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HomeMy WebLinkAbout102714 CC MinThe City of West University Place A Neighborhood City City COUNCIL SUUFF Bob Fry, Mayor MicFeel RUss, Ciry Maoeger Stuart Sample, Mayor Pm Una Alen Pkii City Anomey Ed Hewl Coumllmember Thelma Lmz, City Se vary Joan Johnuo4 Couutinsinal r Duck Yell Cot oosember CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES City Council of the City of West University Place, Texas, met in a sm ciallworkshop and regular meeting on Monday, October 27, 2014, in the Municipal Building, B800 University Boulevard, West University Place, Texas beginning at 5:45 p.m. Notice of me special meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. Agenda Items were as follows: Call to Order. Mayor Fry called me meeting to order at 5:45 p.m. in the Councl Chambers. Council and Staff in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tom Sample, Coundimembers Heatbcoff, Johnson and Yehle, City Manager Ross, Assistant City ManagedPublic Works Director Pelfea City Secretary Lenz, and City Attorney Petrov. 1. Real Estate Matters related to the value or transfer of real property and other real estate matters. Recommended Action: Discus and fake any desbatl action. At 5:45 p.m., Mayor Fry dosed the Special MeetingWorkshop and convened into Executive Session in accordance with Section 551.071 and Section 551.072 in Chapter 551. Open Meetings Act, of the Texas Government Code. At 6:25 p.m., Mayor Fry dosed the Executive Session and reconvened the Special MeetlngiWrorkshop. No action taken 2. Adjourn Special MeetinaMorkshoo At 625 p. m.. Mayor Fry adjourned the Workshop. REGULAR MEETING (6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers) Agenda items were as follows: City Council Budget Workshop Minutes, Oclaber 27, 2014 Call to Order. Mayor Fry called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Council and Staff in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tom Sample, Councilmembers Heathcotl, Johnson and Yehle. City Manager Ross, Assistant City ManagerlPublic Works Director Pall City Secretary Lenz, City Aimmey Petrov, Police Captain Olive, and Assistant Parks and Recreation White. Councilmember Yehle led the Pledge of Allegiance. Secretary Lenz confirmed that the Notice of the workshop and regular meetings was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, Note: Agenda Item 5 was taken out of order and discussed first. 3. 2015 Chevron Houston Marathon Maters related to street closures and the Mayors Marathon Breakfast for the 2015 Chevron Houston Marathon. Rerommemled Actbn: Discuss and take any accuracy sell Assistant Parks and Recreation Director While presented this item and stated that the marathon will be held on Sunday, January 18, 2015, a portion of which will be con through West U. She said to sure the safety of pardapants, perform of University and Wesleyan must be closed to vehicular traffic beginning at 6:30 a.m. and reopening at approximately 11:00 a.m. on race day and that 'no parking' signs must be mmporadry placed along the route approximately 48 hours in advance. She also reminded Council that the City plans to host its annual official hoopla station at City Hall, which is at the 10 % mile mark and home to the Mayors annual Marathon Breakfast. Brandt Koch, President of the Houston Marathon Board of Directors and John Stokes, Marathon Committee Member (and West U resident), were present to urge Control to support staffs request to authorize the City's support of the marathon and to answer any questions. They bath thanked Me City and staff for assistance and support over the past 29 years. Councilmember Johnson moved to authorize the City Manager to take the necessary actions to support the 2015 Chevron Houston Marathon event in West University Place. Mayor Pro Tom Sample seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Sample, trounced, Johnson, Yehle Noes: None Absent: None 4. Public Comments This is an opportunity for citizens to speak to Councl relating to agenda and non - agenda items. See item 5 for public comments. All citizens who signed up, signed up for that item. S. City Facilities Lam-Rance Master Planning Matters related to the City Facilities Long -Range Master Planning and related future property ownership. Before taking comments from the public, Mayor Fry mad the following statement: "On behalf of your City Council, welcome to tonight's Council meeting. Were glad youye heft and thank you f your parficip ration. We understand Nat same of you are Page 2 of 8 City Council Budget Workshop Minutes, October 21, 2016 here to express concerns regarding the city's long -range facilities master planning. We welcome your comments, but are concerned that some of the facts surrounding this issue have been exaggerated or misrepresented in order to galvanize opposition. I want 0 clarity a few facts. For background, in 2006, the then sitting City Council begin looking at property ownership affairs in Me Town Center that could be benefical to the City and the West U Sapfist Church Funding was appropriated for a joint property appraisal study between the City and the Baptist Church to determine how Moir respective properties might Be exchanged in a mutually beneficial way. A comprehensive appraisal study was completed but the timing was not right for either party far action at that time. One decision that dirt mine out of that process was to rebuild Me new poled building connected to Me existing municipal facility on University Boulevard and to enter into a joint chat with the church for City Hall parking (part of which is an church owned land). Due to the age and predicted Idesid n of cartefn City facilities, City Council wi fer has yea recommended reevaluating the City's options as part of a long-range master planningexercise. Itis Mamie hyour City Councilfo look ahead on suchissues. Far reference, the library is 51 years old, Me Senfo /Community Building is 73 years old, Me Public Woks