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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2006-04-03 Regular 4/3/06 2459 STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( APRIL 03, 2006 )( MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON MONDAY, APRIL 03, 2006, AT 4:00 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR KIMBALL BRIZENDINE MAYOR PRO-TEM DAVID SMITH COUNCILMEMBER LAURA EWING (arr. 4:08 PM) COUNCILMEMBER JOHN LECOUR COUNCILMEMBER TRACY GOZA COUNCILMEMBER CHRIS PEDEN COUNCILMEMBER MEL MEASELES CITY ATTORNEY JOHN OLSON CITY MANAGER RON COX CITY SECRETARY DELORIS MCKENZIE Mayor Brizendine called the meeting to order. 4:00 PM —SPECIAL SESSION Discussion was held with the Library Board regarding the Library expansion plan and timeline. Library Board Chairman Steve Huffman introduced Library members in the audience, gave a presentation regarding the proposed library expansion, introduced Steve Lucchesi of Hall, Barnum, & Lucchesi Architects, who has worked on this project since 1992, reviewed original master plans and three different options. Chairman Steve Huffman presented a revised timeline, January 2007 architectural plans and bid start date, August 2007 architectural plans and bid finish date, November 2007 begin construction, November 2008 construction complete, Council suggested Staff support in gathering information regarding drainage for this expansion, had questions regarding acquisition of commercial property that is on FM 518, asked the Library Board to look at expansion to the west taking in some of the parking lot for the expansion, schedule for the next work session, there is an economic benefit by increasing the Library capacity, would draw more people into the City, cost to take the proposed purchase of property off the tax roll, questions regarding where the projected cost per square foot will come from with the architect stating it came from contractors that have built libraries, and stated cost estimates could increase as much as 30% if not building by November. Discussion was held regarding the review of proposals from search firms for City Manager. City Manager reported that 3 Request for Proposals (RFP's) were received and gave a history on all three firms: Waters-Oldani Consulting Group, Inc., Slavin Management Consultants, Inc., and The Mercer Group, Inc., the fee proposals range between $18 and $22 thousand dollars plus travel cost, the City has experience with the Waters Group, Chris Hartung who brought former City Manager Annette Brand, current City Manager Ron Cox, and assisted with the search for Police Chief. City Manager did not give recommendation, asked Director of Human Resources Bill Bender for recommendation, who stated all proposals met the qualifications, Waters is the most active in this area, Mayor Brizendine stated it seemed that Waters Group met the qualifications requested, would want a guarantee that they would not recruit Friendswood employees for two years, see if Waters would add that wording to proposal, asked negotiating the amount possible, consider change proposal by taking best of three, clause will not exceed in all three proposals, possibly narrow list to two candidates to interview, Council is not ready to narrow down yet, have side by side comparison, invite candidates for a quick presentation to Council, ask whomever would be working with the City to come to interview, suggested bringing in the Texas group (Waters-Oldani)to meet and provide Council education on the process, majority of Council concurred with that process. 4/3/06 2460 Discussion was held regarding Mary's Creek Bridge. City Manager Ron Cox reviewed previous questions from Council. Dan Johnson, Director of Community Development, presented info on if the bridge is rebuilt, determine the City's obligation for operation and maintenance - the City has had the obligation to maintain and repair the bridge through the regular Public Works Budget. Additional funding for the continued operation and maintenance would be minimal. Staff has previously provided estimates of costs associated with the full replacement and with bringing the bridge up to the standard necessary to open it up to vehicular traffic. These costs ranged from the full replacement estimate of$329,000, to the repair estimate of $32,000 - to prepare the bridge fully for pedestrian traffic only is now estimated at less than $10,000, with $6,400 of that for the asphalt approaches to be redone for walkways only, consider parking implications near the bridge for people who might park there to walk across the bridge and enjoy walking in the Imperial Estates Section I, where the buyout occurred, it is the opinion of Staff that parking on the Imperial Estates Section II section of the bridge would be minimal if opened for pedestrian traffic only; it is likely only from those living in the neighborhood itself. There is ample parking on the Imperial Estates Section I side of the bridge, any improvements that may be made to the buyout properties for park purposes would likely include a parking lot for the traffic at that location, confirm structural integrity of the bridge based on opinions of TxDOT for vehicular traffic, Staff has not contracted for this work, has determined that a structural engineer needs to make this determination would cost approximately $2,000, Staff is of the opinion the TxDOT