2018 12 13 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
DECEMBER 13, 2018
The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday,
December 13, 2018, at 5:34 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
Chris Presley
Council Member
Charles Johnson
Council Member
Heather Betancourth
Council Member
Robert Hoskins
Council Member
Brandon Capetillo Mayor
Rick Davis City Manager
Ignacio Ramirez City Attorney
Leticia Brysch City Clerk
Mayor Capetillo convened the December 13, 2018, City Council Regular Work Session with a
quorum present at 5:34 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Council Member
Himsel who was absent.
1. DISCUSSIONS
Receive and discuss the Proposed Chambers Town Center Gateway Project.
City Manager Rick Davis presented the item and noted that Parks and Recreation Director Scott
Johnson was going to go over the City's East Gateway Project on SH146 and I-10. He noted that
this gateway is made possible through the Governor's Committee Achievement Award Grant,
and advised the Council that the purpose of the item was for staff to receive direction on the look
and feel of this third gateway marker to the city.
Mr. Johnson stated that last summer the staff along with Keep Baytown Beautiful (KBB)
submitted and won the Keep Texas Beautiful Builders Achievement Award, which came with a
$275,000 grant that is administered through TxDOT. Staff has been working on a third gateway
to be located across from the Chamber's Town Center area close to the gas station on I-10 on
SH146. Mr. Johnson introduced Brian Janhsen, Senior Landscape Architect for Knudson who
is the lead on this project and has overseen the last two gateways, for an overview of the
proposed gateway.
Mr. Janhsen stated that they were excited to do another one of these gateways with Baytown and
showed the Council picture renderings of the proposed gateway. Mr. Janhsen stated that they do
not have any final renderings of the site as there are still some pipeline issues that have to be
handled along with compliance with TxDOT regulations, which have not been approved yet.
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December 13, 2018
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Mr. Janhsen noted that the concept is to create a slight elevation change before the ground floor
level of the gateway with the structure being a simple brick and cast stone construction similar to
the City's other two projects. He noted that this gateway will have three pillars to represent the
three communities that came together to forth the City of Baytown with the base having the
City's name and date of establishment.
Mr. Janhsen noted that since this is a project on a TxDOT right-of-way (ROW), and is funded by
TxDOT; therefore, there may be some adjustments to the design in order to comply with TxDOT
regulations; an example being the exclusion of the date of incorporation as TxDOT typically
only allows for the name of the city on the project. Other items noted include the height of the
gateway, the lighting specifications, setbacks/offsets and other design elements. Mr. Janhsen
further noted that the project could begin in August of 2019 if TxDOT approves the project in
March or April.
b. Receive and discuss a presentation regarding the Public Safety Facilities Study and
potential funding sources.
Mr. Davis presented the item and stated that one of the things that Council asked staff to look at
is whether the proposed police/fire facility could be oriented in a way that makes better use of
the former Angel Brothers property adjacent to the City of Baytown's current property, which
will be presented tonight by the Engineering Director Jose Pastrana. As a side note, Mr. Davis
noted that as it relates to the financing of this facility, staff is still working on some very
promising financing plans, which will be brought back at a later time when they are more
concrete.
Mr. Pastrana stated that several months ago, the City received a presentation from an architect
design group for a new master plan that would house the Police Department and Fire
Administration. At that time, the Council requested that the layout of the facilities be re-
arranged to allow for better usage of the property to the north, which is called the old Angel
Brothers property. He noted that the goal of this project is to provide a public safety building, a
police vehicle maintenance building, a fire vehicle maintenance building, and a police and fire
yard. Mr. Pastrana showed the Council picture renderings of the new design. He noted that it
has better use of landscaping and parking area; it showed a superior layout that included a
walking track in the back section of the property, and a better training area. Mr. Pastrana noted
that as it relates to the main building, it has four floors with the first floor including the public
areas, records, and Support Services Division, the second floor includes two major divisions:
Patrol and Staff Support, the third floor includes Community Services and Crime Prevention
training, Criminal Investigation and Special Operation, and the fourth and final floor includes the
administrative spaces for both Fire and PD. The estimated cost for the construction of that
facility is $50.4 million without the soft costs, which increase the amount to $65 million.
The Council reviewed and discussed the updated plan and noted that the new layout did a better
job of using the entire site than the previously shown plan.
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December 13, 2018
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C. Receive presentations and discuss contemplated developments in the City's
extraterritorial jurisdiction located in Chambers County, including the creation of
Chambers County Municipal Utility District No. 2 and Chambers County Municipal
Utility District No. 3.
Deputy City Manager Ron Bottoms introduced two groups that would be going over two
separate presentations regarding the creation of municipal utility districts (MUD) in Chambers
County in the City's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), which are on the Council's regular agenda
for action. Mr. Bottoms further noted that the only thing being considered tonight is the creation
of the MUDS, all other details regarding the actual development of these MUDS would come at a
later time.
Mr. Brian Gage with Schwarz, Page and Harding noted that his firm represents a number of
MUDS around the industrial metro area. He noted that there are two firms that want to present
MUD proposals to the Council tonight, the first being National Property Holdings and the second
being Americus Holdings, LTD. Mr. Gage noted that National Property Holdings was involved
with the creation of Chambers County Improvement District Number 2 (CCID#2), which has
been a very successful project. He further noted that this group was proposing the legislative
creation of a MUD at the eastem boundary of SH99 and FM565, which is just to the east of
Chambers County MUD #2. Mr. Gage then noted that the second presentation was from
Americus Holding, LTD., for a Gateway Project at the intersection of SH99 and I-10.
