2018 11 08 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
NOVEMBER 8, 2018
The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday,
November 8, 2018, at 5:00 P.M., in the Hallam Conference Room of the Baytown City
Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance:
Robert Hoskins
Council Member
Charles Johnson
Mayor Pro Tent
David Himsel
Council Member
Chris Presley
Council Member
Heather Betancourth
Council Member
Rick Davis
City Manager
Ignacio Ramirez
City Attorney
Leticia Brysch
City Clerk
Mayor Pro Tom Johnson convened the November 8, 2018, City Council Regular Work Session
with a quorum present at 5:03 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Mayor
DonCarlos and Council Member Alvarado who were absent.
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a. Receive and discuss a presentation regarding amendments to the City of Baytown
Animal Control policies and ordinances.
City Manager Rick Davis welcomed the Council and noted that there are a couple very important subjects
to discuss with the first item being related to the City's Animal Control Program; i.e. long -teen and short-
term personnel, plans regarding updates to the processes and the facility.
Health Director Mike Lester introduced some of the members present at the meeting that serve on the
City's Animal Advisory Committee, and noted that the Committee has met numerous times in the last
few months to present proposed changes to the Animal Control ordinances and processes, which will be
presented today.
He noted that many of the changes are statutory changes and items that the Committee felt could be
expanded and/or enhanced. The first change is on page 9 regarding animal restrictions with the addition
to a section for a calculator for livestock, which does not change the basics of the code related to
livestock all it does is add a calculator based on the square footed and average on how many animals are
allowed, the different types of animals allowed.
Council Member Hoskins asked if this new code can be retroactive. Mr. Lester noted that he is not sure if
he could make this new code retroactive, but would verify that issue with the Legal Department.
Mr. Lester noted that the next major issue discussed is significant and relates to animal card
identification; i.e. micro -chipping. The proposed change will make it mandatory for pets, dogs and cats
to be micro -chipped. This is a new age pet registration program that will relieve the staff of the burden of
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November 8, 2018
Page 2 of 5
keeping this kind of information updated as the microchip can be scan and give information related to the
owners.
Mr. Lester noted that this is an enhancement, but staff will need to make it a mandatory. People will be
required to microchip their animals with their veterinarians, along with other mandatory vaccinations
such as rabies. A microchip last an overage of 10-15 years, which is typically life of an animal, so once
the animal is chipped, it will work wherever they are permanently. This new system will help staff to get
animals back home with their owners. The animals can be scanned at the time of pickup in the truck or
at the shelter. One of the policy issues discussed by the Committee is what happens when with repetitive
offenders. The Committee proposes that the first time staff picks -up an animal within 12 consecutive
months, the animal will be released to the owner; however, subsequent animal pick-ups in said time
frame will results in penalties. Mr. Lester again noted that micro -chipping is kind of a new age
registration type program, that does not have to be maintained by the staff, but it is up to the animal
owners to keep their contact information updated, in order to help staff get the animals home as soon as
possible
The Council requested that staff ensure that the appropriate outreach and education phase occur before
putting these new requirements into place. Mr. Lester said that staff would work with the community to
help bring people into compliance before issuing citations that would then go through the municipal
court. Mr. Lester noted that staff is considering the creation of a tiered system for citations for impound
fees and recommend that second or third time offenses in the mentioned 12 consecutive month period
will have the maximum penalty. So the first impound is $ 95 next, and will go up in $25 intervals, so
multiple repeat offenders are going to pay more. He further clarified that the violations are by animal
owner and not by each animal, so if one owner has multiple dogs, the animal owner will collect violations
by each time anyone of his/her dogs is impounded, regardless of which dog it is during that 12
consecutive month period.
Mr. Lester noted that the next main change relates to the elimination of the voucher program. Moving
forward the spay/neuter of adopted animals will be followed -up under the terms of the adoption
contract. Mr. Lester noted that at this time, there is only one staff member that handles this follow-up
process and he hopes to the necessary resources to conduct in-house spay/neuter before animals are
released for adoption; however, the City has not been successful in hiring for the veterinarian position.
