City Council Regular Meeting

Minutes of Regular Meeting The City Council City of Richwood A Regular Meeting of the City Council of City of Richwood was held Monday, February 9, 2015, beginning at 6:00 PM in the Richwood City Hall, 1800 N. Brazosport Blvd. Richwood, Texas. I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Clint Kocurek, Mayor and presiding officer. II. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Glenn Patton, City Manager. III. PLEDGES OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge of Allegiance were recited by those in attendance. IV. ROLL CALL OF COUNCIL MEMBERS Roll call showed the following members present: Clint Kocurek, Mayor and presiding officer John Pitts, Council, Position #2 Sarah Harris, Council, Position #4 Chris Hardison, Council, Position #5 Absent: Paul Raymond, Council, Position #1 Jarrod Beaty, Council, Position #2 A quorum was declared. Others present included Glenn Patton, City Manager, Karen B. Schrom, City Secretary, Kenny Williams, Public Works Director, Bryan Corb, Police Chief, Brian Allen, BISD Chief, Juan Longoria, Larry Nutt, and Ronnie Woodruff, BWA, Lauren LaCount, Patrick Byrne, Red Dog Engineering and Consulting, Tobin Maples, Mark Guthrie, Joe Morrow and Edward Delgardo, The Facts. V. CONSENT AGENDA On motion by Councilman Pitts, seconded by Councilman Hardison, with all members present voting aye, it was duly adopted to approve the items on the Consent Agenda as presented. A. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meetings B. Payment of bills C. Appointment to Crime Control and Prevention District - Brian Allen D. Request to close portion of Audubonwoods Drive for Barbeque Cookoff, April 3- April 4, in the event of rain E. Consider and approve resolution authorizing the issuance of Brazosport Water Authority water supply system regional revenue bonds, Series 2015A, in the maximum amount of $59,000,000.00 F. Resolution - Support of Countywide Joint Elections with Vote Centers G. Joint Election Agreement and Contract for Election Services H. Lower Brazos River Coalition VI. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS A. Variance request - Brazos Crossing Apartments - rear setback and parking count variance Councilman Hardison questioned the need for the variance. Patrick Byrnes, Project Manager with Big Red Dog Engineering and Consulting, explained the area in question was not large enough to allow 2 spaces per unit. They can only supply 602 parking spaces rather than the required 618. Also our ordinance requires the rear setback to be 20@ of the lot. Their property is a very deep lot. This property behind the apartment complex is in the County. Councilman Hardison asked how it would affect the project if the City does not grant the variance. Mr. Byrne stated they would have to remove one of the buildings and revamp the project. Mr. Patton explained that this portion of our zoning ordinance has not been changed since the early 80s and should be reviewed. Councilman Hardison would like to discuss revision of the zoning ordinance prior to approving the variance. Councilman Pitts stated he’d like to use this as a talking point and then look at possible revisions. Mr. Patton stated that revising the ordinance would take at least 90 to 120 days. Councilman Pitts made the motion to grant the variance request, with Councilman Harris seconding it. Councilmen Pitts and Harris voted aye and Councilman Hardison voted nay. Motion carried.  B. Request for funds for new radio system for Police Department Chief Corb explained the City needs to upgrade its radio system to become Federal P25 compliant. Motorola is an exclusive provider for Brazoria County since this is the system the county chose. It will cost the city approximately $74,000 to bring our radio system into compliance. Ms. Schrom, Finance Director/City Secretary, explained to Council that the City does not have this money budgeted and currently does not have the funds available. On motion by Councilman Pitts, seconded by Councilman Hardison, with all members present voting aye, it was duly adopted to deny the request for funds for new radio system for the Police Department. C. Approve items removed from Consent Agenda There were none. VII. REPORTS A. Finance Reports The par for the period ending January 31, 2015 is 66% remaining. Most of the departments are within par and revenues are exceeding expenditures. B. Report from Public Works Mr. Williams brought videos of the 2 wells at Ground Storage. This year, we had several bad samples at the wells. He had Mr. Felder video the wells and the screens and casing were in great shape. There is pitting at the piping to the pumps and the pumps themselves. This could be where the contaminants came from or from the acquifer itself. We have spent $17,000 to date on the problem and could spend another $35,000 with no guarantee the problem would be fixed. As a result, the two wells were taken off line and this poses no inconvenience to the City. We have adequate water supply. We are still waiting on a report from KSA Engineering on what is needed for Lift Station #4. He also reported that Mr. Mueller has begun work on laying the lines for the tie in of his RV park. The gentleman who bought the property where the old taco stand was has begun to the clear the property for the storage buildings. In the past 6 months, there have been 318 building inspections. Code Enforcement has handled 449 code complaints, inspections and follow ups. Councilman Hardison questioned why there were city employees working on the weekend painting fire hydrants. Mr. Williams explained that the decision was  made to take advantage of overtime to catch up on this project since this project has been on the list for over a year after the Fire Department inspected each fire hydrant. Councilman Pitts asked if he’d projected the amount of labor needed during the summer for mowing. Mr. Williams reported they’d budgeted for one but could very easily use two. In 1998, when he first started, there were 6 in the Public Works Department counting the Public Works Director and Foreman. Today, we still only have 6. His top three priority projects are three lift stations - #3, #4 and #5. Lift stations #3 and 5 need new electrical panels. Road maintenance continues in Oakwood Shores. The County has begun asphalt work since it’s warming up and hopefully will be able to get to N. Mahan in the next few months. We have approximately 500 apartments and 54 rent homes. Inspections have begun and he’s done approximately 50 since January. VIII. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT Mr. Patton reported the committee is working on the personnel policy and he hopes to have a copy out to each member of Council by the end of the week to review. Hopefully we can put it on March’s agenda for approval. Then we will begin work on SOPs for each department and from there, a new safety manual. 210 Developers have assigned a general contractor but have run into an issue because every contractor in the area is extremely busy. They are hoping to get another contract with Zachary and are looking at another 10 acre tract. He plans to visit with Retail Coach and hopefully they will be here at the March meeting. We have received a complaint regarding the drainage behind the homes on Wisteria. One lady is concerned that her property is eroding into the ditch. One problem is that the fences were built right at the ditch’s edge. We will have our city engineer review the project and will hopefully develop a plan based on their study very soon. With the weather warming up, we are getting more contacts about the property across the street. IX. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Ordinance regulating the number of cats  Zoning Ordinance Personnel Policy RFPs for City Engineer Police Department Report Workshop on needs and projections for the next budget year. X. COMMITTEE REPORTS There were none. XI. COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS & REPORTS There were none. XII. MAYOR’S REPORT He reminded Council that Parks and Recreation will be holding their Date Night Movie Night this upcoming Friday, February 13, 2015. The movie will be “Hitch” Keep Richwood Beautiful is in need of members. XIII. PUBLIC COMMENTS Lauren LaCount stated she’d prefer we had no more animal ordinances. She told Council that the Richwood Lion’s Club is involved in a contest to bring in new members. The club who brings in the most will win. If anyone is interested or knows someone who wishes to join, she invited them to their next meeting. It will be February 23rd in the Police Department training room. XIV. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 7:02 p.m. APPROVED BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF COUNCIL ON MARCH 9, 2015 ____________________________________ Clint Kocurek, Mayor ATTEST: ____________________________________ Karen B. Schrom, City Secretary