Loading...
2017 07 27 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN JULY 27, 2017 The City Council of the City of Baytown Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday, July 27, 2017, at 5 30 P M., in the Hallam 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 Mayor Pm Tem Chris Presley Council Member Rick Davis City Manager Ignacio Ramirez City Attorney Leticia Brysch City Clerk Keith Dougherty Sergeant at Arms Mayor Pro Tem Presley convened the July 27, 2017 City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum present at 5.35 P M., all members were present with the exception of Mayor DonCarlos who was absent and Council Member Hoskins that arrived at 6:00 p.m DISCUSSIONS Receive training on the Texas Open Meetings Act Assistant City Attorney, Karen Homer presented a brief overview of the Texas Open Meetings Act (the Act"), which is a part of the Sunshine Laws of the State of Texas She stated that this guarantees that governing bodies have meetings open to the public, which also requires post notices of those meetings in order for the public to know the inner workings of the city government She stated that this law applies to the City Council as well as the boards and commissions that are non -advisory Mrs Homer stated that those boards that are purely advisory are not subject to the Act, however, the City of Baytown requires that all boards and commissions comply with the Act in order to give the public sufficient notice of their meetings and the business they are conducting Mrs Homer stated that the Act applies when a quorum is present to discuss public business whether or not there s any action or vote taken She noted that there was a case back in the 80's whereas a three (3) member commission took a recess and two (2) of the members went to the bathroom and started talking which constituted a violation of the act Mrs Homer advised that even when the council does not have a quorum they need to be cognizant of when there's quorum present, because the quorum for the city council in Baytown four (4) members, therefore, in such case of four (4) members it is a violation of the Act to discuss official business City Council Work Session Regular Meeting Minutes July 27 2017 Page 2 of g even if no action is taken She stated that this also applies when a quorum gathers to ask questions or solicits information from a third party these used to be considered as the staff briefing sections and under the Act, we're no longer allowed to do so and we must post a meeting to discuss the particular subject matter Mrs Homer noted that the Act may also be violated when there's no quorum which is considered walking quorum, because there's no need of the entity of time and place She stated that a walking quorum would be when three (3) council members get together to discuss city business and then they split up for a while, and then one of those council members talked to a fourth council member about the same thing, which is again a violation of the Act Mrs. Homer further stated that the following are not subject to the Act gatherings, purely social event and attendance to a workshop such as TML She stated that effective September 1st the attendance to a candidate forum or debate will not be subject to the Act as long as the person is trying to inform the electorate of the topics at hand and if and only if, there is no action taken and any discussion of business is purely incidental Additionally she stated that another instance that does not constitute a violation of the Act is when there's a quorum going to the legislature to testify comment or respond to questions Mrs Homer stated that the Act requires that the City to post notices of meetings on the City's bulletin boards and website, and that those notices are readily accessible to the public within 72 hours of the meeting, which is why there s a kiosk outside of city hall so that all our notices are accessible to the public at all times She stated that some exceptions to the 72 hour rule includes emergency meetings which are the results of an emergency that is not created by the City, and requires a two (2) hour meeting notice and notice to the media She stated that another exception is if it's going too late into the evening and council wants to recess and reconvene the next day, as long as it reconvenes the very next day Mrs Homer noted that the meeting notices must contain the time, date, place and location and a description of each item, in which the description cannot be general and has to be fairly specific about what is being discussed She stated that this is necessary in order to give the public sufficient notice of what is being discussed lust in case they want to attend the meeting Mrs Homer stated that the governing body can begin their meeting when they have a quorum because they can only act with a quorum present The council can do the following items if an un -posted issue comes up at a meeting • Respond with recitation of facts, • Get with staff after the meeting • Offer to put the item on the next agenda She stated that Council can receive reports on topics that are not on the agenda, but it must be given by staff member or member of council the report cannot be a discussion or a dialogue, no action can be taken on the item, and the item must be a topic of community interest She stated that items of community interest include special thanks or condolences information regarding the holiday schedule honorary things or congratulations, a reminder of an up -coming event sponsored by the city or in which a city official or member of council will be in attendance for or City Council Work Session Regular Meeting Minutes July 27 2017 Page 3 of 8 an imminent threat to the health safety and welfare of the community that has arisen since the posting of the agenda She stated that the Act allows for a few limited exceptions to open meetings called executive session or closed sessions which is as follows • Consultation with attorney, • Property acquisitions, • Acceptance of prospective gifts • Personnel matter (specific), and the person subject of the executive session can request to have the topic discussed in public, • Security devices, and • Economic development incentives She stated that the requirements for an executive session require that the governing body meet in open session (i) announce that they are recessing in order to go into an executive session and under what specific section they are doing so (ii) note the date and time for the beginning and ending of the executive session and (iii) have a certified agenda or recording of the executive session She stated that the City of Baytown do certified agendas for executive sessions but noted that these are not needed when in executive session in order to consult with the attorneys and they must reconvene into public meeting and announce that no action was taken action in the closed meeting Mrs Homer noted that if there s a violation of the Act, whatever action was taken during that meeting is voidable. She made mention of a case where a city tried to get nd of a city administrator in which the city fired the city administrator at a meeting that was not posted correctly and then had to come back later and fire him again but during the time between the first meeting and the second the city had to pay the city administrator as the court ruled that the first firing was voidable due to the violation to the Act Mrs Homer further noted that criminal penalties may be assessed for violation of the Act, monetary fines from $100 to $500 confinement from one (1) month to six (6) months or a combination of both. She stated that there s also civil liability that could arise for disclosure of a certified agenda which could be a Class B misdemeanor, which goes up to $2,000 for the fine penalty She noted that the City of Baytown has a Code of Ethics Ordinance that prohibits the disclosure of confidential information in an on official capacity Additionally Mrs Homer stated that the City Attorney's Office is always willing to sit and hear Council's concerns or questions need they anse Council Member Sam asked if electronic testing was encompassed in the Act Mrs Homer stated that electronic texting and crawling is subject to the Act because it is still a conversation and exchange of idea, which could be considered a violation of the Act because it fall into a walking quorum problem City Attorney, Ignacio Ramirez, Sr stated that Council should not be textmg each other at a Council meeting and/or holding side conversations at the dais because the public will then not know what is being said or discussed which is contrary to what a public meeting is all about Additionally he stated that the open discussion of city business is so that the public can hear and know what's going on at any given time City Council Work Session Regular Meeting Minutes July 27 2017 Page 4 of 8 b Discuss the proposed 2018 fees for Calypso Cove and Pirates Bay Waterpark. Parks and Recreation Director Scott Johnson presented the item and stated that staff recommended the fee increase to Pirates Bay for Friday Saturday, Sunday and holidays only He noted that they wanted to increase the fee with the installation of the new water slide, however, it was not included in last year's budget, so it is being incorporated into this year's budget and is as follows Under 48' Tall $15 $15 S1l1 Over48 Tall $20 $20 $25 After 4 PM $10 No Reduced Rate No Reduced Rate Mr Scott Johnson stated that staff conducted a survey regarding area waterpark admission fees which are as follows 1'.0 1, Mon Thurs Rate Weekend/Holiday Ratc $20 for over 48 $20 for over 48' Pirates Bay Water Park $15 for Under 48' $15 for Under 48' $10 after 4 PM Typhoon Texas $39.99 for over 48' $44.99 for over 48' $32.99 for under 48' $32.99 for under 48' City Council Work Session Regular Meeting Minutes July 27 2017 Page 5 of 8 Wet & Wild Splashtown $36.99 for over 48' $41.99 for over 48 $32.99 for under 48' $32.99 for under 48' Schlitterbahn Galveston $52.99 for adults $62.99 for adults $40.99 for kids $45.99 for kids Mr Scott Johnson stated that the intent of the fee increases is to encourage people to attend the park Monday Thursday which is when they are not as busy He stated that Friday Sunday, the waterparks are at full capacity so they need more staff lifeguards and security to attend to the park and further noted that Pirates Bay had 4700 people last weekend most of which 70% were nonresidents He further noted that people wait up to 43 hours in line to get in because we are at capacity Mr Scott Johnson stated staff was not recommending a fee increases for Calypso Cove however was recommending an increase to the exclusive rental fee for Calypso Cove in order to cover the park's actual cost Entry Fee $5 $5 (no change) Exclusive Atter Hours $500 $700 (4 How Rental) The proposed fee $700 will cover the $656.82 that it takes to operating the park A chart outlining the park's actual cost to handle exclusive rental events are as follows 7 Lifeguards X 6 Hours X $9.50/Iv + Fringe 1 Maintenance Supervisor X 6 Hours X $14.50/hr + Fringe $65.36 X 7 457.52 $99.65 X 1 $99.65 City Council Work Session Regular Meering Minutes July 27 2017 Page 6 of 8 1 Operations Supervisor X 6 $99.65 X 1 $99.65 Hours X $14.50 + Fringe Total $656.82 The Council briefly discussed the fee increase and concurred with moving forward with staff's recommended fee increases Discuss the 2018 Town Square Event Calendar Mr Scott Johnson presented that agenda item and provided council with a hand out for the proposed events for the 2017 18 calendar at Town Square He noted that they removed some of the summer events that were not well attended and costly to undertake but added other events that were very successful such as the food truck events, the musical lunches which increased from three (3) to five (5) He further noted that Lee College Orchestra will have concerts in the square, along with Shakespeare on the square which was very successful this year Mr Cliff Hatch stated Mr Billy Flannigan schedules all the food trucks in the Houston area and wants to come back to Baytown because the last event was pretty successful He further noted that the Lee College Orchestra wants to play out in the square but that they're still working on getting all the details taken care of before getting on the schedule Additionally he noted that the Shakespeare on the Square was pretty successful considering there was a rain out on the second day of the event Mr Hatch stated that the Trade Days event was scheduled at the Community Center this year because of the heat and the lack of tree coverage at the Town Square, however, they plan to come out to the Town Square in the fall to have a similar event He noted that the recent change to the live outdoor event ordinance has been very helpful to staff as it allows for the Parks Department to organize and keep all events related to the Town Square in house He further noted that Russell Hammond event was an event that benefitted from this ordinance change and is scheduled for August 4th Council Member McCartney