2024 02 08 CC Minutes MINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING OF THE
CITY COUNCIL AND THE BAYTOWN MUNICIPAL
DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
February 8, 2024
The City Council and Board of the Baytown Municipal Development District met in a Joint
Meeting on Thursday, February 8,2024, at 6:32 P.M. in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City
Hall at 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas, with the following in attendance:
Sarah Graham Council Member
Kenrick Griffith Council Member
Jacob Powell Council Member
Mike Lester Council Member
Laura Alvarado Mayor Pro Tem
Jason Reynolds City Manager
Scott Lemond City Attorney
Angela Jackson City Clerk
John Stringer Sergeant at Arms
Mayor Pro Laura Alvarado convened the February 8, 2024 City Council and Baytown Municipal
Development District Meeting with a quorum present at 6:32 P.M. All members were present with
the exception of Mayor Capetillo.
The Pledge of Allegiance, Texas Pledge, and Invocation were led by Council Member Griffith.
1. CITIZEN COMMENTS
Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado announced citizens signed up to speak.
a. Harvey Ponder commented,"Let me say first that I love some bicentennial fireworks. Bay-
town has always had a first-class event. I appreciate that no matter who the entertainers were. I'll
be right down the front row, having a good time. I appreciate it. That being said, I have heard
several comments about my last council address. Mostly, about the annexed areas do have every-
thing including emergency services with the exception of city water and sewer. I beg to differ. On
the 18th of January, 2024, there was a major accident out in front of my house. Our address is
within the city limits and adjacent to city property. I heard the noise and told my wife to call 911
and we needed an ambulance. I went and found where a mail truck had been T-boned out of the
intersection. The driver was bleeding profusely from a head wound with blood all over her arm,
her leg, and her jacket. My son and I helped her get out of the truck. While we were talking EMS
and Baytown Fire pulled up to block the road and two wreckers came up. My son and I got the
other driver out of his car. The young man was scared to death about how badly he hurt the lady
that he hit. This young man's mother showed up for him. Then EMS took the lady to the hospital.
Baytown Police Department never showed up. As things were winding down, I went back inside
to get ready for work. I asked my wife if she'd called 911. She said yes, but the dispatcher asked
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her if we were in the city or the county. After I got dressed, I went back outside and talked to a
Harris County Deputy. He told me that Baytown PD refused the call, so he had to come all the
way from Crosby. I then called the Baytown PD operator at the desk to ask them who was I sup-
posed to call when there was a major accident with severe injuries. Somebody hung up on me after
30 seconds. Because the accident was in an extraterritorial jurisdiction, EMS services were pro-
vided. One family I know has seen its tax burden rise by $4,000 a year. Will someone on this
council tell me again what benefits I have after seven years of annexation and thousands of dollars
in taxation on my property alone? President Reagan defined the most terrifying words in the Eng-
lish language. I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Thank you."
b. James Kaminski,623 Lauren Lane, commented,"Good evening. Once again, I'm here talk-
ing about wanting to be disannexed from the city. In my last year in Harris County, my tax rate
was $0.10 cents per hundred. I paid about $310 or$315 in taxes. In the first year with the city, the
tax rate was$0.81 cents plus. Yes,the tax rate went down every year,but of course,the value went
up every year on my house, so I really didn't pay less taxes. The tax rate was lower. All total in the
same six years, I paid over $17,000 just in city taxes alone. If I would had been with the county.
which I don't know their tax rate over those same six years, I would have paid close to $2,200.
That's a$15,000 difference. I wrote a letter to the newspaper after the article and after Mr. Calder's
response saying all these benefits that I do have. I don't have them. He said, "Well, we don't tax
you on water and sewer." Well,thank you. I don't have water and sewer. And thanks for not taxing
me on something I don't have, but you are taxing me on a lot of things I don't have. I appreciate
the opening convocation where it said, serving the citizens, serve the citizens, do the right thing,
let us be disannexed, go back to the way it was. Nothing has to change. I don't have anything now
that I didn't have then. There's no sweat off you all's back because you didn't do anything in the
past six years. Thank you very much."
C. Linda Miks, 62427 Crosby Cedar Bayou Rd., commented, "On January 31 st on Bay-
town.org, Jason Calder posted a response to the article from the Baytown Sun from the last council
meeting about disannexation. He said we had city services except for water and sewer, stating we
also had solid waste, which the citizens had never been informed about having solid waste. So, I
called the City to get a price, and I was told that I would be billed through my water bill. I told the
lady, I didn't have a water bill, and she looked it up, and she said, no, you have a water meter.
Well, apparently,somewhere on the City map says I have a water meter. I told the lady that I didn't
have a water meter and after being transferred from department to department after 20 minutes, I
finally got someone to tell me that they would charge me $30 a month, the same as what I pay
through Hotchkiss. I asked her about heavy trash pickup. She said I could place two items on the
curb for pickup, but I would have to call before I did that. I said, "Woman, I don't have a curb. I
live on a busy,busy street. I have a ditch. My ditch is by Harris County Flood Control. If anything
gets into that ditch, I can get fined. She said I could use the Green Center. I've tried to use the
Green Center. They wanted a water bill. I got denied. Even with the tax bill, I got denied. After
Mr. Calder stated police, fire, and building permits, all of which I did have through Harris County,
the rate I would have been charged was $0.10 cents per hundred, and the city charges $0.72 cents
per hundred. My price difference would have been that Harris County would have charged me
$180. You all charged me$1,300 for nothing. Mr. Calder also stated our services included access
to a library and parks and recreation. I'm sorry, Baytown.org states that the library is a public
library and that the parks are public parks. You do not have to be a Baytown resident to use those
facilities. According to the Local Government Code, Chapter 43.056, Municipal Annexation states
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that annexed areas must be provided full municipal services within two-and-a-half years and can
be extended to four-and-a-half years.The four-and-a-half-year date was May of 2022. When I tried
to protest my appraisal last year, I was informed I could not, that I did not have comparable prop-
erties to my property. HCAD even could not find a property comparable to mine. And I said,why?
They said because your property code has been changed. It used to be strictly residential. Now I'm
residential commercial and I'm going, well, about when did this change? He says, "We just caught
it this year, but I think it was around 2019." I'm like, "Okay, what happened?" He said, "I don't
know." So, I look back, the only thing I could come up with is that the City had proposed a future
land use business park and the building of Faith Family Church, brought close to my house, due
to the City's failure to uphold their full responsibilities. I request to be disconnected and disannexed
from the city of Baytown."
d. Gary Vanderbeek, 4403 Crosby Cedar Bayou Road commented, "I'd like to be disannexed
also. My problem is a little bit more extensive and more dangerous. It amounted to the City coming
in because the neighbor behind me requested a water hookup. I told, upon being annexed, that I
own the road and I didn't see any possible way for them to put in the utilities without encroaching
through my property, which is against your own city ordinance. One day I came home from work
and I had workers digging through my property with a mini track hoe, putting in a water main. I
right away went up to the gentleman and told him, "Hey, what are you doing? I didn't give you
permission. Nobody told me anything. You're digging through my property that's illegal." So they
went ahead and said, "We're not stopping. We're told to put this water main in." They put this
water main in, but I so happened to be a plumber and I worked for one of the largest plumbing
companies in Houston and I'm very high up in the company. So, I have 40 years of experience in
plumbing. What they did was they put in a six-inch water main, which is a dead end about 2,400
feet with three fire hydrants on it. You can't do that. A six-inch main is only allowed to have one
fire hydrant on it, and it cannot extend more than 500 feet. Also, a dead-end system that runs 2,400
feet leaves the people that are tied onto it, which is one residence at this point with probably a
three-quarter-inch tap. It leaves them susceptible to a lot of pathogens such as Legionnaire's dis-
ease and Coliform bacteria and things such as that, that need to be blown out on a casual basis.
Also, when you run that far, you also have problems with water flow. You're supposed to have
500 gallons per minute minimum for a residency, and a thousand gallons a minute for a commer-
cial. And a lot of jurisdictions do things a little bit differently. They color code the fire hydrants so
that the fire department can tell which one has the right flow. They didn't do any flow tests or
anything. They just put it in and covered it up, and that was very offensive to me because being a
plumber, I have to follow the code, I have to have inspections, and then I'm allowed to cover it up.
If they did that, they might have caught the problem. Anyway, we went to the City Council, and I
was mad as could be. I tried to address the problem and they showed me a survey and I said, "Wait
a second, this does not look like my survey, but I see the railroad tracks. I see the road." What
happened was the neighbor behind me gave them permission to go through his property,but I own
933 feet of frontage until it gets to that property, and I didn't give authorization. I had to hire a
surveyor to straighten that out, and the surveyor said, "No, this survey is your neighbor's survey.
It's not your survey."
e. Kim Kostek, 5103 Ashwood Dr., commented, "I understand the response that was given
by the city was a little frustrating. Yes, I did get an email in July that said that there would be 911
services provided. However, a public information request to the Harris County Sheriffs Office
says that that's not actually what's happening and that they have been dispatched quite regularly
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since that. What I will say is that there are many ways for them to proceed with the disannexation,
but one of those ways could be council bringing forth that action. That is an option and it takes
three of you. It's very disappointing that Mr. Franco isn't here tonight because the majority of these
speakers were from his district,but Mr. Griffith and Mr. Powell, I will tell you that this affects you
in all areas the most. Please do what's right. Thank you."
2. MINUTES
a. Consider approving the minutes of the City Council Regular Meeting held on January
25, 2024 and January 26, 2024.
A motion was made by Council Member Sarah Graham and seconded by Council Member Mike
Lester to approve the minutes of the City Council Regular Meeting held on January 25 and 26,
2024, as submitted. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
3. RECOGNITIONS AND CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS
a. Present a proclamation designating February 18-24, 2024 as National Engineers
Week in Baytown.
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado presented staff from the Public Works and Engineering Department a
proclamation declaring February 18-24, 2024 as National Engineers Week in Baytown.
4. PROPOSED ORDINANCES
a. Consider an ordinance authorizing a Chapter 212 Agreement with Tinci Materials
Texas LLC.
Economic Development Manager Brian Moran advised Council the City went through a
competitive site selection process for this project. It's a 20-year agreement from tax years 2027
through 2046. The company's project site is located in TGS Cedar Port on about 94 acres and the
company will be building a manufacturing facility that produces products associated with the
electric vehicle battery supply chain.
