HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2004-04-05 Regular 04/05/04 2138
STATE OF TEXAS )(
CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )(
COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )(
APRIL 5, 2004 )(
MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON
MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2004 AT 6:00 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S.
FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD,TEXAS,WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A
QUORUM:
MAYOR KIM BRIZENDINE
MAYOR PRO-TEM JERRY ERICSSON
COUNCILMEMBER LAURA E1/VING
COUNCILMEMBER TRACY GOZA
COUNCILMEMBER DAVID J. H. SMITH
COUNCILMEMBER SHANNON KIMMEL
COUNCILMEMBER MEL MEASELES
CITY ATTORNEY LOREN SMITH
CITY MANAGER RON COX
CITY.SECRETARY DELORIS MCKENZIE
I�n?.�y0i SiIZeilCiifi2 Caiicu iii2 �ii22tliiy iv vi�ci.
6:00 PM—SPECfAL RECEPTION
Mayor Brizendine presented a Proclamation and Certificates honoring the Friendswood High School Acaderriic
Decathlon Team's 12th Consecutive State Championship. Members of the team are Andy Steinhauser, Alex
Hoeg, Ryan Rahman, Trey German, Robert Lockwood, Chris Smith, David Sanders, Wil Ramsey, Micah
Fessler and their manager is Allen Miller. A reception was held in their honor.
_..__. 7:00 PM — REGULAR SESSION
The Invocation was given by Pastor Rick Austin from Friendswood Baptist Church.
Girl Scout Troop 442 led the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS
Councilmember Ewing reported on the upcoming Relay for Life for Cancer Society City Team which has been
forrrmed and will be held on April 23�d beginning at 6:00 PM and 8:00 AM, asked for donations or auction items,
attended the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee meeting in March, the 4"' of July Steering Committee
meeting, a League City Council meeting, tlie Galveston County Mayor and Council meeting, the TML Region
14 mee#ing with Councilmember Measeles where there was an excellent speaker, atfended the mesting
regarding developmenf in the City, Spring Sparkle was very successful, April 1 attended a picnic in Stevenson
Park hosted by Friendswood Chamber of Commerce and a Council Retreat on Friday, reported Texas
Municipal League awarded Councilmember Measeles for 5 years of continuous membership and he is very
active in keeping his hours up with professional growth as a leader of the communify.
Councilmember Ericsson reported on economic development projects such as the Rucker project on FM 2351
and the Whitcomb property on FM 528 which has.been in the Whifcomb family coming from a Spanish Land
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" Grant, attended a Keep Ellington Field support meefing, last week which was well attended, Texas
Commissioners touring 13 sites, have not had a turnout at any other site as was for Ellington, Bay Area
Economic Partnership Keep It Sold trip is being planned, Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) meets
tomorrow, the annual H-GAC dinner meeting was held last week, Bill Welch from La Porte is Chairman of the
Board and Primary Early Voting is going on now and encouraged everyone to vote.
Councilmember Goza reported on Wednesday he attended the DARE 5th grade graduation at Bales
Elementary, the Mayor attended at Windsong Elementary on Thursday and all Council attended Wedgewood
Elementary, invited essay winners to read their essay at the next Council meeting, several dance teams
attendetl a National Competition a couple of weeks ago and daughter Kendall Goza won solo national
champion.
David Smith congratulated the Friendswood Rotary who raised a little over$10,000 in fheir annual Reverse
Draw fundraiser, $50,000 worth of scholarships go back into the community, well represented in Rotary
Infernational, congratulations to Councilmember Ewing for taking the Council trophy last Monday at the
Council bowling social, notable award for bowling style was City Secretary, Deloris McKenzie,attended some
of the same meetings already mentioned, thanked City Manager Ron Cox�and Mayor Brizendine for holding
the Retreat, congratulated graduating DARE students from Wedgewood Elementary and recognized the
Friendswood Police Department and Officers Scofield and Bender for their efforts in a dangerous incidenf in
the City on Friday.
Councilmember Kimmel reported he has been traveling the last month and missed the Council social last
Mcnday rig"t.
Mayor Brizendine stated Councilmember Kimmel's work schedule takes him out of town often and that is
unforiunate because Council is more effective when he is here,when he is gone we miss him and his candid
comrnenfs and he is a viable and essential component to the decision-making process and it is always good to
see him at the meeting.
