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2022 02 24 WS Minutes MINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN February 24, 2022 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday, February 24, 2022, at 5:30 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 Jacob Powell Council Member Mike Lester Council Member Brandon Capetillo Mayor Rick Davis City Manager Trevor Fanning Interim City Attorney Angela Jackson City Clerk Mayor Capetillo convened the February 24, 2022, City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum present at 5:30 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Mayor Pro Tem Presley who arrived at 5:32 P.M. 1. DISCUSSIONS a. Discuss proposed revisions to the Baytown Community Center Rental Policies and Procedures regarding serving/consuming alcoholic beverages, charging admission fees, and related items. Director of Parks & Recreation Clifford Hatch introduced Recreation Superintendent Kyle Frye who worked with staff and the Parks Board to come up with a proposal for Council. Mr. Hatch relayed Mr. Frye would walk Council through the proposal and discuss the changes. Mr. Frye began his discussion by stating there was already a policy in place for certain areas within the city that allowed the consumption of alcohol on-site. The plan, Mr. Frye stated, was how they would implement that in to the Community Center. The three main groups Mr. Frye identified that would rent the Community Center were: 1. Private—regular parties, showers, receptions, weddings, etc. 2. Non-Profit—events hosted by 501(c)(3) organizations that are fundraising in nature 3. For-Profit—events hosted by organizations for the purpose of profit Mr. Frye discussed what said groups would receive upon renting. Parks staff created a Community Center Event Corridor that stated renters would get one side of the Community Center for themselves and all of their Common Areas. No other rentals would be allowed in the Community Center Event Corridor during their events. Mr. Frye conveyed the idea was to alleviate the City Council Regular Work Session Minutes February 24,2022 Page 2 of 7 concerns of groups that did not want to be around alcohol. However, the Tejas room was blocked off with its own entryway and restrooms and thus would still be available to rent. He noted they would only offer Saturdays for alcohol because the Community Center did have other events and programs during the day. On to the discussion of pricing, Mr. Frye disclosed the following information: Private Rentals • Saturdays Only with a Four-Hour Minimum • $50 Alcohol Permit Fee • $250 An Hour • $500 Deposit (Fully Refundable) • $50 An Hour Per Officer(Based Off the Number of Attendance) Non-Profit Rentals • Saturdays Only with a Four-Hour Minimum • $50 Alcohol Permit Fee • $250 An Hour • $1,000 Deposit (Fully Refundable) • $50 An Hour Per Officer(Based Off the Number of Attendance) For-Profit Rentals • Saturdays Only with a Four-Hour Minimum • $50 Alcohol Permit Fee • $500 An Hour • $1,000 Deposit (Fully Refundable) • $50 An Hour Per Officer(Based Off the Number of Attendance) Mayor Capetillo opined the$500 an hour was pretty steep. Mr. Frye made a note of that and stated he would look further in to the matter. In continuation, Mr. Frye displayed his area study of other cities and their largest rooms that offered alcohol. Baytown would have the largest area within the presented towns, and also be the only city to require a TABC permit with additional insurance. Mr. Frye presented to Council their application that would be uploaded to CivicRec. The alcohol rental process would then be the following: 1. Customer would apply online and hold an available date by putting down the deposit. 2. The Recreation Superintendent would be notified of the reservations with alcohol. 3. The Recreation Superintendent would reach out to the customer to finalize the rental. 4. If approved, the renter would then be required to pay the remaining balance. The process would allow the Parks & Recreation department to fully vet all renters of the Community Center with alcohol and speak directly to those paying customer. Mr.Frye then opened the floor to any question. Council Member Johnson inquired why other cities did not require the TABC. Mr. Frye presumed the cities had never thought of the idea before, and only relied on the city's own insurance to cover events. Mr. Hatch noted that Baytown was late to City Council Regular Work Session Minutes February 24,2022 Page 3 of 7 the game in allowing alcohol. Thus,the Parks staff was able to work with Legal and be much more prepared. Council Member Johnson believed that was a good idea. In regards to non-profits, Council Member Johnson stated that would be how we define a non- profit. Council Member Johnson questioned, a non-profit could mean that renters would not make any profit, and noted there would be people that could come in looking to do things for no profit. • Mayor Capetillo understood non-profits should be service organizations or events service- oriented. Mr. Frye replied they had originally set the 501(c)(3) standard, but that they could gear more towards anything service-oriented. There was further discussion of the Tejas room in the Community Center that would be separate from the other alcohol rentals. Mr. Hatch relayed if they were to rent one room that allowed alcohol and block off every other room, they would then lose revenue on the other rooms not renting. Mayor Capetillo understood that Saturdays only, yet would like to offer the Tejas room for weeknights. He gave the example of service organizations probably not needing the entire Community Center and did not want to lose the Tejas room as an opportunity for smaller groups. Mr. Hatch agreed that was a good point. Council Member Alvarado pointed out the application did not note of there being a minimum of two officers. The PowerPoint showed there would be officers based on attendance,but regardless of attendance there would be two officers. In regards to changes, Mr. Hatch suggested Council could bring them