HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 1984-01-09 Regular 1��
MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL
January 9 , 1984
A Regular Meeting of the Friendswood City Council was held at
the City Hall on Monday , January 9 , 1984 , at 7 : 00 p.m. with the
following members present :
Mayor Ralph Lowe Ci1=y Attorney Larry Schenk
� Councilmen: Jan Jordan
City Manager Jim Morgan
� i Evelyn Newman City Secretary Bobbie Henry
� Bob Wicklander
Leon Brown
Paul Schrader
Bruce Branham
With a quorum present , and with none absent , the following busi-
ness was transacted:
Q INVOCATION was given by Jim Morgan.
�
� APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Minutes of a Regular Meeting of December 19 ,
� 1983 , approved as corrected.
CC� ANNOUNCEMENTS � COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR
Q
l. Mayor Lowe reported that during the recent freeze there were
some problems with the City' s water facilities , but these were
handled promptly and without too much inconvenience to the
citizens. Our neighbors in Countryside , however, were not so
fortunate , and the Friendswood Fire Department transported water
to them through the crisis.
i � 2 • Mayor Lowe , Councilman Jordan , and the City Manager have met
with officials and builders from Houston and Harris County to
discuss Friendswood' s ETJ , water problems , and the Blackhawk
Sewer Plant . Future meetings are planned to find mutual solu-
tions to some of these problems .
3 . Councilman Jordan thanked all of those involved in keeping the
citizens supplied with water during the recent freeze . She
also reported that she met on December 27 with Bruce Golden
of MUD 55 to discuss their leasing capacity in the Blackhawk
Plant pending enlargement of the pl.ant .
4. Jordan also met with the "Fair Play Committee" on December 28
to discuss any problems Wedgewood citizens may have with the
transition into the City. She said they are primarily concerned
with zoning; a public hearing on rezoning oP the entire subdivi-
sion is planned in February by the Planning & Zoning Commission.
Other areas of concern are the 8" water line across the Creek
and repairs to the lift statioti. Some citizens also woul.d like
to see a recreation path or crossing over Clear Creek which
would permit children to cross the ereek safely.
5 . Mayor Lowe welcomed visitors to the meeting including members
of the Brazoria County Drainage District #4 , Dale Anna and
Carl Smith from Clear Creek Drainage District , Mr. Cecil Brown ,
Sr. , Don Allen from the Corps of Engineers , Earl Lairson , City
Auditor, and said he was expection Gary Laneman from Dr. Grubb ' s
office , who will be representing the Texas Department of Wa�er
Resources on the Flood Control Studo of Coward and Chigger Creeks ,
for which the TDWR is furnishing 75o grant funds .
6 . PROCLAMATION - Mayor Lowe proclaimed January 13-14 as "Better
Speech Days in Friendswood" and asked for volunteers rto help
judge speech competition at the High School on those days .
He presented the Proelamation to students who were present .
128
7 . The first "Key to the City" was presented to Mr. Cecil Brown, Sr.
and Mrs . Brown (who was not present) . Mr. Brown is the son of
Frank J. Brown, founder of Friendswood.
8 . Mayor Lowe recognized Paul Benson who has been the City Council
reported for several years for the Friendswood News . Paul
will be leaving this week for Waco where he will attend Baylor
Law School. He introduced his replacement , Lori Railey.
9 . Mayor Pro-tem Leon Brown read a letter from the Council thanking
Mayor and Mrs . Lowe for the 4 . 552 acres of land which they ,
recently donated to the City for parks and recreational purposes . I
Morgan added that an unusual aspect of this gift is that it
came to the City with all taxes paid and no cost to the City
for the title transfer.
PUBLIC HEARING ON FLOOD CONTROL STUDY
Mayor Lowe explained that this is the first project funded under
a new State program Por flood control study administered through
the Texas Department of Water Resources .
