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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2010-06-21 Special 06/21/2010 3349 � STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( JUNE 21, 2010 )( MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON MONDAY, JUNE 21, 2010, AT 6:00 PM AND A REGULAR MEETING AT 7:00 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR DAVID SMITH COUNCILMEMBER MICHAEL BARKER COUNCILMEMBER JIM HILL COUNCILMEMBER PAT MCGINNIS COUNCILMEMBER BILL HOLBERT COUNCILMEMBER DEIRDRE CAREY BROWN CITY ATTORNEY BOBBY GERVAIS CITY MANAGER ROGER ROECKER CITY SECRETARY MELINDA WELSH Councilmember Barr was absent from the meeting Mayor Smith called the meeting to order. ,,,_ SPECIAL SESSION A discussion was held regarding the recommendations from the Ad Hoc Communications Committee. Committee Chair Sally Branson spoke and announced the Communications Committee members are Sherry Goen, Skip Evans, Corey Kirkland, Pam Beeth, Thomas Goodwin, Ron Dyer, Glen Grayban, Brett Banfield, Faye Ray, Alan Rasmussen, Mark McLean, Paul Gordner, and Wendy Slayton along with staff including Assistant to the City Manager Nick Haby and Library Director Mary Perroni. Mayor Smith explained the origins of the Communications Committee which came from a joint workshop with Council held last year and made up of all City boards, committees and commissions. Council recommended a Communications Committee to be formed to gather information on how Council could better communicate with the citizens. Communications Committee members Sally Branson and Wendy Slayton were the only members who were not part of an existing city committee. Sally Branson reported that the goal was to give Council recommendations for ways the City of Friendswood might better communicate with the community. The Communications Committee narrowed a long list of possible communication tools to the five most effectual which was Internet Communication, Newsletter, Bookmarks, Radio AM 1650 and First Call. Ms. Branson further stated it is the opinion of the committee that the City will benefit from focusing on the five communication methods. Library Director Mary Perroni stated the most hits on the city's website are for 4th of July information. Ms. Branson stated that Assistant to the City Manager Nick Haby showed the committee items that are available on the website, suggested quarterly informational library bookmarks, can opt out of the hard copy of newsletter which would save cost, handed out sample bookmarks that could be developed, these are ideas, not presuming to implement. Ms. Branson stated it is up to Council to decide on what or how much to do. She further stated that the First Call system should be used as an emergency function and suggested ,_„ that citizens could sign up their cell phone numbers to receive a text blast for emergency information. She stated there is a need to educate the public as to what is available, use the tools the city already has in place and raise the community's awareness on what the tools are. She stated she thinks the City is doing a good job on communication and may need to better inform the citizens of the tools available. Pam Beeth stated only one person on the committee knew about the AM 1650 and also pointed out that 06/21/2010 3350 ..�, some of the seniors depend on the radio for information, suggested playing podcast information on the radio as well as internet. Councilmember McGinnis stated he did not know about AM 1650 until he attended the new Councilmember orientation, has heard the website needed to be redesigned, and asked if they had any suggestions. Pam Beeth stated the committee made several website suggestions to Mr. Haby and the items were immediately implemented and it looks great. Councilmember McGinnis asked about Facebook possibly being used. Sally Branson stated there were some issues with Facebook and the committee was concerned with input. Councilmember Brown stated Facebook could be customized to where no one can post on the page, would be strictly informational. Sally Branson stated information is not getting out as far as what all is available on the website. Councilmember Brown asked if the committee had looked at a marketing plan. Sally Branson stated the committee looked at other cities near and far but have no marketing plan. Councilmember Brown asked if there are statistics available on Groupbuilder and Nick Haby answered that the number of recipients is in the thousands but there may be duplicate e-mails. Councilmember � Brown asked if Groupbuilder can give a report on statistics, as well as the website, could this be provided to Council and Mr. Haby answered that the city's website is using Google Analytics and has used it for a year. The website had 270,000 hits in fiscal year 2009 and the number of hits has more than doubled this year. Councilmember Hill stated there was money budgeted last year for road signs to be placed notifying citizens about AM 1650 and asked where those signs were located. Public Works Director Kaz Hamidian stated 50 signs will be placed at each subdivision entrance, there are several already posted at entrances to the city, and will start putting the signs at the entrances to each subdivision. Councilmember Hill stated Hurricane Ike proved every person has a radio but did not always have access to the internet