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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2017-07-10 Regular 07/10/17 4700 STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( JULY 10, 2017 )( MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON MONDAY, JULY 10, 2017, AT 4:30 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR KEVIN HOLLAND COUNCILMEMBER STEVE ROCKEY COUNCILMEMBER SALLY BRANSON COUNCILMEMBER MIKE FOREMAN COUNCILMEMBER JOHN SCOTT COUNCILMEMBER CARLGUSTAFSON CITY ATTORNEY MARY KAY FISCHER CITY MANAGER ROGER ROECKER CITY SECRETARY MELINDA WELSH Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Hill was absent from the meeting. REGULAR SESSION Mayor Holland called the meeting to order. The invocation was given by Pastor Tracy Barnettwith Reach Church. ' Mayor Holland led the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Mayor Holland asked if anyone would like to speak. No one spoke. WORK SESSION Mayor Holland opened the discussion regarding Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Assistant City Manager Morad Kabiri presented a PowerPoint presentation regarding Emergency Medical Services. Mr,. Kabiri provided some history, escalation in costs and decrease in donations, Council created a subcommittee to develop a long-term sustainable solution for the provision of Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Provisions for those services are currently provided through a volunteer organizatio in known as Friendswood Volunteer Fire Department (FVFD) that has been in a contract with the City since 2004. Over the last few years, there has been an escalation in costs for paid Staff within the department, a decrease in the amount of donations, and an impact to the City's ability to replace and upgrade capital equipment. The subcommittee was tasked with investigating historical trends, benchmarking comparable municipalities, and developing recommendations to establish a secure process for fire and EMS services to meet the City's needs for the next 20 years. Initial guiding principles of the subcommittee was that a solution that lessens current service quality and response time is unacceptable, evaluated the current partial volunteer and partial paid EMS division, is it working and can it handle current/future call volumes, evaluated if the current volunteer fire division with paid day crew is adequate to meet currenUfuture needs, evaluated the current method of generating capital funds to support fire and EMS services currentfuture capital needs, and the subcommittee should not base recommendations or solutions on ' political realities. The subcommittee worked through a process using the Six Sigma approach, defined the problem, measured the problem, analyzed the data, developed data supported possible solutions, recommend measurements to track any changes made to ensure the problem is under control, and report the solutions to Council. Over the past 35 years, the City of Friendswood has grown in population by I 07/10/17 4701 28,000 residents, and the median age has grown from 29 to 42 years old since 1980. In the current age distribution there is a healthy number of residents between the ages of 0-18 years, there is a dip between the ages of 18-40 years, and the volume picks back up with ages above 40 years. There are some multi- family complexes between apartments and senior living facilities with both assisted and independent living, but predominately the City of Friendswood's residential properties are single-family homes. Over the last 10 years there have been some variations in response for service for fire and EMS calls, fire calls for service have remained relatively constant at 750 calls per year, and EMS calls have increased from a little below 2,000 calls per year to a little fewer than 3,000 calls per year. Of those calls in EMS 1,500 calls were for transports to take individuals to the hospital. The reality is as the City's population ages there will be a greater need for EMS services. Over the last three years, 48% of EMS responses have been from single-family homes, 19% from senior living facilities, and 9% from multi-family residences. Single-family homes make up roughly 90% of the City's residential homes but only represent half of EMS calls for service, and senior living facilities represent roughly 20% of EMS calls for services. Fire department calls are for services mainly between police and medical assistance calls, vehicular accidents with spills, vehicle fires, equipment fires, and the remainder being made up of either a building fire or external landscape fire. Over that same three-year period, senior living facilities accounted for the majority of EMS calls in the community. The majority share of EMS calls for service come from the age groups 50 to 60 years and 60 