2010 07 31 CC Minutes, SpecialMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF BAYTOWN
July 31,2010
The City Council of the City ofBaytown,Texas,met in a Special Meeting on Saturday,
July 31,2010,at 8:00 A.M.in the Lalique Conference Room,on the first floor of the
South Shore Harbor Resort and Conference Center,2500 South Shore Boulevard,League
City,Texas77573 with the following in attendance:
Brandon Capetillo Council Member
Lynn Caskey Council Member
David McCartney Council Member
Terry Sain Council Member
Scott Sheley Council Member
Stephen H.DonCarlos Mayor
Garrison C.Brumback City Manager
Bob Leiper Deputy City Manager
Ignacio Ramirez City Attorney
Nick Woolery Assistant to the City Manager
Leticia Garza City Clerk
Council Member Renteria was absent from the July 31,2010,City Council Special
Meeting.
Mayor DonCarlos convened the July 31,2010,City Council Special Meeting with a
quorum present at 8:00 A.M.
1.REPORTS
a.Receive Baytown Crime Control and Prevention District 2010-11 Proposed
Budget -City Management.
Receive the 2010-11 Fiscal Year Budget of the Baytown Crime Control and Prevention
District,which was approved by the Board of Directors ("Board")of the Baytown Crime
Control and Prevention District ("CCPD")on July,13,2010.
In accordance with the alternative budget procedures adopted by the CCPD,the Board is
required to submit the budget to the City Council within ten (10)days after the budget is
adopted.
Following thereceipt of said budget by the City Council,the next steps will occur:
Page 2 of 10 Minutes of the July 31,2010 City Council Special Meeting
•The City Clerk will publish notice of the City Council's Public Hearing for the
proposed budget no later than 10 days before the Public Hearing;
•The City Council will hold a Public Hearing on the proposed budget no later than
45 days before October 01,2010;and
•City Council must approve or reject the proposed budget no later than 30 days
before October 1,2010.
•The City Council may not amend the proposed budget,only approve or reject
it.If it is rejected,the City Council and the Board shall meet and together amend
and approve the budget before October 1,2010.
City Manager Garry Brumback stated that the public hearing for this budget is scheduled
for the August 12,2010 City Council Meeting,and consideration for the approval of the
budget is scheduled for August 26,2010.
2.DISCUSSIONS
a.Ethics Commission Ordinance,Processes and Procedures -CityCouncil.
Discuss the Ethics Commission ordinance,processes and procedures.
City Manager Garry Brumback stated that at the City Council meeting for July 22,2010,
Council requested that an item be placed on the July 31,2010 Special City Council
meeting to discuss the current Ethics Commission Ordinance,processes and procedures,
including possible changes.
Mayor DonCarlos reminded the Council that the Ethics Commission is not intended to be
a forum for people to complain and voice their anger over decisions made by theCity's
Administration and/or Council,but was instead created to provide citizens and/or staff a
forum that will review and consider actual ethics complaints.
The Mayor stated that the goals of the discussion was to consider,(1)how is the ethics
commission doing so far and (2)how can the Commission be made more fair and
objective to all involved.
City Attorney,Ignacio Ramirez,stated that some concerns had been voiced regarding the
choice of commissioners and their religious affiliation;some comments included that (1)
the commission was not representative of all faiths,i.e.Judaism and Islam,(2)separation
of Church and State,and (3)having religious people make decisions over government
business,practices and issues that they are unfamiliar with.Because of the need for
neutrality,the Mayor felt that the most appropriate individuals to serve on this committee
were members of the Bay Area Ministerial Alliance and believes that this continues to be
the best option.
Mr.Brumback stated that this Commission was created for well intended purposes that
unfortunately were not doing what it is intended to do;the employees being subjected to
these complaints are negatively impacted on a professional and personal level,and most
Page 3 of 10 Minutes of the July 31,2010 City Council Special Meeting
if not all of the complaints presented are subjective and frivolous.Mr.Brumback posed
the following questions to Council for discussion:
•Is this Commission meeting the Council's original intentions?
