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HomeMy WebLinkAbout042610R CC Min0 (WON 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 The City Council of the City of West University Place, Texas, met in a special workshop and regular session Monday, April 26, 2010, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University Boulevard, West University Place, Texas beginning at 6:00 p.m. SPECIAL WORKSHOP Agenda items were as follows: CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kelly called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Also in attendance were: Councilmembers Guffey and Segal, City Manager Ross, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Peifer, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, Fire Chief Ralls, and Police Chief Walker. Mayor Pro Tern Fry was absent. Councilmember Boehme arrived later. The following item was discussed. 1. Update on City Council Goals Matters related to City Council goals for 2009-2011. City Manager Michael Ross presented and said we are at the half-way point for this Council so he thought it was a good time to review the goals and add any new ones Council would like staff to explore. Councilmember Segal asked the status of item #13 regarding the address display ordinance. ACM/Public Works Director Peifer said there are 7 out of 400 citations pending in Municipal Court and that at least one of those 7 has been resolved prior to its hearing. Mayor Kelly inquired about #1 pertaining to the estimated construction period for the new police/fire facility. He asked if we are being generous by estimating that it will take one year for construction, Mr. Ross said it was just a target that we felt we could easily meet, especially if there are weather delays. Councilmember Guffey said there use to be a goal to find ways to collect additional revenue. He asked about property valuations and asked if they are declining. Mr. Ross said we have not received preliminary rolls from Harris County to make that determination. Councilmember Boehme arrived at 6:08 p.m. City Council Minutes, April 26, 2010 Mr. Ross reiterated, and Council agreed, that "evaluate and propose budget revenue opportunities" is to be added as a new goal. Regarding the last sentence of the last paragraph of Goal #5, relating to wastewater and solid waste fund reserves, Councilmember Segal asked if that has been done. Mr. Ross said he believes that all the reserves have been established, but will confirm with Finance Director Daugherty. Councilmember Guffey asked if Council should drop Goal #6 relating to determining available options for the City on recently passed Senate Bill 1410 (residential sprinklers). Mr. Ross stated that staff still intends to seek a bill sponsor and that Fire Chief Ralls has been working with other fire chiefs in that regard. Council agreed for staff to move forward with seeking a bill sponsor. Councilmember Segal suggested that the City add a goal to review making West U a smoke-free City. Mayor Kelly said he put this on an agenda during the last council and the people that owned the only establishment in the City that allows smoking attended and argued that nobody goes in their place that doesn't know that there is smoking allowed. He said no one made a motion and the issue was dropped at that time, but said he doesn't mind looking at it again. After a few more comments, it was decided not to add the goal at this time. Regarding Goal #4, relating to the City Center Redevelopment, Councilmember Boehme said the ad hoc committee that has been appointed needs to move faster. He said the committee still has not had its first meeting and he thought the entire process would be completed by the beginning of July. He said he expected things to be much further along at this point. Mr. Peifer said the committee is scheduled to meet this week and is looking at meeting twice a month. He said there is a tentative schedule established and that staff met with Chair Bruce Frankel last week to go through the principle and the goals. He said the committee has established an agenda that will get them through mid-late summer and is looking to wrap things up by August 1, 2010. Councilmember Boehme asked Mr. Peifer if the ad hoc committee would be comfortable with Council requiring the committee to have something forwarded to the Zoning and Planning Commission by the first meeting in August. Mr. Peifer said he doesn't have a problem informing the committee of that request. Councilmember Segal said what concerns him is that there are unresolved issues that will have an impact on what the committee does, such as the Shipley's rezoning and redevelopment and the prior nonconformity issues Councilmember Boehme said if the committee is not going to move on the City Center quickly, he would just assume abolish the committee. Councilmember Segal said we need the committee to do the work and suggested that we let them go for it and see where it leads us. In regards to some of the unresolved issues, Councilmember Boehme said one of the biggest problems is our lax prior nonconformance rules. He said the rules need to be rewritten so that they are new, modern, logical, and easy to understand. Councilmember Boehme said he would suggest hiring a consultant to help speed up the process of revamping our commercial planning policies. 2of7 City Council Minutes, April 26, 2010 Councilmember Boehme said that one thing that needs absolutely fixing is our parking requirements for automotive uses because they are completely out of sync with every other city in the real world and it causes us problems. After further discussion, Council added the following to its 2009-2011 Goals: Revise Zoning Ordinance to establish updated parking requirements pertaining to land use; and Revise Zoning Ordinance to establish new rules relating to prior non-conformities ("PNCs"). A complete list of the revised 2009-2011 Goals is attached. At 6:38 p.m., Councilmember Guffey moved to adjourn the Workshop meeting. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: Fry Meeting adjourned. REGULAR MEETING (BEGINNING AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS) Agenda items were as follows CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Kelly called the meeting to order at 6:42 p.m. Also in attendance were: Councilmembers Boehme, Guffey, and Segal, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Peifer, Police Chief Walker, and Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor. Mayor Pro Tern Fry was absent. Councilmember Guffey led the Pledge of Allegiance and Pledge to the Texas Flag. City Secretary Lenz confirmed that the Notice of the regular meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. 2. Senior Citizens Month Proclamation Matters related to a Proclamation to proclaim May 2010 as Senior Citizens Month in West University Place. Mayor Kelly read the proclamation and proclaimed May 2010 as Senior Citizens Month in West University Place. 