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2017 11 20 WS Minutes, SpecialMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN November 20, 2017 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Special Work Session on Thursday, November 20, 2017, 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: 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 Mayor DonCarlos convened the November 20, 2017, City Council Special Work Session with a quorum present at 5:32 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Council Member Sain who was absent. 1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS a. City Council welcomed Mr. Kenneth Dobson as the new City of Baytown Fire Chief City Manager Davis introduced the City's new Fire Chief, Kenneth Dobson. He noted that Chief Dobson came to the City from Florida with many years of experience and has already started introducing new initiatives that were going to result in taking the fire stations to a new level. Chief Dobson stated that he's originally from Fort Myers, Florida and worked for the Fort Myers as a Fire Chief for eight (8) years and the Emergency Management Coordinator. He further noted that he retired from Fort Myers and after four (4) days he began working for as the Emergency Director of Safety and Security for the League County School District, which is very large with 90,000 students and 12,000 employees; 13 highs schools with two (2) more being built. Chief Dobson stated that his job at the school district encompassed all aspects of security and it was during this time that he realized that his passion was in firefighting, therefore, he started looking for a position that would allow him to return to the firefighting service, which is how he ended up in Baytown. He stated that he feels most fortunate to be with the City as the new fire chief. Additionally, Chief Dobson stated that he didn't know much about Baytown before coming here, but now that he's been here for three (3) weeks has realized that Baytown is an amazing City, including the people. City Council Special Work Session Minutes November 20, 2017 Page 2 of 8 2. DISCUSSIONS a. Discuss strategies, objectives and goals for the Baytown Fire Department. Chief Dobson stated that he visited all of the stations and while a Station 1, he went along with the team on a call out and was out there for quite a while as the road was blocked due to the incident, which gave him the opportunity to talk to the residents in the area. Chief Dobson also noted that he had been taken out on the fire boat to tour the ship channel to the bayou and areas surrounding the City. Chief Dobson noted that a lot of great things were put in place leaving a great foundation for the Fire Department; such as the ISO rating and its many resources. He stated that they started discussing the specific to accreditation and in the accreditations process for the fire department there are some key components, which include goals and objectives, community assessment, community driven strategic plans, plans specific to the Fire Department and a standard of cover that identifies resources and capabilities, in order to set base lines and benchmarks. He noted that the biggest piece for accreditation would be the strategic plan and self-assessment. He stated that the self-assessment is the portion of the plan that really takes a lot of work and dedicated personnel is needed in order for them to really be able to capture the information. He stated that the assessment has over 250 different criteria that have to be addressed, which will help bring all the information from the past, both good and bad, and allow staff to create a continuous improvement model to get to the next phase of being an accredited ISO rating l Fire Department. He noted that this would be a great thing for the Department and the City, as there are very few of these in the entire country. In response to a question from Council Member McCartney, Chief Dobson noted that Fort Myers had an ISO 2 rating and was in the process of its accreditation. He further noted that there was not as much support there at that time due to downturn in the economy that impacted, which resulted in layoffs for public safety and other governmental employees. Chief Dobson stated that things look bright for Baytown and he has met a lot of staff that is really great; this makes him excited for the future not just in what we can do but the people that are coming up the ranks. Chief Dobson stated that his family has not relocated yet as some of his children are still in school, but they will be coming soon. He noted that at this time, he's fine being on his own because it has really given him the time to immerse himself in the Fire Department and be able to pop into different stations over the weekends and some evenings. Mayor DonCarlos welcomed Chief Dobson and stated that the Council is in full support of him and the Fire Department, as they believe that Baytown has the finest Fire Department, Police Department and first responders in Texas. City Council Special Work Session Minutes November 20, 2017 Page 3 of S b. Discuss the City of Baytown's Public Art Strategy City Manager Davis stated that one (1) initiative he identified last year was the need for a public art program. He noted that this initiative was keeping in line with Council's directive to improve neighborhood quality and also to improve the City's brand and image. Director of Strategic Initiatives Nick Woolery stated that he and City Librarian Jamie Eustace worked on this new initiative together. He presented to Council an idea of where staff is regarding public art and some items that they're looking at implementing in 2017-2018. Mr. Woolery stated that public art in Baytown to him is finding a way to help people engage, get connected and love their community. He stated that they're attempting to make Baytown a fim and engaging place by unleashing creativity in a way that captures the values and vision of our community. He stated that when thinking of a piece of public art, the process is really two fold; on one hand you have the artist, which you hope will understand and capture values of the community in their art and on the other, you have the client, which in this case could be the Library, the City, or anyone else. He stated that on the flip side, the community must understand the artist and the fact that they're working with an artist that has his/her own style and vision of how they interpret