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HomeMy WebLinkAbout111708R CC Min0 (WON The City of West University Place A Neighborhood City CITY COUNCIL Bob Kelly, Mayor Bob Fry, Councilmember Phyllis Cohen, Councilmember Chuck Guffey, Councilmember Michael Talianchich, Councilmember STAFF Michael Ross, City Manager Alan Petrov, City Attorney Thelma Lenz, City Secretary CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES City Council of the City of West University Place, Texas, met in regular session Monday, November 17, 2008, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University Boulevard, West University Place, Texas, beginning at 5:30 p.m. to consider the following: MAYOR KELLY CALLED THE SPECIAL MEETING TO ORDER AT 5:32 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS Those also present: Mayor Pro Tern Fry, Councilmembers Talianchich, and Guffey, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, Associate Attorney Joshua W. Golden (Johnson, Ratcliff, Petrov, and Bobbitt), Assistant City Manager/Public Works Director Pfeifer, Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor, Wendy Standorf, Human Resources Manager, and Police Chief Walker. Councilmember Phyllis Cohen and City Attorney Alan Petrov were absent. 1. City Employee Wellness Program Matters related to the Wellness Program for employees. Human Resources Manager Wendy Standorf explained that the City implemented a wellness She said in December the City will be offering that participate with $25 gift cards. presented a summary of the program. She program with Practiva Healthcare in April 2008. biometric screenings and rewarding employees Ms. Standorf stated that as we progress into the 2009-2010 insurance year, employees who are participating in the wellness program might get a better rate on health insurance than those that are not. She then demonstrated how the program works by logging onto the Practiva Healthcare website and walking through the process. The process includes answering questions that could help pinpoint possible health issues, tips and suggestions on how to minimize certain health risks, and it allows employees participating in the program to track their wellness points each month. Ms. Standorf noted that in accordance with HIPPA regulations, the information is confidential and the City does not receive any private health information. She said the City just knows who is participating and how much they are participating in the program. Council asked Ms. Standorf to find some benchmark cities that are doing this type program and find out their participation and success rates and what they do to get employees involved. 2. Recognition of Ms. Betty Aillet Recognition of Ms. Betty Aillet for her dedication and service to the Seniors Board for over 10 years. City Council Meeting, November 17, 2008 Mr. John Neighbors, on behalf of the Seniors Board, gave a few remarks about Ms. Aillet's service to the community and the Senior Services Board. Mayor Kelly recognized Ms. Aillet for her service and dedication by proclaiming November 17, 2008 as Betty Aillet Day in West University Place and presenting her with a watch on behalf of the City. Ms. Aillet thanked everyone and said she is sure that she got more out of it than she gave and said she'll be back every once in a while. Councilmember Guffey moved to adjourn the special meeting at 5:57 p.m. Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Talianchich, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: Cohen Special Meeting adjourned. MAYOR KELLY CALLED THE REGULAR MEETING TO ORDER AT 6:32 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS Pledge of Allegiance - Led by Boy Scout Troop #55 Pledge to the Texas Flag - Led by Boy Scout Troop #55 Notice. City Secretary Lenz confirmed the notice of this meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, on the 14th of November 2008 at 2:00 p.m. 3. Public Comments This is an opportunity for citizens to speak to Council relating to agenda or non-agenda items. Speakers are required to address Council at the microphone and give their name and address before addressing their concerns. [Note: State law will not permit the City Council to fully discuss, debate, or consider items that are not on the agenda. Items that cannot be referred to the City Staff for action may be placed on the agenda of a future City Council meeting.] Helen Talianchich, 2708 Werlein, came forward to say that as we move forward with planning for the facilities she requests that the planning meetings be scheduled in the evenings and that there be a mail-out to residents to inform them of the times and places of the meetings. Jan McNeill, 2807 Plumb, spoke to say that she is very interested in the process that West U will use in the finalization of details for the recreational facilities. As a frequent lap swimmer, she said she is interested in the detail of the pool design and structure. She said there are quite a few users of the pool - recreational swimmers, young children, older population, lessons, swim teams, lap swimmers, etc., so she hopes that residents will have a chance in this process to give input to make sure the details are maximized to meet the needs of all the population. 