•Can it be made better?
•Can and should it be done away with?
Council Member McCartney stated that the Commission was too new to make an
informed decision on whether it was fulfilling its duties and stated that the members
seemed to now be fully aware of their role and responsibilities;recommended further
training of Commissioners.
The Council discussed the roles and responsibilities of Council and the City Manager as
it relates to staff issues and the negotiation of severance agreements according to the
Charter.Mr.Ramirez stated that Council can decide policies related to employment
issues,but could not intervene in the specifics.Council also discussed the merits of
eliminating the use of severance agreements;the costs and associated impacts ofongoing
litigation;and the possibility of giving employment contracts for employees at the
director level or higher.Council directed the City Manager to continue the use of
severance agreements as he deemed necessary,but requested that they be notified of the
possibility of the negotiations of aseverance agreement at the director level or higher;
Mr.Brumback stated that he had no concerns with said directive and communication.
Council Member Capetillo commented that the process atthis time does give options
related to conflict of interest for staff and that there should be additional step to the
process to decide and/or gives validity to complaint prior to it being placed before the
Commission,in order to reduce the negative impact on the staff member,the staff dealing
with the complaint process and the organization as a whole.
Council Member Sheley commented that a sworn statement should be included in the
process in order to hold those offenders accountable through perjury charges.
Mr.Ramirez stated that the Ethics Ordinance has implied authority to swear in witnesses,
but recommended that the ordinance be amended to provide the Commission with direct
authority to swear in witnesses;similar to the authority granted to Council;however,Mr.
Ramirez also stated that should a witness commit perjury,it does not necessarily mean
that the charge would be pursued or that it would hold up in court.
Council Member Sheley stated that it was important to hold people that liedto the
Commission accountable for their actions and that consequences are needed.Mr.
Ramirez stated that it is difficult to say if people are actually lying when they present
incorrect information;a person is not lying if they do not understand what they are
talking about and arejust wrong.
In order to reduce frivolous complaints,the Council discussed the possibility of having a
panel screen complaints priorto them being submitted to the Ethics Commission for
Page 4of 10 Minutes of the July 31,2010 City Council Special Meeting
probable cause through (1)a judge,such as Judge Polumbo,(2)a police officer from
other jurisdictions,(3)outside legal counsel.
Mr.Ramirez stated that in it is not uncommon for the chairman of a commission to intake
complaints and review them prior to becoming an official complaint that needs to be
acted on the while commission.Council further discussed this item and considered
having an outside legal counsel on retainer or thecreation of a sub-committee
compromised of two (2)commissioners for this type of review
Council Member Caskey stated some reservations related to the Commissions and sub
committee authority.
The Council and City Manager discussed the set authority of the City of Baytown
Charter,Section 30 as it relates to the Ad Hoc Committee,due processes,and written
allegations.
b.City of Baytown Vision -City Council.
City Manager Garry Brumback presented the City of Baytown Vision Update and stated
that the following points are only the highlights of the many diverse and exciting
accomplishments the staff has undertaken in the last two years.
Council Member Sheley stated that he was very pleased to see that the staff was taking
the Council's vision and direction into consideration,as is evident in the vision
statements being added to all agenda items,which Council takes action on,and felt that
the Council/staff cooperation was on the right track.
Mr.Brumback gave the following report:
The City of Baytown vision was completed in April of 2008;this vision includes the
Council priorities which would then become guidelines for the staffs decision making
processes.Mr.Brumback stated that the goals of the day's vision update was (1)to give
Council a general overview of the year to date accomplishments as they relate to the
Baytown vision priorities and (2)to discuss the future of the vision and provide feedback
to staff about changes and implementation of this vision.
The priority areas for the Baytown Vision are:
•Citizen Safety
•Economic and Financial Health
•Development and Redevelopment
•Infrastructure Maintenance and Improvement
•Recruit,Develop and Retain an Outstanding Workforce and
•Create a Community we can all be proud of
Page 5 of 10 Minutes of the July 31,2010 City Council Special Meeting
Mr.Brumback presented citizen safety and stated that the City would continue to provide
great public service through its Police,Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS)and
develop andimplement mitigation strategies to minimize the severity of hurricane
impacts.