plus. Historically, the City has provided an opportunity for residents to make a donation on their water bill to help fund the purchase of capital equipment for the fire department and EMS. Residents can make a $6 donation on every water bill they receive which is $3 a month. Every single-family home receives one water bill, an apartment complex, depending on how the complex is metered, may only get one or two water bills, but they have a hundred dwelling units within the system. A few years ago, Staff saw that obligations to replace equipment were outpacing donations received. A chart was shown that demonstrated, in roughly two years, less funds on the water bill donation will be brought in than funds going out for FVFD capital requirements. In essence, the life of the equipment will have to be extended or service levels will have to be scaled back. Collectively in two years, there will be an approximate shortfall of$160,000 per year to meet expected capital demand, two-thirds of the capital , replacement plan is for fire division needs, and one-third is for EMS needs. The subcommittee compared the City to nine local cities and five Texas cities with similar population, demographics, commercial versus residential splits as the City of Friendswood. The similar cities used in the comparison were Leander, Wylie, The Colony, Keller, and Burleson. The City of Friendswood's calls for service relative to those cities are on par with all benchmark cities except Galveston due to tourist attractions. Of all the benchmark cities, with Friendswood being the 15th, EMS services are provided in 67% of those cities with a fully paid staff, 13% are funded through a partially volunteer or partially paid system, 13% contract with a private entity or another agency, and 7% operate under contract with the county. Fire services in the benchmark cities show 53% operate with a fully paid staff, 20% are volunteer with some paid staff, and 27% are fully volunteer. The City of Friendswood is the only city that does not bill for EMS services. The collection rate for EMS service from the benchmark cities was roughly 30% to 40% of those billed. Over the last ten years, the City's annual budget for FVFD has grown from $800,000 to $1.5 Million and growing. Fiscal Year 2017 budget currently has $1.6 Million for FVFD with EMS salaries making up $438,000 and $150,000 are operation costs. In the upcoming budget cycle there will be $65,000 plus of EMS related Decision Packages for Council's consideration and this dollar amount continues to grow annually. The subcommittee evaluated the cost for EMS to be a fully paid service, addition of 12 new EMS staff over a two-year period estimated at $850,000, EMS Chief $132,000, EMS part-time Medical Director $24,000, and one-time transition costs of$50,000. If Council chooses to go to a fully paid EMS staff there will be an additional $1 Million per year worth of operational cost. The subcommittee looked at neighboring cities experiences, what could realistically be anticipated in revenue recovery if the City were to start charging for EMS services, and ran a mathematical simulation that did 12,000 plus simulations. If Council decides to have a fully paid EMS staff, an additional $1.6 Million will be spent, funding is not currently available, and if Council decides to charge for services some of the costs could be recouped but the remainder of the funds would have to come from other revenue sources. To maintain the current EMS structure there would be a 3%z to 4 cent increase in property taxes. The subcommittee observed from the data that the fire division operating model of 70% volunteer staff, supplemented with a paid day ' crew is currently sustainable, capital expense requirements are not fully funded nor sustainable, current fire and EMS capital plan (from donations on water bills) will be underfunded within two years and will get drastically underfunded over the next 15 years, EMS calls for service increase is being driven by 07/10/17 4702 increased population and aging of the whole City population, there is a decrease in the percentage of EMS hours staffed by volunteers, moving to a fully funded EMS and staying with a predominantly, volunteer fire division would add $1 Million in costs over current FVFD funding. Friendswood is very' unique among cities in Texas for our size and type in that there is no charge for EMS services, and ambulance billing revenue is highly variable based on multiple factors. Solutions include broad options such as do nothing and continue on the same path currently on, do nothing but provide better incentives to volunteer and make changes to the water bill donation to ensure it keeps the capital expenditures fully funded, or move to a fully paid EMS division. The pros and cons for each solution were shown. At