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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2009-06-11 Special 06/11/2009 3130 ,�. STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( JUNE 11, 2009 )( MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON THURSDAY, JUNE 71, 2009 AT 8:00 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR DAVID SMITH MAYOR PRO-TEM ANDY RIVERA COUNCILMEMBER MICHAEL BARKER COUNCILMEMBER JIM HILL COUNCILMEMBER LESLIE REID COUNCILMEMBER JIM BARR COUNCILMEMBER BILL HOLBERT ACTING CITY MANAGER ROGER ROECKER CITY SECRETARY DELORIS MCKENZIE Mayor Smith called the meeting to order. Mayor Smith stated the first item on the agenda is addressing the citizens concern regarding the Certificates of Obligation (CO) process and the Capital Improvements Plan. Council hopes to provide ,.�.. citizens some clarifying information and hopes to hear from citizens with questions and comments. The first thing that Council will do this evening is to hear from the Councilmembers to provide them the opportunity to give clarifying information and brief statements then Council will take questions and comments. Council asked that everyone follow a common practice that the City does during the public hearings, which is to limit the comments to about three minutes. Assistant to the City Manager, Nick Haby, will be helping in keeping time, the finro-minute warning card is yellow and the red card means your time is up. However, if Council has not answered all your questions and someone else has not asked them then Council will do their best to come back to the end and give another opportunity. Council would like to get to every question tonight if possible, this will help manage the time and give everyone a fair chance to come up, there are quite a few people that would like to speak tonight. After the meeting there will be Councilmembers available, some of them, if not all of them, will speak with citizens personally, if you would like to do that. Council has provided information packets located on the back table, in the packet is a handout that was in the Friendswood Focus magazine prior to the bond election, it gives information on the items that were put up for referendum or bond recently. The second part of the handout is a list of all the capital improvement projects that the Council has been discussing, workshopping, and contemplating on, not only this past year but in previous years as well. Council has been discussing the issues of capital improvements and the future plans for the City. Thirdly, there is the first page to the petition that has caused so many questions and voiced so many concerns in regards to the action taken in Travis County, the complete version can be found on the city's website. Lastly, there is also a page that is titled the Friendswood City Charter borrowing for capital improvements, it is an actual copy of the page of the City Charter that gives instructions about borrowing for capital improvements. Council wanted citizens to see that and have that information. For those who might be watching this from home later on television, the packets of information can be found on the city's website, citizens can listen or watch and have that information. The Mayor stated at this time, he would like to make some brief comments and then hear from fellow Councilmembers. He apologized to Council and fellow citizens of Friendswood for not helping with some comments that were made at the last City ,,,_,. Council meeting in regards to Travis County. He stated while being questioned by someone at the dais he stated he explained what Council was doing and made the comment that this was going to be a lawsuit where the City of Friendswood was going to be suing the citizens of Texas. That was a very poor choice of words and a poor description of what Council is doing, an apology was offered to the citizens 06/11/2009 3131 ..�. and he gave an explanation. The action Council is taking in fact is a petition to the court. Council is asking the judge of Travis County to give an answer, yes or no, on two items. One, does Council have the ability to seli CO's and finro, does Council have the ability to buy land for a park outside the city limits of Friendswood. Citizens are not being sued, the State of Texas is not being sued, Council is simply petitioning the court and wanted to provide clarifying information. The issues that were presented to citizens on the bond election version and the capital improvement projects that Council is considering and had been considering are two separate things. They are confusing particularly because parts are mentioned in both of them, but wanted citizens to know that the items that Council will consider for capital improvements are not the items that were voted down during the bond referendum, they are two separate issues. Council is not going to be considering those improvements with these CO's even though citizens stated that they did not want them, that has been a common cry that has been heard this past week and hopes to put that to rest. The Mayor stated those are the two things he wanted to mention, Council will provide citizens with some additional information. Councilmember Reid stated she would like to say thanks to everybody for being here tonight and she appreciates the opportunity to clear up any confusion over what City Council is doing. A prepared statement has been written and hope citizens do not mind that it is read from because there are a lot of details and does not want to get off track and forget anything. The first hurdle to clear is to understand there are many moving parts in what is currently going on, which means a lot of detailed information has to be transferred in order to fully understand the whole picture, The second hurdle is bringing all the parts that are moving at a diffe�ent time, many times there is more than a year between start and finish, together for one moment. That is the challenge that is before Council tonight. Over two years ago, the various Little Leagues in the City came together and stated the City needs more sports parks. The City's Parks and Recreation Board stated the City is behind the curve by about 50 to 100 acres of both green space and sports parks for a City our size. At a date before Christmas the final decision was made to � purchase land in Alvin for a sports park. The purchase of land in Alvin never had anything to do with the May Bond Election. The parks bond that was on the May ballot was for park improvements only, both green and sports parks were included in the bond. The reason this was put to a vote of the citizens was because the bond would result in a tax increase and, per the City Charter, Council could not issue a bond if it will increase the taxes, without permission from the citizens. Before clarifying the next point, for the record I am not a lawyer and will probably use some wrong terminology, but it is the process I am trying to convey not the correct legal terms. My understanding of what is happening in Travis County is the City of Friendswood is formally requesting a ruling by a judge on whether or not the City can legally buy land outside of Friendswood and whether or not the City is violating the charter by issuing bonds that absolutely will not increase taxes for any citizen of Friendswood. The reason I agreed to have this done in Travis County versus having it done in Galveston County is that the courts in Travis County have a great deal of experience with these type of cases and would therefore be better suited to hear the case. Having it in Travis County would prevent any "perceived" bias that might be attached to a judgment from Galveston County. Many of us have witnessed over the past ten days how willing people are to accept perception over the truth. Initially I thought the hearing would be much like the setting we have here at City Hall where anyone who wants to voice an opinion, either for or against, can. I have since learned that anyone who wants to speak in the courtroom during the session, and I emphasize courtroom, which is much more formal than sharing an opinion here at City Hall, must fill out paperwork and present real evidence, not an opinion to support their case. The person could and most likely would be called to the witness stand and would be required to answer any questions asked of them, the same as any other court case in any other courtroom in the State of Texas. If the judge finds that he or she wants to hear more before making a ruling, then a continuance will be scheduled and he or she may, and I emphasize may, ask for the person who filed the paperwork to post bond money. If real evidence is not presented and an individual still wants to file against the judgment they may, but their bond posting would probably be a high dollar amount than someone who has real evidence. This is in place to protect anyone or any ,� entity from the cost associated with a frivolous lawsuit. If the judge rules in favor of the person who filed the paperwork, the bond money is returned, if the judgment is in favor of the City, then the bond money would go to the City to reimburse the citizens for the litigation costs and the costs associated with delayed 06/11/2009 3132 ..�.. construction and rising bond interest rates. Once again, to bring a case before a judge it is called a lawsuit. I do not know why they call it that, but the fact of the matter is that is what they call it. The City is not suing the citizens, or the City or anyone else. The City Council is doing its due diligence to settle the issues once and for all and will stand by whatever the judgment is. Council is doing its best to act in the best interest of the citizens of this community. I would like to close with a reminder that I received from a close friend of mine, everyone on Council is a citizen of Friendswood, and there is no decision that is made from this dais that does not affect us equally as any other citizen in Friendswood. Again, thank you for the opportunity to speak and looks forward to hearing questions. Councilmember Holbert stated he would like to thank everyone for coming and stated he hopes that Council can answer all the questions and clear up some of the concerns citizens have, expressed that this Council is not suing the citizens of Friendswood nor the State of Texas. There have been some email strings and some quotes by individuals in the newspaper and they are either inaccurate or it is only part of the story, hopes to work through every bit of that tonight. The next thing to make clear to the citizens is the issue of the Certificates of Obligation(CO), it does not have anything to do with the recent bond referendums that failed, citizens spoke and Council listened, it is done and over. Not being an attorney or layperson, it was brought to Council's attention that Council was threatened and told that legal