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Home My WebLink About061107R CC Min CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL AND REGULAR SESSION MONDAY, JUNE 11,2007 MUNICIP AL BUILDING 3800 UNIVERSITY BLVD. 5:00 P.M. The City Council convened in Special and Regular Session in the Municipal Building (3800 University Blvd.) on June 11,2007, with the following members present: Mayor Kelly presiding, Council Members Fry, Cohen, Guffey and Talianchich. The City Manager, City Secretary, City Attorney, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director, Finance Director, Parks and Recreation Director and Building Official were also present. The notice for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, on the 7th day of June 2007 at 5:00 p.m. Special Session 3936 Marlowe Street: Weslayan Street. Matters related to 3936 Marlowe Street (Peden property) and Weslayan Street (from Bissonnet Street to Bellaire Boulevard), including easement or right-of-way matters, house under construction, legal defense, permits, administrative proceedings, pending or contemplated litigation or a settlement offer, and purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property and related Issues. The City Council agreed to allow City Manager Michael Ross, City Secretary Kaylynn Holloway, City Attorney Alan Petrov, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Chris Peifer, Building Official Sean Landis and Legal Counsel Mark Breeding to attend the Executive Session because their presence is necessary for the Council's consideration of the issues. At this point in the meeting, the Mayor 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 551.071 and Section 551. 072 Texas Government Code. After the announcement, the City Council conducted a closed, executive session beginning at 5 :05 p.m. After the closed, executive session, the Mayor announced, in open session, that the City Council had concluded its closed, executive session at 6:07 p.m. City Council Regular and Special Session, June 11, 2007 Streetli2hts. Matters related to streetlights including planning, cost, and implementation. City Manager Michael Ross reported that for over 10 years the City has been investigating street light options to provide a functional, aesthetically pleasing, and cost effective lighting product throughout the City. Currently, the City is awaiting decisions regarding the City's request for variances to CenterPoint's policies on Annual Allotment and Removal costs. Staff estimates approximately 1,500 lights to complete the streetlight program, which would increase the number of lights by 748. The spacing of the lights would be approximately 175 - 200 linear feet with lights staggered on each side of the roadway. Overview: 1. Current Streetlh!ht Inventorv: Watt Lamp Overhead Cobra 400 BPS Cobra 250 BPS 8 Cobra 150 BPS 11 Cobra 100 BPS 286 Cobra 70 BPS 5 Total Co bra 310 Arlington 100 MH Midtown 100 MH Hallophane 100 MH Total Decorative Lights TOTAL LIGHTS: Underground Total 4 4 47 55 5 16 297 583 2 7 355 665 1 1 15 15 71 71 87 87 442 752 310 Note: HPS - High Pressure Sodium MH - Metal Halide 2. Current Li2ht Fixture and Installation Method Under Consideration: Fixture Type: Houston Midtown fixture (manufactured by Hadco or Holophane) Installation Method: Direct embed 3. Cost Per Fixture: Currently the City receives an Annual Allotment of 50 standard galvanized Cobra Head streetlights from CenterPoint Energy that the City may use or lose. This allocation allows for the installation and/or circuiting (underground wiring) of these lights at no cost to the City. As it stands now, if the City wants more than 50 lights installed per year there would be an additional cost of up to $500/light per Cobra Head light. When the allotment is exceeded CenterPoint charges approximately $7 L/F for new circuiting (underground wiring) to install lights. These are the costs Staff has asked CenterPoint to reevaluate. 2 City Council Regular and Special Session, June 11, 2007 Decorative fixtures may be installed in lieu of the Cobra Heads, but the City is required to pay the difference between the cost of the decorative fixture and the standard Cobra Head. The additional cost for a directly embedded Midtown fixture on a fluted pole is $850. 