Council members prioritize new tasks [Kilgore News Herald, Texas]

Nov. 30--For weeks, Kilgore City Council members have been wondering about the scores of ideas City Manager Scott Sellers has been jotting down.

After a month of brainstorming -- with the council, department heads, members of the community and on his own -- the list has reportedly grown past 120 tasks: Sellers shared a selection of them with the council during a four-hour retreat at City Hall Monday evening, gauging their reactions and seeking input on how best to prioritize the top tasks.

With 37 ideas on the table, the group averaged five minutes of discussion on each then council members offered their rating of one (the lowest) to nine (top priority) on both their interest in the idea and the time frame ('never' through immediately) to have it accomplished.

"This is more of an opportunity to understand from you what you have for me and give you some initial insights from my first three weeks here to see where you want to go," Sellers said.

Combining both of the averaged ratings, Sellers now has his Top Ten projects. The lowest-scoring 10 ideas will effectively get the ax.

Developing a 'road improvement plan' garnered the council members highest interest rating at 8.8 and a perfect 9.0 in terms of urgency.

"In every community, roads will be the number one complaint you have," Sellers said. "However, if you don't have a road improvement plan, that criticism is justified."

Tied for spot two, participating in a 'Stephen F. Austin State University Livability Study' and establishing a 'Sewer Restoration and Damage Fund.'

Interest in the fund came as no surprise to the group -- "We have a pretty serious problem," Sellers said.

Two weeks ago, when the first major rains returned to the area, a "grease ball" in the sewer system became dislodged from its source and lodged in another area near County Line Road. In the nearest three homes, a "large amount" of raw sewage infiltrated. In one case, several inches covered the floor.

"The liability is not on the city for those backups. It obviously came from a property. It was through no real negligence of our own," Sellers explained. "However, it does not mean that the property owners were not seriously impacted."

Major repairs are underway, and the homeowners have contacted the city.

"It creates an interesting issue for the city. From my perspective, I'd like to help them any way I can."

Sellers created a similar program while working with the City of Centralia, Ill. The city created a $20,000 fund and, so long as the issue was not caused by negligence on the homeowner's part (i.e. a problem with the main, not a lateral line), the fund would cover a maximum of $2,500 per claim.

"Let's bring it up at our next meeting," council member Neil Barr said. "I'm all for it."

Regarding the livability study, SFA approached Kilgore Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Amanda Nobles with the idea, Sellers said. Graduate students there intend to study Kilgore in terms of housing, incentives, sustainability, strengths, weaknesses and other factors free of charge. A pilot program funded by grants, the project will include community forums, focus groups, stakeholder meetings, studies at Kilgore ISD and Kilgore College and a final overview of the demographics, social infrastructure and quality of life attributes.

"I'm always an advocate for more information, more knowledge," Sellers said.

Other top tier ideas vetted by the council members focus on further planning and organization: creating a capital improvements plan (short and long-term), creating a strategic plan, updating the city's comprehensive plan and creating a sewer model (incorporating the costs of future improvements tied to the ongoing fee structure).

Idea No. 7 focuses on meeting with local developers for a roundtable discussion of ways to promote, improve and continue retail and industrial growth.

One of Sellers most passionate pitches focused on further developing Kilgore's derricks as a "primary lure" for growth. The idea met with mixed reactions from council members during discussion, but the group ultimately asked for further development of the notion, rating it ninth in the top 10.

"In the downtown world a primary lure is what sets a downtown apart from every downtown in the nation. It's your unique draw to the world," Sellers explained. "Right now, the current thinking is experiential. You have to provide an experience for people to want to come downtown."</p>

Especially, Sellers added, when your audience includes Generations X, Y and 'Millennials,' the younger members of the population who want to be entertained.

Once the experience is established developers, too, will want to capitalize on the crowds.

"How can we combine the derricks with water, which is the No. 1 lure for downtowns?" Sellers asked the council.

His idea: find a way to draw on the success of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, taking the timed eruptions of water and the musical soundtrack and giving it a signature Kilgore feel.

"Why don't we recreate something like that with the derricks where we bring back our heritage, with the derricks erupting, just like the first oil boom?"

Maintenance, cost, space and other logistics tempered the council members' enthusiasm for the project, but the idea averaged an interest rating and a 7.0 in terms of timing.

"It's certainly out-of-thebox thinking," Mayor Ronnie Spradlin said.

Out of the 37 total ideas, the bottom 10 that didn't make the cut include crafting specific 'Procurement Spending Limits' beyond current guidelines, seeding a revolving loan fund using a USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant, investing money in rail crossing improvements to develop the downtown into a 'Quiet Zone' and beginning pre-council meetings to review the coming agenda.

The council also expressed low interest and low priority on studying EMS response toward the Kilgore Fire Department taking it over. Council members gave their lowest rankings to funding a 'Tuition Reimbursement Program' for city employees.