action would be used against any moves that Council made to acquire the parkland outside the city limits of Friendswood. In January, Council decided to come up with a five year plan and present it to the citizens which is still being worked on. What Council came up with was $65 million worth of improvements projects that Council would consider necessities, which are streets, drainage, and bridge repair. Council has approximately ten years left prior to build-out and Council has not even begun. Council decided to take a look back at what could be funded through general revenues and not increase taxes. By taking a very conservative growth rate that was a number somewhere around $11 million or � less. Council started prioritizing where to start to take that bite out of the capital improvement apple at $65 million plus rather than let things get worse without doing anything. Council has a Master Pavement Plan study that states if started on today the City is$25 million behind the curve in road and street repair. There is $6 million of the CO's to go toward road and street repair. The fear is if Council does not start addressing some of these projects now and as Council approaches build-out ten years from now, that means the City is living on a fixed income today. Council has come to the point where Council has flat- lined and do not have any other way to fund $65 million and ten years from now that might be anywhere from $80 to $100 million dollars of projects. The only other way to have streets, roadways, drainage and other capital projects is going to have to have massive tax increases. Council decided to start now with what could afford to fund with current revenues. The other threat of litigation that had been promised is the acquisition of parkland outside our City limits. As Councilmember Reid stated one of the first meetings I had was with the sports and recreation and it was made clear to me there is not enough facilities. There are the empty nesters whose children are no longer engaged in sports that would argue that Friendswood does need them and the City does not utilize them. As a parent who just went through his first Little League season, I was bringing my son home around 9:30-10:OOpm at night during the school year. It is a very well run organization, everyone has a great time but the City is just out of space. A group of Counci�men got together and decided to embark on the acquisition and see what Council could do, what could the City afford in the way of new park space to help elevate this. Council found a 60-acre parcel of land outside city limits that is about less than a .25 miles away, it has ingress and egress onto the main thorough fair of FM 528 to the City limits. Council was able to purchase this land as an improved park, the day it is paid for the City will have 30 acres, nearly a 50% increase of what exists today for the youth sports activities, an additional 30%will have all of the subsurface infrastructure such as water, sewer, and everything else to be developed at a future date when the City can afford it or if the citizens decide to fund that through some other source of inechanism. When Council entered into this over a year ago there was $10 million dollars in the bank, cash that was the reserve. Council intended to take the capital ,,.,,,, improvement reserve funds and pay for it. It took several months to negotiate this because it was done as an improved piece of property. Council entered into a contract and got slammed by Hurricane Ike. Council spent$8 million dollars in cash. Council had the money and did not have to delay any City clean up not one day or one minute. It was because the City had the reserve and the cash, it was spent it and 06/11/2009 3133 � to this date the City has received less than haif of the money back from the federal government. The City is now at the point to start the process of recovering the additional 50% of the$4.2 million leaving the City with $6 million dollars. By law, the City has to hold back 3 months of operating reserve which is a little over $4.5 million. Residents may have read or seen recently that the City received a federal stimulus grant for $2 million for the panhandle property up and down FM 2351 that goes all the way to Beamer Road. It was great but had to commit $600,000 dollars of cash for that project. The other thing that Council was fortunate to do was that Galveston County went out for a bond election last November and one of the items on that bond was a drainage project for Main Street through Friendswood. There has not been a drainage project done on this street, which habitually floods for 40 years. The churches flood, the homes flood, it goes all the way back to the Downtown District. It also precludes any additional development up and down FM 518 because the City does not own or is not in control of that highway nor the storm sewers that run underneath it, that is a Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) facility. The City was able to get permission if the City came up with the money ourselves, so Council got the$3.5 million from the County and the City had to commit$1 million. Our cash is gone and committed and now Council finds us, through these circumstances, needing to pay for something that Council has entered over a year ago without the foreseen circumstances of this hurricane. When presented the options of clarification, given the options what was a promise of litigation against the City? Council consulted with the attorneys and then found that the process really was not understood and was comfortable with the language and some of the issues that were raised were arguments that threatened litigation. When asked what does Council do, one option was to have gone to the Attorney General's office. It was argued that if taken to the Attorney General's Office an opinion will be given that anybody can challenge, then it would have to go through the court process anyway. Given the fact that Council was all but promised litigation for any of these actions, Council made the right decision by going to the State of Texas ex parte. When Council goes to the hearing, what is going to happen is that the Attorney General is going to be there and is going to render an opinion to the judge saying whether he believes there is no objection or �"" there is an objection, will live with whatever the Attorney General and the judge come up with. What is unsettling to the opponents of this is once the opinion of the Attorney General is made then the judge makes his ruling and it is done and over. The other reason I think that this is the reasonable approach is expediency. If Council were to go to the Attorney General there is no time frame the ruling will come back in, it could be 5 minutes, 5 days, or could be 9 months, Council has no idea. It was explained that this process would take a matter of weeks, this is the most prudent thing to do given the position Council is in. Council has a contractual obligation and it is extremely clear in everything that has been presented and in everything that has been read, that yes the City does have the authority to purchase this property outside because many of the things in the newspaper articles that cite a specific municipal statue unfortunately does not apply to home rule cities. Unless you are a home rule City that has a specific provision prohibiting you from doing this, which ours does not, then Council is in the right. This is an issue that has been challenged on other occasions and has gone all the way to the Texas Supreme Court, so once the judge makes the ruling that the City is within the rights and limits to do this then it is over. Would like to see this expediently resolve itself as quickly as possible and be over, will look forward to hearing your questions and hopefully Council can answer all of them. Councilmember Rivera stated the total requirements that the City has as far as projects and capital improvements is about$164 million, there is no way over the next ten years the City could continue to go on at the rate the City is going. The City is never going to meet any of these requirements more important by the time ten years is up the City will be looking at $300 million in capital improvement projects. Friendswood today is one of the best communities in our country to live in and it is affordable and the City is doing the right kinds of things to keep it that way. Council cannot wait until the last minute, all of us have homes and if a window is not fixed when it is broken and a foundation not fixed when it is bad then what eventually happens? $6 million of the dollars the City has today is designed to address part of the pavement projects that the City has. The first three needs of the pavement project amount to „� $12 million. If Council was going to do anything with Certificates of Obligation (CO's) or bonds then Council first has to take care of the Cities infrastructure. Sunmeadow, Annalea, Forest Bend subdivisions and a lot of areas in our community that are 40 to 50 years old have come to the point that they need a lot 06/11/2009 3134 � of work. The City can continue to do patch work and spend 5 times more money in the future or the City can make an effort to fix it now. This is phase one, $6 million in pavement improvements, would welcome and like to have open debates and challenges from anybody and present the facts as Council sees them, but it is really misleading when there are a few speciai interest groups that have half the truth and do not let Council have an intellectual debate. What Council is trying to do is answer your questions and be up front with residents, which Council has all along. Will have to live with the consequences of actions, Is 66 years old and probably will retire in 4 years and do not plan on leaving Friendswood but wants to be able to know that 10 years from now it will be affordable to live here. Councilmember Hill stated he appreciates everyone for showing up and hopes to see everyone Monday night at the next meeting. This discussion is because of the land bought in Alvin, lived in Friendswood for 60 years and paid taxes for 40 years and have never written a check to a tax collector that I enjoyed signing. A lesson learned a long time ago is that when City Council decided to buy property that is now the present library, word got out that the City was going to buy that building and some local investors got together and said "Boy that is a good buy" and they purchased it. The City cannot act very fast and by the time the City decided to buy it, it cost the City twice as much as it would have six months earlier. Everyone was mad at the Council and accused Mayor Evelyn Newman at the time of sticking a bunch of money in her pocket. Council looks back now, even at the price it was paid for, it was a great buy for the City of Friendswood. If it is not known by