information is sufficient and requests Council to confirm that this needs additional costs for verification, determine if any modifications can be done as a pedestrian bridge to remove any flood restricting features without hurting its structural integrity, Staff has also not contracted for this work, has determined that a structural engineer should make this determination, would be included in the $2,000 cost above, Staff is of the opinion that the TxDOT information is sufficient and requests Council to confirm that this needs additional costs for verification. Following the March 6 meeting, Councilmember Peden inquired about the costs of constructing a new pedestrian bridge out of the floodway; Staff has determined that the costs could range from $100,000 to over $200,000, depending on the type of bridge, the width, and the length. Community Development Director Dan Johnson presented information that had been presented previously, discussed having a structural engineer look at the bridge for a pedestrian bridge including the hand railing, look at flood issues, is a tributary to Clear Creek, TxDOT looked at the bridge for a load analysis for vehicle usage, Homeowners Association (HOA) participation in the cost of landscaping on Imperial Estates Section II side, historical aspect of the bridge is important to the City, Council recommended considering turning the bridge over to the HOA, asked what the involvement by Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District is, none at this time, directed Staff to gather additional information from HOA, agreed to remove option 2, 3 and 5, important to remember that this is a low water crossing bridge. 6:00 PM —CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION Council convened into Executive Session in accordance with the Texas Government Code, pursuant to Section 551.072— Deliberation regarding Real Property. Council convened into Regular Session at 7:00 pm with action taken later in the meeting. RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION 7:00 PM — REGULAR SESSION The invocation was given by Pastor Rick Austin with Friendswood Baptist Church. Mayor Brizendine led the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas. SPECIAL RECOGNITION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mayor Brizendine presented a Proclamation recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. Councilmember Goza presented a Proclamation to Marjorie Hoffman for her service on the Prevent Child Abuse Board, and presented Ms. Hoffman with a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses. Chief of Police Cook 4/3/06 2461 from Santa Fe and State Representative Larry Taylor were in attendance. State Representative Larry Taylor stated Ms. Hoffman should be honored for her lifetime service serving others her whole life. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Kathy Harmon, 408 S. Shadowbend, addressed Council and stated she has lived in Friendswood since 1979, addressed Mary's Creek Bridge, stated there is a benefit to keeping the bridge open, the bridge is used by many including Friendswood Independent School District, residents of convalescent and nursing homes, bikers, walkers, joggers, fishers, deeding it over to HOA would result in an increase of Homeowners Association dues including property owner City of Friendswood, there is a lot of historical value to the bridge, hopes Council considers the homeowners' point of view and does not take the bridge out completely. Dickie Arndt, 30 Wilderness Trail, addressed Council and spoke against the proposal to place the Brittany Bay Boulevard Extension on the ballot, thanked Community Development Director Dan Johnson for allowing him to sit in on a meeting with TxDOT, learned a lot, TxDOT is looking for a closure report, will not accept land that has pollution on it. Cindy Bohannon, 2102 McKissick Drive, addressed Council and spoke regarding placing the Brittany Bay Boulevard Extension on the ballot, believes this leaves it open to uninformed opinions, stated it is difficult to get information to the entire population. David Sanborn, 21 Wilderness Trail, addressed Council and stated he is a part of Citizens Against Red Route, is opposed to a non-binding referendum on the ballot on Brittany Bay, thinks Council has enough information to take action, if Council needs to take it to the voters, let the voters initiate it and let it be binding, Mary's Creek bridge use as jogging. Dan Illerich, 2876 Love Lane in Windsor Estates, addressed Council and spoke to defend the City's program of taxing, stated cutting taxes has been the main subject of the last three elections, current signage, "Cut Taxes, let us show them how," does not think he pays too much taxes, did research and found information that founded this opinion, stated it is a privilege living here, taxes are not the problem, need taxes to fund Vision 2020, asked who "them" is, and how taxes could be reduced - by cutting services, throw out a challenge to the reporters to ask hard questions of the candidates, "how" has not been seen and wants to see, the City is on a good fiscal basis, watched over the past 22 years attending meetings, cutting services concerns him, asked what they are going to do to cut taxes, saw some unwarranted statements by candidates, efficiency in government, departments more user friendly, who are they speaking of, the Special Council Meeting last Monday was close to violating the Open Meetings Act, the City is awash in tax income statement, challenged the Mayoral candidates to please address these subjects. Make public in your campaign statements. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL REPORTS Fourth of July Steering Committee Chairman Corey Kirkland gave the annual report. Had the 111tn annual Fourth of July celebration, with a parade, bands, and over 50 booth activities at Stevenson Park, evening at Centennial Park, band Rotel and the Hot Tomatoes, fire works, and an evening program from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The use of shuttles is required. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT City Manager Ron Cox reported on the Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities Meeting held on March 21. The Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities is a consortium of cities that united several years ago to work together on electric and other utility rate regulation issues. Since then, the coalition has worked to save customers of the various utilities millions of dollars with settlements much less than the original rate requests of the various utilities. The retail side of the electric industry in Texas is unregulated. However the delivery side, the poles and wires, commonly called transmission and distribution (T&D) continues to be regulated by the 4/3/06 2462 cities and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). City costs associated with these type rate cases are reimbursed by the utility company, and then distributed throughout the customer base in the adopted rates. Recently, the Coalition has worked together to secure a negotiated settlement with Texas-New Mexico Power Company. Council took action on that settlement a few months ago. More recently, the Coalition has been reviewing rates of CenterPoint Energy. These discussions have been pending the filing of a rate case to determine if CenterPoint is over-earning, and whether a rate case should be initiated to reduce the T&D rates. The attorneys for the coalition are continuing to review the situation and negotiate with the company. Should a rate case need to be filed, a resolution will be forthcoming on the Council agenda to authorize this City's participation. City Manager Ron Cox reported on the Candidate Orientation held March 27. City Council candidates met with staff for the annual Candidate Orientation. This meeting was to provide the candidates with a base of information about the city, including election laws and procedures, provisions of the Charter that are relevant to the candidate, a basic overview of the Rules of Procedure and the Code of Ethics. All candidates who have not served as elected officials were present, and one incumbent candidate was present. City Manager Ron Cox reported on the Media Training held on March 30, and stated it was a very beneficial training session for Council and Staff. This training was specifically for dealing with the media. Approximately 55 people were in attendance. The City Manager's Office appreciates the time the Council and Staff took to attend this important training session. ACTION ITEMS **Councilmember Goza moved to approve action regarding concurrence with the Mayor's appointment to fill vacancies on the Community and Economic Development Committee with Bill Provenzano for a term expiring July 2006, Pauline Moore for a term expiring July 2007, and Dr. Hilmar R. Zeissig for a term expiring July 2006. Seconded by Councilmember Peden. The motion was approved unanimously. **Councilmember Measeles moved to approve amending the City's FY2005-06 Budget to transfer funds in the amount of$5,000 from the Mayor& Council Budget to the Senior Citizen Program for the purpose of purchasing tables and chairs; appropriate funds from the Reserve fund in the amount of $5,000 to supplement the Senior Citizen Program budget for their activities. Seconded by Councilmember Smith. ***Councilmember Peden moved to amend the main motion to transfer$10,000 from the Reserve fund for the Senior Citizen program. Seconded by Mayor Brizendine. The motion was approved 4-3 with Councilmembers LeCour, Smith and Measeles opposed. ****The Main motion was approved as amended. RESOLUTIONS **Councilmember Goza moved to approve Resolution R2006-07, A resolution of the City Council of the City of Friendswood, Texas, opposing use by the Texas Municipal League of general membership dues to finance the promotion or opposition of state legislation; requesting that the Texas Municipal League be reorganized to separate administrative and educational functions from legislative lobbying functions; and providing other matters related to the subject. Seconded by Councilmember Peden. The motion was approved 6-1 with Councilmember Measeles opposed. 