Loading...
2020 12 10 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN December 10, 2020 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on December 10, 2020, at 5:41 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 Mayor Pro Tern David Himsel 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 December 10, 2020, City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum present at 5:41 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Council Member Presely who arrived at 5:43 P.M. 1. DISCUSSIONS a. Discuss proposed traffic mitigation options for Baytown Fire Stations Nos. One (1) and Six (6). Traffic Engineer Matthew Johnson presented the item and stated that he was presenting the Council with an update on the Fire Station 1, Fire Station 6 egress issue. He noted that this item was discussed several times in past work sessions, but would be giving the Council an update on what other cities do for stations 1 and 6 with some recommendations. Mr. Johnson noted that what other cities are doing is that they are using a sign with a flashing beacon, which is not the type requested by council in the form of an actual traffic signal type, and noted that of those cities surveyed, to include Missouri City, Sugarland, Pearland, and League City, only one of them used this type of signal light. Mr. Johnson noted that the fire trucks do have a hard time coming out of the fire station at certain times of the day to make their calls; however, due to the widening of Garth Road, the fact that the traffic queue for Lynchburg Road tends to backup an actual signal would not be effective at fire station 1. Mr. Johnson noted that the firefighters in Fire Station 1 said that they can deal City Council Regular Work Session Minutes December 10, 2020 Page 2 of 7 with what they have, but they would like a little bit more visibility; therefore, the recommendation would be to install this type of indicator of the beacon that would be flashing off and on at this location and at this location, the flashing beacons would be activated by the firemen as they are leaving the station, and then it would shut off after a preset amount of time. That is the recommendation for Fire Station 1. Mayor Capetillo asked if there was anything that already there? Mr. Johnson responded that he would have to have to go back and check because he is not certain, but does remember seeing one sign at this location. Council Member Alvarado asked if there were any issues with walking the entrance and the exit of the firehouse? She stated that she remembered discussing the possibility of doing some white lettering on the road so people do not block it. Mr. Johnson responded that if it were the near side; i.e. on the southbound side; yes, that would probably be very effective; however, the queue going down to the next intersection doesn't usually back up that far in front of the station with the traffic being on the east side. Mr. Johnson noted that he believed that what the fire drivers typically do is that they will get into the center turn lane and go opposite or drive in if they need to go north and then they will go around the traffic in the left turn lane. Mayor Capetillo noted that this was exactly what took place last week when lie was sitting at that signal, which was backed up a lot. The fire truck had to exit north and everybody just moved over and they went north. Council Member Hoskins stated that he had brought this item up a while back about the need for stopping the traffic with signalization and things such as that and asked Mr. Johnson is there are only a few cities that have this type of signal; i.e. Houston, Deer Park, Kingwood, Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, and others who have the stoplight configuration. He noted that there is one out on FM 1960 for the City of Houston that stops traffic out there, which is the safest way to make an entrance in there. He stated that he is really disappointed in the fact that city management is coming to Council saying that there really hasn't been a problem because when he talks to independent or individual firefighters, it is the complete opposite of that. Council Member Hoskins noted that there has already been one truck hit, with several near misses and close calls at that intersection because they are going out and they are having to depend on eyesight and taking this big red truck and move it into some traffic that is flowing pretty fast. He noted that the safest way to do this is what was proposes the very first time this was brought up about stopping the traffic with a red light and then once it gets finished, it goes off, traffic moves on. It is not a part of the signalization system up and down Garth Road and that is the best way to take care of this on the city's highest traffic road. Mr. Johnson responded that at the last work session he had presented the possible plans for doing that and was asked by the Council to investigate a smaller step first, and so, this is the smaller step. He further noted that with the widening of Garth Road forthcoming in the next couple of years, the signalization, as Council Member Hoskins noted, it would be difficult at best to get the requested signalization in now and it would be incredibly costly at worst. Mr. Johnson noted that this option would probably be a more effective tool once Garth Road is already widened, so that the queue has more lane footage for the northbound vehicles in order for them not to queue back City Council Regular Work Session Minutes December 10, 2020 Page 3 of in front of the fire station; resulting in less incidents of people already being in the middle of that area when it gets activated. Council Member Hoskins stated