residents what had happened when an investor found out that the City was going to buy some land then I will tell, if the City is going to buy some land, the City will always have to pay more than anybody else because when they have to buy land they really need it. When Council went to buy this land in Alvin, I was one of the Councilmen who talked to many landowners. Land in Friendswood sells by the foot and the City needed 60 acres. Council found land ..., that could be bought by the acre, there was a terrific buy on it and before we had made a decision to buy it the landowner had been contacted by a local realtor that somebody was interested in buying it. Luckily, the landowner had integrity and honored his commitment, he was going to gather up some more pieces and sell as one package and said Council could have it at the price it was agreed on, it was a terrific buy for the City of Friendswood. The bond issue that citizens turned down had nothing to do with the land, the land will serve the City hopefully forever. This Council is not looking back but is looking ahead to the future. When Council does something, hopefully, Council will not have to do it again. Council wants to do it for the last time and do it right. We picked up 35 acres of land free from the Galveston Consolidated County Drainage District that they have already prepared a detention pond that only gets water in a flood which is maybe once a year. Part of the bond issue turned down was going to improve that land to go ahead and have it ready for the kids to be playing on it this year. It is not going to happen, the residents said do not improve anything and I know what the word no means. Another thing, the question on the legality is that Council spent of lot of money on attorneys every Council meeting. The City Attorney is not here tonight, except maybe he was afraid for his life. Mayor Smith stated the City Attorney was on vacation. Councilmember Hill stated Council spends tax dollars on what is consider good legal advice. Councilmembers are all volunteers from an array of professions in life. Councilmembers are not attorneys so Council relies on attorneys to give legal advice. When Council first considered the land in Alvin, a question was raised and I was the only one who realized that not only was this land not in the City but it was not in the County. I know that the County line runs at an angle across FM 528, the question was asked to the City Attorney and he researched it and assured Council that the City was on firm legal ground. After we checked legalities, Council agreed to buy the land. Council did do everything it could to be sure that no State laws were broken. The Charter is another thing that a lot of people are upset about, talked to some people who were on City Council when this amendment was added to the Charter. There were Councilmembers who wanted it read and it states the City shall issue no debt without voter approval. Other Councilmembers after discussion and with a Charter Review Committee evidently decided that the voters would not tie the hands of a Council where when things come up like bond issues. ,,,.,,,, For the first time Galveston County has agreed to spend almost $16 million in benefits to the City of Friendswood this year. When these opportunities come up the City has to have the ability to meet our commitments especially when every dollar is matched; some are only matched one for one, it is not a bad deal. Things come up unexpectedly like when Hurricane Ike came along. The State of Texas states our 06/11/2009 3135 � Animal Control building may be deemed out of compliance and if it is residents can start driving down to Texas City and see if your dog could be found if Animal control picks him up, that alone will cost the City about $75,000 dollars a year. Things like this come up and they have to be done. The building that residents are standing and sitting in now was paid for by CO's, Centennial Park was paid for with CO's. The voters should have the right as far as major capital improvements. When Council came up with a bond issue, there were some debates between Council, sometimes heated. The vote was not unanimous to put the bond issue to the residents as it was. Would personally want the Animal Control on there and wanted the roads on there. The saying is, if the voters do not want to fix the street then they can just go buy shock absorbers and tires. If voters do not want to build an Animal Control then they can go down to Texas City and try to find their dog before they put it down. This is Friendswood, a great community that residents have built, no credit taken for anything that was built in this City, it is the people, you sitting out there that have made this town what it is. Residents have a City Council that has worked hard for you, Council has not and nobody on this Council has violated the Charter of this City. I would hope that if any of the Councilmembers do they would have enough integrity to resign, do not think Councilmembers would violate, these are good people here, just like me. There was not a lot of time to prepare this week because 16 hours was spent in Emergency Management classes learning how better to help the City in a major event like a storm. This is a good City and Council does our best for the residents. I appreciate the fact that Council is watched on television. This whole thing about going to court is to end the accusations, whether founded or not, it is to put the end to our divided community. It is the quickest way to end this and it is the most thrifty way of doing it. Council can get drug through court for years and lawyers take a lot of money. Council will abide by whatever the courts say, is confident that Council has done the right thing for the City. Will throw a joke out there to lighten the mood up; the biggest waste in the world is when a bus of lawyers goes over a cliff with two empty seats. Councilmember Barr stated he has had a very interesting experience his first year on Council, has had �"�"" the pleasure of working with six other folks that have the heart of the City in mind everyday and have been willing to take on challenges and projects that in previous years were not taken on for whatever reasons. Not only has Council taken on a five-year plan of projects of what Council would like to see accomplished but Council has also taken on a five-year financial plan for the City of Friendswood. Council will have a forecast of where the City will be five years from now. The City's goal is to extend that to a 10 year plan, no it is not 100% accurate but it gives the people an idea, just like in our homes; whether it is to buy something or whether it is to do something. The question is where is the revenue and what is the income? Council had an idea on how these projects are going to get started. The issue of what we felt has been ignored a long time. In July or August when Council started looking for land and found the land in Alvin, Council all felt that this be the first of a few projects that Council would have the opportunity to conquer and divide. The opportunity came and it was considered a great value versus the prices Council was seeing elsewhere. It was an opportunity to solve an issue of field overcrowding and an issue putting family against family for field space in Friendswood. There are youth that not only play baseball games in the late evenings but also have hardly anywhere to practice their game to learn how to play the game better. The same thing applies for soccer and football. There are many people in this room that understand many of these issues and know that this has been ongoing, this is one of the things Council has decided to take on. In buying the park in Alvin, Council has gone through several different ways on trying to figure out how to fund things. Went through the first budget cycle last year and saw City Staff, who works extremely hard for the citizens and finds ways to get things done in a unbelievable timely matter as well as finding ways to save money and cut a corner where they can. Staff takes things out of their budget and project they would like to have so that they can come together on a number where Council would not increase taxes for the citizens of Friendswood. Staff worked hard and sometimes that means they were going to have to find ways to patch something up to make it last a little longer or for Public Works Director, Kaz Hamidian, that means he was going to have to give up a street sweeper. When doing these things, Council chose to hire a grant writer, Sherry Riveron with Riveron Law firm, has „� done a fantastic job for this City to get us to this point. Ms. Riveron is the one who helped us get the $2 million bond for the infrastructure in the panhandle section that was told about earlier, hopefully that will lead to some commercial development as an increased tax base for the City of Friendswood to help 06/11/2009 3136 Council find ways to fund these projects in the future without impacting tax rates. Over 85 percent of the City's revenue is received from homeowners and not from commercial based taxes. This City is going to be grown out in about ten to fifteen years depending on the person you talk to. The City will then be on a fixed income at that point what money will be available to the community. At some point these projects will have to be tackled and Council will have to take them on. If Council waits until the last minute to do them all, and there is $165 million of projects sitting out there waiting to be done, residents are going to be looking at a City that is going to fall apart and it will be like the communities around us that have allowed themselves to deteriorate. There is great pride in this City that is unique, there are friends that come to this City and say why is Friendswood so different. Why is it that when I drive down FM 518 I see citizens at the concert in the park, they seem like a very good small town but a large community. This Council, in my opinion, has not done anything wrong and is not suing anybody, when this procedure was explained to Council the first question out of my mouth was, is the City suing the citizens of Friendswood. The answer was no and would not take any part of any action that would have been suing the residents of Friendswood. There is a series of fictional emails that started running around the City around the last March. The emails were saying anything from the proposed bond issue for the parks was to buy land in Alvin to an array of information. The emails were also criticizing the City for putting together information packets in our Focus on Friendswood newsletter to promote the bonds. This is information Council was trying to put out so that people could understand what the issues were. In hindsight Council, did not give you nearly enough information. Council did not tell residents what was