4. Selected Lamp: The following are the two are being considered: a) High Pressure Sodium (HPS) - yellow light - most of the existing lights in West U and elsewhere. b) Metal Halide (MH) - white light - City Center lights Note: CenterPoint has stated that if the HPS light was selected it could later be changed out to MH at the end of the useful life of the HPS (est. 7 years). This might allow for a more reasonable MH tariff rate to exist at that time and could allow a changeover from HPS to MH if appropriate at that time. 5. Typical On-Goin2 O&M Costs: CenterPoint charges the City's electricity provider (Reliant Energy) a monthly tariff (maintenance fee) for all light fixtures and poles. On-going maintenance expenses are based on Chapter 6 of the Street Lighting and Miscellaneous Lighting Services. The following is the monthly lighting tariff charged by CenterPoint per 100 watt light fixture for Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium: SCHEDULE OVERHEAD A UNDERGROUND Type Watt Metal Halide 100 Cobra Head D Cobra Head / Decorative E* Decorative - Twin Lamps High Pressure Sodium 100 $10.67 $3.32 $23.67 $13.18 $17.97 $8.11 * Price per lamp. The estimated number of decorative lights to complete the City is 1,500. Therefore, depending on the choice of light, the total cost upon completion would be the following: o Metal Halide Cost Per Year - $426,060 o High Pressure Sodium Cost Per Year - $237,240 The City's current annual cost for streetlights is $41,000. 3 City Council Regular and Special Session, June 11, 2007 Energy Cost to City: The City participates in the Governmental Aggregation Project (GAP), which allows the City to receive a "bundled rate" for streetlights from our electricity provider (Reliant Energy). The "bundled" rate is a flat rate that includes both the energy component and the transmission and distribution charges. GAP is a consortium of agencies and this negotiated rate expires in July 2008. Currently the City pays approximately $.09 / KWH based upon an agreed energy usage for bulbs. In addition, the City pays a pass through fee established by the Public Utilities Commission of $.000562 for Competition Transition Charges (CTC). Below is the typical monthly cost per 100-watt High Pressure Sodium and Metal Halide Ii gh t: Lamp Type Watt Mos. KWH $ / KWH $ / Mos. High Pressure Sodium Metal Halide 100 100 38 40 0.09 0.09 3.42 3.60 Potential Funding Sources for first phase of Citv- Wide Street lighting The current budget has earmarked $64,000 to begin a streetlight program in 2007. Additionally there are potential funding sources from the annual Metro Funds of approximately $259,000 and the City's Fund Balance. Utilizing $100,000 from the fund balance could create a potential phase one budget of $423,000 for streetlights in 2007. Carlton Porter, a representative from CenterPoint Energy was present at the meeting and answered questions from the City Council and Staff. Mr. Porter stated that CenterPoint Energy is trying to determine how best to apply the removal costs for the overhead and the underground in this particular situation. CenterPoint has not had a situation where a City has requested them to remove all of their existing lighting and replace it with decorative. There is some concern within the company to make sure they stay within the requirements of the tariff because it will set a major precedent with what will be done in other areas and they need to be consistent across the board. CenterPoint's regulatory group and rates department are still evaluating the charge for the removal of the overhead and underground utilities. This issue should be resolved within the next few weeks. The application of the annual 6% allotment for the installation of the City's lights was also discussed. This item will be further considered at a future meeting. 4 City Council Regular and Special Session, June 11, 2007 Park Property. Matters related to the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property for park purposes. This item was not discussed during this meeting. A motion was made by Council Member Fry, seconded by Council Member Cohen, to adjourn the Special Session. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Kelly, Council Members Fry, Cohen, Guffey and Talianchich None None Voting Nay: Absent: The City Council adjourned the Special Session at 6:40 p.m. Formal Session Citizen Comments Mayor Kelly invited citizens who wished to address the City Council to come forward as their names were called. Robert Wells, 3816 University, spoke to the City Council about his receiving a citation for high weeds and grasses in the right-of-way. Grant Application for Crime Scene Investi2ative Unit. Matters related to a grant application for the creation of a Crime Scene Investigative Unit including Resolution No. 2007-05 authorizing the application. Police Chief Ken Walker reported that the Police Department filed for grant funding to supplement the creation of a crime scene investigative unit. A major part of the grant will be used to purchase an evidence bar coding system that will assist in documenting, tracking, and maintaining the record of evidence being processed and maintained by the department. The remaining portion of the grant will be used to supplement the purchase of training and other equipment needs of the Investigative Unit. The grant period is a three-year process. The first year of the grant is 100% funded. The second year and third year (should the Staff decide to apply) will require a contribution by the City, usually 20% in year two then 40% in year three. The total amount applied for this year is $49,171.60. Officers assigned to this unit are currently funded in the 2007 budget. 