A motion was made by Council Member Jacob Powell and seconded by Council Member Sarah
Graham to approve Ordinance No. 15,703, related to Item 4.a. The vote was as follows:
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Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
ORDINANCE NO. 15,703
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO
EXECUTE AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST TO A CHAPTER 212
AGREEMENT WITH TINCI MATERIALS TEXAS LLC; AND PROVID-
ING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
b. Consider authorizing an ordinance to approve Amendment No. 1, in the amount of
$24,000.00, to the Professional Services Agreement with Kimley-Horn for Consulting
Services related to the USDOT Fiscal Year 2024 RAISE Grant.
A motion was made by Council Member Sarah Graham and seconded by Council Member Kenrick
Griffith to approve Ordinance No. 15,704, related to Item 4.b. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
ORDINANCE NO. 15,704
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE PRO-
FESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH KIMLEY-HORN AND
ASSOCIATES, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF TWENTY-FOUR THOU-
SAND DOLLARS ($24,000.00) RELATED TO THE UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FISCAL YEAR 2024 RE-
BUILDING AMERICAN INFRASTRUCTURE WITH SUSTAINABIL-
ITY AND EQUITY (RAISE) GRANT PROGRAM APPLICATION; AND
PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
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C. Consider an ordinance authorizing a settlement agreement with Suzan O. and Eric
G. Carter, Jr. related to the matter styled Carter v City of Baytown; No. 2023-35591; In the
127th District Court, Harris County, Texas.
City Attorney Scott Lemond advised Council this is an ordinance requesting that we enter into a
settlement agreement with Susan and Eric G. Carter Jr. to settle their inverse condemnation law-
suit. This follows the discussions that was previously had about the lawsuit. The only sticking
point to note was to resolve the language over fee versus permanent easement. We have agreed to
use the permanent easement language.
A motion was made by Council Member Kenrick Griffith and seconded by Council Member Mike
Lester to approve Ordinance No. 15,705, related to Item 4.c. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
ORDINANCE NO. 15,705
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MAN-
AGER TO EXECUTE AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST TO A
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH SUZAN O. AND ERIC G.
CARTER, JR. RELATED TO THE MATTER STYLED CARTER V.
CITY OF BAYTOWN; NO. 2023-35591; IN THE 127TH DISTRICT
COURT, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS; AUTHORIZING PAYMENT BY
THE CITY OF BAYTOWN IN THE AMOUNT OF ONE MILLION,
FIVE-HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,500,000.00); AND
PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
d. Consider an ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances, Baytown,Texas, Chapter
94, "Traffic and Vehicles," Article V, "Stopping, Standing and Parking," Division 2,
"Parking," to repeal Section 94-189 "Parking prohibited on certain front yards."
a. Marie Drewnowski, 4705 Burning Tree Drive, commented, "I live in a subdivision which
is not an HOA. Therefore, the subdivision relies heavily on city ordinances to preserve, maintain,
and improve our quality of life and property values. I wanted to give you one example pertaining
to Ordinance 94-189. A resident maintains more than nine cars in a driveway, 2 to 3 vehicles on
the street, and two in the backyard. What happens to the parking lot if you repeal 94-189? Well,
I'm going to tell you. The parking lot will then extend into the grassy area of the front yard with
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more cars. What will keep others from storing vehicles in their front yard? Please reconsider your
action on repealing this ordinance and think of the impact of your action on residents and
subdivisions. We don't need cars parking on the grass in front of houses to devalue our
neighborhoods and homes. Thank you."
b. Michael Flores, 620 Sharon Lane, commented, "I have an opposing view of the last one. I
bought my property in 1999. I have horses and livestock and the trailers and trucks that go with it.
I bought land so I would be able to keep them there and I had every right to do so. In 2008, I was
forcibly annexed by the City of Baytown. I still don't have city services that I didn't have before,
but the point is, I received a parking ticket for parking approximately 150-270 feet from the road.
It dead ends in front of my house. My driveway is on the left side of my property if you're facing
it, so there is rock from the end of my driveway over to the right. I can't park my extra vehicles
out there, which I have too many to park there anyway, because I have a jeep that I use to be able
to take things out to the horses when it's muddy out there, like hay and stuff, and a dually. I drive
a different truck too on my everyday driving. So, it's not possible for me to park all of my vehicles
in front of the house and there's no curb there. I know that's one of the exceptions. So, where I did
park my Jeep and my truck, I have rocks that was put down there in 1999 when I bought my
property. Now, according to your City Prosecutor, that's not acceptable because I didn't have it
inspected by a City Inspector. Well, it's kind of hard to get inspected when I don't live in the City
when I put it down. Okay, I don't want to mess up my yard. I don't want to drive through my yard.
I don't have weeds. I don't have abandoned vehicles, but I do have several trailers that I use. We
have two ranches, one in Rock Springs and one in Centerville. I cannot drive out there every day
to feed my horses, so I keep them at my property. We have a name for it that I won't say out of
respect for the Council. That kind of ticket, I've been a Houston Police Officer for 31 years. I've
never written a ticket like that and I never would because there's something called the color of the
law that we're representing, first of all, but it's the spirit of the law. I understand what the lady
before me was speaking about. When you have a subdivision, you have small yards, I agree 100
percent that people shouldn't just be parking all over the place. I purchased my property to have
the land to be able to do those things. Now I am losing rights that I had, you're violating my
property rights, in my opinion. They just passed this in this last election, the Right to Farm Act
which includes agriculture. It says that you cannot make city ordinances that interfere with
agriculture or farming, which you are because that's what I use my dually for. That's what I use
my trailers for. I have sensed then gone twice to court and had to take off work. I'll have to go a
third time and take off work,but I see the little city cars coming,turn around right there at my dead
end sit there for a second, and see if I park there again and leave. I believe that I'm being harassed
and I don't like that. I don't appreciate it. I've lived in the Baytown area most of my life. I am a
member of several different volunteer groups, the Rocking Horse Riders, the Houston Livestock
Show and Rodeo. I'm a former captain of the Baytown Highlands, and the Go Texan Committee.
I am also the President of the Rocking Horse Riders, which we've donated a lot of things to people
in this last tornado. Mr. Griffith was there with us actually helping us feed the people who were
hit by the tornado on Bayway. I'm proud to be from Baytown, but this is ridiculous. This is an
overreach. It's not designed for people like me that have property. It's designed for people like the
lady before me who live in subdivisions. Do I think that there is a need for it, absolutely, but it's
been taken advantage of? My brother was trying to be here tonight, but unfortunately, his horses
got out of one of the pastures and he has to fix it, but he was given a ticket for one of his tenants
in his rent house. They didn't give it to my brother, they gave it to his father-in-law, written in my
brother's name, and luckily, he called my brother. When my brother took the tenant to court, so
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that he could say that was his car that was parked there because it wasn't my brother's car,he rented
the property, and he has no right to go on that property without 24-hour notice since he's not living
there. When he went in there, found out he had a warrant for his arrest,just like the guy on TV,
that he knew nothing about. That's not okay. If you want to write parking tickets, put it on the car.
It can go on that car and it will stay with it. They won't be able to get things. You can put a lien on
it. You can do all kinds of stuff. You're making this a criminal offense. It goes on people's records.
I'm a police officer. I'm going to have a Class C Misdemeanor on my record if I do lose, which
I've asked for a jury trial and I've talked to also to a lawyer about filing a suit also because I think
that it is violating my rights and I think that this ordinance violates my rights. You can be specific
and you can put with people that aren't agricultural property or without a lot of land because a lot
of these people that were annexed along with me, we don't have those services. We don't get that
from the City of Baytown. I live here by choice. Two of my brothers have left, the other ones are
still here. They moved to Crosby and Humble because they didn't like the kind of harassment that
we're getting here. I think that we can do better. I think it's your responsibility to do better as City
Council members. You were elected by the people. We're the people here and there's going to be
different views on this. As I said, I do agree with her for what she's saying. There's a place and a
time for things, but that's the spirit of the law. Coming out to my place where I'm at a dead end,
I'm not affecting anybody. Mr. Lester, I read a Baytown Sun article when you were in charge of
this division however, I don't know how you call it here, but you said that you don't enforce this
unless people make a complaint. Well, I've talked to all my neighbors. No one complained. I get
along with all my neighbors, and I know you're no longer responsible for that, sir, but my point is
that somebody's complaining about it I understand,but nobody's complaining about me. Okay, not
my neighbors anyway. I ask you to repeal this law and come up with something that's better that
would affect this young lady here and everybody can be happy, but it's not meant for everything.
It's not a cover all and it's not going to work that way. Thank you for your time."
C. Joseph Fallin,170 N. Burnet Dr., commented, "To even have to be here today to consider
an ordinance that dictates what I can or cannot do on my own personal property is ludicrous. When
I wash my truck in my front yard, I should not receive a$500 ticket. When my neighbor drops his
elderly wife off closer to the door after an emergency room visit, he should not get a $500 ticket.
When my guests park in the driveway with one inch of the tire hanging off to the grass,they should
not receive a $500 ticket. The City even charged my brother $1,970 for parking in his own yard.
This has to stop. It's my personal property and the City should not be able to control my front yard.
I have no mandatory HOA and I never agreed to this ordinance and it should have never even been
introduced. The city of Baytown is trying to enforce a HOA style ordinance across the whole City.
This ordinance is so against the citizens that technically if I park my riding lawnmower in the grass
to go get a glass of water, that's a violation. I'll even bring this back to the First Amendment in the
Bill of Rights. I have the right to pursue happiness as long as I am not directly hurting anyone else.
Using my front yard makes me happy and for the City to tell me I cannot is a direct violation of
the First Amendment. We're not even three or four down. We're at the very first one. We cannot
let this continue any longer. We the people of Baytown are tired of this ordinance. I was even
arrested over this ordinance. I got arrested and went to jail for parking my truck in my yard. I got
put in the back of the police car. They took my mugshot. They stripped me of my clothing and put
me in an orange jumpsuit and in a jail cell with real criminals all over parking my truck in my
yard. What are we doing? This ordinance should have never gotten this far. This is absolutely
unacceptable behavior from the City of Baytown that I hope to see fixed today. Please side with
the people and please remove this draconious ordinance. Thank you very much for your time."