Malcolm Collins , who is engineer on the project , gave a status report
on work that has been done so far. Mr. Collins explained that such
hearings as this are required for the purpose of receiving in-put
from other flood control entities whieh would be beneficial to the
project. He explained what work has been done in preparation for
actually surveying the creeks , and stated that approximately 1%
of the work has been accomplished.
Mrs. Lillian Holiday of 404 Falling Leaf questioned why a study is
needed to determine what needs to be done on the creek. Collins
explained that his job will be to furnish actual plans for the work
to be done preparatory to implementation. Dale Anna of CCDD
addressed the problem of cleaning debris left in the creek from
last year' s hurricane , and said that this work will be done as
quickly as time permits .
Don Al1en from the Corps of Engineers said that Corps work on the
Clear Creek project is continuing with a present proposal to first
do a segment of the Creek from Clear Lake up to Highway 3 . He said
that Harris County has vorted bonds and definitely plan to begin the
important second outlet from Clear Lake to the Bay.
Mayor Lowe made reference to his "Safety Valve Program" which, he
explained, would not supersede the Corps project but would afford
some relief to the area between Highway 3 and FM 528 .
Gary Laneman from TDWR said he is available to be of any help on
the project possible and to follow up on the interest of his agency.
Malcolm Collins thanked all of the entities represented, including
the Brazoria County District �4. With no others wishing to address
the subject , the public hearing was closed.
REPORT ON THE MARY' S CREEK PROJECT - Carl Smith from CCDD made a
report on the status of this project which is being done jointly
by the Drainage District , the Brazoria County Drainage District #4 ,
and the City of Friendswood.
Mr. Don Allen from the Corps of Engineers discussed ::t.he ,status of '
the second outlet to the Galveston Bay which is believed to be
essential for positive results from any other f_lood control projects
on Clear Creek.
AUDITORS REPORT - Earl Lairson reviewed with Council the Audit
for 1983 - 1984 .
� �9
ABANDONMENT OF WHISPERING PINES - Representatives from the New
Life Church were present to ask for clarificartion on status of
this project . The City Attorney explained that the City will
furnish to the Church and to Mr. Utley a Quit Claim deed to their
respeetive half of the roadway being abandoned. The City is now
awaiting a letter from Utley approving the present proposal and
agreeing to relinquish all claims to the Church` s half of the
roadway.
MOTION: (Schrader) To direct the attorney to proceed with � f��
necessary action to abandon a. section of Whispering Pines �
and prepare quit-claim deeds to adjacent property owners .
Second: Newman
Vote : Unanimous FOR MOTION CARRIED
REQUEST REGARDING FLOOD CONTROL RE�ULATIONS - Blain Ballard, local
builder asked for clarification on floor elevation on new homes
based on the Flood Control Ordinance . He said over a long period
of time they have been building at 24" above the centerline of the
street . Now he has several foundations started based on this
Q concept, and has been told that the rules have been changed and he
� must now build 18" above the natural grade of the 1ot involved.
� Mr. Morgan stated that it has been determined that if the foundations
� are 24" above the center line of the street , they are aeceptable ;
� after learning this , he had not contacted the builders on this fact.
E[ CONFLICT OF INTEREST - The City Attorney explained a new law regard-
ing conflict of interest for elected and appointed officials and
the procedure to be followed where such a conflict exists .
COMPUTER STUDY - A recommendation from the Computer Study Committee ,
composed of Councilman Schrader, Russell Williams , and Lynn Bucher,
was to go with Deloitte , Haskins & Sells . If a satisfactory contract
can not be negotiated, they recommend that a contract with Thigpenn
, � be negotiated.
MOTION: (Schrader) To authorize the City Manager to begin �.�/
negotiations with Deloitte , Haskins & Sells to proceed with �QN�,
the study. �,�
Second: Branham
Vote : Unanimous FOR MOTION CARRIED
WORD PROCESSOR FOR CITY SECRETARY' S OFFICE - The City Secretary
was authorized to proceed with a lease-purchase agreement for a
computer for her office .