going to happen with the $3.1 million in a detailed fashion. Council did not tell residents where it might be or what it might look like, Council did not tell residents what the Community Center might look like, do not be feeding me potatoes; I am not coming to dinner. Live and learn, mistakes were made, but I will tell residents that the project with the park was never a part of the bond referendum. I too, like Councilmember Hill, even though I do not like to hear the word no, heard no. I would not go behind anybody's back to do something that was � clearly stated was not the intentions of the citizens of Friendswood. I welcome the fact that there are all these folks here. I welcome the number of phone calls, I regret the number of phone calls I did not get from residents who stated they did not want to call and be a bother. I know I am on City Council but you are also a friend of mine. It is not a bother when you think something wrong is going on and you have questions to get your answers, but not to get your answers through people who put out emails that are giving residents either their viewpoints or the fiction that they are wanting to create the situation/create the excitement that they are trying to implore. I look forward to speaking with residents tonight and am glad everybody is here. . Councilmember Barker thanked everybody for coming and stated everyone on Council has given a good explanation of what the facts are and would like to talk about this slander campaign. My opinion on what is being addressed here tonight is a ruthless campaign of hate and slander against the City Council of Friendswood, however to the public citizens the group of individuals conduct in this campaign have portrayed themselves as self anointed righteous watchdogs against the evil doings at City Hall, nothing can be farther from the truth. Make no mistake about it this is a slander campaign and it is predominately being waged by disgruntled special interest groups. These groups have in the past all too often had their ways with elected officials in Friendswood. Their tactics are simple, ruthlessly spread hate and discontent by grossly distorting the truth and misrepresenting the facts. In my opinion, despite what the perpetrators say to the contrary, these individuals have no real regard for what is in the best interest of the citizens of Friendswood. I would like to believe that these people are just confused or do not know the facts of the matters in question and once they did realize what the facts were, they would realize that they were misinformed. However, I am afraid this is not what we are dealing with. It is obvious to me that the facts have no place in their strategy, they have consciously decided to ignore facts entirely. I believe that no matter what they profess or how loudly they choose to do so their goals are specially interest oriented and self-serving in nature. The accused in the situation are at a distinct disadvantage, people should ,„_, remember that in the court of public perception people could artfully twist the facts without flinching, have a clear advantage on those who have limited themselves to describing the facts of the matters. Another disadvantage for the accused is that it seems to be a human characteristic that people want to believe the worst of things especially when the facts are so artfully distorted to appear as if a truly heinous act has 06/11/2009 3137 � been committed. Several of the leaders of this campaign are not new to weaving these webs of distrust and they are very good at it. They are ruthless, experienced, and over the year have habitually twisted the facts of various matters to get their way and thus maintain their power base. Some of the leaders of this assault have decades long records of using their inherited good name, power, and wealth to intimidate to sway local elected officials. During the past 14 months the newest batch of elected officials have apparently not responded appropriately to the demands of these individuals, their intimidation tactics and unreasonable demands have not gained attraction as they have in the past. It is my personal belief that this is the dynamic at the root of the reason we are here tonight. It appears that these individuals honestly believe it is their inherited right to enjoy absolute authority over all decision making at City Hall. They intend by all means possible to restore that right. I do not believe I was elected to City Council to represent just the special interest groups in this City. I believe I was elected to represent all of the citizens of Friendswood. Mike Barker speaking as one Councilmember will refuse to bow down to threats and intimidation from anyone. Recently new players appeared on the scene as spokespersons and are out front in this particular slander campaign, there is every reason to believe that these people are just being used as tools by the real power brokers behind the scenes. Although these individuals demonstrated their desire to be heard and appear relevant, their participation of the matter is incidental and only worthy of minor consideration. As well as the out front stars of this slander campaign, there are certain other players who choose to lurk in the background and call plays in from the sidelines. These individuals, in my judgment are cowards, it is my opinion that after this incident passes into history as all things eventually do, it will be important that these behind the scenes instigators as well as the upfront spokespersons are remembered. Council must do this not because of thoughts of future retribution, but it is because we would remain on constant guard against these types of corrosive influences in our City. Make no mistake this whole mess is really about certain influential people trying to forcefully reinstate their influence by threats and intimidation. We as elected officials should not, and cannot allow this to happen. I would like to address another issue now, the Alvin sports field. I was the major player on "� Council that brought this into being. When I was first elected to Council last year the red-hot topic from citizen groups was the overwhelming need for additional sports fields. Council took this subject up and started looking for options. Councilmember Hill and I, as well as other Councilmembers, took this topic serious and began to consider possible sites both in and out of the City limits of Friendswood. We looked at property that costs from $145,000 an acre down to $55,000 an acre. David Wight and I have been friends for well over 30 years. David Wight is one of the most honorable and honest persons I have ever known. I value his friendship greatly. In distant years past, David Wight and I have been partners in airplanes, conducted mutual business mostly related to the construction industry. We have never ever conducted any real estate transactions together nor have I ever in the past benefited from any real estate transaction that David Wight was involved in. I specifically state and affirm that I have not in the past, present, or will not in the future benefit from this transaction. However, as a free citizen I reserve my right to continue my friendship with David Wight and if I choose to do conduct business with him in the future. I do not apologize for this to anyone, furthermore I do not apologize for this transaction. I am proud of this transaction and I believe then as I believe now that this purchase is in the best interest of the City of Friendswood and its citizens. I have represented the City of Friendswood honorably and ethically at all times during my involvement during this transaction and I will continue to do so. Mayor Smith stated City Attorney Bobby Gervais is not here tonight due to vacation, this meeting is not about lawyers or legal discussion, this is befinreen the City Council of Friendswood and its citizens. This is a conversation for Council to listen, pay attention and do our best to answer questions. It is not a contest who can elicit the most cheers or jeers, please be respectful of the conversation between yourselves and the Council. Kim Payne, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated she would like to thank Council for taking the citizens questions, has been a resident for fifteen years. Would like to know what ambiguity in the City Charter has lead to this petition that residents are moving forward with the City. Would also like � to know if the vote is found in favor of the City does that void anything in the City Charter and would like to know more information on the specific location of the parkland that was purchased in Brazoria County. 06/11/2009 3138 � Councitmember Barker stated go down FM 528 toward Alvin right after you go past the Friendswood city limits sign it is about a 10th of a mile on the right at the Fox Meadow exit. Take Fox Meadow and probably 200 yards down will be a construction site to the right, dirt is being moved. Councilmember Barr stated it was his understanding that the question is will the courts decision void any part of our City Charter and to the best of my understanding it is not. Mayor Smith stated to look at the handout that was issued to everybody tonight. There is a section on that page, section F, that talks about election that authorize debt. The questions that came up that were put to Council by some citizens was that this section stated that Council was not allowed to issue any debt at all without going to the vote of the public. That is the section that caused the ambiguity where Council and citizens disagreed with how the Charter read. Rudy Gonzales, Friendswood resident of 15 years, stated the citizens voted No and it does not matter what they voted no too. City Council should make every attempt to lower taxes, tax money should go toward retiring debt not incurring debt. Current debt should be addressed first, the United States is in a full-blown recession whether people believe it or not, property values continue to tank otherwise plummet, everyone should tighten their belts including Council. The Friendswood citizens voted and the majority still rules. Parkland in Brazoria County is not in Friendswood. Friendswood has a distinct identity, by going to the State of Texas, the House, the Senate, or the Attorney General and they are known for that in Austin. I am aware that this little town lies in Harris and Galveston County. This Council should make every attempt to reduce expenses, cut taxes, enforce civil law, protect the public and insure adequate fire protection. The City of Friendswood and the Friendswood Fire Department had opted out of the fire � protection plan put forward by the State of Texas Insurance Department. Any piece of property outside of the City limits they have to think about, this action is currently allowed by State Law. I own two pieces of property outside the City limits, both houses are