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HomeMy WebLinkAbout052107R CC Min CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL AND REGULAR SESSION MONDAY, MAY 21,2007 MUNICIP AL BUILDING 3800 UNIVERSITY BLVD. 5:30 P.M. The City Council convened in Special and Regular Session in the Municipal Building (3800 University Blvd.) on May 21,2007, with the following members present: Mayor Pro Tern Cohen presiding, Council Members Segal, Woods and Yehle. The City Manager, City Secretary, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director, Finance Director, and Parks and Recreation Director were also present. The notice for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, on the 17th day of May 2007 at 4:00 p.m. Special Session Park Property. Matters related to the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property for park purposes. At this point in the meeting, the Mayor Pro Tern publicly announced that a closed, executive session would be held and identified the section of the Open Meetings Law under which the meeting would be held. Closed Executive Session to be held under Section 551.072 (purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property), Texas Government Code. The City Council agreed to allow City Manager Michael Ross, City Secretary Kaylynn Holloway, and Parks and Recreation Director Tim O'Connor to attend the Executive Session because their presence is necessary for the Council's consideration of the issues. After the announcement, the City Council conducted a closed, executive session beginning at 5:31 p.m. After the closed, executive session, the Mayor Pro Tern announced, in open session, that the City Council had concluded its closed, executive session at 5 :44 p.m. Personnel Matters. Matters related to personnel matters including the revision, amendment and adoption of job descriptions for the positions of City Manager and City Secretary. City Council Regular and Special Session, May 21, 2007 At this point in the meeting, the Mayor Pro Tern publicly announced that a closed, executive session would be held and identified the section of the Open Meetings Law under which the meeting would be held. Closed Executive Session to be held under Section 551.074 (personnel matters, to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee or to hear a complaint or charge against an officer or employee), Texas Government Code. After the announcement, the City Council conducted a closed, executive session beginning at 5 :46 p.m. After the closed, executive session, the Mayor Pro Tern announced, in open session, that the City Council had concluded its closed, executive session at 6:26 p.m. The City Council recessed the Special Session at 6:29 p.m. to convene in Regular Session. The Special Session reconvened at 7:23 p.m. The City Council continued their discussion of personnel matters. The City Council agreed to begin the Executive Session with Legal Counsel Susan Bickley in attendance because her presence was necessary for the Council's consideration of the issues. At this point in the meeting, the Mayor Pro Tern publicly announced that a closed, executive session would be held and identified the section of the Open Meetings Law under which the meeting would be held. Closed Executive Session to be held under Section 551.074 (personnel matters, to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee or to hear a complaint or charge against an officer or employee), Texas Government Code. After the announcement, the City Council conducted a closed, executive session beginning at 7:24 p.m. City Manager Michael Ross and City Secretary Kaylynn Holloway were invited to attend the meeting at different times during the session. After the closed, executive session, the Mayor Pro Tern announced, in open session, that the City Council had concluded its closed, executive session at 9:09 p.m. Mayor Pro Tern Cohen called for a motion. A motion was made by Council Member Segal, seconded by Council Member Cohen, to adopt the job descriptions for the City Manager and City Secretary as revised. 2 City Council Regular and Special Session, May 21, 2007 A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Pro Tern Cohen, Council Members Segal, Woods and Yehle None None Voting Nay: Absent: The motion passed 4-0. The City Council adjourned the Special Session at 9: 1 0 p.m. Formal Session Citizen Comments Mayor Pro Tern Cohen invited citizens who wished to address the City Council to come forward as their names were called. Nancy Anderson, 3784 Robinhood, (speaking on behalf of Paulette Coyne, 3777 Sunset) commented that Mrs. Coyne had been fined numerous times for not keeping the construction site of her new home clean. She stated that the fines were unfair. Elisa Donovan, 3301 Robinhood, stated that she was in favor of a park in her area. She encouraged the Council to talk with all of the residents in the area. Carolyn Phillips, 3312 Tangley, commented that the City should get more of the neighbors involved from the beginning of the process when acquiring land for park space. Linda Sumner, 3305 Tangley, stated that she supported the purchase of the property at 3302 Tangley. She commented that the City did a very poor job of communicating with the neighbors. Patrick Hwu, 3317 Plumb, encouraged the Council to purchase the property at 3302 Tangley. Emily Hwu, 3317 Plumb, commented that she would love to have a park near her home. Andrew Verghese, 3322 Plumb, commented that he would love to have a park near his home. Joni Fichter, 3733 Arnold, commented that when the opportunity presents itself, the size and space is adequate, parking, egress and ingress are accommodating, the neighbors are supportive and happy then spending the funds for park land is the right thing to do but not until all those things are addressed in an appropriate manner. She also encouraged the Council to move forward with the construction of the Rice Pocket Park. Laura Turley and her daughter, 3318 Plumb, commented that they supported the development of a park at 3302 Tangley. 