FRANCHISE AGREEMENT WITH HL&P - Copies of the franchise as proposed
by HL&P were distributed to Council. The Attorney said he has
studied the document and made suggestion for several changes with
which Council agreed. He is to make these changes and submit the
dpcument back to rthe Light Company for their approval .
PARK PROPERTY IN HERITAGE ESTATES - A letter from Mr. and Mrs .
Ray Davis has transmitted deeds to two lots in Heritage Estates
to the City to be used as park space . These parks are to be
maintained by the homeowners of the subdivision.
REPORTS FROM THE CITY MANAGER
I
, 1. The State Parks Department has reported to Morgan that they
hope rto get approval of our "Letter of Retroactivity" for grant
money for a swimming pool on the land donated by Mayor Lowe .
Applications are acceptable in May and October, so when this
information is received, we would then need to submit our appli-
cation for grant as soon as poss.ible.
2 . Weather has again held up work on the Greenbriar bridge
but they are ready to start on the rip-rap installation.
I�
130 ,
3 . Work is progressing on Clearview drainage , but Morgan has
not instructed the Engineer to proceed with plans for improve-
ment of Shadowbend. He indicated that this information should
be forthcoming next week.
4. Request has been made for transfer of the permit for the I
Clear Woods water well to the City of Priendswood. This is !
to be voted on tomo:rrow by the Subsidence Board. '
5 . Soil tests for the overhead storage water tank is due tomorrow,
then the contractor can proceed with the new water facilities
project.
6 . The water line to Wedgewood is awaiting a permit from the State I
to lay the line across the creek , which it is estimated will
take about 90 days . The former bid on this work will expire
before this permit is received, so it will be necessary to go
out for additional bids .
7. Councilman Schrader asked about removal of the "Boots � Britches"
sign whieh has been changed for a replacement business . Mr.
Morgan had been given instructions to file against the new owner.
Morgan said the owner claims this is,. a "shopping. center" sign
and as such is a carry-over of the former non-conforming sign
permitted under the grandfather clause . He said he would have
the new sign administrator look into the matter.
DRAINAGE PP.OBLEM IN SAN JOAQUIN - Morgan siad there seems to be a
difference in opinion on what is required by the City ' s flood con-
trol regulations relative to drainage in San Joaquin subdivision.
He proposed a meeting of all parties involved to try to resolve this
question.
ORDINANCES
I i
#T1-84 - REZONING LOT AT QUAKER AND SUNNYVIEW - First Reading
i
MOTION: (Newman) To approve first reading of Ord. ¢/T1-84 .
Second: Jordan
Vote : Unanimous FOR MOTION CARRIED
CHECKS FOR APPROVAL - Following checks unanimously approved for payment .
General Fund #3020 - Truman Taylor Ins . $ 58 ,500 . 00
3021 - TML Workers Comp 3 ,058 . 00
3035 - Gal. Co. Appraisal Dist . 9 ,062 . 75
3047 - Greenspoint Dodge 8 , 925 . 09
3059 - Frs . Volunteer Fire Dept. 25 , 268 . 75
3073 - Best Waste Systems 29 , 000 . 00
W&S Fund #1408 - Taylor Ins . Agency 9 000 . 00
Clear Woods Operating Acct : HL&P 2 , 028 . 08
Accounts Control Corporation 508 . 70
Smith, Murdough , Attorneys 1 ,150 . 16
Gulf Coast Waste Disposal 8 , 648 . 27
City of Frs . W&S Fund 14 , 590 . 72
Carroll Childers Company 533. 90
Clear Woods Construction : Carroll Childers Co. 297 . 10
CITY MANAGER ABSENCE - Morgan reported that his father is having
an operation and he will be out of town next week. Melvin Meinecke I
will be Acting City Manager in his absenee.
i
ADJOURNMENT - Motion made and seconded that the meeting adjourn.
The meeting was adjourned.
y .. �a,t.c-C-,
ob ie C. Henry, City Secretary
APPROVED:
F<�����/�f�. ���
Mayo