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HomeMy WebLinkAbout011011R CC Min(rdl 0 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 special and regular session on Monday, January 10, 2011, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University Boulevard, West University Place, Texas beginning at 5:30 p.m. SPECIAL WORKSHOP (held at 5:30 p.m. in the Conference Room) Agenda items were discussed as follows: CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kelly called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Also in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tem Fry, Councilmembers Boehme, Guffey, and Segal, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, ACM/Public Works Director Peifer, Parks and Recreation Director Tim O'Connor, and Police Chief Ken Walker. 1. Colonial Park Concessions and Catering Matters related to City concessions at Colonial Park and the catering of City events. Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor and Parks Board Chair Russ Schulze presented an outline of the Parks Board recommended criteria for the selection of a concession vendor, which is to include, but not be limited to, the following: • Selection and quality of food and beverages offered. • Pricing. • Availability - Hours concession stand is open. • Proximity of vendor's kitchen and preparation area to CCP. • Accountability of on-site adult concession manager at all times. • Vendor recognition in the community. • Flexibility during inclement weather. • Safe, clean and professionally managed operation. • Customer satisfaction and timeliness of delivery of orders. • Minimal city liability and exposure. The Parks Board also recommended that Request for Proposals be sent to prospective vendors in an area bounded by 159 on the north, Greenbrier on the east, the south side of Holcombe/Bellaire on the south, and Loop 610 on the west. City Council Minutes, January 10, 2011 Regarding hours of operation, especially during bad weather, Councilmember Boehme stated that what Council has to decide is whether it wants to make the vendor stay open during those times when it will clearly not be profitable. Councilmember Guffey said if we make that part of policy, the concessionaire's will have to raise prices during the other part of the time to make up for losses. Councilmember Segal said speaking about the basic period when we're open full-time, starting Memorial Day, with a few exceptions, and all the way through Labor Day, he thinks the citizens are looking for a place to eat lunch and dinner and if it is a "pool open" day, there should be some requirement to open concessions on those days, but not necessarily the entire time. He said it should probably be left up to the concessionaire as to whether they want to open during the shoulder periods (April and May before Memorial Day and September and October after Labor Day). Councilmember Boehme suggested that we make the vendor open every day during the regular period except for when park events are cancelled. Councilmember Segal stated that if there is a situation because of the weather and we know the pool will not open until 1:00 p.m., we can notify the vendor and inform them not to come until such time they need to set up to open at 1:00 p.m. He said there has to be some discretion there as long as the vendor knows going in that the commitment is to open on days during the basic period. Mayor Kelly said with the current contract language, there doesn't seem to be problem with the opening/closing of concessions; but, on the other hand, it doesn't seem it was very profitable, either because there were not enough people there during bad weather days. Councilmember Boehme said the current language leaves the decision to the vendor as to what is the level of reasonable demand for such services and he personally thinks that works real well because he believes the vendor will be there whenever there is demand. Mayor Kelly asked do we need to change the language or go with what we already have. Councilmember Segal said if the language doesn't change, then it doesn't need to be different for the shoulder period, because we are not requiring the vendor to open on weekends, which he thinks is fair, but we have to make that clear to the bidders. City Manager Ross said what we don't want is for the vendor to have discretion to not show up when the forecast says that it "might" rain. In response to Mayor Pro Tern Fry's question to Mr. O'Connor as to whether he's comfortable with the proposed Request for Proposal, Mr. O'Connor replied yes, because he has realized that regardless of who is doing the concession, the vendor doesn't want to get into the habit of not being available or people would start making other arrangements for food. Councilmember Guffey said he found the proposed proposal to very heavy handed and it seems we are trying to tell vendors how to run their business. Councilmember Boehme said we should be more flexible on some issues especially since there are other provisions that allow us to cancel the contract if the vendor isn't doing a good job. 2of8 City Council Minutes, January 10, 2011 Councilmember Guffey said it also seems that we are trying to enforce health issues and he doesn't feel we need to be trying to enforce health rules for a restaurant in the City of Houston or anywhere else because that's not our job. Councilmember Segal said he doesn't think we are trying to enforce health codes on vendors, we just state that they need to be compliant. Mr. Schulze said the City wouldn't have any liability regarding health issues if the caterer was hired by a private parry. He said the only thing we should be concerned about is the concessionaire. After discussion, it was confirmed that paragraph #20 of the proposed contract should only reference the concessionaire. Mr. Schulze then reviewed the proposed radius for