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2021 06 24 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN June 24, 2021 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday, June 24, 2021, at 5:31 P.M., in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance: Laura Alvarado Council Member Jacob Powell Council Member Charles Johnson Council Member Mike Lester Council Member Chris Presley Council Member Heather Betancourth Mayor Pro Tern Rick Davis City Manager Karen Horner City Attorney Raquel Martinez Acting Deputy City Clerk Mayor Pro Tern Betancourth convened the June 24, 2021, City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum present at 5:31 P.M., all members were present, with the exception of Mayor Brandon Capetillo who was absent, Council Member Chris Presley who arrived at 5:32 P.M., and Council Member Laura Alvarado who arrived at 5:34 P.M. 1. DISCUSSIONS a. Discuss a roadway maintenance project on Ward Road. Director of Public Works and Engineering Frank Simoneaux presented the item and stated that he would be providing a brief presentation on Ward Road, which includes a discussion of the existing road conditions, possible options for improvements, and would seek Council's consensus on staff s recommended plan. As it pertains to the existing conditions, Mr. Simoneaux indicated that the pavement on Ward Road was somewhat deteriorated since most of the sections have PCI's in the 50s or 60s, which is not terrible, but not the best either. The medians were not aesthetically very pleasing, which contributes in bringing down property values in the area. Since the traffic volume was not the highest for a thoroughfare as compared to other roads, it had not risen to the top of the list for rehabilitation. Mr. Simoneaux proceeded to discuss a couple of options for rehabilitating Ward Road, which are the following: 1) Full reconstruction, which consists of tearing out all of the pavement, replacing the base material, and reinstalling the pavement, redoing the medians, setting the grades for City Council Work Session Minutes June 24, 2021 Page 2 of 4 drainage, and then adding sidewalks, and lighting. The estimated cost would be $ l 2 million for this first option. 2) Improve the riding surface and try to bring up the aesthetics of the medians and the lighting in the area. First, they would try to repair the base. Although there are some areas where it is concrete pavement and can be used as a good base, however, with regards to other areas that have cracks or shifted joints, they would make some spot repairs on the cracked areas and then sealing of all the joints. Mr. Simoneaux noted that they now have a product that they have used on Garth Road, which adequately seals out the water and prevents cracks within the asphalt surface. In regards to the medians, they would like to do a similar treatment as they did on Garth Road with the colored and stamped concrete, which can be done in-house. He further noted they would leave space for more full-size trees rather than bush plantings since that would reduce the maintenance requirements by Parks and Recreation. Lastly, they would improve the lighting conditions and replace the lights within the medians with black powder -coated lights and LED heads. The estimated cost for the second option is about $665,000. The life expectancy of the project would be about 10 years, but with the new product to seal the joints, staff feels it could last a lot longer than that. Mr. Simoneaux noted that staff recommended that they implement the second option, but would like for Council to provide feedback and consensus. Mayor Pro Tem Betancourth opened the floor for questions or comments from the Council Members. Council Member Presley had two questions: 1) There are only 3 inches of asphalt, are we good with the heavy truck traffic coming in and out of McCoy's and CenterPoint across the street, and 2) The heavy trucks will not damage the 3 inches of asphalt? Mr. Simoneaux answered that the current base currently carries the load of that as it is concrete pavement. Also, they would not go any thinner than that because when there's turning movement of the trucks, it can cause that asphalt to push or shove so the 3 inches gives enough surface where it will not cause that. Council Member Presley noted that considering the traffic volume and the visibility of the street, he would be in favor of the second option, and asked that they look into possibly adding some strategic turning lanes on Ward Road. Council Member Lester inquired on the width of the road encroaching on the gutters, and Mr. Simoneaux indicated that this was one of the trade-offs for a project like this and could feather it out once into the gutter line but it will take up some of the capacity. Council Member Lester gave kudos to the staff for the nice improvements seen on Alexander Drive in regards to the powder -coating light poles and traffic signals. He believes the second option was a great option. Assistant City Manager Woolery noted that after speaking with CenterPoint in regards to the painting of the street lights, they opted to installing new street lights as the existing ones are really old. Council