4/3/06 2463 **Councilmember Smith moved to approve Resolution R2006-09, A resolution of the City Council of the City of Friendswood, Texas, a resolution of the City Council of the City Of Friendswood, Texas, adopting the Hart InterCivic, Inc. (Direct Electronic Voting System (DRE)) E-Slate Voting System, in accordance with the HAVA (Help America Vote Act) Bill, to be used in conjunction with E-Scan Paper Ballots. Seconded by Councilmember Measeles. The motion was approved 6-0 with Councilmember Ewing out. **Councilmember Peden moved to approve Resolution R2006-10, A resolution amending City of Friendswood, Texas, Resolution No. R2006-04, passed and approved the 20th day of February 2006, and being a resolution providing for the holding of General and Special Officers Elections for the City on the 13th day of May 2006, by adding thereto a new Section 5.5; providing for the concurrent holding of a Special Non-Binding Referendum Election on a proposition regarding the extension of Brittany Bay Boulevard. Motion failed for lack of a second. ORDINANCES **Councilmember Measeles moved to approve Ordinance T2006-02 - An Ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances of the City of Friendswood, Texas, by adding to Article IV of Chapter 2 thereof a new Section 2-158; providing it unlawful for any person holding an elected office or an appointive office for a term, to represent to another that a position on a matter has been adopted by a Council, Board, or Commission upon which such person sits unless such position has been formally adopted by act of the Council, Board, or Commission; providing that City employees, and appointive City officials not appointed for defined terms of office, shall be prohibited from using their titles or status as City employees or City officials to promote or oppose City policies or procedures, or pending City elections; providing exceptions; providing a penalty of an amount not to exceed $500.00 for violations by elected office holders or holders of appointive offices for terms; and providing for severability. Seconded by Councilmember Smith. ***Councilmember Ewing moved to amend the motion on the floor to approve Ordinance T2006-02 as amended and approved at the March 20 meeting. Seconded by Councilmember Smith. The motion to amend was approved unanimously. ****The main motion was approved as amended. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS Councilmember Measeles reported on the upcoming Friendswood Historical Society Annual Meeting and all are invited to attend at 6:30 PM, attended Media Training and was well done, the speaker at the TML Region 14 was Bill King, former Mayor of Kemah, who spoke on the Governor Task Force on evacuation. Councilmember Peden reported he was surprised that his motion for the concurrent holding of a Special Non-Binding Referendum Election on a proposition regarding the extension of Brittany Bay Boulevard did not get a second motion, stated this meant at least 3 candidates did not trust the voters to make the decision, believes the City should not build the road, feels like the candidates feel it should not be on the ballot. Councilmember Smith responded to Councilmember Peden, stating, "Your opinion about what my thoughts would be do not always coincide, so we cannot jump to the conclusion that that is what I would think." Congratulated Seniors on the spaghetti dinner, was well done, attended Little League opener, congratulated Community Services Director Jon Branson and Recreation Coordinator James Toney, urged support for Relay for Life, Rotary tickets for their annual scholarship program are sold out, and one more Knights of Columbus fish fry this Friday. Councilmember Goza stated he had no report. Councilmember LeCour stated he had no report. 4/3/06 2464 Councilmember Ewing reported on the upcoming April 4 Senior Fish at Centennial Park, Spring Sparkle is April 22 at Old City Park, the Community Appearance Board will be replanting in the medians, 4th of July Parade, a very special group will be the Honorary Parade Marshals, honoring Worid War il veterans, the Relay for Life team is named "Fiji," representing the little country/island of Fiji, stated her vote on the Resolution was not because she is running for office and not because she doubts the knowledge and expertise of the voters, but because she believes it takes a long time to get information to the voters, attended the Seniors spaghetti luncheon, candidate orientation and media training. Mayor Brizendine presented award from Hospice for participation and support raising awareness, stated they have an office on FM 528, stated these are special people, and stated they have posted an award from the City, the Dare Awards are this week, acknowledge Police Department involvement and thanked them for their participation. CONSENT AGENDA '`*Councilmember Smith moved to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of Item D - Invoke Rule 18 of the Rules of Procedure to change the dates of the meetings in May to May 1, 8, and 22, 2006. A. Award of Bid No. 2006-03 for Fire Hydrant Audit and Repair Program and authorize the Mayor to execute the contract. B. Approve Resolution R2006-08, A Resolution of the City of Friendswood, Texas, authorizing aerial spraying over Friendswood by the Galveston County Mosquito Control District for the County-Wide Mosquito Control Program. C. Authorize disposal of a City Vehicle at Public Auction. E. Approve Minutes of March 20, 2006 Meeting. Seconded by Councilmember Goza. The motion was approved unanimously. **"Councilmember Peden moved to amend the dates of Item D to May 1 and 22, 2006. Seconded by Councilmember Goza. The motion to amend was approved unanimously. A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 8:26 PM. � � � GI/ � Mayor Kimball W. Brizen ine Attest: F R�E,y � � 4�� ���� � t � � Deloris McKenzie, TRMC � � City Secretary * * ,.�. � �,y �'q��, 4. �..,� .�A��.