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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMn 09-30-0838~ MINUTES #2745 CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS COUNCIL CHAMBER - CITY HALL MODULAR BUILDING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008, 5:00 P.M. 2:30 - 3:00 P.M. EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER SECTION 551.072 OF THE GOVERNMENT CODE, TO DISCUSS PURCHASE AND SALE OF RENZ AND SMU PARK PROPERTIES. NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN - CITY HALL, FIRE DEPARTMENT TRAINING ROOM 3:00 - 4:00 P.M. DISCUSS PROPOSED CAPP LONG-TERM ELECTRIC CONTRACT AND PROPOSED REVISED ETHICS POLICY 4:00 - 5:00 P.M. WORK SESSION FOR AGENDA REVIEW, FIRE DEPARTMENT TRAINING ROOM, CITY HALL L CALL TO ORDER Mayor Holmes opened the regular City Council Meeting at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber in the City Hall Modular Building. Present were Mayor Holmes, Mayor Pro Tem Walker, Councilmember Carter, Councilmember Clark, and Councilmember Grable. Also in attendance were City Manager Livingston, and City Attorney Dillard. A. Introduction of Council B. Invocation C. Pledge of Alle~ance Mayor Holmes asked the Boy Scout in attendance to come to the podium and lead the meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance. After the Pledge of Allegiance, the Boy Scout introduced himself as Benjamin Klimko, 3000 Westminster, from Troop 72. He stated that he was working on his Citizen in the Community Merit Badge. Mayor Holmes thanked him for attending and assisting with the Pledge of Allegiance. D. Introduction of Staff City Manager Bob Livingston introduced staff in attendance as follows: Bud Smallwood, Director of Public Works; Luanne Hanford, Director of Human Resources; Ken Irwin and Tim Pope, Information Services; John Gillette, Fire Marshal; Jim Criswell, Director of Information Services; Randy Howell, Fire Chief; Gerry Bradley, Director of Parks; Kent Austin, Director of Finance; Jacob Speer, Assistant Director of Public Works; Robbie Corder, Community Development Director; Steve Mace, Community Infarmation Officer; and Liz Spector, Assistant City Secretary. II. CONSENT AGENDA 383 The Consent Agenda is a group of items that can be passed in one motion by the Council. They are considered routine in nature, however, a councilmember can remove any item they wish to discuss individually. Mayor Holmes asked if there were any items that Council wished to remove and there were none. A. CONSIDER AND ACT: On Adoption of Corrected Master Fee Schedule B. CONSIDER AND ACT: On an Ordinance Designating NO PARKING Along the East Side of the 8300 Block of Tulane C. CONSIDER AND ACT: On Approval of Meeting Minutes from September 9, 2008 City Council Meeting D. CONSIDER AND ACT: On Approval of Meeting Minutes from September 16, 2008 City Council Meeting Mayor Pro Tem Walker made a motion to approve the CONSENT AGENDA. Councilmember Grable seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. III. MAIN AGENDA A. CONSIDER AND ACT: on Approval of Smith Park Master Plan Concept Director of Parks Gerry Bradley spoke and showed a Power Point presentation to Council regarding the Smith Park Master Plan Proposal. Some of the potential improvements Mr. Bradley discussed were new tennis court lighting, park entrance _. signage, development of a plaza area, new flag pole, playground entrance enhancements, new botanical plantings, new sidewalks on the southern end of the park and improved irrigation. Director Bradley met with area homeowners in May 2008. Based on that meeting, there were two changes to the proposed plan. Actual picnic areas were moved further away from residential areas and a walkway from south parking lot was added to accomodate tennis players and to alleviate heavy parking on east side of park. Mr. Bradley showed some artist?s renderings of the proposed changes. He would like to bring in some raised planting beds, seasonal color, introduce ground cover and add a sign to face Hyer Elementary. Another concept is to buffer the soccer areas and separate uses including the tennis and playground areas and possibly introduce additional picnic tables on pads to alleviate muddy conditions from heavy use. The proposal also incorporates new decorative lighting. Mr. Bradley said there are some issues with some of the walkways on the southern end of the park and the grading will be addressed there to create a smoother transition when sidewalk is replaced so there will not be a need for a retaining wall. The overall project is estimated to cost approximately $350,000 but staff is asking for permission to enter into a design services contract for $27,500 with JBI Partners. JBI is the same company the city worked with to design the master concept plan in Coffee Park. Staff will bring the designs back to council for review prior to taking out to bid, probably late spring 2009. 384 Councilmember Clark asked if the picnic area would infringe on the playground area. Mr. Bradley said no, it would not impact that area. He said that staff realizes the area is used for soccer practice, dog training and exercising and the design plan won?t impede that area. In addition, staff will thin out trees to improve low light conditions. City Manager Livingston reminded Council that the City Attorney wanted to strike some paragraphs in the contract waiver as follows: Exhibit C, Standard Terms and Conditions, Section V regarding the Contractual Lien: this paragraph will be removed completely; Item VI, Ownership of Documents: the last sentence of this item will be deleted, and Item XI, Limit of Liability: this item will also be removed completely. Mr. Bradley has already spoken with JBI and they are amenable to removing and editing those items. Mr. Bradley will bring back the revised contract as discussed. Mayor Holmes made a motion to approve the Master Plan Concept for Smith Park and directed staff to enter into the contract for $27,500 with JBI Partners with the above-mentioned contract changes . Councilmember Carter seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. B. CONSIDER AND ACT: On Approval of Curtis Park Pool Improvements - Phase II Design Contract The Phase I Design Contract was brought to Council in February 2008. The Phase II Proposal continues the pool improvements. Phase I included the renovations to the children's pool and the addition of the splash park currently in construction. The Phase II design is directed towards the large pool. One of