3 City Council Regular and Special Session, May 21, 2007 Linda Plant, 3421 Tangley, stated that she opposed the use of eminent domain for acquiring park property. Out2oin2 Comments bv Council Members. Council Member Cohen: "First, I want to thank the city staff. It is a true treat to work with the people who work for you. They are dedicated, they're talented, they're diligent, they're fun and they really do everything they can to do the right thing for you. This is true for the people who work on our boards and commissions and I would like to thank all of them and I look forward to continuing to work with them: Michael, Kay, Chris, Walter, Ken, Steve, Tim and Alan Petrov. But mostly right now, I would like to thank you guys up here with me. It is an incredible group and I have been privileged to serve with you. You brought energy, dedication, spirit and good humor to this work. And I know first hand that your singular guidepost has been to do what is right for the citizens of West University Place. I will miss you guys tremendously and I hope you continue to serve the city in other capacities so that we all can continue to benefit from your experience and talents." Council Member Yehle: "I echo what Phyllis said. It really is a team effort to do this and in no small part the City Staff helps out immensely in getting on with what we have to get on with. It is a little disconcerting to me that we have to end this term with the event that we have this evening, not because of what it is, but because of the difficulty that there is with communication. It is really hard for Council to communicate when there is a commercial element to the decision because you can say too much too early and whatever. But as much as anything else and just as a civics lesson, you may not know it, but state law really forces the City Council to operate with one hand tied behind its back. It is well intended but there is a poorly executed Texas Open Meetings Act that seems to work to prevent the City's business from being conducted in a sensible manner. A business would go bankrupt if you had to run it like the city runs. So, I have been waiting for two years to say a few words but now that the time is here, they kind of escape me. I do report that I have been privileged to work as a City Council member and I am disappointed that I won't have a chance to come back to serve you further during the next term. I have tried to be an active participant in the public debate particularly taking pains to study all sides of the issue and with the other Council Members make decisions that were best for the long term. I think the Council Members need to have a vision and need to put that in their decisions because we have a multitude of things that present themselves. But the thing that we can bring to it is to look ahead and not get active and try to run the City rather than lay a foundation for the City to be run. So in closing, I do really thank my fellow Council Members and for their willingness to entertain my ramblings and occasional nit pickings and I really say a heart felt thank you. I ask the people to try to work hard to understand the process, be alert, pay attention and ask questions. Try to get to the bottom of it before a conclusion is reached. So, I thank you." Council Member Woods: "I feel almost exactly the same way. I have really enjoyed the four years that I have been on Council and as much as anything I have enjoyed meeting and working with so many people. It is just exponential the number of people I know now and I think that has been one of the most rewarding parts of being here. I think we need to be reminded right now and I think that this meeting is good place to do it that to me the strength of our city resides in 4 City Council Regular and Special Session, May 21, 2007 about 3 things. I think location is hard to leave out of the equation but I think it is secondary to a couple of other things. One is that we have strong zoning. For all the things that are good about this community there are good things outside of this city but you drive across Kirby and it becomes a completely different issue. I think the key difference in that is our strong zoning and I think we need to support that and enhance it and improve on it as best we can. Ultimately, the thing is just the strength of the sense of community even though Southside Place has a lot of the same things that we have like location, for example, and zoning but I think they ride on our coattails on sense of community. I have seen things, particularly in the past year, that have bothered me. Even if we made mistakes in the way that we handled the bond program, there were things going on to the detriment to that sense of community that I am very much concerned about and I hope that they are not perpetuated. Weare all good neighbors and I think the divisiveness that came out of that is unhealthy to the community and I think we all need to reassess where we are and how we respond to things like that. We have operated completely in the open with