City Council

Belton City Council Meeting February 14, 2017 - 5:30 P.M. The Belton City Council met in regular session in the Wright Room at the Harris Community Center with the following members present: Mayor Marion Grayson, Mayor Pro Tern David K. Leigh and Councilmembers Craig Pearson, Jerri Gauntt and Dan Kirkley. Councilmembers Paul Sanderford and Guy O'Banion were absent. Staff present included Sam Listi, Gene Ellis, John Messer, Amy Casey, Brandon Bozon, Erin Smith, Chris Brown, Kim Kroll, Paul Romer, Wes Gilbreath, Byron Sinclair, Judy Garrett, Matt Bates, Cynthia Hernandez, Charlotte Walker and Aaron Harris. The Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag was led by Grants and Special Projects Coordinator Aaron Harris, and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Texas Flag was led by Councilmember Dan Kirkley. The Invocation was given by Chad McAninch, Pastor of Bethel Assembly of God, West Campus. 1. Call to order. Mayor Grayson called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. 2. Public Comments. Mayor Grayson read a Proclamation for National Engineers Week, and presented it to Angellia Points and Mack Parker. Mr. Parker said that March 18th is the aoth anniversary of the explosion at the New London School that killed 319 people. It is considered the third worst disaster in the state of Texas. He added that the explosion was caused by inadequate design and shortcuts to save money. Shortly after that disaster, the Texas Legislature met in emergency session to enact the Texas Engineering Practices Act to regulate engineering in Texas. 3. Presentations and Recognitions: Presentation of Police Department Annual Report including Annual Racial Profiling Report. Assistant City Manager/Police Chief Gene Ellis presented the Police Department Annual Report, including the Racial Profiling Report. Mayor Grayson thanked the Chief for all he has done for the community. No action was required by the Council. Consent Agenda Items 4-9 under this section are considered to be routine by the City Council and may be enacted by one motion. If discussion is desired by the Council, any item may be removed from the Consent Agenda prior to voting, at the request of any Councilmember, and it will be considered separately. 4. Consider minutes of previous meetings: A. January 24, 2017, City Council Workshop Meeting B. January 24, 2017, City Council Meeting Belton City Council Meeting February 14, 2017- Page 2 5. Consider an appointment to the Library Board of Directors. Regina Miller was recommended for appointment. 6. Receive a report on the annual review of the City's Ethics Ordinance, No. 2015-11, by the Ethics Commission. 7. Consider a resolution ordering the General Election to be held on May 6, 2017. 8. Consider a resolution nominating the Citv's candidate for election to the Board of Directors of .the Central Texas Water Supply Corporation. Byron Sinclair was nominated to be the City's candidate to the Board of Directors of the CTWSC. 9. Consider approving a resolution for the following: A. Authorizing participation in a coalition of similarly situated cities in connection with the Statement of Intent to Change Rate CGS and Rate PT of Atmos Pipeline-Texas (APT) filed on or about January 6, 2017; B. Authorizing participation in related rate proceedings; C. Authorizing the retention of the law firm, Herrera & Bovie. PLLC, to represent the City's interest in matters related to APT's rate proceeding at the Railroad Commission, including any appeals, and to advise the City with regard to APT's application; and D. Requiring the reimbursement of municipal rate case expenses. Upon a motion by Mayor Pro Tern David K. Leigh, and a second by Councilmember Dan Kirkley, the Consent Agenda, including the following captioned resolutions, was unanimously approved by a vote of 5-0. RESOLUTION NO. 2017-08-R A RESOLUTION CALLING AND ORDERING A GENERAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON MAY 6, 2017, AND ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES THEREOF. RESOLUCION NO. 2017-08-R RESOLUCION CONVOCANDO ELECCIONES GENERALES A REALIZARSE EL 6 DE MAYO DEL 2017 Y LOS PROCESOS A CUMPLIRSE. Belton City Council Meeting February 14, 2017 - Page 3 RESOLUTION NO. 2017-09-R