asked about having live music in the aftemoons or live music events in the afternoons on Fridays and on weekends Mr Hatch stated that they would like to have more third party events in order to help with the cost associated with such inquired events The Council reviewed the calendar and liked the proposed events There was a suggestion of adding more food trucks as well as, the addition of more public relations or promotion of these events in order to get the word out to include suggested item such as print ads, grass mots outreach signage website social media and magnets Mr Scott Johnson noted that the magnets with the upcoming schedule will not go out until December in order to not have them overlap with the current magnet information and confuse people d Discuss proposed text amendments to the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) regarding livable centers, trash enclosures and towing yard/service, as listed on the July 27, 2017, City Council Regular Meeting agenda, which is attached below City Council Work Session Regular Meeting Minutes July 27 2017 Page 7 of 8 Planning and Development Services Director Tiffany Foster Introduced the item and stated that the Council has three (3) Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) amendments for the Council's consideration at the council meeting Immediately following the work session. She stated that the amendments have gone through the Planning and Zoning Commission and have all been vitiated in house in which some have come up through citizen's request and some that are lust cleanup Mrs Foster noted that as she has stated in the past, this is a very young code in its infancy for a city that did not have zoning for a very long time and so as the city continues to experience lots of growth they are identifying things that need to be tweaked or done better The first text amendment relates to trash enclosures Mrs Foster stated that staff is requesting a requirement for new commercial business to have trash enclosures such as brick or wood and to include a gate so that the trash receptacle is shaded and buffered from visibility She noted that staff is also requesting that the location of the trash receptacle be on the side or rear of the yard and not in the front of the building She further noted that most of the new developments in progress currently are already shielding their trash receptacles which is a good business practice Mrs Foster stated that this new requirement would not apply to the existing businesses and properties however the Planning and Zoning Commission did voice their support of having this requirement in place for existing businesses but there are a lot of challenges to doing so She stated that this desire was not something that staff was able to take on at the moment as there are smaller lots in the older areas of town that are a challenge to develop She stated that if there s a new business that for whatever reason are not able to comply with this requirement there will be an option for new businesses to ask for a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment Mrs Foster stated that the next text amendment relates to the Livable Centers of which there are four (4) around the city, that include the area around the evergreen golf course or oil field the old San Jacinto Hospital and the San Jacinto Mall She noted that these areas were designed back in 2013 to accommodate Mixed Use (MU) developments and be able to look at the entire plan with potential for commercial housing retail etc. but noted that if the area is located In one single lot it doesn t make sense to require them to create a detailed plan for their development therefore, the proposed amendment removes the detailed plan requirement for developments in the Livable Centers district, however, if there's a large development that takes in multiple parcels or taking in large properties they would have the option of having the Planned Unit Development (PUD) which is very akin to developing your own standards She stated that this amendment reduces the size of the area from ten (10) acres to three (3) acres and it sets in standards with setbacks and masonry requirements for small development She further stated that if there is one (1) piece of property, the city will provide the standards for the development and if there's three (3) or more acres the develop creates their own PUD Mrs Foster noted that the last amendment related to Towing Service Towing Yard and Vehicle Storage Facilities which are all allowed uses In the ULDC She noted the activities are pretty much the same however they're listed as three (3) separate pieces in the ULDC all three uses are currently allowed in the MU District Mrs Foster indicated that from the feedback received from the public these are probably not good uses to have in the MU District, particularly as the city identifies these areas for future commercial development She stated that staff removed those uses from the MU District, removed the linkage of these uses to the Junkyard/Salvage yard City Council Work Session Regular Meeting Minutes July 27 2017 Page 8 of 8 permit found In Chapter 82 and the Vehicle Storage Facility as Identified in Chapter 102 of the Code of Ordinances Mrs Foster stated that these changes will allow the staff to cleanup some convoluted language related to these uses and remove them from MU She clarified that auto storage use Is still allowed in MU as an accessory use and towing yards are only allowed in Light Industrial (LI) and High Industrial (HI) zones Additionally Mrs Foster stated that these changes will result in some businesses being non conforming uses in the MU District and that they can continue to function as they are, but noted that no new ones can come in. e Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda for July 27, 2017, which is attached below Mayor Pro Tem Presley commented on item 6.c and requested that this item be postponed until such time as the entire Council is present in to review and approve the City Manager's services contract, and the Council concurred He also requested to know If on item 6.b regarding a site assessment for the Police Department included all viable locations for the Police Department to which Mr Davis stated that it did in fact encompass all locations and possibilities for the Police Department ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Pro Tem Presley adjourned the July 27 2017, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:20 P M ��) Leticia Brysch, City Clerk ,�aa ' i , City of Baytown ,