2020 05 28 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
May 28, 2020
The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday,
May 28, 2020, at 5:34 P.M., in the Council Chamber, 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
Chris Presley
Council Member
Heather Betancourth
Council Member
Brandon Capetillo Mayor
Rick Davis City Manager
Karen Horner Interim City Attorney
Leticia Brysch City Clerk
Keith Dougherty Sergeant at Arms
Mayor Capetillo convened the May 28, 20207 City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum
present at 5:34 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Council Member Johnson
who arrived at 5:39 P.M. and Council Member Himsel who was absent.
1. DISCUSSIONS
a. Discuss phased opening plans for both Pirates Bay and Calypso Cove.
City Manager Rick Davis presented the item and stated that it seems that things are looking more
and more normal out there and staff has come up with some solutions both short term and long
term, with regard to when Pirates Bay opens to the public and the related fiscal implications.
Mr. Davis noted that the not -so -great weather in the last couple of year, along with the fact that
staff has strictly enforced the park's maximum occupancy and of course, and the earlier start to
the school year has all impacted this season. Mr. Davis noted that these were some of these
things were taken into consideration when putting options together. He noted that the governor
has decided to allow water parks to open at twenty-five capacity, which has caused staff to pause
and do some analysis with regard to what the Aquatics fund, which staff has been very upfront
about the fact that there are concerns related to this fund in particular.
Mr. Davis stated that there is a good reason to be worried about that especially since the entirety
of the revenue for this fund comes from the City's ability to open that park which has been
hindered to a great deal by the current circumstance. Staff members Jenna and others in the
Finance Department have gotten together and are bringing you three possible scenarios with
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regard to opening Pirate's Bay and Calypso Cove. He further noted that all three scenarios are
costly and there is not an option that has any black lettering as they are all going to cost more to
operate than the projected revenues. Nevertheless, Mr. Davis noted that there are many reasons
why the Council will probably want to open Pirates Bay, one of those reasons probably will not
be because it will make the City a lot of money, but it is more of a community thing.
Superintendent of Aquatics Jenna Stevenson presented the Council with an overview of the
water park features and changes, along with the some of the new procedures that will be going
into place to deal with the COVID-19 disaster; such as social distancing and limitations on
capacity.
Ms. Stevenson noted that currently, the City has hired three hundred eighty-three staff members,
which is unfortunately, is dropping regularly because they have found alternate work options
because of the fact that the park is not open yet. She further noted that during a shift at Pirates
Bay there is a hundred and eleven workers and during a shift at Calypso Cove, there are fifteen.
The hundred and eleven at Pirates Bay will not change whether capacity is at four hundred
people at twenty-five percent or whether it was at a hundred percent capacity at sixteen hundred
people due to the layout of the park all of that staff is needed. However, ay Calypso Cove that
number can drop by about four to five people if the park is opened at a lesser capacity than a
hundred percent.
Ms. Stevenson noted that staff is currently struggling with lifeguards and staff is currently
working with eighty-seven lifeguards that are in the process of being hired or/being certified.
She noted that the reason the lifeguards are not currently certified is because of the Red Cross'
guidelines regarding social distancing, they could not complete the in water required training.
However, she noted that the City currently has sixty-two lifeguards that are deep -water certified,
twenty-two that are shallow and thirteen of that eighty-four are leadership positions that do not
sit on the lifeguard stand. There are a hundred and seventy-one lifeguards total if everyone
passes their tests, but normally, there would be about two hundred fifty; this just gives the
Council an idea of how the parks have been impacted by COVID.
Ms. Stevenson further noted that once at the park there will be some social distancing guidelines
that will be in place are the concrete stickers on the ground just like the ones seen at the grocery
store at any other store around town, there will be barricades off the entrance line and the
smoking area to help keep those people socially distanced. She noted that there will also be extra
signage as recommended by the CDC, social distancing messages playing on the park radio,
team members will be wearing gloves and masks that are in direct contact with guests, all lounge
chairs from the park have been removed and the tables in the park have been social distanced, so
there are a limited number available for the public.
