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HomeMy WebLinkAbout121100S CC Min ~ CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL SESSION MONDA Y, DECEMBER 11, 2000 MUNICIPAL BUILDING 3800 UNIVERSITY BLVD. 6:30 P.M. The City Council convened in Special Session in the Municipal Building Conference Room (3800 University Blvd.) on December 11,2000, with the following members present: Mayor Pro Tern Ballanfant presiding, Council Members Bertini, Grubb and May. The City Manager, Assistant City Secretary, City Attorney, Public Works Director, Police Chief and Parks and Recreation Director were also present. Mayor Lewis was absent. The notice for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, on the 8th day of December 2000 at 1:00 p.m. Agenda Review: The City Council reviewed the regular meeting agenda and discussed items under consideration with the Staff. Report on Diving Board at Colonial Park: Parks and Recreation Director Mark Mailes reported that one of the diving boards at Colonial Park was broken during the summer. The parts to repair the board are now in and it will be reinstalled. At this time, the space is being used for pool parties. Report from Traffic Task Force. Matters related to a report from members of the Traffic Task Force. Traffic Task Force member Elizabeth Love presented the following recommendations as prepared by the Crosswalk Team: 1. Install brick paver crosswalks across University at the west side of Kirby and across Rice at the west side of Kirby. They also recommended that the city request and work with the City of Houston to install crosswalks across Kirby at these intersections to allow better access to and from the Village. 2. Conduct an engineering study coordinated by the Chief of Police to study installing painted crosswalks at all intersections of collectors and arterials (both major and minor, as marked on the August 2000 Claunch & Miller street classification map) when the sidewalks are constructed. Exception being where City Council Special SesslVn, December 11, 2000 brick pavers are already going in along Buffalo Speedway. With this plan, the estimated number of intersections with crosswalks would be about 25. 3. Install an engineer-designed raised table crosswalk at Tangley across Edloe at the bubble-out to facilitate pedestrian access across Poor Farm Ditch. This crosswalk should either be level with the Poor Farm Ditch Bridge or should ramp up to it to allow access for strollers and wheelchairs. In addition, appropriate crosswalk/pedestrian signs should be installed on either side of the walk. 4. At all city parks, excluding those in the City Center area, install crosswalks at each intersection with a street corner. At minimum, these should be painted crosswalks, although an engineering study should determine the feasibility of additional measures such as raised dots. In addition, to allow for better access to Colonial Park, conduct an engineering study on the intersections of Weslayan closest to the park to identify appropriate places at which to install crosswalks. 5. All painted crosswalks should be inspected and maintained annually. Council Member Bertini commented that on proposal number 3, there are actually going to be 3 bridges across Poor Farm Ditch. He inquired if their recommendation was that there be only one crosswalk and that would be at the Tangley Street. Mrs. Love replied affirmatively. Council Member Grubb inquired about crossing Bissonnet at Auden, Weslayan and Academy. Council Member Bertini suggested a 6th recommendation that at appropriate crossing lights owned by the City of Houston that West University interact with them and/or Metro to coordinate crosswalks. Mrs. Love replied that the Crosswalk Team would accept that recommendation. The City Council agreed to defer recommendation number 3 until the bridges are installed. A motion was made by Council Member Bertini, seconded by Council Member Grubb, to accept the recommendations from the Crosswalk Team condition upon receiving a report sometime in April on the progress of the recommendations. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: Absent: Council Members Ballanfant, Bertini, Grubb and May None Mayor Lewis j 2 /"' '" i~ n f""\ r) City Council Special Sesslvn, December II, 2000 Traffic Task Force member Connie Clark presented the following recommendations for traffic calming measures in Hot Spot #2: 1. Go forward with permanent installation of a traffic circle on Cason at Belmont, based on data findings and citizen responses. The circle should be designed in accordance with engineering standards for traffic circles and installed with the street and infrastructure replacement for this area. A motion was made by Council Member Grubb, seconded by Council Member Bertini, to adopt the concept of recommendation No.1. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: Absent: Council Members Ballanfant, Bertini, Grubb and May None Mayor Lewis 2. Include crosswalk brick pavers on all approaches of WUP streets to Kirby, Holcombe and Buffalo Speedway. A motion was made by Council Member Grubb, seconded by Council Member Bertini, to approve recommendation No.2 A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: V oting Aye: Voting Nay: Absent: Council Members Ballanfant, Bertini, Grubb and May None Mayor Lewis 3. Request a preliminary design for an entrance-like 'gateway' for Brompton at Holcombe from a city architectural planner. 