everything we have done. We may have done some of it quickly where there were not opportunities for people to respond but even when we have had something that was controversial and it was announced so that we knew those people would be aware of what was going on, we were criticized at that point for having told them. We told them so that they could have an opportunity to respond to it. I think we have always done that with the best sense of the community at hand. I hope that we don't get back to having party politics in this city. I really prefer to think that each candidate that comes up here is completely independent of everybody else so that they can respond to everybody not respond to each other and their relationships on Council. Bottom line of it all is the thing works. It has hiccups from time to time, obviously, but it works wonderfully. It has been a pleasure working on Council and I appreciate you giving me a chance to do it." Council Member Segal comments: "One of the best decisions that I made was moving to Houston to go to law school and remain, and buying a home in West U. It's not on a part with marrying my wife but it certainly one of the highlights. The reason I chose West University was two- fold. One was location. My wife worked in the medical center and I worked downtown and we didn't have to have an hour commute like I had in Virginia and Washington. The second was zoning because you could look around the neighborhood and see that this really was a neighborhood city. The first time I performed a service for West University started in my office while I was reading a blurb on a United States Supreme Court case in 1973 or 1974. It said that a city in the New York Village area could lawfully refuse to allow six people to rent a house because they had a single-family zoning ordinance. So, I read the ruling and I asked for a copy of the ordinance here which, then City Manager Whitt Johnson, sent to me and I sent him a copy of the decision with a suggestion that we look at it. Several months later he called and invited me to the City Council to observe the second reading when that ordinance became law. So, if you ever wonder how we got this really unusual ordinance it's because the Supreme Court approved it and there is no sense in trying to modify that. I certainly enjoyed my service to West University. I served six years on the Zoning Board of Adjustment and probably owe my Council service to the fact that I was term limited. I want to thank the voters for allowing me to serve for these years. I certainly enjoyed seeing the city, the beautiful parts of it and meeting so many people. I really would not have attempted this if it were not for the outstanding staff that we have because they really do the work. Although we may field calls from residents and pass it on, it's really the staff 5 City Council Regular and Special Session, May 21, 2007 that gets the resolution for residents. And finally to my fellow council members, we have bumped heads, had good discussions, but as Dick eluded, we can not sit and discuss things outside of a closed meeting if we are talking about a financial issue. We have disposed of a lot of things without causing angst by not bringing them but when we finally reach a point when we have to, we disclose it and move forward. It is a difficult process from the outside. I do want to thank the incumbents for stepping forward to take the challenge at this very important time in the city's history and wish you a lot of success." 2007 Bud2et Amendment. Matters related to a 2007 Budget amendment including Ordinance No. 1846. Mayor Pro Tern Cohen read the caption of Ordinance No. 1846 as follows: An ordinance amending the budget of the City of West University Place, Texas for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2007 and ending December 31, 2007; and containing findings and provisions relating to the subject Copies of Ordinance No. 1846, in the form proposed for adoption, were available in the Council Chambers. Finance Director Walter Thomas reported that an ordinance amending the 2007 Budget has been prepared. The reasons for the amendment are as follows: 1. The Personnel Table for the Administration Department provides a position titled "Assistant to the City Manager" with a salary range of $48,963 to $65,770. It is requested that the Budget Ordinance be amended to delete this position and add an "Administrative Assistant" position with a salary range of $37,981 to $51,043. This change will provide the Department greater administrative support and save salary cost. 2. The Finance Department's Budget increased $65,000 from $1,440,590 to $1,505,590 to provide funding to transition a replacement for the retiring Finance Director. Additionally the Personnel Table for the Finance Department reflects the creation of a Deputy Finance Director to be filled only during the transition period. 3. The Park and Recreation Department's Budget increased $16,700 from $1,612,390 to $1,629,090 to finance emergency replacement of the water heating system at the Colonial Park Pool. 4. Reduce the contributions expected from employees for dependent health insurance from $165,000 to $135,000. 5. Change the Personnel Table in the Public Works Department to reflect job reclassifications recommended to increase efficiency and decrease costs. 