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HomeMy WebLinkAbout050415 CC MinThe City of West University Place A Neighborhood City CITY COUNCIL Bob Fry, Mayor Susan Sample, Mayor Pro Tem Ed Heathcott, 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 meeting /workshop and regular meeting on Monday, May 4, 2015, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University, West University Place, Texas beginning at 5:30 p.m. SPECIAL MEETING (held in the Council Chambers Conference Room at 5:30 p.m.) Agenda Items were as follows: Call to Order. Mayor Fry called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber Conference Room. Council and Staff in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tem Sample, Councilmembers, Johnson and Yehle, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, Assistant City Manager /Public Works Director Peifer, Communications Manager Leon - Barber, and Police Chief Walker. Councilmember Heathcott did not attend the special meeting /workshop. 1. City Facilities Master Planning — Real Estate Matters related to the value or transfer of real property and other real estate matters with the West University Baptist Church and other properties in the 3800 blocks of University and Amherst. Recommended Action: Discuss and take any desired action. At 5:30 p.m., Mayor Fry recessed the special meeting /workshop and convened into executive session in accordance with Section 551.072 in Chapter 551, Open Meetings Act, of the Texas Government Code (discussion about the value or transfer of real property and other real estate matters) and Section 551.071 in Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code (consultation with legal counsel to seek or receive legal advice). Present for executive session were: Mayor Fry, Mayor Pro Tem Sample, Councilmembers Johnson and Yehle, City Manager Ross, City Attorney Petrov, City Secretary Lenz, ACM /Public Works Director Peifer, and legal consultant Reid Wilson. Councilmember Heathcott did not attend the executive session. Consultant Reid Wilson left the executive session at 5:55 p.m. At 6:17 p.m., Mayor Fry closed the executive session and reconvened the special meeting /workshop. City Council Minutes, May 4, 2015 2. Adjourn With no action taken, Mayor Fry closed the special meeting /workshop at 6:17 p.m. REGULAR MEETING (held in the Council Chambers at 6:30 p.m.) Agenda Items were as follows: 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 Tem Sample, Councilmembers Heathcott, Johnson and Yehle, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, Assistant City Manager /Public Works Director Peifer, Assistant Public Works Director Beach, and Police Chief Walker, Councilmember Heathcott joined the regular meeting and 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. 3. Certificates of Obligation Matters related to an ordinance approving the issuance of Combination Tax and Revenue Certificates of Obligation in one or more series in the maximum aggregate principal amount not to exceed $3,050,000. Recommended Action: Approve ordinance on the first and final reading. Councilmember Heathcott recused himself from the discussion /action of Agenda Items 3, 5 and 6. Mayor Pro Tern Sample moved to table this item. Councilmember Johnson seconded the motion. Councilmember Yehle said he believes that this is a sensible motion because of the uncertainties that exist regarding the related process. A vote was then made to the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Sample, Johnson, Yehle Noes: None Recused: Heathcott Mayor Sample requested that Agenda Items 5 and 6 be taken out of order. See those items for discussion /action. 4. Public Comments This is an opportunity for citizens to speak to Council relating to agenda and non - agenda items. Because Items 5 and 6 were taken out of order and tabled before hearing comments from the public, Mayor Fry stated that Council would not be able to discuss those items. Brennan Reilly, 3731 Rice Boulevard, spoke and thanked Council for tabling those three issues. He said regarding some of the statements made by Council, he understands that these issues are difficult and he appreciates the thoughtfulness of the statements, but believes there are other sides 2of7 City Council Minutes, May 4, 2015 to almost everything that was said. In regards to Council comments about the City not rushing and being transparent, Mr. Reilly said there are things going on behind the scenes that are not being made public. Mr. Reilly said this isn't about the church and the church should not be vilified. He said this is about the City and its process. He said the City needs to be an honest broker between the church, the residents, and the neighbors who live near the church. He said the church needs to look out for the church and the City should look after its residents and taxpayers, which he doesn't believe has occurred during the last six months, otherwise there would not be this level of interest this late in the game. He said 90 percent of the people he approached to sign the petition (protesting the issuance of the Certificate of Obligation) were ecstatic because they finally had an opportunity to give a voice related to these issues. Rama Rau, 3706 Plumb, spoke to say he completely endorses the previous speaker's comments. Stan McCandless, 3712 Rice, spoke to say he knows that backing out of these issues right now was difficult for Council, but said he certainly appreciates the fact that it did. He said it did upset him that the "public comments' portion of the Agenda came after the vote of the bond election. He said hopes that after the signatures of the petition are