4. Recreational Facilities Matters related to the redevelopment of the City's Recreational Facilities. Mayor Kelly said he spoke to Parks Board members and staff about what form this should take as we move forward. He explained that as a rule, usually Council does not get involved in Page 2 of 6 City Council Meeting, November 17, 2008 details itself during a planning process such as this and thinks that planning and details should fall under the Parks Board. Mayor Kelly then recommended that Mayor Pro Tem Bob Fry be Council liaison to the Parks Board during this process because his experience goes back to the acquisition of the bond property and he was involved with the different studies that were done along the way. Mayor Pro Tem Fry said he agrees that putting this in the hands of the Parks Board is a good idea. Councilmember Talianchich said he agrees with the Parks Board running the project, but he would like to see some Council Workshops with the Parks Board. He said Council was elected by the people as their representatives so he doesn't think they should leave it totally up to the Parks Board. He said monthly Council meetings with the Parks Board would be a good idea. Mayor Kelly said anyone on Council can go to the Parks Board meetings, but only the Council liaison will be tagged with the responsibility of reporting the outcome of Parks Board meetings. He said if the liaison feels that a workshop with Council is necessary, he will bring it to Council's attention. After some discussion as to how to notify residents of the meetings, City Manager Ross said that residents can log onto our website to sign up for meeting notifications. He said we want to communicate with the residents, which is why we encourage them to sign up for meeting notices. Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor suggested that Council consider retaining John Neighbors from the Seniors Board to be a part of the Parks Board during this process. Mayor Kelly said he thinks John would be an asset to the Board, but doesn't know where adding people would stop. He said every organization or committee would probably want a representative on the Board. He said Mr. Neighbors is welcomed, as is everyone else, to attend the meetings. He just won't have a vote. City Manager Ross stated there is thought that there will be specific agenda item or portions of these meetings to specifically listen to the Seniors Services Board input, especially when discussing the development and improvements to the senior's center. Mr. Neighbors spoke to say he agrees with the Mayor, but would like the Senior Services Board to have initial input whether formal or informal. Helen Talianchich spoke regarding notifying residents of meetings. She suggested that there be one initial mail-out that would explain to people how to register to receive email notices. Talianchich asked about the Leisure Guide that is mailed to residents and Parks and Recreation Director O'Connor stated that the next issue won't go out until March, which would be too late. City Manager Ross stated the Winter issue of City Currents will be distributed soon and we will include the notice about how to participate, what you need to do to get involved, how to register for meeting notices, etc. Regarding the facilities, Mayor Kelly said the plan is to fine tune the facilities and not have any major additions or subtractions thereto. He said to do so would shortchange the voters so we want to stay within the guidelines of what the voters voted on. Page 3 of 6 City Council Meeting, November 17, 2008 Mayor Kelly moved to appoint Mayor Pro Tern Fry as liaison to the Parks Board for purposes of coordinating with Council and the Parks Board during the planning process for the recreation and parks redevelopment process. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Talianchich, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: Cohen 5. Streetlights Matters related to streetlights including planning, cost, implementation and approval of a Phase 2 project to complete the city-wide installation. City Manager Ross presented. He stated that in May 2008 the City completed Phase I of the program, which installed 642 new decorative street light fixtures on the City's main thoroughfares. He said the plan for Phase II will be to install approximately 960 more new decorative street lights on the remaining streets. CenterPoint has provided a cost estimate in the amount of $1,402,168.00 to complete Phase II. We are responsible for tree trimming before and after the installation of the lights for clearance and we are also responsible for removing any of the constructions for the light installations, so a slight contingency has been included for a total approval request of $1,450,000.00." City Manger Ross said staff recommends that City Council appropriate an additional $250,000 for Phase II funding from the Council's Capital Reserve, approve Phase II street lighting project as presented for $1,402,168.00, and to authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with CenterPoint Energy to install Phase II of the Street Light Improvement Program. Councilmember Guffey asked where the funds are coming from. City Manager explained that the total amount is in the Capital Fund Budget, but staff is asking for an additional $250,000 due to the increase from CenterPoint based on an increase in raw materials. Councilmember Talianchich said he remembers a year ago that the total cost was $1.8 million for Phase I and Phase ll, but now we are well over $2,000,000. City Manager Ross said the total cost now is $2,250,000. Mayor Kelly said it was his recollection that it was always thought that it would be about $1,400,000 to complete the project. City Manager Ross said then it was about 1,500 lights, but now it will be about 1,600, which is the main reason for the increase, in addition to the cost increase from CenterPoint for the raw materials. City Manager stated that the project should be complete by May 2009 Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to approve the recommendations made by City Manager Ross. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. Councilmember Talianchich said he thinks it is a waste of money. The lights we have right now shed a lot more light than what we put in and he thinks we should stop at what we have. Councilmember Guffey said he disagrees because the old lights on his block were all in the trees and now with the new lights at street level it's a big improvement. Mayor Kelly stated that he would be against this if it were being done for aesthetic reasons only, but he believes it will make the City a better and safer place to be at night and early in the mornings. Page 4 of 6 City Council Meeting, November 17, 2008 Councilmember Talianchich said it seems that there is more light because there are twice as many lights, so we could have had the existing lights doubled and accomplished the same thing. With no further discussion, a vote was made on the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, and Guffey Noes: Talianchich Absent: Cohen 6. Consent Agenda All Consent Agenda items listed are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Council member requests in which event the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda. A. City Council Minutes Approve City Council meeting minutes of November 10, 2008. B. Personnel Handbook Matters related to the new Personnel Handbook for the employees of the City of West University Place. C. Ordinance Canvassing Returns of Bond Election Matters related to the first and final reading of an ordinance declaring results of the Bond Election held on November 4, 2008; and containing findings and provisions related to the subject. Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Talianchich, and Guffey Noes: None Absent: Cohen 7. Geriatric Nurse Program Update Matters related to the proposed Geriatric Nurse program. Co-Chair of the Seniors Services Board John Neighbors came forward to provide Council with an update on the proposed program. He said there was a meeting which included Stan McCandless, Councilmember Guffey, Seniors Services Manager Toby Brooks, and two doctors from the University of Texas Health Science Center to discuss how the program might work. The report was made to the Seniors Board and the topic to consider the entire project was added to the Seniors Board meeting agenda of last Thursday. Mr. Neighbors said after a lot of discussion, it was the consensus of the Seniors Board that more information and background is necessary, which they are in the process of obtaining before making a recommendation to Council. He outlined the information they are working on obtaining, which includes the verification of the role of West U Senior Services, any other possible administrative work that might be necessary elsewhere in the City, potential cost of operating the program through a variety of internal and external sources, and researching what other cities are doing. Page 5 of 6 City Council Meeting, November 17, 2008 Mr. Neighbors said the Senior Services Board should be able to have the information, review it, and reach a decision at their meeting in December and have a final recommendation to Council in January. City Manager Ross suggested that Council have a workshop to discuss the matter with the City Attorney regarding potential issues with the program and ask the Senior Services to pause before putting too much in gathering data in case Council decides not to move forward after meeting with legal counsel. Councilmember Talianchich stated that he thinks we are taking this too seriously. He suggested a pilot program for 6 months to see what happens. City Manager Ross said staff feels that it is prudent to have the session with legal counsel. Councilmember Talianchich said we have volunteers doing the work now. City Manager Ross said yes, and that leaves the City with little or no liability, which would change if it becomes a position that reports to a staff member. He said staff just wants to be sure that Council moves forward fully informed. 8. Executive Session (if necessary) Council reserves the right to at any time during the session convene in a closed session pursuant to Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, for reasons including but not limited to: Section 551.071 (consultation with legal counsel to seek or receive legal advice or consultation regarding pending or contemplated litigation); Section 551.072 (discussion about the value or transfer of real property and other real estate matters; Section 551.074 (personnel matters); 551.076 (deliberation about security devices); Section 551.087 (deliberation regarding economic development). 9. Convene into Open Session Not applicable as there was no closed session. 10. Adjournment In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you plan to attend this public meeting and you have a disability that requires special arrangements, please contact City Secretary Thelma Lenz at 713.662.5813 at least 24 hours prior to the meeting so that reasonable accommodations can be made to assist in your participation in the meeting. The Municipal Building is wheel chair accessible from the west entrance and specially marked parking spaces are available in the southwest parking area. Special seating will be provided in the Council Chambers. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to adjourn the regular session at 7:18 p.m. Councilmember Talianchich seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, None Fry, Talianchich, and Guffey Noes: X01 L Absent: Cohe Prepared by: ftft Thelma A. Lenz, City Secretary 0' Date Approved: o4 o I Page 6 of 6