Administration Building is 20 years pit and Me Public Works maintenance facility is 60 years old. All of Mew facilities will need to be rebuilt or replaced in some fashion in the fature. If has been a long standing goal of previous City Councils to relocate the unattractive Public Wmks maintenance facility located on Me northeast coma of Mitten at College to a more suitable location outside of the City. As the current planning work was nearing completion, the City was rehired by the Baptist Church that it had a dinner who offered to donate $3 million to fund a youth center, stipulating that If was to be physically separate Fan other church buildings. The church advised the City that it Maned M build the new youth center on the property 9 normally owns on the south ads of Amherst Street next M the City Hall parking lot Due to time constraints on the gift the church intends to begin co; emothon of this facility by the first quarter a 2015. Such an action is eMnely the church's prerogative, is Permitted under existing zoning rules and cannot be stopped by any City legis ation. City Caused observed Mal the proposed location would preclude most options under its emerging master plan and asked its municipal hwlfties planning consultant to evaluate offers Mat would identity alternative locations for the Church's youth center that would achieve the bast long term options M Me City. Given Me short Me bane in which the Church had to make Its decision, our decision to creating the City super block and relocating Me Pubic Woks maintenance facility to the Dinosaur (former recycling center) site became quite obviously the best alternative. Executron of Me super block concept is expected M occur in a manner similar to that used to acquire the properties at the east end of the Colonial Pak. At Me time Mere were 12 -14 residential hones on that block and the City simply took a public position that d would become Me YrexC owner of those properties. That whom; successfully and amicably created the City's first super black without the use of eminent domain. There is no eminent domain action anhcimw for Me successful complegore of Page 3 of 8 City Council Budget Wooden Minutes, October 37. 301+ the super block over the next 30 years. Our intent is that the present owners stay in their homes undisturbed unfit they decide to sell This Council was elected on a pledge of 'no new taxes" This land transfer is plamred to be cash- neubal In Me future when expenditure decisions are removal they will be considered In Me same manner as any capital project. Long range master planning is one of Me primary functions of an elected City Council and one that this bound takes very seriously. This action is designed to give hrture CHy Councils as many options as possible. We believe that upon teaming all of the facts a home Council will support this decision and fee public would see its wisdom." After Mayor Fry's statement, City Attorney Petrov stated that he wanted to give a legal perspective on some of the issues because there have been many things said about what a city can and cant do, or should and shouldn't do with respect to its municipal zoning. He said first, as a Banned mle, a City can adopt zoning regulations to control the use of any property within the City whether owned by a church, another governmental enllry or a private bill At the same time, however, a Cill mining ordinance must neither favor religion nor infringe upon the free exercise of religion. He said Mere are a couple of different provisions that come into may under some and federal law that impact that. He said there is a constitutional protection shamed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution that says "Congress shall make no laws respecting Me establishment of religion or prohibiting the tree exercise thereof Second, in Texas, there is Me Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which provides Meta government agency may not substantially burden a person's five exercise of religion, unless Me government can demonstrate Mat Me burden is in f m erance of a compelling governmental interest and Is least restrictive means of furthering that interest" Thim, there is Me federal statue Me Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person's Ant, commonly retained to as RLUIPA, which gives additional protections specifcally to religious institutions. RLUIPA states "no government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner Mat imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercluse of a person, including a religious assembly or Institution unless Me government demonstrates Mat the imposition of Mat burden on that person, assembly or institution is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental reveal" Mr. Petrov said Mena are some gray areas, but it is very clear on one side that a City can adopt regulations that are neutral as to religious institutions, and especially clear is that Mere can be regulations related to building height, building setbacks, pa"and such Mat apply to any type of business. He said when Me regulation begins to burden the religious activity. Me lines can became crossed and Me City has to be careful of crossing those Imes. At this time public comments were heard. David Dutch, 3901 Rice Boulevard, spoke to say that it looks like Me City will have one super block and Me church will have one and a half super blocks, but said he wanted to focus on Me children's center. He asked if A would he a school or just an activity center, what's the stated capacity, will there be daily pick -up and drop -of, and have traffic paftems been studied. He said none of the residents that will be affected by traffic flow has been notified. He said he had hoped Mat it would be a land swap, with the City acquiring three properties out of the deal, but now it's his understanding that is no longer the case and because of that he adamantly opposes the plan. Mr. Dutch said he is not opposed to the church or any religious