validated open discussions can be had regarding what's going on. James Whitehead, 3761 Plumb, thanked the Council for tabling the vote on Certificates of Obligation. Burt Ballanfant, 3124 Albans, said he was prepared to give a much different talk, but rather said he appreciates the strength Council had shown tonight and said it was well received by the voting public. Tejas Menta, 2732 Barbara Lane, thanked Council for tabling all the issues at hand and said he doesn't want to vilify the church, but doesn't understand why the City would allow the church to build a youth center at that location and increase the traffic in his beloved West U. He said he would not approve of a Recreation Center not owned by West U. Bob Kelly, 3720 Plumb, spoke to say there is a difference between consideration of a master plan and implementation. He said what this Council did was implement it and made decisions for future Councils. He said had the land swap gone through and the buildings transferred to the City, future Councils would have had limited authority and limited choice about what to do or present to the citizens. Mr. Kelly said before implementation is when you go out and find out whether your support is there. He said Council has a fiduciary duty to the residents to find out what the people want to do. Barbara Murray, 3216 Georgetown, congratulated Council on tabling the items. Steven Segal, 2901 Sunset, said he tabled his response because this Council did what he expected them to do. David Kuykendall, 3912 Milton, spoke to thank Council for tabling the issues and to explain why residents think Council rushed on the issues. He said the process has been haphazard in that there were two Town Hall meetings, whereby almost all the public speakers expressed disapproval 3 of 7 City Council Minutes, May 4, 2015 and outrage at the proposed land swap, yet the project moved forward. He said a resident survey was conducted in part as a result of the Town Hall meetings and that support for moving the Public Works Maintenance Facility dropped to 26% when respondents indicated they followed the history closely. He said this suggested that additional follow -up was needed, but rather than follow -up, the project moved forward, which is why citizens think Council was in a rush. David Dutch, 3901 Rice, spoke to say this has never been about the church and thanked the City Manager and City Council. Mardi Turner, 6515 Mercer, spoke to thank Council for the decisions it made this evening and to say it was very wise to postpone all three items. Alicia Drewes, 6112 Fordham, spoke to say she supports Brennan Reilly's and Bob Kelly's comments. She said she doesn't think the church is at all a villain because she is always welcomed by the church. Serpell Edwards, 3751 Rice Boulevard, thanked Council for tabling the motions and said he would table his comments until if and when they come back up. Michelle Moore, 3908 Rice, said she is entirely relieved that Council has tabled all of those motions and hopes this means that Council recognizes the ground swell of opposition for affecting change without taxpayers approval. She said she completely endorses Brennan's comments and said she wants to make three requests to Council: (1) Please do not approve the $3,000,000 in bonds unless and until a vote shows support; (2) Do not approve the revised Facilities Master Plan before it can be reviewed and discussed by the taxpayers; and (3) Do not exchange any property with West U Baptist Church until the taxpayers review the terms of the exchange. She said she believes there is no need to consummate this deal before this Council leaves office and said if the municipal block initiative is a good deal now, then it will be a good deal after being reviewed by the taxpayers. Ms. Moore said this Council believes the land swap will provide flexibility for future Councils and yet it is providing no flexibility for the very next Council by executing any of these transactions. Ms. Moore said she is one of the 946 taxpayers who signed the petition to force a bond election and said those that signed did so because they believe they, the taxpayers, should control how their money is spent. She asked Council to do the responsible thing for the taxpayers and leave these transactions for the next Council. Robert Grossman, 4103 Ruskin, no longer wished to speak. Christina Propst, 4142 Oberlin, said she agrees with the previous speakers and thanked Council for their actions this evening. She said she wanted to know from the current and incoming Council, what they think the role of the representation on Council is. She said she found it truly distasteful some of the conflict of interests that emerged in the dealings with West U Baptist Church, but said her comments do not have anything to do with the church, but rather this Council and a specific member of this Council. Ms. Propst said she has emails and phone exchanges early on by which that member said he would not recuse himself because he had no reason, but eventually he did after a public outcry. She said she objects to how that all came about and thinks it casts the church in an unfortunate light. Ms. Propst said she also found it disdainful as a position holder in a church to use the Council moniker and Councilmember position to urge politically motivated votes. She said she feels it set a very dangerous precedent and she found it truly objectionable and said her 4of7 City Council Minutes, May 4, 2015 children are getting a good lesson in what not to do as both an elected official and member of an organization. 5. 