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HomeMy WebLinkAbout062713 CC Workshop MinThe City of West University Place A Neighborhood City CITY COUNCIL Bob Fry, Mayor Susan Sample, Mayor Pro Tem Ed Heatbcott, Councilmember Joan Johnson, Councilmember Dick Yehle, 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 on Thursday, June 27, 2013, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University, West University Place, Texas beginning at 11:30 a.m. Agenda Items were as follows: Call to Order. Mayor Fry called the meeting to order at 11:45 pm in the Council Chambers. Council and staff in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tern Sample, Councilmembers Heathcott, Johnson and Yehle, City Manager Ross, Assistant City Manager /Public Works Director Peifer, City Secretary Lenz, Police Chief Walker, Fire Chief Taylor, Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor, IT Director McFarland, Finance Director Daugherty, Human Resources Director Standorf, Executive Assistant Moody, Human Resources Generalist Garcia and Interns James Bajcek and Abraham Zorrilla. 1. 2013 -2015 City Council Goals Matters related to the City Council's goals for 2013 -2015 and other related matters. The following are excerpts from the discussion. Following the discussion notes in these minutes is a draft of the recommended goals for 2013 -2015 that will be circulated to Council for subsequent confirmation. • Complete College Avenue Drainage. Mayor Fry said his approach is to tell staff that what the City has so far is not going to work (meaning that no options considered to date appear to be viable) and to research all other options, both internally and externally, in order to take care of the detention problem. Park Master Plan • Mayor Fry said he would seek that resolution of the property acquisition at Pittsburgh and Mercer be considered in the plan. • Councilmember Yehle said the plan should also address practical issues with achieving any parkland acquisition. • Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor suggested that the Plan also include a comprehensive Park Naming Rights Policy. Mayor Fry said it is staff's job and /or the Parks and Recreation Board to come up with a policy and bring it to City Council. He said he would happy to provide a deadline for staff and/or the Parks and Recreation Board to provide a recommendation to Council. City Council Minutes, June 27, 2013 City Manager Ross suggested that the Park Naming Rights Policy be mentioned in the Parks Master Plan, especially with having access to the expertise of a consultant. While on the subject of parks, Mayor Pro Tern Sample suggested that Friends have some type of capital campaign added to their scope. Mayor Fry asked if it was time to view the mission and methods of the Friends of West University Parks Fund. Parks and Recreation O'Connor confirmed that there has not been a review since his tenure with the City. Charter Review • Mayor Fry said he suggests contacting the Chair of the Charter Review Committee (CRC) Chair, Phyllis Cohen, and request that the CRC reconvene to review its proposed recommendations. • Mayor Fry stated that the CRC meetings should be publicized in order to receive further input from residents. • Mayor Fry said he would like to have the CRC reconfirm its recommendations to Council before the deadline for getting them on the November 13, 2013 ballot. • Mayor Fry suggested, and Council agreed, that public meetings be held in the months of September and October to educate the public on the proposed amendments. Amending the Zoning Commercial Code • Mayor Fry proposed hiring a consultant. • Councilmember Yehle asked if this would be separate from, or the same as, the Town Center Zoning issue. Mayor Fry and City Manager Ross said it would include the Town Center. • Mayor Fry said he would like to have the zoning amendments complete by September 2014. • Councilmember Yehle said he would definitely like the goals to include resolving the zoning issues surrounding the Town Center. • Mayor Pro Tem Sample said she believes Kirby and Bellaire are more important for tax revenue and suggested those, as well as other areas, be included. Mayor Fry said those areas will automatically be included. • Recognition and promotion of West University business that contribute to the City's tax base. c Councilmember Johnson suggested evaluating ways to recognize and promote local businesses. Electronic signs • Councilmember Yehle stated that the sign ordinance needs to be reviewed to specifically consider modern electronic signs. He feels that while the sign ordinance addresses elements of movement and light, the City doesn't have the right tools to evaluate them in consideration of new sign technology. He said the review might need to be bifurcated in terms of electronic signs in commercial areas and residential areas. • Councilmember Yehle said it needs to first be reviewed by the Building and Standards Commission (BSC). City Manager Ross said it will come to Council by way of several paths, including the BSC and staff. • Councilmember Heathcott echoed Councilmember Yehle's suggestion that it differentiate between residential and commercial areas because the needs will be different. 