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HomeMy WebLinkAbout062810R CC MinThe 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 The City Council of the City of West University Place, Texas, met in regular session on Monday, June 28, 2010, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University Boulevard, West University Place, Texas beginning at 5:45 p.m. SPECIAL WORKSHOP Agenda items were as follows: CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kelly called the meeting to order at 5:54 p.m. Also in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tern Fry, Councilmembers Boehme and Segal, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, Public Works Director/ACM Peter, and Police Chief Walker. Councilmember Guffey was absent. 1. Comprehensive Noise Matters related to noise. Mayor Kelly presented this item and said some residents are complaining that allowing yard work to begin and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. on Saturdays is too early. He said he hasn't received any complaints about how late they are allowed to work or any complaints regarding times on Sundays. Councilmember Segal proposed having a future agenda item to discuss not allowing yard services to use leaf blowers and lawnmowers until 8:00 a.m. and stop at 6:00 p.m. on Mondays through Friday; 10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays; and noon to 6:00 p.m. on Sundays. He said he wouldn't want to change anything, though, without first giving the residents an opportunity to speak on the issue and provide feedback. Councilmember Boehme said his thought is that changing the Saturday and Sunday hours would essentially affect those residents who do their own yard work, because those are the days they would most likely do it and they would want to do it before it gets too hot. Councilmember Segal reiterated that this is something he would like put on a future agenda for discussion so that Council can hear from residents as to what they want. City Manager Ross said staff will need clarification as to whether Council will be considering change relating to just leaf blowers or all equipment that reaches a certain noise decibel. Mayor Kelly said this issue was discussed by the prior Council and lawn service representatives spoke to say that banning leaf blowers would be like imposing a tax on West U because they would have to raise their rates due to the amount of time it takes to rid the leaves manually. City Council Minutes, June 28, 2010 Councilmember Segal said his request for an agenda item related solely to the hours leaf blowers can be used and not attempt to ban use of them. Mayor Pro Tern Fry asked if there is a Board than can take a look at this. City Manager Ross replied that the Building and Standards Commission (BSC) looked at it before, but decided to leave it alone. Bryant Slimp, BSC Chair, spoke to say that the BSC will review this issue again and provide a recommendation if that is Council's desire. Councilmember Boehme seconded the request from Councilmember Segal to on a future agenda the issue regarding the hours a resident or lawn service can use combustible engines. Mayor Kelly asked that the item be on a future agenda and be broad enough to discuss all related noise issues. 2. Trees Matters related to tree protection. Councilmember Segal presented this item and said that he wanted to discuss protection of trees in the right-of-way. He said it is his understanding that if an owner of a property wants to cut down a 12 foot diameter tree, they just have to get a permit and pay a fee and can cut down because the tree is on his property. He said he thinks that the City has an interest that needs to be considered when a right-of-way tree is involved. Councilmember Segal said the ordinance language currently reads: "Tree as an impediment to a proposed use of the subject site. The tree in question causes an unreasonable impediment to use and enjoyment of property. Any permit issued in this case shall be reviewed by the Urban Forester and shall require that any replacement trees required by this chapter be planted." He suggested that the first sentence read: The tree in question causes an unreasonable impediment to use and enjoyment of property considering alternatives and the City's interest in the tree. Councilmember Segal said he requests adding the language because there may be occasion where there is an alternative where the Urban Forester would view as reasonable, which doesn't take out the tree, and he would like to be sure that there is language that protects the City's interest in that tree. Councilmember Boehme said healthy trees should not be cut down. In regards to Councilmember Segal's inquiry as to the status of the tree ordinance, BSC Chair Bryant Slimp stated that the BSC stop discussing the issue because the Council at the time didn't seem in favor of the recommendations. Mayor Kelly said he would like the BSC to provide Council with all they have and Council will put it to a vote, with modifications, if necessary. Councilmember Boehme said he has yet to hear that someone cut down a tree without reason. He continued to say that the path the BSC was headed on at that time had to do with planting trees in the median, which most other cities prohibit because they would inevitably create infrastructure damage as they mature. Mayor Kelly said as he understood it at that time the tree ordinance was first passed, as he was on Council then, the emphasis of the ordinance was to protect our nice big beautiful trees and to have 2 of 5 City Council Minutes, June 28, 2010 cost repercussions for those requesting to cut trees down. He said discussions began again because the old fines of enforcement don't work anymore