2015 Facilities Long Range Master Plan Matters related to the Long Range Facilities Master Plan. Recommended Action: Approve 2015 Long Range Facilities Master Plan. Mayor Pro Tem Sample moved to table the 2015 Facilities Long Range Master Plan. Councilmember Johnson seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Sample said she removed this item because, for one, she has not seen a final plan at this point. Councilmember Yehle said Council generally knows what is being considered, but hasn't seen a document that is ready for Council to view, let alone for public viewing; so, he concurred with Mayor Pro Tem Sample and said it made sense to remove it. City Manager Ross said once the final draft is received, staff will put it on the web for public viewing ahead of a future Council meeting. Mayor Fry said Council instructed staff to start the Master Plan in January 2014, because there are a lot of facilities past their useful life and would need to be addressed sooner or later making it a good plan to have in place. Mayor Pro Tem Sample said this is an update to the 2006 Master Plan. She said when she came into office in 2011 she requested an update of the Parks Master Plan; so, she thinks this Council would have been remiss not to request an update to the Facilities Plan. Councilmember Yehle said it is important to recognize that the plan is not a commitment to build anything or do anything, but rather an outline of what Council sees coming down the road and to maintain a plan in order to be ready to do them. Mayor Fry said Council's objective has always been to have plans to use as a guide for future councils. With no further discussion, a vote was made on the motion to table this item. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Sample, Johnson, Yehle Noes: None Recused: Heathcott 6. Property Exchange with West University Baptist Church Matters related to the exchange of real property and other real estate matters with the West University Baptist Church. Recommended Action: Discuss and take any desired action. Mayor Pro Tem Sample moved to table this item. Councilmember Johnson seconded the motion. Councilmember Yehle said he agrees with tabling this item because the negotiations are ongoing and the City is not ready to move on it. 5of7 City Council Minutes, May 4, 2015 Councilmember Yehle said that he has received several emails over the past few days. He said one of the frequent comments was "what's the rush ?" He responded that this issue has been going on since last September /October /November and so it hardly seems that it is a rush. He said there have been a lot of processes, information and communication on it and so it is happening in a normal time phase. He said the fact that some people take issue with it is fine and understandable because not everyone unilaterally will agree on everything. Councilmember Yehle said the second issue is there is a continued discussion about transparency, which seems to be one of the words of the day. He said he can understand why some people think they aren't getting the information they would like to have, but because so much of the process related to the property swap has involved significant legal discussions and commercial negotiations, those types of discussions have to be held in closed session. Councilmember Yehle said his third point regards conflict of interest and the suggestion that somebody on this Council is benefiting from this. He said none of Council is benefitting from this and Councilmember Heathcott has recused himself and has not participated in any meetings, discussions or votes that Council has had in open or closed sessions. He said beyond that, Council is just trying to do its job and there is no conflict of interest and it would helpful for people to focus on some of things that might matter and not make such disparaging remarks. Councilmember Johnson said in reference to the discussions on the details of the plan and the swap, she said if Council is in negotiations, it is not going to publicly announce what it is doing. She said, Council negotiates in closed sessions and informs the public accordingly when the time is right. Mayor Fry added that there has been a lot of vilification of the church and said it absolutely does not deserve it. He said the church representatives came to the City to say it would build a youth facility on its Amherst property, which they have the right to do. He said the city told them that it was in the middle of a long range plan and asked if they would consider swapping that property for future city purposes, which they agreed to do though they had some time constraints. He said at that time, the church thought it would have its new building started in January and here were are now in May and if they thought it would take this long and be this much of a problem, they would never have agreed to this in the first place. With no further discussion, a vote was made on the motion. MOTION PASSED Ayes: Fry, Sample, Heathcott, Johnson, Yehle 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 April 27, 2015. Recommended Action: Approve Minutes. 6 of 7 City Council Minutes, May 4, 2015 B. CenterPoint Resolution Matters related to a resolution approving CenterPoint Energy Houston Election LLC application for approval of a distribution cost recovery factor. Recommended Action: Approve resolution. Councilmember Johnson moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Councilmember Johnson seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Fry, Sample, Heathcott, Johnson, Yehle Noes: None Absent: None 8. Adiourn Regular Meeting With no further business to discuss, Mayor Fry adjourned the Regular Meeting at approximately 6:40 p.m./-) ._.._,.....,. 7 of 7 Date Appro d