Member Powell noted the difference in cost and obviously the second option is better, but asked what the difference in the timeline would be with the full reconstruction versus repairing the existing conditions. Mr. Simoneaux stated that they would start with the medians first and would be done in-house to which Assistant Director of Public Works and Engineering City Council Work Session Minutes June 24, 2021 Page 3 of 4 Kevin Harvill noted that it would be a 5-month process and that they would repair the curb around the medians as well. Mr. Simoneaux noted that they would also have to run an irrigation system to the center for the trees in the medians, however, the pavement section would take less than a month. Mayor Pro Tern Betancourth noted that obviously, the road needs to be repaired and liked the stamped -brick look and the concept of the trees for landscaping and suggested an alternative of perhaps mixing the trees with public art opportunities. Mr. Simoneaux noted that they would be able to start on the improvements on Ward Road in approximately three (3) weeks. b. Receive and discuss a presentation regarding stormwater projects and the potential to partner with Harris County for the funding and execution of projects. Director of Public Works and Engineering Frank Simoneaux presented the item and stated that he wanted to provide a brief overview of sorne of the drainage projects they have on the agenda as well as other projects they would like to include since they have some additional funding opportunities for these projects, which involves an increase to the stormwater fee that they would propose as part of their budget. Mr. Simoneaux noted that they have been in communication with Harris County for quite a few months and they have funds that are available for which they have been looking for partners with possible projects so they want to jump on this opportunity. He then proceeded to provide an explanation of each of the projects as follows: 1) West Baytown Drainage Trunkline — Phase I (Cost Estimate: HC $2.9M + City $4.2M = Total $7.1 M) 2) West Texas Avenue Street and Drainage (Cost Estimate: CDBG $3.OM + HC $1.7M + City $1.3M = Total $6.OM *Estimates not final) 3) Danubina Phase I Drainage Area (Cost Estimate: HC $14.8M + City $13.6M = Total $28.4M) 4) East James Street Drainage (Cost Estimate: HC $3.3M + City $5.7M = Total $9.OM) 5) Rollingbrook Sub Regional Detention (ROW Only) (Cost Estimate: HC $3.OM + City $--- = Total $3.OM) 6) Cedar Bayou Lynchburg Sub Regional Detention (ROW Only) — Tract Not Selected (Cost Estimate: HC $1.5M + City $1.5M = Total $3.OM) Summary - (Cost Estimate: HC $27.2M + City $26.3M + CDBG $3.OM = Total $56.5M) In regards to the potential increase in stormwater fees, Assistant City Manager Nick Woolery noted that currently, the stonmwater fee for a single-family home is $3 per month and if raised a dollar per month, would be an increase to $4. However, the fee structure is based on the amount of impervious surface that a property owner has, therefore, commercial property would also go up in an incremental amount, the same that a single-family home would. Based on that, after City Council Work Session Minutes June 24, 2021 Page 4 of 4 running some estimates that would bring in about $900,000, which gets them roughly $14 million in debt that they could issue for that so it would get them half the way there. He noted that they will be bringing forward some other options that could get them closer to the full amount of $26.3 million. In the budget they are also proposing an additional stormwater crew and they are able to do that within the existing fee but to do any of these projects, they would need to raise the stormwater fee. Mr. Woolery commended staff for their joint effort in bringing this forward and noted that they will continue to seek federal funds as well, whether it is for these projects or for the next phases of the projects. Harris County will only fund 50150 of the drainage portion so it depends on the City's contribution. Mr. Simoneaux indicated that the Harris County funding is on a first -come -first -serve basis, but in talking to them, there are other entities applying as well. Mr. Woolery also noted that Harris County received a lot of drainage money through a bond election and they received federal money as well, so figuring out a way to spend that much and what the right projects are is taking a little bit of time. They have some funds left and they are willing to partner with cities to spend that money on the areas that make sense. For the City of Baytown, they like the projects because we have done a stormwater master plan and we know there is a need. They have also done community engagement. As seen through flood events, the city's projects kind of make a lot of sense for them. However, if the city waits too long, somebody else will grab that money. C. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda for June 24, 2021. There was no discussion for this item. 2. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Pro Tern Betancourth adjourned the June 24, 2021, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:12 P,M. Angela Jackson, City of Baytown