or cell phones. Councilmember Brown asked if the City has a backup of Groupbuilder e-mail addresses and Mr. Haby answered that during Hurricane Ike it was found that #he Groupbuilder server was local, was not able to retrieve email addresses but was able to get the information directly to the local news channels. Appropriate steps were taken to correct it and the Groupbuilder server is now located outside the city. Councilmember Brown asked about the availability of a copy of the e-mail addresses and Mr. Haby stated it is not. Information Technology Director Todd Yeager stated he has the ability to download the e-mail addresses but pointed out if the City tried to send out a mass e-mail it would crash the server, this is why the City uses a host service and does not have an alternate service set up. Councilmember Brown asked about PEG channel utilization and Sally Branson stated it made the long list "�"� but not the short list. Councilmember McGinnis asked about a street banner informing citizens of AM 1650 such as the Vote 06/21/2010 3351 ,..-. Today banner for elections. Mayor Smith asked if staff could find out Groupbuilder's redundancy, the system should have backups of their backups. Mr. Yeager stated Groupbuilder does have redundant systems and the system was working during Hurricane Ike but there was a pointer to the server in Friendswood which was not realized, and the pointer has now been fixed. Councilmember Brown stated certain people said they were dropped off Groupbuilder's contact list. Mr. Yeager stated he has worked on manually inputting emails back in, does not see an issue but certain people are getting dropped and has addressed the issue on a case-by-case basis. Pam Beeth stated one of the things the committee did early on was to avoid duplication of efforts and tried not spending any money and stated Nick Haby has been wonderful in helping. Mayor Smith thanked the committee for their effort and stated this ends this ad hoc committee's work and appreciates their hard work. Council will consider their input and decide what to do with the information they received. 7:00 PM—REGULAR SESSION The invocation was given by Pastor Jim Nelson with Good Shepherd Episcopal Church. Mayor Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas. •-- SPECIAL RECOGNITION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mayor Smith presented a proclamation recognizing Scott Gordon and other members of The Lighthouse Charity Team. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Tina Wood, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated she is president of the Animal Advocates, supports the animal shelter being built on FM 528 near the tower, thinks it would be less expensive and a better location. Ms. Wood further stated she was alarmed to learn that some Councilmembers may still be considering the Deepwood site and believes it would be too expensive, thinks it is now time to build the animal shelter. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL REPORTS Committee Chair Paul Gordner gave the annual report of the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee and recognized Community Services staff at the Senior Center such as Program Manager Genie Balderaz, Assistant Senior Program Manager Elena Luquette, Recreation Attendant Tom Hutchinson and Recreation Coordinator Michael Boyett and also introduced the committee members present which were Frankie Santoro, Ginger Spade, Sharon Richardson, Sigourney Pate, Rae Powell, and Jill Musser. Mayor Smith thanked the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee members for preparing and organizing the activities at the Senior Center and keeping the programs successful. ,.., CITY MANAGER'S REPORT City Manager Roger Roecker reported on hurricane preparedness, and stated it is important to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season. It is predicted there will be numerous storms. Fire Marshal Terry Byrd and the Office of Emergency Management have been participating in State Hurricane Exercises as 06/21/2010 3352 � well as city staff. Mr. Roecker thanked the Fire Marshal's staff and Emergency Operation for their efforts and their continued awareness for the upcoming hurricane season. The City Manager reported that Movies in the Park will be held every Friday evening from mid July to mid August at Centennial Park. Local businesses sponsor the event and encouraged people to bring their chairs, blankets, and refreshments and enjoy a free movie in the park. The City Manager also reported the new Councilmember orientation was a long day filled with a variety of topics ranging from policymaking, the City's Vision and Mission Statements, Council philosophy and the current Strategic Guide. He further stated that the new Councilmembers visited each city department, the Blackhawk Wastewater Treatment Plant, and Fire Station No. 3. Mr. Roecker thanked the new Councilmembers for their time and believes it was a great informational day. Councilmembers McGinnis and Brown thanked City Manager Roger Roecker and City Secretary Melinda Welsh on their efforts and education during the new councilmember orientation. ACTION ITEMS *'`Councilmember McGinnis moved to nominate Jim Hill as Mayor Pro-Tem for 2010-2011. Seconded by Councilmember Barker. The motion was approved 5-1 with Mayor Smith opposed. Councilmember McGinnis stated he nominated Councilmember Hill because he is a senior member of Council on his second term, made him feel welcome and feels the position would be suitable to his talents. ..