2018 08 09 WS Minutes MINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
AUGUST 9, 2018
The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday,
August 9, 2018, 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 Mayor Pro Tem
David Himsel Council Member
Chris Presley Council Member
Heather Betancourth Council Member
Stephen DonCarlos Mayor
Rick Davis City Manager
Ignacio Ramirez City Attorney
Leticia Brysch City Clerk
Mayor DonCarlos convened the August 9, 2018, City Council Regular Work Session with a
quorum present at 5:30 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Council Member
Johnson who arrived at 5:31 P.M.
1. DISCUSSIONS
a. Discuss the Wayfmding Project and the naming of the Texas Avenue area.
Director of Strategic Initiatives Nick Woolery presented the item and stated that this discussion
is a continuation of previous work session discussions regarding the Wayfinding Project and
what to name the Texas Avenue area in order to better market and promote the area.
Mr. Woolery stated that after the last meeting, there were two names to consider: (1) the historic
district and (2) the heritage district, and he wanted to pose the pros and cons to those names to
begin the discussion. Mr. Woolery reminded the Council that a name is really marketing and a
promotion tool and what is within the district is really what makes this area come to life. He
noted that what has been discussed in the past was to see the history of Baytown preserved and
so it needs to be the historic district, or the focus was to see the arts flourish in the area, so it
should be called the arts district. However, Mr. Woolery noted that the area in question
encompasses all of those things, history, art and culture, which are all things that the Council
wants to see preserved and enhanced in this area, along with special events, concerts,retail, etc.
Mr. Woolery cautioned about naming the area too specific of a name, in order to not limit what
this area could be and allow it to be fluid and change from year to year, depending on the
City Council Regular Work Session Minutes
August 9,2018
Page 2 of 3
circumstances. Mr. Woolery noted that staff went through three different potential categories,
which are as follows:
Category#1, Historic District/Arts District:
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PROS: Provides a theme for the area.
CONS: Narrowly focused, Might box area in, not completely accurate to what is on the
ground and is generic in nature and not unique.
Category#2, Heritage District/Cultural District:
PROS: Not as narrowly focused and provides a theme,but allows flexibility
CONS: Generic in nature and not unique.
Category#3, Texas Avenue/The Avenue:
PROS: Honors the history of the area, does not box area in, is recognizable to residents
and allows for flexibility and creativity.
CONS: Does not provide a specific theme and is not totally unique
The City's Marketing and Promotions staff members present recommended the use of the name
in category #3 as it allowed them more flexibility to market the area with its many different
activities and events and would be inclusive of all of the separate items found in this area,
theater, art, retail,businesses, etc.
The Council discussed the pros and cons of various names to include the following:
• Downtown Arts District,
• Arts District,
• Heritage District,
• Historic Downtown,
• Texas Avenue,
• The Avenue,
• The Town Square District,
• The ACE District,
• Theater District,
• Umbrella District, and
• Texas Avenue District.
As this item was a discussion item and no action could be taken, the Mayor requested that an
item be placed on the next City Council agenda for the Council to vote on the name of the area.
b. Discuss the City of Baytown Municipal Budget FY 2018-19.
City Manager Rick Davis presented the item and noted that this item is on the agenda in order to
allow the Council to discuss and give staff any direction regarding the proposed FY 2018-19
municipal budget. He noted that there were no changes made the budget and it remains as
submitted from the last meeting.
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August 9,2018
Page 3 of 3
Council Member Presley asked for clarification regarding the positions in the Public Affairs
Division.
Mr. Davis noted that these positions arepart of a component that he had been talkingabout for a
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long time; in fact, upon his arrival, he felt like the City needed to bring some structure to its
volunteer program. The City is missing opportunities to engage its citizens in meaningful service
to the community. Mr. Davis noted that there is both an intrinsic and emotional value associated
with getting people involved in serving their community and he wanted to change the staff s
reactive approach to a more proactive one, which could be assisted through the new Volunteer
and Outreach Coordinator position. Mr. Davis noted that the details of the position, what it does
and how it will do it, have not been ironed out, but noted that the Council will be a part of
bringing this to fruition.
Council had no suggested changes to the proposed budget.
c. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Fleeting Agenda
for August 9, 2018,which is attached below.
Mr. Davis noted that the Council had two major agreements on the agenda for their approval
dealing with the private/public partnership agreement for the Hotel and Convention Center
Project at Bayland Island, and noted that before the Council considered these items, it will recess
into an executive session in order for the City's attorneys to give them an overview of these
items.
2. ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the August 9, 2018,
City Council Regular Work Session at 6:14 P.M.
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Leticia Brysch, City
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