HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2009-06-29 Special 06/29/2009 3159
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STATE OF TEXAS )(
CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )(
COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )(
JUNE 29, 2009 )(
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON
THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2009 AT 6:00 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 BOB WIENERS
CITY SECRETARY DELORIS MCKENZIE
Mayor Smith called the meeting to order.
CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION
„� Council convened into Executive Session in Accordance with the Texas Government Code, pursuant to
Section 551.071 —Consultation with attorney concerning pending or contemplated litigation; a settlement
offer; or a matter in which the duty of the attorney requires it.
Council convened into Regular Session with no action taken later in the meeting.
RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION
SPECIAL SESSION
A discussion was held regarding the capital Improvement Projects and the Multi-Year Financial Plan
Process.
Mayor Smith gave an overview of where the City is at this time and gave the next step to take in the
decision making process. It will be difficult to get the word out to everyone as to the many projects that
have been previously discussed, there is a lot of information to try to transfer to the public to recapture the
number of ineetings held to discuss the projects over the last couple of years. He will come up with a
method to pull the information together to give the citizens the big picture and is working on greater
communication. The City is continuing to use the Focus Newsletter and website, believes Council needs
to slow down a little and the citizens will possibly be able to get meetings over the internet.
Councilmember Barr stated the beginning is to get the information out to the public, the public does not
understand what Council is doing, stated he is more than willing to slow down, would consider sending a
mailer to the citizens and work with them to get information out, will have to eat the apple a little at a time.
Council did not get information out to the public regarding General Obligation's (GO) and Certificate of
Obligation's (CO) and is in favor of taking a different direction, willing to spend more time above the 20
,..., hours a week and may need to commit a few more hours and figure out how to bring the citizens along in
keeping them educated. Council must transfer the information and use all resources to get the
information to them and think citizens will be happy.
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Councilmember Rivera stated he agreed with some of what Councilmember Barr stated. Stated he
believes that the majority of the citizens are pleased with the work that is being done. Council will need to
figure out how to get citizens involved and engaged except for the small group of citizens. The City has
achieved a lot in the last few years; Council has addressed many projects that citizens have brought to
Council's attention. Citizens toid Council they were in need of more sports fields and Council listened to
that need and is working towards that and also upgrading some facilities, the library is one of those
projects, but the voters stated not now and stated according to the Charter the City can issue Certificate
of Obligations (CO's) as long as it does not raise debt.
Councilmember Barr stated he agreed with Councilmember Rivera and asked where are all the people
who agree with what Council is doing. People are saying they just do not understand, but they do not
attend meetings or do not go on the internet for information. Bring the whole apple out and let the citizens
see the lists and costs of all projects; the communication from this dais is not getting the information out.
Mayor Smith stated he talked to the last three Mayors and this is not a new issue of communicating with
the public, inherent with the makeup of this City and form of government. Council does not always meet
citizens expectations, Council does not have a dedicated Staff supporting them, the City works with
relative few Staff with under 200 employees, the City has run�well with this type of set up. Council
meetings are where the work is done with no other opportunity to meet for these types of discussions.
The citizens do not understand that this is how this City operates, Friendswood is unique and has high
expectations. Mayor Smith agrees with Councilmember Rivera that the decisions have been good,
prudent actions and agrees with Councilmember Barr that communication with the public has been
lacking and there is the possibility of holding town hall meetings to roll out City projects.
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Councilmember Reid stated she is in agreement with Councilmember Rivera that communication is a two
way street. Council did a lot to get the information out through e-mail, television, group builder and
Council has been giving free time to better communicate with the citizens and stated she is not willing to
do that, iYs taking time away from God and family. There may be a need to add a Staff member to get
information out to citizens, there is a cost to add someone and citizens will have to be willing to pay for
that. It is not fair to put this on Council. Council already gives a lot of time and Council was criticized for
hiring someone to help get the information out regarding the bond election.
Councilmember Barker stated he agreed with Councilmember Rivera and Reid. There are things Council
can do better, this workshop is televised tonight and states all workshops should be televised. A lot of
information is going out and not a lot of residents are receiving it. Council meetings are streaming live on
the internet but may still not get to everyone. Is willing to put more time in to get the information across
but stated Council is restricted by law as to how many Councilmembers can discuss an issue outside of a
meeting. Council is trying hard to communicate, Council did move quickly last year and may need to slow
down but need to move on with a better job at communicating.
Mayor Smith stated Council would need to find a way to work smarter and not harder.