Ms. Stevenson noted that there will be other items in place to protect the staff and public at the
park and include the following:
• Lifeguards will have a ten -foot box and all stands will have a sign that states
"If you have any questions or concerns to please find a supervisor that is in a
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blue polo", this is in hopes that those guests will not break that social
distancing just to get a lifeguard's attention.
• Sanitizing, extra hand sanitizer stations have been installed; the life jackets
will now be a pickup station as opposed to just staying open rack like they
used to be where anybody used to be able to grab them and then put them
back at their leisure. Once returned, the life jackets will be disinfected before
handing them out to someone else. Also all handrails will be sanitized roughly
every twenty minutes as the lifeguards are rotating around the park.
• Slide tubes and mat racers will also be sanitized after every guest and there are
extra team members on the schedule just for sanitizing purposes; the
restrooms, the tables, the tubes, the mat racers.
• The park entrance procedure will change for this year. There will be online
ticket sales only; no in person ticket sales and all team members that are in the
lighthouse will be behind the glass.
• All season pass holders will be entering the park through a separate own gate,
scanning their own passes, and then receiving their wristbands for the park.
• The entrances and the exits to the park were changed and people will now go
up to the lighthouse, redeem their tickets, get their wristbands and then walk
to the right of the park towards the back where they would then enter the park.
• The exit to the park will be at the far left, this is a double gate that is normally
used as a maintenance entrance, but will now serve as en exiting point.
• Season pass holders are the only people that will be entering the park right in
that lighthouse area and will have a special access gate and can enter the park
ten minutes earlier than everyone else.
• Concession stands and retail will have some changed and only the larger
kitchen will be open, the front concession stand backs up straight to a picnic
pavilion and there is not enough room to social distance your line, your people
waiting for their food and the guests that are sitting in that pavilion either
eating or relaxing.
• The attractions, slides and things: i.e. slide tubes, FlowRider boards and Mat
Racers will be sanitized after each guest and there will be no tubes in the river
as they are difficult to control and sanitize.
• Mat Racers slides will only use the outside lanes so that the people on those
slides are socially distance, and slides will have staggered starts so the people
do not end at the same time and exit the slides and become face to face with
each other. Also, all lifeguards will have limited contact with their guests
entering and exiting the slides.
• All play structures will be closed, per the governor's order.
Ms. Stevenson then presented the three park opening options which are:
Option 1: Opening at a limited capacity of twenty-five percent, with the same
hours of operation as those in the past. There is a flat rate ticket cost of twenty or
twenty-five dollars, regardless of height and there is no re-entry. There would be
a smoking section set up to the back of the park instead of people exiting the park
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to smoke. There would be an updated bag or cooler policy that will not allow
chairs or wagons to be brought in the park, a limit of one cooler per family.
Option 2: Opening at limited capacity at twenty-five percent, with two time slots
each day, each ticketed individually. The time slots would be from 10:00 A.M. to
2:00 P.M. and from 3:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M., and between 2:00 PM, and 3:00 PM,
the park would be cleared completely for cleaning and sanitation purposes.
Ticket cost would be fifteen dollars, Monday through Thursday; twenty dollars,
Friday through Sunday; and twenty-five dollars at a special Saturday night for
forty-eight inch and over, that would run from 8:00 P.M. to midnight, every
Saturday night. There is still no re-entry, and an updated bagging cooler policy
allowing no chairs, wagons, one cooler per family, and your factory -sealed
beverages, which is a rule that is already in place.
Option 3: Is not to open the park at all for the 2020 season.
Mr. Davis stated that there is a price tag associated with all three of the previously noted options
and the staff s recommendation is option two. Staff believes that it is important to open the park
as all three options are going to force staff to find funding to plug the aquatics fund hole this
year, and then figure out what can be done for future years to help make this fund solvent.
Mr. Davis noted that the budget has about four hundred thousand dollars in fund balance, and
currently, the Aquatics fund will need general fund support for the remaining portion of the
monies needed, and staff has not yet identified where those funds will be taken from, but staff is
really looking for guidance on the options from Council.
