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HomeMy WebLinkAbout102510R CC MinutesThe 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 special and regular session on Monday, October 25, 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 6:03 p.m. Also in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tern Fry, Councilmembers Boehme, Guffey, and Segal, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, Finance Director Daugherty, and Human Resources Director Standorf. 1. Budget Workshop Matters related to the 2011 Proposed Budget. City Manager Ross updated Council on issues raised during the public hearing, specifically providing a breakdown of each department's community relations and professional dues budget, as well as a breakdown of benefits. 2. Real Estate Matters related to the purchase of property located at 3816 University and properties owned by the West University Baptist Church and 3936 Marlowe Street. At 6:12 p.m., Councilmember Segal moved to recess the special meeting and convene into executive session in accordance with Section 551.072 in Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code. Councilmember Boehme seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None At 6:25 p.m., Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to close the executive session and reconvene into open session. MOTION PASSED. Councilmember Segal seconded. MOTIONN PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None City Council Minutes, October 25, 2010 With no action taken and no further business to conduct in the special meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Fry moved to adjourn at 6:25 p.m. Councilmember Segal seconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 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 6:30 p.m. Council and staff attending the Workshop also attended regular session. Mayor Pro Tern Fry 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. 3. Public Comments This was an opportunity for citizens to speak to Council on agenda and non-agenda items. Speakers were advised that comments could not be received on matters which were the subject of a public hearing once the hearing has been closed. Mayor Kelly announced that the public hearings for the 2011 Budget and Tax Rate were closed and stated if anyone signed up to speak on those two issues, they would not be able to do so. Fred Schiller, 6608 Vanderbilt, spoke to reiterate his comments from the previous meeting regarding wasteful spending. Jeanne King, 3802 Case Street, spoke to say that waste management, police, and fire in this community are awesome. She then talked about flooding on her street (Case) and wants to know when something will be done to prevent the flooding. Patrick O'Donnell, 3820 Duke Street, spoke to suggest that the City look into requiring a fee for landscapers who do work in the City. As requested by Councilmember Segal, City Manager Ross stated that staff will look into what other cities are doing regarding the requirement of landscaping fees. 4. Adoption of the 2011 Budget Matters related to an ordinance approving and adopting a budget for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2011 and ending December 31, 2011 appropriating funds for such budget; containing findings and provisions relating to the subject; and declaring an emergency. City Manager Ross stated staff's recommendation then Mayor Pro Tem Fry moved to approve an ordinance approving and adopting a budget for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2011 and ending December 31, 2011; appropriating funds for such budget and containing finding and provisions relating to the subject. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal 2of7 City Council Minutes, October 25, 2010 Noes: None Absent: None 5. Ratifying the Tax Rate Increase Matters related to an ordinance ratifying the property tax revenue increase needed to support the 2011 Budget. City Manager Ross stated staff's recommendation then Councilmember Segal moved to adopt an ordinance ratifying the property tax increase reflected in the budget adopted by the City Council for the ensuing fiscal year, beginning January 1, 2011, and ending December 31, 2011; and providing for the effective date thereof. Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 6. Adoption of the 2011 Tax Rate Matters related to an ordinance approving and adopting the 2011 Tax Rate. City Manager Ross stated staff's recommendation then Councilmember Guffey moved to approve an ordinance levying and assessing Ad Valorem taxes for Tax Year 2010; confirming and granting exemptions; containing findings and provisions relating to the subject; and declaring an emergency. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 7. Food Concessions at Colonial Park and Catering of City events Matters related to City concessions at Colonial Park and the catering of City events. Parks Board Chair Russ Schulze presented and said the Parks Board has identified who the primary users are at Colonial Park. He said the Parks Board has been discussing options and hopes to have a draft menu between now and the first of the year. Mayor Kelly said the end of January would be sufficient. Councilmember Boehme said this is an opportunity for the City to benefit from the experience of other cities. He said having a set menu precludes a restaurant from serving what they are branded for. He said another big issue is that there is no kitchen there and unless that changes a vendor will have to invest between $20,000 and $50,000 for equipment, which will likely exceed any potential income during the course of a year; so, we might have to have a 3 or 4 year contract for the next vendor. Councilmember Boehme asked if our priority is to make money from the concessions. He said if so, we need to ask residents to come in and set their own menu and bid the highest figure and let the market work its will. He said if on the other hand we are not looking at it as a revenue source and we are trying to get the lowest prices for our residents, then what we should likely do is set a menu, but the problem with that is there has be specifications for the type of hot dog, hamburger, etc. Mr. Schulze said he thinks it will be very helpful if Councilmember Boehme attends a Parks Board meeting to provide his thoughts. Mayor Pro Tern Fry said he thinks charging the Parks Board with this task is a very good idea and thinks they will do a very good job of researching this matter and bringing recommendations to Council. 3of7 City Council Minutes, October 25, 2010 Councilmember Guffey complimented Edloe Deli on its concessionaire services this past year and said he hopes they will do it again, because it is the most logical restaurant due to its location and menu. Councilmember Segal said he thinks we need to have a lot of focus on the vendor and thinks the Parks Board study to find out what people want is valid. He said he thinks the end result lies in choosing the right vendor. Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to charge the Parks Board with researching concessions at Colonial Park come summer 2011 to bring back to Council recommendations on how to proceed with the Request for Proposal. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None S. Recent News Articles Matters related to recent articles published in one or more local news outlets about West University Place. Councilmember Segal requested that this item be added to the agenda, which was seconded by Councilmember Boehme. Councilmember Segal said he requested the item because he wanted to comment on recent articles by the Village News, particular the headline in the October 19, 2010 issue which states "Phony Plan Draws Residents' Fire as Town Center Report Nears." He said the Town Center report is premature as it has not been presented to Council. He said had the plan been called crazy, absurd, or ridiculous, he wouldn't say a word, but he doesn't see anything with this plan that is phony. Regarding another article in the same issue, which reads "Deli Doesn't Deliver on Dogs for Movies, Councilmember Segal said this negative headline insinuated that something negligent or inappropriate was done by Edloe Deli, but the fact is Councilmember Boehme stated in several meetings that Edloe Deli was no longer going to participate in any catering for the City and he made it so clear that he can't understand how anyone could misunderstand that. He then proceeded to point out other concerns he had with this article. Councilmember Segal said he thinks newspapers, especially one that is a co-off icial newspaper for our City, should not to take shots without further investigating the facts. Councilmember Boehme said any news publication has an opportunity, as a right, to show their bias; however, he said he thinks there is an obligation that the objective truths and the facts be correct. He said when Council appointed the committee, he doesn't think Council had the thought that the committee would create a project, but that is how it has developed and it is going to have an opportunity to develop more. Regarding the Town Center plan, he said it may be a lot of things, but it's not phony. Mayor Kelly said he doesn't tell reporters how to write their stories or what words to use and thinks if someone disagrees with what is written in a story then they should call the reporter to discuss it. He said we live in a goldfish bowl and in the history of the 30+ years he has lived in West U, he has never seen a City Council take on the newspapers. He said it is troubling to him that this is being done. Mayor Kelly said there were articles in InstantNewsWestU, the Village News, and the West U Examiner, but the thing that caught his attention in the Village News article was Bruce Frankel's comment that "the 4of7 City Council Minutes, October 25, 2010 purpose of the committee's work was to allow current ownership to redevelopment the site should it be destroyed by catastrophic event or if redevelopment is necessary due to economic or physical means. However, it was not the committee's mission to suggest redevelopment ideas or plans." Mayor Kelly asked Bruce Frankel, chair of the Town Center Ad Hoc Committee, to come to the podium. Mr. Frankel said of all three articles the Village News is probably the most accurate, because that reporter called and spoke to him to get accurate