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Home My WebLink About052108R CC Min CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL AND REGULAR SESSION MINUTES WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2008 MUNICIPAL BUILDING 3800 UNIVERSITY BLVD. ATTENDANCE Ma yor/Councilmembers: Mayor Kelly, Council Members Fry, Guffey and Talianchich Absent: Councilmember Cohen City Staff: City Manager, City Attorney, Acting City Secretary, Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director, Finance Director, HR Director, IT Manager, and Parks and Recreation Director CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Kelly called the Special Meeting to order at 5:08 p.m. Item # 3 was moyed to the beginning of the agenda. Recycling and Solid Waste Education Program Matters related to a proposed Recycling Education Brochure that will increase the recycling rate for the City and lower the amount of solid waste going to the landfill presented by Recycling and Solid Waste Board Chair and Vice Chair, Orval Marlow and Steve Stelzer and Dave Beach, General Services Superintendent. Motion: Made by: Seconded by: Action: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: To appropriate a onetime amount of $16,000 to create educational literature and conduct a phone survey to improve resident participation in recycling Guffey Talianchich Passed 4-0 Mayor Kelly, Council members Fry, Guffey and Talianchich None 1. City Secretary Matters related to appointing a City Secretary presented by City Manager Michael Ross. Thelma Lenz was introduced to Council Members as the recommended candidate for City Secretary. Mayor Kelly announced the City Council is starting a closed session at 5:30 p.m. under Section 551.074 of the Texas Government Code. The Mayor announced the City Council has completed the closed session at 5:41 p.m. Mayor Kelly reconvened the Special Meeting to order at 5:41 p.m. 1. City Secretary City Council Meeting. May 21, 2008 Motion: To employ Thelma Lenz in accordance with the terms and conditions presented in a Memo for the Appointment to the Position of City Secretary Fry Talianchich Passed 4-0 Mayor Kelly, Council members Fry, Guffey and Talianchich None Made by: Seconded by: Action: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: 2. Recreational Facilities Matters related to the West U Recreation Center, Colonial Park and Community/Senior Center. Mayor Kelly explained the recreational facilities item will be on the agenda during the workshop meeting time and the general meeting time for now and in the future for Council to get organized, to receive information and to corne to a consensus as to what to do. Council directed staff to coordinate a Saturday afternoon meeting to give them several hours to workshop this issue or coordinate the earliest date possible that will be convenient for a majority of Council members. Mayor Kelly Adjourned the Special Meeting at 6:28 p.m. Motion: Adjoum the Special Meeting Made by: Fry Seconded by: Talianchich Action: Passed 4-0 Voting Aye: Mayor Kelly, Council members Fry, Guffey and Talianchich Voting Nay: None CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Kelly called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:37 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge to the Texas Flag. Notice. The notice for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Texas Govemment Code, Chapter 551, on the 18th of May 2008 at 12:45 p.m. Citizens who wish to be heard and/or address agenda items. Donna Field - 3132 Nottingham - stated that she had not realized how much good will and hard work has gone into the proposal for the recreational facilities planning. She said the citizens in this community have a heavy tax burden and is confused on the fact that we had a vote and now we are having another vote. She also suggested a commnnity Page 2 of 4 City Council Meeting, May 21, 2008 garden could be a learning initiative and a way to encourage connectivity m this community Mayor Kelly explained the reason behind another vote. He explained that we can do nothing and continue to pump seyeral million dollars for repairs ever so many years and not increase the life of the facilities or we can take a hard look and see if we can do something more reasonable than 26 million dollars which was the past proposal that was not approved. Eric Orzeck - 2632 Wroxton - spoke on his problems with commercial trash dumpsters and the hours of the receptacles being emptied. He suggests that the City Council propose having West U become actively involved in the timing and in quality control. Susan Ohsfeldt - 4101 Tennyson - addressed the operating expenses of the parks facilities and doesn't think the report she has reviewed expresses the true operating expenses. Dick Yehle - 6401 Rutgers - spoke regarding the Senior Exemption proposal. He stated that he was not for or against the proposal but did not think an analysis has been made on what the actual need is as opposed to the ability to pay. 3. Property Taxes for Citizens oyer age 65 Matters related to tax abatements for Citizens that are 65 years of age or older presented by Walter Thomas, Finance Director. Motion: To Approve Ordinance 1874 on the second reading in the amount of $185,000 Guffey Talianchich Passed 4-0 Mayor Kelly, Council members Fry, Guffey and Talianchich None Made by: Seconded by: Action: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: 4. Recreational Facilities Matters related to the West U Recreation Center, Colonial Park and Community/Senior Center. Mayor Kelly explained the recreational facilities item was put on the agenda during this part of the meeting for those who cannot be at the earlier meeting and he restated what was said during the special meeting. 5. City Council Minutes Matters related to the minutes of the Regular and Special Session conducted May 12, 2008. The approval of the minutes was postponed. Page 3 of 4 City Council Meeting, May 21,2008 Council Member Reports. Councilmember Fry reported that he thinks it is of interest to people to know that the Councilmembers and Mayor do a lot of things that aren't just on the City Council. He said they represent the City in a lot of different venues. He reported has been elected by this Council to be the City's representative to the Houston/Galveston area Council and in that position he has been appointed an altemate to the Transportation Policy Committee. He stated all of us are doing things for the City that do not relate to these meetings and he believes it is important to let this be known. Mayor Kelly reported that the Harris County Mayor's and Council's Associations represents all the cities in Harris County and they meet once a month. He encouraged everyone to attend these and expressed that it is good to get to know the other Mayors and Councilmembers of the other cities as we have some joint interest such as Metro and drainage issues. Mayor Kelly said he has been tagged with additional duties to be a member of the Nominating Committee for the officers of this group. City Manager Report. City Manager Michael Ross reported on the Weslayan at University project and how it is proceeding. It was noted that the time frame to finish the work will be approximately twenty days, weather permitting. An update on the traffic diversion associated with this project was repOlted by Chris Peifer, Public Works Director. Adjournment. Motion: Made by: Seconded by: Action: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: To Adjourn the meeting at 7:21 p.m. Fry Talianchich Passed 4-0 Mayor Kelly, Council members Fry, Guffey and Talianchich None These minutes are excerpts from the Council proceedings. A recording of the meeting is on file in the City Secretary's office. Prepared by: Gayle Schultz, Acting City Secretary Approved: (p - J 1- 0 rf Date of Approval Page 4 of 4