5 City Council Regular and Special Session, June 11, 2007 A motion was made by Council Member Cohen, seconded by Council Member Fry, to approve Resolution No. 2007-05 authorizing the application as presented. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Kelly, Council Members Fry, Cohen, Guffey and Talianchich None None Voting Nay: Absent: The motion passed 5-0. Property tax refund. Matters related to 2006 property tax refunds in the amount of$8,239.59 Finance Director Walter Thomas reported that each year the City receives overpayments of property taxes. The causes of overpayment vary, but the most common are: . Both the taxpayer and the taxpayer's agent pay the property tax. . The taxpayer pays a wrong amount. Section 31.11 of the Property Tax Code requires approval by the City Council of property tax refunds that exceed $500.00. The following schedule details the taxpayers, the reason for the overpayment and the amount of refund requested: Taxpaver(s) Wells Fargo Mortgage/Hanchera First American Tax Service/Houston Title First American Tax Service/Tinu First American Tax Service/Schultz Reason for Duplicate/Overpavment Both Mortgage Co & Taxpayer Paid Both Mortgage Co & Title Co Paid Both Mortgage Co & Taxpayer Paid Both Mortgage Co & Taxpayer Paid Amount $3,721.50 $653.24 $1,165.80 $2,699.05 $8,239.59 A motion was made by Council Member Fry, seconded by Council Member Guffey, to authorize the refund of overpaid property taxes totaling $8,239.59 A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Kelly, Council Members Fry, Cohen, Guffey and Talianchich None None Voting Nay: Absent: The motion passed 5-0. 6 City Council Regular and Special Session, June 11, 2007 Completion Contract for Sidewalk Construction in Priority Areas 9.. 10 & lIB. Matters related to the completion contract for sidewalk construction in Priority Areas 9, 10 & 11B including change order # 1 in the amount of$50,000. Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Chris Peifer reported that during the course of the completion of the multi-year Master Sidewalk Program the City of West University Place has contracted with up to five contractors for the construction of sidewalk infrastructure within the City. As this initiative/program is coming to its fulfillment Staff has been completing and closing the underlying contracts. Change Order #1 with Southern Customs, Inc. is an up to $50,000 and 30-day change order to the existing contract. It will facilitate a "full block" completion of two streets, which are in the process of completion. All units pricing remains as is and the program's appropriation, which supports these underlying contracts, remains within the current budget estimates and requires no further appropriation of funds. Remaining work within this program is presently anticipated to be completed under two existing contracts with our single remaining contractor, Metro City Construction LLP. A motion was made by Council Member Guffey, seconded by Council Member Fry, to approve Change Order #1 to the "Completion Contract for Sidewalks in Priority Areas 9, 10 & 11B" in the amount of $50,000. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Kelly, Council Members Fry, Cohen, Guffey and Talianchich None None Voting Nay: Absent: The motion passed 5-0. City Council minutes. Matters related to the minutes of the Regular and Special Session conducted on May 21,2007 and Special Session conducted on June 4, 2007. A motion was made by Council Member Cohen, seconded by Council Member Talianchich, to approve the minutes of May 21 and June 4, 2007 as presented. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: V oting Aye: Mayor Kelly, Council Members Fry, Cohen, Guffey and Talianchich 7 City Council Regular and Special Session, June 11, 2007 Voting Nay: Absent: None None The motion passed 5-0. 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 Cohen, seconded by Council Member Fry, to adjourn the Regular Session. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Kelly, Council Members Fry, Cohen, Guffey and Talianchich None None Voting Nay: Absent: The motion passed 5-0. The City Council adjourned the Regular Session at 7:15 p.m. 8