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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2008-01-21 Special 01/21/2008 2847
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STATE OF TEXAS )(
CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )(
COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )(
JANUARY 21, 2008 )(
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON
MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2008, AT 5:30 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 LESLIE REID
COUNCILMEMBER ANDY RIVERA
CITY ATTORNEY BOBBY GERVAIS
CITY MANAGER BO MCDANIEL
CITY SECRETARY DELORIS MCKENZIE
Mayor Smith called the meeting to order.
,,—. SPECIAL SESSION
A discussion was held regarding the broadcasting of the January 14, 2008, Council meeting. Assistant to
the City Manager Nick Haby presented a review followed by suggestions and a question and answer
session.
CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION
Council convened into Executive Session in accordance with the Texas Government Code, pursuant to
Section 551.072 — Deliberation regarding real property and Section 551.074 — Personnel Matters (City
Manager's Compensation)
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 Deacon Jim Lockwood 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
Mayor Smith presented a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to
.—.. Administrative Services Director Roger Roecker, Accountant and Utility Billing Supervisor Cindy Edge and
Accounting Manager Rhonda Bloskas. The City has received this Certificate of achievement every year
for the last 19 years and Council appreciates the Staff's hard work.
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Mayor Smith presented a proclamation recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
JOINT DOCKETED PUBLIC HEARING
Mayor Smith and Planning and Zoning Chairman Jim Gibson called a Joint Docketed Public Hearing to
order, to receive comments from the public, either oral or written, regarding amending Appendix C,
Zoning Ordinance, and Appendix D, Fees, of the City of Friendswood Code of Ordinances, regarding
adding a Commercial Site Plan fee.
No one spoke for or against the Zoning Ordinance amendment.
Hearing no further comments, Mayor Smith and Planning and Zoning Chairman Gibson closed this Joint
Docketed Public Hearing.
Mayor Smith and Planning and Zoning Chairman Gibson called a Joint Docketed Public Hearing to order,
to receive comments from the public, either oral or written, regarding amending Appendix C, Zoning
Ordinance (Downtown District) of the City of Friendswood Code of Ordinances, regarding
sidewalks/alternatives.
No one spoke for or against the Zoning Ordinance amendment.
Hearing no further comments, Mayor Smith and Planning and Zoning Chairman Gibson closed this Joint
Docketed Public Hearing.
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Mayor Smith and Planning and Zoning Chairman Gibson called a Joint Docketed Public Hearing to order,
to receive comments from the public, either oral or written, regarding amending Appendix C, Zoning
Ordinance (Downtown District) of the City of Friendswood Code of Ordinances, regarding building height,
on-street parking, trees in rights-of-way and height definition and drawing.
No one spoke for or against the Zoning Ordinance amendment.
Hearing no further comments, Mayor Smith and Planning and Zoning Chairman Gibson closed this Joint
Docketed Public Hearing.
Mayor Smith and Planning and Zoning Chairman Gibson called a Joint Docketed Public Hearing to order,
to receive comments from the public, either oral or written, regarding amending Appendix B, Subdivision
Ordinance of the City of Friendswood Code of Ordinances, Section III, regarding right-of-ways widths.
No one spoke for or against the Subdivision Ordinance amendment.
Hearing no further comments, Mayor Smith and Planning and Zoning Chairman Gibson closed this Joint
Docketed Public Hearing.
SPECIAL SESSION
A discussion was held with the Planning and Zoning Commission who has had several discussions
regarding the creation of a sidewalk fund. Such a fund would allow a developer to pay into the fund, if a
sidewalk is required but not feasible to be built at the time of development. The City would then install the
sidewalks, with the funds paid by the developer, at the time that it is feasible to be built (street widening, ,..,�,
curb and gutters built and more). This discussion was followed by a question and answer session about
the process of the application for sidewalk funds.