the exact same distance to the fire hydrant. The same insurance company insures both houses, both houses on the insurance policy say that Friendswood Fire Department will take care of business. My neighbor had a fire, City of Friendswood police came out and called the Fire Department, they realized that the house was not in the City limits, police called Pearland, Pearland stated it is not on their City, they then called Brazoria County who put out the fire. The State of Texas allows cities like Friendswood and fire departments like Friendswood to opt out of service, which is my big peeve. Former Councilmember Jay Horecky, Friendswood resident for 35 years, addressed Council and stated there is no good or certain way to inform the citizens of Friendswood of the Council's decisions and their justification for them. It is hard to get the word out. Short of attending all the Council meetings and workshops there is no way the average citizen can understand the justification for the decisions that these men and women make. Fewer have time to attend all these meetings and understand that, fewer have time to watch the PEG channel. People do not read the local paper, if the newspaper even prints the issue at all, thus the dilemma. The issue with the bond sells, it is almost impossible to live today without credit. I would wager to bet that there is no one in the room that can live without credit; your house may be paid for, your cars may be paid for, you do not have any credit card bills, but you cannot buy an airline ticket without a credit card, you cannot buy gas in most places without a credit card. You can't sign up for utilities without a credit card. To tie the City's hands and say to them "You can not have a line of credit", is just plain wrong. On the issue of land purchases, I believe the Council acted according to legal advice in interpreting the City Charter and Municipal Codes. Do not think for a second that any thought was given to subverting the wills of the voters by Council, if you do not understand why something was done by Council call them, they are your representative,just give any one of them a call, if a Councilmember ca ,�,,,,, not talk, call me and I will find one of them that can. They are always willing to talk about what Council has done and why they did it. It is unfortunate that there are some that only bring up the negatives and do so citing only the portions of the laws that are taken out of context and omitting the parts that do not support their position. They talk about intent but intent does not mean anything, you as citizens voted to 06/11/2009 3139 ..� what was written in the Charter of amendments, not what someone may have or may have not intended and that is what the Council relied on, residents elect these men and women to represent us, they represent every one of us. They each have separate constituencies but each represents ali of us. It is a thankless job. I can testify to that, they spend countless hours away from their families and their jobs doing City business and they get nothing in return except for criticism. When things go right, has anyone ever gone up to one of them and stated "Boy, you did a great job". Think about last September when Hurricane Ike hit, go to Manvel right now, there are still stuff in the streets in some places, our City is well run and well lead. All I can say is kudos to the people who do it, I do not agree with all of them, I did not vote for all of them, but as a whole the body does good work. I am proud to be a Friendswood resident. Tom Timmons, Friendswood resident; addressed Council and stated he knows very little of what has been sprung on citizens here recently. It seems like the Little League team get more of Council's time than any other topic. I live near the softball fields and I go by them several times a day and in the evenings, all day Saturday and Sunday. If the fields are used 25 percent of the time that is a lot, I hear the City does not have enough fields and not enough park space. I think there are 3 or 4 soccer fields; I rarely if ever see them used, maybe sometimes on Saturday morning. I do not know what people are looking at that states we need more park space, it makes for a nice community. I have not seen a fact yet about what is the per capita space of park space for each person in town. How does this City compare to other cities that we like to be like. It has not been published. I have worked for many law firms over 20 to 30 years. They say what is the most important thing to do is to go judge shopping. It appears that going all the way to Travis County somebody did some judge shopping. Where can Council go to get the opinion that we want. The reasons were given that Travis County has experience with these types of cases, tells me that maybe you did some judge shopping. The City has Brazoria, Harris, or Montgomery County that is much closer. � Councilmember Barr stated the Parks and Recreation Board has been working quite extensively for a while on the Parks Master Plan, once again with our grant writer Sherry Riveron with Riveron Law Firm. The document should be published in the coming months which will give more detailed information on what the actual parks per capita recommended, where Friendswood stands, where Friendswood is short and what Friendswood needs while that report has not been completed yet. That information is one of the things that the Parks and Recreation Board, once again another group of Friendswood volunteers, has been working tirelessly on since last October or November. It is not just out of the air that someone is saying we need more parks land. The other thing residents have to keep in mind with the youths sports is that they are not going to be out in the fields during the middle of the day during the school year. They are in class where they belong and most of the youth leagues are evening and weekend activities. I do know that the softball park is quite often used and usually the parking lot is very full. Councilmember Rivera stated the City has a new dynamic. The City now has Pony baseball, that has grown significantly enough in the last couple of years as well as the football league, which puts competing priorities for the limited field that the City has. The best way to do this is to try to have more fields that way everyone can play at a reasonable time. Councilmember Holbert stated there is nearly four times as many youth involved in youth sports activities in this City during any given year than those who will get out and vote for any of these issues. So it would stand to reason that they should get some attention. Mark McLean, Friendswood resident of 30 years, thanked Council for what they have done. The City is behind, per capita wise, in green spaces and parks in this City. Without increasing taxes to do the deal that Council has done, Council should be commended for that. The second thing Council needs to be commended for is electing to do a declaratory action in Austin, Texas. Having been down the path ,� already, Travis County is widely recognized as having the most professional, proficient means of resolving these kind of issues with municipalities and government entities. Thirdly is by doing this declaratory action I think there is a misconception among people about Council suing somebody. No 06/11/2009 3140 ..... Council is not, Council is asking the judge to say yes or no. If somebody is courageous enough to come back a year from now to say Council should not have done it and not sue the City it would be a lot more expensive and might put the City in violation of a contract that has been worked out to buy this property. Kudos to all of Council, people have had disagreements with some of the Councilmembers on here, I have, but residents are on board with Council and thank you. Trey Hill, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated he agrees with buying the Alvin parkland because Friendswood City limits is not expanding and property in Friendswood is expensive, believes the biggest error made was communication. Kevin Holland, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated he agrees that the parkland is a great buy and at a great price, believes communication was vague and left for interpretation. David Montz, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated he supports Council in improving the City through adding parks. Shannon Weaver, Friendswood resident of 14 years, addressed Council and stated she is the mother of a 10 year old and supports more ball fields, stays up with the child until 10 PM playing games due to lack of field space. Bernie Bratton, Friendswood resident of 45 years, addressed Council and stated the main issue is Council's lack of communication and clarity. Ed Bacon, Friendswood resident of 10 years, addressed Council and stated he is retired from Houston � Independent School District and is a real estate broker, supports parkland and thinks the property is a good value. Vicki Howison, Friendswood resident of 39 years, addressed Council and stated she objects to the lawsuit, opposed to changing the Charter and believes Council went about it in a sneaky, underhanded way to keep the citizens from finding out about it because citizens would oppose it. Councilmember Reid stated she would like to clarify that Council is not trying to change the Charter nor could change it. The only way the Charter could be changed is by vote of the citizens. Vera Smart, Friendswood resident of 37 years, addressed Council and stated communication is the problem, it caused a lot of wasted time. Kids were staying up late in the 80's playing ball, Centennial Park was suppose to help alleviate the problem. How much of the Centennial Park is developed? How many fields do you have there? How long of a wait do you have?Why was the posting of the legal notice not published in the local paper? Councilmember Holbert stated he was unsure about the posting in the local paper and Vinson and Elkins' process of publishing the legal notices. Centennial Park is an interesting subject, it happens to be the only park in recent history where by then the City Council went against the will of the people who voted it down twice and chose to ignore the will of the people and bought it anyway. In fact one of the persons who is very critical of this Council and the way Council is going about this was actually a former Councilmember who made the motion to do that. Centennial Park was paid for by Certificates of Obligation (CO's). Council has had to rely on contributions through small pieces of money put into the budget and contributions from various sports organizations and develop it as Council goes. There has not been a Council since who is willing to take up the issue because the people stated no. It might be ,,�,. something Council can place on a future referendum, but it would be up to the public. 