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d. Marga Matthews, 606 E. Republic St., commented, "Hi. Good evening, everybody. I hope
you can understand me. I'm a little hoarse today. My bronchitis is really bad. My name is Marga
Matthews. I live at 606 East Republic in Baytown and I'm in between, but I do not like it even
though I've gotten a ticket for this. I'll go ahead and read off and I hope you all can understand me.
I want to state that I have never received a city citation in the mail. I did receive a court summons
in September for parking in the grass with pictures of my vehicle, an inch in the grass, and also
showing a fine of$257. We are not so fortunate to be able to get tickets dismissed just to be in with
City Council members. It is the principle. Citizens either have to pay a fine or hire an attorney,
which I did. Public health enforcers need to be more customer-friendly also. I would like for the
City Council to amend the parking in the grass ordinance due to the fact it is being taken out of
context by the code enforcers. I also suggest the City when issuing citations put the citation on the
front door or on the window of the car. Also, suggestions from other cities are for the City to
investigate within three working days and issue a warning ticket to witness upon arrival. The case
is closed after the vehicle is removed from the yard or when no violation is found. If the property
continues with noncompliance a case may be filed in municipal court after three parking tickets are
issued for the same vehicle within 90 days. This information all comes online when you look up
different cities that are parking in the grass because I know the state of Texas has parking in the
grass, but it's only because they don't want you to ruin your yard or to make your neighborhood
look bad, which I understand, but there's no fines in the state of Texas. It's the cities that are putting
this ordinance and fining the people. As a Baytown citizen, I'm asking the City Council to form a
committee in order to help amend the ordinance to better serve the city and the citizens of Baytown.
Since there are various circumstances that can lead to parking in the grass due to unloading, car
washing,visitors,and many more. Remember,lead by example,and do not let city employees break
city ordinances because citizens are watching. I am not here to cause chaos, because it could have
easily been me getting a warrant also. When they sent that citation, I got it in through my phone,
that said some mail was delivered to my house, but it said, when I got there, there was no mail, and
so I emailed UPS,because I have it on my phone, and they never responded, so that didn't help. So.
I think putting it on the window of the vehicle or on the door, like when the gas company and them
come to do something. If you can place it on there, that's more sufficient for somebody that's out of
town or at work to be able to come home and not depend on the UPS because they're not too good
and to be able to view that. I just want the ordinance to be fair to all citizens, not to just some. Like
the man was saying, the spirit of the law has been taken out of context here and it's damaging all
the people here in the City of Baytown. I'm one of them. There were 77 tickets issued in my
neighborhood, that's depressing. My neighborhood is a hard-working neighborhood. People mind
their own business. Yeah, they sometimes actually park way in the grass. This is my vehicle here,
an inch on the grass. That's an embarrassment to get a ticket for that. The sad thing is we have city
employees that have full four tires on the grass. Now is that ridiculous? This is an embarrassment.
Very much an embarrassment. All you City Council should be talking to your employees and telling
them not to break the ordinance because the citizens are watching you. This is not the only picture
that's out there. There are like five pictures of city trucks on their grass. So, I get a ticket. I had to
hire an attorney and pay $100 for the attorney, but yet they're breaking the law. It's just I want you
all to be aware of this and please do something because this is getting ridiculous and out of control.
I want a committee,please, to be formed to amend the ordinance, not do away with it because there
are some issues, but to amend it to better the community, not to target ridiculous one inch in the
yard or somebody's property that's out in the country. That's unfair. Let's just be fair about it and be
fair to the community and you probably won't see a lot of people complaining unless you're fair,
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but if you're not fair, we will be coming back here time and time again and bring our grievance to
you because we demand something to be done. We're not asking, we're demanding. Thank you."
e. Austin Purswell, 3619 Crosby Cedar Bayou Rd., commented, "Me and my wife just
recently purchased our home. We've been homeowners for less than two years now. Our lot that
we're on is a little bit less than an acre. My good friend Joseph, Mr. Fallon back there, through his
story and saw what had happened to him. I've delved into this and investigated it a little bit.
Essentially by the definition of this ordinance, I don't have a driveway. I'm not allowed to park in
my driveway that I have whatsoever because it's gravel. The ordinance states that an approved
service means a parking area, including a driveway extending from the curb, street, or alley in a
contiguous course and constructed of concrete,brick,pavers, asphalt,or other equivalent materials
approved by the Chief Building Official prior to installation, not including gravel or crushed stone
unless such was in place prior to March 23rd, 2008. My driveway has had a lot of rock added to it
past that date. So, by this definition, I don't have a driveway to park in. I'm not allowed to park at
my house. I just think it's a little bit ridiculous. I just think that a lot of the wording just needs to
be revised, especially for people in subdivisions. Of course, we don't want people junking up our
town, but for people like me, I could be cited for simply parking in the driveway that I have access
to. So, I do hope that you all pay a little bit of attention to it and I hope that some revisions are
made. Thank you."
f. Jay Fallin, 2010 N. Alexander Dr., commented, "In June 2017, 1 received a citation for my
travel trailer being parked in my backyard. It wasn't on the grass either. It was on a milled asphalt
area that had been back there for years. I mean, it looked nice. It wasn't just an eyesore on the
grass. To my belief, you could park things behind your house and it didn't violate the ordinance.
Well, I went to court for the citation. I went without a lawyer. I was found guilty and I was hit with
a $1,970 fine. I've appealed it in Harris County and here we are seven years later and I'm still
waiting on something to be done about it. I'm 1000 o against this ordinance and I believe it should
be completely done away with. Thank you."
g. Kyle Rhodes, 5111 Glen Haven Dr., commented, "Thank you for your time. I've heard a
lot this evening and I see a lot of cases and I do think in this particular case that the ordinance is
too broad and needs to be amended. I have three suggestions for the amendment. One is that it be
related to the zoning codes. You have single-family one and single-family two. This would take
care of your subdivisions with housing and so forth like that. A second suggestion is a time period
allowed within certain periods, such as 7 a.m. in the morning to 7 p.m. in the evening. Therefore,
you can either disallow the parking during that time or allow it during that time period and not the
other 12 hours. This would take care of any long-term parking situations where you have vehicles
in storage,which should not be in an SF 1 or an SF2. You would not have junk vehicles, you would
not have rotten, and you would not be addressing agricultural or multi-use properties. Therefore,
that would solve that situation. The other suggestion I have as far as this has to do with the one
inch being off the property. A definition needs to be done along those lines as into a full tire width.
There's a case in another town that's in a nearby county, and if your vehicle's axle is not over the
violated property,the tire's exceptional,but the axle actually has to read it,then you're in violation
of it. Those are my three suggestions. I would really not like to see it go away because I also live
in a neighborhood where there is no HOA. Thank you."
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Frank McKay, 148 N, Burnett Dr., commented, "Esteemed Council, I am not in favor of repealing
this law, but I would be really open to you guys working. You've got some great suggestions and
so I would be open to that. I mean, we could put warnings, we can do a time limit. Like if I have
a big party, there may be some people parking in the grass. I would ask that we look at that. When
you look at this law, it's been incredibly successful in some ways because everybody knows about
it. Everybody is really being careful not to park. And we've only had one person get arrested too.
All right, sorry. It's also a slippery slope if we repeal this. What's going to be next?No grass height
standards? No junk car standards? So, people in this country, it's great. We have a choice in this
country. You can move to Channelview, you can move to Highlands if you really want to park in
your yard, or we can continue to see the decay in our community. We have our fine people move
to new Baytown. That's why hopefully we can find a good solution that is to protect our
neighborhoods and our City and also, it's not too onerous and too hard on the people. Thank you."
Chet Theiss, 211 Post Oak St., commented, "Hello Council, I've been a resident of Baytown ever
since my dad was transferred to Ellington Airfield back in 1964 when I was in the middle of second
grade. All I'd like to say, I've been a resident of Baytown for a very long time. I've also been a real
estate appraiser, which holds a broker's license for over 40 years. I know a little bit about real
estate and the local markets, rules, standards, regulations, and covenants. I would like to ask you.
Council, to support what the Council, the Mayor, city leadership, administration, legal, and
different city departments came up with when they created the few ordinances that we have that
were to help the image of Baytown. There was a lot of work put into that, a lot of work and it was
over years, years' time in different committees and a lot of different entities that went into it. There
are only really a few that I believe for the most part that are against it and want it repealed for
violations of the ordinance. It seems there's a little bit of an axe to grind. Most of the people, from
my opinion, and that's my opinion, I'll emphasize that and then give you that, it's a silent majority.
All of my neighbors and those that I know in the city understand and respect the laws. At the end
of the day, Baytown is still going to have an image problem and image issues. If the few ordinances
that we have on the books are repealed, I'm not certain who would want to live here without any
standards. In closing, I would just like to say there were a bunch of excellent suggestions that I
heard tonight, and simply to Mike and his situation. I think Marga brought up an excellent idea for
a committee. I'm not one that's jumping up and down to create committees, but that sure sounds
like a good idea. Thank you."
James Springer, 116 Caldwell St., commented, "Good evening Council, I'll try to be quick. I did
agree with a lot of what was said as far as I don't think it's the ordinance is perfect and needs work,
but repealing it is the absolute wrong thing to do. We don't have an HOA where I live. We rely
on the City to keep things at least at bay of what they are and not go down,decline,or go downhill.
I grew up in Lakewood and was born and raised in Baytown. Growing up in Lakewood my entire
life,this ordinance wasn't necessary, neither was the high grass type stuff. People had pride in their
yards, they had pride in their community, and that's gone by the wayside for a lot of people,
unfortunately. I've even been told by one of these guys, hey, well, maybe you need to move and
I'm not moving,but also don't want to see this stuff go on or get worse. I agree, it's not perfect,but
I don't want to live next door to somebody parking their cars in their yard. There's just no reason
for it. If you want to live and have your land, and you want to do whatever you want with it, then
you have to move somewhere where there are no rules. Move to the country, move to the county,
move out of the state. Repealing it is a bad idea. Excuse me, I'm sorry, are you speaking? I didn't
speak while you were up here, so shut up."
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Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado commented, "If we can have some order, please. Thank you."