The Council and staff discussed the dangerous animal process and notification requirements should the
animal move jurisdictions. Mr. Lester noted that these types of notifications are difficult to enforce as
people move or give the animal away without letting anyone know; however, he noted that in his
experience, once a dangerous animal owner realizes the costs associated with keeping the animal and
insurance requirements, they tend to give the dog up.
Mr. Lester noted that the first issues with nuisance annuals it the cat issues in town; the Committee
discussed this item and recommend that cats that are considered nuisances and are out at large in the City,
the animal can be picked up and microchip it; the cat owner may be cited for allowing the animal to be a
nuisance. He noted that the easiest thing is to cite the animal owner for allowing the animal to be out and
at large; however, if a cat rims around in a park and not bothering anybody, the Committee discussed that
that is not a nuisance cat.
Council Member Johnson asked about the individuals that feed stray cats in the areas, would that be a
nuisance? Mr. Lester noted that will be considered if the cat is causing than it would be considered a
nuisance cat. He further noted that there could be some public education to help with the fetal cat issue
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November 8, 2018
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or trying to stop people from feeding these stray animals, but noted that the recommended amendment
will allow staff to address nuisance animals and the owners.
Council Member Himsel asked what is being recommended for the people who sell animals in the
puking lots throughout the city. Mr. Lester noted that the City pretty much regulates the selling of
animals in the puking lot and states in part that no persons shall sell, trade, barter, lease, rent, give away
or display for commercial purpose any live animals on any road said, parkway, parking lot or any flea
market or other live door event. He further noted that there are some exceptions for government agencies
and non -profits for the rescue groups to sell animals.
City Manager Davis requested that Mr. Lester give an overview of the staffing issues in the Animal
Control Facility.
Mr. Lester noted that he has had the animal control program for a little over 10 years, and for those 10
years, he indicated that he needed more ACOs to run the animal control operation efficiently. He noted
that this year, the City was able to add five (5) additional staff members this year effective October
1st. He also noted earlier in the year, staff, with Council approval tried to convert the animal control
manager position into a veterinary position. However, the City has been unsuccessful in getting a
veterinarian on a full time basis to meet the needs to the organization. Therefore, staff reverted back to
looking for an animal control manager position and has found someone with over 25 years of experience
in this field who will hopefully begin on November the 19th. Mr. Lester noted that he is looking forward
to having someone leading the program with this level of expertise and maturity that will allow staff to
move forward with these and other changes.
Mr. Lester noted that Dr. Lipps has agreed that once all of the open positions are filled, trained as
required by statute and euthanasia certified, she will come in and introduce some internal training on how
to do healthcare vaccinations for the adoptable animals, so that process can be brought in-house. Mr.
Lester noted that he will use the monies left over in the budget for the veterinarian to purchase the needed
vaccines and stated that this program will be revving up in the next couple of months.
Mr. Lester noted that as it relates to the facility, staff continues to move towards a vet -care facility and
the consultant is looking at making improvements to the building at a much smaller scale than their
original proposal of 12 million dollars would get us.
Mr. Lester stated that he is very pleased with the City's change in the live release rate and noted that
excluding cats, the City is doing very well with a 75-82% live release rate. He noted that as it relates to
dogs, they are working on some more modifications; such as, working with the Humane Society, the
SPCA, and groups that are helping to setup transfer hubs to other states for the transfer of dogs for
adoption. Mr. Lester did clarify that cats are another issue, but staff is going to continue to work on
finding solutions to the cat problems.
Mr. Lester stated that the City has made an investment in the care of these animals and noted that when
looking at the cost per animal and expenses per animal with the new budget, this year's budget, the City is
spending $256 per animal; the average for the 17 cities that Baytown compares to for compensation, their
average is $456. So Baytown is still just above half of what the average of the other agencies are
spending; however, he noted that once they begin to neuter and ship animals the costs will increase.
Mr. Lester noted that as far as the ordinance is concerned, he will review the information and comments
from the meeting and bring it back for Council action December or January.
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November 8, 2018
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b. Discuss regulations and initiatives to address vacant building
Planning and Community Development Director Tiffany Foster presented the item and stated
that staff wanted to present the Council with an update on the City's vacant building ordinance.
