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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMn 09-02-08363 MINUTES #2742 CITY COUNCIL MEETING __ CITY OF UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS COUNCIL CHAMBER - CITY HALL MODULAR BUILDING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2008, 5:00 P.M. Mayor James H. Holmes, III, opened the regular City Council Meeting at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber in the City Hall Modular Building. Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Walker and Council members Syd Carter, Bob Clark, and Jerry Grable were in attendance. Also in attendance were City Manager Bob Livingston, City Attorney Rob Dillard, Acting City Secretary Brandy Voge and Assistant City Secretary/Payroll Specialist Liz Spector. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Holmes asked if there were any items to be removed from the Consent Agenda before approval, and there were none. Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Walker moved approval of the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Syd Carter seconded, and the vote was unanimous to approve the following: CONSIDER AND ACT ON A CONTRACT WITH SOUTHWEST GENERAL SERVICES TO PROVIDE OURSOURCE BILLING AND COLLECTIONS FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES: Initial billing for EMS services is currently being handled by the Fire Department Administrative Assistant. Collections on outstanding balances for private pay accounts greater than 120 days outstanding and Medicare/Medicaid balances greater than 60 days outstanding are currently being outsourced. Southwest General Services will provide both initial billing and collection services for 7% of net collected. The outsourcing of this function is projected to increase the percentage of fees recovered and to allow staff time to work on other projects. CONSIDER AND ACT ON APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FOR AUGUST 26, 2008. MAIN AGENDA CONSIDER AND ACT ON A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE PUBLIC WORKS ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGARDING ENCROACHMENTS INTO THE ALLEY RIGHTS- OF-WAY: Assistant Director of Public Works Jacob Speer addressed the council regarding the alley rights-of-way and gave a Power Point presentation outlining the recommendations from the Public Works Advisory Committee. Mr. Speer stated that Staff endorsed the Public Works Advisory Committee's recommendations and said they should be incorporated into an ordinance amending the applicable sections of the code of ordinances and presented to the City Council for consideration at a future meeting. The Public Works Advisory Committee met on March 12, 2008, April 17, 2008, May 15, 2008 and June 12, 2008 and made recommendations as follows: 1) The adjacent property owner is responsible far the maintenance of the alley parkway (area between the alley pavement and the property line). Currently, the City performs maintenance involving ruts and other drainage issues in the alley parkways; 2) Homeowners should not be required to pave the alley parkway with concrete in conjunction with any construction activity. Currently, the alley parkway 364 is required to be paved with concrete anytime a permit is issued for work valued in excess of $10,000; 3) Grass, gravel, pavers, and other permeable surface materials are encouraged within the alley rights-of-way. Concrete is permitted and new installations must be done in accordance with City specifications. Currently, only grass and concrete are allowed in the alleys; 4) Man-made structures or objects are prohibited in the alley rights-of-way, except licensed public utilities. Prohibited items include trash cans, wood racks, fences, retaining walls, raised planting beds, etc. Currently, all structures (including trees and shrubs) are prohibited; 5) No vegetation greater than 8 inches in height is permitted within 1 foot of the edge of the alley pavement with a minimum height clearance of 15 feet. Current restriction is the edge of alley pavement and 8 feet height clearance; 6) All materials placed within the City's alley rights-of-way are subject to removal, relocation, or damage during the course of the operation and maintenance of the City's water, sewer, and alley system. In such cases, surface materials will be replaced with a material of the City's choosing. Private use of the alley parkway which is allowed by ordinance, including the placement of trees and vegetation, is at the risk of the adjacent property owner. Currently, this is not directly addressed by ordinance; 7) Residents with significant physical barriers to right-of-way compliance can appeal to a body of the Council's choosing. Currently, there is no provision for an appeal process; and 8) These provisions should apply to all properties and conditions within the City upon passage of a revised ordinance. Current ordinance references 1992 and 1997 effective dates which allowed some conditions to be "grandfathered." After his presentation, Mr. Speer stated that he and the chairman of the Public Works Advisory Committee, Mr. Tommy Stewart, would be available for any questions from Council or residents. Mayor Holmes asked if Council had any questions and then stated that they would have further discussion after the residents spoke. Mr. John Sewell, 3520 Marquette asked Council if the City was going to make reparations to residents who had complied with the previous Ordinance by removing gravel now that the proposed amendment to the Ordinance will allow gravel. Mayor -- Holmes said that at the time Mr. Sewell was asked to remove the gravel in his alley it was a valid code enforcement action. Mayor Holmes stated that he understood Mr. Sewell's concern and was sorry that happened, but Council was trying to do what was best for the future. Mr. Sewell added that he would agree with Mayor Holmes if the previous code enforcement actions taken by the City were taken more uniformly, rather than what seemed to be arbitrary. Mr. Sewell felt that Council unintentionally acted detrimentally to a few residents by requiring them to correct a situation that was now permitted. Mayor Holmes again apologized to Mr. Sewell and thanked him for his comments. Mayor Pro Tem Walker asked Mr. Speer how many residents had the same issue that Mr. Sewell was concerned about. After conferring with Code Enforcement Officer Pat Grecco, it was estimated that there were possibly 70 to 80 residents who had previously complied with having a situation remedied that would be permitted