Mr. Springer continued, "All I have to say repealing it is a bad idea. I don't want to live next to
some of these guys. Thank you."
Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado commented, "Thank you, Mr. Springer. Excuse me, I'm sorry if we can
have some order back on Council. As I mentioned before, we are to respect the order of council
rules and procedures. We are giving you our time. Let's give everyone who has signed up their
time. They drove out here this evening to speak."
Harvey Ponder, 6413 Crosby Cedar Bayou Rd., commented, "It's funny I get to speak right now
because I moved out of Lakewood. I moved, gone, and now the city wants me back. If this council
is serious about bringing new residents to town, you can start the same way entities across this
nation do it. Cutting taxes, cutting regulations, and lowering taxes. The formula for building
anything is very simple, cutting regulations and lowering taxes. If this city wants to increase its
revenue and income,don't do it by writing a ticket to a guy washing his truck,cut some regulations
and lower taxes. If you want people to move to town, people do not build new homes in Baytown.
They do not try and improve their existing homes. When you're always worried about what some
inspectors got to say, when you're always worried about if I met this or if I did this, if I did this
right. They're not going to do it. They're going to move out of town. Cut regulation and lower
taxes. A publicly funded and unwanted new hotel and golf course to try and increase property
values in a financially depressed part of town. Really?"
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado commented, "Mr. Ponder, you still have time on there, but please stick
to the item at hand."
Mr. Harvey continued, "Yes, ma'am. This is part of this all part of it. I just want to say, cut some
regulations and lower some taxes. Like I said, I moved out of Baytown. I told this Council in this
room 20 years ago about parking on your own land. With parking,what to do about property values
has nothing to do with property values, but everything to do with a bunch of busybody neighbors
who want to sit there and control somebody else's what they're doing. Get out of my life. Leave
me alone. Let me live my life the way God sees fit, cut some regulations and lower some taxes,
please. That's all I got. Thank you."
Michelle Arnold, 807 Rosewood Dr., commented, "I wanted to speak about the parking
ordinances. The debate over the parking ordinances does highlight the tension between personal
freedom and community regulations. Baytown can cultivate a thriving community that prioritizes
the well-being and satisfaction of its residents, but there has to be a balance between personal
freedom and community regulations. Having more ordinances imposed, arresting, and ticketing
already struggling families is not community-friendly. Why would you arrest someone when
parking in the yard is an ordinance? It's not really a crime and it also feels like some overreach. I
think that we should probably focus more on the crimes and not the aesthetics of a yard and what
I have parked there. For example, I have an elderly father who lives with us. We have to pull up
in the yard to get him out of the car because he just had some toes amputated. Am I going to get a
ticket for that? Possibly,but it's what we have to do to make it through the day. Allowing residents,
the freedom to park in their own front yard. It empowers them to utilize their property as they see
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fit, fostering a sense of ownership and control over their own space. This freedom promotes a
positive relationship between the individuals, and their homes and enhances the overall quality of
life within the community. I pay taxes on a property that I'm going to be told where I can park and
where I can't. It just doesn't make sense. I would request that you all repeal the parking ordinance.
Thank you."
James Kilburn, 5001 Ashwood Dr., commented, "I want to approach this from a slightly different
point of view. I'm hearing a lot of complaints about this ordinance and I'm hearing some good
things about it as it stands,but in following discussions on next door neighbor about it and my one
personal experience about it. I parked my truck on the grass several years ago, went inside to get
the material to wash it, and walked back outside, a Baytown police officers there, starting to write
a ticket. We talked for a few minutes. He didn't write the ticket. I would ask the city solicitor or
the police chief. My understanding is I'm allowed 4 hours in a spot before I should be ticketed.
Fifteen minutes after parking, he's ready to write a ticket for it. I think that the ordinance needs to
be tweaked,and needs to be adjusted some,but I also see a training issue. If we're going to ask the
police officers to enforce the ordinance, they need to know it. There needs to be a way to market.
How do you know if a vehicle has been parked somewhere for 4 hours or as Mr. Rose suggested
12 hours, if that gets suggested to do something like that? As several people have commented,why
can't tickets be left on the vehicle? The idea of getting a ticket in the mail because I parked my car
on the grass and that's hoping the mailman or that my mail will get to me. We all know the
problems the post office seems to have getting deliveries these days. I think rather than getting rid
of the ordinance, I think there needs to be some serious work done to amend it, to make it good. I
see value in it. If either our solicitor police chief would like to address the training issues or what
the time allowed for the vehicle to be parked is, I would see my time to him. Thank you."
James Kaminski, 623 Lauren Lane, commented, "I'd like to speak against this ordinance because
going back to the letter from Mr. Calder, considering disannexation from his viewpoint, code
enforcement was a benefit. I don't see how more overreach by a city government telling me what
I can and can't do in my own yard is a benefit and possibly tickets, fines, and jail time. I built my
house in 2000 or 2001. I was outside the city limits. We actually called before we built to see if
there were any plans by the city to be annexed because we could have gone ahead and ran all the
lines and made it there in case we were and they said, "No. we don't have any plans. Well, low and
behold, 17 years later, I was brought into the city. Now, we have a private road between mine and
my mother-in-law who lives next door to me. Between us, we have 9 acres. I have trailers, I have
vehicles, I have everything else. I would think it'd be a travesty that after what I've gone through
with the annexation and all those meetings that I had before and what I heard and overheard and
were told for the city to come in and enforce something when I don't even get city services,but yet
I'll be ticketed.
Now, I do get a lot of UPS deliveries and other deliveries to my house because of online ordering.
I've gotten pretty close with a couple of the UPS guys because he's there all the time. He just
happened to mention yesterday that he saw my letter. He heard what was going on. He said, "You
know, there sure is quite an uptick of the city of Baytown trucks in this area." Now, am I being
watched more because I'm speaking out against what had happened to me and what's been going
on all this time? Now I work quite a few hours. I've worked quite a few days and I hope someday
when I'm home, I can sit out and watch and see if what he said is true, because I don't want to go
by something, somebody else said. I think you should strike the ordinance or at least for a
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residential neighborhood I understand because I don't like driving through neighborhoods where
everything's parked out in the road and you're having to wait for the cars to go past. I don't like
that, but if there's a limit on how much property you have or how much land you have, don't tell
me what I can and can't do on the property, I pay taxes on. I don't junk it up. I keep it mowed, I
keep it clean and everything. The city needs to consider striking it or seriously amending this
ordinance because it's hurting a lot of honest people who are trying to just get by in these hard
times. Thanks."
Eileen Hamilton, 3504 Knight Lane, commented, "I have received two tickets now. I'm fighting
one right now. My husband pulled into the driveway to air up his tire to go back to work. He was
there for 32 minutes and we got a ticket in the mail. I understand this ordinance. I do. I understand
it completely. Do I think it needs fixing? Yes, I do. I really do. My yard is beautiful. I keep it
maintained all year long. I mulch every season. I weed and feed. I do everything to my yard. It is
perfect. I do not trash out of my house. It's normal,but when you pull up to your driveway and you
have a trailer in your driveway first, so you go around it just to get to the garage door and you get
a ticket in the mail for being in your yard for 32 minutes, something's got to give. It has to. There's
too much of this for something not to be able to be worked out. I received a ticket six years ago
for being in my yard. Same thing, I had a newborn baby. I needed to unload groceries and we still
have our trailer in our driveway. I backed into the gate. I was there for maybe 40 to 45 minutes.
Got another ticket just for trying to unload some groceries. I moved it as soon as I was done and
we still got a ticket for that. Now, we went to court for that one. It did get dismissed. I had proof
from the cameras of how long I was there. They didn't want to dismiss it. We said that we were
going to go ahead and take it to trial and see what we could do with that. Three days later, I got a
ticket. I mean, I got a letter in the mail saying it was dismissed. Great. Go to court yesterday for
the same thing. The prosecutor did not want to hear anything that I had to say. He didn't want to
see the pictures. He didn't want to hear anything. He just said, are you ready for trial? Sure, I'm
ready for trial, but this ordinance is overreaching. It's overreaching the citizens of Baytown and
we pay for our stuff. We have hard workers in our neighborhoods, but we are being punished. I'm
all for this ordinance. I don't like having to see junk around people's houses. I'm not for that, but
this has got to be fixed. It's not okay. I hope you all have a great evening. That's all I have to say."
Linda Mics, 6427 Crosby Cedar Bayou Rd., commented, "I actually was not going to speak on
this until my daughter pointed out, "Mom, we can't even wash our cars in our yard anymore." We
used to do that to kill two birds with one stone. I watered my yard. I'm split. I believe that this code
of ordinance is needed per neighbor, like the first lady. When you have all the yards, all the junk
yards, I mean,junk cars in a yard and all that, that is needed. The gentleman who could not wash
his car in his yard and got a ticket, and the gentleman who got thrown in jail, and the man who
cannot park his RV in his backyard. Well, I'll be honest, shoot, we'd park our RV to get it ready to
go to the deer leasing and back. So, yeah, it's in the backyard, but his was too. I didn't ask to be
under this ordinance.I was forced annexed in 2017. Also, I chose where I live because I had wide
open space. I could park in my yard. I could back my cart up to my garden. Now you're saying I'm
in violation. The police are writing tickets for all of this? Well, let me tell you, I have called the
police department and asked them to patrol my road to write tickets for speeders, which could kill
somebody, which has hit a cow and thrown it 400 feet,but they won't do it. They will write tickets
for people parking in their yards to wash a car. I believe that you all are all or nothing. I believe it
needs to be modified. So, but you're an all-or-nothing council, so I say let's repeal it. Let's get rid
of it and come up with something much better."
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Gary Vanderbeek, 4403 Crosby Cedar Bayou Rd., commented, "We were forced into the
annexation also, but I'm listening to these people. To me, they're all good people and we all tried
to improve our properties and stuff like that. There's always an extenuating circumstance of things.
Like in my case, I'm listening to it, and the absurdity of it is I want to make my property beautiful.
I make my property beautiful, the taxes go way up. I had the water main put through my property,
which took out the storm sewer. So the thing that's going to happen next is going to look at my
grass that takes me eight hours to cut and I can't cut It because it's too wet because you all took out
the storm sewer when I'm trying to make my property beautiful. My fence is damaged because I
asked the city controller for remedies to it and he said, "Go ahead and try to sue us, you won't
win." That's how I feel. I think a lot of people feel like that. Like we're David fighting Goliath.