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COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC
There were no comments from the public at this time.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL REPORTS
The Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBOA) Chair Greg Hughes presented the annual report from the
Zoning Board of Adjustment and appeals, introduced members of the Board with all members and
alternate members being present, the Board meets monthly if there is business, there were nine meetings
and eleven applications from the public, split equally for variance and interpretation, asked for authority
for ZBOA to grant special exceptions from the City Zoning Ordinance and asked for a workshop to
discuss in-depth with Mayor and Council.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
City Manager Bo McDaniel reported on the Memorandum of Understanding for the National Economic
Development (NED) Plan. The City of Friendswood, Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District
(GCCDD), Brazoria County Drainage District No. 4, Harris County Flood Control District and Galveston
County agreed to collectively move forward in the continuing effort to reduce flooding risks and drainage
problems in the Clear Creek Watershed and support the US Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) 2007
National Economic Development (NED) Plan. The City of Pearland is requesting Friendswood to
participate in advocacy to be sure that the funds are in the federal budget for the NED Program. Mayor
Smith presented information on the process that has been worked on with the various participants and
,,,_., Mayor Smith agreed to prepare a draft agreement. Mayor Smith, Councilmember Hill and Staff have
been working in conjunction with GCCDD and other sponsors and participants. Mayor Smith stated it is
time for the City to move forward. Staff proposed to place this item on a future agenda as a Resolution to
adopt an agreement and discussed having a workshop to discuss the agreement.
The City Manager reported on the City Hall parking lot expansion. Staff has been discussing the design
phase and construction phase professional services with Goldston Engineering Firm that has done a
myriad of different size parking lots, and who is willing to take on a project as small as the one we are
proposing. This firm has also worked for the City in the past. The City has received a statement of
qualifications from Goldston Engineering and reviewed it in detail. The firm will be providing civil
engineering, electrical engineering, geotechnical and urban forestry services as part of their proposal.
The City plans on asking Goldston Engineering to submit a proposal to the City with the caveat that they
consider the use of one of the urban foresters that the City has used in the past on other City projects.
Staff seeks direction from City Council concerning moving forward with this project. Councilmember
Ewing stated she is concerned with the perception of putting a driveway in Stevenson Park. Staff clarified
that the City Hall and swimming pool property are separate from Stevenson Park. Councilmember Ewing
asked Staff to consider the Fire Station parking area or the green space on the side of City Hall as an
alternative. Staff stated the time frame to consider for the Fire Station area would probably be at least
one year and there is a critical need for additional parking to provide for voters and some meetings. Staff
is considering buffering between parking and the homes that would be impacted, may look at putting
concrete between City Hall and Fire Station. The City has looked at this option and reported that this
would provide 12 more spaces with pervious concrete, the one-way driveway would end at the swimming
pool parking lot and exiting onto Castlewood. The parking lot could be in place by November, will move
forward as quickly as possible.
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The City Manager reported on the Pavement Master Plan. The field work on the project has been
completed and the consultant is nearing completion of the data input in the office. They are in the
process of designing the output forms for the report and are ready to make recommendations and discuss
the options. With this data, Staff will be able to see the street condition ratings as well as the reason that
a street has a low rating based on cracking, rideability, needed point repairs and ponding. Staff can
easily sort the data based on any of the condition factors reported from the field work. The conclusion so
far is that there are only a small percentage of the streets that are candidates for complete rehabilitation
but many that will rate much higher with point repairs or partial panel replacement, cracking was noted on
many streets, some of which are not that old, which is typical on concrete streets. A program to seal
significant cracks could prolong the life of many of these streets with little cost to the City. Significant
progress has been made over the last several years with point repairs and partial replacement of streets
that extend the life of these streets and postpone the need for complete rehabilitation. Asphalt streets
throughout the City are in good shape overall and it appears that annual overlays and maintenance are
on track with the expected life cycle of these streets.
The City Manager reported on the tributary improvements to Cowards Creek. Community Development
Director Les McMahen stated City Staff have been discussing this with the Galveston County
Consolidated Drainage District(GCCDD) Staff as to how best to implement the project and have
previously made the City Council aware that Staff would try to get the street crossing projects
incorporated with GCCDD's plans to improve the tributary channels. The culmination of that work is the
attached agreement which has been approved by the GCCDD Board with a number of changes
suggested by City Staff. The City will be working with the GCCDD engineer to get an estimated cost of
the City's portion of the work since the funding for the City's share of the project has not been budgeted.
Staff feels that the agreement, as approved by the GCCDD Board with input from the City, is an equitable
solution for both the City and GCCDD in that each will pay the costs associated with the portion of the ,.,..,,
project for which the City has maintenance or improvements responsibility, i.e., the City pays for costs
associated with improvements to the street crossing culverts and GCCDD pays for costs associated with
improvements to the channels. Staff is moving forward placing this project before Council to approve by
Resolution at the next Council meeting.
