2016 09 08 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
SEPTEMBER 8, 2016
The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday,
September 08, 2016, at 5:32 P.M., in the Hullum Conference Room of the Baytown City
Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance:
Brandon Capetillo
Council Member
David McCartney
Council Member
Chris Presley
Council Member
Mercedes Renteria
Council Member
Terry Sain
Council Member
Stephen DonCarlos Mayor
Rick Davis
City Manager
Ignacio Ramirez
City Attorney
Leticia Brysch
City Clerk
Keith Dougherty
Sergeant at Arms
Mayor DonCarlos convened the September 08, 2016, City Council Regular Work Session with a
quorum present at 5:32 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Council Member
Sain that arrived at 5:45 P.M., Council Member Presley that arrived at 5:47 P.M. and Council
Member Hoskins who was absent.
1. DISCUSSIONS
a. Discuss the City's utility infrastructure.
City Manager Davis stated that the purpose of this item was to give Council a brief overview of
the City's utility infrastructure, what they City has done to help with some issues; such as sewer
overflows, how much time and money has been invested in these endeavors and what is the plan
moving forward. He further noted that Council is already aware of some large projects that were
agreed upon to complete with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), one of
which is a line replacement estimated at $10 million, along with some other projects that are
aimed at reducing any sewer overflows. He noted that the City continues to have a good standing
with TCEQ based on our voluntary plan to mediate the sewer overflow problem. Additionally,
City Manager Davis advised council that I &I problems are not exclusive to the City of Baytown,
but is actually a regional issue that is also a product of our climate and atmospheric incidents.
Deputy City Manager Bottoms presented the item and stated that while it may not seem so, the
City has conducted a large number of infrastructure projects from 2003 to the present. He noted
that the City has spent an estimated $173 million in infrastructure projects and staff has done a
good job in going through the city to upgrade and /or repair water and sewer infrastructure, along
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September 08, 2016
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with the upcoming planned projects that are a part of the City's voluntary plan (the "SSOI") with
the TCEQ that takes us through 2023.
Deputy City Manager Bottoms presented and discussed four (4) different maps that represented
different geographic areas or districts of the City (West District, Center District, East District and
North East District) and identified old lines that have already been replaced with plastic pipe,
which were marked in green throughout the maps. He noted that the City has completed a
tremendous amount of work replacing old lines, but also noted that the City still has lots of work
to do in the areas that are seeing a lot of overflow, which is part of the SSOI.
Mayor DonCarlos stated that by looking at the maps it is evident that the City has completed a
lot of work on the infrastructure, but noted that there are still lots of problems with overflows and
inquired if the City ran out of options to resolve the problems. Deputy City Manager Bottoms
stated that while the City had done a good job at replacing old pipes throughout the entire city;
there's lots of work to be done with regards to the private line replacement and further noted that
the City needs to become more aggressive with its PSLIP program. Deputy City Manager
Bottoms stated that unfortunately, the only thing that the City can control are the public lines and
many of the overflow issues currently at this time are directly related to private lines.
During further discussion, Deputy City Manager Bottoms stated that financially, the City is
constrained on the number of new projects it can take as staff must be cognizant to the bond
rating and keep those ratings competitive with surrounding cities. In response to Council
Member Capetillo's question related to the amount of monies being spent on the areas that were
identified as having overflow problems, Deputy City Manager Bottoms stated that the overflow
problems are really throughout the City and some of the issues are with the City's lift stations,
which are currently being upgraded to handle the additional volumes accordingly. He stated that
the overflow area around Ferry Road has been handled, along with the planned projects to help
mediate overflow in other areas of concern; such as the line replacement on Baker Road for $1
million and the line replacement on Kilgore Road for $1.8 million.
Mayor DonCarlos asked if staff was able to identify any locations of infiltration that need
work. City Engineer, Jose Pastrana stated that staff was able to identify different locations that
need attention through pipebursting projects. Mr. Pastrana stated that while conducting the
pipebursting projects, a small camera is sent through the pipes to see the status of the pipes and
surrounding areas, which provides information on the City's infrastructure needs and further
noted that this is only done on current pipebursting projects and not to lines that are not being
worked on. Deputy City Manager Bottoms stated that there have been lots of wet years lately
which has impacted overflows significantly and noted that TCEQ recently changed its reporting
requirements, whereas it may seem that there are more instances of overflow in the City, but
actually are not it's just that staff has to report more now than in the past. Mr. Pastrana stated that
the fact that areas across the city are no longer overflowing is evidence that what staff is doing is
working, but noted that even with all of the projects and upgrades to the City's infrastructure,
there will always be some overflow in certain areas because as the City continues to grow the
more impermeable spaces and more runoffs there will be; therefore, the City will have to get
bigger infrastructure to accommodate future growth.