We're just citizens trying to do the best thing we can and not be taxed into oblivion so we can live
our lives in peace. I think a lot of people feel that way. I hope so. That most good people, we try
to do the best for our families. We try to create an environment where it is good for the neighbors.
There are a few people who violate that, and I hope that you do something about it because there
are extenuating circumstances. When nobody listens to us, like that one person said, I went to the
prosecutor and I tried to plead my case,and he wouldn't listen. I thought that's what the government
was for, to help us, not tax us into oblivion where we don't know what to do and we can't live
anymore. We don't know if we could retire because we're taxed too high because we tried extra
hard. Then without getting on a soapbox, it feels like the people who don't do anything and are
lazy get the rewards. That's pretty much all I got to say. It's something else to give and I think
maybe listening to the people, and I don't know how that would come back because there's a lot of
things to it, going to court and stuff like that. But I mean, something's got to change because you
don't know if you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. You try really hard to make
your property good and then the taxes go up where you can't afford it. Then it's like, "Where am I
going to go? The interest rates go super high. I'm going to buy another house, and then I'm not
affording what I have already, but I'm fighting the tax guy to keep the property values down so I
can afford to live." So it's like people are just people. They're just trying to survive and live and do
good things for people in most cases. So, I hope you listen. Thank you."
David Isaac commented from zoom, "I would like to comment in favor of personal freedom this
evening and discuss favorably the idea of repealing and replacing this ordinance. So that the
gentlemen who want to park their vehicles the way that they want to park their vehicles, especially
those that have been affected by forced annexation as recently as 2017, did not ask to be part of
this new ordeal. I think the Fallin's have a point when we talk about that one-size-fits-all issue that
they're going through. Some people who live in parts of these residential neighborhoods with
HOAs may deserve to be regulated perhaps a little bit more than those of us who live on the
outskirts of town. So, we should take a look at that. I do think it's a bad idea, especially coming
from a conservative blowhard, that we grow government with a committee when we're repealing
a lot of committees tonight. Make another committee about another committee about another
committee. That's ridiculous. That's dumb. I think there should be a difference between people
voicing their concerns and people who want to hear themselves talk for six minutes because they
have their little buddies here.
Another thing is representation. It starts from the top. People tried to attack city employees this
evening. But the low-hanging fruit comes from the council itself. Councilman Franco doesn't pay
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February 8,2024
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his fine. No. He hadn't paid his taxes. He hadn't paid his fees. He hadn't paid his HOA situation.
That's been an issue you're all talking about.
Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado commented,"Mr. Isaac,if we can refrain from defaming anyone,please,
and stick to the point at hand.
Mr. Issac continued, "That's fine, Madam Pro Tem. I just want to reclaim my time and discuss
how important it is that we serve as an example behind the council. They want to talk about city
employees. I'm talking about the council. I think that's a very fair assessment to make when we're
talking about leadership here in town. So, when we're talking about the hypocrisy aspect of things,
I want to talk about our elected officials instead of our city-appointed employees. But with that
being said, I think we should repeal and replace this measure. I'm in favor of personal freedom just
as much as anyone else in this room. However, it does have to be reasonable. We want to keep
Baytown beautiful. We want to keep it pretty. We want to keep it looking forward. We want
property values to continue to increase and look nice to some extent. So, but within reason, these
people want to park in the properties that they paid for, especially those that existed before they
were forcibly annexed into Baytown. It's all I have to say tonight. Good evening."
Mayor Pro Tem Alvarado acknowledge that no action will be taken.
e. Consider an ordinance authorizing payment to Front Line Mobile Health, PLLC for
Annual Medical Evaluation services for Fire.
A motion was made by Council Member Jacob Powell and seconded by Council Member Mike
Lester to approve Ordinance No.15,707, related to Item 4.e. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tem Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
ORDINANCE NO. 15,707
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE CITY TO PAY FRONT LINE
MOBILE HEALTH, PLLC FOR ANNUAL MEDICAL EVALUATION
SERVICES FOR APPROXIMATELY 158 FIRE DEPARTMENT PER-
SONNEL IN AN AMOUNT NO TO EXCEED ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-
SIX THOUSAND AND NO 100 DOLLARS ($136,000.00); MAKING
OTHER PROVISIONS RELATED THERETO; AND PROVIDING FOR
THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
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f. Consider an ordinance authorizing interlocal agreements with the General Land
Office (GLO) of the State of Texas for the Community Development Block Grant -
Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Local Hazard Mitigation Planning Program (LHMPP) on behalf
of the Fire/Emergency Management Department.
A motion was made by Council Member Jacob Powell and seconded by Council Member Kenrick
Griffith to approve Ordinance No. 15,708, related to Item 41. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
ORDINANCE NO. 15,708
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER
INTO THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT GLO CONTRACT NO. 22-
130-044-E437 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT LO-
CAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLANNING PROGRAM (LHMPP) NON-
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT MITIGATION FUNDING AGREE-
MENT WITH THE TEXAS GENERAL LAND OFFICE; AUTHORIZING
THE CITY OF BAYTOWN TO RECEIVE AN AWARD IN AN AMOUNT
NOT TO EXCEED SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND AND NO100 DOL-
LARS ($75,000.00); AND DESIGNATING AUTHORIZED SIGNATO-
RIES FOR THE LHMPP APPLICATION AND ANY RESULTING
CONTRACT(S); MAKING OTHER PROVISIONS RELATED
THERETO; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE
THEREOF.
5. PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS
a. Consider a resolution authorizing the City Manager, on behalf of the Baytown Police
Department, to submit a request for funding for 14 NIJ Type II-rated (or higher) Ballistic
Rifle/Bullet-Resistant Shields in an amount not to exceed $112,000.00 to the Office of the
Governor, State Homeland Security Division of the State of Texas, for the Fiscal Year 2025
Bullet-Resistant Shield Grant Program.
A motion was made by Council Member Mike Lester and seconded by Council Member Sarah
Graham to approve Resolution No. 2881, related to Item 5.a. The vote was as follows:
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Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
RESOLUTION NO. 2881
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO MAKE
AN APPLICATION TO THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, PUBLIC
SAFETY OFFICE'S HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT DIVISION ON
BEHALF OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO REQUEST FUNDING
FOR 14 NIJ TYPE III-RATED (OR HIGHER) BALLISTIC RIFLE BUL-
LET-RESISTANT SHIELDS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED ONE
HUNDRED TWELVE THOUSAND AND NO 100 ($112,000.00); AU-
THORIZING THE REPRESENTATIVE TO ACCEPT OR AFFIRM ANY
GRANT AWARD THAT MAY RESULT THEREFROM;AND PROVID-
ING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
b. Consider a resolution authorizing the adoption of the City of Baytown Public-Private
Partnership Guidelines.
Economic Development Manager Brian Moran stated by approving the public-private partnership
guidelines allowed by Texas Government Code 2267 for public facilities and infrastructure pro-
jects allows maximum flexibility and as another procurement tool that could be used by the city.
It also allows the city to be able to charge fees to cover the costs of evaluating proposals including
the costs of external reviewers, such as architects,engineers,and attorneys. If it is approved by the
council, we would submit our guidelines to the Texas Facilities Commission, which is the regula-
tory body that oversees the Public-Private Partnership Guidelines statute.
A motion was made by Council Member Sarah Graham and seconded by Council Member Kenrick
Griffith to approve Resolution No. 2882, related to Item 5. b. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
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February 8,2024
Page 19 of 34
RESOLUTION NO. 2882
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN,
TEXAS, ADOPTING P3 GUIDELINES AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFEC-
TIVE DATE THEREOF.
C. Consider a resolution authorizing a grant application to the United States Department
of Transportation (USDOT) Fiscal Year 2024 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sus-
tainability and Equity (RAISE) Program, allowing state and local governments to obtain
funding for multi-modal projects with significant local or regional impact.
A motion was made by Council Member Jacob Powell and seconded by Council Member Kenrick
Griffith to approve Resolution No. 2882, related to Item 5.c. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
RESOLUTION NO. 2882
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN,TEXAS,AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER OF THE CITY
OF BAYTOWN TO SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION TO THE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FISCAL
YEAR 2024 REBUILDING AMERICAN INFRASTRUCTURE WITH
SUSTAINABILITY AND EQUITY PROGRAM, WHICH ALLOWS
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO OBTAIN FUNDING FOR
MULTI-MODAL PROJECTS WITH SIGNIFICANT LOCAL OR RE-
GIONAL IMPACT, IN THE AMOUNT OF TWENTY-FIVE MILLION
AND NO 100 DOLLARS ($25,000,000.00) FOR FUNDING IMPROVE-
MENTS ASSOCIATED WITH PHASE F OF THE GARTH ROAD WID-
ENING PROJECT; AUTHORIZING A CASH MATCH; DESIGNATING
AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE; AUTHORIZING THE REPRE-
SENTATIVE TO ACCEPT OR AFFIRM ANY GRANT AWARD THAT
MAY RESULT THEREFROM; ASSURING PROPER USE AND
MAINTENANCE OF GRANT FUNDS;AND PROVIDING FOR THE EF-
FECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
d. Consider a resolution authorizing the City Manager to submit four(4) Partnership Pro-
ject Applications to Harris County Precinct 2 for Fiscal year 2024.
City Council&Municipal Development
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February 8,2024
Page 20 of 34
Assistant Public Works and Engineering Director Michael Leech advised Council summarized the
item.
A motion was made by Council Member Sarah Graham and seconded by Council Member Jacob
Powell to approve Resolution No. 2884, related to Item 5.d. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
RESOLUTION NO. 2884
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN,TEXAS,AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER OF THE CITY
OF BAYTOWN TO SUBMIT FOUR (4) PARTNERSHIP PROJECT
GRANT APPLICATIONS TO HARRIS COUNTY PRECINCT 2 FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2024; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE
THEREOF.
6. BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
a. Consider an ordinance repealing Chapter 2 "Administration", Article IV "Boards and
Commissions", Division 7 "Cultural Arts Council" and Division 14 "Ethics Commission",in
their entirety, to dissolve the Cultural Arts Council and the Ethics Commission.