Council Member McCartney stated that there have been concerns expressed to him as it
relates to an increase in crime statistics,such as burglaries.The Council discussed a
number of issues relatedto public safety that have been voiced by members of their
constituency such as,an increase of panhandling,the homeless,prostitution and an
overall perception that Baytown is not safe.
Mr.Brumback stated that he would work with the Police Department to ensure that these
items were reviewed and monitored,and requested that Council please forward any
concerns of this nature to him immediately,in order to direct the resources needed to
remedy the situation.Mr.Brumback also stated that the Police Department has many
new resources that are being used to help combat burglaries,such as SIDNE,the hot spot
teams,increased patrols on I-10 and the commercial vehicle enforcement unit.
Citizen Safety was considered by all Council the most important and vital aspect of the
Baytown Vision and urged staff to ensure that public safety was given the resources
necessary to not onlymaintain its level of service,but to bring it to a higher level of
competence that will provide an increased sense of security and effectiveness to the
citizens and organization.
Accomplishments noted for citizen safety include:(1)the completion of Fire Station No.
5,(2)the renovation of the Patrol Division building,(3)the renovation of the Police
Firing Range,(4)the new animal shelter,(5)the upgrading to digital Coban camera
system in the police patrol cars,(6)the increase of patrol cars with radars to over 90%,
(7)improvement in officer efficiency through the use of new electronics,(8)an increase
of involvement in community programs,such as training and presentations to diverse
community groups and associations,(9)the new city-wide AED program;each city
facility has an defibrillator available to help save lives,(10)continuous improvements if
community hurricane and disaster planning and that evolved significantly in the last two
years,(11)annual community hurricane workshop,(12)and the hardening of all fire
stations.
Council discussed the negative perception people have of Baytown that it is unsafe;Mr.
Brumback stated that the media in many instances reports the bad parts,but does not
report the Police response or the fact that the perpetrators were caught.The bottom line
is that we are catching the bad guys and closing the cases,people just don't know about
it.Council requested that staff utilize public relations to report to the media and citizens
the good work being done by our Police Department,suggestions includes,press releases,
Channel 16,the utility billing insert and giving Council members police updates so they
can tell citizens and others how the City has responded to certain crimes and/or
situations.
Page 6 of 10 Minutesof the July 31,2010 City Council Special Meeting
Mr.Brumback presented economic and financial health,and stated that developing "true
neighborhoods"is one of the strongest tools that can be used by the Police Department to
promote safety.Mr.Brumback also stated that the City is working towards supporting
residential diversity by providinga wide range of housing options;improving standards
and bringing in the type of development to the City that will ultimately help reduce
property taxes.Also,economic and financial health could be achieved through providing
a strong employments base with long term industry presence;Mr.Brumback noted that it
has been the relationship and forward thinking of having seven year fixed industrial
district agreements (IDA's)that has helped the City maintain its core services and staff
during very hard economic times.Mr.Brumback discussed lowering taxes with Council
and stated that the City of Baytown has the highest tax rate in the region due to the low
housing values;the City is focusing on creating standards to protect current residential
areas and help promote more upscale housing developments in the area through the use of
the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC)and other ordinances such as the creation
of sidewalks for new developments,eliminating clear cutting or creating a way by which
to replace those trees that havebeen cleared,etc.
Council Member McCartney suggested that certain aspects of the ULDC be codified
separately,in order to move forward with the creation of standards and mapping;Mr.
Brumback stated that it is imperative that the Development Code not be broken into
pieces,as that would reduce its effectiveness.Mr.Brumback cautioned Council that
breaking pieces out of the Code,such as non conforming structures will have unintended
negative impacts on other areas that could have been mitigated and/or eliminated through
completing the process to have onecomprehensive and holistic Development Code.
Furthermore,Mr.Brumback stated that it is a combination of ordinances,standards,
zoning,and policies thatwill help create the appropriate standards for the City of
Baytown as it relates to sidewalks,roads,housing and infrastructure improvements.
