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HomeMy WebLinkAbout011204R CC Min CITY COUNCIL REGULAR SESSION MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2004 MUNICIPAL BUILDING 3800 UNIVERSITY BLVD. 6:30 P.M. The City Council convened in Regular Session in the Municipal Building Council Chambers (3800 University Blvd.) on January 12, 2004, with the following members present: Mayor Ballanfant presiding, Council Members Segal, Farley, Fogler and Woods. The City Manager, City Secretary, City Attorney, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director, Finance Director, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Parks and Recreation Director, Building Official, General Services Supervisor, City Planner and Code Enforcement Officer were also present. The notice for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, th Chapter 551, on the 8 day of January 2004 at 6:05 p.m. Formal Session Citizen Comments Mayor Ballanfant invited citizens who wished to address the City Council to come forward as their names were called. Robert Riquelmy, 506 Winslow, commented that he had enjoyed observing several meetings of the West University Building and Standards Commission in order to gain perspective for his services as an appointee on the Bellaire BSC. He stated that he wanted the Council to know that he received courtesy and hospitality by the Chairman, other commission members and the City staff. Carolyn Sacchi, 3768 Rice Boulevard, spoke to the Council about street and traffic hazards during the holiday season when cars were parked on both sides of the street. Fire Chief. Matters related to the appointment of a new Fire Chief (Steve Ralls). A motion was made by Council Member Farley, seconded by Council Member Fogler, to approve the appointment made by the City Manager of Steve Ralls as Fire Chief . A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: City Council Regular and Workshop Session, January 12, 2004 Voting Aye: Mayor Ballanfant, Council Members Segal, Farley, Fogler and Woods Voting Nay: None Absent: None Oath of office. Mayor Ballanfant administered the Oath of Office to the new Fire Chief. Personnel policies, notices and publications. Matters related to personnel policies, notices and publications including authorization to utilize outside legal counsel specializing in labor law as necessary and including Ordinance No. 1760. Mayor Ballanfant read the caption of Ordinance No. 1760 as follows: An ordinance relating to Administration and Finance; amending Chapter 2 of the code of ordinances of the City of West University Place, Texas; and containing findings and provisions relating to the subject Copies of Ordinance No. 1760, in the form proposed for adoption, were available in the Council Chambers. City Manager Michael Ross requested that consideration of a proposed amendment to Section 2.021 be withdrawn. Mr. Ross stated that it has become evident that the City is in need of labor law counsel to assist staff with the complex aspects of the City?s legal employment issues and the drafting of parts of the employee manual. Staff is requesting authorization to hire on-call labor law legal counsel to assist with these employee related issues. Regarding Ordinance No. 1760, the proposed new Section 2.029 establishes two main points: (1) the City Secretary is authorized to make decisions about official notices and publications; and (2) sometimes, it may be appropriate to use a newspaper that is not the official newspaper. Council Member Segal asked if the Staff had a law firm in mind. City Attorney Jim Dougherty stated that Abram, Scott, & Bickley do a lot of this kind of work and they have actually worked for the City in the past. Mayor Ballanfant asked about the dollar amount being requested. Mr. Ross commented that the Council could limit the amount to not exceed $25,000 for 2004. 2 City Council Regular and Workshop Session, January 12, 2004 Council Member Fogler commented that she thought it was a good idea to have specialized counsel in these areas and that Abrams, Scott and Bickley are very highly qualified. She stated that she was assuming that if the City was utilizing a labor attorney the City would not be simultaneously overlapping with City Attorney fees. She asked if this would represent a net increase in attorney fees for the year or would it end up balancing out in some manner. Mr. Ross stated that in some manner he would anticipate the fees balancing out if the fees were similar. A motion was made by Council Member Segal, seconded by Council Member Fogler, to authorize the City Manager to hire specialized labor counsel for purposes of handling special matters and assist in drafting the procedures manual as requested with a maximum of $25,000 and request that the staff come to council if the amount exceeds $20,000. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Ballanfant, Council Members Segal, Farley, Fogler and Woods Voting Nay: None Absent: None A motion was made by Council Member Fogler, seconded by Council Member Woods, to approve the changes in Section 2.029 of Ordinance No. 1760. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Ballanfant, Council Members Segal, Farley, Fogler and Woods Voting Nay: None Absent: None Center Point Energy Entex. Matters related to Center Point Energy including gas rates and Resolution No. 2004-01 Mayor Ballanfant read the caption of Resolution No. 2004-01 as follows: A resolution of the City of West University Place, Texas suspending the effective date of CenterPoint Energy Entex?s requested rate changes to permit the City time to study the request and to establish reasonable rates; approving cooperation with other Cities within the Harris, Montgomery and Fort Bend County area distribution system to create a steering committee to direct the efforts of legal counsel and consultants necessary for ratemaking or litigation; requiring reimbursement of Cities? rate case expenses; authorizing intervention in any ratemaking proceeding at the railroad commission that relates to the company?s filing; and requiring notice of this resolution to the company. 3 City Council Regular and Workshop Session, January 12, 2004 Council Member Farley filed an affidavit declaring debt and equity holdings in excess of $15,000 in Center Point Energy with the City Secretary and did not participate in the discussion or vote of this item. Mr. Dougherty reported that this is the application for a rate increase that was filed by the Entex division of Center Point Energy. They filed with Houston last year and reached a settlement with the Houston staff that called for an increase somewhere between $13 and $14 million dollars for system wide revenues. Now, their procedure has been to go around to all the other cities and ask for the same rate increase. The City of Houston?s increase is effective in January. They have proposed an increase for all the other cities st starting February 1. In order to study the increase and have hearings it will be necessary to suspend the rate. The law allows for this and takes council action to do it. There is a resolution on the agenda that would allow council to suspend the operation of the rate for 90 days. There is a proposal to form a coalition of other non-Houston cities to get together to study this particular increase and have hearings. Glenn Cole, Regional Manager of Center Point Energy, stated that it is correct that Center Point Energy is asking the Council to consider the rate increase that the City of Houston has approved. They have not asked for rate increase since 1986 and in that 17 years Center Point has been able to keep their costs down strictly by growth and cost containment measures. The rate increase is now needed because of declining base load caused by more efficient gas appliances, rising costs of putting in plant and tremendous growth. Also service charges and transfer fees are outdated. Mr. Cole stated that they are asking West University to consider the same agreement that was agreed to with the City of Houston. They initially asked for 27 million from the City of Houston but after consideration by counsel hired by the City of Houston, they agreed to a 13.9 million increase. He stated that for West University the average increase for a residential customer would be $1.11 per month and the small commercial customer will see a $5.57 change per month. Council Member Segal asked what would be the effect of the rate increase to West U residents. Mr. Cole stated that he did not have that number with him. After further discussion and consideration by the City Council, Mayor Ballanfant called for a motion. A motion was made by Council Member Woods, seconded by Council Member Fogler, to adopt Resolution No. 2004-01 suspending operation of the schedule for a period of 90 days. Council Member Segal suggested that the effective date on the Resolution be changed to February 1, 2004. 4 City Council Regular and Workshop Session, January 12, 2004 Council Member Woods accepted the amendment and Council Member Fogler seconded the amended motion. A vote was taken on the amended motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Ballanfant, Council Members Segal, Fogler and Woods Voting Nay: None Absent: None The amended motion was adopted 4-0. City Council minutes. Matters related to the minutes of the Regular Session conducted on December 15, 2003. A motion was made by Council Member Fogler, seconded by Council Member Farley, to approve the minutes as amended. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Ballanfant, Council Members Segal, Farley, Fogler and Woods Voting Nay: None Absent: None Intergovernmental & Infrastructure Issues; Staff or Council Report. Matters relating to intergovernmental relations and agreements including negotiations, extra jurisdictional meetings, regional issues, Metropolitan Transit Authority agreements, infrastructure projects, drainage, flooding, Kirby Drive construction, streetlights and related matters. This may include report(s) from staff and reports and directives to staff from Council Members. Mr. Ross reported that meetings would be held on drainage and the construction on Kirby Drive. He also reported that the streetlight task force would soon be meeting with Reliant Energy. Mr. Ross stated that he would like to establish a task force to consider the railroad crossings and quiet zone. Council Members Farley and Segal volunteered to serve on that task force along with Kristen Palmer, Brian Antweil, Ed Emmett and City staff. Mr. Ross also reported that a public meeting on Priority Area 10 would be held on Thursday night. 