2of6 City Council Minutes, June 27, 2013 In response to Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor's question as to how this would affect the City's existing electronic signs, Councilmember Yehle said those signs would probably be grandfathered. • Flood Insurance Premiums o Councilmember Yehle said in reviewing his flood insurance this year, he discovered that there may be some things the City could do to lower flood insurance premiums for residents in a manner similar to steps taken to achieve beneficial fire insurance ratings. Driveway Aprons • Councilmember Yehle said the City needs to enforce the Code vigorously. • Councilmember Yehle that driveway aprons should be on the final construction checklist. • ACM /Public Works Director Peifer stated that staff has a complete inventory that was done within the past 60 days. He said staff has enforced those that have not been grandfathered or precedes the ordinance. • Councilmember Heathcott said in some instances he is in favor of leaving in the apron because it gets some cars off the street. He said he thinks that if properly done, it's better to leave the aprons in, because of the street parking issues. • Councilmember Yehle said in most cases, you can't park a car in an apron and not get on the sidewalk, so you might get the car off the street, but it will be over the sidewalks in most cases. • City Manager Ross stated that staff will handle these on a case -by -case basis, so a Council goal is not necessary. • Communications o Councilmember Yehle said he thinks the City needs to elevate its social media use and that it needs to be a conscious, aggressive thing for the sake of improving communication with residents. Credit Card payments • Councilmember Yehle said it is his understanding that the City has multiple ways of collecting and distributing charges for services and multiple ways for receiving payments. He feels that the system needs to be rationalized so that it is efficient, simple and economical. • City Manager Ross said residents who pay online and are subsequently charged a fee feel as though they are subsidizing the costs for those that do not have to pay a fee when not paying online. • Finance Director Daugherty said currently, the public has the ability to pay water bills online using a credit card for a convenience fee — 2.75 percent of the bill. She said legally, the City can't charge a fee for credit card payments made in person. • Mayor Fry said he feels that this is the nature of the beast. He asked that staff continue to keep an eye on this and if there is eventually a better way of doing it, bring it to Council. • City Manager Ross said staff feels the system is not broken, but will continue to evaluate it. • Councilmember Heathcott said he sees this as an issue on the staff level as opposed to a Council issue. City Manager Ross said he agrees, except the policy issue is accepting credit cards for what some would say is a monopoly, because they can't go and get their water anywhere else. • Councilmember Yehle suggested staff review the process and look at direct deposits, etc. 3of6 City Council Minutes, June 27, 2013 o After discussion, it was determined that this is a staff goal, not a Council goal. • Certified Emergency Response Training (CERT) o Councilmember Johnson suggested promoting CERT more. Programs for "Tweens" • Councilmember Johnson said there are many programs for young adults and seniors, but the "tweens" are lost and requested researching more programs for them. • In response to Councilmember Heathcott's question as to whether this is a year -round concern or just primarily a summer concern, Councilmember Johnson responded year - round. • Youth Advisory Council • Councilmember Johnson suggested researching the feasibility of a Youth Advisory Council. • Mayor Pro Tern Sample said it will take a lot of work to have an effective program. She said she researched the issue and found that the City of Houston has a Mayor's Youth Commission for ages 14 -18, and it is very detailed. She said they have two meetings per month, a slate of student officers, an Education Director that runs the program, etc. She said if our students are enrolled at a high school in Houston, they are eligible to serve on the Mayor's Youth Commission. She said she thinks the Houston program would be more beneficial for students, because the Houston program is very organized and students will learn on a much larger scale. She said staff should request from Houston one or two spots for our resident students, who can serve and report back to Council on what they are doing and learning. • Councilmember Johnson said she attended the TML meeting where the various cities that have organized a Youth Council said they felt it is very good for communication between city officials and the youth in hopes that the students will get more involved with government. She said she understands what Mayor Pro Tern Sample is saying, but she doesn't believe the City's Youth Council would have to meet twice a month or make meetings mandatory, etc. She said it could be structured towards the needs and desires of West U. • Mayor Fry suggested starting with the City of Houston since they have already invented the wheel. Gateway Signage • Councilmember Johnson suggested erecting signage in the Chimney like there is on Weslayan to identify that the area is in West University Place. • City Manager Ross said staff will look at all gateway signage. Parking over sidewalks • Councilmember Johnson suggested that there be a public campaign regarding the City's successful enforcement of parking over sidewalks. • Councilmember Yehle said he believes that most people don't think that the program is successful. • Councilmember Heathcott said he believes the City is having success, because over 99 percent of people aren't parking over the sidewalks. • City Manager Ross said repeat offenses are not occurring. • Councilmember Heathcott said we can publicize that the frequency of cars parking over the sidewalks is less because of the ongoing campaign. �L City Council Minutes, June 27, 2013 • Councilmember Heathcott suggested having a specific phone number