6 City Council Regular and Special Session, May 21, 2007 The current forecast is that General Fund revenues will exceed the estimates used in preparing the 2007 Budget enough to offset the proposed increase in expenditures. Total revenues for the General Fund are expected to be $11,248,410, or $132,000 more than the $11,116,410 estimated. In the Employee benefit fund expenditures for payments to retiring employees are expected to be sufficiently under budget to offset the reduced employee contributions for health insurance. A motion was made by Council Member Yehle, seconded by Council Member Segal, to approve Ordinance No. 1846 on second and final reading. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Pro Tern Cohen, Council Members Segal, Woods and Yehle None None Voting Nay: Absent: The motion passed 4-0. 2007 General and Special Election. Matters related to the 2007 General and Special Election including Ordinance No. 1847. Mayor Pro Tern Cohen read the caption of Ordinance No. 1847 as follows: An ordinance canvassing the returns and declaring the results of the General and Special Election held in the City of West University Place, Texas on May 12, 2007; containing findings and provisions relating to the subject; and declaring an emergency. Copies of Ordinance No. 1847, in the form proposed for adoption, were available in the Council Chambers. City Secretary Kaylynn Holloway reported that State law requires that the City Council convene in an open meeting to conduct the local canvass not earlier than the eighth day or later than the 11 th day after the election. She stated that Exhibit A of the ordinance was the official canvass report. A motion was made by Council Member Woods, seconded by Council Member Segal, to adopt Ordinance No. 1847 on the first and final reading. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Pro Tern Cohen, Council Members Segal, Woods and Yehle None None Voting Nay: Absent: 7 City Council Regular and Special Session, May 21, 2007 The motion passed 4-0. Rice Park. Matters related to Rice Park including bids received April 25, 2007, award of contract and formal namIng. Parks and Recreation Director Tim O'Connor reported that the bids were opened for this project on April 25, 2007. Three bids were received from the following firms: Millis Development and Construction, Gulf Coast Landscape Services and Jerdon Enterprises. The project was bid with the following two bid alternates: (1) Deletion of Arbor, except for drilled piers and (2) Deletion of Clock Tower, except for drilled piers. Low bid of $346,805 was received from Millis Development and Construction, with the following bid alternate deductions: (1) Arbor - $25,645 and (2) Clock Tower - $48,273. Construction Cost W /0 Arbor: Construction Cost W/O Clock Tower: Construction W/O Arbor & Clock Tower: Consulting & Design Fees: $321,160 $298,532 $272,887 $ 72,702.52 The Rice Park Project was initially provided a budget of $175,000 in the 2006 Budget. At that time $100,000 of this budget was to be funded by the Friends of West University Place Parks Fund and $75,000 was allocated from City resources. During 2006, project costs amounted to $24,063.56, most of which was paid to White Oak Studio for project design. So far this year the project has incurred another $28,938.96 in costs, again mostly to White Oak Studio for design, bringing the total project cost to date to $53,002.52. There is an additional $17,700 committed costs that have not yet been billed. The 2007 Budget increased the total project budget to $365,000 funded by the $100,000 originally expected from the Friends of West University Place Parks Fund and $265,000 from city resources. The Rice Pocket Park Task Force and staff recommend the following action be taken by City Council: (1) Council authorizes the City Manager to enter a formal agreement with Millis Development and Construction Company, for the Construction of Rice Pocket Park, (2) Authorize the use of up to $52,510 of funds appropriated in the Capital Improvement Fund's contingencies account, and (3) City Council formally names the park property as Friends Park. After discussion of this item, Mayor Pro Tern Cohen called for a motion. A motion was made by Council Member Segal, seconded by Council Member Woods, to appropriate an additional $52,510 and authorize the City Manager to enter into a formal agreement with Millis Development & Construction for the construction of Rice Pocket Park and that we formally name the park Friends Park. 8 City Council Regular and Special Session, May 21, 2007 A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Pro Tern Cohen, Council Members Segal, Woods and Yehle None None Voting Nay: Absent: The motion passed 4-0. Park Property. Matters related to park property including Resolution No. 2007-04. This item was not considered. City Council minutes. Matters related to the minutes of the Regular and Special Session conducted on May 14,2007. A motion was made by Council Member Woods, seconded by Council Member Segal, to approve the minutes of May 14, 2007 as presented. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Pro Tern Cohen, Council Members Segal, Woods and Yehle None None Voting Nay: Absent: The motion passed 4-0. Council Reports There were not any reports given at this time. City Mana2er Report There were not any reports given at this time. Adiournment A motion was made by Council Member Yehle, seconded by Council Member Woods, to adjourn the Regular Session. 9 City Council Regular and Special Session, May 21, 2007 A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Pro Tern Cohen, Council Members Segal, Woods and Yehle None None Voting Nay: Absent: The motion passed 4-0. The City Council adjourned the Regular Session at 7:25 p.m. 10