the primary design concepts is the zero-depth entry area which addresses accessibility of the pool for children, elderly, and mobility-impaired individuals. The second key issue addressed in phase II is the addition of a pool slide. The issues to be discussed will be the actual size and color of the slide, whether it will be an open or closed slide, and the actual location which will best fit the site. A third primary issue addresses mechanical and filtration upgrades. By adding Ultra Violet (UV) filtration, 99.9% of cryptosporidium, giardia and e.coli will be killed. UV filtration is the best method in the swimming pool industry to protect patrons. The design fees for Phase II are $60,000 with the estimated project cost of $1.2 million. If council approves this design contract, drawings will come in March 2009 with council review in March or April. The project will be go out for bid in May 2009 and be targeted to start in September 2009 with the grand opening set for May 2010. Staff is requesting Council for approval to allow the City to enter into a design contract with Brannon Corporation for $60,000. Mayor Holmes stated that he would like to add the stipulation that the City will be an additional insured under the $1,000.000 liability policy of the Brannon Corporation. Director Bradley agreed and said he would speak with Brannon representatives and have this change made. Mayor Holmes made a motion to approve the design contract for $60,000 with The 385 Brannon Corporation for the Curtis Park Pool Improvements - Phase II Design with the contract amendment making the City of University Park an additional insured under the Brannon Corporation's $1,000,000 liability policy. Councilmember ~ Grable seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. C. CONSIDER AND ACT: on A~proval of Revised University Park Sprinkler Ordinance Fire Chief Randy Howell spoke to Council. He reminded council that this requested amendment to the sprinkler ordinance results from requests from builders and homeowners far wording clarification concerning specific applications. Chief Howell explained that the clarification results in a minor modification, making the required square footage for sprinklering 4000 square feet rather than 3000 original square feet with a 30 percent increase from any constructed additions as worded in the original ordinance. Mr. Taylor Armstrong, 3801 Centenary, requested to address Council. He stated that as an architect, he anticipated some problems may occur with the sprinkler ordinance. He stated that while he has no problem adding fire sprinklers to any new construction, he is concerned with the expense of retrofitting sprinklers to older homes. He recommended to Council that the ordinance be changed making the required square footage 5000, rather than 4000 which would give flexibility for older houses and reduce the hardship on homeowners. In addition, he felt that some of the architecturally significant homes in University Park, such as the Dilbeck and Thompson designed houses, would face significant costs and possible damage if they were required to meet the 4000 square foot sprinkler requirements. He also stated that he felt the City should encourage the preservation of these architecturally significant homes. Councilmember Clark asked Chief Howell how it was decided on a 4000 square foot size for sprinkler applications and Chief Howell replied that it was based on a gallons per minute requirement for fighting fires based on water application and available manpower levels in the city within the first five minutes of a fire. Mayor Pro Tem Walker asked Chief Howell if changing the size limit to 4,500 would work. Chief Howell replied that he and his staff were comfortable with 4000 square feet. He said if Council wanted to change that size requirement then it would be their recommendation. Mayor Holmes stated that he agreed that the City should be sensitive to the hardships that may occur in requiring that certain older, architecturally significant homes abide by the sprinkler ordinance and asked if there were any provisions for a homeowner to apply for an exception. Fire Marshal John Gillette stated that currently there are variance requests systems in place. If a homeowner chooses not to meet the ordinance requirements they can come to an appellate committee. City Attorney Rob Dillard stated that the appellate body in this case would be the City Council because they are the appellate body for fire code issues. The Board of Adjustment is the appellate body for building code issues. Councilmember Grable made a motion to approve the Revised University Park 38~ Sprinkler Ordinance . Mayor Holmes seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. Mayor Holmes stated that if there is a process in place for homeowners to come before Council for a variance request then he is comfortable with the ordinance as amended. D. CONSIDER AND ACT: On a Resolution Adoptin,g an Ethics Policy for Citv Officials, Committee and Board Members, and City Employees Mayor Pro Tem Walker made a motion to approve a Resolution adopting an ethics policy for city officials, committee and board members, and city employees. Councilmember Clark seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. E. CONSIDER AND ACT: On Approval of Renewal of the PropertX, Casualtv Liability and Worker?s Compensation Insurance Covera~e with the Texas Municipal League Inter-Governmental Risk Pool Councilmember Carter made a motion to approve the Renewal of Property, Casualty, Liability and Worker's Compensation Insurance with Texas Municipal League Inter-Governmental Risk Pool. Councilmember Clark seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. F. CONSIDER AND ACT: On an Ordinance Amending FY2008 Budget Councilmember Clark made a motion to approve the Ordinance amending FY2008 budget. Mayor Pro Tem Walker seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. IV. ITEMS FROM THE FLOOR City Manager Bob Livingston mentioned that Community Development Director Robbie Corder told him that UDADAC had approved the recommendation regarding the special sign district which specifically involved the cuckoo clock request from Kuby?s. Although two councilmembers. are scheduled to miss the next council meeting, it was staffs intent to place this item on the upcoming agenda. Hearing no further comments, Mayor Holmes adjourned the meeting. PASSED AND APPROVED this 7th day of October 2008. ATTEST: randy Voge, City S tary G'ry'~~ James H. Holmes, III, ayor