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HomeMy WebLinkAbout022811R CC Min6d, 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, February 28, 2011, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University Boulevard, West University Place, Texas beginning at 6:00 p.m. SPECIAL WORKSHOP (BEGINNING AT 6:00 P.M. IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM) CALL TO ORDER Mayor Pro Tern Fry called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council and staff in attendance were: Councilmembers Boehme, Segal, and Guffey, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, and ACM/Public Works Director Peifer. City Attorney Petrov arrived at 6:07 p.m. Mayor Kelly was absent. The following item was discussed: 1. Shared Parking Agreement Matters related to the consideration of an amended and restated Memorandum of Understanding between the City of West University Place and the West U Baptist Church (WUBC). City Manager Ross and ACM/Public Works Director Peifer presented. Mr. Peifer explained that since 2006, the City has had a shared parking agreement with WUBC Town Center area, which has worked very well, but with construction of our new facilities we need to readjust the agreement. Mr. Peifer said the proposition is that the parking lot, which is immediately to the Amherst side and to the west, where we currently park, could be included with the acquisition of the property immediately toward University. He said we could make it one parking lot and take advantage of that improvement. Mr. Peifer said the agreement is the same as before, with a modification to include the lease at $1 per year, which is for our improvement cost and amortization over a certain period. City Manager Ross pointed out that right now we have 71 parking spaces without the church and the Wells' property. He said with the church and the Wells' property we will meet our requirement of 95 parking spaces. In response to Mayor Pro Tern Fry's question as to whether there is a down side to the agreement, Mr. Ross said the reason we want to acquire the Wells' property is to allow for the expansion of the parking. He said the agreement would serve more of a need than just meeting our building parking. City Council Minutes, February 28, 2011 Councilmember Segal said the church doesn't meet the parking requirements by themselves, either, and didn't meet the requirements to build the gym; so, in order to satisfy their requirement and to give us additional parking, we entered into an agreement. City Manager Ross said this agreement is basically the existing parking agreement the City has with the Church with the addition of these two lots. Councilmember Segal pointed out a few issues he had with the agreement, both technically and substantially. Technically, he pointed out that a couple of pages were numbered incorrectly, as well as a couple of typos. On the more substantive issues, Councilmember Segal said he is concerned about the provision on Appendix A that allows the church to withdraw any lot with 30 days notice. He said we have only a year's contract with terms that state either party can pull out on a year's notice; however, they can pull a lot out on 30 day's notice. Councilmember Segal also noted that under Appendix A, Item (d), it states that "either party, by notifying the other party at least 30 days in advance, may remove one or more of the individual areas from the MOU permanently if the areas are sold, leased, built upon or converted to a non-public-parking use." He said he would like to add the phrase "as long as they are in compliance with all West U Zoning ordinances." City Attorney Petrov agreed that this phrase should be added because they do have to be in compliance with the Zoning ordinance. Councilmember Segal said he wants to vote on something substantial rather than do something that doesn't satisfy the test; so, this probably shouldn't be voted on until after some of the issues have been resolved. Councilmember Segal said in the negotiations, he would like to see the police spaces secured and not be part of the open parking. City Manager Ross said that is where we're headed. Councilmember Segal asked if we exclude the police parking from the agreement, does it prohibit us from marking more of the spaces reserved for City employees during the hours of 8-5. City Manager Ross said, no. No action was taken. Councilmember Boehme moved to adjourn the special workshop meeting at 6:25 a.m. Councilmember Gulley seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Boehme, Guffey Noes: Segal Absent: Kelly REGULAR MEETING (BEGINNING AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS) Mayor for the Day J.C. Young called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. All Council, except Mayor Kelly, was present. City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, ACM/Public Works Director Peifer, Finance Director Daugherty, and Police Chief Walker were also present. 2 of 7 City Council Minutes, February 28, 2011 Mayor for the Day Young led the Pledge of Allegiance and Pledge to the Texas Flag. City Secretary Lenz confirmed that the Notice of the special and regular meetings was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. Mayor Pro Tern Fry introduced Mayor for the Day J.C. Young. Agenda items were as follows: 2. Mayor for the Dav Proclamation Mayor for the Day J.C. Young read a Proclamation to the citizens of West University Place, Texas. 3. Public Comments There were no comments from the public. 