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HomeMy WebLinkAbout062209R CC MinL~J' The City of West University Place A Neighborhood City CITY COUNCIL Bob Kelly, Mayor Bob Fry, Councilmember George Boehme, Councilmember Steven Segal, Councilmember Chuck Guffey, Councilmember STAFF Michael Ross, City Manager Alan Petrov, City Attorney Thelma Lenz, City Secretary CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES City Council of the City of West University Place, Texas, met in special and regular sessions Monday, June 22, 2009, in the Municipal Building Council Chambers, 3800 University Boulevard, West University Place, Texas beginning at 5:00 p.m. Council and staff in attendance: Mayor Kelly, Mayor Pro Tern Fry, Councilmembers Boehme, Segal and Guffey, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Peifer, Human Resources Director Standorf, Parks and Recreation Administrative Manager White, Police Chief Walker, Fire Chief Ralls, Finance Director Daugherty, and IT Director McFarland. Notice of the special meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kelly called the special meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Agenda items were as follows. 1. City Council Orientation Matters related to general Council orientation, setting goals and objectives, and other related matters. Council and staff received an informational binder and City Manager Michael Ross presented a PowerPoint presentation of the information, which included information on our Home Rule form of government, web links to the Charter, Rules of Procedures, the Texas Open Meetings Act, and the Texas Open Records Act. Other information included departmental organization charts and information, job descriptions of appointed officials, a list and update of 2007-2009 goals, and the proposed goals for 2009-2011. The 2009-2011 goals were discussed. As a result of the discussions, Mr. Ross composed the following list of the goals and prioritized them as follows: 1. Continue to implement voter approved plans for Recreational Facilities, including Colonial Park, Recreation Center and Community Center. 2. Address police and fire facility deficiencies. 3. Resolve storm water detention requirement and responsibility on the Bellaire/College Transportation and Drainage project. Harris County Flood Control District has notified the City that we are responsible for detention, which equals a $1.2 million cost. 4. Determine available options for City on recently passed Senate Bill 1410 (residential sprinklers). City Council Minutes, June 22, 2009 5. Establish capital improvement sinking fund to pay annual projects. Provide preventative maintenance program parameters. 6. Continue evaluation of employee's overall compensation package in an attempt to contain costs where possible, while continuing to maintain high performing staff. 7. Consider options for use of City owned properties. 8. Develop naming rights plan for parks and recreational facilities. 9. Evaluate solicitor's ordinance for effectiveness and recommend necessary improvements. 10. Pursue purchase and development of Additional Neighborhood Park Space per approved 2006 bond election. 11. Evaluate City Council terms and determine if improvements are needed by Charter amendment. After discussing goals, the discussion turned to Council's Rules of Procedures Councilmember Boehme spoke to say that if Council votes in the Conference Room during special meetings, then the public should be allowed to comment during those meetings, which has not been the case in the past. Regarding the Public Comments section of the agenda, Councilmember Segal said if an item is not on an agenda, the person should come forward and talk during Public Comments; however, if the item is on the agenda, then the person should be given the option to delay their comments until Council reaches the item or talk during Public Comments. Mayor Kelly announced that the Council's Rules of Procedures, which were provided in the agenda packets, will be discussed more in detail at the next meeting. City Attorney Petrov gave a brief summary of the Public Information Act and Open Meetings Act as they relate to emails and reminded Council that any of their emails sent relating to City business can be construed as public information. He advised for them to send emails related to City business through the City email accounts. Mr. Petrov also reminded members that talking about city business in the hallway or office can be considered a walking quorum and said this has been extended to telephone conversations and emails. In response to a question by one of the councilmembers, Mr. Petrov advised against one on one emails due to the risk of the emails being forwarded to other members of the Council. Mayor Pro Tem Fry motioned to move discussion of Item 2 of the special meeting (discussion of the recreational facilities) until after the public comments during the regular meeting scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Segal, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None Mayor Pro Tern Fry motioned to adjourn the special meeting at 6:15 p.m. Councilmember Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Segal, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None City Council Minutes, June 22, 2009 REGULAR MEETING: Mayor Kelly called the regular meeting to order at approximately 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Notice of the regular meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. Agenda items were as follows: Boy Scout Parker Brant led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Pledge to the Texas Flag. 2. Recreational Facilities (moved from Special Meetinq and discussed after Public Comments) Matters related to the City's recreational facilities, including but not limited to the naming of the recreational facilities and the closing of Colonial Park Pool for the upcoming winter. Councilmember Segal moved to change the name of what is currently known as the West U Fitness Center. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. Councilmember Guffey moved to amend the motion to include naming the facility the City of West University Place Recreation Center. Councilmember Boehme seconded the motion. Councilmember Boehme stated that one reason for his interest in the name change is because Brent Gallagher has the name West U Fitness registered and has a business on Edloe Street, which in itself is enough for him to think it should be renamed. All of Council agreed. A vote was made on the amended motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Segal, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None Regarding the Colonial Park Pool, Mr. Ross stated it is staff's recommendation that Council consider closing Colonial Park Pool after Labor Day and reopen the new pool on or before Memorial Day of 2010. Mayor Kelly said after meeting with the contractor he assumes that whenever the pool is closed, work will begin immediately. Mr. Ross confirmed that the contractor has said they will begin work immediately after closing if weather permits. Mr. Segal suggested that if construction hasn't started after Labor Day the pool remain open following Labor Day, if it can remain open under safety conditions. Mr. Ross said that is not a problem as long as we have the ability to close it and go to work when the contractor is ready. Councilmember Boehme made a motion that Council follow staff's recommendation. Mayor Pro Tem Fry seconded the motion. Councilmember Boehme stated that Council and staff received a lot of emails about having both pools closed at the same time. He said he knows some people will not be happy with the pool closure, but doing so would save the City approximately $340,000. He said as an elected representative of the City, we are suppose to balance all of the interest and in his view it will be very irresponsible for him to vote to keep the pool open with that kind of cost saving. He said the ability to have both jobs done in unison and have both pools open by next summer is another plus. Councilmember Boehme continue to say he believes we should do everything we can to facilitate the City Council Minutes, June 22, 2009 winter swimmers, but by his calculations, the small number of residents we have that would utilize that pool during those months does not justify keeping the pool open. Mayor Pro Tern Fry said the second part of this is that with this economy the subcontractors are still very actively looking for work, which is keeping the prices down. He said if we push this out further we will run the risk of pushing this in a more favorable climate for the contractors, so the faster we get this done the better chance we have of getting it done at the best possible price. Councilmember Segal said he believes that staff has identified reasonable accommodations for those people that will be inconvenienced and, weighing that versus the benefit to the City and many more people that will be using the facility, agrees we need to close the pool. Councilmember Guffey said he also agrees with closing the pool because the vast number of people that will use the facility next summer compared to the few that will use it during the winter warrants closing the pool. Mayor Kelly said he agrees with what everyone has said and added that when all of this was being proposed the intent at that time was that we would hopefully be able to have one pool open all the time; but, things changed when the schedule to open the Fitness Center slid from December to March and so when the City was approached by the contractor to begin work on the pool in September in order to have it open by the summer, it was an opportunity the City could not afford pass up. At this time, a vote was made on the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Segal, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None 3. Public Comments This is an opportunity for citizens to speak to Council relating to agenda or non-agenda items. Speakers are required to address Council at the microphone and give their name and address before addressing their concerns. [Note: State law will not permit the City Council to fully discuss, debate, or consider items that are not on the agenda. Items that cannot be referred to the City Staff for action may be placed on the agenda of a future City Council meeting.] Linda Driskill, 3837 Coleridge, came forward to ask Council to make a change in the pool pass form by removing the section indicating that the City will be held harmless so people are not made to feel that they have to sign it; or, she said, make it an optional waiver of liability. Fran Oravetz, 4131 Oberlin, spoke to strongly