Councilmember Measeles reported he attended many of the same meetings already reported, attended the
Ellington Field function as well, reported on the proposal to enhance the property,stated it is vital that we keep
Elfington here, talked to some of other Mayor's and Council's and they expressed their support and would
pass Resolutions in support of Ellington Field, attended the TML Region 14 meeting and the speaker spoke on
emergency rooms, hospital bed shortages and wanting to make City's aware of the problem, will attend a
seminar this Thursday at St. Thomas University on flooding and water quality.
Mayor Brizendine recognized with a proclamation and reception the Acaderriic Decathlon Team who will be
attending the National Competition this month, attended the official opening ofYouth Sports Day,an excellent
job was done by City Staff in coordinating this event, recognized a partnership with the Little League Board,
the City donating some funds and private funds building new restroom facilifies which are very nice and
_ representative of cooperation with private donations, held Council Retreat on Friday, there is excellent
progress, as Mayor he is very proud, attended Friendswood Rotary's Reverse Draw which was the best they
ever had, attended a Chamber Luncheon on Friday with a large attendance, recognized two Homeowner's
Association's Presidents in the audience, working to develop that partnership with the Homeowner's
Association's Presidents for citizen input which is important to the viability of this community and recognized
the Boy Scout and Girl Scout Troop in attendance tonight.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC
Joe DeBonis, 418 Oak Vista Drive, addressed Council and stated he had a complaint regarding landscapers
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and blowing yard waste into the center of fhe street, asked what kind of ordinances regulate this, the biggest
offender is a contractor with the City that mows the Library and Activity Center, it hurts all of us
environmenfally, don't know how to control, Friendswood has plenty of trees and will always have leaves. The
Mayor stated he will pass this information along to the City Manager.
� Jay Yashin, 2255 West Parkwood, addressed Council and stated he owns the Mobil Station,wants to rezone
the property and wants to change to allow Used Car Sales with Mayor Brizendine referring him to the City
Manager.
Mary Matthews, 3008 Park Bend Drive, in Autumn Creek, addressed Council and stated she represents only
herself on her behalf and her husband, is speaking as a concerned cifizen, sub-surface water, property value,
drainage and property value, Section 14 of the Drainage Code, dumping of dirt behind home and is two to
three feet higher than the adjacent property, spoke fo Depufy Director of Community Development, Dan
Johnson, who spoke to the developer and told them to cease dumping and to level which they did, today the
dirt has been dug again and trenches have been dug, is concerned with drainage, found sub-surface water
under the yard coming up from the ground, exposed the gas line,.have been told the water is coming from
behind their lot, is asking for explanation and investigation from City and has sent five letters to the City.
Mayor Brizendine asked Ms. Matthews to submit letters and her concerns to the City Manager.
Bill Hausinger, 509 Pilgrims Lane, addressed Council and stated he lives in Heritage Estates, spoke on the
good relations from the Community Development Department; metwith Deputy Director Dan Johnson and his
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Ardoin, Diana Steelquist and Wendy Kingery who led him through all the steps and were very helpful.
CfTY MANAGER'S REPORT
The City of Friendswood has been awarded an Emergency Management Performance Grant for FY2004.
This award was submitted affer application was made for funding. The grant in the amount of$46,628 will be
used fo purchase equipment for the new Emergency Operations Center, training for the Fire Marshal's Office
and Emergency Management Office Staff and to support the operations of the Office of Emergency
-... . Management. The City has already been approved for$69,267 direct base grant and another$30,000 from
Galveston County through H-GAC in the third round of Homeland Securify funding. These funds are to be
used for radio communication equipment, haz-mat equipment,and supplies for the Volunteer Fire Department
and Automatic External Defibrillators (AED). This combined amount was granted as a result of the significant
planning work done by the Emergency Management Departmenf Staff.
Congratulations to Lisa Voyles, Crime Victims Assistance Coordinator in the Police Department,who has been
appointed to a national advisory committee. The appointment comes from the International Association of
Chiefs of Police. Lisa is one of 35 people appointed from across the nation. A letter from the Executive
Director of the IACP is included, and attached to that letter is a list of the members. You can see the
membersfiip consists of e very prestigious group of people, including directors of national organiza#ions, chiefs
of police from major metropolitan areas and state and local elected officials. The purpose of the committee is
fo support and provide advice to the development of a national initiative entitled Victim Oriented Policing:
Creating a New Victim Service Model forAmerica's Law Enforcement Community.