In response to a question from the Council, Ms. Stevenson noted that even if the park does not
open, there will still be associated cost to keep the park running, as it relates to chemical use and
pumps; however, if it is closed the related amounts will be less, as the park will operated as it
does during the offseason. She further noted that 1.5 million of the 2.1 in Option 3 has already
been spent for this year, and includes the park renovations, the offseason staffing cost, and other
similar costs that have already been incurred. She noted that additional monies needed are
estimates of what would be needed to spend on chemicals, electricity, and those types of things;
along with full-time staffing cost.
Ms. Stevenson further noted that the staff would continue to treat the water, but as if it were in
the offseason, which has lower chemicals use, as staff only uses the necessary amount to keep
the pools clear, and runs the pumps as is required to maintain the type of plaster that is on the
pools. She noted that this particular type of plaster requires that there be water in the pools 24/7
and if the pools are drained they would result in additional costs to redo those pools later.
In response to a question from Council, Ms. Stevenson noted that the parks use chemical at
levels that are more than the CDC recommendations, so there is no need to change anything as a
result of COVID.
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Mr. Davis stated in response to a question from Council regarding whether the capacity numbers
will change and/or increase as the summer progresses, stated that the staff hopes that as the
summer progresses with an increase in capacity from the governor; however, staff is looking at
these scenarios with the worst case in mind with the hope that it will go better than anticipated.
However, Mr. Davis further noted that even if capacity returns to 100%, the fund will have a
deficit no matter what. In fact, last year was not a good year for us. The finance committee will
remember we went over that.
The Council briefly discussed the item and had a consensus to move forward with the staff s
recommendation of Option 2.
b. Discuss strategies, techniques, and funding for the maintenance of existing streets
and construction of new or expanded roadways.
City Manager Rick Davis presented the item and stated that this the next item regarding strategy
techniques, and funding for the maintenance of existing streets, and construction of new, or
expanded roadways resulted from many good conversations with Council Member Presley. Mr.
Davis noted that said conversations were very productive and he felt that a more comprehensive
discussion with the Council regarding what the staff is doing in terms of pavement rehabilitation
and street rehabilitation was in order.
Assistant City Manager Nick Woolery stated that to set the stage in general, he wanted to show
where the city has come from in the past five years on street maintenance is really significant and
this is in large part due to a really talented team. In the Public Works and Engineering
Department, there is Kevin Harvill, who is the Assistant Director of Public Works that oversees
the City's street operations. The merging of Public Works and Engineering into one department
has really helped the staff significantly as it allows for different and new innovative ways to get
the best bang for the buck out of the City's street dollars. Staff has done that for a while, staff
has really started to add some new techniques the past five years that have helped out a lot. In
2015, the City had a PCI study, which should be completed every five years; to keep in line with
that, the City is currently in the process of having another PCI study completed this year. This
combined with a new program that is being used called MicroPAVER has really helped the staff
determine how to get that best bang for the buck.
Mr. Woolery noted that when staff looks at the roadway maintenance the biggest question is
when is the right time to do certain maintenance techniques on the streets in order to preserve the
street as long as possible before having to fully reconstruct. Some of the big challenges staff has
with streets in Baytown right now is the percentage of streets that are paved in concrete because
there are limited techniques for maintenance. The City has deteriorating conditions on its arterial
roadways with the big four being Garth, North Main, Baker, or Rollingbrook. These roads are
deteriorating because they are aging, so obviously every year they will get a little bit worse, and
trying to figure out how to handle this while considering the immense costs of reconstruction, is
very challenging.
The third thing that has come online the past couple of years since the last PCI study is the
impact of Hurricane Harvey because of the water gets into the base of the street. Baytown had a
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number of streets that with water sitting on them for days on end, and staff believes that this had
a pretty big impact on the quality of the streets; particularly as there are certain streets that
deteriorated moreover those five years than they would have without Harvey.