Mr.Brumback noted the following accomplishments noted for economic and financial
health:(1)no tax increase for the second year in a row,(2)the completion of a
comprehensive water and sewer utility rate study that has had a tremendous impact on the
operational and capital lines for the upcoming budget;Mr.Brumback reminded Council
of the significant rate increase that the City of Houston passed on to its customers,(3)
received the GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting,(4)
GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award,(5)created the City's wellness
program that has helped to not increase employee's participation in the healthcare
program,(6)improvements to the Worker's Compensation program have reduced claims
by 55%,(7)new IDA agreements have increased revenue to the City for the next seven
years,(8)mew Neighborhood Serving Commercial (NSC)Zoning Category is proposed
and (9)with the leadership of the Planning,Engineering,Emergency Management Office
and Finance,the City has received over $25 million in IKE damages and expenditures
have been reimbursed to theCity's General Fund.
Page 7of 10 Minutes of the July 31,2010 City Council Special Meeting
The Council had general consensus that Administration was moving forward in the
correct direction as it relates to the financial wellbeing of the City.
Mr.Brumback gave a report on the development and redevelopment vision and
accomplishments;Mr.Brumback stated that all types of development activities have
continued in Baytown despite a national economic downturn,which is an indication of
the level of staff,talent and commitment the organization has.Businesses want to be in
Baytown and our staff is helping them get here through a number of programs and
incentives.In terms of development the City built Pirates Bay Waterpark that has had
four week revenue of $427,979 and is projected to bring in $326,392 over the yearly
revenue goal;the park has had 24,248 attendees in the first four weeks and averages 866
per day,which is double the original projection of 480 per day.The City has completed
the building on the Baytown Bark Park and is currently working on building the N.C.
Foote Pool.Mr.Brumback stated that it is through these types of amenities that the
quality of life for citizens is increased and made better.
Mr.Brumback stated that this vision includes the study and design of "Accessibility vs.
Mobility"plan,the incorporation of pedestrian friendly designs,providing adequate
utilities,improving the level of services and infrastructure,leveraging the relationship
with Lee College and improving the road network and mobility of the City.
Accomplishments noted for this vision include:(1)completing 12 miles of sanitary pipe
and rehabilitation and installations,(2)completing nine miles of waterline rehabilitation
and installation,(3)four new MGD NEWWTP,(4)the construction of the Gulf Coast
Lift Station,one new elevated storage tank,(5)the rehabilitation of 26 miles of
pavement,(6)completion of six miles of concrete pavement,including associated utilities
and drainage,(7)currently working on over 100 engineering projects,(8)built nine bus
shelters around the city,including City Hall,the Library and Lee College;Mr.Brumback
noted that the bus system has been highly successful in the city and it is always good to
know that we are positively impacting the lives of our neediest citizen,(9)completed the
mobility plan RFQ,(10)the Planning and Zoning Commission approved improved
driveway standards and (11)the an overall improvement in response and service to
resident concerns,utilities,streets and sidewalks.
Mr.Brumback stated that the recruit,development and retain an outstanding workforce
vision includes the training and employee development program,such as the Leadership
Roundtable Series,a Tuition Reimbursement Series,Lunch and Learn Program,an
updated Performance Review Process and increased recruiting and civil service testing in
the Police Department;the creation of the Cores Values Initiative and Program that has
been embraced and well received by staff;the Mayor's Summer Youth Work Program
that has doubled in size and been of great help to many young people as well as the
creation of the Lee College Legal Assistant Program.Mr.Brumback emphasized to
Council that the quality and level of competence in the organization's staff is growing
and excelling everyday;with continued support and training,the staff will continue to
exceed our expectations.
Page 8 of 10 Minutes of the July 31,2010 City Council Special Meeting
Mr.Brumback presented the create a community we can all be proud of vision,which
includes (1)open spaces through holistic views of underdeveloped land,(2)physical
designs,(3)investing in aesthetic enhancements,(4)investment in litter abatement
programs,(5)creating a sense of place,(6)preparing a master plan to cleanup and
redevelop our water front,(7)partnering with Lee College and Harris County for the
circulator bus system and (8)creating beautiful streets and sidewalks.