the values of the community. Mr. Woolery noted that this balancing act between the two (2) components is what leads people to look at the art and not love it at first site; it may be that they do not understand it or that they interpret the art differently. He stated that the beauty of public art is that it gets the community talking and thinking and expressing their values in different ways. He further noted that not everyone is going to love every piece that's rolled out, but hopefully it will get people thinking when they see the connection that the art has with the City. Mr. Woolery stated they have created a Public Art Committee, which is made up of five (5) members or staff from each one of the following: the Art League, Lee College, the Library, Parks and Recreation, and Tourism. He noted that the Tourism component is very important as this is where the funding is coming from; therefore, there must be a connection between the art and bringing people into the City. Mr. Woolery stated that the initial focus for public art is actually going to be on Texas Avenue, as there's only $75,000 for this year. He stated that one (1) of the murals will be at the library, maybe another mural at the other end of Texas Avenue on the Art League building, and something near the Little Theater. He again noted that the goal of what this Committee is trying to achieve is to create emotionally engaging places or to help create the feeling in the residents when they see the art that they love where they live. Mr. Woolery stated that one (1) of the main goals in the next year is to make a big impact on this year's Photo Fest, which is a great international project that's in Houston this year, in which they've identified three (3) spots in the region for this event. He stated that this is a great event for the City to be a part of and they're trying very hard to roll out a number of things before March when it's scheduled to take place, so that they have a number of items that will present the City well to the international visitors. Mr. Woolery noted that this first year, the Committee wanted to focus on murals and plans to rollout three murals projects with the first being at the Library, the second at the art League and the third will be at Lee College. He stated that if someone is coming down Texas Avenue crossing Goose Creek, they will first see the mural on City Council Special Work Session Minutes November 20, 2017 Page 4 of 8 the wall behind the Library which is currently a blank canvass, then they'll see another completely new mural on the Lee College Nursing Building that backs up to Texas Avenue and as they continue their way down the street, they'll see the Art League building. He stated that what's unique about the Art League building is that it's a City owned building that will be turned into a complete art piece from side to side, top to bottom, including the alleyway and all together is going to be beautiful. Council Member Presley asked that the original brick on the side of the Art League building not be painted over as it is original solid vintage brick and once it is painted, there is no turning back. Mr. Woolery stated that the area that they're looking at for the mural has already been painted. Mr. Woolery stated that the Committee is looking at adding fun interactive art along Texas Avenue, particularly in Town Square, to let the citizens interact. He stated that that an example of this would be that instead of having a regular cross walk, there would be a three dimension piano that people can walk across and it will look like they are floating. He stated that the Committee has not decided exactly what the interactive art is going to look like, but it will be something fun and engaging that will be rolled out prior to Photo Fest. He further noted that there will be other things down the line that the Committee can look at; such as sculptures and that staff is looking towards the Council for direction or parameter of what's acceptable and what's off limits. Ms. Eustace stated that Photo Fest is a nonprofit that has been around for many years, which is the largest contemporary photo exhibit in the world. She stated that they get artist from 35 different countries and their main exhibit spaces are primarily housed in the First Ward District. She stated that this festival is a bi-annual event and two (2) years ago the Art League had it at their location. Ms. Eustace noted that she has participated with this group for many years and was surprised to see it in Baytown, as she did not know that it could expand out of Houston. She stated that she's very supportive of this event, so much so, that the Art League asked the Library to be a Photo Fest Site and then it included Lee College as a site, because the goal of this event is to have people attend as many galleries as possible. She noted that with having three (3) Photo Fest sites in Baytown, this will attract much more traffic and visitors. She stated that the theme for Houston this year is India, so there will be a lot of artist from India and/or interpretations of the theme of India. Ms. Eustace noted that the theme of India seemed a bit much for Baytown, so the Committee tweaked them a little bit and the Library's theme is Meditation and Contemplation on Stillness, the Art League is Enlightenment, or vice versa. She noted that even though the theme is India, you will see a huge array of interpretations for this theme. Ms. Eustace stated that this year the Art League did something different and did what is called an open call for artist, which means that the selection process will be juried. She stated that they sent out invitations to various artists and received entries from 120 artist and the winners were selected through a blind jury with several local artist being selected for the show. She stated that an example of one of the local talents that was selected for the show is Steven Karen Knight. She noted that as a juried show, no one knew who the artist were or who had taken which pictures, these are pretty prestigious shows that have prizes and awards. City Council Special Work Session Minutes November 20, 2017 Page 5 of 8 Ms. Eustace stated that the Library and Lee College will be conducting curated shows, which means that they found their own artist and curated pieces. She stated that the Library is going to have six (6) artists with six (6) pieces each, which results in thirty-six (36) photographs that will be on display for six (6) weeks at the front of the Library. Ms. Eustace noted that she could not emphasize enough how amazing it was to have Baytown participate in this event, as it's very prestigious. She further noted that the Committee discussed ways to get people to come to Baytown and thought of murals. She stated that the United States has a huge public art culture with Houston's public art exploding in the last 5-10 years of which murals are a large part of that; they have gone from street art to graphic art to fine art. She stated that Houston is hosting the International Mural Fest and invited everyone out to see this fantastic event. Ms. Eustace stated that the Library has wanted something on that back wall for some time now and that her fear was that now the Library has a huge canvass that people can tag or attract graffiti. She noted that the Library had been considering a moral for about two years and really decided to move forward with something because of Photo Fest. She stated that the Friends of the Library were sponsoring the mural and more than happy to pay for the mural, which frees up more the $75,000 that was previously mentioned for other art pieces. Ms. Eustace stated that an open call for artist to submit their proposals for the Library's mural was made and they received proposals from artist around the world, including the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Florida, California and other areas. She provided the Council with slides of some of the proposed murals, along with the picture of the selected mural. She noted that two (2) of the pictures include murals of the word Baytown, which is common around cities, some were more fine art, and some were more traditional. Ms. Eustace stated that she did not give any of the artists a budget because she did not want to limit them or their creativity and noted that the range in cost for the proposed murals ranged from $5,000 to $75,000. She clarified that the mural will not be the entire back wall, but will instead be 100 feet long by 20 foot high, as anything bigger will require lifts and bucket trucks. She also noted that the Friends of the Library met last week and selected a mural based on the cost, accessibility of the artist, could they complete the mural on time and whether we could accommodate artist from other countries. Ms. Eustace stated that it's difficult to paint murals in January because it is too cold and the paint does not like that, so the timing of the piece was also very important. She stated that the Friends of the Library reviewed all of this information and ended up recommending a mural that is a picture of a very non-traditional fold art cowboy in a boat that's holding a map that depicts the Houston Ship Channel and Baytown. She stated that the piece depicts the idea that Baytown is very much tied to the water and is a gateway to the rest of the world. She stated that the sea in which the cowboy is navigating is made up of books because she wanted to be able to tie the piece back to Harvey and the boat rescues that happened during that period. Ms. Eustace stated that the artist does have an idea to add quotes to books from people who survived the hurricane, from books or from things that speak about storms and resilience. She noted that her vision was the only one that really identified Baytown in a more artistically conceptual way. She further stated that the artist stated that it would take about two (2) weeks to complete the design, the mural is built from the bottom up and is not a full coverage moral, so the time she will spend on a lift or scaffolding will be much less, consequently the expense for this piece is less because of the use of less paint and time. City Council Special Work Session Minutes November 20, 2017 Page 6 of S Ms. Eustace responded to a question from Council regarding the number of local artist proposals received and stated that none of the proposals considered by the Friends of the Library were of local artist, even though, local artist were highly encouraged to submit their proposals. She stated that there was one (1) interest from a student at Lee College and ultimately he was too busy and was not able to submit anything for this project. She noted that this was the case with a lot of local area muralist, being that murals have really taken off in Houston, so the more established muralists are already pretty busy. Ms. Eustace noted that the look of the cowboy would remain the same as it is a part of this artist's vision, and a part of working with artists is allowing them the freedom to interpret their art and their design. She stated that asking her to change the cowboy, which she is known for, would be like asking Picasso to fix the nose on his paintings. Ms. Eustace stated in response to a concern from Council Member McCartney about the impact of murals on graffiti that she did not know if having a mural would encourage people to start painting walls or increase incidents of graffiti, but noted that she hopes that it doesn't. She stated that this has not been the case in Houston, so she hopes that the same would happen in Baytown. Ms. Eustace in response to a question from Council Member Hoskins stated that yes; the moral will have a sealant on it to protect it from the elements and noted that the brick on the library is very porous, so some of the paint from vandals could seep into those pores, even with the sealant. She also noted that because the artist has such an artistic piece, a plaque, a sign or rock would be added next to the mural with the artist statement and the dates of the storm. Ms. Eustace stated that murals do fade, but it's the hope that the artist would be able to come back and touch up the mural as needed, but further noted that murals in Houston generally last about five (5) years before they're painted over or changed. She stated that the removal of a mural depends on the elements of each mural and the problem with the Library's mural is that the brick is very porous so even if you power wash or treat it with chemicals, there will be some paint left in the brick that will not be removed. The Council stated that they liked the mural with the children reading a book. Ms. Eustace stated that this mural was from a local Houston artist and was around $20,000. Ms. Eustace stated that the mural selected by the Friends of the Library cost $5,000 based on the use of the paint and time to complete the project. Council Member Presley stated he was concerned that people