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HomeMy WebLinkAbout041320 CC MinThe City of West University Place A Neighborhood City CITY COUNCIL STAFF Bob Higley, Mayor David J. Beach , City Manager Kevin Trautner, Mayor Pro Tem Alan Petrov, City Attorney John P. Barnes, Councilmember Thelma Gilliam, City Secretary Lauri Lankford, Councilmember Ed Sobash, Councilmember CITY COUNCIL ACTION MINUTES The City Council of the City of West University Place, Texas, met in a workshop and regular session via teleconference due to the Coronovirus (COVID-19) health threat on Monday, April 13 , 2020, at 5:30 p.m. in the Bill Watson Conference Room in the Municipal Building, 3800 University, West University Place. WORKSHOP (5:30 PM in the Bill Watson Conference Room) 1. Call Workshop to Order Mayor Higley called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. City Manager Beach, City Secretary Gilliam, Fire Chief/Emergency Management Coordinator Taylor, Public Works Director Barrera, Police Chief Walker, and IT Director Dang were also present. Mayor Pro Tem Trautner, Councilmembers Barnes, Lankford and Sobash attended via teleconference. City Attorney Petrov, Ron Bavarian with Frees and Nichols, and John Peterson with HDR also attended via teleconference. 2. 90% Update to Council on Buffalo Speedway Matters related to an update on Buffalo Speedway and enhancement options. Recommended Action: Discuss and provide staff with direction regarding enhancements. Mr. Gerardo Barrera, Public Works Director Ron Bavarian presented and first discussed the agenda, which included, but was not limited to, project milestones, existing utilities and coordination, proposed waterline improvements, drainage improvements, traffic control plan, decorative traffic signal alternatives, and streetlights. Mr. Bavarian said the total project cost is currently estimated at $32.6 million. He said the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) is participating at 80 percent for eligible roadway construction costs from Bissonnet to Holcombe but that drainage improvements from Bissonnet to Poor Farm Ditch will be funded totally by the City, as well as any decorative upgrades. In response to Councilmember Lankford’s question as to whether the City reapplied for federal funding related to the trunk storm sewer improvements, City Manager Beach said the City received some money for drainage improvements but have not received word as to whether the City has been approved for additional funding. Mr. Bavarian said the schedule going forward is to present the 90% design to TXDOT in late May with the final design to be submitted in June. He said construction is scheduled to start in January 2021 and be completed in 2023. City Council Meeting Action Minutes, April 13, 2020 2 of 6 Regarding the Traffic Control Plan, Mr. Bavarian explained the phases in detail. City Manager Beach asked Mr. Bavarian to explain there was “jog” in drainage line at the intersection at Holcombe and Bellaire. Mr. Bavarian explained that a jog was designed at this intersection to avoid having to relocate a major AT&T fiber optic trunk line. The relocation of the trunk line would delay the project by almost 2 years and affect the City’s grant funding for the roadway. Councilmember Lankford said the plan for Cason to Amherst seemed to have changed since the 60% design meeting. Public Works Director Barrera responded that the change was noted at the 60% design meeting but was not covered in detail at the 60% workshop with Council. The construction will be block by block with a flagger directing traffic during the day. Residents will have access to their driveways each day with traffic open in both directions at night. Mr. Bavarian stated that there are two alternatives for traffic signal base covers – Sterling AC1 or Huntington AC1 and that his firm recommends the Huntington based on the height vs. base width because it will not take up too much area at the base of the pole. Per Council’s preference at the 60% design workshop, the traffic pole will be decorative and match the existing street light pole design. Mr. Bavarian said TXDOT participates in the standard design for the traffic poles but to upgrade to alternate decorative signals will cost the City $260,000. Regarding streetlights, Mr. Bavarian said staff studied the existing streetlights and concluded that the existing illumination poles will stay wherever possible and the existing lights will be upgraded to LED after the construction project is complete. He said CenterPoint will coordinate with the City to remove existing wire (street light power) going across Buffalo Speedway which should help minimize streetlights being out during construction. Mr. Bavarian said the City will work with CenterPoint to add an additional 28 lights and that costs will only be incurred if illumination poles need to be repositioned elsewhere. Public Works Director Barrera stated that the street lights will not be removed during the project and the liability of damage will be placed on the contractor. The