4. Residential Basements Matters related to an ordinance amending Chapter 18 of the City of West University Place City Code of Ordinances regarding basements. Chief Building Official John Brown and Building and Standards Commission Chair Bryant Slimp presented this item. Before the presentation, Councilmember Boehme announced that Mr. Brown had received the annual Building Official of the Year, the Jim Whatley award, from the Building Officials Association of Texas for his dedication to public safety and welfare. After being recognized, Mr. Brown began the presentation and stated that basically there had been an agreement to allow for 100-foot-square basements with an application for a special exception, then when it was submitted back to the Building and Standards Commission (BSC) from the Zoning and Planning Commission (ZPC), the BSC did some additional modifications and included wine cellars in their allowances for uses based on their perception of Council's direction. Mr. Brown said in a subsequent joint meeting between the BSC and the ZPC, both Commissions felt that building basements in residential or commercial areas within the City of West University was not a viable thing to do and as such their recommendation was to not allow basements at all. Chair Slimp said the BSC and ZPC went back and forth with this issue for over a year and both Commissions concluded that the building of basements is not right for the City from health and safety points of view, the impact on others, flooding damage and potential mold, etc. City Manager Ross said while staff fully supports and respects the findings of both Commissions, Council asked that we find a way to allow basements, but regulate them. He said we serve at the Council's pleasure and staff takes no exception to basements if that is the Council's policy direction. At this time, Mayor Pro Tern Fry called for a motion. Councilmember Segal moved to adopt the ordinance as written, which would ban all basements. Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded the motion. Councilmember Segal stated that the BSC is meeting March 3 and an item relating to basements is on the agenda; so, how are we here voting on the ordinance when the BSC will be discussing it on 3 of 7 City Council Minutes, February 28, 2011 March 3. Mr. Slimp said the BSC agenda item on March 3 is to clarify that the ordinance includes commercial property, also, which was not included in the original recommendation. Councilmember Segal said the memorandum for this item states "during the discussion on July 26, the City Council suggested joint commissions develop regulations that prohibit traditional type basements while providing an allowance for small basements used for mechanical equipment elevators and wine cellars." He said, to clarify, the City Manager seems to think that Council directed staff to go and make allowances for that, but the way he remembers it, Council suggested, not directed, that staff go back and reconsider the other items. In response to Councilmember Boehme's question as to how the International Building Code speaks to this issue, Mr. Brown said that basements are common and the Code is used in the majority of the United States because there are a lot of places where basements are very common, so it allows them. He continued to say that the Code does allow for not having to put in window wells or emergency egress windows, if the space is limited 200-square feet or less and it is used for only for mechanical equipment. He said if you deviate from the exceptions, window wells and emergency egress windows will be required. Councilmember Boehme asked Mr. Brown what do other cities in our area do to regulate basements. Mr. Brown said other comparable cities in our area don't have any specific local amendments to their ordinances controlling basements. He said the building officials he spoke with said they don't have any basements of which they are aware. . As for basements in West U, Mr. Brown said he knows for sure that we have two, one of which is solely a wine cellar and the other is more of a full basement. Councilmember Boehme said he knows our problem is that we have no rules and we need to deviate from where we are today. He said he has been following this issue and it seems to him that discussion came about that this is a bad idea and so the big question is should we outlaw things just because they're bad ideas. Councilmember Boehme said he thinks the role of Council is such that if something damages the private property rights of a neighbor or affects the property rights of our City, we need to write a law to protect that and it seems that Mr. Brown recommended a law that did that and it seems that both Commissions acknowledged that; but, that the discussion was that this is such a colossal bad idea that we still need to outlaw it and he is concerned about that precedence. He said he doesn't think we can go outlaw everything that is a bad idea. Councilmember Guffey said he agrees with Councilmember Boehme and said he thinks this is a heavy handed approach by the City to limit the rights of the citizens. He said if a person wants to put a small 10 x 10 basement on their lot they should be able to do so because it would not be an intrusion on the City or neighbors. He said he is surprised that the Commissions are recommending this and doesn't think it makes a lot sense. Councilmember Guffey said he also doesn't think it should be treated as something a person has to come and get a special exception for, because that costs money and a special exception is almost impossible to get. Councilmember Guffey said he thinks we should say people can put in a 100-square-foot maximum basement. Councilmember Segal said it was vetted by both Commissions and he is going to go with their recommendations. He said this is the way it went through the process and if we want to follow up 4of7 City Council Minutes, February 28, 2011 later and have some sort of limited exception, let them do it. He said we need to get this in place so we don't have any full basements being built with no prohibition. Councilmember Segal said it also seems that it will cost the City a lot more checking registration dealing with basements and wonders if permit fees can be increased if we allow them, because City staff will spend a lot more time monitoring them. Mr. Brown said the fees will be included in the square footage costs, so percentage wise we would get the same money for the basement as we would the other. David Flame, Vice Chairman of the Building and Standards Commission and resident at 3223 Nottingham, spoke to reiterate the discussions by Mr. Brown and Mr. Slimp and said a lot of the time he has spent on the