that lie could understand that, but noted that we are fixing to add lanes here, so, there are going to be six lanes that this fire truck could possibly have to go across. He stated that this is my last meeting, so, he wanted to leave it with the rest of council that there is a need here for this at this intersection here, not these blinking lights, and he could accept the fact that maybe it would be temporary, in order to put the six lanes in, but when we get ready to put the six lanes in, that needs to be incorporated in that project. Mr. Johnson stated that this will absolutely be brought up to the design engineers as part of the consideration for the design. City Manager Rick Davis stated that he wanted to point out that city management was not antagonistic to this idea, if that were the case, they would have waited for one more meeting and then put this item on the agenda or not at all. He further noted that the fact that this item is on the agenda is important and the reality is that he wanted Council Member Hoskins to have an opportunity to be able to make one more argument for this signalization; an argument for a device that when I talked to the same firefighters at that station, said they do not want and will not use it. Mr. Davis further noted that with station 6 there is an entirely different proposition and he wanted to give Council Member Hoskins kudos, because had he not brought this subject up, staff would have ignored for a while a situation at Station 6 that I actually witnessed about three weeks ago where one of our engines did encounter a near -miss with an incoming vehicle. Mr. Davis further stated that this is an important subject, but given all that's happening on Garth, he thought this needed to be evaluated more during the design process. He noted that he had no doubt that this is a very precarious situation at Station 1 and he really did not have a dog in the fight, but he had heard from the firefighters at the station who expressed hesitations about Station 1 but not Station 6. Mr. Johnson stated that as it relates to station 6, it is close to State Highway 146 which is high speed, major truck thoroughfare. He stated that the average truck that he measured was driving around 60 to 65 miles per hour, especially going Southbound. Mr. Johnson stated that some of the issues involved with this item include a limited sight distance with the railroad trellis, so an actual signal there would not be beneficial and it would cause a false sense of security because the drivers coming through the railroad trellis would not see it in time, especially doing 60 miles per hour. Another issue is that during the evening dusk hours, drivers southbound are sun - blinded, which is part of the reason why we have the flashing red lights and the signal heads right now is because people could not see them, but they can see the flashing lights. In the Northbound lanes, the same situation occurs in the morning, which is also difficult to alleviate. However, the staff thought to install remote perimeters, which when the button is pressed, it changes the signal cycles, so that in this case at E1 Chaco, the northbound traffic would be stopped, the eastbound traffic would be stopped, and the southbound traffic would have a green light to be able to get out onto SH 146. Mr. Johnson further noted that at Kilgore Parkway, the southbound traffic would be stopped and the westbound traffic would be stopped as well, with the northbound traffic having a free green. He noted that the way this type of phasing would City Council Regular Work Session Minutes December 10, 2020 Page 4 of 7 work or how it works is that the traffic coming towards Pinehurst would stop and the traffic that is already passed Pinehurst or past the signals would be free to clear out and then as soon as the engine, actually, is able to get to SH 146, they are going to have a free path either southbound or northbound, and then, after a preset amount of time, the signal would go back to nonnal phasing, and the cost on this is not terribly expensive. Mayor Capetillo asked if this was just like more of an additional device that goes in conjunction with what is already there? Mr. Johnson responded that yes, there would be a piece of equipment that would get installed in each of the cabinets and the fire station, that would be pressed to initiate it. Council Member Hoskins noted that he through that this recommendation would work and it is definitely needed. Mayor Capetillo thanked Councilman Hoskins for bringing the issue up. b. Receive and discuss a proposed residential development east of N. Main Street and north of Wallisville Road. Economic Development Manager Bret Gardella presented the item and state that Castlerock is a very well-known builder in our community as they've been out here for almost 16 years doing work somewhere in the neighborhood of eight to ten different developments and they are looking to purchase a piece of property along North Main just north of Wallisville Road. Mr. Gardella introduced Mr. Bryan Smith with Castlerock to present their plan of work. Vice President of Land Acquisition and Development for Castlerock Communities, LLC., Bryan Smith thanked the Council for allowing him to come in and present the proposal that Castlerock is putting on. Mr. Smith introduced his team of three Ashley Yoder, Land Acquisition Manager at Castlerock, Mr. Alex Van Duzer with our engineer CobbFendley and Andy Zepeda, Construction Manager with Castlerock, our development manager. Mr. Smith presented the Council with a PowerPoint presentation of the proposed development and began by noting that Castlerock has a contract on a 70-acre tract of land not too far from Goose