Mr. Woolery stated that it is important to keep the timing of the pavement rehabilitation chart in
mind because where a street is on the scale of the current condition of the pavement determines
what maintenance technique makes the most sense. He noted that as he mentioned earlier, the
whole idea is to make that maintenance line go out as far as possible until there is no other
choice by to reconstruct.
Mr. Woolery noted that from a big picture standpoint, there is roughly 330 miles of roadway in
Baytown. Five years ago, this number was closer to fifty-fifty on concrete and asphalt and every
new road built is going to be concrete, so those numbers have changed pretty significantly in the
past few years. Mr. Woolery further noted that form 2015 to the present, the number of
maintenance techniques being used the city has increased, which is really, really important
because when all this information is plugged into the MicroPAVER, it will give options that will
help get a better bang for the buck; the more techniques that are available to plug in, the better
the options.
Mr. Woolery noted that the concrete pavement restoration, which is the technical tern for the
project that is taking place on North Main. He noted that the PCI scores on North Main five
years ago were pretty much all in the very poor to the poor category, so was at the edge of almost
being too far gone, so if another five years were added, it would get to the point where things get
really, really, really costly.
Mr. Woolery noted that at the end of the day, what it is all about is finding a way with concrete
streets to preserve that life as long as possible. The TxDOT equivalent in California, named Cal -
Trans, did a study of their work using the CPR technique and on average; it extended the life of
their concrete roadways by seventeen years.
Mr. Woolery noted that in looking at data like that and considering what other options are
available on roads like North Main, it made staff stop to consider that this is a technique that
really, really makes sense. He noted that staff has been looking at other alternatives for concrete
streets for many years and actually studied this particular technique for probably two or three
years, at least. Staff has talked to experts at the national level, as well as, other communities who
have done similar projects; this technique is used heavily at the Department of Transportation
level. He further noted that as with asphalt the technique of Mill & Overlay helps preserve the
life of the road, this new techniques will do the same for concrete streets.
Mr. Woolery noted that with North Main, the staff was looking at prevention and delay in order
to keep water from getting down to the base of the street long-term. He noted that restoration
and improvement is the actual improvement of the concrete itself. The five techniques included
in concrete pavement restoration are:
The first part is the full -depth repair made to the pavement; this is the work that is going on
North Main right now, and is the most time -intensive portion of the project. It is the part where,
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it looks weird if done by itself and by itself would not necessarily make sense. This is where
full -depth repairs to any pavement that is really too far gone.
The next step and really the next two steps are done at once, which is the (1) Dowel Bar Retrofit
and Cross Stitching and (2) hen Diamond Grinding, this will make the street look much different
once the diamond grinding is completed; it won't look like a bunch of patchwork. Examples of
this type of technique are found in near San Jacinto Boulevard and in the Houston area near
Katy.
The fourth thing that will happen is as a result of North Main having a large number of
manholes. Currently, there is asphalt near all those manholes, but it is not how it will stay long
term and because staff does not know what the right level will be after the grinding is done, the
contractor will complete the grinding and then will come back and make sure that the manholes
are leveled with the new street section. The last thing that will be done will be to re -seal all the
joints just to make sure that long -teen, water is being kept from getting down to the base of the
roads.
Mr. Woolery noted that all of those components will happen on North Main; full -depth repairs
will take until September; at that time, staff will bid out the Dowel Bar Retrofit and Cross
Stitching, and Diamond Grinding, which will most likely take through the rest of the calendar
year.
Mr. Woolery noted that this technique snakes sense for this road as there are extensive failures on
the roadways and it is really the only technique can save concrete streets. Staff is looked at both
Garth and North Main as the potential pilot project for this new technique, and went with North
Main first because (1) the City is about to invest sixty-six million dollars in a public safety
facility and (2) staff is working with H-GAC on for the project and funding of Garth.
Mr. Woolery noted that the reason staff is piloting this type of technique for concrete streets is
because this is the only way to extend the life of concrete streets and is a lot less expensive that a
total reconstruction of a road, which can be very, very expensive. Currently, the City is not in a
financial position to reconstruct Garth, Main, and Baker, so staff looked at other options to make
our current funds do the most good for existing streets. He also noted that in the last budget
session, staff discussed the use of the Diamond Grinding technique with the Council, and this
was the first opportunity to use it. Mr. Woolery thanked the Council for their attention and
welcomed any questions.
