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HomeMy WebLinkAbout072516 CC Meeting MinutesThe City of West University Place A Neighborhood City CITY COUNCIL Susan Sample, Mayor Bob Kelly, Mayor Pro Tern Burt Ballanfant, Councilmember Brennan Reilly, Councilmember Mardi Turner, Councilmember STAFF M. Chris Peifer, City Manager Alan Petrov, City Attorney Thelma Gilliam, City Secretary CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES The City Council of the City of West University Place, Texas, met in regular session on Monday, July 25, 2016, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University, West University Place, Texas beginning at 6:30 p.m. Agenda Items were as follows: Call to Order. Mayor Sample called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Council and Staff in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tern Kelly, Councilmembers Ballanfant and Turner, City Manager Peifer, City Secretary Gilliam, Public Works Director Beach, Fire Chief Taylor, and Police Chief Walker. Councilmember Reilly and City Attorney Petrov were absent. Mayor Pro Tem Kelly led the Pledge. City Secretary Gilliam confirmed that the notice of this meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. 1. Public Comments This was an opportunity for citizens to speak to Council relating to agenda and non - agenda items. Les Albin, 3817 Southwestern, spoke regarding the ordinance relating to the minimum foundation height. He said building just to base flood elevation is not adequate to provide flood protection against situations that can easily become normal in West University Place. He said it should not have taken this long to propose this ordinance and said it should have been in place a long time ago. Mr. Albin said the flooding situation in West U is likely to get worse and he wouldn't be at all surprised if in the future the base flood elevation is higher than it is today. He said home values are impacted by home floods because people have to disclose the information if asked and it has a negative impact on the value of the home and of adjacent properties and other comparable homes. Mr. Albin said this ordinance certainly benefits the community as far as maintaining property values. Annette Glod, 3818 Southwestern Street, spoke in favor of the proposition for the increase in the minimum building height. She said her house flooded during Tropical Storm Allison and has come close at other times. She said the new proposal probably won't help her, but she thinks it is great for incoming residents. After Ms. Glod spoke, Councilmember Ballanfant asked the first speaker, Mr. Albin, if it would make sense to require that every new house have pier and beam instead of slab. Mr. Albin said a homeowner can elevate a slab or they can do a pier and beam, which he said becomes an economic decision. He said he feels pier and beam is the way to go for a lot of reasons, including avoiding problems with foundations and it makes it easier to make corrections on plumbing and City Council Meeting Minutes, July 25, 2016 electrical issues if contractors need access under the house. He said if Council wants to make pier and beam a requirement, he wouldn't object. Alida Drewes, 6112 Fordham, spoke to say changing the minimum foundation height ordinance only hurts seniors, because they live in lower priced homes and are on fixed incomes. She said seniors do not have money to raise their old homes and she believes that if more than 50 percent of their homes are damaged, they can't rebuild so this will force seniors who can't rebuild out of West University. Ms. Drewes said this Council refuses to put automatic door openers in the library, refuses to give seniors a long overdue exemption, refuses to give seniors a park within walking distance on the east side of West University and now it wants to pass an ordinance that forces seniors out of their homes. She said this City does not support seniors. Ms. Drewes said the Seniors Board is only a window dressing, because Council controls what is decided by appointing people who are agreeable to its wishes. She said the Board does not represent the will of the people and when people come to Council to speak, they are ignored. She said Council chooses what it wants to do and nothing more. During Public Comments, Jesse McMillan, Boy Scout Troop 55 came into the room and so after comments from the public, Mayor Sample asked that the pledge be restated so that Boy Scout McMillan could lead it, which he did. 2. Ordinance Relating to Minimum Foundation Height Matters related to ordinance requiring a minimum foundation height. Recommended Action: Approve ordinance requiring a minimum foundation height on the first of two readings. Building Office Clay Brown and Steve Brown, resident at 3305 Rice Boulevard and Chairman of the Building and Standards Commission (BSC), presented this item. Mr. Chew said at the request of the City Council, the Building and Standards Commission (BSC) reviewed the floodplain requirement of elevating the lowest floor level above Base Flood Elevation (BFE). He said the BSC reviewed two options for increasing the minimum foundation height — the first option involved increasing the