06/11/2009 3141 ._.� Councilmember Rivera stated that communication has come across loud and clear. When Council made the flyer, I was one of the proponents that stated Council needed to keep it simple and just put out information because Council cannot market it or Council would be violating law. This town meeting is a good example of what Council hopes to do in the future, Council will be bringing everything to you. Councilmember Hill stated Centennial Park was on a 70 acres tract of land at the time it was purchased the City bought 50 acres and the school district bought 20 acres. The Friendswood Junior High School will open in August 2010, a multi million-dollar project. There is seven fields located at the Park, this year the City was fortunate enough to add two practice football fields. They were absolutely no cost to the citizens, a developer had to buy a tract of land next to Centennial Park to dig a ditch, he came to a Council meeting and offered 1 %2 acres. The City was able to build the fields with cooperation from Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District at virtually no cost to the City. Centennial Park is built out and is played hard every weekend. Mayor Smith answered in regards to a waiting list for fields. It is not that simple, it is a fight. There have been numerous fights for fields at Centennial Park, respectful as they might have been, but it is still a fight. We have growing programs in every sport for all of our kids in the community. There are minor sports, lacrosse is a good example and hundreds of kids are playing lacrosse, which are borrowing field space all over town trying to find places to play. I would much rather have them in lacrosse than other things. Councilmember Rivera stated another example is the two fields in Clover Field Airport, they are used quite often because they can not find places to practice. Teams can find places to play but not to practice. � Dennis Horn, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated he agrees with having parks but he is concerned about judge shopping and the opponents that would have to post bond. Who benefits from the Alvin property? Can Friendswood annex the surrounding property? Why would we invest in a park that Alvin is going to annex? Would Alvin benefit from it instead of Friendswood? Can Friendswood send Police or the Fire Department to service a Park that does not lie within Friendswood's jurisdiction? Noticed teams outside of the City of Friendswood playing on the fields, might alleviate the problem if it was just Friendswood playing on the fields and quoted State Government Code, which prohibits municipalities purchasing land outside county. Councilmember Holbert stated that Government Code is for municipal ruled cities, Friendswood is a home ruled City. There is another provision I believe it is in 315 that states with home-ruled City with a charter, unless there is a charter provision that prohibits the purchase, you are free to purchase the land. This is a reason why we are getting a judge and the Attorney General to get together and make a ruling. Councilmember Barr responded on the uses of the facility by kids outside of the community. The Parks and Recreation Board and Community Services Department are currently working on a new park users agreement and encourages anyone interested in that to attend the workshop on Monday to try to address and make sure that Friendswood kids are using the fields and if those fields are being utilized by kids outside of Friendswood it is not at the expense of our kids nor at the expense of our taxpayers. This is another project that has been taken on in the last year, would love to see Friendswood annex the property, but cannot say that would definitely happen or not. Mr. Horn asked if the City has the authority to annex outside the County. Councilmember Barr stated he could not answer the question, due to not knowing the legal rules on that. � 06/11/2009 3142 Mayor Smith stated the property is in the City of Alvin, not in an unincorporated area. It would take cooperation with the City of Alvin and City of Friendswood to create an annexation. Responding to the question for Police and Fire protection at the park, Friendswood can service the area, it also takes interlocal agreements and agreements with the two entities to make those things happen and have a smooth transition between them. Mr. Horn asked Council if the City will we see a tax revenue from that area to support that senrice? Mayor Smith stated there would be no taxes received from Alvin. The difference between a home-ruled City and general law City is that the statutes referred to in regards to CO's as well as outside the boundary parkland are specific to the general law city and not to the home rule cities. Council asked those questions to our attorneys as Council were working those issues and talking those things through to make sure there was clarity on them. Councilmember Barr stated it is also important to know that when the City of Friendswood buys that parkland, that land comes off Alvin's tax rolls, it is not taxable. One of the considerations Council had when looking for this land, is taking valuable commercial property off the tax roles for Friendswood. We also took into consideration that the land is off FM 528 corridor and the majority of our residents driving to the property would go out the FM 528 corridor hopefully creating new commercial restaurant development, which would increase our tax revenues. Mr. Horn asked if the Alvin residents would share the park with Friendswood. ,�., Mayor Smith stated no. Councilmember Holbert stated this is private property and would be owned by the City of Friendswood. The other thing Council took into consideration is that Council would be taking 60 acres of land off of the City of Alvin and rendering it virtually useless to them. As a courtesy, one of the first things Council did was to run down to the City of Alvin and explain to them what Council wanted to do and it was well received. That is why the process took nearly 3 months to complete, there were many pieces and parts to it. Mr. Horn asked if Council considered the option to purchase while the litigation was worked on? Mayor Smith asked Mr. Horn to let others get a chance to ask questions and Council could get back with him after everyone has had their turn. B.J. Thomas, Friendswood resident of 8 years, stated he is the father of 6 children, did know the difference befinreen the sports park purchase and park improvements. Supports the park, spends 4-5 nights a week at Renwick Park or Centennial Park up to 9:30 to 10:00 pm at night because of football, baseball, lacrosse and soccer, it all conflicts. There is not enough space. Leslie Roque, Friendswood resident of 15 years, addressed Council and stated she had a concern about going to Austin County ex parte, City is represented by Vinson and Elkins at $50,000 to get a decision which in and of itself once it is made is not necessarily a full pledge decision because it is ex parte? Mayor Smith stated no. Ms. Roque stated so then Council would have to go back and readdress? �.-. Mayor Smith stated getting the ex parte decision from the judge is final. 06/11/2009 3143 ...� Ms. Roque asked if it was a four corners decision or something that will be argued for and behalf of what? What the City has already done? Is it based on real facts that are presented to them that change it temporarily, because basically what was read here is a court issued on the basis of ex parte is temporary? Mayor Smith stated he is not sure where that information came from, what was explained to Council is that the judges decision will give Council the answer that we are looking for to tell us whether those two questions, if the City can buy the land and if the City can sell CO's. Those are two questions Council is asking the judge. Ms. Roque stated there would not be on Councils part raised that residents want to do it this way because the judge would not be giving both sides. Is it read and interpreted as a four corner doctrine? I want to know if they are going to plead your case. Ms. Deidre Brown attempted to step up to the podium with Ms. Roque. Mayor Smith asked Ms. Brown not to interrupt Ms. Roque's turn to speak, with Council in agreement. Ms. Roque stated it appears Council is going to Travis County to discuss things in a single party fashion without two sides being represented. Councilmember Rivera stated it is called a preempted strike. Council is going up there to get a ruling from the judge to tell Council that the actions that we contemplated and have taken are legal. If someone in the future tries to sue the City of Friendswood we already have a legal opinion that states what the City has done is legal. �" Ms. Roque asked if the certification is given to the City, is it binding. Mayor Smith stated yes. Councilmember Reid stated that several citizens ask why not just get an Attorney General's opinion, which is one of our options. For this very reason, if Council gets an Attorney General's opinion it can be overruled and taken to court until a judgment is made. So Council decided to take it the next step and get a ruling by a judge so that it is final, it is not an opinion, it is a judgment. He is going to look at the law, the Attorney General is going to give an opinion to the judge, our lawyer is going to explain what it is that the City is trying to do and the judge is going to make a decision based on law if Council can or cannot do it. Nothing has been done. Councilmember Holbert stated the Attorney General's opinion does generally come at no cost, it is a matter of expediency. It was indicated to Council that litigation would be brought forth against the City. Once you get an opinion from the Attorney General, an action is filed then Council ends up with no choice but to defend the action and the City is tied in court possibly for years. On one other case when Mr. Whitaker was Mayor, it cost approximately$800,000. Council felt this was the shortest path. Councilmember Barr stated his understanding is that the City will be there as well as the Attorney General. The Attorney General's office would have the option if they felt something the City was doing was not right or was not according to State law, to file an opposition and explain to the judge why Council was violating the law. The City Attorney would have to opportunity to also say this is why Council thinks they are not violating the law. Ultimately the judge would have the ability to look at both sides. The Attorney General could come in a say they have no opposition here because we believe this falls inside ,� the intent to this law. The reason Council has gone this route is because Council wants to find out if were 06/11/2009 3144 �...