HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2007-01-22 Special 01/22/07 2615
STATE OF TEXAS )(
CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )(
COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )(
JANUARY 22, 2007 )(
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON
MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 2007, AT 5:00 PM AND A REGULAR MEETING AT 7:00 PM AT
FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD,
TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM:
MAYOR DAVID SMITH
MAYOR PRO-TEM CHRIS PEDEN
COUNCILMEMBER LAURA EWING
COUNCILMEMBER JOHN LECOUR
COUNCILMEMBER JIM HILL
COUNCILMEMBER JAY HORECKY
COUNCILMEMBER MEL MEASELES
CITY ATTORNEY JOHN OLSON
CITY MANAGER BO MCDANIEL
CITY SECRETARY DELORIS MCKENZIE
Mayor Smith called the meeting to order.
5:00 PM —SPECIAL SESSION
Discussion was held regarding the tax appraisal appeal process. City Manager Bo McDaniel gave
opening remarks on Mayor Smith's request to review this process, did not find anything that allowed a
City to appeal unless it is a class of properties. City Attorney, John Olson stated there is a provision that
allows cities to challenge if a discrepancy is in ratios but not in individual appraisals, is a difficult one to
appeal. Mayor Smith stated does Council wish to have Staff continue to research and incur cost and
stated only 15% of homeowners protest their appraisals. This would impact taxing entities, taxing abilities
or funding, very limited access to information, the Council had questions regarding the ability or option of
City. Councilmember Peden stated if 85% are not complaining, possibly they are happy, not sure if the
City is the one to fix this problem, knows that other entities provide educational and information on how to
protest, not sure if this City is the one to fix it. Mayor Smith believes the Galveston Central Appraisal
District are not using proper appraisal tools for appraising property and has seen inconsistencies in
appraisals using Hunters Creek Subdivision as an example, believes that the City provides an avenue
that citizens can bring their concerns to this body. Councilmember Peden believes he has heard from
this body that this is a State or County responsibility, strikes him as odd that the City would pursue this.
Mayor Smith read Section 41.01 from the Appraisal Code, wonders if the City needs to be paying closer
attention to this subject. Councilmember Peden agrees with the Mayor Smith but struggles as to how to
do this. Mayor Smith stated there is accurate information that appraisers can use, can gain access to this
information through different organizations, and questioned is the intent behind this legislation for the
taxing entities to be a check and balance. City Manager Bo McDaniel stated Council has the opportunity
to contact local representatives if there is a deficiency in appraisal legislation, there are a number of ways
to determine a valid value, the issue is equalization. Councilmember Peden thinks Mayor Smith is right
on about bringing this to the forefront now prior to 2008 appraisals with the recent sale of commercial
property in the downtown area, some older businesses have older values applied and will see those
values jump in value due to the turnover in property sales, sold in high dollar values. Councilmember
LeCour spoke on methodology, would like to see a test case to see what conclusion to arrive at, a very
powerful tool is to empower and teach the property owners how to protest the appraisals, there is
inconsistency, would like to see Chief Appraiser of Galveston Central Appraisal District, Ken Wright,
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address some of these issues and the application of varying appraisals, have him to explain why, would
like to hear from some of the citizens that protesting did not get much relief and would like to get some
feedback as to how it was handled. City Manager Bo McDaniel stated not to be surprised if there is not a
dynamic move from the new property owners. Councilmember Peden knows of some property owners
that have abused the system and have been taken to court and found guilty, has protested every time the
appraisal went up on his last house. Mayor Smith stated it seems that land value went up but not the
improvement value, this is what he has a problem with and wants to get some insight on. Councilmember
Hill stated he could probably challenge on what the City will gain from this and does it do any good for
citizens. Mayor Smith stated he would like to know that as well, believes all of Friendswood vacant land
was based on Hunters Creek Subdivision, thinks as long as it is being done correctly there would be no
problem, if it is not being done correctly then this is what he wants investigated, give this to Staff to study
or could do this on his own on behalf of Council, will do some fact finding, need Council's guidance.
Councilmember Peden stated to beef up what has been done in past, educate the citizens of their rights,
Homeowners Association (HOA) liaisons get information into the HOA's hands for distribution, anything
we do at the State Comptroller level that would impact the School District, would want to know if it impacts
the City and others. Councilmember Ewing stated she would like to have Mayor Smith continue to
research, working with State Representative Larry Taylor may be able to help guide to some research.
Councilmember LeCour will get with Tax Collector to get training and do some Public Relations to get
information out including the City's television channel and would like to see a survey. Councilmember
Measeles stated since there is a statute to allow citizens to protest, would like to know if other cities have
done this, may not have to re-invent the wheel, worthwhile, need to look into both education of the
citizens and the Mayor. Council's consensus is for Mayor Smith and Councilmember LeCour to do some
homework and bring it back to Council.
