2017 08 24 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
AUGUST 24, 2017
The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday,
August 24, 2017, at 5:30 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
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 August 24, 2017, City Council Regular Work Session with a
quorum present at 5:30 P.M., all members were present.
1. DISCUSSIONS
Receive a report on the Insurance Services Office (ISO) update.
Fire Chief, Shon Blake presented the agenda item and stated while unofficial, the City looks to
have achieved a score of 96, which results in an ISO rating of (1) and is the highest and most
prestigious rating possible for a fire department. He noted that the City would receive formal
notice sometime in September and officially be in place soon thereafter. Chief Blake stated that
he was pretty confident in the scoring as the consultant that conducted the review has undertaken
55 of these rating, without any corrections, and we are comfortable that the rating of (1) would
remain.
Chief Blake stated that now since the City has achieved such rating, the proper monies, staffing
and resources we to be dedicated to its maintenance so that the rating remains. He noted that this
rating was from much more than just the Fire Department, as other parts were included; such as
the Utility Billing Division and Public Works which were graded almost perfect and last year's
upgrade that really helped the score. He noted that the City's' 911 Communications Center that
was recently built with all the bells and whistles also had an almost perfect score. He stated that
50% of the grade was related to the Fire Department and reminded Council to continue to
support the department through equipment and staffing to include the staffing of the ladder truck;
City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes
August 24, 2017
Page 2 of 6
procurement and staffing of a ladder truck on the south side of the City to deal with the
upcoming convention center; and a new service truck or an ambulance at Station 6. Additionally,
Chief Blake noted that staffing is where the Fire Department hurts the most and such impacts fire
inspections.
Mayor DonCarlos asked how often the City would be rerated. Chief Blake noted that the City
would be rerated every ten (10) years if there is an ISO 1, but that the State Fire Marshal's Office
was looking to change that to three (3) years. He further noted that because the ISO rating is used
as an economic development tool the rating agency wants to make sure that cities are truly at an
ISO of 1.
The Council thanked Chief Blake for his many years of service and dedication to the Fire
Department and the City of Baytown.
b. Discuss the City of Baytown trash collection and recycling services.
Public Works Director, Frank Simoneaux presented the agenda item provide Council with an
update on the trash collection and recycling service situation. He stated that since the last
meeting held on September 10th, staff has held two (2) town hall meetings in order to receive
input on the four (4) proposed options as follows:
Options 1 - provides for the same service provided by contractor which includes: twice weekly
garbage collection (unlimited quantity, bags or cans), twice weekly bulk pickup with garbage
collection (furniture, bulky items but not building materials), once weekly recycling service,
once monthly brush collection and recycling, bulk and brush drop-off, including building
materials with some exclusions at the Green Center.
Option 2 - provides for an adjusted service by Waste Management with once weekly garbage
collection (unlimited quantity, bags or cans), once weekly bulk pick up with garbage collection
(furniture, bulky items, but not building materials), once weekly recycling, once monthly
brush collection and recycling, bulk and brush drop-off, including building materials with
some exclusions at the Green Center.
Option 3 - provides for comparable service by the City's Public Work Department and has a
moderate price increase of 10-20 percent. The proposed services include: twice weekly
garbage collection (6 -day route; all trash in a City -provided can; additional cans can be
purchased at an additional cost), on-call bulk pickup (furniture, bulky items but not building
materials), once weekly curbside recycling, once monthly brush collection and recycling, bulk
and brush drop-off, including building materials with some exclusions at the Green Center.
Option 4 - provides for adjusted service by the City's Public Works Department and has no
price increase. The proposed services under this option include: once weekly garbage
collection (all trash in a City -provided can; additional cans can be purchased at an additional
cost), on-call bulk pickup (furniture, bulky items but not building materials), once weekly
curbside recycling, once monthly brush collection and recycling, bulk and brush drop-off,
including building materials with some exclusions at the Green Center.