the retreat, Council gave the direction to maintain the current model for the fire division, and go out for a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the EMS division in order to provide a cost comparison. i Discussion took place between Mayor, Council, and Staff regarding that Staff will have a workshop discussion with Council on the language for the Request for Proposal (RFP) before publishing, requested that Staff to look at maintaining the current 70/30 model with the addition of charging for ambulance rides, and for Staff to meet with the volunteer fire department's leadership to see if they feel capable to extend the current 70/30 model. Mayor Holland opened the discussion regarding the Multi-Year Financial Plan. City Manager Roger Roecker thanked Administrative Services Director Katina Hampton and Budget Manager Jennifer Walker for the hard work they have done on the budget. Ms. Hampton presented a PowerPoint presentation regarding a follow-up of the Multi-Year Financial Plan and proposed key budget drivers for Fiscal Year 2018. Historical property tax exemptions, total tax from all possible exemptions that can be claimed b� property tax owners have grown from almost $675 Million in 2011 to almost $832 Million in 2016, as property tax values grow the exemptions grow in correlation, the number of exemptions claimed have grown by 4.5% over five,years. In 2011, there were 13,201 exemptions claimed and in 2016 the number of exemptions grew to 13,799 exemptions claimed. Alternative revenue sources explored by Staff were telecommunications sales tax, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) billing, credit card fees, garage sale ' permits, and vendor leasing and/or commission fees. During Fiscal Year 2017, there was an electricity savings.of $121,000, and Fiscal Year 2018's estimated electricity cost should reflect a reduction. Key budget drivers are health insurance increase of approximately 3% totaling an estimated $65,000 for, the Fiscal Year 2018 proposed budget, pay plan adjustment due to impact of labor market upward shift with an increase of approximately $62,000 for the first year, employee merit estimated at $435,000 allocated through the General Fund and the Water and Sewer Fund for Fiscal Year 2018, significant reduction in Municipal Court fines due to legislation regarding financially indigent defendants, General Fund Forces at Work total of $199,952, and Water and Sewer Fund Forces at Work total of $380,707. Ms. Hampton discussed key dates in the budget process, proposed budget delivery will be August 01, 2017, proposed budget work sessions on August 7, 2017, and September 11, 2017, proposed budget Public Hearing on September 11, 2017, proposed tax rate public hearings (if needed) on September 20, 2017, and September 25, 2017, and budget and tax rate adoption on October 02, 2017. Mayor Holland opened the discussion regarding the legislative agenda. Councilmember Rockey stated during a recent Council retreat, Council directed Staff to place an item on the July Council meeting agenda to discuss the Texas Legislature's upcoming Special Session. A number of items slated for consideration by the legislature include bills that could have a significant impact on municipalities, if adopted. Councilmember Rockey suggested Council compose a letter from the Mayor to send to the City's state representatives regarding concerns the City had with the upcoming Special Session but is fine if the consensus of Council is for individual councilmembers to write their own letter if they wish to do so. Mayor Holland opened the discussion regarding electronic billboards. Assistant City Manager Morad Kabiri`gave a brief history and stated six months ago Council reviewed a request to convert an existing billboard to a light-emitting diode (LED) screen billboard, and the owner has better defined their request and would like Council to reconsider. The LED billboard would allow for more dynamic marketing, be ' able to communicate City information during emergency events, communicate upcoming programs the City offers, and allow for a more appealing billboard. Currently billboards are prohibited in the City of Friendswood, five currently exist and are grandfathered, and if updated or enlarged they would lose non- conforming status. If there is a consensus amongst Council, Staff will bring back an amendment to the 07/10/17 4703 City's Code of Ordinances to allow for the proposed change. The sign ordinance does not allow for a variance, and the only way to allow the proposed change is to modify the code. Discussion took place between Mayor, Council, and Staff regarding the consensus of Council was for Staff to bring back an amendment to the City's Code of Ordinances to allow for existing billboards to convert to a light-emitting diode(LED) screen billboard. Mayor Holland opened the discussion regarding Capital projects update. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Patrick Donart presented a PowerPoint presentation regarding the progress made on Capital Projects since the June Council meeting. He reported on the Fire Station No. 4 expansion, the Kenneth Camp Fire Station, Centennial Park Basketball Pavilion, restroom and pavilion at Lake Friendswood, Old City Park, Round 1 Street Improvements, Blackhawk Boulevard Phase II and Woodlawn Drive, Lift Station No. 18 and 23, the Blackhawk Wastewater Treatment Plant, replacement of Mandale Bridge, and street repair project on San Joaquin and San Miguel. With concurrence of Council, Mayor Holland moved to Agenda Item 11, Discussion and possible action regarding approving appointments/reappointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees. ACTION ITEMS. "Councilmember Foreman moved to approve the appointment of Joe Matranga and Dick Clark to the Planning and Zoning Commission to fill vacancies with terms to expire July 2019, appointment of Eric Guenther to the Planning and Zoning Commission to fill a vacancy with a term to expire July 2020, reappointment of Brett Banfield to the Planning and Zoning Commission with a term to expire July 2020; and appointment of Meg Crowley to the Community and Economic Development Committee to fill a vacancy with a term to expire July 2018. Seconded by Councilmember Gustafson. The motion was approved 6-0. ' With concurrence of Council, Mayor Holland moved to Agenda Item 17; Consent Agenda. CONSENT AGENDA "Councilmember Scott moved to approve all items on the Consent Agenda as presented with the exception of Agenda Item C, A. Approving the appointments of City Council Liaisons to Committees, Boards, and Commissions. B. Authorizing the final acceptance of the Kenneth Camp Fire Station No. 1 and improvements to Fire Station No. 4 project into the contractor's one-year maintenance period. D. Authorizing the disposal of a Police Department Vehicle through Houston Auto Auction. E. Accepting the May 2017 Property Tax Report. F. Approving the Minutes of the June 05, 2017, and June 24, 2017, Council Meetings. Seconded by Councilmember Rockey. The motion was approved 6-0. "Mayor Holland moved to approve Consent Agenda Item C. Authorizing the final acceptance of Howard Subdivision public utility improvements into the contractor's one-year maintenance period. Seconded by Councilmember Rockey. The motion was approved 5-1 with Councilmember Rockey opposed. Discussion took place between Mayor, Council, and Staff regarding the final acceptance of the public infrastructure that is currently on the property, and acceptance will start the one-year warranty period. With concurrence of Council, Mayor Holland moved to Agenda Item 10, City Manager's Report. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT City Manager Roger Roecker reported the City of Friendswood and the Friendswood Rotary Club are ' proud to announce the 2017 Movies in the Park at the Evelyn B. Newman Amphitheater and the Friendswood Sesquicentennial Swimming Pool. The movies series will begin July 14, 2017, and runs 07/10/17 4701 every Friday through August 11, 2017. Thanks to the sponsors, all movies are free to the public, theate� seats may be limited, so feel free to bring blankets or lawn chairs to sit on the lawn. Do not forget you picnic dinner and/or snacks. The City Manager reported that the Fourth of July Steering Committee and the City of Friendswood just celebrated its 122nd Annual Fourth of July Celebration. The daylong celebration was packed full of entertainment, food and fun for the entire family. The theme for this year's celebration was "Salute to America, Texan Style." The day was kicked off with the Grand Parade that traveled down Friendswood Drive with over 100 parade entries from the City of Friendswood and around the state of Texas. The parade concluded at Stevenson Park where over 50 booths, rides, games, food, live entertainment, and fun for the entire family took place. The evening program at Centennial Park began at 7:30 PM with the ReMax Skydiving Team dropping into the park during the National Anthem. The band "Bee Gees Gold headlined the evening entertainment, and the evening concluded with a fireworks show that lit up the sky: Thousands of Friendswood residents participated in the daylong activities and everyone enjoyed the family event as the community of Friendswood celebrated the country's independence in Friendswood style. The City Manager reported that the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers (TAMIO) is an affiliate of Texas Municipal League. The City of Friendswood received two awards at the annual TAMIO conference in June. The City received second place in the Award of Excellence