- right or is the Attorney right? Can Council go forward or not? When Council gets the decision that will tell what Council can or cannot do. It is the easiest way to get to the clear point and to the end of the challenge. Ms. Roque stated she wanted to make sure the decision was final. Mayor Smith stated the other possibility is if someone wanted to challenge and to oppose, they can hire an attorney, represent themselves, or in writing. Council did not choose Travis County because it would be difficult for people to go and challenge, Council chose it because of the expertise in municipal law. That is the recommendation that our attorney gave us. Sam Fortner, Friendswood resident of 1 year, addressed Council and stated he is concerned about the communication issues, signed up on Groupbuilder and did not receive any information concerning this matter, is there any part of the bond proposal that was going to support the park project? Councilmember Barr stated there was a $1.6 million dollar sport park improvement. One of the mistakes we made as a Council is that we did not break the $1.6 million dollars down to detail of where the improvements were going to go. Will not be able to say that the money was going to be spent at that park or not. One of the things that was discussed was lights at those fields. Will not be able to tell you no because I do believe if the bond was passed now there would not be any improvements done beyond what normal City budget and money that is available to the City, we will not be borrowing money to improve the park. ,,,,,_, Mr. Fortner stated as far as the timeline is concerned the purchase of this parkland was planned well in advance before Hurricane Ike. There should be some documentation that shows that this was planned out before these bond proposals ever came about, is that available somewhere? Councilmember Holbert stated September 8, 2008, is the date Council entered into a contract to purchase the property. September 22, 2008, is when it was discussed publicly and there was a vote taken whether to acquire the property. Mayor Smith stated that plans were in the works for a long period of time, the plans and the discussions would not be able to be looked up. Part of the problem is it is a real estate transaction, Council has the ability, by law, to discuss their real estate transactions privately so as to protect the citizens from having the price of the property driven up so high that taxes have to be raised. Mr. Fortner asked now that it is out in the open, can people go back and get those records? Mayor Smith stated the documents residents can get is the earnest money contract, minutes of the meetings where the meetings were held publicly even though Council may discuss the items about real estate transactions in executive session, votes are only taken publicly. Mr. Fortner stated the last comment he has as far as the bond proposal concern last year is that if there was more information his vote may have been yes, instead of no. Councilmember Reid stated she appreciated Mr. Fortner's comments and understands most people voted no because they did not know what they were voting for. If Council would have communicated differently, there could have been a different outcome. ,...�. 06/11/2009 3145 � Kathy Rogers, Friendswood resident, addressed Councii and stated she had heard that the property did not pass the Phase One Study for environmental impact. Without an Attorney General or a judge's opinion why did the Council enter into a contract with such orneriest cancellation clauses? Would like the opportunity to vote on the park. What about the Palicio Gate property? It might go into bankruptcies and could have been purchased at auction for a much lower price. Why wasn't that pursued?Why was there no effort made to work with the County of Galveston or Commissioner Lee in Harris County who had offered through the Parks Board to work with the City of Friendswood on obtaining nearby parkland? Do you think cities should be allowed to purchase land in other cities? Why has the Parks Board not been more involved in this process? Could the Parks Board not be trusted about the secret information about the purchase? If the Attorney General or the judge states no what are the planned options? Councilmember Holbert stated both parcels of Palicio Gate were presented and discussed at the same time as the Alvin property. The makeup at the Palicio Gate property is not what was available now that it has gone into bankruptcy, as was told. I was against the purchase because it was excessive, 60 acres was double what Council had planned, it has ingress and egress off FM 528, looks like Friendswood and feels like Friendswood. The yield on the Pacilio Gate property was not conducive to developing the sports park. There is a utility line that runs at a 45 degree angle across the property that would have reduced the yield by 30%. There was a nearly 300 foot set-back from Highway 35, that was not included. It is now part of the total package and I believe will be available to purchase, if it is in bankruptcy. To the recollection there was no easement barrier between the highway frontage on Highway 35 which is an unincorporated area that has no zoning rules. The City would have had to build multiple ways in and out for safety purposes which would need to create another road from Highway 35 to FM 528, which would have effectively increased the cost of the project. Since there was no zoning on the land nearby we would have no control over what could have been built there, for example, an ice house. In response to cities buying land in other cities, cities generally try to do the best that they can do to represent the � citizens that reside within their City. Council did the best thing. Councilmember Hill stated the Parks and Recreation Board were involved. The member you have spoken to wants to buy the Whitcom property. Council was told at the time that the Whitcom property was $14 million but the City could get it at $11 million. Since that time 40 percent of that property has been put in the floodway, which means it is absolutely worthless. Council could not afford it even if it was $5 million. Have tried dealing with Harris County for three years with flood control issues, they are so big, they do not even acknowledge that the City exists. Kathy Rogers stated that Commissioner Lee did approach the City of Friendswood with an idea for the joint use parks in Harris County. Councilmember Hill stated he did not say that the City was not approached, dealing with Harris County is a waste of time because it covers a lot of areas and Friendswood is in a small portion of Harris County. Mayor Smith stated the Parks Board was not involved in the negotiation for the real estate or discussions related to the contract of the Alvin parkland. It was the Parks Board initiative years ago that brought the issue to Council that the City needed more land to satisfy the needs of the community. Kathy Rogers asked about the$500,000 dollar cancelation fee. Councilmember Barker stated Council did the best to negotiate that out and the seller would not budge, given the situation Council is in, on his side it is good that it was not negotiated. Kathy Rogers asked if it was because he did not own finro of the parcels at the time. ,_,,,, Councilmember Barker stated Phase One Environmental has been done and completed, there is no problems with the land. 06/11/2009 3146 � Kathy Rogers asked about Phase Two. Councilmember Barker stated Council does not need Phase Two. Phase One is what is required. Councilmember Reid stated why spend more money? Kathy Rogers asked if she could get a copy of the Phase One report. Councilmember Barker stated it is public record and suggested to do a Freedom of Information Act req uest. Councilmember Barr stated he is not aware of any Parks Board resignations in the last year, has been the liaison from Council for that committee since last July. The Board has not had any resignations over the parkland or for not being involved. The Parks Board did express interest and would like to be more involved but there is a reason and that has been explained, the Board is now engaged with future development. Councilmember Rivera stated most of the boards are advisory boards, they bring problems and information before Council. Then it is up to Council to try to solve those problems. That is what the Parks Board did in this case. Mike Sharp, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated he thought the issue was can ,,,,,_ Friendswood go outside the City to purchase or not? What is a Certificate of Obligation (CO)? Is CO's appropriate in this matter? Concerned about perception, does Council need to include the $50,000 bond? It sounds like a threat saying please come to Austin and plea your case, but be prepared to bring bond money. Our Galveston County judges are smart, it appears you are trying to inconvenience citizens by going to Austin. Council should withdraw action and get an Attorney General opinion. Once Council gets the Attorney General opinion, slap it on the judgment and then Council could use Galveston County judges. Councilmember Reid stated she received an email from Mr. Sharp, which prompted her to question the fine. If driving down the street and there is a speed limit, with no consequence if you speed, why drive the speed limit? There needs to be a boundary set. If residents are going to oppose, just because you do not like what is being done and try to slow the process without the facts, it is going to cost the City money, for example, construction, litigation or interest on bonds. The City needs assurance that if it is challenged and it is frivolous then residents will have to pay for that frivolous lawsuit. The judge does have the opportunity to choose not to penalize the opposition. Councilmember Barker addressed Mayor Smith and stated is it correct that Council has been threatened to be sued over buying the Brazoria County property and the Certificates of Obligation (CO) issue before Council decided we needed to go to Austin? Council was responding to a threat. That threat caused Council to spend probably $50,000. It is only right that if someone threatened to sue, should counter the suit, will need to put up some money like Council. Tom Goodwin, Friendswood resident, stated he is a committee member of the Parks and Recreation Board, addressed Council and stated he has been a resident for 20 years, does not recognize anyone's faces at the public meeting where this was discussed. Eleven years ago, Little League needed more land; finally, one Council took the challeng, spoke with Texas Municipal League and confirmed with them „_,,, it was okay to purchase land for the good of the community, encourages all citizens to attend the Parks and Recreation Board meetings. 