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado announced that item 6.a. - 6.f. will discussed together for any citizens
that signed up to speak.
a. Marga Matthews commented, "Marga Matthews and actually it's probably going to be three
minutes. It's not going to be long. I don't know how to do it out there. I don't want to be here for
each item every time it comes up. So, I'm just going to make it short and first I want to thank the
Council for giving me the opportunity to be on the Animal Advisory Committee because I enjoy
it. When I looked at this and I read it, I was getting a question mark on them. Why are they being
dissolved? I think a lot of these committees are on here. I see the battleship, yeah. I could see that
dissolved because we don't have the battleship here. It's gone. A lot of these other ones, we need
checks and balances. So,the community being involved in the committees to give input and to have
a say in what all these committees have, would be an input in an asset for citizens and the city. I
don't think that a lot of these should be dissolved, especially the ethics and the local law enforce-
ment advisory board. I think anything that has to do with law enforcement or advisory,to me, that's
a community working with law enforcement and having an input. If we don't have input, we're not
going to know anything. The only time we're going to know anything is if we're in here or it's been
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February 8,2024
Page 21 of 34
put out. So, having a committee to tell the community the input, what's going on or anything,com-
munication back and forth is a big plus. I'm for a lot of these committees and I believe in commit-
tees. I'm on a lot of committees,but do I enjoy taking time and doing it? Sometimes no,but it helps
getting informed and having an input and that's why I don't understand why a lot of these are being
taken off by the legislation lobbyist committee. I didn't even know there was one. I know that you
all send lobbyists to the City of Austin and you all pay a lot of money for those lobbyists. That
would be nice to be informed of what are they lobbying for. If we don't have a committee, we're
not going to get informed to know what they're doing. So, yeah, I'm for committees and being
informed and having a little say. It might not give us a lot to do or because I know some committees
you just listen and that's it, but you're getting informed. That's what I'm saying. So, doing away
with them we're not going to get informed unless we come here and read up on it or call them. It's
easier to have people in there to know that at least somebody is knowing something. I know that
strategic planning I participated in one year in that. I really enjoyed it because the city was really
laid out neat. They had all these tables and the health department, the police department, and dif-
ferent departments were there. They all gave us input and showed us where we're going and plan-
ning and stuff. It was just really good to do away with stuff like that. It's just to me, it's upsetting
because I think the community needs to be involved in more. If you do away with things like that,
how are we going to be involved? I mean, I know I like to get involved. I did believe that people
that commit to these committees need to commit and show up because I know I've heard a lot of
people don't show up and they need to be dropped and to let people in who really want to do
something for the city of Baytown. I know that each district picks committees and stuff like that
and you go online and do that, but just take into consideration that. Please don't do away with a lot
of these committees because it helps the community to be informed and we feel like they're part of
it. Thank you."
b. David Isaac, West Republic, commented, "The first matter I would like to discuss first is the
dissolution of the Ethics Commission and the Cultural Activities Council. I don't have the agenda
in front of me here,but you said you want me to do the whole group, right? Is that correct? Do you
want me to try that?"
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado commented, "Correct."
Mr. Isaac continued,"Get three minutes a piece. Okay,let's start with that one. So,with the Cultural
Arts Council, I believe that is something that should have existed previously,just like the Ethics
Commission,which I'll get to in a second. You heard the Mayor at the last State of the City Address
in front of the Chamber of Commerce at the Hyatt Convention Center said that he wants the Bay-
townians to be an ambassador. How else could we be an ambassador other than to have a Cultural
Arts Council to extend out into the community and spread not just arts in terms of food, in terms
of business, in terms of music, in terms of many things. I think we should look into reestablishing
that committee. Our parks and rec do a great job,especially within their committee,but that is more
of an informative committee of the Mayor's appointments. It's not really an interactive community-
based committee for cultural and art activities. We could see support and collaborative efforts with
other entities around the city, such as Texas Avenue and the Arts Council, the 8th District. So I
think we should look into that. Furthermore, and most importantly,perhaps, is the Ethics Commis-
sion. I've asked about this for many years now. I'm glad we're getting to a point where hopefully,
when this page turns, when the next shoe drops, about this particular issue, a new Ethics Commis-
sion will be established. Now, I know we had a work session today. I wasn't able to tune in live for
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District Joint Meeting Minutes
February 8,2024
Page 22 of 34
that, but I think that this is probably the most important move that the city is going to make com-
mittee-wise in years to come, 4 years to come. We haven't had an Ethical Government because we
haven't had an Ethics Commission in operation for over 12 years. So now, are we going to be an
Ethical Government? Are we going to act ethically? Are we going to appoint people who we think
can uphold our charter ethically? So that's the answer I want to see,that's the answer to this question
I want to see. So, dissolving it today, I don't have a choice but to be in favor of this, because I
suppose you guys have something planned up your sleeve for the future. I urge the council to do
everything they can to instill and ensure an ethical government going forward, hopefully by estab-
lishing some sort of replacement at least, if not for the Cultural Arts Council, then for this ethics
commission.
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado read Mr. Isaac of Item 6.b.
Mr. Isaac, commented,"So, I think getting rid of these three, I think one, getting rid of the museum
board just like we are with the arts council in the first agenda item shows what the direction of the
mentality that our council has with community involvement as it pertains to our arts. We have the
museum doing their own thing, we have the Preservation Society that's trying to get rid of Exxon,
doing their own thing, but we don't have any government arm working towards that collaborative
efforts, in a collaborative space. So, looking into the museum and getting rid of that, looking into
the police, I'm not going to ask you to repeat it, but we have the Advisory Committee which we'll
talk about later, but this just goes to show what direction that the council is taking, what they want
into the program. It doesn't seem like it's about police and cultural issues. The next agenda item,
please."
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado read Mr. Isaac of Item 6.c.
Mr. Isaac, commented, "Thank you very much. I hesitate to say that I agree with Marga Matthews
on this matter. When you talk about some of the things that we're getting rid of that we probably
shouldn't have been using, the Strategic Planning Committee, for instance. We know Rick Davis's
specialty. His forte was trying to get the community involved in a long term planning situation.
What have we been doing the past year and a half or so to increase and enhance those efforts? I
haven't seen very much. I'm not going to make you read that whole thing back,but I think my point
is clear. Some of those committees listed in there, especially the Strategic Planning Committee
should be considered for the future going forward. Then finally the last part with the police advi-
sory, I just want to urge caution to the Council. Before we make any ordinance, I just want to tell
you how impactful that advisory committee has been within the last year especially. We had a
potential school shooting in June before anything even happened. I find that it was helpful for
students to come to our committee, the city's committee told that committee that they did not feel
safe. It urged our police department to collaborate more with the school district and Lee College.
So that committee is helpful, and I urge the council to give that committee all the tools it needs to
be the important committee that it's set out to be because that communication between individuals
in the community and the police is a very important link of communication that we have in our
town right now. It's one of the positive gems in our committee system right now as we speak. That's
all I have this evening. Thank you."
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado gave an overview of how the Boards and Commission Review Commit-
tee thoroughly reviewed each committee and explained how the committee established their rec-
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February 8,2024
Page 23 of 34
ommendations.
Each Council Member thanked the committee for their hard work with reviewing the boards
A motion was made by Council Member Sarah Graham and seconded by Council Member Kenrick
Griffith to approve Ordinance No. 15,709, related to Item 6.a. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
ORDINANCE NO. 15,709
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN,TEXAS, REPEALING CHAPTER 2 "ADMINISTRATION", AR-
TICLE IV "BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS", DIVISION 7
"CULTURAL ARTS COUNCIL" AND DIVISION 14 "ETHICS COM-
MISSION" OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, IN THEIR ENTIRETY,
TO DISSOLVE THE CULTURAL ARTS COUNCIL AND THE ETHICS
COMMISSION; PROVIDING A REPEALING CLAUSE; CONTAINING
A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION
AND EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
b. Consider an ordinance dissolving the Baytown Air and Water Conservation
Board, Baytown Community Assistance Board, Local Law Enforcement Advisory Board,
and Baytown Museum Advisory Board.
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado reiterated the local law enforcement advisory board is not the same as
what some may know as the BPAC, Baytown Police Advisory Committee. This is something sep-
arate. This committee was just reviewing a grant that we had gotten back during a certain time.
They were there to review only this specific grant and so that grant is no longer there. We now
have other review processes in place in terms of police grants and law enforcement grants. That
was the reason that we were dissolving this particular one. The others again have become obsolete
just in the day and time that we are now in.
A motion was made by Council Member Sarah Graham and seconded by Council Member Kenrick
Griffith to approve Ordinance No. 15,710, related to Item 6.b. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
City Council&Municipal Development
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February 8,2024
Page 24 of 34
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
ORDINANCE NO. 15,710
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, DISSOLVING THE BAYTOWN AIR AND WATER
CONSERVATION BOARD; THE BAYTOWN COMMUNITY ASSIS-
TANCE BOARD; THE BAYTOWN LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
ADVISORY BOARD; AND THE BAYTOWN MUSEUM ADVISORY
BOARD; PROVIDING A REPEALING CLAUSE; CONTAINING A
SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION
AND EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
C. Consider a resolution dissolving the Architectural Committee, Battleship Steering
Committee, Building Ordinance Review Committee, Municipal Court Judges Committee,
Golf Ad Hoc Committee, Industrial Appraisal Review Board, Industrial Agreement Com-
mittee, the Legislative Ad Hoc Committee, Ad Hoc Committee for Patients at San Jacinto
Methodist Hospital, and Strategic Planning Committee.
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado, commented, "What I will say on this one, again, there are a lot of
committees that have become obsolete and we no longer need those in place. In answer to Ms.
Matthew's question regarding the Legislative Ad Hoc Committee, that now resides within our
Public Affairs Department and they do provide reports to the Council as well as during city council
meetings on what we're doing. We also have a committee made up by the Mayor who has appointed
some individuals on the Council to serve to see the direction that we want to take when it comes
to ensuring that the needs of Baytown are being met when it hits legislative sessions. Therefore,
when any citizen knows when this agenda is coming up to discuss during city council, of course.
you're welcome to come and speak, you sign up and listen to the information that's being brought
forth on the recommendations regarding legislative issues, and you can speak at that time. Again,
we don't want it to feel like you are being shut out because some of these are being dissolved.