5 City Council Regular and Workshop Session, January 12, 2004 Mayor Ballanfant inquired about the opening of University Boulevard. He stated that he attended the swearing-in ceremony for the Mayor of Bellaire. The City Council recessed the regular session at 7:25 p.m. Workshop Session (in the Bill Watson Conference Room) Recycling. Matters related to recycling, including dividing recycling collection into multiple days instead of the current single day. General Services Supervisor Brad Neighbors reported that for trash collection, the city is divided into two halves with collection days on either Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday for each half. For the solid waste division, this means four crews in four trucks collect half of the city each day, four days per week. On the fifth day (currently Wednesday) the same four crews in the same trucks collect recycling from the entire city, not just once, but twice. The reason for two trips through the routes is because separation of paper and cardboard from the other recycling materials is necessary to maintain revenue from curbside collection. This collection day practice has become increasingly difficult due to the ever increasing participation in the curbside recycling program. During summer months, the crews keep working and usually complete collection around 6:30 or 7:00 . During the fall and PM winter months this is not possible. Darkness makes navigating garbage trucks on the narrow city streets dangerous. Darkness falling at approximately 5:30 causes routes to PM be left incompleted and residents unhappy. Our crews then have to begin their day on Thursday completing recycling routes before starting on the Thursday trash routes. Mr. Neighbors stated that it is proposed that the days for collection change from Wednesday to different days depending on location in the City. It is important to note that this change does not reduce the level of service being provided to our residents, however the change should reduce the number of overtime hours worked in solid waste and result in an earlier collection time for the majority of the recycling materials. The Council agreed with the recommended changes in curbside collection days and authorized the Staff to implement the changes as soon as possible. The Council and Staff also discussed information that should be included in a letter to the residents informing them of the change. They suggested that a postcard also be sent as a reminder. 6 City Council Regular and Workshop Session, January 12, 2004 Animals. Matters related to animals including parks and playgrounds, Colonial Park and boundaries, clean-up regulations, number of animals and related matters. Also including Ordinance No. 1759 (An ordinance relating to animals; amending the code of Ordinances of the City of West University Place, Texas; and containing findings and provisions relating to the subject. The Staff presented a survey detailing what other city?s requirements are regarding dog parks, dogs in parks and leash requirements in parks. The City Council and Staff discussed allowing animals in parks and the West U registration requirements. Steve Draper of 3610 Georgetown and Stephanie Scherr of 2704 Centenary asked questions regarding the current ordinance and the proposed changes. The City Council requested that the second reading of Ordinance No. 1759 be placed on the next regular session. They also requested copies of the information that was gathered on placing a dog park on property owned by the City. Fees and charges. Matters related to fees and charges. Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Ron Wicker reported that during the 2004 budget process, Council directed staff to review all of the fees charged by the City to ensure that they were set at appropriate levels. In response, staff solicited all City Departments to provide any recommended adjustments to the fee schedule. Generally, the recommended adjustments are based on the cost of providing the service. Increases in Building Service Fees were applied to the most common services in order to ensure the recovery of the City?s costs. Mr. Wicker and City Planner Nes Tesno presented a summary of the recommended changes. The City Council agreed that the kennel fees should be increased to $15.00. They requested that an ordinance be prepared for review at the next regular session. Adjournment. With no further business to come before the City Council at this time, a motion was made by Council Member Farley, seconded by Council Member Fogler, to adjourn. The Council meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m. 7