foundation height solely in the 100 -Year Flood Plain and the second option looked at increasing the minimum foundation height on new construction throughout the entire City. Mr. Chew explained Option 1 — increasing the elevation above the BFE in 100 -Year Flood Plain. He said the BSC felt it would be beneficial to raise the foundation height on new construction, but there was a concern that it would cause a hardship for existing homes that were substantially damaged or improved within the 100 -Year Flood Plain. He said the BSC was concerned that raising the foundation elevation above the already required BFE height would cause significant financial hardship for a homeowner or make the home unusable. Mr. Chew explained Option 2 — increasing the minimum foundation elevation on new home construction. Mr. Chew said the BSC reviewed this option that would require the minimum foundation on all new home construction to be 15 inches above standard base level (natural grade) in the entire City. He said currently, the average foundation height of new home construction in the 100 -Year Flood Plain is 15- inches above BFE and said the BSC and staff used this average in determining increase in height. Mr. Chew said the BSC unanimously voted to require 15 inches above standard base level for all new homes built in the city. 2 of 6 City Council Meeting Minutes, July 25, 2016 BSC Chair Brown spoke to say about 6 or 8 months ago Council requested that BSC go back and review whether the lowest finished floor level in the flood zone (100 -Year Flood Plain) should be raised to try to insure that at least new homes built in that area would have some native insurance in that they would have been built one to two feet above the base flood elevation. He said after several meetings, the BSC concluded that it could not in good conscience recommend to Council raising the building height above the base flood elevation, because if the new rule relates to the base flood elevation then FEMA has to get involved to make sure the City doesn't grant variances to work around the rule. Mr. Brown said the City Attorney and staff went back to the drawing board and came back with a better idea, which is to require an increase in the height above standard base level, which is the natural grade of each lot in West U whether or not it's in the 100 -Year Flood Plain. Mr. Brown said the advantages to this proposal is that it will apply across West U, so it will raise all new houses by 15 inches at a fraction of the cost (about 1 percent or $2,000) of what the improvements in a new home in West U cost. He said this proposal would also have an advantage in that the ordinance would be part of the City's Building Code so would not be subject to the flood elevation rules; so, if there's a catastrophe and someone in an existing home wants to rebuild, they can build on the same foundation and not have to rise to the new rule. Mr. Brown said the BSC looks at the cost of proposals and would not recommend regulations that would dramatically raise costs unless it's well justified and the BSC thinks the modest increase in cost for this proposal is well justified. Councilmember Ballanfant asked Mr. Brown if there was any reason why the BSC didn't propose pier and beam foundations. Mr. Brown said they didn't discuss that option, but if Council ultimately wanted to go that route, this is a good interim proposal. Councilmember Ballanfant said the reason he thinks pier and beam is a benefit is because it gets the house up high and safe and doesn't spread the burden onto someone else. Mayor Sample explained that if a person is building a new home and it's going to be 35 feet, whether it is elevated or not the house is still solid and displacing the same amount of dirt. She said she doesn't believe it makes a difference. City Manager Peifer noted that the proposed ordinance does not preclude anyone who may have an older home and chooses to spend the money to elevate it from doing so. He said, further, anyone who would choose to build pier and beam would still have to comply with the 15 inches above base standard level rule. At the request of Councilmember Ballanfant, City Manager Peifer said an item related to pier and beams will be added to the list of future agenda items. Mr. Albin spoke again to say that he didn't realize that the request being made was to measure from the base standard elevation on the lot and said he thinks that is a mistake if that is the only requirement. He said he thinks it is fine as long as it's an either /or situation — either above the base level on the lot or above base flood elevation, whichever is higher. 