�� Councilmember Barker stated he agrees and believes Councilmember Hill will make a good Mayor Pro- Tem if elected. Councilmember Brown stated she would like to know the responsibility of Mayor Pro-Tem and why the position would need to be a senior member of Council. Councilmember McGinnis explained that the Mayor Pro-Tem would fill in for the Mayor if he is not available and further explained that Councilmember Hill is experienced and would be able to fill in. City Manager Roger Roecker explained that in an emergency situation the Mayor Pro-Tem may need to go to our sister city, City of Bryan, and would be the voice of the city should communications go down. Councilmember Brown stated that is one of her concerns is that there should not be someone who makes disparaging remarks against other entities that the city may be in contract with and has been done in the past. Mayor Smith stated only in a Category 4 or 5 hurricane would the Mayor Pro-Tem need to go to Bryan. ***Councilmember Barker moved to approve the disposition of RFP No. 2010-04 for Emergency Response Equipment and Services and award the contract to Garner Environmental Services, Inc. Seconded by Councilmember Holbert. The motion was approved 5-1 with Councilmember Brown opposed. Fire Marshal Terry Byrd explained the Emergency Response Equipment and Services contract is for generator on city facilities, option for fuel truck, and a few stop signs. He further stated that this contract is a renewal to the contract that is already in place. Mr. Byrd reminded Council that generators are "� currently being placed at City Hall and on the lift stations and next year the city would not need to contract out for these services. 06/21/2010 3353 � Councilmember Barker asked if the federal government reimburses for this equipment and would be better instead of buying the equipment. Mr. Byrd answered yes. Mayor Smith stated some of the equipment that Garner Environmental would provide are items requested from other agencies that Friendswood could not get in an emergency. Councilmember McGinnis stated there are ten pages of equipment and supplies and asked how much would be spent to access this equipment. Mr. Byrd stated there is no retainer on this agreement. Councilmember Hill stated there is a tremendous amount of paperwork involved in getting reimbursed from FEMA, complimented the Fire Marshals office during Hurricane Ike for being able to get reimbursement and everything was well planned. Councilmember Brown stated she has legal issues with the contract but supports what is going on. Councilmember Holbert asked if the natural gas generators are sufficient. Director of Community Development Morad Kabiri stated he has not determined adequacy of the natural gas lines but is working closely with CenterPoint. Councilmember Holbert stated after Hurricane Ike the staff was great and gracious but is not looking forward to doing it again. Councilmember McGinnis stated if there is some legal issue with the contract as Councilmember Brown ,._ stated he would like to hear about it. Councilmember McGinnis moved to table this item to consider the legal issue. No one seconded. RESOLUTIONS **Councilmember Holbert moved to approve Resolution R2010-24 - a Resolution of the City of Friendswood endorsing the reappointment of (5) five members and (1) one appointment of a new member to a thirteen member board to the Galveston County United Board of Health. Seconded by Councilmember McGinnis. The motion was approved 5-1 with Councilmember Brown opposed. Mayor Smith stated this is standard work that Council does every year. Galveston County United Board of Health provides Council with the recommendation and a biography on the new member, is standard fare for Council. *"`Councilmember Holbert moved to approve Resolution R2010-25 - a Resolution of the City of Friendswood authorizing intervention in Texas-New Mexico Power Company's request for approval of an Advanced Metering System (AMS) Deployment Plan and request for AMS surcharges filed at the Public Utility Commission of Texas; approving cooperation with cities served by Texas-New Mexico Power Company to review the application, hire legal and consulting services and to negotiate with the company and direct any necessary litigation and appeals; finding that the meeting at which this resolution is passed is open to the public as required by law; requiring notice of this resolution to legal counsel. Seconded by Councilmember Hill. � Councilmember Holbert stated Texas-New Mexico Power Company wants to add a new metering system that will add a minimum of$4.18 per month to the electric bill for the next 12 years to pay for the system. If Council does not approve Texas-New Mexico Power Company will automatically raise electric rates, and thinks it would raise questions. 06/21/2010 3354 ..