Council Member Presley stated that he wanted to put it out there and noted that where he has
been coming from since January because he thinks it is important for folks to understand that
sometimes when you are on City council, you may have two or three phone calls, which is
actually quite a few phone calls, and he has had well over a dozen phone call about North Main
since the work started through yesterday or the day before. He noted that this is just one
councilman's opinion, but, if the failure is so extensive and it was almost too far gone five years
ago, his personal opinion is, if we would have been given an opportunity, he would have been in
favor of reconstruction even if it was in phases over time. He noted that he realized funding is
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May 28, 2020
Page 8 of 10
always is an issue, but, the city did not have the sixty-six million dollars for the police station,
fire department headquarters either and found a way to get it.
He further stated that who is to say we could not have tried to wrap a new road construction into
that economic development agreement, there are other options out there, and staff just can't say
funding is not there. We did not have sixty-six million sitting around for the new police station.
He looks at that sixty-six- million -dollar headquarters and in his opinion only, North Main
deserved better; it deserved to align with that new public facility in a better fashion. Council
Member Presley further stated that in the big picture and in his opinion, it was somewhat of a
missed opportunity. That is the way he views it, but like lie said before that is just his opinion,
one opinion and further noted that public works is his favorite city department and always has
been. Council Member Presley noted that he thought the guys in public works will tell you that
and he talks to them all the time.
Council Member Presley further stated that the bottom line is, Nick keeps saying "we". We made
the decision. What we looked at. Council Member Presley stated that there are seven elected
officials that represent the citizens of Baytown, so when he hears the word "we", he equates that
to the citizens and their duly elected representatives, and not just administration deciding how we
are going to fix the next street when it approaches millions of dollars. He further noted that that
is how he looks at it.
Council Member Presley wondered if perhaps there is potentially room for improvement in this
process. He asked if one councilman, would not have dug in and asked about it, would there
have been a process in place to know that they were already half a million dollars over budget?
He stated that that was another one of his concerns. He noted that he had not consulted with any
national experts, but that he had poured a lot of concrete in his lifetime.
Council Member Presley also stated that that he had finished out a lot of concrete in his lifetime
and supervised a lot of concrete jobs in his lifetime, and noted that there are some other things
that if you think about it and you get into the technical aspects and take a closer look at it, if we
would have bid it out? He stated that it seems like potentially, there could have been less risk
there and it would have limited the chance of having a half a million dollar overage, if it would
have been bid it out and could have known what we are getting.
Council Member Presley stated that he had one phone call and that reminded him that the street
maintenance tax is actually voted on by the citizens. He noted that the optics could be a little
better and perhaps council should have gathered a lot of feedback from the folks that use the
road. Perhaps they should have had the opportunity to speak for them. He noted that he
appreciates having a discussion now, but he just wishes they could have talked about these
months ago. He further noted that if this is a pilot project and it seemed to him that this is a new
technique, never been done before in Baytown, it seems to me that it may have been a better
strategy to employ the new technique over two or three blocks instead of several miles of
millions of dollars.
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Council Member Presley then noted that perhaps he would have a heck of a lot better comfort
level if he would have seen the demonstration project and he could have felt good getting behind
it; this is another item that he felt could be perhaps improved upon. Council Member Presley
also stated that he had some other calls just regarding the quality of the work, but honestly, from
what he could see, he thinks Teamwork does good work, and did not see a problem there.
Council Member Presley stated that his main point is that if the project would have been brought
to the Council, it could have been six to one or maybe four to three, but it seemed to him that
"we" is not just Administration and Public Works and the that the "we" are the citizens of
Baytown who have paid taxes and that speak through their duly elected representatives. He
noted that he did not want to belabor the point, that this was kind of where he was at, that this is
really the gist of it and kind of where he is - big picture; there are a lot of other fine details on
other techniques that could have saved a lot of money on Diamond Grinding.