City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes
August 24, 2017
Page 3 of 6
Mr. Simoneaux stated that the town hall meetings were held on August 15 and 16, 2017, and
were well attended with approximately 200 participants. He stated that they received a collection
of 950 responses to the City's online and paper survey and while the survey was not a scientific
one, it showed the same trend towards options number four (4) and three (3) with a combined
response of about 50%. He also noted that Options one (1) and two (2) combined also came out
to be about 50% of the respondents. He further noted Option four (4) received the most
responses with about 32%; Option three (3) had 25%; Option two (2) had 19% and Option one
(1) had 24%.
Mr. Simoneaux provided the Council with an updated option recap chart for their review as
follows:
HH
2x Week
1x Week
2x Week
lx Week
Ix Week
Ix Week
TrashWMI
WMI
(Auto)
(Auto)
WMI
WMI
(Auto)
(Auto)
Bulk
2x Week
lx Week
On Call
On Call
On Call
On Call
Trash
Brush
1x Mo
ix Mo
On Call
On Call
On Call
On Call
Const. &
Green
Green
Green
Green
Green
Green
Debris
Center
Center
Center
Center
Center
I Center
Curbside
Is Week
Ix Week
lx Week
lx Week
1x Week
EOW
Recycle
Recycling,
Recycling,
Recycling,
Recycling,
Recycling,
Recycling,
Green
C&D,
C&D,
C&D,
C&D,
C&D,
C&D,
Center
Brush
Brush
Brush
Brush
Brush
Brush
Cost
$1349
$5-$6
$3.69
No
$3-$4
$2-$3
Effect
Increase*
Increase*
Increase*
Change*
Increase*
Increase*
During further discussion, Mr. Simoneaux stated that they received two (2) additional options for
the Council's consideration from Waste Management which has been included in the chart as
Options five (5) and six (6).
He stated that Options five (5) and six (6) were pretty much the same as they provide for
automated services by the contractor which includes: trash bins for the residents, City operated
once a week trash collection bulk trash and on-call bulk pickup (furniture, bulky items but not
building materials), and bulk and brush drop-off, including building materials with some
City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes
August 24, 2017
Page 4 of 6
exclusions at the Green Center. He noted that the only real differences between options five (5)
and six (6) were related to recycling services, whereas, Option five (5) has once weekly curbside
recycling, and Option six(6) has curbside recycling every other week, while both of these options
have the City taking over bulk trash and brush pickups.
Mr. Simoneaux stated that in order to get to the pricing for the residents he included the four (4)
employees and two (2) trucks that would be needed for the City to collect the bulk trash/brush.
He stated that each option includes a $1.00 a month fee to create an enterprise fund in order to
help replace equipment and machinery on the future. He further stated that currently, the City did
not have an enterprise fund to help with these types of equipment replacements and the $1.00 fee
would help start this fund in order to make the Sanitation Fund self -sustainable.
Council Member McCartney inquired as to why would Options five (5) and six (6) be considered
when for that amount the City would be able to do Option three (3) with two (2) week pickup.
Deputy City Manager Bottoms stated that staff only provided the Council with options and
information and was not advocating for any one (1) option.
Council Member Hoskins stated with regards to Options two (2) and three (3) that there were
certain people that would like to have a second trash can and further inquired if they would have
to purchase said trash can and also pay for the service to collect for that second trash can. Mr.
Simoneaux stated that they would not pay for an additional trash can, but they would be paying
an additional fee in the amount of $5.00 to $10.00 per month per trash can in order for it to be
collected. Council Member Hoskins further noted that if that is the case, then the additional
monies for that additional trash can; put us equal to Option one (1). Mr. Simoneaux noted that
this would not be the case with Option two (2), as this is once a week pickup, but it is unlimited
trash.
Council Member McCartney noted that the large trash receptacle should be enough with twice a
week pickup. Council Member Hoskins stated that there's lots of trash and if services were
reduced there would be trash all over the roads and in the ditches.
Council Member Johnson inquired if the City would conduct extra trash pickups and be charged
for this additional service during the holidays when there are excessive amounts of trash. Deputy
City Manager Bottoms noted that staff would make accommodations for the holidays and those
special situations, but noted that the biggest issue is when someone misses a trash day. Council
Member Johnson further noted that some of his elderly constituents like the twice a week pickup,
because if they miss one day they would catch the next one, but if they miss too many days
would end up with very large amounts of trash too heavy for them to handle.