Prior to the ideas workshop, Sellers discussed his revisions to the city's organizational chart.

"I played around with this quite a bit to get what I think will be more streamlined," he said.

There are "oddities" in the existing chart, Sellers added. Among other changes, the new structure places utility billing under the finance department and defines the Public Works Director position. Those responsibilities include streets, parks and cemeteries, equipment services and utilities; it leaves code enforcement, building maintenance and inspections and the swimming pool under General Services Director B.J. Owen.

Sellers also plans to parse out the Human Resources Department: "The main reason is typically, when there's human resources issue, you want that to be a standalone department."

The HR department currently handles payroll, which typically falls under finance, and he would like to pursue adding risk management to Human Resources Director Barbara Thurmon's duties.

Numerous organizational changes have also been applied in the police department and are underway in the fire department "to make it more streamlined," Sellers said.

Regarding on-going working, Sellers prefers to meet with each department head one-on-one in a two-week rotation (in addition to a general meeting with all of them) -- "It's a very good way for me to keep good tabs on what the department heads are doing."

Coordination also becomes more efficient with a monthly reporting tool, he added.

"I live and die by lists. I built a fairly extensive tool using Excel (in Montrose) and basically made a task list for each department. This is a good way for me to make sure things don't fall through the cracks."

After converting the tool to a Web language the city manager, department heads and council members can log in and check the status of ongoing projects.

Another change in store for the city will be a fiber upgrade. Currently, two T1 lines from AT&T provide 1.5 megabyte per second download capability. Network Communications has offered 10 megabytes per second for the same monthly cost of $750, beginning Jan. 1.

An overall review of Information Technology at the city is due as well, Sellers said. Currently, IT duties fall to a contractor who averages 40 hours a week on a myriad of activities. There is no work order system, no monitoring or oversight, Sellers added, and he hopes an IT committee of city personnel can ensure proper prioritizing and best use of IT services -- "Just certain things we're going to reign in and tackle one at a time."

IDEA INTEREST TIME FRAME RANK

Road Improvement Plan ......................................8.8..............9.0 ............1

Stephen F. Austin State Univ. Livability Study..........8.4..............8.8 ............2

Sewer Restoration and Damage Fund ....................8.4..............8.8 ............2

Creation of a Capital Improvements Plan

( Short & Long- term)........................................8.6..............8.4 ............4

Creation of Strategic Plan ....................................8.4..............8.6 ............5

Comprehensive Plan Update ................................8.2..............8.2 ............6

Developer Roundtable ........................................8.0..............8.0 ............7

Sewer Model ....................................................8.0..............7.6 ............8

Primary Lure -- Derricks ......................................8.2..............7.0 ............9

Investment Policy ..............................................7.4..............7.6 ..........10

Sidewalk Improvement Plan ................................7.6..............7.2 ..........11

Growth Committee -- Annex., Infill, Incentives ........7.2..............7.6 ..........12

Storm Water Model ............................................7.6..............7.0 ..........13

Disc Golf Course ................................................7.2..............7.2 ..........14

Youth Advisory Commission/Youth Council ............6.8..............7.4 ..........15

PEG Channel -- PEG Fee, Live Broadcast ................7.2..............6.8 ..........16

Risk Manager ....................................................7.0..............7.0 ..........17

Internship Program ............................................6.6..............7.4 ..........18

Health Inspection Fee..........................................6.8..............7.0 ..........19

Rusk County Sales Tax ........................................6.8..............6.6 ..........20

Oil Well Inspection Program ................................6.8..............6.6 ..........20

Fiber Loop ........................................................6.8..............6.4 ..........22

Add Plan Links to Agenda

( Master Plan, Strategic Plan, Cap. Impr. Plan) ....6.4..............6.2 ..........23

Explore Alternative Workweek ..............................6.4..............6.2 ..........23

Facilities Master Plan ..........................................6.4..............5.8 ..........25

Volunteer Program ..............................................6.0..............6.2 ..........26

Amend Guidelines and Criteria for Tax

Abatement -- 380 Rebates on Large Retail..........5.8..............6.0 ..........27

Procurement Spending Limits................................5.4..............5.4 ..........28

Seed a Revolving Loan Fund

( USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant) ..............5.4..............5.2 ..........29

Energy Performance Contracting............................5.4..............5.0 ..........30

Quiet Zone ........................................................5.2..............5.2 ..........31

EMS Study ........................................................5.2..............4.8 ..........32

Ghost Walk........................................................4.8..............4.4 ..........33

Pre- Council Meeting ............................................4.2..............4.4 ..........34

Electric Utility ....................................................4.0..............4.2 ..........35

Events Use Permit ..............................................3.4..............3.2 ..........36

Tuition Reimbursement Program............................3.2..............2.8 ..........37

Ratings averaged from council votes on a 1-9 scale.

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