3 of 6 City Council Meeting Minutes, July 25, 2016 Mayor Sample said the problem with keying it off the base flood is that it has to go under the FEMA ordinance, so the 50 percent destruction of a home would have to be rebuilt and that is what was giving BSC heartburn. BSC Chair Brown confirmed the mayor's statement. Mayor Sample said she feels that this ordinance is better than nothing. She said she is the one who requested that the ordinance be reviewed in the first place and thinks it is important that people recognize that they live in an area of Houston that floods. She said something needs to be done, but she doesn't want to handicap someone whose house burns down. Mr. Albin said Council is sort of defeating the purpose of the ordinance change. He said FEMA protects a lot of people and if there is someone to provide an exemption for people who are not in position to be able to raise their homes, it would be appropriate to provide some exceptions. Mr. Chew noted that the City hasn't had any reports of flooding in homes built since 2000. Ms. Glod spoke again to ask what FEMA's authority is to prevent West University Place from establishing its own rules. Mr. Peifer said the City has to be certified by FEMA in order for the City's residents to be able to purchase from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) so if there are too many variances, then FEMA could say that the City is not following the rules and rescind the City's certification to be part of the NFIP. He said the "big stick" FEMA has over the City is the flood insurance protection. Ms. Glod asked if there was a way the City could redefine what variance is in terms of writing its own rules on the front -end. Mr. Peifer said he believes the City Attorney has looked at that and put forth the best option for the City in the proposed ordinance. He said the proposed ordinance not only addresses the flood plain, the floodway or the flood zone, but rather addresses all homes going forward and, therefore, it can be included in the Building Code rather than tying it to base flood, FEMA, and the NFIP. Mayor Pro Tem Kelly said if he is hearing what everybody else is saying, at least it is a step towards the right direction. Mr. Albin said he knows from personal experience that if a home floods more than three times, FEMA basically says that homeowner will not get flood insurance anymore through the Federal program. He said it is everybody's long -term best interest to be above the base flood elevation. BSC Chair Brown said nothing guarantees that a home will not flood, so this is a step in the right direction and he recommends it highly. He said the advantage of not relating to base flood elevation has two good things for it: (1) it will apply city -wide and (2) it will not endanger the older homes in the 100 -Year Flood Plain. He said the BSC voted unanimously for this recommendation. Mr. Albin spoke again to say that he doesn't think there is any question that there are older homes that are lower than base flood elevation and may flood and may need to be repaired, but with that said those people are not going to be able to get flood insurance anyway, so the issues mentioned about not being able to get flood insurance due to FEMA is sort of a non - issue. Councilmember Turner moved to approve the ordinance, Option 2, as presented on the first of two readings. Mayor Pro Tem Kelly seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. City Council Meeting Minutes, July 25, 2016 Ayes: Sample, Kelly, Ballanfant, Turner Noes: None Absent: Reilly 3. Ordinance Updating the International Energy Conservation Code Matters related to ordinance updating the International Energy Conservation Code. Recommended Action: Approve ordinance updating the International Energy Conservation Code on the first of two readings. Building Official Chew presented and said the State of Texas has updated its minimum statewide energy requirement with the adoption of the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code and said legislature requires all jurisdictions to adopt the new Energy Code, which takes effect in September 2016. Councilmember Turner moved to approve the ordinance as presented on the first of two readings. Mayor Pro Tern Kelly seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Sample, Kelly, Ballanfant, Turner Noes: None Absent: Reilly 4. Future Agenda Items Matters related to future agenda items. Recommended Action: Discuss and take any desired action. City Manager Peifer confirmed that the item to discuss and consider providing guidance to the BSC on reviewing the foundations of pier and beam versus slab on grade will be added to the list. 5. 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 the July 11, 2016 Council meeting. Recommended Action: Approve Minutes. B. Harris County Firefighter's Association Mutual Aid Agreement Matters related to authorizing the execution of the Harris County Firefighter's Association ( HCFFA) Mutual Aid Agreement between the government entities within Harris County and the City of West University Place. Recommended Action: Authorize the HCFFA Mutual Aid Agreement between the government entities within Harris County and the City of West University Place. Councilmember Turner moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Councilmember Ballanfant seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. 6. Adjourn Ayes: Sample, Kelly, Ballanfant, Turner Noes: None Absent: Reilly 5 of 6 City Council Meeting Minutes, July 25, 2016 Mayor Pro Tern Kelly moved to adjourn at 7:20 p.m. Councilmember Turner seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Sample, Kelly, Ballanfant, Turner Noes: None Absent: Reilly *ol uN14 'PVA ¢I By. a Iq V qv/ A. Gilliam, City Secretary Date App oved e TEXAS 6 of 6