07192011 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Steve Parker, Director of Finance, presented the City Council with the functional analysis for the Finance Department. During his presentation he provided explained the department by functions performed by the following: finance, utility business services, and purchasing, the personnel structures of those sub - departments, operating budget, and overall departmental accomplishments. 4. Receive staff presentation re a rding LEED /Sustainable design practices with re gards to multifamilv residential development, and provide direction to staff. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Council Member Porterfield and a second by Council Member Terry the City Council voted (6) for and (0) opposed, to postpone Item #4 until the August 2, 2011 meeting. The motion carried. 5. Invocation Chaplin Clint Foehner of the San Marcos Fire Department provided the invocation. 6. Pledg of Alle eiance Council Member Shane Scott led the assembly in the Pledge. • 7. 30 Minute Citizen Comment Period Tyler Barlow, 1303 Conway, was present to address Council regarding the banning of plastic bags. He stated that he didn't think that we could look at the resources we currently have with such a free mindset, and not take into account plastic bags as something that you can give to people for free. He stated that the City of Brownsville was the first City in Texas to pass a bag ban. Mr. Barlow feels that it's not a matter of if these bag bans will begin to come about; he thinks it's a matter of when. He feels that this is not something that we can look at so lightly anymore. Layne Duesterhaus, 600 N. Comanche, also address the City Council regarding the banning of plastic bags. Mr. Duesterhaus worked for a non - profit organization in Austin, and this same non- profit along with the Central Texas Waste Alliance has come up with some strong initiatives in the City of Austin to ban plastic bags. He believes that this is a big problem with a simple solution. Mr. Duesterhaus quoted a statistic from Keep America Beautiful that the cost of litter is estimated at $11.5 billion per year on abatement and cleanup activities nationwide. According to Keep America Beautiful about 20% of that is plastic material. In Austin alone taxpayers pay $850,000 per year according to a report in November 2010 by the City of Austin Solid Waste Services Department. There are other costs of course, such as the costs to the environment. Machinery at recycling facilities become clogged and operations halt when plastic bags become entangled in the machines which costs time and money. These figures and this initiative have been endorsed by Todd Gregory the CEO of Texas Disposal Systems. Mr. Duesterhaus provided Council with written data regarding this initiative as well.