Discussion was held regarding the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Update - Summary of CIP
Financial Report. City Manager Bo McDaniel stated they are following up on CIP discussions, summary
of financial report, look at debt, list of partial projects that can be completed now. Director of
Administrative Services Roger Roecker presented a summary spreadsheet of the General Government
Capital Projects Report that were included in the 2003 and 2005 Bond Elections, Proposition 1 facilities,
Proposition 2 Drainage, Proposition 3 Streets and Proposition 4 Parks and the status of the projects, the
Public Safety Building (PSB) is about 82% complete as of this date, touched on the sale of the property in
front of the PSB and when that happens, that would be another revenue source to consider, very close to
bidding Fire Station #4, two projects complete under Drainage, one project complete under Streets, Bond
proceeds for streets have been applied to Brittany Bay and Friendswood Link projects with the majority
going to Brittany Bay and then any overage from the bonds would be applied to the other street projects
identified, Centennial Park is shown as complete, proposition wording was included in the project,
presented for Council information and if there are any questions, forward them to the City Manager, next
focus will be during the budget process, not looking at other priorities, not looking at land sales, not
looking at interests from the bonds, look at bond overages and excess revenue policy, Brittany Bay is a
big project. A question and answer session from Council, if over or under on bond project, would want
clarification, update on why were some projects done before other projects that were higher on the bond
approval process, what department oversees projects, Council being asked questions as to why some
projects were handled first. Dan Johnson, City Consultant with Ryan Civil Engineering, stated the Capital
Projects Division was created two or three years ago, all under one department in the Community
Development Department (CDD), some roads and drainage projects are clearly Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDot) projects and some drainage was completed due to process of getting water out of
the homes and were relatively smaller in nature, PSB project was first tried as an "As Built" project which
did not work and stopped that process and regrouped. The question and answer session continued
regarding process of information gathering, trust and faith, schedule, drainage issues and regulatory
requirements. The question and answer session continued regarding Design Criteria Plan, can Council
consider changing 10% requirement for storm water detention for smaller lots and what effect would this
have on process of Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District (GCCDD) approving plans, may
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consider change and apply new rule to anyone after the date of the change to the plan, may consider
exempting small lots, what absolute threshold does Council want, discussed impact on Insurance
Services Office (ISO) rating, proposed a moratorium on ponds, set up a committee with GCCDD and
Council to come up with a plan.
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 no action taken later in the meeting.
RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION
7:00 PM — REGULAR SESSION
The invocation was given by Father Thomas Vellappallil with Mary Queen Catholic Church.
Mayor Smith led the Pledge of allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Lieutenant Commander Joe Leonard, US Coast Guard received a proclamation supporting the "Our
Blood for our Troops" blood drive on behalf of the Houston Military Affairs Committee.
Ken Courville, John Cooke and Marie McDermott, representatives from the International Economic
Development Council Certification Board, presented Karen Capps, Economic Development Coordinator
with the Achievement of Economic Development Certification.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC
Don Johnson, 810 Myrtlewood Drive, addressed Council concerning flood control mitigation, urged
Council to have compassion for citizens trying to build and the impact of detention ponds.
Kelly McKnight, 1106 Glenshannon, addressed Council asking for an update on the Glenshannon
Drainage Project and timeline on correspondence to be sent to property owners, will be discussed later in
the meeting.
Chris Block, 701 Ferndale, addressed Council stating he grew up in Friendswood, trying to build in
Friendswood over 8 months ago, offsite detention requirements, effecting a lot of families, ruined their
dream home but are trying to live with it, has paid from $5,000 up to $25,500 for offsite detention, 3 plus
acres, property in flood plain, will be discussed later in the meeting.
Terry McKee, 406 Trail Bend, addressed Council and stated he is on the board of Forest Bend Home
Owners Association (HOA), having a flooding issue, several homes have had water in them during the
last rain. The Mayor referred this to the City Manager. The City Manager stated Staff is aware of the
flooding issue and is looking into the matter. The Forest Bend HOA meets the second Monday of the
month.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL REPORTS
Steve Huffman, Friendswood Public Library Advisory Board Chair, introduced the Library Board and City
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Staff and reported on activities, projects, and proposed a future workshop regarding expansion of the
Library, discussed security for youth, Library at capacity.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
City Manager Bo McDaniel reported on the update of the Glenshannon Drainage Project, most of the
technical information and analysis requested by Dr. Boone's attorney has been provided. Staff is
assimilating the balance for transmission to Dr. Boone's attorney. Staff was asked to revisit the role of
the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on the outfall's impact triggering a regulatory review
of the project by the USACE. The City Manager Bo McDaniel reported on the Hotel Feasibility Study, a
hotel operator headquartered out of The Woodlands, in coordination with the developer, is interested in
building a 175-225-room full-service hotel and conference center at The Falls at Friendswood/Whitcomb
site. The hotel operator/development team has requested the City to participate in a hotel/conference
center feasibility study at 50 percent cost. The total cost of the study is $20,000, therefore, if the City