Creek Memorial in which they are proposing to do a residential development of 50, 60- foot-lots, all very similar to the current project they have out there. He showed pictures of different model homes and noted that they are the same as that which they have out in Goose Creek, which will be some of the homes that would be built out at the new development. Mr. Smith noted that Castlerock, in general, has built over 10,000 homes and closed them, they are a pretty good size builder, not national, but a private builder in Texas. They build in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas with Houston being their largest home-building operation. In Baytown, they have built over 800 homes, they are currently active in Lynwood and still active in Goose Creek. Mr. Smith noted that the land that they are acquiring is on North Main, north of Interstate 10, close to the high school, this land is currently under contract and they are asking that this are be City Council Regular Work Session Minutes December 10, 2020 Paue 5 of 7 annexed into the city and to create a PID. Mr. Smith noted that they have about 17 million dollars that they need to invest to do this, and without the PID, they just can't do it, so they need the city's help in doing a PID to make this happen. Mr. Smith noted that if that can't happen, then they go away and try to find something else to do, but they think this is a good vehicle and in talking about some numbers, he wanted to noted that this development will being in value to the city and is a win -win situation for everybody and even the homeowners. Mr. Smith stated that their proposed land plan has been to the city and the planners two times, the one before the council is the third version of it. He noted that they have made some changes based on comments received from the city and they have made some changes on their own that they put in just to try to make the plan look better, feel better, and accomplish some things that they hope in the future will be possible. He stated that it is not a hidden fact that they are trying to get some more lands assembled with this, so if they are able to put this piece in play, they think they might be able to do some things to the north and south and actually make even a bigger and better project out of it all. However, right now, they have this piece under contract, and, of course, with sellers, they got to move or they won't allow you to buy it, so they have been working with the city, talking to Bret and the PID consultant for the city on all the things they need to do and they think they have their hands around that. Mr. Smith noted that they have not done a PID with the city before so it is their first time through this process and so it is not like they are doing it over and over and over again, so they are working hard to figure out exactly how to do this right. Mr. Smith noted that they plan on developing in two phases, again, 50 and 60-foot-lots. I am sorry, 50-foot-lots and 55-foot-lots in Phase 1, 50-foot-lots and 55-foot-lots in Phase 2. He noted that their plan is to have a smaller park, similar to what was done in Goose Creek, what they would call a passive park associated with the entry point right up -front, so when you come in, instead of having that headlight lot where someone comes and their headlights are hitting the house, you'll have actually kind have of a transition of what the entryway looks like right into a park. He noted that they thought it would make a much better entrance and it is also going to be what they consider the trailhead for a trail that they are going to build from the front to the back of the development, around the pond that will include a trail system for walking, walking dogs, and getting exercise. Mr. Smith showed the Council various pictures of what the deployment could look like to include the entrance, the parks, trails, and other amenities. Mr. Smith noted that as it relates to the homes or the product, they are just the same as Goose Creek, and are going to have the Cobalt, Silver, and possibly a Gold Series. He noted that they did some Gold in Goose Creek, but this is really going to depend on the market and if they can take it. Mr. Smith noted that right now the Cobalt Series, and these are estimates of the real numbers coming out of Goose Creek and these are base numbers. He noted that it is amazing how much people put in their houses, it could be 10 to 40 thousand dollars more than the numbers he is presenting as base number, so on the Cobalt or right now, they are starting off at the 225s going up to 295. In the Silver Series, this series starts at the 245s goes up to the 330s, again, base prices, but do not be surprised if you see another 30 - $40,000 on top of those. He stated that he did not have the Gold Series, but it ranges from 315 to 435 just base prices. He noted that they just recently checked on their values at Goose Creek and as of September 1 st, they have put 68 million dollars -worth of value out on the ground there and if you divide that by City Council Regular Work Session Minutes December 10. 