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HomeMy WebLinkAbout040901S CC Min CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL SESSION MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2001 MUNICIPAL BUILDING 3800 UNIVERSITY BLVD. 6:30 P.M. The City Council convened in Special Session in the Municipal Building Conference Room (3800 University Blvd.) on April 9, 2001, with the following members present: Mayor Lewis presiding, Council Members Ballanfant, Bertini, Grubb and May. The City Manager, City Secretary, City Attorney, Parks and Recreation Director, Finance Director, Police Chief and Public Works Director were also present. The notice for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, th Chapter 551, on the 5 day of April 2001 at 3:30 p.m. Agenda Review: The City Council reviewed the regular meeting agenda and discussed items under consideration with the Staff. Street lights. Matters related to a street light plan. City Manager Sherman Yehl reported that over the past several months a streetlight task force has been looking at ways to address West U’s obsolete and inadequate street lighting. The group has considered four objectives in meeting this goal: ?? Street lighting plan needs to meet the safety and security needs of the residents; ?? Street lighting must be aesthetically pleasing in design and light quality, uniform and aid in a unique identity for the City; ?? Street lighting must be environmentally friendly (energy efficient, minimum light pollution and trespass, low glare; and ?? Street lighting that has a reasonable initial cost, acceptable maintenance and energy cost, and provides a long, useful life. In addition, it was the desire of the group to provide street lighting within a three to five year period from the operating budget without the need for a long-term debt financing. The estimated cost of new pedestrian type streetlights is between $2.1 million and $2.4 million. Based in part on the response from residents, a preference has been identified for the Monticello pole that is powder coated black and has a 14’ mounting height (at or below City Council Special Session, April 9, 2001 the tree canopy). The luminaire is the Midtown with a 100-watt metal halide designed to provide Type III photometric distribution with full cut-off characteristics. Based on an initial survey and estimate, the new lighting and spacing, at approximately 160-180’, would double the number of fixtures from 650 to 1,300. Installation of this lighting scheme would be around $1,800 per light. The cost would be reduced to $1,169 per installation utilizing the municipal allotment program. This program provides the City a credit for the cost of installing a standard pole and cobra style luminaire at a 30’ mounting height. Under this program, Reliant Energy/HL&P will install up to 50 lights per year. In addition to or in lieu of the allotment program, the City can install conduit and pull boxes to Reliant specifications. Regarding financing, two scenarios have been identified. One, to take maximum use over a reasonable period of time of the municipal allotment program, would call for a light replacement program over six years. This would require an annual expenditure of $400,000 or 2¢ to the operating budget levy. Alternatively, long-term debt financing in the form of bonds or certificates of obligation could be secured. Based on a 5.5% interest rate and a 15-year term, the annual debt service would be about $230,000 — just over a 1¢ increase in the debt service levy. Prior to proceeding with a final plan, Council needs to establish the spacing of the lights. Once that is determined, staff can conduct a more complete screening economics of a citywide installation to give total capital costs as well as annual operating costs. These economics will help sort through the projected energy use/cost for a new system versus our existing system and make a comparison with a less environmentally friendly semi- cutoff design. Upon completion of this review, then a full-block installation of the final system should be completed. Carlton Porter and Paul Marks of Reliant Energy, HL&P, were available to answer questions. Council Member Grubb requested that the Staff establish a program for street light replacement so that money could be budgeted each year. Council Member Ballanfant commented that he preferred debt financing so that residents only pay as long as they are living in the City. The City Council recessed the Special Session at 7:30 p.m. to convene in Regular Session. The Special Session reconvened at 9:35 p.m. Wakeforest Improvements. 2 City Council Special Session, April 9, 2001 Matters related to the narrowing of Wakeforest south of University as part of the infrastructure replacement program. Mr. Yehl reported that Wakeforest is currently 30 feet wide and the infrastructure plans drawn by Claunch & Miller do not include narrowing the street. Some residents in the area have requested that the street be narrowed to 27 feet. Other residents wishing to keep the street at 30 feet submitted a petition. The City Council discussed narrowing the street. A motion was made by Council Member Grubb, seconded by Council Member Bertini, to keep Wakeforest at 30 feet as drawn. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Council Members Grubb, Bertini, and May Voting Nay: Mayor Lewis and Council Member Ballanfant Absent: None The motion passed. Teacher recognition day. Matters related to recognizing teachers at the West University Elementary School. Mayor Lewis suggested recognizing teachers with a coffee or lunch. The City Council agreed that the teachers should be recognized. Stop sign removal. Matters related to a proposal for the preliminary removal of stop signs. Police Chief Kevin Begley reported that as part of their work in developing means of managing traffic flow within the City, the Traffic Task Force, in conjunction with the Police Department developed a street classification map. In this map, all streets were classified according to their physical characteristics, intended use, and actual use. Streets are classified as major arterials, minor arterials, major collectors, minor collectors, and “other streets”. “Other streets” in this context are residential streets with a low volume of traffic consisting primarily of persons living or doing business on that street. The function of the collector streets is to collect traffic from the residential streets and move it to the arterial streets and vice-versa. The arterial streets are intended to move large volumes of traffic into, out of, or through the city. In order to follow the purpose of these streets, it is necessary to facilitate the flow of traffic without unnecessary interruption. 3 City Council Special Session, April 9, 2001 State law requires that appropriate warning signs be posted at each of the affected intersections prior to the removal of stop signs to inform motorists of the impending removal. It is estimated that 36 signs, at a cost of $1,620.00 will be needed if the stop signs are removed simultaneously. If the removal is staggered, that figure can be reduced as the signs are used multiple times. Chief Begley stated that the staff recommends approval of a plan for the removal of the following four-way stop signs: Minor Collector Streets ?? Belmont & Duke – Remove north/south signs. Traffic on Duke to continue to stop. ?? Brompton & Pittsburg – Remove east/west signs. Traffic on Brompton to continue to stop. ?? Edloe & Sunset – Remove east/west signs. Traffic on Edloe to continue to stop. ?? Pittsburg & Annapolis – Remove east/west signs. Traffic on Annapolis to continue to stop. Major Collector Streets ?? Wakeforest & Robinhood – Remove north/south signs. Traffic on Robinhood to continue to stop. ?? Rice & Mercer – Remove east/west signs. Traffic on Mercer to continue to stop. ?? Rice & College – Remove east/west signs. Traffic on College to continue to stop. ?? Academy & Coleridge – Remove north/south signs. Traffic on Coleridge to continue to stop. Minor Arterial Streets ?? University & College – Remove east/west signs. Traffic on College to continue to stop. Council Member Grubb objected to the removal of the four-way stop sign at Edloe and Sunset. Following a discussion of the stop sign removal, members of the City Council authorized the Police Chief to proceed with Phase I as presented. Inquiries, requests and complaints. The City Council reviewed matters received from the public and referred them to the appropriate department or placed them on a future agenda for consideration or action. 4 City Council Special Session, April 9, 2001 Adjournment. With no further business to come before the City Council at this time, a motion was made by Council Member Bertini, seconded by Council Member May, to adjourn. The Special Session adjourned at 10:25 p.m. 5