in to a consent item and talk through it further in a Work Session. Mayor Capetillo countered a regular agenda item would be fine. Mr. Hatch ran by Council that the two changes that would need to be made were amending the form to add the Community Center as well as adding the center to Sec. 70-8 of their policy to allow alcohol. He added they could then include the Tejas Room. Council Member Powell asked if the Parks and Recreation Board reviewed,Mr.Hatch replied,the points presented had been deliberated by the Parks Board for two months and approved said points in a unanimous vote. Mr. Hatch offered they could take the changes to the Parks Board at the beginning of the following month, then to Council after, so the Board could see the final product. Council Member Lester continued the discussion over the Tejas Room. Mr. Hatch relayed that Churches and kids' events utilized the smaller rooms often, and so they had tried to avoid conflict. Mayor Capetillo stated the discussion had been a start and they would see how it panned out. b. Discuss the City of Baytown Naming Policy, including but not limited to, City Parks, Streets, and Facilities. City Manager Rick Davis presented the item to Council. Mr. Davis stated after discussions with Council Member Betancourth and researching in to an existing policy, they strongly felt the need to clarify and clean-up some of the language in Baytown's code pertaining to the naming of Capital Improvements. Parks & Recreation had a robust code for policies and procedures, yet one did not exist for other pieces of infrastructure. Mr. Davis relayed he would then present to Council a policy. City Council Regular Work Session Minutes February 24,2022 Page 4 of 7 The policy would be a combination of factors that would blend what Parks &Recreation currently had and what other cities had. The purpose established an approach to the naming of Capital Improvements and other facilities by recognizing/memorializing individuals and finding an avenue to allow citizen participation. Mr. Davis noted in the policy anybody could submit an application to either Parks or the Clerk's office that would ultimately get funneled to him, the City Manager, and then to Council. Mr. Davis assured the policy was not a restriction for Council,but a guideline much like the PID and MUD policies. The guidelines would provide naming considerations of the following facilities: parks, roadways, trails (improved surfaces meant for the conduction of bicycle and pedestrian mobility), and brick and mortar facilities. The names would be of a noncontroversial nor politically intensive nature. Names could be of people living or deceased that constructed or contributed 51% or more of the funding of the facility. Organization could also hold naming rights given by the city via sponsorship agreements. The name could additionally come from a person who has—over a sustained period of time—positively contributed to the Baytown community. Lastly, naming considerations could include the geographical location of the facility. Mr. Davis concluded the procedures would lead to a rational pathway for naming considerations. He expressed they would not want the naming to be undone later. In the event of a deceased person, Mr. Davis suggested waiting six months to act due to it being easy to make decisions based off emotion. Mayor Capetillo commented the proposed policy would be helpful. Mr. Davis requested Council read over and consider the policy, and then get back to him. Council Member Betancourth appreciated the policy,yet gave a few reservations.Council Member Betancourth opined it should be difficult to get a name on something and not be freely handed out. In her opinion, the person should be deceased. A person should not be able to ask for something to be named after themselves. Council Member Betancourth stated an individual's contribution should be so great that other people petitioned on their behalf. She was opposed to people paying to get their names on things as there were many citizens who contributed to the community that did not have that kind of money. Council Member Betancourth expressed discomfort in wealth coming in to play. With that, she did state she liked the draft. Council Member Betancourth would, however,be in favor of something more restrictive. Mayor Pro Tem Presley agreed as there could be a political dynamic in naming. Mr. Davis clarified that the consensus of Council was then to not consider living persons. Council agreed. In regards to the six-month wait, Council Member Alvarado favored a longer wait period. A year was suggested by Council Members in further discussion. Council Member Alvarado additionally agreed with Council Member Betancourth's concerns over wealth.With sponsorships, Council Member Lester noted that could be a separate policy as there would be a contract for a period of time. Council Member Lester also recommended providing the opportunity for public input in a given period of time before Council made the decision. Moreover, Mr. Davis reminded Council the policy allowed for names not connected to a person. The policy additionally did not remove existing names. Mr. Davis ended on the note that he would bring back another policy to Council with modifications. City Council Regular Work Session Minutes February 24,2022 Page 5 of 7 c. Discuss possible amendments to the City of Baytown Council Rules of Procedure regarding regular meeting time and scheduling. Council Member Betancourth had requested the item for Council to consider starting their Council Meetings earlier in the day. Her preference was 1:00 or 3:00 P.M. She found no legal reason why they had Council Meetings at 6:30 P.M. Council Member Betancourth commented she was not her best after a long day. The change could also be applicable to staff and directors who worked through meetings. Council Member Betancourth did address the City Manager's concern of limiting citizen participation under the assumption that they would be at work. In discussion with Interim City Attorney Trevor Fanning, Council Member