request that Council keep the Colonial Park Pool open until the new pool on Bellaire Boulevard is operating in order to provide residents with convenient access to year-around health and fitness recreation facilities. Mr. Oravetz said another reason to keep it open is because in the November Bond Election the voters were told that Colonial Park would continue to operate until the other pool facilities were completed. He continued to say that the estimated $300,000 or so the City would save amounts to less than 13 cents per month and he thinks it is much more important to provide West U residents with convenient access to year around health and fitness facilities than it is to save 13 cents a month. He said the best way to solve this issue is to add up the opinions expressed by the residents at tonight's meeting and those that sent emails and let the majority rule. Frank Griffin, 2807 Plumb, spoke to say that as a regular user of Colonial Pool he was disappointed to hear that the pool will be closed for several months beginning after Labor Day. However, the incentives that were quoted are very significant and if they are solid it may be difficult to resist that incentive. He said he would recommend that Council consider some sort of formal construction City Council Minutes, June 22, 2009 stewardship and publication to the taxpayers so the residents will know exactly what the schedule is and how it is progressing. Rick Behrend, 4137 Riley, handed out the official schedule for Colonial Park and stated that he is a frequent user of both facilities and as a lap swimmer finds it a bit disconcerting when he looks at the official schedule. He said out of a 16 and a half hour day, there are only two and half hours devoted to adult lap swimmers, Monday through Friday. He said the hours are 5:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. He said his concern is that the new fitness center, which will only have eight lanes, will probably have the same schedule; so, he would like Council to be aware of what is actually going on at Colonial to avoid having the same schedule at the new facility. Jeff Sokol, 6738 Westchester Court, came forward to summarize thoughts he expressed in an email to Council regarding the streets on Holcombe Boulevard from Buffalo to the ditch that are in need of repair. Mr. Ross informed Council that staff knew Mr. Sokol would be attending the meeting, which is why it is on the agenda. He said since receiving Mr. Sokol's email, the City has contacted the City of Houston and is seeking to find out what their capital improvement projects plans are for Holcombe Boulevard, but we haven't heard back from them, yet, but we will continue to pursue. Mr. Sokol said that stretch of Holcombe in question is not in the Capital Improvement Project, which is a long-term goal of his. He said his short-term goal is to get an asphalt overlay, but there is a border dispute with Houston and he's not getting anywhere with them because he is representing a group of West U residents. Mr. Ross said the best path may be to call the City of Metro representative since this is the number one Metro route in town and see if he can assist. Councilmember Segal said he thinks that the avenue that the City Manager suggested should be pursued. Councilmember Guffey asked why not just go straight to the top - to Mayor White. As instructed by Mayor Kelly and Council, Mr. Ross said staff will prepare a letter to Mayor White, as well as a letter to the Metro representative, and see where it goes. There were no more public comments. At this time, the Recreational Facilities item was discussed. See item #2 for discussion. 4. Consent Agenda All Consent Agenda items listed are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Council member requests in which event the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda. A. City Council Minutes Approve City Council meeting minutes of June 8, 2009. Ms. Thelma Lenz, City Secretary The Minutes were amended prior to the meeting and Councilmembers were given revised copies for review. Councilmember Segal pulled the Minutes in order for them to be approved as amended. Councilmember Segal moved to approve the Minutes as amended. Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. City Council Minutes, June 22, 2009 Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Segal, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None 5. Reports A. Union Pacific Railroad. Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Chris Peifer reported on issues related to work Union Pacific Railroad is doing between West University Place and the City of Bellaire. Mr. Peifer stated that staff has been working with the Manager of Industrial Projects with Union Pacific and that Union Pacific have continued periodic maintenance, which started with the railroad crossings at both Bellaire Boulevard and Bissonnet. He said they are leveling up the rail bed and tracks, which include replacement of the cross ties. Union Pacific will give an update when the work is complete. With no other business before Council, Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:10 p.m. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Segal, and Gulley Noes: None Absent: None o~ ~aasr uyVb Prepared By: _ Thelma A. Lenz, City Secretary 1 0 ~p ~ Date Approved: ~it~ Cam/2'~~ t F~`AS a