� Councilmember Hiil asked if they are smart meters that wiil not need to be read manually and Nick Haby answered yes. Counciimember Holbert stated he believes Texas-New Mexico rates should be lowered since using smart meters would be more cost efficient for the company. Councilmember McGinnis stated he shared the same concern, if smart meters are so efficient, why is the benefit not passed on to the customer, each home should be able to monitor their energy usage. He further stated that the resolution would commit to year 2022 to raise all homeowner's monthly bills, also pointed out that another Texas town did not pass this resolution, asked if Friendswood had to join this and what would happen if Friendswood did not join. Nick Haby stated every town in the Texas-New Mexico Power jurisdiction has original jurisdiction when a public utility wants to change their rate structure, have to go through the Public Utility Commission to get approval, should Friendswood not pass the resolution it will automatically approve their request to the Public Utility Commission in this jurisdiction. He further stated that in this case is banding with other cities that are served by Texas-New Mexico Power, are hiring a firm that will true up the costs. The city has a history with attorney firm Lloyd Gosselink and in the past the firm has saved customers millions of dollars. Mayor Smith stated the other alternative is for the city to go up against them ourselves and try to negotiate with them. Councilmember Brown stated she would like an explanation of Section 3 of resolution and Mr. Haby answered it is set by the Public Utility Commission. ...� Councilmember Brown stated she thinks something needs to be explicit in the resolution saying Texas- New Mexico Power should pay attorney's fees. Nick Haby stated can be done, resolution came from Lloyd Gosselink and the City Attorney reviewed the documents. Councilmember Brown stated should amend the motion for the resolution to say Texas-New Mexico Power will pay attorney's fees. City Attorney Bobby Gervais stated is in the resolution on page 2 of 3 where it says attorney's fees would be reimbursed, this is the citation that says they have to be reimbursed. Councilmember Brown stated the city has no authority over Texas-New Mexico Power. ***Councilmember Brown made a motion to amend Section 3 to include the language that under no circumstances should the City of Friendswood be liable for attorney fees. Councilmember McGinnis seconded. The motion was approved 6-0. Mayor Smith asked for any comments on the original motion. The original motion was approved 6-0. ORDINANCE **Councilmember Holbert moved to approve the First and final reading of Ordinance No. 2010-15, an ordinance of the City of Friendswood amending Ordinance No. 2009-22, passed and approved April 5, 2010, same being an ordinance approving and adopting the City's General Budget for Fiscal Year 2009- 2010, by approving "Budget Amendment VI" to the "Original General Budget of the City of Friendswood, �` Texas, for the Fiscal Year 2009-2010"; providing for supplemental appropriation and/or transfer of certain funds; providing for severability; and providing other matters related to the subject. Seconded by Councilmember Hill. The motion was approved 6-0. 06/21/2010 3355 � COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS Councilmembers Barker and Holbert stated they had no report. Councilmember McGinnis stated he will be absent from the next meeting for military service and asked for an excuse to be on the next agenda. Councilmember Hill stated Harris County Flood Control has hired an in house meteorologist and the temperature of the Gulf of Mexico is higher than normal this year which could cause more storms. Councilmember Brown thanked staff again for the new Councilmember orientation, thanked Prayer Breakfast group and the speaker Rick Green who was motivational, congratulated Councilmember Hill on his election and willingness to serve as Mayor Pro-Tem. Mayor Smith read a letter from Mr. Tom DeWitt, Vice President of Traylor and Associates commending Staff on the professionalism and cooperation he received. Mayor Smith reminded everyone that the nighttime activities will be on July 4, use the shuttle to get to the fireworks and the daytime activities will be July 5, parade will begin at 10:00 AM, asked the City Manager if FM 518 drainage project would be completed by the parade and Mr. Roecker answered it would not be humanly possible but the equipment will be restaged and barricades will remain. CONSENT AGENDA **Councilmember Holbert moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented A. Approving a contract "� renewal with Hill Sand Co. for debris management services for emergency management purposes B. Authorizing final acceptance of the Asphalt Street Project and release the contractor's one-year maintenance period C. Approving an agreement between the Friendswood Volunteer Fire Department and the Galveston County Firefighter's Association for mutual aid firefighting services D. Approving the disposal of six out-of-service Police Department vehicles E. Authorize Council to invoke Rule 1(A) of the Rules of Procedure to schedule the July regular City Council meeting to July 12, 2010, due to the Independence Day Holiday F. Approve a license agreement for a buyout lot located at 310 N. Shadowbend Avenue G. Accept April 2010 and May 2010 Property Tax Reports. Seconded by Councilmember Barker. The motion was approved 5-1 with Councilmember Brown opposed. A motion was made and approved to adjourn at 8:03 PM. Mayor David J.H. Smith Attest: - � ��� �� �RIENOs � �O Melinda Welsh, TRMC v o „_,_ City Secretary � � ��,9�F OF 'i��P�?