Councilmember Rivera stated the City has a very unique Council that are very hands on with a lot of
different skill sets, it can be a blessing or a pain. The reaction from some of the citizens was not what
was expected, citizens are telling what they want, there needs to be more town meetings and more
information given out. Would like to know how to make this happen and can give what ever time is
needed. Council needs to prioritize, make decisions, and move on, work with the rule of 4 and move
forward. Council is doing the right thing, things are being done unanimously and would like to
communicate these actions to citizens.
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Mayor Smith stated the physical attributes of the set up in the Council Chambers is difficult, not conducive
to good discussions. Council has tried other venues and it has not always worked well in letting citizens
know what is going on, Councilmembers have made suggestions to having more televised meetings and
talked about re-configuring the Council chambers and stated Council struggles with where to set these
meetings to serve Council and citizens.
Councilmember Barker stated it should be noted that if the bond issue had passed the library would have
been converted to a meeting place and there would have been plans to address the meeting area at the
Library facility to help with the meetings.
Mayor Smith stated he sees in the future a live Council meeting with interaction with the Council and have
citizens questions addressed during the meetings.
Councilmember Barker stated this would raise more questions as to how to have a two-way conversation
without it being posted, may have to have town hall meetings, there may not be answers for on line.
Mayor Smith stated the meetings would have to meet the open meetings act.
Councilmember Rivera stated how hands on Council is, the budget process is presented by Staff after it
has been reviewed by the City Manager, Council asked this year to be involved early on to help develop
priorities, the City has a great Staff and work at making them better.
Mayor Smith stated over all balance, balancing needs with tax burdens, Council is willing to spend the
time needed to develop those long-term plans, developing plans to pay for projects with General
"" Obligations (GO) or Certificate of Obligations (CO), People may not always agree with what Council has
done but will know why Council decided.
Councilmember Hill stated he thinks Council is heading down the same street that failed the bond project.
Council is trying to educate the public on finro many things at once and Council needs to concentrate on
one. Possibly concentrate on the new humane facility and take it to the public, tackle one item at a time;
it is the citizen's money. Let the citizens vote on an item; if they vote it down, then it is their money. The
City does not need to spend $600 million on streets. Council complicate things so much that some times
it is overwhelming and its not possible to understand, take one bite of the apple at a time. Believes the
voters would approve an animal shelter. Is in favor of changing the room around for better
communication, let the voter's have more input, need not over complicate the matter. Council dug our
own hole, let the voters decide one or two items at a time. Council's job is to point out priorities from
projects provided by Staff and make it very clear on what, when, and where and let the public decide if
they are going to do it.
Mayor Smith stated Council has to look at the associated cost for the projects and how to spread out the
expenses, thought good information was given for the bond election for the library and stated
Councilmember Hill shared some good comments.
Councilmember Barker stated he thought the costs were virtually the same for General Obligation's (GO)
and Certificate of Obligations (CO)?
Mayor Smith stated the cost to issue GO's and CO's is the same, the cost associated of doing multiple
projects at one time is the factor needed.
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Councilmember Rivera stated there are needs in every department, if Council wanted to go beyond the
cost then what is the cost determined that the City can afford without additional funds, Council will have to
determine how to fund and look at the big picture to figure out what the City can afford. There is no
problem with combining three projects at a time.
Councilmember Hill stated it is Council's decision to control the money and voter decision to control the
amount of money. Council continues to dig a hole.
Councilmember Barr stated there are a number of projects and some of those projects have to be
determined by the priority. Council needs to know how to communicate how this is determined, everyone
has a right to opinion and Council has a job to determine how to do this and to get this done in the most
efficient way. Council has worked hard to keep the tax rate the same, the City is 21 square miles,
believes this is a model city on how it is run. A decision has to be made on how to get this done with
citizens input, has seen e-mail's criticizing but has not received any suggestions. How else could Council
get this done, possibly have a Staff person to help with communication.
Mayor Smith stated he appreciates Council's perceptive and would like to continue to have these
discussions and is trying to figure out how to respond to e-mails and news articles. Is looking at a build
out and how to best manage that by not transferring the cost burden to the citizens. It is going to be very
limited at build out, on the cusp of answering this with the five-year plan and getting this information out to
the public, think about using the diversity of this council to consider how to address this issue of
communication, creative and innovative ways to address this process.
This meeting was adjourned at 8:05 PM. �""'
May r David J.H. Smith
Attest:
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Delo is McKenzie, TRM v
City Secretary * *
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