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Home My WebLink About07-16-03283 MINUTES #2314 CITY COUNCIL MEETING/WORK SESSION CITY OF UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2003 AT 7:30 A.M. Mayor Harold Peek opened the meeting. Present were Mayor Pro Tempore Dick Davis and Councilmembers Jim Roberts, Harry Shawver and Blackie Holmes. Also in attendance were City Attorney Rob Dillard, City Manager Bob Livingston, and City Secretary Nina Wilson. AWARDS: PROCLAMATION HONORING CITY OF UNIVERSITY PARK RESIDENT AS PRE-TEEN MISS MAJORETTE OF TEXAS: Whereas Miss Carly Bender brought recognition to the City, Mayor Peek declared July 21-27 as National Baton Twirling Week. Mayor Pro Tem Davis moved acceptance of the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Roberts seconded, and the vote was unanimous to approve the following: coNSENT AGENDA` CONSIDER PROPOSAL FOR ISO GRADING INSPECTION: The proposal from Mr. Mike Piets~h, iP.E. Consulting Services, Inc.'will assist the City in an ISO (Insurance Service OffiCe) grading inspection to reduce the Public. Protection Class (PPC) Currently held bY the City. The current PPC is a Class 4. Mr. Pietsch will assist the City in lowering the PPC to a Class 3 or Class 2 rating. The cost of his services will be $10,800, and it will take approximately nine (9) days to start and complete the process. A reduction in the PPC will benefit the residents by reducing the amount of insurance premiums paid on homeowners insurance. A Class 2 rating can reduce the resident's savings as much as 12% on yearly premiums. CONSIDER RESOLUTION AMENDING THE MASTER FEE SCHEDULE: Staff is currently working on several new processes to coordinate work in the alleys and other public rights-of-way to minimize impact construction has on residents. Historically, one significant problem has been multiple alley cuts and closures related to the construction of a single new home. Staff has developed a new process to coordinate with the gas company to reduce the frequency of alley "closures" to one per home construction. However, additional action will be required to reduce the number of alley "cuts" per home. The new fee schedule will make excavation and pavement replacement an individual line item rather than assuming separate alley cuts and excavations for each type of connection. Reducing the number of excavations will reduce the amount of time the alley will have to be closed to traffic. The new fees will reduce the amount paid by a builder who consolidates the locations of his utility connections. The amendment for Utility Service Construction Fees will apply as follows: 284 1" water meter and tap installation Sanitary sewer tap installation Existing water meter or sanitary sewer tap removal $400.00 each $200.00 each $100.00 each Utility excavation $1,500.00 each (1) Each utility excavation includes the removal of existing alley pavement, excavation, backfill/compaction, and concrete replacement of not more than ten (10) linear feet of alley. (2) The City, based on the size, location, current costs and specifications, will determine the price for the installation of water meters greater than one inch (1") and excavations other than in an alley. RESOLUTION NO. 03-10 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS, AMENDING MASTER FEE RESOLUTION 03-08 BY AMENDING SECTION 9, UTILITY SERVICE CONSTRUCTION FEES, ARTICLE III "UTILITIES"; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. ' CONSIDER. APPROVAL: Of City Council Meeting Minutes for July i, 2003.' MAIN AGENDA DISCUSS PROPOSED COMMERCIAL BUILDING HEIGHTS FOR GENERAL. :RETAIL (GR) ZONING DISTRICT ALONG PRESTON ROAD: At the July 1, 2003, city council meeting, council was satisfied that the proposed changes to the building height restrictions recommended by the Planning & Zoning Commission would provide the desired results in Snider Plaza, Miracle Mile and the General Retail Zoning District along Hillcrest, but instructed staff to prepare diagrams or building elevations to illustrate current and proposed building heights along Preston Road. Staff put together illustrations to show current building heights, allowable building heights, and a proposed allowance for additional height based on setbacks. An ordinance will be drawn up to allow a 40' height with a 10' setback on all four (4) sides of the building. DISCUSS ENTRANCES AT SMU AND UNIVERSITY BOULEVARDS: Council instructed the Park Director to have drawings completed in order to hold a meeting with Southern Methodist University (SMU). DISCUSS PAY AND DISPLAY PARKING: There are currently 625 public parking spaces serving Snider Plaza, not including private lots, on-street spaces, garages, employee spots behind businesses, street parking on the east side of Hillcrest or spaces serving the shopping area on Hillcrest south of McFarlin. The spaces allow two-hours per space. Parking time limits are enforced with a parking enforcement officer who marks tires and tickets when a marked car is over the two-hour limit. The Cirrus Group finished construction of the Park Cities Medical Plaza (PCMP) providing 