2017 03 09 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
MARCH 09 2017
The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on March 09
2017, at 5 38 P M. in the Hullum Conference Room of the Baytown City Hall 2401 Market
Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance
Laura Alvarado Council Member
Robert Hoskins Council Member
Charles Johnson Council Member
David McCartney Council Member
Chris Presley 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 March 09, 2017, City Council Regular Work Session with a
quorum present at 5.38 P M. all members were present with the exception of Council Member
Johnson who arrived at 5.40 P M. Council Member McCartney who arnved at 6 14 P M and
Council Member Sam who was absent.
DISCUSSIONS
Discuss possible water wastewater and drainage utility projects and fees
City Manager Davis presented the item and stated that it was important that the Council had
some mid year discussion regarding the city's utilities and enterprises in preparation for the
upcoming budget season therefore Deputy City Manager Bottoms and Health Department
Director, Mike Lester would present details regarding its water wastewater and storm drainage
Deputy City Manager Bottoms presented a map of the water and wastewater lines and projects
throughout the City He stated that the City has many projects planned for the next ten years of
which adds up to an estimated 220 million dollars in capital spending He stated that the City is
now able to generate about $5 million a year to manage capital projects, but there are some
requirements that the City is already committed to such as the TCEQ required Sanitary Sewer
Overflow Project on the wastewater side, which is a ten year project that was started back in
2014-15 and ranges in cost depending on the scope of the project at hand
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March 09 2017
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As it relates to water rates, Deputy City Manager Bottoms noted that the water rates were still on
the high side and while there was no request for any increases currently staff might request
funding in the future for a water and wastewater master plan which will validate many of the
projects that are on the list as they will need appropriate funding He noted that many of the big
projects are on the wastewater side and that one of the bigger projects is a mile long line to
service the growth on the north side of the city, more specifically just north of MUD 213B at
Walhsville and Garth for what could be a master planned community, this wastewater will flow
to the Northeast Plant He further noted that the wastewater from the development along the San
Jacinto Boulevard area and that along Garth Road will all go to the West Plant. Deputy City
Manager Bottoms stated that this line is currently a 42" fiberglass line which has had some
failures primarily at the manhole areas from the sewer gases He stated that the line is also at its
capacity and either needs to have a parallel line added or should be replaced with a 60" line He
stated that the 60' replacement line has an estimated cost of $10 million dollars and that the
parallel line addition would be cheaper He stated that as the City set aside $5 million a year for
projects and with some water/sewer debt coming off the books next year allowing for an
opportunity to roll that debt over this will allow for the project to be complete without
increasing the debt service Additionally Deputy City Manager Bottoms stated that this is a very
high level view of the water and wastewater situation and that staff will have a better
understanding of projects and cost once the water/wastewater master plan is completed
City Manager Davis noted that one of the things accomplished with the pay as you go process
has been to eat into the fund balance and to continue down this path will not allow the City to
remain financially solvent in the water/wastewater fund He further noted that it made sense to
allow some current debt service to come off and then reutilize that money to pay for some
bundled projects in the future
Council Member Hoskins asked when staff is going to come back to Council and request
increases to the water/wastewater fees In response to the question Deputy City Manager
Bottoms stated that it may or may not be this year for the wastewater fees but that staff would
know more about how to proceed once the water/wastewater plan is completed Council Member
Hoskins stated that the City should strive to stay ahead of the curb as it relates to expansion, but
noted that he continues to have concerns related to the overflow sewer issues in the city's
existing system such as, the one new Cedar Bayou Methodist Church He further stated that the
City must be proactive in dealing with the maintenance and upkeep of our older areas of town to
limit or eliminate the large sewer overflows that are continually seen throughout the city Deputy
City Manager Bottoms stated that staff continues to work on the maintenance of the older sewer
lines and spends about $1 million dollars per year for sewer replacement and pipeburshng He
noted that currently staff is conducting a pipebursting project in the Pelly area which is a part of
the SSOI to upgrade their system and they lust completed two (2) major projects to help with
overflows in the Kilgore and Baker areas Additionally, Deputy City Manager Bottoms stated
that staff would look into the overflow issues near the Cedar Bayou Methodist Church to see if
anything else was needed to help this area
During further discussion City Manager Davis noted that part of the problems with the overflow
issues stem from the private sewer lines Deputy City Manager Bottoms further noted that the
City has a private sewer line inspection program `PSLIP' program, which allows the City to run
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March 09 2017
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cameras down water and sewer lines when working on a project, as well as, through the adjacent
private lines to Identify problems that will negatively impact the public sewer system He noted