for residents to call to report a sidewalk parking issue. • City Manager Ross suggested broadcasting how easy it is to use the Click West U application to report such an issue. Recycling • Mayor Pro Tem Sample said she has asked the Recycling and Solid Waste Reduction Board ( RSWRB) to review green waste recycling. • Mayor Pro Tem Sample said the RSWRB looked into green waste recycling at the time the study was done on automated waste. She said at that time, residents were not keen on the idea of automated waste so the discussion went away and the green waste discussion went with it. • Mayor Fry said green waste has been discussed during the tenure of about every Council he's been on and he doesn't think it's worth doing. • City Manager Ross said a key reason for immediate past Councils not going forward with green waste recycling is because the City budgets were tight and it's just now beginning to recover to the point where if Council decides to close the Recycling Center, it will be a perfect opportunity to explore the idea. Accounting Intern o Mayor Pro Tem Sample suggested the City use accounting interns. She said they can bring a lot to the City and suggested 20 hours in the fall, 20 hours in the spring and full - time in the summer. o Mayor Fry said he likes the idea, but there needs to be more discussion on the number of hours, etc. o City Manager Ross said staff will evaluate it and make the recommendation as part of the Budget so that Council can see the costs versus the benefit. Healthcare Committee • Mayor Pro Tem Sample suggested having a committee to study the City's healthcare costs. She said she also feels Council needs to be more educated on the issue. • City Manager Ross said he doesn't believe a committee is needed, but staff can have the City's consultant provide a presentation to Council. • Mayor Pro Tem Sample also suggested an RFP for a new consultant. She said the current consultant is fine, but thinks that things need shaking up every once in a while. • Councilmember Heathcott asked how "Obamacare" would affect the upcoming budget. • City Manager Ross stated "Obamacare" is another reason for the consultant to make a presentation to Council. He said the consulting firm the City uses specializes in municipal government healthcare and there is no one more knowledgeable. • Mayor Pro Tem Sample said she would like to see a comparable chart from other cities and the county as to what they're paying and what level of healthcare they are offering. She said it would just be good to see what else is out there. • City Manager Ross said we are almost past the point for bringing the next recommendation to Council for the four city consortium. • Human Resources Director Standorf said the recommendation to Council will probably be forthcoming no later than August. • City Manager Ross said staff will be requesting a Workshop to review the recommendation to participate for the last year of the 3 -year agreement that we are part of with the four other cities. He said after the last year, if the City wants to review and request RFP's, staff can certainly do that. 5of6 City Council Minutes, June 27, 2013 Councilmember Heathcott said he specifically wants information as to how "Obamacare" will impact the City in the future. Human Resources Director Standorf said as of January 2014 there will be probably be a 4 to 5 percent increase just for "Obamacare" related benefits loaded into the plan. She said it will not affect us on any kind of renewal with Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) and that if we renew with BCBS, they would not charge us anything this year. She said another increase, based on just utilization within the group, is roughly a 3 percent increase, but it wouldn't affect the City for the remainder of 2013. Mayor Fry said further discussion of this item is being deferred until after the meeting in August. After discussion, Council reviewed the goals as follows (The first four are ranked by priority): 1. Complete College Avenue /Bellaire Blvd. Drainage Project — obtaining remaining 9.1 acre -feet of detention in order to remove the restrictor. 2. Finalize and prepare for a November 2013 Charter Election. 3. Update the Parks Master Plan, including recommendations for acquisition of any new parkland, which may include the Pittsburg /Mercer properties and a parks naming rights policy should be considered part of this update. 4. Update the commercial component of the Zoning Ordinance including all of the perimeter areas and the Town Center. 5. Evaluate the Friends of West University Parks Fund Policies and Bylaws to determine mission updates, including expenditures and a capital campaign that could be utilized for the purchase of parkland. 6. Evaluate and recommend ways to recognize and promote City businesses. 7. Review ordinances regarding placement and Specifications of electronic signage. 8. Evaluate the Community Rating System for flood insurance to determine the benefit of City participation. 9. Continue to evaluate ways to improve our communication and recommend any needed changes including social media and Click WestU. 10. Promote the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program. 11. Research programs and activities for "tweens ". 12. Explore opportunities for West U high school youths to participate in the Houston Mayor's Youth Council 13. Evaluate gateway signage and recommend any needed changes. 14. Enhance public campaign regarding parking over sidewalks. 15. Evaluate and recommend ways to increase recycling participation. 16. Evaluate an accountant intern program. With no further business, Mayor Fry adjourned the meeting at 1:30 p.m. 6of6 Yehle /7 -bat �hpprovtld