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2021 10 28 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN October 28, 2021 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday, October 28, 2021, at 5:35 P.M., in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance: Chris Presley Council Member Heather Betancourth Council Member Jacob Powell Council Member Brandon Capetillo Mayor Rick Davis City Manager Karen Horner City Attorney Angela Jackson City Clerk Mayor Capetillo convened the October 28, 2021, City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum present at 5:35 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado, Council Member Charles Johnson, and Council Member Mike Lester, who were absent. Please note that there was a five-minute delay at the work session due to audio difficulties in regards to power outages. 1. DISCUSSIONS a. Receive and discuss an Emergency Management update. City Manager Rick Davis indicated that the City staff was being cautious and monitoring the situation closely, or trying to discern as to whether the City may experience something similar this winter as we did earlier this year in regards to the winter freeze in February. Mr. Davis infonned Council that today would be Mr. Jamie Galloway's last appearance as it is his last day with the City of Baytown. He thanked Mr. Galloway for all his hard work, dedication and service in making the City stonn-ready and emergency -proof. Fire Chief Kenneth Dobson noted that they would like to provide Council with their annual Emergency Management update that would be presented by Mr. Galloway. Emergency Management and Prep Coordinator Jamie Galloway proceeded to provide Council with an overview of what they have been able to accomplish for the past year. He noted that from 2020 to 2021, the program's priorities were focused primarily on operations to support COVID. In regards to Recovery, they noticed that they had some issues with recovering documentation throughout the year, therefore, they fonned a group committee with Finance, City Council Work Session Minutes October 28, 2021 Page 2 of 3 Emergency Management, and other staff members and developed the Disaster Finance and Cost Recovery Process. They were able to update the debris contracts and debris plans and coordinated the systems for open disasters. In regards to Mitigation, they have been working in identifying and finding opportunities to provide training, such as the EOC 101 training that is provided to their internal EOC staff, which is done on an annual basis in the spring, and they participated in discussion -based exercises. They have also maintained and updated the City's mass notification warning system and upgraded the siren software. They have also applied for various grants that will help assist with .mitigation and planning efforts. As it relates to shelters, Mr. Galloway indicated that they have updated the plans and SOGs for Warming Center. They plan to host additional Shelter Operations Training and to continue to identify locations north of Interstate 10, although some are still under construction. The Disaster Supply Warehouse has come a long way since the last presentation as they have coordinated with Community Services to clean out old storage sites and retained blue tarps, they acquired and stored Personal Protective Equipment ("PPE") to support first responders, especially since we are still in COVID, and have palletize cots into shelter packages for rapid deployment. Mr. Galloway noted that they have been busy with the Planning aspect of Emergency Management and each department has developed a Continuity Operations Plan. The EOC has also increased their outreach efforts to staff with training exercises and provided them with the equipment or tools needed at various locations to be better prepared for winter stonns and other disasters, as well as, providing the citizens with education materials for disaster preparedness. b. Discuss proposed amendments to Chapter 14 "Animals," Article V "Dangerous Dogs" of the Code of Ordinances, Baytown, Texas, to establish regulations that distinguish between nuisance dogs and dangerous dogs and refine the processes associated with each. Health Director Tony Gray presented the item and thanked Council Member Heather Betancourth for being a part of the Animal Control Ad Hoc Committee and applaud the effort of her, as well as, Council Members Laura Alvarado and Charles Johnson, for their work and perseverance of selecting new committee members for the Animal Control Advisory Board. He introduced Ms. Ellen Holloway, the Chairperson of the new board, who was in attendance, as well as all of the other board members who were not present. Mr. Gray proceeded to provide a brief background to Chapter 14 "Animals," of the Baytown Code of Ordinances and how it was completely and entirely revised in August 2020. However, since that time, they have experienced seven (7) dangerous dog cases that have made it through the court system, and several other incidents that did not rise to that level of a dangerous dog; but staff did not have a clear process to address those incidents. Therefore, staff believes they need to create a similar ordinance process to distinguish between dog incidents that do not rise to the level of a dangerous dog, but would be a considered a nuisance dog, which would also be addressed by the Court. Mr. Gray indicated that the main purpose of the proposed revisions is to proactively minimize the lesser incidents from potentially escalating to a dangerous dog incident, in order to better protect the public. Staff also believe these revisions will improve their operation, our legal processes, our court efficiency, and also provide more due process to the owner of the dog. He noted that these revisions were taken to the Animal Control Advisory City Council Work Session Minutes October 28, 2021 Page 3 of 3 Committee a couple of weeks ago, on October 13th, and they were unanimously approved at that time. Mr. Gray proceeded to summarize the differences of the existing processes and the proposed amendments to the processes and the Code of Ordinance through a slide presentation and noted that a red -line copy of the ordinance was at their place at the dais. He further noted that the Assistant City Attorney, Jerris Mapes, was also in attendance at the meeting as she was the one that had handled the dangerous dog cases that they have had to date. C. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda for October 28, 2021, which is attached below. Council Member Betancourth touched briefly on Item 5.a. of the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda, in regards to a resolution to approve the debt policy for the City of Baytown concerning the financing and capital investments in the City's infrastructure, as it was a project that the Finance Committee had been working on for several months. She noted that the exhibit was attached to the agenda item and proceeded to point out three items that they were able to provide input and discussion, which were: 1) Define capital assets, 2) Added definitions, such as General Obligation Bond and Certificate of Obligation, and 3) Attached an appendix, which will serve as an internal tool or guide for decision -making, in which a second column was added that would serve as council's guidance to staff on what they would feel comfortable with going to the voters with a bond versus what would not, but would require a discussion as a group. Council Member Betancourth further noted that another thing about this, is the policy requires the Finance Committee to review it annually and make any changes and bring it to Council to approve those changes. Therefore, depending on what Council and the City have, this grid could look completely different in 3, 5, or 10 years; however, every year, the Finance Committee and then the Council would view this grid, make those decisions, and that would be the guiding document for us for the year. 2. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Brandon Capetillo adjourned the October 28, 2021, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:18 P.M. Angela Packson, City Clerk m: City of Baytown Q oe '; + c°•°Oe•N•s••••/�Y I'T S��