Recentiy, there has been considerable discussion in other cities across the State of Texas on whether
Counciis should approve the newly aufhorized tax freeze for property owners over the age of 65. Included in
the informafion Council was given tonight is a memo from the Texas Municipai League(TML)on the subject,
as well as a memo sent to Council on February 5. Also included were editorial statements from two major
Texas newspapers caufioning cities in approving this exemption. The TML has been quite active recently,
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both in correspondence to the member cities and in the news media regarding Governor Rick Perry's proposal
• to cap taxes for all taxing jurisdictions. There is a resolution later on in this agenda to be considered related to
fhis initiative. However,TML is also recommending cities be very careful before approving this exemption for
several reasons: It is irrevocable and once this exemption is granted, it can never be rescinded. If future
conditions merit a change in the amount of revenues necessary to operate the local government, future City
Councils are bound by this action and the potential revenue is lost forever. Other property owners must make
up the difference. Both TML and the two major newspapers correctly state that government services are not
provided for free. Although this initiative limits the amount of taxes this group of citizens will pay, the cost of
providing those services remains the same. So, this initiative pits the younger taxpayers against the older
taxpayers, neighbor against neighbor and provides an inequity in tax paymenfs. Some argue the schools offer
this freeze now and fhe cities should also but there is a key difference. Where citizens with school age
children theoretically should be paying a more than equal share of the costs of educating their children, all
citizens regardless of age share equally in the use of city services and should likewise share in the cost of
those services. Other tax limiting initiatives are looming. Finally,TML cautions rushing headlong into freezing
taxes in this area,when the Texas Legislature is on the brink of cafling a Special Legislafive Session on school
funding. This sounds innocuous, but the truth is the Governor of this great state has put a proposal on the
table that does not fix school funding and will create a municipal funding crisis in the process. If the
Governor's efforts are successful and the Legislature somehow limits the cities'ability to gain revenue in the
traditional ways, then cities are in double jeopardy if they freeze taxes for those over 65 aiso. TML is
recommending that cities wait on the outcome of the speciai legislative session before taking any action on
this tax freeze option. Also included in Council's packet is a memo sent earlier and would like to offer the
following observations from that article. Current exemptions are significant. The City Council of Friendswood
has been ��er-y�r�rna�ti�ia in r�rOVl�IC;y cvomNtlOtlS, �!IC�.'°G� �y�2V✓t0 2�� GI�{Z@�5, I��C�u�I��C� SN2CI8I 2X2���N�iCnS
for senior citizens, which includes a 20 percent homestead exemption. Friendswood is the only City in the
area that offers any type of homestead exemption and offers the maximum allowable by law. The value of this
exemption citywide, amounts to 11.5 cents on the property tax rate to all residential property owners including
those over 65. Over 65 and disabled exemptions, which is over and above the homestead exemption.
Currently, those over 65 and disabled receive an additional $25,000 exemption. Combined exemption
opportunities for those over 65 are more than those in the area. The average value of a home in Friendswood
today is $171,000. For a senior citizen, the exemptions on that home amount to $59,200. To add the tax
freeze tends to skew the equity of fhe spread of the tax burden toward young homeowners who already are
bearing the burden of school taxes. The recommendation is to view this action cautiously and at least wait
until the legislature completes its special session.
Council recently held a Joint Work Session with the Planning & Zoning Commission, Community and
Economic Development Committee, and the Main Street Steering Committee. The purpose of the meeting
was to hear presentations from two developers proposing the development of"mixed-use"developments in
the City. Mixed-use, although not thoroughly defined at this time, is a concept of having retail/office/residential
uses mixed together in one specific area. These proposed developments have huge economic development
potential for the City. These prospects combined with the Main Street initiatives, which would include the
same kinds of mixed uses, heightens the importance of the City preparing a zoning classification that can
accommodate these and other similar economic development projects like these. A Staff team has been
appointed consisting of representatives of the City Manager's office, Community Development Division and
Economic Development fo develop and look at all aspects of need for the successful implementation of these
mixed-use concepts. That initially means the developmenf of a draft zoning ordinance amendment thatwould
create a Mixed-Use Development Zone. We will be teaming up with the developers who made the
presentations, the CityAttorney to prepare a draftfor the Planning and Zoning Commission and other related
commitfees to review in the next few weeks. The team is on an aggressive schedule. We will continue to
keep you posted on our progress, and when appropriate, v✓ill schedule a work session to provide fur�her
details on the zoning classification.