under the proposed Ordinance Amendment. Mayor Pro Tem Walker asked about the approximate cost to these homeowners and Mr. Sewell stated that he had spent approximately $350 to have his gravel removed. Ms. Melinda Matter, 3613 Granada, addressed the Council with her concerns regarding her alley right-of-way. She asked Council to come up with a positive solution to this issue, rather than having her remove her flower beds in her alley. She stated that her flower beds were behind a telephone pole and were not in the way. Mayor Holmes stated that the City has no control of the utility companies placing objects in the alley rights-of-way. Mr. Don Mills, 2804 Hanover, asked if the alleyways were going to be repaired in the future because the large trucks traveling the alleys were leaving ruts and potholes. These ruts filled with water which caused a mosquito problem. Mayor Holmes stated that alleys were being replaced along with the City's Mile-Per-Year program which is addressing replacement of streets, sewers, curbs, etc. in a schedule of maintenance. Mayor 365 Pro Tem Walker mentioned that Public Works Director Bud Smallwood cited that the city is spending over sixty thousand dollars per year replacing tires on the garbage trucks due to structures in the alley rights-of-way which is another reason the City is looking to remedy the rights-of-way _~ problems. Mayor Holmes stated that this matter will come back to Council. The City has studied the problem for months and after this discussion, the Public Works Department will tweak the recommendations from PWAC and come back to Council with a reasonable solution. He apologized to any residents who felt inconvenienced but that he wanted to preserve the integrity of the alley rights-of-way. City Manager Bob Livingston asked Council what they wanted to do at this time. Mayor Holmes asked Assistant Public Works Director Speer to bring back the memo with revised recommendations for Council to consider. DISCUSS SPECIFIC ZONING ISSUES RECOMMENDED BY THE SNIDER PLAZA STRATEGIC PLAN COMMITTEE AND PROVIDE DIRECTION TO STAFF: Community Development Manager Harry Persaud addressed Council regarding specific zoning changes that will require Public Hearings before Planning and Zoning and the City Council. Mr. Persaud stated that he would like to move forward with Zoning Issues One and Two of his 8/26/08 Agenda Memo per the direction of the Mayor and Council at the previous council meeting. These issues include: 1) Update Snider Plaza PD to incorporate the proposed development standards as detailed in the 8/26/08 memo to council. These include maximum building height of 3 stories or 46 feet provided that the floor to site area ratio does not exceed 3:1 and the second story does not exceed 32 feet in vertical height. Establish build-to lines based on average block face (if average block face is greater than 20 feet, then the average build-to line shall be between 12 and 16 feet) with 3 feet of setback for every additional foot of building height above 35 feet adjacent to a residential zone and any third story facing Snider Plaza having a setback of 8 feet from the face of the building; and 2) Adopt proposed parking ratios for the following land uses: a) restaurants provide one parking space per 100 square feet of gross floor area and b) hair/nail salons provide one parking space per 100 square feet. Councilmember Carter asked whether the proposed parking ratios were for all new restaurants and salons or were to include all existing establishments and Mr. Persaud replied that the proposed new ratios would be for new uses. Councilmember Grable moved to direct Staff to take the proposed changes to Planning and Zoning for their recommendations to update the PD and then bring the updated Ordinance amending the PD back to council. Councilmember Clark seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous to bring the updated Ordinance back to Council after Planning and Zoning consideration and input. PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED FY2009 BUDGET AND TAX RATE: Texas statutes require that cities provide notice and hold Public Hearings before adopting an annual budget and property tax rate. At the City Council meeting of August 12, 2008, Finance Director Kent Austin gave an in-depth discussion regarding the proposed FY2009 budget. At the September 2 meeting, the second of the required two public hearings, Mr. Austin provided copies of the proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budget, and the Mayor opened the public hearing. Mayor Holmes asked if there were any questions or if anyone would like more detail. As there were no questions, Mayor Holmes closed the public hearing and thanked Mr. Austin and said he looked forward to approving the ordinances adopting the budget, tax rate and salary plan at the next Council Meeting scheduled for September 16, 2008. CONSIDER AND ACT ON APPOINTMENT TO COMMERCIAL RETAIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE: The City Council appointed individuals to this committee to represent the various shopping areas located in University Park. Roger Fullington, who was appointed to represent property owners on Snider Plaza, has indicated to Mayor Holmes that he wishes to resign due to 36~ other commitments. Mayor Holmes stated that Mr. Fullington had recommended Mr. Jerry Washam, a University Park resident, as his replacement on the committee. Hearing no opposition from Council, Mayor Pro Tem Walker moved to appoint Mr. Jerry Washam to the Commercial Retail Advisory Committee replacing Mr. Roger Fullington. Councilmember Grable seconded the _ motion and the vote was unanimous to appoint Mr. Jerry Washam to the Commercial Advisory Committee. PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Holmes asked if there were any public comments and stated that anyone who wished to address an item not on the agenda could do so at this time. Resident Kitty Holleman wished to speak with regard to Pickwick Lane. She asked Council to keep one side of Pickwick open and to make the No Parking restrictions permanent. Councilmember Carter asked if Ms. Holleman had noticed if the speed of cars increased or decreased with the clearing of the street due to the No Parking signs and she said she had not noticed speeding. She also stated that she would like to see better restrictions on backyard swimming pools. Seeing no one else who wished to speak, Mayor Holmes adjourned the meeting at 6:00 p.m. PASSED AND APPROVED this 9th day of September, 2008. m s H. Hol es, II, M yor ATTEST: Brandy Voge, i Secret