We've had to just repurpose and review. So, this one in particular because you called that one out,
I just want to assure you that it is still being activated, but through our Public Affairs Office."
Council Member Jacob Powell, commented, "I would like to see the Strategic Planning Advisory
Committee pulled from this list. I'd like to just have a little further conversation with the council
as a whole. I know that was one that they presented the five-year strategic plan to us back in June
2022. One of the follow-ups to that was that the committee would continue meeting at least annu-
ally with staff and that the Council would receive updates on how we're progressing through the
strategic plan. We don't have to get into it tonight. We can wait till we have a full seven up here. I
would like to just see that one removed. Maybe a little more discussion had on that one and I don't
have any issue with the remainder of them.
A motion was made by Council Member Sarah Graham and seconded by Council Member Jacob
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District Joint Meeting Minutes
February 8,2024
Page 25 of 34
Powell to approve Resolution No. 2885, related to Item 6.c. expect for the Strategic Planning Com-
mittee which will be brought back to Council in 90 days. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
RESOLUTION NO. 2885
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, DISSOLVING THE ARCHITECTURAL COMMIT-
TEE; THE BATTLESHIP STEERING COMMITTEE; THE BUIILDING
ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE; THE MUNICIPAL COURT
JUDGES COMMITTEE; THE GOLF AD HOC COMMITTEE; THE IN-
DUSTRIAL DISTRICT AGREEMENT COMMITTEE; THE LEGISLA-
TIVE AD HOC COMMITTEE; THE AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR
PATIENTS AT SAN JACINTO METHODIST HOSPITAL; THE STRA-
TEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMITTEE; AND THE INDUS-
TRIAL APPRAISAL REVIEW BOARD; PROVIDING A REPEALING
CLAUSE; CONTAINING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING
FOR THE PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
d. Discuss the scope and composition of the Baytown Police Advisory Committee,and con-
sider a resolution amending Resolution No.2674 to modify the composition of the Committee.
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado advised Council that this Committee was reviewed in depth and met with
the Chief of Police for recommendations.The Baytown Police Advisory Committee currently holds
public forums to receive input from diverse community groups to enhance understanding through
communication and education and to improve and maintain public trust in the Baytown Police
Department. It is currently composed of 9 members. Each member of the City Council gets an
appointee as well as the City Manager and the Police Chief. They all have one appointment each.
In the interest of increasing public safety effectiveness for the city of Baytown, we discussed re-
structuring this particular committee into a Public Safety Advisory Committee. So,adding our Fire
Chief will allow for greater input to the public safety team. The Police and Fire Departments work
closely on many issues in the community that impact public safety and the quality of life. Fire Chief
Kenneth Dobson has been looking for a venue to make meaningful contact with the community
and receive their feedback. We want to make sure they're included in this process. This structure
allows for a venue that would give citizen input on public safety as a whole or to have input on the
individual departments. The Police and Fire Departments can take citizen input, and work together
to create synergy to impact public safety and security which can help improve the quality of life
for citizens. This may also help improve citizen attendance and participation. So, this group has
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February 8, 2024
Page 26 of 34
been going out within the community. We know that it's sometimes hard for members of the com-
munity to come to certain locations. They are seeking out different venues to go out and speak to
residents. If you have a citizen group or you have neighbors that you meet with regularly or those
that do not have an HOA, but a Civic Association, we really encourage them to seek out this par-
ticular committee and have them go and speak. One of the other recommendations that we have is
to ensure that we have equitable representation on this particular advisory board. We ask that the
appointments be district-specific and not at large. Currently, each council member has an appoint-
ment, but they're at large appointments. So, representing Council 1, I can appoint someone who
lives in Council District 5 or 6. We want to make sure that it is equitable and we don't have indi-
viduals that are heavily on one side of the City so we are making that recommendation that it
become district-specific. Also,there will be the proposal to change the name of the Baytown Police
Advisory Committee to the Public Safety Advisory Committee. The City Manager will no longer
have an appointment for this particular committee. The Police and Fire Chief would each make one
appointment from within their departments and the Council would retain their appointments dis-
trict-specific. We also included an appointee from the ETJ from this particular one.
Police Chief John Stringer commented,"One of the things we're looking for is to be able to increase
citizen participation so we can get that feedback. We do work very closely with the Fire Department
and we're considering it as public safety. How can we have the best impact on our community and
how can we bring all of our public safety together to get their concerns, to get their input, and what
ideas they have that they might want to present to us to partner with us? What kind of special
projects could we do? That's where we're really missing a lot of the effectiveness that an advisory
committee can have for Police and public safety. So, this is one of the things that we considered. If
we could do that and draw more people in, then we could all hear their concerns. We could also
begin working together and focus all of our resources on those problems that are maybe quality of
life problems that lend themselves to criminal activity so that we could reduce the likelihood of
environmental factors ever becoming criminal activity in the first place. I've said it several times
for the Police Department, our true measure of success is not how many people we put in jail or
how many tickets we write. It's how many times we never have to do those things in the first place
because we're out in front of the problems."
After Council held a discussion, Council would like time to review the changes in writing within
the Baytown Police Advisory Committee.
A motion was made by Council Member Mike Lester and seconded by Council Member Sarah
Graham to suspend Item 6.d. until the next Council meeting, February 22, 2024 to review, along
with changing the district specific appointee to an at-large district appointee. The vote was as fol-
lows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
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District Joint Meeting Minutes
February 8,2024
Page 27 of 34
Approved
e. Discuss the composition of the Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals and
consider an ordinance amending Chapter 18, Article I. Division 2, Section 18-56 of the City
of Baytown Code of Ordinances to modify the composition of the Board.
Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado advised Council that this board works with the building services staff
and citizens to hear and decide appeals of orders decisions, or determinations made by the Chief
Building Officials relative to the application and interpretation of adopted international codes. So
currently, we have one Architect, one General Contractor, one Engineer, two members at large.
one Master Plumber,and one Journeyman or Master Plumber.The proposal is to remove the Master
Plumber and add a Journeyman or an Electrician. That is the recommendation from this Advisory
Committee as we receive feedback from the Planning and Development Services Director Martin
Scribner and his team.
A motion was made by Council Member Jacob Powell and seconded by Council Member Mike
Lester to approve Ordinance No. 15,711, related to Item 6.e. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
ORDINANCE NO. 15,711
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AMENDING CHAPTER 18 "BUILDINGS AND
BUILDING REGULATIONS," ARTICLE II "BUILDING CONSTRUC-
TION STANDARDS,"DIVISION 2"CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF AD-
JUSTMENTS AND APPEALS," TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT
FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF AN ADDITIONAL MASTER PLUMBER
OR A JOURNEYMAN PLUMBER, AND AUTHORIZE THE APPOINT-
MENT OF A MASTER OR JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIAN; PROVID-
ING A REPEALING CLAUSE; CONTAINING A SAVINGS CLAUSE;
AND PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE
THEREOF.
f. Discuss the makeup and creation of the Economic Development Committee, and con-
sider a resolution creating the Committee.
Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado stated no action will be taken.
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District Joint Meeting Minutes
February 8,2024
Page 28 of 34
7. CONSENT
A motion was made by Council Member Jacob Powell and seconded by Council Member Mike
Lester to approve Consent Agenda Items Ta. through 7.i. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
a. Consider an ordinance authorizing the annual renewal of Tyler Incode Software
through the Sourcewell Cooperative Contract Program.
ORDINANCE NO. 15,712
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE PAYMENT OF EIGHTY-
SEVEN THOUSAND,THREEHUNDRED, FIFTY-SIX DOLLARS AND
54 100 DOLLARS($87,356.54)TO TYLER TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE
RENEWAL OF TYLER INCODE SOFTWARE; MAKING OTHER PRO-
VISIONS RELATED THERETO; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFEC-
TIVE DATE THEREOF.
b. Consider an ordinance authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute con-
tracts for food supply and distribution services and food catering services.
ORDINANCE NO. 15,713
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN,
TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXE-
CUTE TWO (2) NO-UPFRONT-COST, STANDBY CONTRACTS FOR EMER-
GENCY FOOD SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SERVICES AND FOOD
CATERING SERVICES, RELATED EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT SER-
VICES; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
C. Consider an ordinance awarding Entertainment Event Booking and Audio-Visual
Services to Texas Sound and Entertainment, Event Productions of Texas and Top Shelf En-
tertainment for the 2024 Fiscal Year.
ORDINANCE NO. 15,714
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February 8,2024
Page 29 of 34
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AWARDING ENTERTAINMENT EVENT BOOKING
AND AUDIO-VISUAL SERVICES TO TEXAS SOUND AND ENTER-
TAINMENT, EVENT PRODUCTIONS OF TEXAS AND TOP SHELF
ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE 2024 FISCAL YEAR IN AN AMOUNT
NOT TO EXCEED FIVE-HUNDRED, SIXTY-NINE THOUSAND,
EIGHT-HUNDRED, SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS ($569,875.00); AND
PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
d. Consider an ordinance authorizing the purchase of Eight(8)Ford Trucks from Sils-
bee Ford, through The Interlocal Purchasing System Cooperative ("TIPS"), for Public
Works & Engineering(PWE) and Parks & Recreation (P&R).
ORDINANCE NO. 15,715
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN,TEXAS,AUTHORIZING THE PAYMENT OF SIX-HUNDRED,
THIRTY-FOUR THOUSAND, TWO-HUNDRED, FIFTY-TWO DOL-
LARS AND 75 00 ($634,252.75) TO SILSBEE FORD INC., THROUGH
THE INTERLOCAL PURCHASING SYSTEM COOPERATIVE, FOR
THE PURCHASE OF EIGHT (8) FORD TRUCKS FOR THE PUBLIC
WORKS & ENGINEERING AND PARKS & RECREATION DEPART-
MENTS; MAKING OTHER PROVISIONS RELATED THERETO; AND
PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
e. Consider an ordinance authorizing Amendment No. 3 for the Garth Road Widen-
ing Project with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. for additional funds for the design of
Phases A to E.