and we need to come up with a new way of encouraging people not to cut the trees down. He said we might even want to consider not allowing them to be cut down at all regardless of how much a resident is willing to pay. Councilmember Boehme said not allowing them to be cut down at all will be difficult because there may be language elsewhere in the Code of Ordinances that is in conflict. City Manager Ross said during the last Council's attempt to revise the ordinance, staff tried to take the origin of the BSC review and tweak it throughout, but said it got off track and grew into something more comprehensive. Mayor Pro Tern Fry agreed that it became too complex. At the end of the discussion, City Manager Ross recommended that that the BSC review its original recommendations and bring forth recommendations that are more manageable and easier to digest. Councilmember Segal said he would not like to see a lot of time spent dealing with the private property issues, but rather those issues pertaining to trees in the right-of-way. City Manager Ross said staff has always looked at homeowners improvements in the right-of-way as private improvements that are performed on public property like mowing the grass between the sidewalk and the curb and pruning trees. He said these things are typically seen as a homeowner's responsibility unless it becomes a traffic obstruction or code enforcement issue. He said if the City has to force mow because weeds are too high, etc., a lien is usually placed on the property. Councilmember Segal asked if the trees in the right-of-ways are on the City's inventory of trees. City Manager Ross confirmed that they are because they are assets of the City, but they are not capital assets owned by us. In response to Councilmember Boehme's question as to who owns the tree in a right-of-way, City Manager Ross responded that the homeowner does, even though it is on the City's property. Due to time constraints, discussion ended. 3. Solicitation Matters related to the regulation of door-to-door soliciting and advertising. City Attorney Petrov presented and said a couple months back we amended the solicitation ordinance for a total ban on distribution of door hangers. He said since the passage of the ordinance, he has been contacted by a commercial company that distributes commercial hangers and he has been inundated with cases where they profess to support that such a ban is unconstitutional. City Attorney Petrov said that there are lines of cases that distinguish commercial communications from other types of communications. He said there are many cases that take the position that commercial communication is valuable communication and should not be restricted, because it provides homeowners with information that may be of interest to them and that a government shouldn't be placing its judgment on what a homeowner should or shouldn't receive. City Attorney Petrov recommended modeling our ordinance more after our Do Not Knock list so that we have a Do Not Distribute list for the flyers, although even some of those cases show a problem with those sorts of lists if they are not updated periodically to reflect when a homeowner moves, etc. He said there will need to be a way to update the lists and the issue should be addressed in our ordinance and in respect to the Do Not Knock list, as well. 3of5 City Council Minutes, June 28, 2010 Mayor Kelly said we have to decide whether or not we are going to be influenced or intimidated by this company and change the ordinance or are we going to just say "sue us." As suggested by Mayor Pro Tem Fry, this item will be discussed with the city attorney at a future workshop in executive session. With no further comments, Councilmember Segal moved to adjourn the special workshop at 6:46 p.m. Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Segal Noes: None Absent: Guffey 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 6:50 p.m. Also in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tem Fry, Councilmembers Boehme and Segal, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Peifer and Police Chief Ken Walker. Councilmember Guffey was absent. Mayor Bob Kelly 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. 4. 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. Henry Stelzig, 4219 Byron, spoke to say that during certain times at Colonial Park the traffic and parking is extreme on Byron, which makes it hard for him and his neighbors to get in and out of their driveways. He asked council to consider an ordinance to prevent people from parking on both sides of the street. City Manager Ross said staff will follow-up with this issue. Mr. Stelzig also asked what he should do about a big tree in his back yard that was damaged during Hurricane Ike and is now about to fall over. Councilmember Segal asked Mr. Stelzig to file a request for a tree permit form with the City and the Forester will come out to examine the tree and issue the permit at no cost if he finds the tree is damaged. 5. 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 4 of 5 City Council Minutes, June 28, 2010 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 regular meeting minutes of June 14, 2010. C. B. Generator Maintenance Agreement Matters related to the award of a generator maintenance agreement. Matters related to the award of a contract for citywide mosquito spraying and municipal facilities pest control. Councilmember Boehme moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Segal Noes: None Absent: Guffey 6. Reports by Council/Staff No reports. With no further business before the Council, Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None Meeting Adjourned. Prepared By: Thelma A. Lenz, City Secretary Date Approved: 5of5