soliciting bids. He said anyone outside the radius is welcome to bid, but the City is only aggressively marketing those vendors within the radius. Mr. Schulze said it is important that whoever is selected should have familiarity with the community, has name recognition in the community, and someone who provides a quality product and service. Councilmember Segal suggested that on the 2nd page, we change "City's Scoring Criteria" to "City's Selection Criteria". All agreed. Councilmember Segal also suggested on the last bullet point above "city requires bidder to accommodate a tasting session" be changed to "the City may require a bidder to accommodate a tasting session". All agreed. Councilmember Segal also stated that it may be helpful if we didn't highlight the fact that the concessionaire will have flexibility on the weekends with respect to hours and operations. All agreed. Action on this item will be made in regular session. 2. Stormwater Detention and Ruffino Hills Property Consultation with City Attorney concerning matters related to stormwater detention and Ruffino Hills Property. At 6:05 p.m., Mayor Pro Tem Fry moved to recess the open session and move into a closed executive session in accordance with Sections 551.072 and 551.071 in Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None Present in the Executive Session were Mayor Kelly, Mayor Pro Tem Fry, Councilmembers Boehme, Guffey and Segal, City Manager Ross, City Attorney Petrov, City Secretary Lenz, and ACM/Public Works Director Peifer At 6:25 p.m., Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to close the executive session and reconvene into open session. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. 3 of 8 City Council Minutes, January 10, 2011 Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None With no action taken, at 6:26 p.m., Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to adjourn the special workshop. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. 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. Also in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tern Fry, Councilmembers Boehme, Guffey and Segal, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, ACM/Public Works Director Peifer, Police Chief Walker, and Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor. Mayor Kelly led the Pledge of Allegiance and Pledge to the Texas Flag. City Secretary Lenz confirmed that Notice of the special and regular meetings was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. 3. Proclamation Honoring Will Rhymes Matters related to a Proclamation honoring Will to the Major Baseball League. Rhymes, the first West U Little Leaguer to make it Councilman Segal introduced the proclamation and provided information about Will Rhymes career and presented a short video of Mr. Rhymes' first home run. Mayor and Council recognized Will Rhymes with Mayor Kelly reading the proclamation declaring January 10, 2011 as "Will Rhymes Day" in West U. 4. Public Comments Speakers signed up for the joint public hearing with the Zoning and Planning Commission and deferred comments until that item was discussed. 5. Matters related to a joint public hearing of the Zoning Planning Commission and City Council 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. At 7:32 p.m., Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to recess the open session. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 4of8 City Council Minutes, January 10, 2011 At 7:32 p.m., Councilmember Segal moved to open the public hearing. Mayor Pro Tem Fry seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None At 7:33 p.m., Zoning and Planning Commission Chair Steve Brown called the meeting of the Zoning and Planning Commission to order. ZPC members also present were Dick Yehle, DeDe DeStefano, Lauren Griffith and Bruce Frankel. Sam Parikh and Bob Higley were absent. Chair Brown reviewed the procedures of the hearing and then stated that it is not the Commission's intention to close the hearing for the ZPC at its meeting on Thursday at 6:15 p.m., at which time they will consider the comments made this evening and those made at Thursday's meeting. He said after hearing from the public at Thursday's meeting, the hearing will be closed and the Commission will review the information to make a final report to City Council. He noted that the process provides ample opportunity for discussion and review of the proposal. Chair Brown opened the meeting and confirmed with City Secretary Lenz that the notice was posted in accordance with the ordinance calling the public hearing. City Planner Scarcella presented a PowerPoint presentation outlining what is being proposed. The proposal contains three parts: 1) amends Section 2 of the Zoning Ordinance to establish a new definition for "Commercial District' in order to help create a distinction between the "uses" contained within a zoning "district" and the "district" itself; 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 requirement for additional parking spaces for food service establishments operating within a shopping center versus food service establishments operating from a single business structure and classifies carryout food service use with retail use for the purpose of establishing minimum parking space requirements. Chair Brown opened the floor for comments. Vanessa Smith, 3702 Georgetown, spoke to say that she is against giving any more spaces to a shopping center due to the safety issue involved with more car traffic in the area. Stan Smith, 3702 Georgetown, spoke to say he and his wife live directly across the street from what will be Tiny Boxwoods #5, so he is against increasing any seating capacity, because if the restaurant is as successful as the original one, the streets will be filled with cars. He said if they want to increase the seating and not the parking spaces, he suggests we wait and let them earn it and prove to us that it will not be a danger to the public or onerous task for residents to get to their homes after work in the evenings. Greg Thompson, 3758 Plumb and owner of the JMH shopping center on Rice Boulevard, spoke to address the concerns raised by the Smith's. He said he has not asked to increase seating at Tiny Boxwood's and has no plans to do so. Diane Wiley, 6338 Mercer, asked about on-street and other parking issues in the JMH area. Chair Brown said the hearing is not for that topic and asked her to meet with Ms. Scarcella for answers to her questions and concerns. 