that any possible future expenses not covered by insurance are offset.
Other cities like Arlington, Cedar Hill, and Fort Worth have subscription models, at $60 annually for Arlington, $5 monthly for Cedar Hill, and either $69 or $350 annually for Fort Worth depending on the tier.
The suggestion made during this presentation if the city were to approve a subscription model would be an annual $100 fee per household with other requirements necessary to qualify for the plan that would be approved at a later date.
Mayor Chris Fletcher commented that he doesn’t understand the necessity of it, especially whenever it makes the city have more obligations on managing yet another process. Councilmembers Scott, Anderson, Russell, and Johnson agreed that the city should not move forward with the subscription model.
Upcoming Meetings
The next city council meeting is expected to be held on August 5th, 2024.
Closing
The mayor closed the meeting at 11:40 pm after recess into executive session at 10:42 pm. For more details, including materials, presentations, and memos in the official record, you can view the official minutes here. You can additionally watch the recording of the meeting here.