Deputy City Manager,Robert D.Leiper presented the Council with an update of the
City's recycling program and endeavors,such as the waste inplace,the e-waste,the
Green Center expansion and hours,the upgrading of the blue tubs to larger trash
containers.Council Member Sheley requested that staff look into expanding the
recycling program to include commercial locations,business,apartments,etc.
Mr.Brumback presented the following accomplishments related to this vision and they
are:(1)completion of draft future land use plan to include a major focus on a
redeveloped water front;Council Member McCartney requested that staff look into the
Tri Cities Beach area for this,(2)expanded library hours to better meet the needs of the
residents,(3)the development of new and enhanced current programs to improve the
appearance of Baytown,such as Keep Texas Beautiful,median on Garth,Baker and
Alexander,litter abatement programs,such as the C.L.E.A.N.Team and the Trash-off,
which has been very successful and (4)the implementation of GovQA,which is a
program to provide residents with assistanceas it relates to city services.
Mr.Brumback presented council with the Pirates Bay web page,which had 224,000 hits
in one month and a number of slides showing Council the different programs and/or
projects that havebeen propagated through the Baytown Vision Priorities.
c.City Manager Goals and Objectives -City Council.
The Council briefly discussed t the goals and objectives for the City Manager's 2010-11
evaluation period.
Mayor DonCarlos stated that City Council needed to compile aplan for the City Manager
as he believes that the City Management Team compromised of the City Manager,
Deputy City Manager and Assistant City Manager have the ability to getthe City where it
needs to be.
The Council requested more a general status and future plans as it relates to crime and
safety in the City and requested that the Chief of Police work on a concrete plan on how
to combat the negative perception that the City is tolerate of crime;Council requests
more reports on the City's crime fighting efforts and more publications and positive press
related to the City's police activities and efforts.
Page 9 of 10 Minutes of the July 31,2010 City Council Special Meeting
Mr.Brumback stated to Council that the staff can ensure compliance with theCity's
policies and regulations and requested support for him and the staff when doing so.The
City staffwill undertake the hard jobs,but will need Council's support in order to be
successful,as well as giving staff the benefit of the doubt when mistakes are done and
allow staff the opportunity to remedy the situation.
Council requested that staff and Council continue to collaborate and communicate
through open meetings such as the one today through having an additional one (1)hour
work session after the regularly scheduled Baytown Municipal Development District
(MDD)meetings,which take place the first Thursday of the month at 4:30 p.m.,
beginning the regularly scheduled works sessions at 4:30 p.m.to allow more time for
discussion and have a visioning item update once a quarter.
Mr.Brumback reminded Council that they may place any item or topic they desire on a
work session through contacting his office.
Each Council Member stated his main topics of focus for the City Manager:
•Council Member McCartney:United Land Development Code (ULDC),
Strategies for Redevelopment and Development Projects and Water Front
Development Opportunities.
•Council Member Caskey:Crime,Clearing and Grubbing,Tree Preservation and
Fire Station No.Six (6).
•Council Member Sheley:Government Transparency,Arts and Culture,
Development,Downtown Redevelopment and Crime.
•Mayor DonCarlos,Council Member Capetillo,and Council Member Sain:Crime
and would give more information at their "one on one"meetings with the City
Manager.
d.City Council and City Manager Roles,Responsibilities and Direction -City
Council.
Due to time limitations,the Council briefly discussed the roles,responsibilities and
direction for the City Council and the City Manager in the Council/Manager form of
government,but tabledthe item for a future meeting as well as in their individual "one on
one"meeting with the City Manager.
3.MANAGER'S REPORT
There was no report.
Page 10 of 10 Minutes of the July 31,2010 City Council Special Meeting
4.ADJOURN
There being no more items to discuss Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the City Council
Special Meejjafroquly 31,2010 at 12:42 P.M.
City of