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Home My WebLink About101209S CC Min0 The City of West University Place 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 regular session Monday, October 12, 2009, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University Boulevard, West University Place, Texas beginning at 5:00 p.m. Mayor Pro Tern Fry called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Also in attendance were: Councilmembers Boehme, Segal and Guffey, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Manager/Public Works Director Peifer, Finance Director Rhonda Daugherty, and Police Chief Walker. Councilmember Guffey led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Pledge to the Texas Flag. Notice: Matters related to the notice of this meeting Agenda items are as follows: 1. Public Comments No one from the public signed up to speak. 2. 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 September 21, 2009 and Budget Workshop minutes of September 26, 2009. Ms. Thelma Lenz, City Secretary Councilmember Segal moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Councilmember Boehme seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Segal, Boehme, Guffey Noes: None Absent: Kelly 3. Public Hearing on Tax Rate Matters related to the first of two public hearings to hear comments for or against the proposed tax rate for the City of West University Place. Mayor Pro Tern Fry opened the public hearing at 6:32 p.m. Finance Director Rhonda Daugherty presented and said the estimated assessed value for 2009, which is for the 2010 Budget year, is City Council Minutes, October 12, 2009 $4.2 billion. The comparison from last year of $3.9 billion is an estimated 7.62 percent growth in assessed value. Ms. Daugherty said the effective tax rate this year is .338656 per $100 in value, which is approximately a 1/2 percent decline from last year's effective tax rate. She said the rollback tax rate is.359341 and is slightly over a 1/2 percent decrease in last year's rollback tax rate. She said the proposed tax rate to support the budget that was presented to Council in the Budget workshop on September 26, 2009, is .358750, which is 5.9 percent over the effective tax rate and .16 percent below the rollback tax rate. Ms. Daugherty said the maximum tax revenue increase under consideration is 5.9 percent and the final rate will be set by ordinance on October 26, 2009. With no comments from the public, Mayor Pro Tern Fry closed the public hearing on the tax rate at 6:38 p.m. 4. Public Hearing on 2010 Budget Matters related to a public hearing to hear comments for or against the proposed 2010 Budget for the City of West University Place. Mayor Pro Tern Fry opened the Public Hearing at 6:38 p.m. and Finance Director Daugherty presented and reviewed the City's major funds. Regarding the water and sewer fund, Ms. Daugherty said a rate increase is anticipated in response to the anticipated City of Houston increases. She said the City is proposing a rate increase of 34 percent for Solid Waste due to the declining recycling revenues and the additional cost of providing service. The proposed rates are $10.75 per month, plus sales tax for the seniors and $21.20 per month, plus sales tax for the regular rates. There were no public comments. [City Attorney Josh Golden arrived at approximately 6:39 p.m.] Councilmember Guffey asked the major factors for 7-8 percent increase in taxes. Finance Director Daugherty explained that the increase is due to debt service, the continuation of the Waters compensation study to bring existing employees up to market, hiring new qualified employees at market, and because of the decrease in permit activity. The public hearing closed at 7:38 p.m 5. Street Events Matters related to an ordinance amending Chapter 46, Article I, Section 46-1 and Article IV, Sections 46-115 and 46-116 of the Code of Ordinances of the City relating to the designation of a traffic control officer and Street Events; and to consider the ordinance on the first of two readings. Police Chief Ken Walker presented and stated that staff is proposing two changes to the existing ordinance. He said the existing ordinance appoints the Police Chief as the Traffic Control Officer and the proposed ordinance would appoint the city manager or his designee to serve in that capacity. The second change would allow the Traffic Control Officer to determine the number of block parties occurring on the same date and types of signage and barricades required for blocking roadways. Chief Walker said the current ordinance allows for three block City Council Minutes, October 12, 2009 parties to occur at the same time, which is problematic for barricading; so, the proposed ordinance would require the persons holding block parties to rent and pay for their own barricades from an approved vendor. In response to Councilmember Boehme's question as to how fees are calculated, Chief Walker said if the City incurs a cost, the cost is charged back to the resident holding the block party. Councilmember Segal had concerns with notification requirements and said that the proposed ordinance does not define which residents are to be notified. City Manager Ross said which residents would be notified would be determined by the Traffic Control Officer because it would vary in each case. Chief Walker said when a resident's application for a block party is approved, they can be informed then as to which blocks would have to be notified. Councilmember Segal said the ordinance puts the burden of notifying residents on the City and then the City gets reimbursed, but Chief Walker is saying it is up to the person requesting the block party. Councilmember Segal said the ordinance of fees describes a fee charge to the requester for notifying residents, but there is nothing in the ordinance that indicates anyone other than the City would do the notifying. City Manager Ross said the proposed ordinance can be tweaked between now and the second reading. Councilmember Segal said he will vote for this tonight, but would like staff to look at the fee aspect to see if something needs to be added to make it clear what is going to take place in practice. He said either do what the ordinance says to do or change it to say what you do. Councilmember Boehme moved to approve the ordinance on first reading. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Segal, Boehme, Guffey Noes: None Absent: Kelly 6. Resorts Matters related to the environment. A. Green waste. City Manager Ross presented and reiterated what Finance Director Daugherty stated earlier in regards to the proposed 34 percent rate increase to meet the needs of the funding and the reserve requirements. He said in addition to the $10.75 plus sales tax for seniors and the $21.20 plus sales tax for regular rate, there was also discussion to consider the previous Recycling Board's recommendation to include costs for the Green Waste program. He said instead of $10.75 plus tax for seniors and $21.20 plus sales tax for regular rate, the proposed rates that would pay for the Green Waste Solid Waste Collection program would be $11.20 plus sales tax for seniors and $22.00 plus sales tax for the regular rate. He said the total cost is estimated to have a $91,000.00 impact to the 2010 Budget. City Manager Ross said at this time staff does not feel that there is enough bang for the buck in this program, but said it is a Recycling Board recommendation. He said it would help the City Council Minutes, October 12, 2009 overall recycling percentages, but is a pretty substantial cost at this time when we are already recommending a proposed fee increase. After further discussion, Council decided that it is best to have the new Recycling Board review the program, along with community composting, and report their findings back to Council. Mayor Pro Tem Fry asked Jan Kellogg, Chair of the Recycling Board, who was present at the meeting, to provide Council with at report at the first meeting in December. B. Community composting. Recycling Board will review community posting and the green waste program and will report to Council at the first meeting in December. Executive Session (if necessary) Council reserves the right to at any time during the session convene in a closed session pursuant to Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, for reasons including but not limited to: Section 551.071 (consultation with legal counsel to seek or receive legal advice or consultation regarding pending or contemplated litigation); Section 551.072 (discussion about the value or transfer of real property and other real estate matters; Section 551.074 (personnel matters); 551.076 (deliberation about security devices); Section 551.087 (deliberation regarding economic development). Executive Session was not necessary. With no other business before Council, Councilmember Segal moved to adjourn the regular meeting at 7:10 p.m. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Segal, Boehme, Guffey Noes: None Absent: Kelly A. Lenz, City Secretary Date Approved: .P 4 \ )a