information. Councilmember Boehme asked Mr. Frankel if the plan is phony. Mr. Frankel said that the plan is not phony and said it is a plan that the committee used to help develop recommendations for the Zoning and Planning Commission and City Council. He said it is part of a process. Councilmember Boehme asked again if it's phony and Mr. Frankel said again it is not, but said it is probably a plan that will never happen as long as the ownership is fragmented along that block. Councilmember Boehme said with exception of the headline, he thinks the Village News article did do the best job explaining what he thinks the Council envisions the committee's role to be. He said he also thinks the InstantNewsWestU was entirely accurate and thinks that the West U Examiner was entirely accurate. Mr. Frankel said both the West U Examiner InstantNews articles centered on the plan and completely took the plan out of context. Councilmember Segal said he had no problem with the substance of any of the articles and that his only problem was the "phony" designation. Councilmember Segal asked Mr. Frankel if the committee is working on proposed changes to the zoning ordinance that the independent property owners could use to redevelopment his individual property if it was destroyed by fire. Mr. Frankel said yes. Mayor Kelly said his intent of this discussion was not to criticize any newspaper. He said he wanted everyone on Council to see the futility of this action. He said this is something we, as a Council, need to leave to the professionals. Councilmember Segal said he thinks discussion of this was a healthy and helpful discussion and if he had to do it all over again he would bring it up again, but hopes he isn't forced to do so. 9. Matters related an ordinance calling joint public hearings of the City Council and the Zoning Planning Commission to hear comments for or against issues relating to loss of prior nonconforming (PNC) status for a change in use and parking regulations for certain food service establishments. City Planner Debbie Scarcella presented and said this proposal amends Section 12 and Section 10 of the Zoning Ordinance regarding the loss of Prior Nonconforming (PNC) status and parking regulations for certain food establishments and it contains three parts: 1) amends Section 2 of the Zoning Ordinance to establish a new definition for "Commercial District"; 2) establishes regulations by which a loss of PNC status occurs when there is a change in a nonconforming commercial "use"; and, 3) equalizes the existing parking requirement for food service establishments operating within a shopping center versus food service establishments operating from a single business structure. Ms. Scarcella said the Zoning and Planning Commission realizes that this is not a permanent fix to the issue of prior nonconforming status relating to those types of businesses and hopes that Council will 5of7 City Council Minutes, October 25, 2010 request a more comprehensive study in the near future to review all commercial zoning regulations, including the commercial zoning districts. Councilmember Boehme moved to approve an ordinance calling a joint public hearing on a proposal to amend the Zoning Ordinance and Code of Ordinances of the City of West University Place, Texas, regarding loss of prior nonconforming status for changes in commercial uses and changes in minimum parking requirements for certain food service establishments, prescribing procedures and notices, containing findings and provisions relating to the subject, and declaring an emergency; and in Section I of the ordinance that we call this public hearing in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 3800 University Boulevard during the Council meeting to set to begin at 6:30 p.m. on December 13, 2010. Mayor Pro Tem Fry seconded the motion. Councilmember Segal raised the question about the time between the public hearing and when the follow-up Zoning and Planning Commission meeting would take place, and after further discussion regarding the next Zoning and Planning Commission meeting, Councilmember Segal moved that the meeting date for the public hearing be postponed until January 10, 2011. Councilmember Boehme seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 10. Consent Aoenda 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 special and regular meeting minutes of October 11, 2010. B. Rescheduling City Council Meetings Matters related to rescheduling City Council meetings in November and December 2010 due to Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. C. Appointment to the Seniors Board Matters related to the appointment of Barbara Marvin to the Seniors Board. D. Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) Matters related to an ordinance rescinding the retiree COLA. Mayor Pro Tem Fry moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 11. Reports by Council/Staff There were no reports by Council/Staff. 6 of 7 City Council Minutes, October 25, 2010 With no other business before the Council, Councilmember Boehme moved to adjourn the regular meeting at 7:44 p.m. Councilmember Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 7of7 Date Approved: 1 d