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HomeMy WebLinkAbout120902R CC Min CITY COUNCIL REGULAR SESSION MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2002 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 December 9, 2002, with the following members present: Mayor Lewis presiding, Council Members May, Farley, Griffin and Jackson. The City Manager, City Secretary, City Attorney, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director and Finance Director were also present. The notice for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, th Chapter 551, on the 6 day of December 2002 at 5:30 p.m. Formal Session Lateral house lines. Matters related to lateral house lines including Ordinance No. 1724. Mayor Lewis read the caption of Ordinance No. 1724 as follows: An ordinance relating to lateral house lines; authorizing a contract and assessment; containing findings and provisions relating to the subject; and declaring an emergency Copies of Ordinance No. 1724, in the form proposed for adoption, were available in the Council Chambers. Finance Director Walter Thomas reported that the City Code Section 23.013(g) provides that the City can handle the relocation of house lines in connection with a project that relocates water and sewer line in the case of unusual hardship or special circumstances. The Finance Department received a request from the resident of 3765 Sunset stating that relocating the house lines would cause an unusual hardship. Staff has documented that the resident?s annual income is below 80% of the Harris County median income ($24,776 annually) and accordingly is eligible for this program. Staff has also informed the resident in writing that the City will attach a lien to 3765 Sunset to secure the cost of relocating the house line and that the terms of the loan made by the City will be five years with simple interest at a rate that will be determined by Council when the work is complete. The homeowner has consented to this process. Mr. Thomas stated that it is in the best interest of the community to relocate the house lines located at 3765 Sunset, and since the steps necessary to assess the cost against the City Council Regular Session, December 9, 2002 homeowner?s property have been taken, Staff recommends approval of Ordinance 1724 authorizing a contract in the amount of $1,965 with Strutton Plumbing Company, Inc. to relocate the house lines at 3765 Sunset. A motion was made by Council Member Griffin, seconded by Council Member Jackson, to approve Ordinance No. 1724 on the first and final reading. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Lewis, Council Members May, Farley, Griffin and Jackson Voting Nay: None Absent: None Plumbing and certain PVC piping. Mayor Lewis read the caption of Ordinance No. 1725 as follows: Matters related to plumbing and certain PVC piping including Ordinance No. 1725. An ordinance relating to plumbing and certain PVC piping; amending 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. 1725, in the form proposed for adoption, were available in the Council Chambers. Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Ron Wicker explained that the standard code schedule is a set of localized amendments to the International Building Codes. It is within this schedule that a proposal to add an amendment to help insure proper inspections will be carried out during the installation of PVC piping. This amendment will require all underground PVC pipe to be joined together using a purple or other distinctive color primer. Thus allowing the inspectors a quick and easy method of verifying the plumber properly joined the two pieces of PVC pipe. A motion was made by Council Member Griffin, seconded by Council Member Jackson, to adopt Ordinance No. 1725 on the first reading. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Lewis, Council Members May, Farley, Griffin and Jackson Voting Nay: None Absent: None 2 City Council Regular Session, December 9, 2002 Lawn and landscape maintenance. Matters related to lawn and landscape maintenance including bids received December 3, 2002. Parks and Recreation Director Mark Mailes reported that on December 3, 2002, bids were received and opened for the City?s lawn and landscape maintenance. Two bids were received. This contract was last bid in 1999 at a cost of $40,200. Maintenance areas added for the current bids that were not included in 1999 are the three Poor Farm Ditch bridge areas, an island at Werlein and Kirby, the dead-end of Albans and seven lift station areas. Low bid for the project was from Landscape Professionals of Texas. Landscape Professionals has satisfactorily provided lawn and landscape maintenance services for the City since 1995. The following bids were received: Bidder Bid Amount Bio Landscape $105,809.00 Landscape Professionals of TX $ 44,824.00 A motion was made by Council Member May, seconded by Council Member Farley, to approve the bid submitted by Landscape Professionals of Texas in the amount of $44,824. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Lewis, Council Members May, Farley, Griffin and Jackson Voting Nay: None Absent: None Sidewalks and street improvements. Matters related to sidewalks and street improvements including authorization to enter into a contract with SWA Group for On-Call sidewalk consulting services. City Manager Michael Ross reported that on November 25, 2002 the City Council adopted the City of West University Place?s Sidewalk Master Plan. In order to continue with the next phase of work on the sidewalks, the City?s consultant (SWA) will need to be available to assist Claunch & Miller during the pre-design, design and construction phase of the projects. 