LED conversion will be done at no cost to the City and the cost to add some additional lights will be handled by our annual allotment provided by CenterPoint. Removing this portion from the project resulted in savings of $460,000. Discussion ensued regarding options for the mast arms for the traffic signals. Mayor Pro Tem Trautner asked if there is still a choice between a curved or straight mast arm. Public Works Director Barrera said that is at council’s discretion. City Manager Beach said once staff knows the type of pole staff can bring back some options for the mast arms. 3. Adjourn Workshop With no further discussion, Mayor Higley adjourned the workshop at 6:28 p.m. REGULAR MEETING (6:30 PM in the Council Chambers) 4. Call Regular Meeting to Order City Council Meeting Action Minutes, April 13, 2020 3 of 6 Mayor Higley called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 5. Pledge of Allegiance Police Chief Walker led the Pledge. 6. Public Comments This was an opportunity for citizens to speak to City Council relating to agenda and non-agenda items. Dick Yehle, 6104 Rutgers, spoke regarding municipal building audio-visual upgrades and said he is particularly concerned about the audio side. He said the audio works correctly if used correctly and asked if the new system will be different from what is in place today. IT Director Dang said the audio equipment being proposed will be better and will provide a crisper sound than the current 14-year-old equipment. Mr. Yehle asked if the system will pick up the sound and broadcast it to the entire room when Council is deliberating at the bench. City Manager Beach responded that it should but every mic has a range. Mr. Yehle asked that staff be cognizant of that issue and seek to address it and not rely on the speaker to speak into the microphone because that has failed for the past 15 years. 7. Municipal Building Audio-Visual Upgrades Matters related to awarding the contract for audio-visual improvements for the Municipal Building Council Chambers and Bill Watson Conference Room. Recommended Action: Approve contract with CCS Presentation Systems for audio-visual improvements. Mr. Tim Dang, IT Director IT Director Dang presented. He said the original proposal was presented to Council at its meeting of January 13, 2020 and was asked by Council to reevaluate the proposal and bring it back for consideration. Mr. Dang said staff recommends that Council approve the base contract in the amount of $48,422.00, and include Option 1 which is the extended warranty for one year and Option 6, which is the 16 port that provides additional capacity for growth. City Manager Beach provided Council a summary of the 10 options. Councilmember Barnes asked if the base recommendations included everything that is necessary for Council to attend meetings remotely. City Manager Beach responded yes. Mayor Pro Tem Trautner asked if the Conference Room needed to have the video capability in order to comply with Texas meeting laws in terms of being present at the workshops. City Manager Beach responded yes. Mayor Pro Tem Trautner said although there is no substitute for personally appearing at a Council meeting, he thinks it is important to have the AV system in order to allow members of Council to participate when they can’t attend in person. City Council Meeting Action Minutes, April 13, 2020 4 of 6 Mayor Pro Tem Trautner said his preference is to purchase all the options, except for Options 4 and 5. He said this Council has probably done more workshops in the history of West U, which he thinks is great, so he believes that improvements should facilitate Council’s ability to attend remotely. Councilmember Barnes said he is curious as to whether Option 2 (audio recording in the Council Chambers), Option 3 (add audio recording to the Bill Watson Conference Room), and Option 9 (add a device to allow a user to wirelessly send laptop content to the displays) are needed. Councilmember Lankford said the city needs to get rid of the 20-year old hand held recorder. She also provided insight on the assisted listening device and whether the loop system was necessary. City Manager Beach clarified that the loop system wasn’t necessary and that a less costly option was to use an RF signal to new assisted listening devices that would cost approximately $1,500 for both rooms. In regards to Council Member Barnes concerns regarding the wireless option, Mayor Pro Tem Trautner said it is a relatively low, one-time cost that will help facilitate viewing documents on the TV screens, as well as have capability of sending documents from a phone. IT Director Dang agreed. Councilmember Barnes asked what the plan is regarding Option 8 (change out the old 720po resolution TVs to new, larger 4k resolution display). City Manager Beach said the plan is to remove the cabinets surrounding the TVs and mount new 65-inch displays in the same location. Councilmember Trautner moved to approve the audio/video upgrade with all of the options, with the exception of Options 4 and 5, but including RF assisted hearing devices for the Council Chambers and Conference Room. Councilmember Sobash seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Higley, Trautner, Barnes, Lankford, Sobash Noes: None Absent: None 8. Information and Updates related to COVID-19 Matters related to COVID-19. Recommended Action: Discuss and take any desired action. Mr. Dave Beach, City Manager and Mr. Aaron Taylor, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator City Manager Beach said this was an opportunity for Council to ask questions and discuss COVID-19 amongst themselves. There were no questions or discussion. 