Commission has been discussing how to protect homeowner's properties. Mr. Flame said when we talk about limitations it has very little impact on the rights of the citizens of West U. He said it has to do with how new construction is built, most of which is spec and most of the homeowners will not understand what the ramifications are as to how that wine cellar/basement was engineered or not engineered to be stable long term. Mayor Pro Tern Fry said he also doesn't like the idea of outlawing things that don't have to be outlawed. He said he very much respects the work that the BSC and the ZPC has put into this, but he suggest this be voted down and see what staff brings back before Council. Councilmember Boehme suggested that staff start with the Building Officials official recommendation, submitted on November 15. He said we need to do something. Mayor Pro Tem Fry said he thinks because this is such a heavy issue, they should wait for Mayor Kelly to return to weigh in on this. At this time a vote was made to the motion by Councilmember Fry and seconded by Mayor Pro Tern Fry. MOTION FAILED. Ayes: Segal Noes: Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Absent: Kelly City Manager Ross said staff will plan to bring the Chief Building Official's draft before Council on March 14, 2011 for the first of two readings of an ordinance. 5. West University Elementary Foundation, Inc. Matters related to consideration of a Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the West University Elementary Foundation, Inc. (WUEF, Inc.) to allow WUEF, Inc. to use City resources for non-city advertising, including, but may not be limited to, the use of City water bills for fundraising communications. City Manager Ross presented and said at Council's request, staff is recommending approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between the City and WUEF to allow WUEF to send out fundraising inserts in the City's water bills twice a year. Councilmember Boehme moved to approve the Memorandum of Understanding. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal 5of7 City Council Minutes, February 28, 2011 Noes: None Absent: Kelly 6. Shared Parking Agreement Matters related to the consideration of an amended and restated Memorandum of Understanding between the City of West University Place and the West U Baptist Church. Mayor Pro Tem Fry removed this item from the agenda as requested by City Manager Ross. 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 February 14, 2011. Ms. Thelma Lenz, City Secretary B. Prior Nonconformance Status and Parking Ordinance Matters related to a Prior Nonconformance Status and Parking ordinance. C. Municipal Setting Designation Matters related to the consideration and approval of a resolution supporting the application of a Municipal Setting Designation and corresponding Indemnity Agreement. D. Ordinance Amending the 2010 Budget Matters related to consideration of an ordinance amending the 2010 Budget. Councilmember Segal requested that Item D be removed from the Consent Agenda for discussion and then he moved to adopt Items A-C of the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Boehme seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: Kelly Councilmember Segal asked Finance Director Daugherty to provide an explanation of the Budget amendment. Finance Director Daugherty explained that every year we have an Audit and in our Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) there are schedules where we have to present budgeted amounts and actual amounts for the General Fund and all Special Revenue Funds and a comparison has to be made between the original and final budget of what was actually expended. Ms. Daugherty said if our expenditures for a department exceed what the department's original appropriations were, we need to make adjustments. She pointed out that we are not increasing the Budget, but rather shifting funds between departments. Councilmember Segal moved for the adoption of Item D of the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal 6 of 7 City Council Minutes, February 28, 2011 Noes: None Absent: Kelly 8. Reports by Council/Staff A. Matters related to the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS). Councilmember Segal said when TMRS changed the rules to have cities guarantee a 5 percent rate of return on the Fund, it started slowly investing in stocks. He said he reported in 2009 that the guarantee payment was made to the Employee Fund and the Retiree Fund and the City fund was credited 7.5 percent, which according to their policy, is because the overall Fund earned 10 percent. Councilmember Segal said on Friday last, the Board met and reported the following: The Fund's earnings for 2010 was 9.2 percent and they allocated 5 percent to the Employee Fund and to the Annuity Fund, and according to policy, allocated 7.5 percent to the City's funds, so it's working as intended. From 2009, there was a $660,000,000 reserve put aside so that in a year in which they don't earn enough money to credit the guaranteed 5 percent, they will draw that down rather than require us to automatically make a higher pension contribution. Because TMRS had additional earnings, the reserve this year increased to $1.2 billion. He also reminded everyone that last year the TMRS plan won an award as one of the top pension plans in the United States and that the TMRS Fund Balance has now moved to $17.9 billion. City Manager Ross noted that the combining of the funds bill is moving through the legislature and appears hopeful for passage. He said there is also a flexible Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) bill that is estimated at having a less than 50/50 chance of passing. Councilmember Segal said he got the impression that if the Advisory Committee and the Board didn't approve the COLA bill, it didn't have much of a real chance. 9. Adjourn With no further business before the Council, at 7:08 p.m., Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Boehme, Guffey, Segal Noes: None Absent: Kelly i ed ea re r / ~9-V I A. Lenz, City Secretary Date Approved: 7 of 7