5of8 City Council Minutes, January 10, 2011 Councilmember Boehme said this proposal is really a housekeeping move. He said the purpose for this is not to have more seating area for the restaurant, but rather to have a third use to allow them to have office space. He said if we leave the law like it is now, the choice will be either to expand the restaurant or expand the bank. Councilmember Guffey said he supports this proposal because he thinks the City should do everything it can to accommodate the businesses in the City, not just for sales tax and other revenue, but because of the services they provide to our citizens. Vanessa Smith, 3702 Georgetown, spoke again and asked if the third use is allowed, wouldn't it require a few more parking spaces for employees that will not be walking to the office. Councilmember Boehme said they would have to require those parking spaces. Mayor Kelly said it is his understanding that this will not in and of itself increase the parking situation. He said the parking issue we are faced with is that this could be a very highly successful business that would require more parking than the previous establishment at that location. He said we'll just have to see how this goes. After hearing public comments, Commissioner Yehle moved that all statements, exhibits and documents be made part of the official record of this hearing and that this hearing be continued at a later date. Commissioner Frankel seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Commissioners Brown, Noes: None Absent: Parikh and Higley Yehle, DeStefano, Griffith and Frankel At 7:13 p.m., Commissioner DeStefano moved to adjourn the joint public hearing. Commissioner Griffith seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Commissioners Brown, Noes: None Absent: Parikh and Higley Yehle, DeStefano, Griffith and Frankel Councilmember Boehme moved that the City Council keep the public hearing open. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 6. Colonial Park Concessions and Catering Matters related to City concessions at Colonial Park and the catering of City events. Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor presented and said staff is seeking the approval of City Council with the understanding that the Request for Proposals (RFPs) for the Colonial Park concessionaire is substantially complete, but there are a few housekeeping items staff will have to make before the document is finalized as per discussions in the workshop session. As recommended by Mr. O'Connor, Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to authorize the city manager to move forward with the process of soliciting RFPs from interested parties for the Colonial Park Pool Concession Contract. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. 6 of 8 City Council Minutes, January 10, 2011 Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 7. 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 minutes of December 13, 2010. B. Designating Official Newspaper Matters related to designating the City's official newspaper including adoption of an ordinance. C. Memorandum of Understanding Matters related to a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of West University Place and the West U Aquatics Club. Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Councilmember Boehme seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: None 8. Reports by Council/Staff A. Report on the May 14, 2011 City Election. Mayor Kelly provided a timeline for the election and announced that candidate packets will be available in the City Secretary's office as of January 18, 2011. He also noted that the first City business day to file is February 14; the last day to file is March 14 by 5:00 p.m.; and the last day for a candidate to withdraw is March 22. B. Report on issues relating to Little Matt's, including, but not limited to, permit and code violations. City Manager Ross reported on Little Matt's, located at 6203 Edloe, and said that during a routine annual business inspection performed on December 1, 2010 several life safety and fire code violation were discovered and that there were several changes in the floor plan and occupancy since the last inspection. Mr. Ross said a subsequent inspection resulted in additional violations, but since such time the tenant has repaired and/or resolved all but one issue, which does not affect life or safety. Additionally, he said the tenant has engaged a building designer to draw a set of plans representing changes to the approved set of plans from 2007 and 2008. Mr. Ross said staff has been communicating with the building designer and will be meeting with the tenant and building designer next week. 7of8 City Council Minutes, January 10, 2011 Councilmember Segal asked if Little Matt's lost its prior nonconforming (PNC) status by violating the rules of the PNC status? City Manager Ross said the city attorney and staff will research and will provide Council the answer to that specific question. With no other business before Council, Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:25 p.m. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Boehme, Segal Noes: None Absent: Guffey ~~~5 0 Fq ing Adjourned. Jsf v v P rj~ ~S'~ A. Lenz, City Secretary Date {proved: 8 of8