Don Johnson, Friendswood resident, stated he has spoken on flooding issues numerous times and also
spoke on the Memorandum of Agreement for the Clear Creek Project being considered and expressed
concerns with some portions of the agreement, stated the conveyance needs to be improved and does
not think the agreement is ready yet, would suggest another meeting with the Galveston County
Consolidated Drainage District and to open up for comments from the public and would go over the
agreement with a fine tooth comb.
Mayor Smith stated the Corps of Engineers stated the project would not move forward unless all of the
entities along the creek are in agreement and that the City meets with the Galveston County Consolidated
Drainage District on Wednesday night to review this agreement.
Bea Morris, Friendswood resident, stated she has attended many of the meetings and feels that the
Drainage District does not have enough teeth in the agreement.
Mayor Smith stated he will check with GCCDD and if the majority of the district is concerned, then the
agreement will be re-worked.
Councilmember Hill stated the Drainage District has been over this agreement a number of times and
everyone is doing the best that they can do, it is moving this project along.
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01/21/2008 2851
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The City Manager reported on the Fire Station No. 3 property exchange. Staff continues the negotiations
process with the Forest Bend Homeowners Association (HOA)for the exchange of ownership of the City's
Civic Building and the HOA's Fire Station No. 3 building. Community Development Director Les
McMahen stated Staff received a letter from the Forest Bend HOA and the Board will meet and may have
a counteroffer to keep the project moving forward.
The City Manager reported on the appointment of Administrative Services Director Roger Roecker to the
North Central Texas Council of Governments Committee. North Central Texas Council of Governments
(NCTCOG) asked Mr. Roecker to serve on a selection committee to choose a firm to provide joint
services for TMRS Actuarial Services. The panel will interview three firms that are finalists and help make
the selection for the 50 cities that are participating. The panel participants were selected based on their
professional reputations and the diversity of Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) plans in their
respective cities. This is an honor for Mr. Roecker and the City of Friendswood.
ACTION ITEMS
**Mayor Smith moved to approve an increase to the annual salary of the City Manager by 3%.
Seconded by Councilmember Reid. The motion was approved 4-3 with Councilmembers LeCour, Peden,
and Hill opposed.
**Councilmember Rivera moved to approve authorizing an expenditure of$5,252,076 for the expansion of
Southeast Water Purification Plant for surface water capacity.
Seconded by Councilmember Hill. The motion was approved unanimously.
,•r.. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS
Councilmember Ewing reported on the Community Appearance Board's successful tree give away, 1200
trees were given away and thanked Community Services Director James Toney and Staff for their
assistance, gave congratulations to the new Superintendent at Clear Creek Independent School District
Greg Smith and the new Superintendent at the Alvin Independent School District Robbie McGowan,
attended the Galveston County Mayor and Council (GCM&C) meeting with a speaker from the Texas
Department of Transportation (TxDOT), attended the Harris County Mayor and Council meeting
(HCM&C), the Library Board meeting and attended the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership �
(BAHEP) banquet, stated Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a way to honor those that volunteer their time and
announced World Vision will host a program at Friendswood Methodist Church and this will be the only
place in the Houston area where it will be held.
Councilmember LeCour and Councilmember Hill had no report.
Councilmember Reid reported on the World Vision of Aids program "Step into Africa", announced on
January 29th the Prayer breakfast will be held at the Friendswood Independent School District (FISD)
High School and Clear Creek Independent School District is hosting a Public Hearing at Clear Brook High
School regarding zoning and announced there was a Walk for Diabetes at Cline Elementary.
Councilmember Peden and Rivera stated they had no report.
Mayor Smith reminded everyone that tomorrow at 5:00 PM is the deadline for candidate filing for the
upcoming Special Election attended most of the meetings reported by other Councilmembers.
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CONSENT AGENDA
'`'`Councilmember Rivera moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. A. Accept December
2007 Property Tax Report.
Seconded by Councilmember Hill. The motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 8:56 PM.
Mayor David J.H. Smith
Attest:
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De oris cKenzie, TR C
City Secretary
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