City Council meets tonightThe following information came from the minutes of theregular monthly council work session and regular council meeting for November. {{more:Read more …}}
The information included discussions and announcements about options to improve communications, a multi-city health insurance coalition, the DFW
Big X mock emergency crisis exercise and a possible hatchery at Sonora Park.
Public information officer?
Last month during the regular monthly work session Mayor
Brian Johnson led a discussion on a future communication plan and provided a
handout. He stated that there are ways to improve the city?s communication
efforts. You measure priorities by how many resources you put into them and we
are not putting enough resources into communications. He stated that we are
behind the curve for videoing our meetings and uploading them to the public;
adding that other cities provide live Facebook Town Hall meetings and
Government 101 training. He feels this would cut down on the misinformation
within the community; noting that our biggest challenge is revenue.
Johnson provided each Council member the opportunity
to provide their thoughts on this issue. He suggested that the City look at
hiring a full or part time (or contract out) a Public Information Officer
(PIO). Other councilmembers seemed to be
in agreement and an action plan may be placed on the council agenda.
Health insurance coalition?
Director of Human Resources Kelly Cooper stated that she and
Bob Hart met with some mid-city communities to talk about health insurance; the
focus was to put together a coalition to provide buying power. Kelly added that
they would like to start with a feasibility study; as the cities are all
different sizes and have different types of insurance. She informed Council
that five cities participated in the discussions and the study is estimated to
cost $30,000, making the cost to Kennedale $6,000. Cooper stated that it would probably be
October 2018 before it would come to fruition.
Council members reports …
Council member Liz Carrington said at the regular council session
that she attended a meeting at the Arlington Sub-Courthouse as part of the JPS
Steering Committee; they discussed how to care for the County’s indigent. The
Committee is trying to help steer the hospital in the anticipated growth of the
Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Mayor Pro-Tem Kelly Turner stated that he recently was
active in the NCTCOG mock scenario emergency preparedness project (the ?Big
X?). There were more than 300 individuals participated in mock scenarios across
forty locations within the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He added that these
scenarios? better prepares cities to work together in case of an emergency situation.
He noted that the next step is to fund equipment, in the upcoming budget year,
where shortfalls were found.
Council member Mike Walker reminded everyone about the Angel
Tree project and that it was sponsored by the Rotary, Club, the Kennedale
School District, and the Fire Department. Additionally, he stated that the Rotary
Club appreciated the help of the Fire Department getting the flags out for
holidays.
Council member Charles Overstreet said that he had attended
the National League of Cities Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania along with Mayor Johnson and had attended some
very productive meetings and had returned with some good information.
Mayor Johnson stated that he was recently appointed the
Vice-Chair for the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition (TRTC) and that he
and several others Kennedale residents had attended the Southeast Tarrant Transportation
Partnership (SETTP) meeting. City Manager Bob Hart, Economic Development Corporation
board member Rebecca Carlton, and Jack Thompson from the Kennedale Chamber
attended the meeting along with Johnson. There was a roundtable discussion
regarding the future funding for transportation projects.
No stormwater violations, Deaver re-elected
City Manager Bob Hart announced at the Council meeting that
the city had their initial inspection for the stormwater utility system, and
there were no violations.
Hart added that the Parks and Recreation Board met earlier
this month and re-elected David Deaver as Board Chair and Mike Chandler as Vice-Chair.
Sonora Park fish hatchery?
Hart also told the Council the City has been working with
the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife in regard to stocking the pond at
Sonora Park on a regular basis; and they are being considered as an
experimental site for a hatchery.
Bring It event successful!
Keep Kennedale Beautiful City Liaison Kelly Cooper reported
on the Bring It event. She stated 90 vehicles came through for the crud cruiser
and 34 for the shredder; more than 100 tires were collected; 1.3 tons of brush
and other trash was collected; and 6 boxes of prescription drugs were turned
in.
You can find this information in the published monthly city council agenda @ Forcomplete agenda and packet information