3 City Council Regular Session, December 9, 2002 Mr. Ross stated that the proposed contract will allow Staff to utilize SWA as necessary on an on-call basis and since the cost is expected to exceed the statutory $25,000 amount it is necessary for City Council to approve the contract. A motion was made by Council Member Farley, seconded by Council Member Griffin, to authorize the City Manager to enter into an on-call contract with SWA for the proposed sidewalk projects. Council Member Jackson inquired about the existing contract with the SWA Group. Mr. Ross stated that the existing contract was for the preparation of the Sidewalk Master Plan and curb ramps. There is $5,000 to $8,000 remaining from that contract which can be used first. Council Member Griffin suggested limiting the contract to a specific amount at this time to see if the funds are really needed. She stated that the City Manager already had the authority to spend up to $25,000 on certain projects. Mr. Ross replied that there was no question that the funds would be needed but the City Staff will only call SWA when necessary. It will be the Staff?s role to monitor and insure their work is necessary. Council Member May commented that the last time the City Council authorized a contract with SWA it was suppose to have been for prototypical curb ramps in difficult situations. He asked if those were in place and that he would prefer a limit to the funding at this time and suggested that the results from this preceding work be applied to other areas. Council Member Jackson requested that an update on the project be provided to the City Council on a monthly basis. Mr. Ross stated that it was fine if the Council wanted to cap the amount of the contract but that he pictured an enormous amount of hours to work with homeowners where there are some challenges. Mayor Lewis agreed that there should be a cap on the proposed contract because some members of the Council are not sure if the City actually got what they asked for with the money already spent. She also agreed with a monthly update on the progress. Council Member Griffin asked if Claunch & Miller had the knowledge to determine if a retaining wall was necessary in one area and not in another. She also stated that the Staff had the remaining $8,000 to get started. Mr. Ross replied that it was his understanding that Claunch & Miller began the process and it was determined that some landscape architect knowledge was needed to make it 4 City Council Regular Session, December 9, 2002 pleasing to the homeowners. He stated that the $8,000 was not enough to get started and that the contractor in Priority Area 7B would have down time if they did not have the design of the 23 curb ramps in the area. Mayor Lewis commented that the 23 curb ramps could not possibly be all unique. Council Member Farley commented that SWA has a toolbox with parameters that can be applied to the 23 curb ramps. The parameter for each curb ramp needs to be determined. He stated that he felt it was a terrible mistake for council to front-end load this project on the design element. The City does need SWA?s expertise in balancing the homeowner and their desire for aesthetics as opposed to a strictly cookie cutter design. An amended motion was made by Council Member Farley to approve a contract with the SWA Group with a ceiling of $50,000 plus the additional $8,000 from the remaining contract and the request for a monthly update to the City Council. Council Member May stated that he would like to see the results of the last contract to see if the parameters could be applied. Council Member Farley stated that this Council and the Council before has always endorsed the concept of working with residents in solving independent specific issues. (He quoted the Sidewalk Policy regarding the hiring of consultants). He stated that he hoped some members of the Council were not going to ignore the Sidewalk Policy. Council Member May commented that he was not ignoring the policy but that he would not endorse an open-ended policy that would result in needlessly spending money. Mayor Lewis called for a second on the amended motion made by Council Member Farley. Mayor Lewis seconded the amended motion. A vote was taken on the amended motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Lewis and Council Member Farley Voting Nay: Council Members May, Griffin and Jackson Absent: None The motion failed. A motion was made by Council Member Griffin, seconded by Council Member May to approve a contract with the SWA Group for $25,000 plus the additional $8,000 from the remaining contract and the request for a monthly update to the City Council. 5 City Council Regular Session, December 9, 2002 A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Council Members May, Griffin and Jackson Voting Nay: Mayor Lewis and Council Member Farley Absent: None The motion passed. Mayor Lewis stated that the Staff had $33,000 to begin the work. City Council minutes. Matters related to the minutes of the Regular Session conducted on December 2, 2002. A motion was made by Council Member Jackson, seconded by Council Member May, to approve the minutes as presented. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Lewis, Council Members May, Farley, Griffin and Jackson Voting Nay: None Absent: None Council comments. The City Council recessed the Formal Session to convene in Informal Session at 6:55 p.m. Informal Session Streetlights. Matters related to streetlights and maintenance including a presentation by Center Point Energy. Mr. Ross introduced Carlton Porter with Center Point Energy. Mr. Porter reported that Center Point Energy has been working with the City Staff to come up with a better plan to maintain the streetlights during the heavy construction that has been taking place. Center Point has done a pro-active patrol through the City and has identified lights that need repair. 6 City Council Regular Session, December 9, 2002 In addition to those streetlights that were repaired, there are still quite a few out due to road construction. Work orders are currently issued in one area and should be repaired within 3 to 4 weeks. In the future as road construction progresses in the City, Paul Marks, representing Center Point Energy, will be working closely with the Public Works Department and the contractor for the particular area and do some pre-construction walks to insure that Center Point has marked the underground cable and it is being cut adequately. Mr. Marks will have maps and will walk the area with the Contractor. Mr. Porter stated that the City has agreed to work with Center Point to identify the contractors that may have caused damage to the facilities. This will give Center Point an opportunity to recover some of the costs. Council Member Griffin asked if the City calls Center Point before a sidewalk is laid, would they still abide by the 48 hours to come out and repair so that they would not have to come out at a later date and cut. Mr. Porter replied that the 48 hours referenced in the tariff is for normal repairs and if it is a cable cut issue, that may take longer than the 48 hours. The 48-hour repair normally means changing out a lamp, bulb or simple splice inside the pole itself. Cable cuts, depending on the volume of repairs in other areas, could take one to two weeks to repair. Council Member May asked what types of work are the most common offenders in cutting cables. Mr. Porter commented that they looked at the maintenance history and found that the City of West University has 693 streetlights on its account. Since January 1, 2002, 495 repairs have been made and 50% is due to cable cuts. He stated that they hoped to be able to put the cable in deeper at the time the cable cuts are repaired. Council Member Farley asked if the City was getting a tariff credit for lights that have been out for some time. Mr. Carlton stated that they would probably not be able to give a credit for the lights that have been out but in the future, lights on a certain street that the City knows is going to be under repair, Center Point can deenergize the streetlights. The billing system will discontinue billing of that streetlight. Council Member Farley stated that he had a spreadsheet in front of him that had the streetlight numbers listed with the dates they were first reported out and the date service was restored. The number is over 50 with the majority going out of service in early October but some dating back to the beginning of August. Mr. Farley asked if Center Point had that list would that suffice for getting a retroactive credit in place. Mr. Carlton commented that he did not know but that he would take the list with him and get an answer. 7 City Council Regular Session, December 9, 2002 Cable franchise. Matters related to the Time Warner Cable franchise ordinance, including renewal, procedures, etc. City Attorney Jim Dougherty reported that the renewal is a long way off but there is a long process that leads up to it. Mr. Dougherty stated that the recommendation that he has made is to use the informal process reserving the right to go back to a formal process if need be but designate a study group consisting of a member of council, two staff members, and the City Attorney, authorize the Study Group to get specialized consultations, technical or legal if needed and talk to the company about getting the cost reimbursed. A motion was made by Council Member Farley, seconded by Council Member Jackson, to pursue the informal process but reserve the right to go back to the formal process, and that the City Council will designate a study group for the renewal including Council Member Griffin, the City Attorney, and two staff members to be designated by the City Manager. This group is authorized to get specialized consultations if needed from outside technical or legal consultants and Time Warner Cable should reimburse reasonable out- of-pocket expenses incurred by the City including legal and consulting fees, notices and advertisement. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Mayor Lewis, Council Members May, Farley, Griffin and Jackson Voting Nay: None Absent: None Board or Commission meetings. Matters related to Board and Commission meetings (Zoning & Planning, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Building & Standards Commission, Parks & Recreation, Public Safety, Senior Services, Recycling & Solid Waste Reduction and Drainage Committee) including reports from Council liaisons. There were no reports during this meeting. Inquiries, requests and complaints. The City Council reviewed matters received from the public and referred them to the appropriate department or will place them on a future agenda for consideration or action. 8 City Council Regular Session, December 9, 2002 Adjournment. With no further business to come before the City Council at this time, a motion was made by Council Member Jackson, seconded by Council Member Farley, to adjourn. The Council meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. 9