The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCC Minutes 2005-03-07 Regular 03/07/05 2286 STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( MARCH 7, 2005 )( MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON MONDAY, MARCH 07, 2005 AT 6:00 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD,TEXAS,WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR PRO-TEM JERRY ERICSSON COUNCILMEMBER LAURA EWING COUNCILMEMBER TRACY GOZA COUNCILMEMBER DAVID SMITH COUNCILMEMBER SHANNON KIMMEL COUNCILMEMBER MEL MEASELES CITY ATTORNEY JOHN OLSON CITY MANAGER RON COX CITY SECRETARY DELORIS MCKENZIE Mayor Brizendine was absent from the meeting. 6:00 PM—CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION Council convened into Executive Session in accordance with the Texas Government Code,pursuantto Section 551.071 - Consultation with Attorney concerning pending or contemplated litigation; a settlement offer; or a matter in which the duty of the Attorney requires it. Council convened into Regular Session at 7:00 pm. RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION 7:00 PM—REGULAR SESSION Mayor Pro-Tem Jerry Ericsson announced that the Mayor was in the hospital with tests being run and asked everyone to keep him in their prayers. Mayor Pro-Tem led the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas. The invocation was given by Student Pastor Loren Jones from Friendswood Community Church. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Keith Meyers, 1303 Thomas Drive, addressed Council and stated he would like to wish the Mayor well and is speaking on behalf of the Friendswood Baseball League's field time at Renwick Park. There are sixteams and 60 players who are asking for six two-hour time slots, does not understand why there is a problem, does not know of a problem in the past, asked Council to allow play time for Friendswood Baseball League, has been awarded some time at Frankie Carter Randolph Park and asked Council to honor the agreement developed between user groups last week. 03/07/05 2287 Fred Krch, 209 Dawn, addressed Council regarding development of Lake Windemere, offered his services without any charge to help work on developing this lake project and suggested use of laser by Police Department. Cheryl Johnson, Galveston County Tax Assessor Collector, addressed Council and provided a copy of the presentation by the Harris County Tax Assessor Collector before the Legislature regarding the tax cap,asked Council to support the proposed Resolution before Council tonight,to allow this to be taken to the voters and requested that this Resolution, when adopted, be transmitted to the Legislature and to the House Ways and Means Committee. Aline Dickey,903 W.Viejo,addressed Council and stated she is requesting their support on the Resolution for tax cap and to forward copies to the appropriate legislatures and to talk with former Mayor Harold Whitaker regarding tax appraisals. Don Beeth, 5303 Whittier Oaks,address Council and stated he has been in Friendswood for 30 years,wished for the Mayor's speedy and complete recovery,spoke regarding tax cap, proposed that if anyone has anything to say they should say it,write it down, and post it on the City's website,then they would not have to rely upon rumor. The City's website should have a place to allow input by citizens and response, asked questions regarding City Manager Ron Cox traveling to Austin to speak before Legislature,some of the questions heard on the street, the City website has information that is outdated, information regarding finances is not readily available, if there were more transparencies in Friendswood government there would be less surprises, the Resolution is the right and proper action,would suggest that Council review the wording of the Resolution and cut out the fluff in the Resolution. Tom Goodwin, 1913 Lundy Lane, addressed Council and recapped Friendswood Little League's history in Friendswood and the spin off of the Friendswood Baseball League, recapped the issues of determining the use of the fields at Renwick Park, reported on the meeting that Council directed to be held to work out a compromise for allocation of field usage,the negotiations broke down,asked that the City handle the issue as has been done over the past 20 plus years, remain with the user group. Gene Roberts, 16902 Hidden Treasure Circle,addressed Council and stated he is the manager of a machine pitch team and stated he thinks Council is setting a dangerous precedent. Elliott Flaum,2846 Love Lane,addressed Council and stated he would like Council to reverse supportto allow Friendswood Baseball League use of Renwick Park. Friendswood Little League is a great organization, supposed to be fair and equitable to allow a place to practice. Friendswood Baseball League signed up kids without practice fields and told parents they had the fields. Joe Russo, 1211 Buttonwood, addressed Council and asked for their 100% support of Friendswood Little League, has three boys and his family plans to be in this community a long time, wants to see Friendswood Little League as strong as it can be. Mr. Russo stated that Council is here to look out for community as a whole. The reality is that Renwick fields are being used so do not pull back from support of policy now. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL REPORTS David O'Brien, Chair of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, provided the Zoning Board of Adjustment annual report and stated City Staff is doing an excellentjob in interpreting rules and regulations and thanked retiring Assistant City Secretary Linda Thornton for her years of service to the ZBOA and for a job well done. 03/07/05 2288 JOINT DOCKETED PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Pro-Tem Jerry Ericsson and Chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission Kevin Holland called a Joint Docketed Public Hearing to receive comments from the public,either oral or written, regarding a request for a Zone Classification change for 9.8718 acres located at 511 N. Friendswood Drive,from Community Shopping Center-Single Family Residential (CSC-SFR)to Planned Unit Development(PUD)with Specific Use Permit- Townhouses/Office (SP-Townhouses/Office). Brett Banfield, 901 Woodcrest, stated he is the owner of TGB Properties and developer of the property, presented a brief summary of proposed property, proposed two office tracts and townhomes thatwill be builtto the same standards as other Banfield buildings in Friendswood. Fred Krch,209 Dawn,stated he had no objections to apartments, concerned about fire safety of apartments, need for fire wall from floor to roof lines for each unit, need to protect, need to contain in each unit. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT City Manager Ron Cox reported that Staff continues to meet with a newly formed consortium of cities to develop a group for lower health insurance costs to the City. This group consists of the cities of Friendswood,Pearland, La Porte, Dickinson, Webster, and West University Place. Council authorized the City's participation in this process by interlocal agreement on January 17, 2005. To date, the group's consultant is now beginning to gather specific utilization data from each of the participating cities. From that, a request for bids will go out to insurance providers. This process will take several more months to complete. ACTION ITEMS **Councilmember Ericsson moved to approve to direct City Staff to implement the existing policy regarding designating field time that has been in place for a number of years and to review that policy to see if any revisions are needed for future use of Renwick Fields. Seconded by Councilmember Smith. The motion was approved 5-1 with Councilmember Kimmel opposed. RESOLUTION **Councilmember Ericsson moved to approve Resolution R2005-15—A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Friendswood,Texas,supporting Legislative efforts to bring increased accountability to the property tax system through reduced property tax appraisal caps and to amend verbiage regarding homestead exemption to one of the cities in the community. Seconded by Councilmember Measeles. **Motion to amend by Councilmember Kimmel to reduce property appraisal cap from 10%to 3% in Section Two of the proposed Resolution in support of the Government Legislative Program. Seconded by Councilmember Goza. The motion was approved 5-1 with Councilmember Ewing opposed. ***Main motion, as amended,was approved 6-0. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS No reports were received from Council. 03/07/05 2289 CONSENT AGENDA **Councilmember David moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. A. Authorize the Mayor to execute a Purchase Agreement for space in the Friendswood Lakes detention and drainage system for the new Public Safety Building. B. Report of Capital Projects. C.Approval of January,2005 Property Tax Report. D. Approve Minutes of February 7, 2005 Regular Meeting. Seconded by Councilmember Measeles. The motion was approved unanimously. A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 9:23 PM. C � �v, M yor Kimball W. Brizendine Attest: -, L � �O� FR�ENp��o Deloris McKenzie, TRMC � 0 City Secretary v o * * S�,qT� oF ��.