that a lot of the problems that the city faces related to I&I are because of issues with private
lines therefore the City is also doing smoke testing on the lines and has gotten more aggressive
with our PSLIP program in order to help address the private side of these Issues Deputy City
Manager Bottoms also reminded the Council that the City is still working with TCEQ towards
getting a program together that will allow the City to use portions of an environmental fee charge
that industry pays because of air and/or water releases and provide an additional option to help
get many of these private lines replaced and/or rehabbed He also reminded the Council that the
City has completed water and sewer projects throughout different parts of the City in an
estimated amount of $170 million
Deputy City Manager Bottoms presented Council with a map regarding stormwater and ditches
and noted that the City has a huge stormwater system which takes about eleven years to go
through the entire system for regular maintenance He stated that the City is in the process of
completing a sizable project at John Martin which is a part of the John Martin Widening Project,
whereas the work being conducted here is to allow for a time regional detention in this area
instead of the many small ditches He noted that the City will be working with property owners
in this area for some linear detention to help support the San Jacinto Boulevard and Hunt Road
projects
During further discussion, Deputy City Manager Bottoms stated that another concem relates to
MUD 213B which consist of an estimated 213 acres and the 700 acres of land to the north of the
MUD that needs to drain over to Cedar Bayou He further noted that if the development for those
700 acres is the right development such as a master planned community the City would
participate in a private/public partnership and help with some of the necessary infrastructure He
stated that ideally staff would like Council to consider $1.00 increase to the stormwater
existing $2.00 fee or at a minimum a $0.25 increase He noted that the additional $0.25 would
result in a $250 thousand dollar increase in revenue which would allow staff to purchase
replacement equipment and hire additional staff for the Health division that handles storinwater
Mr Lester stated that the City received a letter from Hams County's Stormwater Division
informing staff that it was in its third permit cycle as an MS 2 of a five (5) year cycle, and as
such the City was now going to be responsible for some quality projects that have been overseen
by Hams County in the past He stated that more staff and resources are going to be required in
the stormwater division to handle the additional workload, which will continue to increase as the
City moves into its fourth and fifth year of its permit cycle Mr Lester stated that in addition to
the quality projects being absorbed the neighborhood protection staff spends a large amount of
time and resources picking up litter or floatable items that pollute the City's stormwater system
He noted that the neighborhood protection staff can be covered under the stomiwater fund,
which will allow the costs to stay out of the general fund Mr Lester further noted that the City
does not have an Environmental Engineer on staff, but does have a Civil Engineer that serves in
this capacity Additionally Deputy City Manager Bottoms noted that many large items end up in
the stormwater drains such as shopping carts general debris tires, but the new trend is flat
screen televisions
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March 09 2017
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The Mayor requested that the City review and find alternatives to the big ditches on McKinney
Road between Massey Tompkins and State Highway 146 He stated that he prefers that the
Council approve the $100 fee increase to provide enough resources to stay ahead of the City's
growth and I&I issues
City Manager Davis stated that the request for the increase in the stoimwater fee will be brought
before the Council for action on April 13's as the proposed fee must hold a public hearing for
discussion purposes of such, be posted for 30 days. and published three (3) times in the local
newspaper
b Discuss joining a coalition of cities to retain the services of a lobbyist for the current
Texas Legislative Session
Mayor DonCarlos presented the item and stated that this legislative session has many bills that
would seriously have an adverse impact on the city He stated that currently the City has Randy
Cain as its lobbyist at the state level and Alcalde and Fay as its lobbyist at the federal
level however, he felt that this session, due to the direct negative impact of some of the bills at
the state level the City was going to need some additional help in targeting and killing some of
these bills He further noted that while TML is focusing on Senate Bill 2, there are other bills that
he is very worried about such as those related to annexations He stated that he along with the
mayors of five other local area cities to include LaPorte Pasadena Deer Park discussed the
possibility of coming together to hire a lobbyist firm named Statehouse to target these high
impact and negative bills which are detrimental to all local cities Additionally, he stated that if
Council was agreeable to this option each city would pay $1 300 per month for this firm and it
would last through this legislative tern only
The Council discussed this item and felt it was in the best interest of the City to move forward
with the Statehouse contract for this legislative tern Mayor DonCarlos stated that he would get
the proposed contract to staff for further processing
c Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
for March 9, 2017 which is attached below
This item was not discussed
2 ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the March 09,
2017, Ci Council Regular Work Session at 6:20 P M
OPYTOWH
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Leticia Brysch, City Clerk
City of Baytown l
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