114 free parking spaces in their underground parking garage, but few 285 shoppers, diners or employees have chosen this parking option. In 2003, the city and PCMP entered into an agreement whereby PCMP would provide valet service in Snider Plaza. This venture has also failed to reduce congestion with few parkers taking advantage of valet parking. A study of Snider Plaza businesses in 1990 listed employee parking and student parking as a major issue for Snider Plaza. The city still receives complaints from business owners and residents about the parking situation in Snider Plaza, citing students and employees are still the main violators of the two-hour parking requirement. Enforcement of the two-hour limit is difficult because parkers are willing to either move their vehicle or constantly rub off the marked applied by the enforcement officer. Tom McConnell, resident of the city, suggested pay and display metering as an alternative to boost enforcement efforts and apply a real incentive for parkers to "follow the rules." Pay and Display Parking utilizes pay stations that work like traditional parking meters, except that one pay station covers one side of an entire on-street block or 10-14 spaces off-street. After parking, the person walks to the nearest pay station and inserts payment. The machine provides a ticket to be placed in the windshield of the person's car and a receipt to be carried with the parker to remind then when their time is up. The pay stations also report on parking usage and call the city when a part is broken, detailing the problem so it is easily repaired. Revenue is gained by charging for parking, and the system allows for multiple selling of spots. It encourages parkers to comply with time limits and still allows for ticketing if purchased time lapses. Pay and display parking has been in place throughout Europe for almost 30 years and has spread extensively to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Implementation in the United States is increasing dramatically with more cities, federal parks,~ airports, parking authorities and universities introducing the system monthly. Council suggested .staff meet with merchants and talk to all city committees, when they meet, to seek input on the ,pay and display system. CONS!DER' PROPOSAL FOR DESIGN AND REPLACEMENT OF TRAFFIC SIGNALS AT VARIOUS INTERSECTIONS ALONG LOVERS LANE: The city council recently authorized staff to proceed with the development of plans and specifications for the reconstruction of Lovers Lane from Hillcrest east to Boedeker as a joint project with the City of Dallas while they are constructing sections of Lovers Lane east of Boedeker to North Central Expressway. Part of the necessary work involves the replacement of traffic signals at Lovers Lane at Airline and Lovers Lane at Boedeker. A proposal from C&P Engineering, Ltd. In the amount of $12,000 to provide the necessary engineering services was moved for approval by Councilmember Roberts. Councilmember Shawver seconded, and the vote was unanimous to accept the proposal. CONSIDER SOUTHWESTERN BELL'S (SWB) REQUEST FOR EASEMENT AT PRESTON ROAD AND PRESTON PARKWAY FOR ABOVE-GROUND CABINET: The location is the parkway, south of McFarlin and south of an existing SWB cabinet installed a few years ago. There is a need for additional phone lines for DSL service in that part of the city. The size of the new easement will be 10' by 20'. SWB will pay $17,000 for the easement, which includes the landscaping. Screening both the new and existing cabinets will be accomplished by the 8' space between the curb and concrete slabs the cabinets are set on. The council discussed with Ms. Ruth Swancy, SWB representative, the difficulty the city has had in getting some problems resolved, including acquiring permits to work in the city. Ms. Swancy stated she would get with staff to try and resolve any problems. Mayor Pro Tem Davis moved approval of the easement 286 subject to getting a permit. Councilmember Holmes seconded, and the vote was unanimous to approve the easement. CONSIDER BID AND AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR LARGE FORMAT SCANNER AND PRINTER: The building and engineering divisions have a need for document imaging for building plans and construction drawings. Staff determined that Oce' products best fit their needs, and the Texas Information System Vendor (QISV) program was used to solicit bids. Stewart Engineering Supply, Inc. was the low bidder in the amount of $37,808. Mayor Pro Tem Davis moved approval of the bid. Councilmember Roberts seconded, and the vote was unanimous to approve the bid and award the contract to Stewart Engineering Supply, Inc. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Mayor Harold Peek then convened the City Council into Executive Session at 8:55 a.m. under Section 551.072 of the Texas Government Code, for deliberation regarding real property. The Executive Session was adjourned at 9:50 a.m. No action was voted on or taken during the meeting. Passed and approved this 5th day of August 2003. ATTEST: 'I~na~~y Secretary I-~-~ld Peek,'~