Following a lengthy closed session at the regular meeting Monday, March 9, the Dublin City Council made official decisions on the city manager and municipal judge positions.
Dublin Volunteer Fire Department Chief and community educator Paul Warner was voted in to the judge position.
To increase accountability and coordination between departments (as well as save money), the council also unanimously voted to establish a tri-director administrator governance structure. Under this model, duties of city management will be divided between three roles: Director of Public Safety (appointed to Dublin Police Chief Cameron Ray) Director of Finance and Administration (appointed to City Secretary Kim Seider) Director of Infrastructure & Development (appointed to Public Works Director Cory James) The model provides detailed list COUNCIL A5 of responsibilities for efficient management with all three working together and reporting to the City Council. To compensate for the extra duties, a portion of the City Manager salary is being split between the three directors and the remainder is going back to the city budget.
In announcing the changes, Dublin Mayor David Leatherwood said: “This change reflects the City Council’s commitment to responsible governance and fiscal stewardship. By restructuring the administrative model, the City of Dublin will save approximately $56,000 per year in administrative costs. The only additional position created under this structure will be one additional Utility Department worker, which will strengthen the city’s ability to maintain infrastructure and deliver reliable services to residents.”
(More information on the Tri-Director changes will be provided in a story in the March 19 edition.)
The council also reviewed a resolution requesting a report on coordination between the Texas Department of Transportation and the city on the ongoing Patrick Street renovation and drainage r e p l a c e m e n t s . Councilmember Bo Kabala proposed the respectful request for better information and communication after listening to the concerns of resident and business owners who desired more details on the time frame and work updates.
Kabala said the update didn’t have to be large (one or two paragraphs) but it should come from the city so the community knows that they are there for them. “They want to feel like the city has their back,” Kabala said.
Ray (acting as interim City Manager earlier in the meeting) appreciated the idea but said it might be better to use James’ relationship with the contractor to get up-todate information rather than pressing TxDOT and possibly affecting their working relationship. Kabala and the council agreed to the informal requests if that would work better.
The council suggested updates monthly and if there were any major changes and James and Ray agreed to the informal updates.
Councilmembers also unanimously approved projects for a water line extension agreement and the start of construction of a 80’ x 80’ hangar at the Dublin airport.
The 2-inch water line was being requested by Jag Metals who had purchased a large lot at 377/Hwy 6 at the bypass intersection. The business was looking to hook into a 2-inch line that would serve the business’s needs.
Councilmembers asked about the price difference between making it a 6-inch line that could serve more than just Jag. Jag was comfortable with the cost of a 2 inch but the city quoted a much higher price since the 6 inch was 1,600 feet further back and utilizing contract labor.
The hangar construction was being sought by Rob Stokes who requested some changes to the city airport’s lease agreement for better transparency about when the price might increase (the lease says ‘after 10 years’ but not specifically) and if a hangar owner in good standing has first claim on keeping the hangar once the lease ends.
Stokes said he’d like to build and that the development would likely increase interest in the airport. He also said the airport is situated in a good place with its proximity to neighboring towns but needs improvement. It was reported the city would be in line for a Rural Airport Maintenance Project grant soon and the more improvements made, the better the odds for grant approval.
Councilmember Nancy Williams appreciated the construction represented a sizable investment and that the city should be a help and not a hindrance to people making improvements.
Ray suggested taking Stokes’ lease requests to the attorney for approval and the amended lease could be approved in the April meeting. In the meantime, they approved Stokes starting the process of building the hangar since no one expected any contention with his requests.
Council also reviewed a rate increase from Waste Connections and voted to absorb the 32-cent rise for a single poly cart to residents. Council, however, voted to increase the cost of an extra poly cart from $7.10 to $8.80 at Seider’s recommendation since that would be harder to cover. (The city had not gone up on extra carts previously and was losing money on them.)
The council also unanimously approved two grant applications. The first was an 80/20 split to the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority for license plate readers. The second was a Community Development Block Program grant for sidewalks under downtown revitalization. The city previously missed the grant by four points so it’s hoped that it will be awarded this time.
The council also unanimously approved a variance to Miles Gilman for 233 Gracie, allowing construction to the zero-lot line after it was assured that the three-bedroom residence wouldn’t block city services access to the adjoining alley. The vote was preceded by a public hearing in which no one spoke against.
Council also unanimously voted to cancel May 2 elections as only the incumbents filed in the council and mayoral races.