Mr. Ryan Lovell with National Property Holdings stated that he was the Auditor Developer of
Ameriport Industrial Park and also Chambers County Improvement District #2. He noted that
the proposed MUD is about 1200 acres of land that they currently own in the City's ETJ.
National Property Holdings is headquartered in Houston and is primarily a commercial developer
with some residential experience as well. He noted that they have over five and a half million
square feet of commercial buildings that they have owned since 1999. He further noted that they
own, lease and manage over 4 million square feet and are a full service firm in terms of owning
and leasing property management and construction management. They helped develop
Ameriport in Chambers County and currently employ over 700. They have their own
architecture review committee that oversees enforcement compliance with their covenants and
restrictions and Property Owners Associations, in addition to the district which maintains our
facilities.
Mr. Lovell noted that the future face of their development includes 356 acres of land, south of
FM 565 and 165 acres of land north of FM 565 for the new Chambers County MUD #2, and they
planned on complying with everything set forth by the City in its new guidelines for MUDS as it
relates to setbacks, minimum 100 acre development and drainage, etc. He noted that the plan
moving forward conceptually is to have both commercial and residential development that would
be in different zones, with the retail being closer to the industrial setbacks and the residential
further away to create some separation.
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December 13, 2018
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The Council discussed fencing types, setbacks, the size of the roads, barriers, landscaping,
masonry requirements, and other items that would make this future development functional and
beautiful. Mr. Lovell noted that all the details of the MUD would be listed out in the
development agreement with the City, but for now they were only requesting the approval of the
MUD's creation.
Mr. Bottoms clarified the point to Council and noted that the new MUD has not yet been created
and that Council was only considering a resolution supporting the legislation for this MUD, and
noted that the Council would have an opportunity to approve in the details of the district at a later
time.
Mr. Lovell noted that a creation is a two-step process. Tonight, they are looking for the City's
approval for support at introducing legislation. That legislation would have specific provisions,
which have already been provided the City Attorney which states in part that prior to the
activation of the district, they must have a formal consent audits from the City. Mr. Lovell
further noted that in conjunction with this, there will be a development agreement that will get
into a lot of these details through a strategic partnership agreement that will address the City's
ability to collect sales tax in the area, along with an emergency services agreement providing
emergency services in the area. Mr. Lovell stated that there will be a lot of details that will go
into that second phase, but for now they are still in phase one, which is the legislative approval.
The Council expressed their concerns regarding the quality of the development; that the end
product matched their proposal, along with the encroachment of residential development into
industrial areas and vice versa.
Mr. Davis introduced Mr. Christopher Gilbert and Peter Houghton with Rooted Development
Services, LLC. Mr. Gilbert noted that just as Mr. Lovell knows what he's doing regarding
commercial and industrial developments, his job is only residential. He noted that his firm does
not do anything, but residential development and noted that they have a pretty good background
of working on large master planned communities around the Houston area and they are excited
to bring their expertise to the Baytown area. Mr. Gilbert noted that he had heard Council's
concerns on the quality of the development and that they would address all those concerns
because their plan is a long-term master plan community.
Mr. Gilbert noted that due to the shortage of time before the Council meeting, would go over the
main points of their development and noted that they have a number of high end home builders
already interested in working with them on this project. He noted that their development will
prime builders and offer 71 acres in residential options. Mr. Gilbert noted that the residences are
going to go first, which is what they are going to hit the ground with and show the City their
great products.
Mr. Gilbert showed pictures of the proposed layout, and noted that the development will have
multiple lot sizes and just like the presentation from Mr. Lovell, they intend to meet all of
Council's checklist and requirements. He noted that they had already done some initial studies
that will serve the entire 371 acres and stated that they believe they have everything in place that
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December 13, 2018
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will allow them the flexibility of what we want to do, moving forward. Again, Mr. Gilbert noted
that many of his slides were very similar to the previous presentation and reiterated that they
intended to meet all the City's requirements moving forward. He stated that they would have a
separate HOA just for the residents of the area in order to allow them to have ownership of their
community and a say in their environment. The development will have landscaping on the trails,
many of Council's requested amenities, the wall to separate the residential from commercial and
industrial uses; all the things that you would expect to see in a nice development.
Mr. Gilbert stated that they will have multiple lot sizes, community amenities, and beautiful
aesthetics. Their plan has different home styles and will have several different elements of design
which are mentioned in the City's requirements, but those are all things that they do on their
houses anyway. He further noted that they have architectural control that talk about what houses
should look like, limit repetition, selection of colors, all those issues that Council has voiced
concerns about today, and they will make sure that all these items are addressed in the
development agreement, which will ultimately control their guidelines. Mr. Gilbert noted that the
number one amenities for homeowners include parks and trails, which is what they specialized
in, it is what they do. He noted that they make sure that they provide these amenities because that
is what the homeowners want and they are there to meet the demands of what the buyers want in
this market.
The Council noted that they wanted to ensure that as these developments move forward they
include homes at a price point of $300,000 or more, had hike and bike trails, parks, high end
amenities, a good size of roads, and did not encroach into industrial areas that are already in
existence in this area.
Mr. Bottoms again noted that the details of the development would be brought forward at a later
date and Council's desires would be included in the development agreement with the
developers. He further reminded Council that the only action for their consideration tonight is
the MUD creation.
d. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
for December 13, 2018, which is attached below.
This item was not discussed
2. ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Capetillo adjourned the December 13,
2018 City Coun ' Regular Work Session at 6:29 P.M.
A