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September 08, 2016
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Council Member Capetillo asked if there was a way for the City to measure the utility
improvements from 2003 to the present. Deputy City Manager Bottoms responded that there's no
unit of measurement or methodology to identify a measurement on how the City is doing on its
infrastructure repairs and maintenance.
Mayor DonCarlos stated with regards to the PSLIP Program, that the past a letter was sent to
property owners informing them that they need to repair their private utilities, and if they did not,
a surcharge would be added to his/her monthly water bill. He further stated that he didn't believe
that this program was effective in persuading people to repair their utility infrastructure being
that there are current overflow problems and inquired of staff as to what options were available
to the City, in order to make people repair their water lines which are negatively impacting our
infrastructure taking into consideration that they are located on private property.
The staff and Council discussed the City's PSLIP program, a program that allows private citizens
to replace their old pipes with plastic ones, and options to entice private land owners to make the
necessary improvements to their infrastructure; some options included (1) contracting with one
plumbing company to bring down the costs significantly for the homeowners, (2) making it cost
prohibitive by increasing the fee associated with the PSLIP program, (3) promoting the CDBG
program that assist lower income residents, and creating a program that would include private
insurance supported by the City. Director of Strategic Initiatives, Mr. Nick Woolery stated that
he was currently working with various stake holders in order to participate in the SEP program
with TCE'Q as this is an environmental issue, along with reviewing ways to revamp the City's
current PSLIP program and offer residents a program that is more cost effective for them.
Additionally, Mr. Woolery stated that he would come back to Council with more information
once those meetings had taken place.
City Manager Davis stated that the staff would work to provide accurate date and information
regarding the PSLIP program and will bring that back to the Council at a later date. He further
noted that future discussion should be done with consideration on the approach and funding of
capital projects. He stated that the City simply does not have the cash flow or monies needed to
complete these large projects and will need to rethink its strategy that will probably involve the
issuance of debt. He noted that there are opportunities with some of the sewer debt coming
offline to re- appropriate some monies, as well as, bundle up some projects and in a few years
look at increasing the sewer rate. Additionally, City Manager Davis stated that a conversation
would be brought back at a future meeting and he'd looked to re- evaluate how water and sewer
are handled with possible consideration of separating the two from each other so that they are
separate programs and more manageable.
b. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
for September 08, 2016, which is attached below.
City Manager Davis briefly discussed the proposed municipal budget that Council will consider
for adoption during the regular meeting. He noted that staff made the adjustments to the budget
in order to accommodate the fire lieutenants for the Fire Tower Seven and made no other
modifications to the budget. He stated if Council decided not to approve the item that there's one
(1) more regular meeting for them to approve the budget before having to call a special meeting.
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September 08, 2016
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Additionally, he stated that staff would be reporting to Council periodically on the progress as it
relates to financials included to budget and implementation plan.
In response to a question from Council Member Capetillo related to the compensation budget for
staff, City Manager Davis stated that there was a 5% raise for civil service employees and an
opportunity for up to 5% increase for non -civil service that consist of a 2% cost of living
increase and a possibility of up to 3% for merit. Additionally, Assistant City Manager Troller,
the head of the Compensation Committee for Non -Civil Service Employees, stated that all non-
civil service employees are at or above market. Council Member Capetillo asked if staff was
reviewing all employees to make sure that the issue of compression and lower classified
employees are not making more than their supervisors are being dealt with accordingly. Assistant
City Manager Troller stated that this is being constantly reviewed by HR and Finance, and is an
issue that's dealt with every single employee. Assistant City Manager Troller further stated that
staff is very comfortable with where they are with this regards, but noted that there may be an
issue with regards to civil service employees, especially higher in the ranks, that will have to be
dealt with comprehensively.
City Manager Davis stated that this is something that is being looked at as staff is very close to
finding a solution with the Police Association on how to distribute raises this year. He stated that
there a review is needed of some of the department head positions as some of them are a bit
behind market and need to be addressed in the coming year. He further stated that Baytown
provided one of the most competitive salaries to its employees; thus, there was not a lot of
turmoil and turnover. Additionally, he stated that the staff here is eminently better than a lot of
other staff he has worked for in his career, and that is a byproduct of being competitive.
Assistant City Manager Troller reminded Council that staff had a two year compensation plan
that it completed last year; the first year brought people up to market and the second year they
were put within the range of the market where they belonged according to their years of service
doing the job. City Manager Davis noted that Baytown is using a market of cities with a
population of 80,000 to 300,000 and also noted that in the next year the City will conduct a more
empirical analysis of market to be able to use a true comparable when deciding our market.
As it relates to our turnovers for professional positions, City Manager Davis stated that in his
tenure he has seen the retirement of one (1) department head only and he expects there to be
some turnover with department heads in the next five (5) years due to retirement.
2. ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the September 08,
2016, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:11 P.M.
Y •'~
Leticia Brysch, City rk
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City of Baytown
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