ORDINANCE NO. 15,716
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN,
TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE THIRD AMENDMENT TO THE PROFES-
SIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH KIMLEY-HORN AND ASSOCI-
ATES, INC., TO REOPEN SEVEN DRIVEWAYS ALONG GARTH ROAD
BETWEEN IH-10 AND ARCHER ROAD INCLUDING CERTAIN TASKS RE-
LATING TO PAVING, RIGHTS-OF-WAY, EASEMENT, AND TEMPORARY
CONSTRUCTION LICENSE ACQUISITION, THEREBY INCREASING THE
CONTRACT AMOUNT BY THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND AND NO 100 DOL-
LARS ($37,000.00); AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE
THEREOF.
f. Consider an ordinance authorizing the purchase of Axiall Accu-Tab Hypochlorite
Solution Tablets and Pool Chemicals from Progressive Commercial Aquatics, Inc.,for water
park maintenance, using the BuyBoard co-operative.
ORDINANCE NO. 15,717
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District Joint Meeting Minutes
February 8,2024
Page 30 of 34
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN,
TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE PAYMENT OF ONE HUNDRED THIRTY
THOUSAND DOLLARS ($130,000.00) TO PROGRESSIVE COMMERCIAL
AQUATICS, INC., FOR THE PURCHASE OF AXIALL ACCU-TAB HYPO-
CHLORITE SOLUTION TABLETS AND POOL CHEMICALS FOR THE
PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT, THROUGH THE TEXAS LO-
CAL GOVERNMENT PURCHASING COOPERATIVE(BUY BOARD); MAK-
ING OTHER PROVISIONS RELATED THERETO; AND PROVIDING FOR
THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
g. Consider an ordinance authorizing Change Order No. 3 for the Water and
Wastewater Annexation Project Package I Connally Area with T-Construction, LLC.
ORDINANCE NO. 15,718
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN,
TEXAS, AUTHORIZING CHANGE ORDER NO. 3 FOR THE WATER AND
WASTEWATER ANNEXATION PROJECT PACKAGE 1 CONNALLY AREA
WITH T-CONSTRUCTION, LLC.;MAKING OTHER PROVISIONS RELATED
THERETO; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
h. Consider an ordinance authorizing Amendment 3 to the Municipal Maintenance
Agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
ORDINANCE NO. 15,719
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN,
TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AMEND-
MENT NO. 3 TO THE MUNICIPAL MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT WITH
THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION; MAKING OTHER
PROVISIONS RELATED THERETO; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFEC-
TIVE DATE THEREOF.
i. Consider an ordinance authorizing the abandonment and conveyance of an interest
in a current Open Drainage Easement.
ORDINANCE NO. 15,720
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE ABANDONMENT, RELEASE,
AND CONVEYANCE OF AN INTEREST IN DRAINAGE AND SEWER
EASEMENT ON THE PROPERTY COMMONLY KNOWN AS 2001
GARTH ROAD, BAYTOWN, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, AND
PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
8. APPOINTMENTS
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District Joint Meeting Minutes
February 8,2024
Page 31 of 34
a. Consider two (2) City Manager appointments to the Civil Service Commission.
David Isaac, commented, "A fabulous woman by the name of Barbara Hanna has signed up to
serve. It's a new name. She's qualified, she served her community. She works hard. She's been
in Baytown for decades, and I think we should take a serious look at nominating new people to
the process, not the same old Baytown 50 faces growing our town. We need to empower new
leadership in our town. We need to develop new leadership in our town. I think it starts right
here with the new committee appointments. We've been waiting months for a new committee
appointment.There's been a moratorium on committee appointments. Nonpolitical, new names
to the process. That's the only way to do it. That's Charles Murray. Dr. Charles Murray talks
about social capital. Robert Putnam, social science journals. Okay,talking about instilling new
leadership in our town, something our town is desperately in need of, which is new leadership.
So, I'm asking the city manager today, I'm urging him, on behalf of the community, looking for
new leadership, and new faces to the process, to nominate Ms. Barbara Hanna, host of this
evening for this seat. Thank you very much."
A motion was made by Council Member Jacob Powell and seconded by Council Member Ken-
rick Griffith to approve Resolution No. 2886 appointing Aubry Sartori and Donald Vallier to
the Civil Service Commission. The vote was as follows:
Ayes: Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Sarah Graham, Council
Member Kenrick Griffith, Council Member Jacob Powell, and Council
Member Mike Lester
Nays: None
Other: Mayor Brandon Capetillo & Council Member James Franco (Absent)
Approved
ORDINANCE NO. 2886
AN RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAY-
TOWN,TEXAS,AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO APPOINT
TWO (2) MEMBERS TO THE BAYTOWN CIVIL SERVICE COMMIS-
SION; AUBRY SATORI AND DONALD VALLIER;AND PROVIDING
FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF.
9. MANAGER'S REPORT
City Manager Jason Reynolds recognized the following employees:
• Detective Ken Pascual,Police Department for apprehending a burglary suspect and recovering
the stolen property.
• Kourtney Bonzo, Public Affairs for being honorarily inducted into the National Technical
Honor Society.
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District Joint Meeting Minutes
February 8,2024
Page 32 of 34
• Tim Bellard, Arthur Beaudet, Ryan Jackson, Jeremy Brasseaux,Joel Willie, Public Works for
helping a resident with a fallen tree that blocked her driveway.
• Joseph Roberts,David Kirkpatrick,Hector Alvarez,Chase Barras,James Henderson, Brandon
Haas, Gerald Bryce, Alejandra Moz, Bianca Rubio, Nicole Swearingen and Sonia Benavides,
for participating and representing Baytown in the 2024 Texas Public Works Association
(TPWA) Equipment Roadeo.
10. COUNCIL MEMBER DISTRICT REPORT
a. Receive a report from Council Member Kenrick Griffith regarding projects, programs and
events in District No. 3.
Council Member Griffith reported the following activities:
Parks & Recreation
• The Baytown Nature Center had 62 species documented birds during the January Audubon bird
count.
• Houston Audubon conducts bird surveys like this across the region.
• This critical community science effort gathers data that will help scientists evaluate
population changes and understand which species might require special management.
• Survey leaders engage participants of all birding skills, and it's a great way to be intro-
duced to the joys of birdwatching.
• Enhancements to the Nature Center have been made:
• Park crews worked with Scout Group Troop 1202 to add a new foot bridge and bird
feeders to the wooded area adjacent to the butterfly garden.
• Crews also relocated 4 covered scoring tables from the Wayne Gray Sports Complex
to re-purpose into new bird blinds for our birding enthusiast guest to enjoy along the
natural areas of the park.
• Lastly, several of the trees used for decorations at the Town Square Holiday Hangout,
have now been replanted within the Baytown Nature Center.
• Improvements are being made at the Roundabout at San Jacinto and Hunt Road
• Staff is working with Yellowstone Landscaping Co. to replace damaged plants along
the Roundabout area
• Damage occurred as a result of irrigation backflow theft during the summer drought of
2023.
• Replanting will take place mid to late March of 2024
• Pre-construction progress on the Lakewood Park project is being made
• Boundary and topographic surveys have been completed for future development of
Lakewood Park adjacent to Lakewood Pool.
• Design and engineering is the next step.
Planning & Development Services
0 3715 E IH 10 - 2 New warehouses in development
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February 8, 2024
Page 33 of 34
• Approx. 350,000 sq. ft each
• Status: In Review
• 5900 San Jacinto - Development of 166 new single-family homes for rental development
• Status: Progress is Pending Payment of Fees
• Should be starting soon
• 4080 E IH 10 New Buccees car wash
• Status Under Inspection
• 7303 Garth --New White Water Express Car Wash
• Status -- Review Pending Inspections
• Should start soon
• 4021 E IH 10 New Restaurant Black Bear Diner
• Status: Under Inspection
• Approximately '/z way done
• 7414 Bayway Drive El Matador Foods
• Granted a Special Exception in January that will allow them to proceed with their
planned Food Processing Facility(Tortilla Factory)
• Status: Waiting on submittal of commercial building permit application.
• 1001 E IH 10 - QuickTrip
• Will consist of 29.77 acres to create 3 lots.
• Status: Minor Plat submitted for review
Public Works & Engineering
• Asphalt Streets Repairs are being made on Sheppard Rd, Connally Rd, &Thomas Rd
• 500'o complete
• Concrete Streets Repairs are being made on Fawndale Way
• Includes storm box repair, 90% complete
• Storm Water Work is ongoing on John Martin Rd. & N. Burnett
• 5615 John Martin Install driveway, 70% complete
• 5411 5815 John Martin- reset driveways and regrade ditch, 60% complete
• N. Burnett Flush storm water pipes from 428 Willow to 501 N. Burnett, 100%
complete
• Tree trimming is ongoing in the Lakewood Subdivision
• 500 o complete
• Connally Annexation Utilities Project is being finalized
• Ongoing with closeout procedures
• Change order reduction is scheduled for Feb 8
• Baker Rd Lift Station Project is ongoing
• Building platform and Generator Pads have been poured
• Electrical work ongoing
• Goose Creek Lift Station is in final stages
• Working with contractor on punch list items and negotiations
• Construction on the Harris County Project along Wallisville is ongoing
• Covers from Garth to N. Main
• Includes Median/Sidewalk improvements
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February 8,2024
Page 34 of 34
• Temporary barriers for the median pour are installed
• A temporary road has been paved via asphalt
• This is only partially in District 3
Council Member Griffith recognized Valerie Torres, Administrative Specialist who works in the City
Clerk's Office for her exemplary customer service skills while assisting a citizen with a death certifi-
cate.
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION
a. Recess into and conduct an executive session pursuant to Section(s) 551 .071 and/or
551.087 of the Texas Government Code to seek the advice of the City's attorneys and/or to discuss
economic development negotiations.
At 9:10 P.M., Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado recessed and convened in to an Executive Session pursuant to:
1). Recess into and conduct an Executive Session pursuant to Section(s) 551.071 and/or
551.087 of the Texas Government Code to seek the advice of the City's attorneys and/or
to discuss economic development negotiations.
At 10:29 P.M., Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado reconvened the meeting and announced that, in accordance
with Section 551.102 of the Texas Government Code, no action was taken in the Executive Session.
12. ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Pro Tern Alvarado adjourned the February 8,
2024 City Council an own Municipal Development District Meeting at 10:29 P.M.
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City of Baytown
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