entity whatsoever, but said he is disturbed how much land the church has acquired through the years. He said since it is legally Page 4 of 3 City Council Budget Workshop Minutes, October 27, 2014 difficult to ask the church W limit its land he would like W ask the church to "not covet thou neighbors property' and be good neighbors. Bob Kelly, 3720 Plumb, spoke to say that the procedures Council has taken regarding this project are 'Way out of line' for the City of West U, bemuse it la not the way Me City does things. He said he doesn't have a problem with the City commissioned study, but he does have a problem with not getting a task farce of citizens to help put things together and get citizen input, because this is a massive project that deals will four major city buildings and selling City property. He said Council has put a cloud on the title of four residents and thinks the fundamental mistake council made was assuming that citizens wanted a super block and that some residents wanted to sell their properties. Mr. Kelly said a letter on doors was the only form of public notice and said those residents who received letters and came to speak at the last rneetirg was in opposition to the project, yet it was still approved with no other public input. He saki he talked to hundreds of residents to try and find one person in the City that was In favor of this project and he couldn't find one and so he asked Council to take a deep breath and motion tonight to stop this whole thing until further input is received from Na citizens. Brennan Riley, 3731 Rice, spoke to second what Mr. Kelly said and asked Council to slow down. He said if Council thinks this is a good idea, it needs to convince the rest of the citizens and it can start by providing opportunities for public input and discussion. He said he would like Council to do what it has down in the past with major decisions and get public input, especially with all the different components involved. Mr. Riley said the federal law that lesdcts city zoning ordinances doesn't apply to city eminent domain and the city can impose eminent domain on the church property on Amherst, so Council can tell the church to slow down and not do anything without public buy -in and input -or else ". He said he recommends that everybody slow down and think about this before moving forward. Stan McCandless, 3712 Rice, spoke to say that City officials have always thought that the property on Dincans would become desirable, which is now happening, so moving the Public Works Operations Center there disregards the whole Idea of the 9 9-year lease. He said he believes the Baptist Church youth Center driving this operation is crazy. Susan Ohsfaldt, 4101 Tennyson, spoke to say that she just learned about this and based on what she has learned tonight she would be opposed to selling City property to facilitate what the Baptist Church wants W do. She said she doesn't sae relocating the service center over to Dincans, which is a prime property that can be sold or leased get a lot of money and is the best use of tax dollars. She said the Church being under Me gun from their donor is their problem not the City's problem and so she Minks Courrul needs to put the brakes on. Flora Craft, 3833 Amhersp spoke to say that she does not want to sell her property and thinks the City needs to tell the Church to stop Vying W net her what to do. Kandy Spoich, 4021 Byron, spoke W say Nat she just learned about this and is not happy at all. She said she doesn't know if any tax dollars will go into the building of these properties, but if so, the residents need W vote on it. She said Council can't just decide on it. She said the City has always been a fair place to live and asked Nat Council not change that. David Kuykendall, 3912 Milton Sheet. spoke to say that Council's approval of Me super Mock and selling of City properties must be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, land swap in City history, yet residents were barely notified or given opportunity to be involved He said there has been no Page 5 of 8 City Council Budget WoASM1Op Minutes October 27, 2014 assessment of the cost benefit of this project so no one knows the monetary and quality of life costs. He said potential cost benefits need to be thoughtfully addressed with a process that includes significant resident input Mr. Kuykendall said he has no idea what is being proposed for the youth center, so discussion of selling any land to make way for a youth center can't even begin until the project impact is known. He said other major projects, such as the Cling Center City redevelopment, were publicly discussed and residents were given many opportunities, which atizens would love W have for this project, but have been denied. He said trust becomes an issue and people are lacking trust in what Council is doing due to lack of information. He said the church has been called a good neighbor by City government and City government has a good neighbor policy in its Code of Ordinances, so no good neighbor should object to resident involvement in a process that insures neighborhood integrity. Mr. Kuyken hall said with so many questions, without having any ldea of cost henef8, and with very little resident involvement, the City is in no position to go forward with these plans. He said implementation plans should stop immediately. Katherine Sweeney, 3822 University, spoke W say that she and her sister, Ida, have many concerns about this project. She said H she understands conectly, if they were to put their home on Me market tomorrow, they would have to disclose to he perspective buyer that the City intends to own that property, so, who in their right mind would accept a deal like that? She said they feel it is unfair that they are not free to do what they want with their property. Ms. Sweeney said she and her sister attended a Parks and Recreation Master Plan meeting a week ago, which included a presentation of what was needed, what parks