4. Continue to experiment with the 'splitter islands', possibly at Cason at Kirby. The City Council agreed that there should be further study on recommendations No.3 and 4. Chair of the Traffic Task Force Joe Studlick reported that the Task Force would like to form a team to address issues regarding the City's right-of-ways involving traffic and safety concerns. City Attorney Jim Dougherty would lead the team and the team would include one member from the Traffic Task Force, Zoning and Planning Commission and Police Department. The team would make recommendations to Council no later than February 15, 2001. 3 City Council Special SessIon, December II, 2000 A motion was made by Council Member Grubb, seconded by Council Member Bertini, to approve the recommendation to form a team as described by Mr. Studlick. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: Absent: Council Members Ballanfant, Bertini, Grubb and May None Mayor Lewis Mr. Studlick presented the following recommendations for Hot Spot No.5. 1. Hire a traffic engineer to investigate the feasibility, design, and cost of a series of islands or esplanades on Buffalo Speedway in Priority Area IlA (University north to Robinhood) and Priority Area liB (Robinhood north to Bissonnet). Both of these areas will be going out for bid in 2001. 2. Include pedestrian traffic signal heads and crosswalks as part of the planned lHOl Metro traffic signal upgrades at the 5 Buffalo Speedway major intersections. Council approved brick paver crosswalks at these intersections but crosswalks denoted by paint striping are needed until these are in place. 3. Eliminate parking on both sides of Buffalo Speedway, where parking is currently not eliminated at all times, on weekdays between 7 AM and 7 PM for a trial period of 90 days. These actions to begin once the new traffic signals are installed. 4. Improve all signage along Buffalo Speedway. Signs are old and faded and/or outdated and/or not optimally located. A motion was made by Council Member Grubb, seconded by Council Member May, to approve recommendations No.1, 2 and 4 for Hot Spot No.5. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: Absent: Council Members Ballanfant, Bertini, Grubb and May None Mayor Lewis The City Council recessed the Special Session at 7:30 p.m. The Special Session reconvened at 7:47 p.m. The City Council continued their discussion of Hot Spot No.5, recommendation No.3. ] 4 City Council Special Sesslvn, December 11,2000 A motion was made by Council Member Bertini, seconded by Council Member Ballanfant to accept recommendation No.3 eliminating parking on both sides of Buffalo Speedway between the hours of 7 AM and 7 PM for a trial period of 90 days. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: Absent: Council Members Ballanfant and Bertini Council Member May Mayor Lewis and Council Member Grubb The motion passed. Town Center improvements. Matters related to a report on town center improvements. City Manager Sherman YehI addressed the town center improvements and whether the city should proceed with the regular infrastructure improvements on University Boulevard between Auden and Edloe and on Edloe from University to Rice. Mr. Yehl stated that the infrastructure improvements would not effect the STEP application in fact representatives from the Texas Department of Transportation suggested that the city proceed with the improvements and come back with the enhancements at a later date. Mr. YehI suggested that the City would be better off by taking the summer of 2001 and improving the streets at that time. This would require conceptual design work that will allow enhancements into the streets once they are completed. During the summer, the contractor would be required to work 7 days a week in order to complete the work. In addition, the current code requirement would need to be modified to allow construction work during additional hours particularly on Sundays. This would also add approximately 20-25% premium to the cost of this project. Council Member Ballanfant inquired about the cost of the project. Consulting Engineer Dieter Ufer reported that the estimated cost of the project IS $1,528,000. Twenty to twenty-five percent would be added to that estimate. Council Member Grubb suggested an incentive program for finishing early instead of . . paymg a premmm. Council Member Bertini suggested that the City could save money by breaking the project up and completing one street this summer and another street the next summer. The City Council agreed to begin with Edloe Street in 200 I and University in 2002. 5 City Council Special SesslVn, December II, 2000 Recruiting and hiring activity in the Police Department. Matters related to a report on recruiting and hiring activity in the Police Department. Police Chief Kevin Begley reported that on January 1, 2000, the WUPD had four police officer vacancies. One of these vacancies was the result of an employee leaving prior to the arrival of the new Chief of Police in mid-November, and three were the result of an increase in authorized strength provided by the City Council. During this year, there have been three recruiting/hiring processes that have resulted in the hiring of five new police officers. As of this date, one position remains in the process of being filled. The WUPD has very high standards, all of which all of the successful candidates to date possess. The experiences of this department during this year mirror those of other departments throughout the country. Recruiting and training qualified persons to be police officers in increasingly difficult. It is not uncommon for five or fewer persons to be hired for every one hundred applications received. Candidates are eliminated for a variety of reasons ranging from a failure to possess the minimum qualifications, to unacceptable prior personal or professional histories, medical reasons, or simply choosing to accept an offer from another agency. The Police Department is actively working to fill the remaining vacancy as soon as possible with current, qualified applicants. It is hoped that 2001 will find the Department fully staffed and that it will remain so. A motion was made by Council Member Grubb, seconded by Council Member Bertini, to accept Chief Begley's report and requested a follow-up report in January. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: Absent: Council Members Ballanfant, Bertini, Grubb and May None Mayor Lewis Reclassification of position in the Police Department. Matters related to the reorganization of the Police Department by adding the position of Captain. Chief Begley reported that in its current configuration, the Police Department has a Chief of Police and four Police Lieutenants as its command staff. One Lieutenant is designated as the "Administrative Lieutenant" and works in the office of the Chief of Police. Each of the remaining three Lieutenants commands a Patrol Division shift. It is proposed to create the position of Captain and eliminate the "Administrative Lieutenant" position. The functions performed by the "Administrative Lieutenant" are substantively different than those performed by the other Lieutenant positions. Those functions are almost completely administrative in nature and involve a significant amount of strategic 6 City Council Special SesslVn, December II, 2000 planning, budgetary work, and accreditation work in addition to supervisory responsibilities. The person in that position is in charge of all police operations in the absence of the Chief of Police and represents the Chief in numerous situations. That position is also responsible for the oversight of internal investigations. During the time when the Chief is absent, the three Lieutenants report to that position. The proposed reorganization would more closely align rank with duties and responsibilities, appropriately compensate for duties performed, make the organization more organizationally efficient, and would be the next step in the on-going long-term reorganization of the Police Department. Funds are available in the 200 I budget to provide for this reorganization with no impact on the budget. Currently, the top salary paid to any Lieutenant is $58,774. In order to ensure the availability of funds to pay for necessary overtime accrued during the year, 10% of each non-exempt employee's salary is included in the budget. In the case of the Lieutenants, that amount is $5,877, meaning that there is a total of $64,651 provided for the salary of each Lieutenant. The approved salary range for a Police Captain is $61,544 to $67,698. The Captain is an appointed, exempt position; thus there is no overtime accrued by this position. A motion was made by Council Member Bertini, seconded by Council Member May, to approve the police reorganization as presented by Chief Begley. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: Absent: Council Members Ballanfant, Bertini, Grubb and May None Mayor Lewis Sidewalk policy. Matters related to the city's sidewalk policy. Mr. Yehl presented an initial sidewalk priority area program, time schedule and preliminary construction package. Very detailed plans for each block of sidewalks would be prepared that would allow residents to comment and make changes before the work begins. The City Council addressed the process for allowing variances for unusual situations. Council Member May expressed concerns about damaging trees. J Council Member Bertini stated that his concern was for the safety of the citizenry before that of a tree. 7 City Council Special SesslVn, December II, 2000 A motion was made by Council Member Grubb, seconded by Council Member Bertini, to accept the sidewalk program priority areas and timetable as presented by the city staff and at this time, any variances would be heard by the City Council. A vote was taken on the motion with the following result: Voting Aye: Voting Nay: Absent: Council Members Ballanfant, Bertini, Grubb and May None Mayor Lewis The City Council requested the staff to present a policy statement with general procedures and a time schedule for the other packages at the next meeting. Mr. Yehl inquired as to whether the city should require new home construction to continue to build sidewalks. The City Council suggested a split in the cost of sidewalks for new home construction with the City sharing that cost. The City Council requested staff to present a proposal for sidewalks for new home construction. Report from Board or Commission Liaisons. The City Council reported on Board or Commission meetings attended by the liaisons. Council Member Bertini reported that the Recycling and Solid Waste Reduction Board is in the process of passing out recycling bins with very good response from the homeowners. Seniors can get bins with wheels and covers. Council Member Ballanfant reported that the Parks and Recreation Board are preparing their plans for Colonial Park. Adjournment. With no further business to come before the City Council at this time, a motion was made by Council Member Bertini, seconded by Council Member May, to adjourn. The Special Session adjourned at 9:45 p.m. 8 ^^^i"\nr.