A RESOLUTION NOMINATING CANDIDATE FOR ELECTION TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AT ANNUAL MEETING OF CENTRAL TEXAS WATER SUPPLY CORPORATION. RESOLUTION NO. 2017-10-R RESOLUTION BY THE CITY OF BELTON; AUTHORIZING PARTICIPATION IN A COALITION OF SIMILARLY SITUATED CITIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE STATEMENT OF INTENT TO CHANGE RATE CGS AND RATE PT OF ATMOS PIPELINE-TEXAS FILED ON OR ABOUT JANUARY 6, 2017; AUTHORIZING PARTICIPATION IN RELATED RATE PROCEEDINGS; AUTHORIZING THE RETENTION OF SPECIAL COUNSEL; REQUIRING THE REIMBURSEMENT OF MUNICIPAL RATE CASE EXPENSES; FINDING THAT THE MEETING COMPLIES WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT; AND MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT. Planning and Zoning 10. Hold a public hearing and consider a zoning change from Commercial Highway to Planned Development Commercial Highway Zoning District for a recreational vehicle park on a 12 acre tract of land at 5353 South Interstate Highway 35 Service Road, located on the east side of South Interstate Highway 35, extending to Toll Bridge Road and approximately 0.45 mile south of Shanklin Road. Mayor Grayson explained that the applicant has requested that the item be rescheduled to February 28, 2017. City Manager Sam Listi said that James Kincaid had signed up to speak during the public hearing. Mr. Listi explained to Mr. Kincaid that the applicant is requesting tabling the item until February 28, 2017. He added that the City will send out notices to property owners again for that meeting. Mr. Kincaid asked if the applicant was not prepared. Mr. Listi said that additional issues have arisen related to improvements that will be required for him to develop the property, and the applicant wants to have all the information in his hands before asking the Council to act on the zoning change. Mayor Pro Tern Leigh added that Mr. Kincaid was able to email the Council at any time with issues he had related to the development. Upon a motion by Councilmember Kirkley, and a second by Councilmember Craig Pearson, item 10 was tabled to the February 28, 2017, City Council meeting by a vote of 5-0. The Belton City Council took a short recess at 5:59 p.m. and reconvened in the Smith Room at 6:02 p.m. for the following items: Belton City Council Meeting February 14, 2017- Page 4 11. Conduct a work session regarding the conceetual design of imerovements to N. East Street, generally between Central and 151 Avenue. Director of Planning Erin Smith and Director of Internal Services/City Engineer Angellia Points provided the Council with background information on N. East Street issues. Mrs. Smith said that City Staff has met with property owners in the area a couple of times to listen to their concerns. Mrs. Points explained the conceptual design shown in Exhibit "A" and what is proposed to address the issues that have been identified. She added that with the proposed changes, the downtown area will lose three parking places. However, there is a possibility to add three multi-modal parking spaces for motorcycles or bike racks. Councilmember Jerri Gauntt said that the City has a parking problem, and this will not solve the problem. She asked Assistant City Manager/Chief of Police Gene Ellis if the Police Department could enforce the parking time limits. Chief Ellis said that the Police Department is studying the downtown parking time limits and discussing possible solutions with the City Manager. Mayor Grayson said that she would not be in favor of ticketing people who are visiting downtown. Chief Ellis said that there are some parking areas that have no time limits, but no one seems to be utilizing them. He added that when the new directional signage is added, it should help. Mayor Pro T em Leigh said that if a person is willing to park across the street and down a few spaces from where he or she wants to be, there will not be a problem finding a parking space. However, he does realize that some people "camp out" in the parking spots. Mr. Leigh said that, in his opinion, some type of metered parking system would alleviate this problem. City Attorney John Messer added that the CPS Court and Attorney General Court in the Sheriff's Building generate a lot of the need