in the Brochures, Fliersl, Posters - Population under 70,000 category for an economic development infographic design, and third place for the Award of Honor in the Best One-Time Special Event for the Parks and Recreation's "Bark For Your Park" event. The City Manager reported that the City of Friendswood ranked number 11`" in SafeWise's Safest Cities in Texas. SafeWise is a home security and safety brand committed to increasing safety education( awareness, and preparedness in American communities. In order to identify the safest cities in Texas', the most recent Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Crime Report statistics from 2015, along with population data were reviewed. Cities were then narrowed down based on the number of reported violent crimes and property crimes that occurred in each city. . To further level the playing field, SafeWise calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city. The City ManageIr thanked the Friendswood Police Department for their excellent work, cooperation and vigilance of the City of Friendswood residents With concurrence of Council, Mayor Holland moved to Agenda Item 6, Closed Executive Session. CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Holland asked if anyone would like to speak regarding the Executives Session. No one spoke. Council convened into Executive Session in accordance with the Texas Government Cade, pursuant to Section 551.087 — Deliberation regarding economic development negotiations; to deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect and Section 551.071 — Consultation with Attorney regarding pending claims (Olson & Olson, LLP). RECONVENED INTO OPEN SESSION Council reconvened into Open Session with action taken later in the meeting regarding Section 551.071 Consultation with Attorney regarding pending claims (Olson & Olson, LLP). COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC ' Tracy Dinh, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated she is speaking as a representative of Timberfield Estates Homeowner's Association (HOA). She thanked Council for allowing Timbertield Estates HOA extra time to meet with Pastor Bennett from Reach Church to discuss the rezoning request submitted by Reach Church, and an agreement was reached. Timbertield Estates HOA supports Reach 07/10/17 4705 Church, values the church's presence, and hopes to see additional growth and fellowship. Michael Wood, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated he would like to discuss Ordinance No. T2017-19, read state law about dog on dog attacks, deadly force is allowed. The current City ordinance states a dog that attacks and injures another dog can be deemed a dangerous dog, imposes a mandate on the owner, if the owner fails to adhere to the mandate and the dog attacks again animal control can seize the dog. Proper enforcement of the current ordinance is more conducive with public health, safety and welfare than a citizen to have to use deadly force. If Ordinance No. T2017-19 is approved by Council the City of Friendswood will not have an ordinance to affect a dangerous dog attack, and asked Council to rethink the proposed ordinance. David Allen, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated he agreed with Michael Wood regarding dog on dog attacks. Mr. Allen further stated it is hard to tell where to receive good news with the recent CNN admission of fake Russian aggression. He has found two media outlets helpful in the last 20 years, Joyce Riley's program Nurse Talk that changed to Power Hour, and Alex Jones' website www.infowars.com. With concurrence of Council, Mayor Holland moved back to Agenda Item 6, Executive Session. ACTION ITEM from Executive Session (continued) **Councilmember Gustafson moved to approve a settlement with Olson &Olson, LLP, for$225,000. Seconded by Councilmember Rockey. The motion was approved 6-0. Councilmember Gustafson stated the item will settle litigation with Olson & Olson, LLP, relating to the City's attempt to purchase parkland from Wight Construction in 2008, the City was unable to complete the purchase and was subsequently sued in 2009, the lawsuit was later settled, the City then sued the legal ' counsel Olson & Olson, LLP,and the parties have agreed to settle the litigation for$225,000. With concurrence of Council, Mayor Holland moved to Agenda Item 9, Communications from Committees and Special Reports. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL REPORTS Friendswood Public Library Chair Mike Czarowitz presented the annual report and stated statistics show there was a decline in many areas but not as much as was expected. A great deal of credit needs to be given to the library Staff who kept operations at a professional level. Attendance in 2016 was 142,697, and the library added 1,898 new patrons during the year. Items checked out totaled 301,158, which is a decline of less than 15%, and current figures reverse this decline. In order to stay current, the library added over 7,188 new items, and even with the remodel the library has raised over $5,000 through the sale of purged and donated items. The library held programs the past year for both children and adults with attendance exceeding 25,000. The youth services program included story time sessions for children of all ages. Adult service programs have included basic computer literacy classes, job search programs, and genealogy programs. The library has also provided monthly cultural and educational programs featuring local authors, poets, veterans, artists, and musicians. Use of the library's public computers totaled 42,282 internet sessions, and library personnel responded to over 31,000 reference questions. The Library has been able to improve technology equipment using grant funds, purchased 15 Playway Launchpads for children to develop reading, math and art skills, a digital camcorder and video editing software with green screen for in-house program recording, and a three-dimensional (3D) scanner and 3D printer which is now available to the public. Additionally, the library has added four training laptops, updated three public internet stations, wireless microphone and speaker for the larger story time groups. The Friendswood Public Library qualified for the Texas Municipal Library Directors Association Achievement of Library Excellence Award by demonstrating excellence in 10 service categories. ' ACTION ITEMS (continued) 07/10/17 4706 **Councilmember Scott moved to nominate Jim Hill as Mayor Pro-Tem for 2017-2018. Seconded by Mayor Holland. The motion failed 2-4 with Councilmembers Rockey, Branson, Foreman, and Gustafson opposed. **Councilmember Gustafson moved to nominate Steve Rockey as Mayor Pro-Tem for 2017-2018. Seconded by Councilmember Branson. The motion was approved 6-0. With concurrence of Council, Mayor Holland'moved to Agenda Item 14, Discussion and possible action regarding former Code of Ethics ordinance. **Councilmember Scott moved to approve the former Code of Ethics ordinance. Seconded by Councilmember Foreman. Discussion took place between Mayor and-Council regarding that the consensus of Council was for Staff to research why the Code of Ethics ordinance was previously repealed. ***Councilmember Gustafson moved to table the approval of the former Code of Ethics ordinance. Seconded by Mayor Holland. The motion to table was approved 5-1 with Councilmember Scott opposed. With concurrence of Council, Mayor Holland moved to Agenda Item 13, Discussion and possible action' regarding amendments to the policy for Appointments to Boards, Committees, and Commissions. **Councilmember Rockey moved to approve amendments to the policy for Appointments to Boards, Committees, and Commissions. Seconded by Mayor Holland. The motion was approved 6-0. ' With concurrence of Council, Mayor Holland moved to Agenda Item 15A, Ordinance No. T2017-19. ORDINANCES No motion was made on the First reading of Ordinance No. T2017-19 — An ordinance of the City of Friendswood, Texas, amending the Code of Ordinances, Chapter 10, "Animals" by amending Section 10- 3 "Definitions", Section 10-12 "Public Nuisances" and Section 10-122 "Dangerous Animals" by adding an appeal process and requirements for dangerous animal owners; repealing all ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent or in conflict herewith; providing for severability, publication and an effective date. **Councilmember Branson moved to approve the First reading of Ordinance No. T2017-20 — AI ordinance providing for non-substantive revisions in the City Charter of the City of Friendswood, Texas. Seconded by Councilmember Foreman. The motion was approved 6-0. **Councilmember Scott moved to approve the First and Final reading of Ordinance No. 2017-21 — A ordinance amending City of Friendswood, Texas, Ordinance No. 2016-41, passed and approved October 3, 2016, same being an ordinance approving and adopting the City's General Budget for Fiscal Year 2016-2017 by approving "Budget Amendment XI" to the "Original General Budget of the City of Friendswood, Texas, for the Fiscal Year 2016-2017"; providing for supplemental appropriation and/or transfer of certain funds; providing for severability; and providing other matters related to the subject. Seconded by Councilmember Branson. The motion was approved 6-0. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS A video was presented with the reading of the Declaration of Independence by numerous citizens and officials of the city. The meeting was adjourned at 7:43 PM. 07/10/17 4707 Mayor Ke in olland Attest: •F FRIE/y�'• O� Melinda Welsh, TRMC U; .00 City Secretary ;p .*(1) '•� TF