were deficient, opinions were solichol. the perjeot e explained in whole, and residents were informed about upcoming meetings. She said this is the way things should work in West University Place , not by a dropping a letter on their doorstep that told them that the City wanted their property. Ms. Sweeney said this should be brought before a town meeting or a vote, preferably a vote, before proceeding. She said the whole thing lacks transparency and she suspects that somebody has a hidden agenda and wants to feather their cap. She said she and her sister very strongly oppose the project. Scot Muehlbarger, 3908 Milton, spoke to say Mat he has been a resident for less than a month and one of the reasons he and his wife chose West U was for its charm and its feel. He said he did not know Mat this was on the table when purchasing his home and now that he Is hearing about this issue, he has to echo what others have said and strongly oppose the proposal. He said his project focuses on the church and not on the citizens of West U. Michelle Moore, 3908 Rica Boulevard, spoke to echo what the other opposifion voices have said, especially the fact that this whole super block plan was developed and conceivetl and almost approved before there was any input by Me citizens. She said while she appreaates Control having Me foresight to plan and that getting Input from the residents, especially when it comes to money, is very important. She said its been said that it is a 30-50 year plan, but a purchase is being proposed in less than 30 days since Me super block concept was introduced. She said she thinks Control needs to slow down and she would like to see some due diligence and some opinions solicited from the citizens who have to pay for it. Robert Wells, 3804 Coleridge, spoke to say that the super block project, if the City was in crisis, would be hailed a visionary concept and members of Conrad would all be heroes. However, thanks ill Manager passable administration of many years. the City ism means in crisis. so 'if it ain't broke don't fix it" Bridged Wall, 3817 University, spoke to say Mat she has been completely unaware of any of these plans until last week when she received the enter in person, though with no explanation. She said Page 6 of 8 City Council Budget Workshop Minutes, October 2I, M14 she is astounded that co many people are completely unaware of what's going on so wanted to voice bar opinion and echo the other concerns of the people heard from this evening. End of public comments. Mayor Fry thanked all for their input and their interest in what the City does. He said residents voted this Council into office to do what they think is best for the City. He said Council doesn't take every decision to the people for a vole when them isn't time to do It and said this is something that came up very fast and required quick action. He said Council spent a lot of time on it and he is convinced that if everyone spent Me time on it that they did they would come to Me same conclusions. Mayor Fry said Cannot is not changing this decision and Me super block is done. Councllmamber Joan Johnson said this project is meant as long -tern planning and what Council voted on is not moving the senior center or moving the library, tough it can happen in the future. She said Council voted on having land that the City could use that would be in close proximity to the City's existing building and to do that it would have to trade some land with the church She also said Council has not discussed spending a lot more money, so taxpayers, Council hopes, will not have to foot the bill. Councilmember Heatcofi said the one thing he didn't hear tonight, which may be a misunderstanding, is that rf Council doesn't go this direction with the super blocIz and don't want to do long -term planning at this point in time, the church will build that youth center immediately; so, what this does is allows longterm planning by the City. He said the (Public Works Maintenance) building will b l built land already owned by Me City at no cost to the taxpayer. 6. Consent Amanda All Consent Agenda items listed are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. There will be he separate discussion of Mesa items unless a Council member requests in which event Me item will be removed from Me Consent Agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda. A. City Council Minutes Approve City Council Minutes of the October 13, 2014. Recammendetl Action: Approve Mbases. B. Water Conservation Plan Molars related to an eminence adopting Me water conservation and drought contingency plan for the City of West University Place. Rerommended Action Approve eminence on Me second and finelmeding. C. Wastewater Treatment Plant Lilt Pump Pro Matters related to accepting the completed LA Pump Project and autori dng payment for the final bill. Recommended Action: Acmpt completed cr Rct antl enshrines payment of final MO, D. Appointment of Deputy Court Clerks Matters related to a resolution appointing Darlene McConkey and Daisy Molina as Deputy Court Clerks for the City of West University Place. Recommended Anion: Approve res fulmn appointing Ostlers McCorvey and Daisy Manna as Ceputy Court Clarks. E. Franchise Agreement Matters related to an ominance granting to 3642 Partners, LP the right, privilege and franchise for a period not to exceed ten years to maintain, occupy and repair portions of an Page 7 of 8 City Coontil Budget Workshop Minutes, October 27, 2014 existing building within portions of two streets in the City of West University Place. RecomrrreMetl AC6'on: Approve wtllrianre on tlre( lo{Iwo reetlin95. Mayor Fry moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Sample, Heamicoit, Johnson, Yebls Noss: None Absent: None ]. CouncillCity Manager Repo" No reports. B. 'urn �tl' \i gBrP M F adjourned meeting at m. S. her business, Mayor rya joume g p. t Pre � I^ / �'],, t1 Y \8 v/ lliY�'aH^\'r'ti� /I, a V i T ma A. Lenz, Ciry Secretary Date Approved Lg