3. Public Comments This is an opportunity for citizens to speak to Council relating to agenda and non-agenda items. If the topic the speaker wishes to address is on the agenda, the speaker can either speak at this time or defer his/her comments until such time the item is discussed. Speakers are advised that comments cannot be received on matters which are the subject of a public hearing once the hearing has been closed. 3of7 City Council Minutes, April 26, 2010 There were no comments from the public. 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 April 12, 2010. B. Variances to City Codes for City Hall Expansion/Police Facility Matters related to variances to City Codes relating to the expansion of the City Hall/Police Facility. Councilmember Segal requested that 4B be pulled for discussion. Councilmember Segal moved to approve 4A as presented. Councilmember Guffey seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: Fry In regards to 4B, Councilmember Segal said it is stated in the agenda memo that the maximum height of any structure in the City is 35 feet and that the new addition will exceed the maximum, so he wanted to know by how many feet will it exceed the maximum. Mr. Ross responded that it will probably be in the 40 - 50 foot range and Mr. Peifer said it will be compatible with the neighboring structures, i.e. the church across the street. Councilmember Segal also asked about parking and asked if we will have the same total number of parking spaces or more. Mr. Ross responded that we have more than we have today. With no further discussion of this item, Councilmember Boehme moved to approve item 4B. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: Fry 5. Reports by Council/Staff Mayor Kelly announced that due to construction beginning on the new public safety facilities/city hall, workshops will be held in the Council Chambers until the end of construction. Councilmember Segal announced that on May 6, 2010, he will be attending an Advisory Committee meeting with the Texas Municipal Retirement System and a joint meeting of the TMRS Board and Advisory Committee on May 7, 2010, regarding proposed changes to the plan. 4of7 City Council Minutes, April 26, 2010 With no further business before the Council, Councilmember Guffey moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:55 p.m. Councilmember Boehme seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: Fry o~ BEST ftM/~F9~i eting Adjourned. Pre ~r y. n A. Lenz, City Secretary Date Approved: r l . / d - /y Attachment: 2009-2011 City Council Goals 5of7 City Council Minutes, April 26, 2010 2009 - 2011 City Council Goals April 26, 2010 City Council Update 1. Address police and fire facility deficiencies. Construction is scheduled to begin the first of May with an estimated one year construction period. 2. Continue to implement voter approved plans for Recreational Facilities, including Colonial Park, Recreation Center and Community Center. Recreation Center opened to the public on April 12, 2010. The Colonial Park Pool is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend. 3. Resolve storm water detention requirement and responsibility on the Bellaire/College Transportation and Drainage project. Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has notified the City that we are responsible for detention, which equals a $1.2 million cost. Continuing to discuss the detention requirement and responsibility with HCFCD. Based on the latest communication with them, it now appears that HCFCD will assume most, if not all, of the responsibility and that the City's cost will be around 10% or less of the earlier stated amount of 1.2 M. Final resolution is expected this summer. 4. Develop a policy with objectives for the City Center redevelopment. The Ad-Hoc Committee was formed and their first meeting is scheduled for April 29, 2010. 5. Establish funding mechanism for long term reoccurring capital expenditures. Provide preventative maintenance program parameters. Staff recommended and City Council approved the use of the annual METRO contribution ($259,000) for reoccurring transportation related projects. This funding is currently available through 2014. Staff also recommended and City Council approved a water/wastewater fund reserve and a solid waste fund reserve to fund those related projects. 6. Determine available options for City on recently passed Senate Bill 1410 (residential sprinklers). International Code Council approved the residential sprinkler inclusion in the proposed 2010 code. All States (except Texas) will have the ability for cities to include this in their codes. Unless Council directs otherwise, Staff intends to seek a bill sponsor for this issue for the 2011 State legislative session and line up support for passage. 7. Continue evaluation of employee's overall compensation package in an attempt to contain costs where possible, while continuing to maintain high performing staff. Staff recommended and Council approved an updated Waters Consultant Group's recommendation to increase the salaries for employees by an average of 3% to keep up with comparable cities market rates. Staff recommended and Council approved some minor changes to the Health Insurance plan design and changing from United Healthcare to Aetna. The savings were estimated at around $288,000 under budget. 8. Consider options for use of City owned properties. Staff recommended and Council approved including the City owned Community Drive property in the Recreation Center development. City traded the City owned Corondo Court property for the property adjacent to the Recreation Center (Westpoint) and included this Westpoint property in the Recreation Center development. In conjunction with the City of Bellaire, obtained property appraisal 6of7 City Council Minutes, April 26, 2010 and a Phase One environmental study on City owned Ruffino Hills property in hopes of selling or long-term leasing of the property. 9. Develop naming rights plan for parks and recreational facilities. A sub-committee has been formed of Parks Board and Friends of West U Parks members to develop a recommendation for the Boards and City Council to consider. 10. Evaluate solicitor's ordinance for effectiveness and recommend necessary improvements. Staff recommended and Council approved changes to make ordinance as restrictive as legally possible. 11. Pursue purchase and development of Additional Neighborhood Park Space per approved 2006 bond election. Council determined this was not a priority at this time. 12. Evaluate City Council terms and determine if improvements are needed by Charter amendment. Staff will ensure item is on City Council's agenda for discussion when requested. 13. Obtain 100% compliance with address display ordinance. In October of 2009 the City sent out over 400 letters to non-compliant property owners regarding the location of their property addresses. Only a handful of non-compliant addresses remain and they are expected to be compliant shortly. 14. Evaluate and propose budget revenue opportunities. New Council goal. 15. Revise Zoning Ordinance to establish updated parking requirements pertaining to land use. New Council goal. 16. Revise Zoning Ordinance to establish new rules relating to prior non-conformities ("PNCs"). New Council goal. 7 of 7