Council Member Presley then noted that he had someone send him the specs from the general
contractor industry that says that "If we felt like it was not done right and it does not need the
vertical deviation of the surface, why are we paying six hundred thousand dollars for the
Diamond Grinding?" He further noted that he has had a lot of phone calls, perhaps because he
has been in the construction business for a number of years, and folks reach out to him and lie
has had more calls on North Main than he has ever had on any other issue in at least the last five
or six years. But as he noted before, maybe staff can be more inclusive next time and he noted
that he would have voted for reconstruction even if it was in phased in over time. Because he
realizes funding is an issue, but funding is always an issue and sometimes it can be found in
other ways.
Council Member Presley noted that it was six -thirty, and stated that he had a lot more to say but
was not going to, but he appreciated the opportunity to talk about it, and that means a lot to him.
He noted that if he did not vote for the Diamond Grinding, folks are going to point the finger at
him for the bumpy road, so now, he is somewhat forced to vote for something that he would not
have voted for in the very beginning. He stated that there just seems like the process can be
smoothed out, and he will always appreciate every single time staff tries to save taxpayer money.
He stated that he knows the intentions were there, that is not in debate; it is just trying to improve
the process, bringing things to council, and hopefully, maybe the citizens would feel like they are
heard a little more. It is as easy as that.
Mayor Capetillo stated that he appreciate Councilman Presley's obviously concern on North
Main and he thought, like anybody who drives on North Main can agree that phase one of what
looks like five steps of a process, but is at least three major phases, everyone would all agree that
the finished product is not there yet. He further noted that obviously, what is being used right
now is the expected outcome, and he will reserve judgment. He noted that he certainly hoped
that this technique, the Diamond Grinder, that we know works because we have seen it, as many
of us have ridden on 290 or I 10 West and the Katy Freeway.
Mayor Capetillo noted that the Council asked the staff to be innovative and to be good stewards
with street maintenance tax dollars and felt that they have done exactly that. He noted that he
believes that staff tries to go and address as many roads as possible and it is going to take a
fifteen -year, almost twenty-year, to fix or rehab all roads to concrete.
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Mayor Capetillo noted that he has asked staff about having a comprehensive matrix that includes
street, sidewalks, parks, etc. and notes what we have and what are we going to do with, so
Council can know what is happening in their district, and the methods that they are going to use
to address it. He noted that he is aware that staff is working on his request, and noted that his
point being is, it is not something that council would vote on; it is not something Council would
have a public hearing on and say, "How are we going to fix the street?" He noted that the idea is
to collect the street sales tax sales tax, and then use those funds to "pay as you go" to address as
many streets as possible with the professional engineers in the Public Works and Engineering
Department, the best way possible and get the best bang for our buck.
Council Member Presley stated that he agreed and when this process is finished, he hoped he
could fully endorse it and hopefully, he can. However, his point is, and voted may have been a
strong word, that he believes that since it is an entirely new technique and it is not exactly cheap,
millions of dollar in fact, it should have been at least discussed. Council Member Presley again
noted that voted was probably not the best choice of words, but in lieu of the word voted,
discussed and possibly debated and deliberated. He asked if the city just spent $2.1 million
already, and the southbound lanes still have to be completed; does the staff anticipate spending
another $2.1 million on that for a total spending of over $4 million for this project?
Mr. Woolery responded to Council Member Presley's question by noting that the estimated costs
for the project is $2.1 million for both northbound and southbound lanes
Mr. Davis noted that the staff is working on getting a full comprehensive CIP plan together to
help with Council be able to see what the capital plans for city infrastructure is looking out into
the future 5, 10, 15 years. He thanked the Council for their feedback and noted that the staff will
work to provide the citizens with a clear overview of what is being done on North Main, the
timelines, etc.
C. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
for May 28, 2020, which is attached below.
There were no comments or discussion on this item.
2. ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Capetillo adjourned the May 28, 2020,
City Council Regular Work Session at 6:33 P.M.
Leticia Brysch, City Clerk
City of Baytown