2020 Page 6 of 7 the number of homes, it was 259, so they are pushing an average price of 260 out there and they are doing everything they can to try to keep prices down, but he didn't see them going down. Mr. Smith showed the Council pictures of the Cobalt, Silver and Gold Series homes. Mr. Smith noted that they are putting a lot of money into this land and this development, but they need the city to work with them and do this PID structure, which is a reimbursement structure, which is not unusual, but without that reimbursement structure, these home prices go through the roof and will price your home buyers out of the market, and there just wouldn't be a project. Mayor Capetillo stated that he appreciated the presentation and that they are seeking annexation into the city. He stated that assuming they work with city staff and they relay a lot of what the Council has told other home builders as it relates to their expectations on some general specs when it comes to land development and what they want to see, the Council will be receptive. Council Member Himsel noted that the Council like a lot of street parking, so what arc the setbacks as it related to driveway depths. Mr. VanDuzer stated that the city's minimum setback is a 15-foot front setback, and Castlerock intends to do a 25-foot setback, which would mirror exactly what was in Goose Creek Landing, it would exceed the minimum setback requirement required by the city ordinance, and would allow for a F-350 long bed truck, and maybe a F350 with the short bed to definitely fit between the sidewalk and the garage. Mayor Capetillo asked about the proposed street width. Mr. VanDuzer stated that currently the city's ordinance and the design criteria is a 28-foot back to curb, back to curb, and that is what this development would be on this except for the entrance road where there would be an extra - wide entrance road. He noted that on the main entrance, they would have a boulevard -type entrance and that would be, a dual -lane, 24-foot each side, with the northern entrance being your typical 28-foot entrance road. Mayor Capetillo asked if they had designated any right of way in order to have some type of sidewalk or trail that would front North Main. Mr. VanDuzer stated that he didn't believe so, but the plan that Castlerock has with the land planner, is providing a landscape setback. Mayor Capetillo asked if it was possible to design into the plan right of way or a trail, that will tie into the park close to the development; i.e. to provide connectivity between the neighborhood and the park. Mr. Woolery stated that the staff had not yet done a full review of the project, so staff will make sure there is enough right of way to meet all the future needs beyond just the trail. Mayor Capetillo asked what were the next steps. Mr. Woolery responded that staff needed to hear Council's comments before they started talking to the developer, and working through all the details. Mr. Gardella stated that the staff anticipated meeting next week to sit down and start walking through the development agreement process in order to match it up with the pictures that they've shown, but also including the city standards that we want to see included in that development. Mr. Gardella stated that the annexation and PID process will start in January and they will work on parallel paths with the annexation process going through Planning and Zoning twice before it comes to Council. He further noted that the PID process will start with them applying for it, the Council accepting it, and then staff has some publication periods for it, but City Council Regular Work Session Minutes December 10, 2020 Page 7 of 7 overall it will all take about a 90-day period, so by the end of March of next year it should be done. Council Member Presley stated that overall, he is good with the project; however, when the Council did the PID and the MUD guidelines years ago, he remembered that there was a 100- acre minimum for a development, so he was wondering if we just decided to be a little more loosey-goosey on those or were there some mitigating factors that we're okay with it being 30- acres less than the 100-acre guideline. Mr. Woolery responded that the staff is not ignoring the guidelines and stated that he believed that it is preferable to have a development be a hundred acres and this one obviously is not. He noted that the developer talked about the connections, the green space to the north and to the south and in an ideal world they would like to have the additional property as well. We would like to have a bigger property, especially to start out with but, it is better to have these types of developments planned out from day one and as noted before, they are wanting to move forward with just this piece right now, and potentially add more land, so this hasn't been ignored, it is just that this one is just a little bit of a different case. Council Member Presley asked if the Council needed to look at the guidelines again, or is it still relevant? Mr. Davis noted that the policy in question is for them to have kind of a yardstick to measure developments, but they certainly can approve participation in a PID or MUD notwithstanding some of the standards, but they are a way for the Council to determine, is this really a product that lifts our community? Is this truly something that we want to invest our energy and time and support? The Mayor and Council thanked the developer for the presentation and asked the team to work with the staff as they move forward with this project. C. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda for December 10, 2020, which is attached below. Council Member Presley asked staff to clarify the intent of the mall item on the regular meeting agenda. City Attorney Karen Horner stated that this is an amendment to the current agreement. She stated that the current agreement says that we have to call a party in default within a year after a breach, which is unusual. She noted that typically, there's no statute of limitation on calling somebody in a breach, so this amendment is merely to dispense that one element. 2. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Capetillo adjourned the December 10, 2020, gity Council Regular Work Session at 6:22 P.M. Leticia Brysch, City Cl City of Baytown