04/05/04 2142
ACTION ITEM
'"'Councilmember Goza moved to approve action regarding approving the City's participation in the Drug
Enforcement Agency Task Force and authorizing an additional Police Officer be hired for this program.
�.__,. Seconded by Councilmember Measeles. The motion was approved unanimously.
RESOLUTION
*"Councilmember Smith moved to approve Resolution No. R2004-06 — A Resofution of the City of
. Friendswood, Texas, opposing ariy schooi finance or tax system reforms that would negatively affect City
revenues and economic development efforts.
Seconded by Councilmember Goza. The mofion was approved 6-0 with Councilmember Kimmel not voting.
CONSENT AGENDA
**Councilmember Measeles moved to approve the Consent Agenda as p�esented. A. Payment of Capital
Projects— 1. Centennial Park Phase II with payment in the amount of$52,452.47 to Hall Barnum Lucchesi
Architects for architectural services. To date, 97 percent of the contract has been expended. 2.
Woodlawn/Shadowbend Drainage with payment in the amount of$19,477.86 to Freese and Nichols, Inc., for
engineering services. To date, 24 percent of the contract has been expended. 3. Friendswood Link Road
Engineering with payment in the amount of$22,480.35 to Claunch&Miller for engineering services. To date,
64 Nercerf oi ihe contract has been expended. Txt�G i wiii reimburse the City$17,998.68 ofthis payment. 4.
Brittany Bay Engineering Study with payment in the amount of$1,551.30 to Freese& Nichols for engineering
services. To date, 1 percent of the contract has been expended. TxDOT will reimburse the City$1,241.04 of
this payment. 5. San Joaquin Gravity Sewer with payment in the amount of $1,118.00 to HTS, Inc.,
Consultants for analysis services. To date, 100 percent of the contract has been expended. 6. Friendswood
Link/Whittier Oaks Force Main with payment in the amount of$8,752.13 to Troy Construction, LLP, for final
payment of retainage. To date, 100 percent of the contract and retainage has been expended. 7. Renwick
Park Concession Stand with payment in the amount of �7,000.00 to Camelot Plumbing for construction
services. To date, 100 percent of the contract has been expended. 8. New Public Safety Building
- - Architectural with payment in the amount of$1,320.00 to Randall-Porterfield Architects, Inc., for consultant
services. To date, 2.5 percent of the contract has been expended. 9. Public Works Heavy Equipment/Large
Vehicle Storage Bays with. payment in the amount of $250.00 to Randall-Porterfield Architects, Inc:, for
architect services. To date, 100 percent of the contract has been expended. 10. Longwood Park Water and
Sewer Conversions wifh payment in the amount of$10,722.83 to Pennstar, Inc.,for construction services. To
date, 88 percent of the contract has been expended. Total payments were$125,124.94. B.Approve changes
to Employees Personnel Policies for Educational Reimbursement and Military Leave. C. Approve re-filing of
Federal Equitable Sharing Agreement(FESA) and Federai Annual Certification Report with current Mayor's
signature. D. Approval of Inierlocal Agreement with Harris County to participate in the "Smart Zone" 800
Megahertz Regional Radio System. E. Rafify and confirm change orders to the San Joaquin Gravity Sewer
Main Project: 1. Change Order No..2 in the amount of$12,000 for manhole replacement.2. Change Order No.
3 in the amount of$8,740 for replacing three joints. F.Approve Resolution R2004-05,A Resolution of the City
of Friendswood, Texas, authorizing aerial spraying over Friendswood by the Galveston County Mosquito
Control District for the County-Wide Mosquito Control Program. G. Appoint substitute Election Judge for the
May 15, 2004, City of Friendswood/Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District Election. H. Approve
Heritage Estates' Homeowners Association request to place entryway signs in the City's Right of Way. I.
Approve contract with L&M Contractors for fhe construction of a Public Works Heavy Equipment Storage
Facility. J.Approve Banner Permif Applications: 1. Friendswood Community Church. 2. Mary Queen Church.
K. Approval of February, 2004 Property Tax Report. L. Approve Minutes of March 1 and March 11, 2004
Meetings.
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Seconded by Councilmember Smith. The mofion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 7:57 PM.
�;(� � �.,�: ��` �
�
Mayor Kimball W. Brizendine
Attest:
. �
Dei ris McKenzie, TRMC
City Secretary