Betancourth noted other entities still utilized Zoom or Zoom-like technology that allowed citizens to view in and comment. Harris County being the biggest example. The Texas Governor's orders were really only to limit elected officials from no longer being able to virtually dial-in. During the pandemic, Baytown utilized Zoom and Council Member Betancourth believed they had a lot of citizen participation.Council Member Betancourth inquired for her fellow Council Members' thoughts. Mayor Pro Tern Presley questioned whether they would be reducing the number of meetings as well. Council Member Betancourth answered she was fine with the two Council Meetings a month, yet wondered if they needed that many Work Sessions. However, her priority was moving up the times and re-implementing Zoom. Council Member Powell liked the idea, but would not want the time be moved up too early for citizens who would want to attend in person. He suggested 5:00 P.M. for Council Meetings and 4:00 P.M. for Work Sessions. Citizens did not comment in Work Sessions anyways and they could always watch the video. Council Member Powell preferred 5:00 P.M.be the earliest consideration. Council Member Johnson noted the average person got off of work at 5:00 P.M., and that most would be driving from outside of Baytown. In regards to staff,Council Member Johnson expressed his sympathy yet noted it came with the territory. Late nights were something he too understood and had signed up for. Council Member Johnson addressed the existing perception of citizens that Council did as they pleased, and moving up the time would affect that perception. If they were going to move the time, Council Member Johnson offered 6:00 P.M. and was not in favor of anything before. Council Member Betancourth counter that in her research regarding what other cities had in place, they did not seem to have any problem with citizen participation. Mayor Capetillo noted all Council Members had their own work schedules and that Council Member Johnson in particular was a shift worker who did well in attendance. Mayor Capetillo requested Council be mindful in their decision to consider others. Mayor Pro Tern Presley was okay with moving up the time of Council Meetings. He favored eliminating or reducing Work Sessions wherever possible. With the Zoom option,Mayor Pro Tern Presley preferred citizens speaking in person rather than logging in to a computer. He additionally suggested streamlining meetings. City Council Regular Work Session Minutes February 24,2022 Page 6 of 7 In regards to the Mayor's comment,Council Member Alvarado agreed in the sense that they would convenience themselves over the public. As Council Member Johnson, Council Member Alvarado researched what she was committing herself to and knew there would be late hours. She also shared the same sentiment pertaining to staff and proposed considering flex time. Council Member Alvarado agreed with Mayor Pro Tem Presley in that meetings should be more streamlined. She further specified the certain items in meetings that resulted in longer hours,and suggested divvying up those items. Council Member Alvarado suggested 5:00 P.M. or even 4:30 P.M. for Work Sessions and 6:00 P.M. for Council Meetings. She would not be in favor of anything earlier in the day. With the Zoom option, Council Member Alvarado understood the idea but listed its limitations as some of her constituents had no internet nor computers and also worked service industry jobs. Council Member Lester echoed the notion that moving the Council Meeting too early would restrict public access, but loved the Zoom idea as that was an enhancement to citizen communication. He agreed with Council Member Alvarado that long agendas were,in his opinion, self-inflicted. Council Member Lester suggested having Executive Sessions earlier and offered 3:00 P.M. Council Members reacted favorably to the idea as Council Member Lester noted that citizens could not see nor have input in Executive Sessions anyway. With Council Meetings, Council Member Lester suggested 6:00 P.M. Mayor Capetillo stated by charter, Council had to have one meeting. He noted they did not need two meetings when,they did not have enough material. Mayor Capetillo favored moving Council Meetings up to 5:00 P.M. Executive Sessions and employee evaluations could be done at 3:00 P.M. as they were closed sessions. Mayor Capetillo noted they could have further cost savings with outside council and legal fees. Council Members deliberated what would be the appropriate time for their meetings. Council Member Johnson reiterated his points in regards to thinking about the constituents and stated 5:00 P.M. would be difficult for most people. In further deliberation, different timings were suggested by different Council Members. The general consensus revolved on having Council Meetings at 5:30 P.M. Council Member Lester noted that the timing could always be revisited in the case of negative pushback. The general consensus with reinstating Zoom for citizens was relatively favorable amongst Council Members. City Manager Rick Davis then inquired Council's preferences in regards to other accommodations. Council Member Powell favored staff continue to provide something to eat. Council Member Alvarado noted they could give their accommodation suggestions to the City Clerk's office. In summary, Mayor Capetillo stated there was a consensus of a 5:30 P.M. start time for Council Meetings. They would then have a judgment call on Work Sessions to see whether or not to have one and what time it should start. For employee evaluations, Mayor Capetillo gave 3:30 P.M. as the start time. d. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda for February 24, 2022, which is attached below. Council had no discussion on this item. City Council Regular Work Session Minutes February 24,2022 Page 7 of 7 2. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Capetillo adjourned the February 24, 2022, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:20 P.M. • ®pYT04yy T Angela ckson, City Clerk s ��N City of Baytown a'c A