would vandalize the remaining portions of the Library back wall. Council Member Hoskins stated that he would like to see if an artist could sculpt a mural out of the side of a wall. He stated that he had seen something like this while visiting a town in Georgia. Ms. Eustace stated that something like that would be very expensive and noted that there's a concern with the asbestos found not necessarily in the brick, but in the mortar. Council Member Presley asked if the cost of the mural had any sway for the selection of the cowboy mural. Ms. Eustace stated that money did not play a part in their selection and stated that if they had selected a more expensive mural, she would not let them pay for it as it would be City Council Special Work Session Minutes November 20, 2017 Page 7 of 9 outside of their budget; however, the did approve up to $20,000 for the mural, which came in lower than expected. Mr. Woolery stated that one of the things to remember about selecting an artist is that it's an all or nothing issue. Mayor DonCarlos stated that he did not want to make the decision on which mural should be used, but added that because this is the first mural that's being done, there will be a lot of public interest, in which they may not be receptive to this particular moral. Ms. Eustace noted that the Friends of the Library did not know that this was the lowest bid of all the murals; she noted that it's a fine art mural and she likes it very much. She stated that once she met the artist and heard the story behind the mural, she liked it a lot more, but she also stated that if the community does not feel that this mural is the right one, then she needs to tell the artist that she's not the artist for the community. Council Member Alvarado stated that she did not understand how the boat related to the Library and felt that the mural should tie into the building itself, which is why she liked the mural of the kids reading the book. Council Member Presley stated that he is in favor of public art and thinks it's a great idea; however, he has some concerns with the selected mural being the first mural that the City puts out as the public might not understand its meaning. Ms. Eustace stated that if Council did not feel comfortable with the selected mural, she needed to know that, so staff can move forward in a different direction. She further noted that the other murals on the list were not really viable options for various reasons. Council suggested the mural of the children with the book that came in at $16,000; however, Ms. Eustace stated that she did not like the look and feel of that partiwlar piece. She further noted that the artist of that particular mural was local to the Houston area and there could be a possibility of working with Mm on some other ideas. The Council discussed various aspects of the different murals and their artists. Ms. Eustace stated that the murals placed before the Council were the results of a two (2) month call from various outlets and did not recommend putting out another call out so soon, as they would lose credibility in the art world; instead she recommended that she be allowed to reach out to artist directly in order to find other options. Additionally, she noted that with the delay in looking for another mural for the Library, they will not be Photo Fest ready. City Manager Davis stated that regardless of the piece that's chosen there would be various types of interpretation of the pieces. He noted that one of the things that staff is trying to achieve through art is having an element of pushing the envelope and pushing frontiers. He noted that the Friends of the Library were paying for this mural and it might be good for a public art program to take a chance and see the public reaction. He stated that this will not be the only mural and that there would be more coming that would be funded by the City. He stated that by pushing the envelope by not selecting a piece that's so obvious to one that expands the cerebral muscles in order to interpret it. Council Member Presley that there were two options to be considered: (1) was to push the envelope and (2) show caution as this is something that we have never done City Council Special Work Session Minutes November 20, 2017 Page 8 of 8 before, so in essence, the City is pushing the envelope by the mere fact that it's going to put out a public art piece at all. City Manager Davis stated that this is a public asset and would not move forward with anything that the Council had not seen and approved. He asked the Council if they would like for staff to reach out to the artist who created the mural of the kids to see if there is something that can be worked out or did they just want to wait on the mural and look at other projects. Mayor DonCarlos stated that while he was not a big fan of the mural with the cowboy, he understood that it had been selected by the Friends of the Library and he would direct all comments about said mural to them. He further noted that he does not want to usurp the Friends of the Library's authority nor did he want to select the art for them. Ms. Eustace stated that when a piece of public art is put out there for the public, you want to have the community behind it, and from the discussion tonight, this is not going to be the case with this piece, so staff will look at other alternatives. She noted that another option could be to put out a call for artist to paint the area on the comer of the library where the stairs are located and make it look like a book or book shelf, this is a smaller area that would be easier to paint and complete within the short time frame before Photo Fest. The Council was open to this option and asked that she extend their gratitude to the Friends of the Library for their support in this endeavor. C. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Special Meeting Agenda for November 20, 2017, which is attached below. Council Member Presley requested that Council discuss item 1 I.e. regarding the adoption of the 2015 edition of the International Codes relating to building construction and fire protection to better understand the changes from the existing codes to those that are being considered for adoption. He requested that this item be suspended for adoption to the next Council Meeting on December 14, 2017. 3. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the November 20, 2017, City Council Special Work Session at 6:27 P.M. Leticia Brysch, Cit erk a .• �} City of Baytown