9. 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 the City Council Workshop Minutes of March 9, 2020 and March 23, 2020. B. Appointment of Members to Friends of West U Parks Fund Board Matters related to a resolution appointing members to the Friends of West U Parks Fund Board. Recommended Action: Appoint Kim Eads and Mary Frances DuMay to the Friends of West U Parks Board. Ms. Donna LaMond, Executive Director, FWUPF City Council Meeting Action Minutes, April 13, 2020 5 of 6 C. Goode Company Lease Matters related to deferring rent payments with Goode Company for lease of the City's property consisting of approximately 1.0874 acres located on the south side of West Park Drive between Wakeforest Street and Dincans. Recommended Action: Suspend contract with Goode Company until July 30, 2020 or the Be Safe - Stay Home Order is no longer in place, whichever comes first. Mr. Dave Beach, City Manager D. Budget Amendment for Rollover Projects Matters related to an ordinance amending the 2020 Budget to include rollover project amounts. Recommended Action: Approve ordinance amending the 2020 Budget to include rollover project amounts on the first and final reading. Mr. Harrison Nicholson, Interim Finance Director E. Computer Aided Dispatch Software Matters related to awarding a contract to Central Square for Computer Aided Dispatch software and authorizing the city manager to execute the contract. Recommended Action: Award contract to Central Square and authorize the city manager to execute the contract. Mr. Tim Dang, IT Director Ayes: Higley, Trautner, Barnes, Lankford, Sobash Noes: None Absent: None Councilmember Barns removed Item C for discussion and Councilmember Lankford removed the Minutes of March 9, 2020 for discussion. Councilmember Barnes moved to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of the March 9, 2020 Minutes (Part of Item A) and the Goode Company Lease (Item C). Councilmember Lankford seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Higley, Trautner, Barnes, Lankford, Sobash Noes: None Absent: None Councilmember Lankford requested that the Minutes of March 9, 2020 be revised to replace “issue” with “statement” in the second line of the last paragraph on Page 1. She also requested that a disclaimer be added in the last paragraph of Item 2 on Page 2 to state that the Swift 911 page on the City’s website may not be operational at all times of the day due to limited staffing. City Secretary Gilliam agreed to make those changes. Regarding Item C, Councilmember Barnes suggested that the first sentence in Item 12 (No Commitment) on Page 3 be revised to include “and/or the Lease itself” so that it reads: Tenant agrees that Landlord has not made any commitment or other agreement regarding the Lease, except as expressly set forth in this Agreement and/or in the Lease itself. Councilmember Barnes said there also needs to be a statement in the same paragraph noted above to the effect “that any terms and provisions that are not expressly modified by the rental deferment agreement remain in full force and effect.” Mayor Pro Tem Trautner noted, and City Attorney Petrov agreed, that Item 7, Ratifications, includes the suggested wording so the suggested addition was not necessary. City Council Meeting Action Minutes, April 13, 2020 6 of 6 Councilmember Barnes also pointed out that “Good” should be “Goode” on the signature block. City Attorney Petrov stated it was corrected and the new version sent to staff. Councilmember Lankford moved to approve the Minutes of March 9, 2020 as amended. Councilmember Barnes seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Higley, Trautner, Barnes, Lankford, Sobash Noes: None Absent: None Councilmember Barnes moved to approve the Rent Deferred Agreement as amended. Councilmember Lankford seconded the motion. MOTON PASSED. Ayes: Higley, Trautner, Barnes, Lankford, Sobash Noes: None Absent: None 10. Adjourn Regular Meeting With no other matter before council, the meeting will adjourn. Councilmember Barnes moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:08 p.m. Mayor Pro Tem Trautner seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Higley, Trautner, Barnes, Lankford, Sobash Noes: None Absent: None Audio of this Council Meeting is available on the City’s website or contact the City Secretary’s office for a copy. Prepared by: City Secretary Thelma A. Gilliam Approved by City Council on: April 27, 2020