for parking downtown on court days. Mayor Grayson said that the parking lot the City and County are working on together should alleviate some of that. Mack Parker said that there is not a downtown parking problem. He said that there is an employee problem because employees are taking up parking that should be available to the public who wish to visit the stores. He added that a Meter Maid would need to be a marine drill sergeant to be able to put up with the abuse that is doled out to these employees. Mrs. Points explained to Council that this project is not currently funded, but it could possibly be funded in part by TIRZ. Councilmember Gauntt suggested looking for grants to fund it. Mayor Grayson said that this project needs to be funded for safety reasons. Mayor Pro Tern Leigh added that the metered parking would bring in funding. City Manager Listi said that Staff will look for funding and bring back a recommendation to Council. Belton City Council Meeting February 14, 2017 - Page 5 One of the business owners in attendance said that the majority of the retail shop owners in the downtown area do not park in front of their businesses. However, several of the office workers utilize parking in front of their own offices as well as parking in the spaces available at the surrounding retail shops. She added that she thinks this project is very necessary from a safety standpoint. Executive Session At 6:28 p.m., the Mayor announced the Council would go into Executive Session for the following item: 12. Executive Session pursuant to the prov1s1on of the Open Meetings Law, Chapter 551, Govt. Code, Vernon's Texas Codes Annotated, in accordance with the authority contained in Section 551.074, Personnel - conduct an evaluation of the City Manager's performance. The Mayor reopened the meeting at 7:16 p.m., and there being no further business, the meeting was adjourned . ATTEST: Amy M. Casey, City Clerk EAST STREET IMPROVEMENTS CONCEPTUAL DESIGN COUNCIL WORKSHOP FEBRUARY 14, 2017 m x I _, OJ ~ • Requests emerged from property owners to repair sidewalks along N East Street • City performed minor repairs to sidewalk at N East Street & E Ist Avenue • Strategic Plan Goal for FY 2017: Develop/Implement Downtown Revitalization Plan •!• Downtown Wayfinding Signs - Funded and underway; expect to begin construction in March •!• Evaluation of East Street Needs and Plan development by KPA Engineers • East Street Analysis Progress-to-Date: •!• Met with property owners to determine expectations, concerns, and needs on August 30, 2016 •!• Conceptual plan developed with assistance of KPA Engineers •!• Presented conceptual plan to property owners on January 19, 2017 •!• Today: Presentation to Council for input  47' - 0" E ISTI G ...............~ E ISTI G BU I I G 1--T-"-r~ BUILJI G OL TSIJE ..,-L-,-L..,-1--f._ __ __....,..,____ _ _ _ _ _ ---4_.__------------+-------+-------i-.-~ OUTSIDE · ~ ~ · I I· · I I· . CU~B 6" CUR EXISTING CROSS-SECTION EAST STREET- NORTH OF CENTRAL AVENUE  42" PEOESTRIA 40 - 6" RAI LI G 8' - 0" 8' - 0" EXISTI G 6- 6" PARALLEL 24' - 6" PARALLEL EXISTI G BUILDING 5- 6" SIDEWALK PARK I G TRAVELED WAY PARKI G 7' - 8" BU ILDI G OUTSIDE .,.-L-,-"'--r-'-l,,____ _ ______...,.,..___ _---+___--~~-----------~------~-----1-T-'-~ OUTSIDE WALL 6"CURB 6"CURB WALL . - ·:~ ·: 8' 1.503 . :', ~ <·'<··-· .. . ,; . . . .·.· ...... · . . . .. . ·"· .· . . .::. ::·. ~ ·~ ·. :-. .~·..: :... . ·: :_ : .. CO CRETE ......____, . . ... :. : .... ·. ,. ..:. SUPPORT .:.:·:.... :""; ·····:. ··.·· WALL .... PROPOSED CROSS-SECTION EAST STREET - NORTH OF CENTRAL AVENUE NOT TO SCALE  __ _j -n - - ·---r---."l7 ; A.[ lorr.er 1 Rkky & Leila . I I Vold•qr lei.~ em hone Nancy BostOfl I l I 1 j, I : I :  What would it cost? - Est. $325,000 What are the funding options? • Engineering final design, survey, contract administration • Possible Tl RZ project • Traffic & pedestrian control plans • Funded over 2 fiscal years • Building protection • Demolition • Concrete work (sidewalks, curb/gutter, ramps) • Hand railing • Utility adjustments • Asphalt overlay • Light Fixtures • Pavement markings • Receive input from City Council • Staff to identify funding, based on Council input • Staff to continue communications with property owners on next steps