Council pushes staff to standardize grant records after member questions; two councilmembers to draft template

JERSEY VILLAGE, Texas — A disagreement over grant-record keeping at the March 16 Jersey Village City Council meeting ended with council direction for two members to draft a standardized spreadsheet template while staff will not be asked to expend significant historical research time until the template is approved.

A councilmember asked staff for a comprehensive, auditable spreadsheet listing all grant applications with details such as dollar amounts, city match, submission and due dates, grant sponsor and the location of submitted documents. The city manager said staff already maintains internal tracking and weekly updates but agreed to cooperate: two councilmembers (Connie Rossi and Councilmember Hughes were named as the pair that would draft the template) will use their own time to prepare a proposed format and fill in available information; that template will then be presented to full council for direction before staff is asked to pull older records.

The city manager cautioned that compiling historical records could require significant staff time and should be prioritized by council; several councilmembers said they wanted an easy-to-read, "living" document for future grant work. "If council wants me to change my internal processes… that needs to come from the full council," the city manager said, while a councilmember said, "Let's do it — you and I, Connie, we'll put it together." Council agreed on the two-member approach and on not immediately redirecting staff time to extensive historical backfilling.

What's next: Two councilmembers will draft a spreadsheet template and present it to the full council; staff agreed to use the approved template for ongoing tracking and will wait for council direction before doing extensive historical compilation.