HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z Minutes 1997-02-24 Special[ l
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Minutes of a Special Meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission February 24, 1997
A special meeting of the Friendswood Planning and Zoning Commission was held on Monday, February 24, 1997 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers located at 910 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood, Texas. The following members were present:
Baker -Chair Finger -Vice Chair Grace
Brinkman -Secretary Thompson -Consulting Engineer Cox -City Manager Burke Lowe -Council Liaison Cress
With a quorum present, Clark and Whittenburg absent, Chair Baker opened the meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission to give consideration to the following:
6:30 p.m. Work Session
1.Joint meeting with City Council to discuss detention ponds.
Vice Chair Finger addressed the Commission and Council regarding the issue of detention pondmaintenance. Finger stated there has been some concerns regarding the clean-out andmaintenance of the ponds. Currently the City assesses and collects a fee for mowing thedetention ponds that are turned over to the City for maintenance. The fee is calculated on thecosts of mowing the pond 5 times a year for 10 years.
Over a period of time the ponds silt over decreasing the capacity and overall effectiveness ofthe ponds. Several ponds have been used as a dumping site for old tires and trash which alsoimpedes the effectiveness. The current fee is not sufficient to adequately maintain the detentionpond over a long period of time. There was considerable discussion about the detention pondpolicy, its origination, purpose and which ponds are privately maintained, maintained by the Cityor maintained by CCDD.
Clear Creek Drainage District Manager David Kocurek answered several questions regardingthe District's maintenance of ponds. He stated that the District had adopted a new criteriamanual in 1995 which requires concrete pilot channels and hydromulching. These channelsare much easier to maintain. In detention ponds where the concrete pilot channels are notrequired, the grass grows up, the ponds remain wet and they are harder to maintain. TheDistrict put concrete pilot channels in the Falcon Ridge detention pond at a cost of $10,000. Itcosts approximately $3,000 to clean and hydromulch the 1.8 acre pond.
Several members of the Council and commission stated they had not seen much water in any ofthe local detention ponds and questioned their usefulness to Friendswood citizens. Anotherexpressed concern over charging a developer additional fees because the landowner alreadypays taxes on the land. The overall consensus was that the City must determine what to dowith the ponds already accepted for maintenance and how to address the maintenance of futureponds.
Staff will gather the required information and will present it to Planning and Zoning for their'}'view •zndation
f?lttdl � CLAUDIA L. BRINKMAN, SECRETARY