She noted that the City enactment this ordinance back in 2008 with the idea of registering vacant
buildings and also to try and monitor what happens to those buildings. What staff found was that
this wasn't realty an effective ordinance as it did not really achieve the goal of making sure that
vacant buildings were tended to; particularly from an exterior perspective, in order to encourage
property owners to reoccupy the building.
Mrs. Foster noted that this ordinance is still a part of the City's toolbox and did use it in 2016
when dealing with the old San Jacinto Hospital on Decker, because at that time, the City used
every tool available to work that project before it got to the demolition process. Mrs. Foster
noted that one thing that makes that ordinance cumbersome is that in order to declare a building
to be vacant an inventory has to be completed of all the buildings to make sure that they are
vacant and unoccupied for 365 days. If it is, then the owner is notified to register the building.
The owner, if it's a commercial building, would have to provide the City a certificate of
insurance on the building and so on. Staff realized pretty quickly in 2009 or 2010 that this
ordinance had become an administrative nightmare and at the end of the day this program did not
improve the exterior of the building nor did it encourages people to reoccupy the building.
Therefore, staff decided to work through the vacant buildings through code enforcement and/or
the substandard building program. Mrs. Foster noted that in the last two years, there has been a
big increase in the City's substandard program because one staff member was dedicated
specifically to handle substandard cases; at this time, staff is covering about 50 projects or
structures very month that will end up in the court. Mrs. Foster also noted that while there me
currently only two (2) enforcement officers for the entire city and her department has managed to
significantly increase its code enforcement efforts.
So we've done some code enforcement in a couple of targeted places for vacant buildings
through a neighborhood improvement program which is right out of CDBG. The area being
targeted right now is in West Baytown, staff calls this area the Tree Streets, so the area off of
Hines and Cypress. Staff has also done some code enforcement sweeps on Texas Avenue, and
there have been some improvements to some properties in this area.
Mrs. Foster noted that staff did visit with BJ Simon with the EDF on different tools and
incentives that the City can employ to encourage businesses in these vacant buildings. Some
ideas that have been discussed include enhancing the RIZ program or expanding its area; such as
the area off of Bayway. Mrs. Foster also noted that they are working on some tools out of the
RIZ for specific buildings, roughly about 30 buildings, that staff is working through, and while
there has been some success, the staff is looking at what other types of incentives could be used
for these structures. Mrs. Foster noted that staff is looking at targeting 5 to 6 buildings for these
types of tools and incentives and will bring something back for Council's consideration in the
near future.
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November 8, 2018
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City Manager Davis noted that the incentives and tools have to be diverse as buildings and
circumstance varies from building to building. He noted that any program will have to look at
code amendments in order to make it easier for modifications and investments into these old
vacant buildings. He also noted that the City needed to be pro -active in dealing with the
movement of retail from the older parts of the city to the north side with the new mall
development. He further noted that he has spoken to Mrs. Foster about being very aggressive in
terms of communicating to these leasing agents and building owners; the City wants to partner
with these individuals to help you find viable tenants that will lift the quality of life for the
residents; will result in visible improvement to the building; and will draw traffic to the area.
The Council discussed the movement of retailers to the north of the City, the Kroger building on
Garth, and the new Wienerschnitzel by Northwood.
City Manager Davis noted that staff wants to be proactive on these issues and will be coming
back to Council and maybe to the MDD to discuss a criteria for providing incentives to vacant
buildings and/or the leasing of these buildings. City Manager Rick Davis further noted that staff
will have to work closely with the EDF on these types programs and incentives, and will soon
have the new Development Manager to help take the lead on the recruitment of retailers to the
older areas of the city and many of these older vacant buildings. Lastly, he noted that he
appreciated all of the Council feedback and staff will be bringing back more ideas and comments
on this item for further discussion.
C. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
for November 8, , which is attached below.
This item was not discussed.
2. ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Pro Tern Johnson adjourned the
November 8, 2018, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:28 P.M.
Lehcia Brysch, City Clerk
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