Mayor DonCarlos inquired if the $8.00 to $9.00 increase was Waste Management's best option.
The Waste Management representative at the meeting noted that Baytown was receiving the
premium service and in looking at the pricing models and other variables, such as the unlimited
pickup of trash, were the best options that could be provided.
City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes
August 24, 2017
Page 5 of 6
Council requested for more information on pricing from the contractor for an option that
included the same guys and trucks with twice a week trash pickup, but not picking up everything
and allowing for on call pickups of the large and bulky items.
In response to a question from the Council regarding the cost to get the equipment needed to take
on this service, Mr. Simoneaux stated that he estimated about $6.3 million for Option three (3)
and $5.7 million for Option four (4), in which these amounts include the capital cost, annual
operating, debt service, and other cost.
The Council discussed the different options and variations of the six (6) plans that were
presented; such as limiting the trash that is picked up, limiting the amount of trash that is picked
up, and moving some types of trash pick to on call, etc.
City Manager Davis recommended that staff be given an opportunity to look at these options
more thoroughly with Waste Management in order to help Council make an informed decision.
Mayor DonCarlos inquired if a special meeting would be necessary in order to deal with the
issue at hand, being that this needed to be resolved as soon as possible. He further noted that he
continues to be undecided on the past option moving forward and was not in favor of moving
trash collection to once a week; particularly, because of the City's sub tropic weather.
Additionally, he requested more information on Option three (3), as well as, for Option one (1)
to be tweaked so that it's a more viable increase to the citizens.
Deputy City Manager Bottoms noted that Waste Management has been the City's provider for
some time and they are basing their numbers on the City's past volume. Mayor DonCarlos noted
that if this is the cost of the increase, the bags be put out for pickup could be limited and that he's
only interested in options that would provide for a substantial savings.
Council Member Hoskins noted the City could limit the pickup of grass clippings and move
citizens towards mulching, which might help with the volume issue. Mayor DonCarlos further
noted that if cutting down the volume or limiting the cans did not give substantial savings he was
not interested.
Deputy City Bottoms noted to the Council that if the direction is to move forward with the City
taking on the responsibility of waste collection, staff need some direction as soon as possible.
Additionally, he stated that as he knows this is a big step and that the Public Works Department
is confident they could handle the task, staff would need time to prepare for such.
The Council, after hearing that the offers on the table from the contractor were the final ones,
gave staff direction to move forward with Options three (3) or (4).
City Manager Davis stated that staff received Council's directions and staff would prepare to
begin delivering City services by January I' and would make the necessary adjustments to have
the item on the August 31 si Council agenda for adoption.
City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes
August 24, 2017
Page 6 of
Planning and Community Development Service Director, Tiffany Foster presented an overview
of five (5) involuntary annexation areas listed on the regular council agenda for tonight and
stated that these actions were a response to the State Legislation's new laws on involuntary
annexations.
She stated that staff was moving forward with the involuntary annexation of some of the areas
that were discussed and presented to Council back in January and further noted that they would
be done all at once, instead of in a two (2) year period as it was previously considered. She stated
that there were two (2) areas new to the list that were not presented to the Council earlier in the
year, which were (1) around the Sjolander and I-10 area to the west and (2) the northwest comer
of I-10 and John Martin.
Mrs. Foster stated that the action for Council's consideration at the following council meeting
was to authorize the service plans, which is the first step in the process. Additionally, she noted
that this would allow staff the opportunity to look at the attributes of the areas and report back to
Council whether or not to move forward with any or all of them.
In response to a question from the Council, Mrs. Foster noted that the new annexation laws were
silent as it related to what's going to happen with the existing development agreements and that
the City may not be able to take in all of the proposed areas, because many of them would be
eligible for agricultural exemptions.
2. ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the August 24,
2017, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:13 P.M.
114
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