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HomeMy WebLinkAbout091409R CC MinThe City A Neighborhood City CITY COUNCIL Bob Kelly, Mayor Bob Fry, Councilmember George Boehme, Councilmember Steven Segal, Councilmember Chuck Gulley, 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 a special workshop meeting and regular session Monday, September 14, 2009, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University Boulevard, West University Place, Texas beginning at 5:30 p.m. Agenda items were as follows. 1. City Council Photo Session Mayor and Council retook group photos. REGULAR MEETING: Mayor Kelly called the regular meeting to order at approximately 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 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, City Manager/Public Works Director Peifer, Police Chief Walker, Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor, Fire Chief Steve Rails, Finance Director Daugherty, and Human Resources Director Standorf. City Secretary Lenz confirmed that the Notice of the regular meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. Agenda items were as follows: Mayor Kelly led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Pledge to the Texas Flag. 2. Public Comments There were no comments from the public. 3. 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. of West University Place A. City Council Minutes Approve City Council meeting minutes of September 14, 2009. Ms. Thelma Lenz, city secretary City Council Minutes, September 14, 2009 B. Ordinance Increasinq Parks Board Members and Recycling and Solid Waste Reduction Board Members Matters related to an ordinance increasing the number of members on the Parks Board and the number of members on the Recycling and Solid Waste Reduction Board. (This was the first reading of the ordinance). C. Resolution Adopting Mitigation Action Plan Matters related to a resolution adopting the City's Mitigation Action Plan. Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED.. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, Boehme, Guffey Noes: None Absent: None 4. Resolution Creating Audit Committee Matters related to the creation of a City of West University Place City Council Audit Committee. City Manager Ross said this resolution is being brought forward as requested by Council and said though staff will proceed as Council wishes, he doesn't feel it is necessary. Mayor Pro Tern Fry asked City Manager Ross why staff doesn't like the idea of a committee. In response, Mr. Ross said with a City this small and with the communication staff feels like it has with City Council, it seems it will only add another layer of meetings and work that won't pay the dividends that Council might be seeking. Mayor Kelly said he suggested creating the audit committee because he would like more involvement and hands on with the auditor during the auditing process. Mayor Pro Tenn Fry moved to create an audit committee. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. Councilmember Segal said he researched this and said his understanding of an audit committee is that it would provide an additional backstop for analyzing risks and assisting Council. He said he doesn't see this audit committee being any more than illusory. He also said in his research he found that most audit committees included members from the public and that this self-contained group would not accomplish the things that an audit committee should really do. Councilmember Segal said if we want to look at creating an audit committee we should look at outside expertise and the public to give Council an analysis of the risk. He said he doesn't think this audit committee, as proposed, is a benefit. Councilmember Boehme said what makes audit committees work is that they are independent and putting the City Manager and Director of Finance on the committee goes against the historic purpose of an audit committee. He said he doesn't see a compelling need for this. Councilmember Guffey suggested that Council consider replacing the City Manager and Director of Finance with a couple of people from the public that are knowledgeable in this area. He also said he thinks we need people looking at the process from an independent standpoint and the City Council doesn't have the time, inclination, or skills to do that. City Council Minutes, September 14, 2009 Mayor Kelly said he views the committee like any other of the boards and committees we have in the City. He said the audit committee will take more time to look at the audit and report their findings to Council if they feel they need to do so. He said the committee doesn't duplicate the efforts of the auditors, but rather is more of an information flow to the Council about what is seen or unseen. Mayor Pro Tem Fry said he is of the opinion that this is an answer to a problem we really don't have and thinks Council is the audit committee in a city this size. He said it seems like overkill and thinks the better way to do this is to have a session with the auditors to discuss the concerns and then put a system into place to ensure that any concerns will be addressed. He said if that process doesn't work then we move to something more elaborate. Mayor Kelly said he has no problem with looking at the process as a Council. A vote was made on the motion to creating an Audit Committee. MOTION FAILED. Ayes: Kelly, Guffey Noes: Fry, Segal, Boehme Absent: None City Manager Ross said that when the auditor begins the next process, staff will schedule a workshop to discuss the recently completed audit and explain in detail the process for the upcoming audit and Council can decide at that point where and how it wants to be involved. 5. Recreational Facility Funding Matters related to expending available funds for proposed recreational facility improvements. A. Friends of West U Parks Funds: Accept funds from the Friends of West U Parks Fund, Inc., and the Lewis Foundation in the amount of $1,000,000 for improvements to the City's Recreation Center. Leah Ragiel, Vice Chair of the Friends of West U Parks Fund, Inc., and Donna LaMond, Executive Director of FWUP Fund, Inc., presented. Councilmember Segal moved to accept the $1,000,000 plus earned interest from the Friends of West U Parks Fund, Inc., and to apply those funds to the construction of the West University Place Recreation Center. Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, Boehme, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None B. Hurricane Ike Insurance Funds: Accept funds from Texas Municipal. League Insurance for the Hurricane Ike related damage to the Recreation Center, Colonial Park and the Community Center in the amount of $389,141.15. City Manager Ross presented. Councilmember Guffey moved to authorize the City Manager to accept the insurance proceeds and to expend the funds for recreational center improvements in the amount of $389,141.15. Mayor Pro Tem Fry seconded the motion. City Council Minutes, September 14, 2009 Councilmember Segal said it states that the money shall be used for recreational facility improvements and he asked if it includes the Recreation Center. City Manager Ross said it would include the Community Building, the Recreation Center and Colonial Park. Councilmember Segal said he would like to amend the motion to state that before any of the funds are used for the construction of the Recreation Center and Colonial Park Council has to authorize additional expenditures for those facilities. City Manager Ross said the funds have to be used for the Recreation facilities in order to receive the depreciation funds and the funds are needed for the budget in order to fund some of the upgrades and improvements to the facilities. City Manager Ross confirmed Councilmember Segal's concerns that it was in the budget design for construction of the facilities and that these funds were part of the capital expenditures and are not to be used for future operating expenditures. City Manager Ross said the estimates are showing that all of the insurance money, all of the Friends money, and all of the bond money will be necessary to construct what Council has approved and said it may be that these funds would allow the City to not have to have the second part of the bond sale, which we will know by 2010. Councilmember Segal clarified with City Manager Rosss that if we came in $500,000 under budget, we could use these funds and not need to use the bonds. At this time a vote was made on the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, Boehme, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None 6. Resolution Accepting Certified Appraisal Roll Matters related to a resolution acknowledging receipt of appraisal roll, assessor-collector's certificate. Finance Director Daugherty presented and said for 2009 the total appraised value for West U is $4,336,289,243 and total exemptions are $256,089,423, leaving a total taxable value of $4,080,199,820. She said the total uncertified taxable value that's under protest is $80,958,114, the estimated taxable value of property that's not included on the certified roll is $34,755,616, and total taxable value of new property is $58,749,870. Ms. Daugherty said the effective tax rate for this year is .338656 per $100 and the rollback rate is .359341 per $100 value. Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to adopt the resolution acknowledging receipt of appraisal roll, certification of estimated collection rate, notice of effective tax rate and related information; and containing related provisions. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, Boehme, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None City Council Minutes, September 14, 2009 7. Resolution Recording Vote on Proposed Tax Increase and Scheduling Public Hearings Matters related to a resolution proposing a tax increase and scheduling public hearings. Finance Director Daugherty presented and said based on the tax rate calculation and budget preparations we are at .359340, which is just below the rollback rate. She said this doesn't mean that we are adopting this tax rate, but rather this is a not to exceed tax rate. The budget adoption is scheduled for October 26, 2009. Finance Director Daugherty said this is a tax revenue increase because it's above the effective tax rate and said it is also a tax rate increase by .000340. Councilmember Segal clarified that by adopting this rate it is the maximum we will be able to use without going back into multiple hearings and postings, but we can very well end up adopting less than this rate. Finance Director Daugherty agreed. Councilmember Boehme moved to adopt the resolution proposing a tax rate and scheduling public hearings and containing related findings therein with the tax rate specified of .359340. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, Boehme, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None 8. H-GAC General Assembly Representatives Matters related to the designation of a West University Place representative and alternate for the Houston-Galveston Area Council 2010 General Assembly. Mayor Pro Tern Fry explained that the H-GAC General Assembly is an 8-county group that has authority on basically all of the federal funds spent in this area on transportation and other projects. He said he has found it to be very beneficial to the City and would like to continue serving. Councilmember Boehme moved to appoint Mayor Pro Tem Fry as the City's representative and Councilmember Chuck Guffey as the alternate of the H-GAC General Assembly. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, Boehme, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None 9. Motor Control Center Replacement Matters related to Motor Control Center Replacement, including transferring funds, accepting the lowest qualified bid, and authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement. Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Peifer presented and said due to a savings from the surface water contract with the City of Houston and to be consistent with the installation of the auxiliary power generators, the City would like to use the savings to replace the motor control center. He said this will guarantee a good system in the event of an emergency. City Council Minutes, September 14, 2009 Mayor Pro Tenn moved to approve a budget transfer in the amount of $125,000 from the Surface Water account to the Capital Budget account for motor control center replacement and to accept the lowest qualified bid from JonMar Electric, Inc., of Bellaire, Texas in the amount of $89,433 and authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement to include, if needed, Alternate No. 1 in the amount of $1,507 and Alternative No. 2 in the amount of $20,548. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, Boehme, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None 10. Report s A. Discussion on texting while driving in active school zones and while driving anywhere in the City of West University Place. Councilmember Segal and Mayor Kelly requested that this item be on the agenda. Councilmember Segal suggested that staff bring forth a resolution that would ban texting of all drivers in the City of West University Place, not including those drivers in vehicles that are not moving. Mayor Kelly and the rest of Council agreed. After a brief discussion, Mayor and Council directed staff to move forward and bring forth an ordinance to Council when the study is complete. With no other business before Council, Mayor Pro Tern moved to adjourn the regular meeting at 7:32 p.m. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, Boehme, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: None Prepared By: Thelma A. Lenz, City Secretary Date Approved: 1 ,41 h 1 "*448