would like to move forward, it would require $10,000 be allocated for this item. The landowner, Eclipse
Development Group, has agreed to pay (grant) for the City's portion upfront. Once the study is complete
and it determines favorable market conditions that a hotel and conference center can be supported in the
City, Eclipse requests the City reimburse them. The study is then owned by the City and can be used to
attract this hotel or another one to this particular site or others in the City. The purpose of the study is to
determine the number of hotel rooms and determine the total size of ballroom and break-out rooms for
the conference center space. Following the study, the hotel operator and its developer will provide a
follow-up study to determine the right hotel flag product for the market, e.g. Westin, Marriott, create
development costs estimates and a budget from the ground up, develop operating pro forma and
evaluate various financing models and determine which is more appropriate. The City Council's guidance
is requested. Staff may explore their offer to include having the City Attorney draft an agreement for the
terms of this grant. The City Manager reported on the legal notices located on the City's website. The IT
Staff has created the link and corresponding folder for the City's legal notices to be posted on the City's
website for enhanced access by potential bidders. The Legal Notices link will be found under
Friendswood Government on the homepage of the website. The City Manager reported on the draft of
the City Newsletter, a draft copy of the next issue of Focus on Friendswood was provided to Council for
review. An article about the 10 percent tax refund is on the cover of this issue depicting an average tax
refund check. The City Manager reported on the City Council Retreat planned for Friday, February 9,
through Saturday, February 10, 2007. The City Manager's recommended purposes for the retreat are:
Initial City Council Guidance to the City Manager consistent with Council priorities, explore means to
improved understanding and communication to Staff, determine Governance Options of Authority/Letter
of Cooperation and/or Governance by Consensus/Spirit of Cooperation, Establish/Set Council's Strategic
Priorities and Others as City Council interest warrants.
ACTION ITEMS
**Councilmember Peden moved to approve the award of Bid No. B2007-02 for the 2006-07 Asphalt
Street Project to AAA Asphalt Paving, Inc., and authorize the Mayor to execute the contract.
Seconded by Councilmember Ewing. The motion was approved unanimously.
**Councilmember Horecky moved to approve a contract with Galveston County for tax collection services
and authorize the Mayor to execute the contract.
Seconded by Councilmember Peden. The motion was approved 4-3, with Mayor Smith, Councilmember
Ewing, and Councilmember Measeles opposed.
**Councilmember Hill moved to approve that Staff prepare an amendment to the flood damage prevention
ordinance.
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Seconded by Councilmember LeCour. The motion was approved unanimously.
Council asked for detailed backup information to help Council understand parameters and ramifications
and benefits in considering this amendment. Councilmember Hill proposed that a committee be formed
with members from Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District (GCCDD) to review the proposed
changes.
**Councilmember Hill moved that the City provide for a moratorium for requirements on detention pond
requirements for five acre and less size lots and no approval process from GCCDD for building permits,
unless required for minimum compliance by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Seconded by Councilmember Horecky. The motion was approved 4-3, with Mayor Smith, Councilmember
Ewing, and Councilmember Measeles opposed.
**Councilmember Hill moved to approve funding for the Clear Creek Environmental Foundation's efforts
to clean up Clear Creek.
Seconded by Councilmember Measeles.
***Mayor Smith moved to amend the motion to provide for a letter of agreement in the amount of$500 for
the project as proposed.
Seconded by Councilmember Measeles. The motion was approved unanimously.
Main motion as amended, 6-1 Councilmember Peden opposed.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS
Mayor Smith stated he would like to thank the Charter Review Commission by inviting them out to dinner
and spend some social time with them or invite the Commission to a more public event and thank them
publicly at the State of the City Address.
Councilmember Measeles reported on researching buyout options, the impact and possible grant
assistance, asked Staff to research number of homes that continue to flood to see if offering buyout
properties would be feasible. City Manager Bo McDaniel advised that there were 1500 homes in the
floodway, will research Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and find their history on who
has filed a claim and that would be a basis. Staff will research those homes and bring back to Council.
Councilmember Hill stated the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) are interested in a workshop and
bring the downtown revitalization to a finalization.
Councilmember LeCour stated he attended the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership (BAHEP)
annual banquet where NASA Administrator Dr. Michael Griffin received a Quasar Award and it was a
great opportunity to see elected representatives.
Councilmember Ewing announced the Clear Creek clean up on Feb 23, 24, 27 and 28, 2007. Saturday
was the Community Appearance Board's (CAB) tree giveaway and all was given away within two hours
and the Community Economic Development Committee (CEDC) reported that the City had a 10%
increase in sales tax revenues.
Mayor Smith reported that the Council meetings will be broadcast at 11:00 AM, 7:00 PM and 3:00 AM on
the Public Education Government (PEG) channel. Mayor Smith announced the next Council meeting
would be held on February 5, 2007, and the two things that went on this week were the BAHEP Quasar
Award presented to NASA Administrator Dr. Michael Griffin, was very impressive. Mayor Smith gave
congratulations to the Chamber of Commerce who also had their awards banquet this past weekend,
reported the prayer breakfast will be held in the morning at 6:00 AM with Friendswood High School
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Students.
A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 9:54 PM.
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ayor David J. . mith
Attest:
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City Secretary
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