06/11/2009 3147 � Fred Krch, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated he sent a letter to Council and did not receive a response from anyone. Would like to know what is Council's stand on Lake Friendswood? That is the perfect place for nature traiis. My kids grew up here and they did not have all the sport fields growing up. Council states we are an open City but it takes a lot of effort to get information, information should be put on paper and asked if he could sit in on bid openings. Mayor Smith stated yes. Fred Krch asked how to find out when the bid openings are scheduled? Mayor Smith stated to contact the City Staff to get the information. Councilmember Barr apologized for not responding to Mr. Krch's letter and stated he originally was going to comment during the next Council meeting, in which he was not here. Would love to see that project in the future, does not like that the only access is through Rancho Viejo. When League City Parkway and Brittany Bay Boulevard extends to FM 528 that would be the beginning of an opportunity to finally see something out there. Councilmember Rivera stated Council plans on working on communication by doing more town hall meetings. Councilmember Holbert stated he spoke with Mr. Krch concerning Lake Windemere property. He stated he walked the property and looked at it aerially, unfortunately the ability to get in and out of it is very complex. It might be tied into construction on the second phase of League City Parkway. Could discuss with some Councilmembers to partner with Galveston County, Council turned that property over to Sherry � Riveron with Riveron Law Firm to keep her eye open on any grant money reminded everybody that Council does not own a newspaper, the City does cooperate with the editorial and has to pay for legal ads. Mary Gillespie, Friendswood resident since 1965, addressed Council and asked to explain what is the difference between a Certification of Obligation (CO) and a Bond? Does the payment being considered include both principal and interest or just interest? Can someone break that down for residents? What is the time period? After the time period, is the City free and clear or is there still a CO hanging over our head? Councilmember Holbert stated in the municipal world there are two types of bonds, actually more. There are Water and Sewer bonds and those bonds are sold to pay for water and sewer facilities, they are paid for by revenue through your water bill. There are general obligation bonds which are funded through tax revenues, the last election for example where we had the library and $3.1 million for park improvements would have been funded through an increase in our tax rate. Then there are Certificates of Obligation, they are a bond which has principal and interest and are funded through operating revenue. We forecasted $11 million because over the next five years that would be the maximum we could fund. The term that you put them out at is flexible in the market place, you have to sell them into the public municipal market place typically in ten, twenty, or thirty year increments. Council has found it difficult to find buyers for those bonds that would take anything less than a twenty-year commitment and would not allow prepayment for at least ten years. Patrick McGinnis, Friendswood resident of 15 years, addressed Council and stated it still seems fishy going to Austin, why does the City not take these issues and have the citizens vote on them? Does not think the proposals are an emergency. ,,s, 06/11/2009 3148 � Councilmember Rivera addressed the bonds versus Certificates of Obligation (CO). As a homeowner there are necessary monthly expenses like mortgage and utilities then there are unnecessary expenses to make your home better. What can make Friendswood a better community such as the roads, records storage center, sports park expansion, drainage improvements and street improvements, things we need to do. Council was elected to make those decisions, then there are other things like library improvements or a civic center that make living in Friendswood a little bit better, those are things the City does not have to have to keep the City operating, that is why Council put them on a bond. Council is looking at borrowing the money for necessary expenses through obligations and payments would come from property taxes, which would not raise current tax rates. There is $164 million of necessary expenses and unnecessary expenses, Council is trying to address a few of the expenses to keep the City from deteriorating. Council came up with $11 million to work with and in 2003, voters approved $3.5 million giving a total of$14 million. Council is taking this matter to court to see if it is legal. Councilmember Reid stated the park is a small portion of the bonds Council is planning to issue. These bonds are paying for an Animal Control facility that is out of compliance and for drainage issues downtown. If Council put the drainage issues to a vote and the people said no, then that would allow people to continue to flood. People in Forest Bend might not want to pay for drainage in Annalea Subdivision or vice versa. The majority of the money is going to help with infrastructure of the City and a small portion is going toward parkland. Councilmember Barr stated Council has not issued any Certificates of Obligations (CO) nor has Council voted on CO's. Council has talked about possibly funding the projects using CO's, Council has to make sure that there is enough money held aside for natural disasters. The $4.5 million in drainage, Council had to match $1 million of that with Galveston County to help with the project on FM 518. This project is � what Council has many people saying the City needs. Council is trying to look at other ways to fund the Animal Control project with Sherry Riveron. Council has not voted on any CO's yet Council is just looking at ways it can be funded. Councilmember Holbert stated the previous Council had entered into an agreement to secure all the surface water rights necessary that would take the City through maximum population. Council had to issue Water and Sewer Revenue bonds and as a result everybody's water bill went up. Mayor Smith stated the residents have had several viewpoints from Council and the issue the City is faced with is how to fix the City's infrastructure. Last year the City had $800,000 in the budget for street repair, occasionally the City has big problems come up where they need immediate attention, that requires money. Citizens want to take these issues before a vote, but the question is what does Council do if the vote is no. How is Council going to replace $20 million of street replacement? What happens to the homes and quality of life in that area? Councilmember Rivera stated that Hurricane Ike taught this Council that the City was prepared. The City's water was up and running before the surrounding cities. The City of Friendswood is seen as dependable by itself, because of that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be less likely to help in the future due to our adequacy to get back onto our feet. This City stands alone and Council has to get the City back to running as quick as possible because that is what citizens expect. Councilmember Barker stated Council received an opinion on putting Certificate of Obligation's (CO)for a vote, if that failed Council could no longer issue CO's for capital projects. Councilmember Barker stated once Council put it out, for example if Council ask citizens to vote on these ,,._, streets and it is voted no, then Council no longer has that option of going back to CO's and Council is trapped to increase taxes. 06/11/2009 3149 .�,. Councilmember Rivera stated when Council looks at funding, Council collectively looks at the revenue stream. Council goes to other departments like Economic Development and found the City is up 6.4% in our sales tax revenue. That money helps reduce the tax burden. Bernard Cox, Friendswood resident of 25 years, addressed Council and stated she is concerned about safety, there are no valid evacuation routes out of Friendswood and would like FM 518 drainage to be Council's top priority. Councilmember Holbert stated unfortunately the City does not own FM 518 and the City cannot touch it. Councilmember Rivera stated the City is working on Brittany Bay Boulevard. Deirdre Brown, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated she believes a declaratory judge at this time is appropriate and agrees with Mr. Sharp, state the misrepresentation on the emails directly and state the response, utilize the website for communication. Would have supported parks if understood why the Alvin property was not subject to a bond and all other parks were subjected to a bond. Ask the local newspaper for a section to help with communication and asked about the 5 percent petition rule as it relates to CO's. Mayor Smith asked Mrs. Brown to explain what she knows pertaining to the 5 percent rule. Deirdre Brown stated there are school bond Certifications of Obligation (CO) which are the 5 percent registered voters, CO's related to City issues and asked Council if they were familiar with the 5 percent rule. .�.. Councilmember Rivera stated he is familiar with the 5 percent rule but would ask for a legal opinion. Councilmember Holbert stated he understands it as if 5 percent of the registered voters came with a petition against the CO's it can be precluded. Would have to do more research, it is complicated because of the different types of bonds. Deirdre Brown stated she would like the public to be aware of the 5 percent rule. If there are CO's then public can put together a petition of 5 percent, sometimes it is the qualified versus the registered voters. If the City only has 22,000 registered voters then 5 percent would be somewhere around 1,000, the 1,000 registered voters could then have those CO's put to a vote before the people. There are different categories, some might fall under the exceptions. The rule is cited in Chapter 271. Councilmember Rivera stated he does not want her to put words in his mouth, park expansion is identified as a need and Council satisfied that need by acquiring the Alvin land. Deirdre Brown stated she is concerned about wording in the bond referendum and Capital Improvement Project(CIP). Councilmember Barr thanked Mrs. Brown for the newspaper idea and stated he would like to see more town hall meetings. Arthur Hsu, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated there is a lack of communication, and suggested articles on projects be posted in the Focus on Friendswood publication and asked how the taxes on the Alvin property will be handled. ...w Councilmember Rivera stated there are no taxes on public property. Mayor Smith thanked everyone for coming and thanked them for their questions and comments. 06/11/2009 3150 � This meeting was adjourned at 11:45 PM. M r David J.H. Smith Attest: , '' � � ��� FRIEp��� , el ris McKenzie, TRMC v v City Secretary � * � ��rF OF '�E�'P� A.-.. �