City Council Regular Meeting

Minutes of City Council Regular Meeting The City Council City of Richwood A City Council Regular Meeting of the City Council of City of Richwood was held Monday, October 8, 2018, beginning at 6:05 PM in the Richwood City Hall, 1800 N. Brazosport Blvd. Richwood, Texas. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. INVOCATION No invocation was done. It was previously done at the time of the Planning meeting. PLEDGES OF ALLEGIANCE Pledge of Allegiance & Texas Pledge No pledges were done. It was previously done at the time of the Planning meeting. ROLL CALL OF COUNCIL MEMBERS Mark Guthrie, Mayor Mike Johnson, Council member Frank Blanks, Council member Sarah Reed, Council member Mark Brown II, Council member Katy Johnson, Council member Others present: Michael Coon, City Manager; Giani Cantu, City Secretary; Clif Custer, Public Works Director; Kenny Williams, Building Official PUBLIC COMMENTS All public comments will be subject to the following rules: all speakers will be permitted to speak no longer than 3 minutes; all speakers will only be permitted to speak once; speakers cannot defer their 3 minutes to another speaker; the first five individuals who sign up for the public comment section will be permitted to speak There were no public comments. CONSENT AGENDA Approval of Minutes of Previous Meetings September 10, 2018 Payment of Bills On motion by Sarah Reed second by Katie Johnson with all present members voting aye all consent agenda items were approved. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS Discuss interlocal agreement with the City of Clute for personnel resources Michael Coon staff has been working with Attorney and Clute, added in language to use equipment and to cover injuries. Mark Brown moved to approve the interlocal agreement. Sarah Reed seconded. Katie Johnson asked for clarification if the agreement included equipment. Michael Coon advised yes. Mr. Brown asked if the discussion began with other cities as well. Mr. Coon advised yes. With all present members voting “aye”, the interlocal agreement was approved. Appoint applicants to serve on Charter Review Commission On motion by Mark Brown second by Mike Johnson with all present members voting “aye” Patty Guthrie, Clint Kocurek, Frank Blanks, Lauren LaCount and Warren Allen were appointed to serve on Charter Review Commission. Discuss and consider implementation of market pay adjustments based on compensation study approved in Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Budget Mike Johnson asked for clarification on the agenda item: the budget was adopted but the market pay adjustments based on the compensation study were not implemented. Mark Brown stated we have allotted the funds but Council has not discussed how it is going to be implemented. Mark Guthrie asked what can be done according to the Charter. Mr. Coon stated that City Council does approve the compensation study as a whole. Sarah Reed asked so the why was the Compensation Study not approved in the budget. Mike Johnson asked Mark Brown what he wants. Mark Brown stated that he was looking for a little more discussion on the compensation study and shared his concerns with how the pay increases are being quantified. Sarah Reed stated she was under the impression that the initial implementation was based on experience because it is quantifiable. Mr. Coon stated that is correct. Mr. Brown stated we are fixing to spend $90,000 on a new position and then this plan is proposing more money when half the work is going away. Ms. Reed stated that her opinion is that they are still viable positions. The Finance Director position should have come to Richwood a long time ago. There was no further discussion. The Compensation Plan stands as approved in the FY 2018-2019 Budget. Discuss and consider changes to Section 20-4 of the Code of Ordinances regarding Transportation User Fees Mr. Coon stated the Transportation Fee has always been described to be used for streets and drainage. Under further research, the city attorney recommended changes to the ordinance to include additional language and definitions. On motion by Sarah Reed second by Frank Blanks with all present members voting “aye” the ordinance amending Section 20-4 regarding Transportation User Fees was passed and adopted. Discuss potential changes to zoning regulations within the City and consider setting a workshop session Mr. Coon stated with all the recent request for setback variances there is a desire to look at setbacks and staff would like discuss with Council more on what zoning is allowed. Zoning determines the feel of the City but it also directly effects the tax rate. Council needs to consider if the zoning codes are set up to accommodate the types of development that are going to make lower taxes feasible. Sarah Reed reported that Saturdays are the only days that work for her for special meetings. Mike Johnson suggested Saturday morning. Mark Brown stated Saturday mornings are not good, but he can do after 11 a.m. Further discussion was held on possibly doing a lunch workshop. Mr. Coon stated staff will send something out and schedule a Saturday that works best. Approve items removed from Consent Agenda No items were removed from the Consent Agenda. EXECUTIVE SESSION in accordance with Subchapter D of the Open Meetings Act, Texas Government code Section 551.001, et. Seq., to review and consider the following: Under authority of Section 551.074 to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee; or to hear a complaint or a charge against an officer or employee: Michael Coon, City Manager Mayor Guthrie recessed into executive session at 7:26 p.m. RECONVENE FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION and take action on the following: To deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee; or to hear a complaint or a charge against an officer or employee: Michael Coon, City Manager Mayor Guthrie reconvened to open session at 9:31 p.m. There was no action taken. REPORTS Reports that require no action. Clif Custer, Public Works Director, reported that about 2 ½ years ago there were complaints of water pressure at Oakwood Shores. Between now and then, there have been other complaints and concerns that TCEQ has investigated. The latest one being on September 25. The City received two violations at that time. One for coliform and one for 13 psi. TCEQ made some recommendations. Right now, we cannot open any five-inch water hydrants anywhere in town. With the new development, the City is out of time. The time is now to expand the infrastructure. 290 Subchapter D in TCEQ states “The system must be designed to maintain a minimum pressure of 35 psi at all points within the distribution network at flow rates of at least 1.5 gallons per minute per connection. When the system is intended to provide fire fighting capability, it must also be designed to maintain a minimum pressure of 20 psi under combined fire and drinking water flow conditions. The distribution system of public water systems that are also affected utilities must be designed to meet the requirements of §290.45(h) of this title (relating to Minimum Water System Capacity Requirements)”. Within the first sentence, we fall out of compliance. The scarier spot is at the worst parts we fall to 27 psi, which only leaves about 7 psi before we fall into a perpetual boil water notice. We are required to submit to daily testing. Richwood is long and skinny. As we see these issues to the north, they are being seen to the south as well. We are looking for funding both options. I have contacted Strand to start looking at options, because we don’t have a choice. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT Mr. Coon stated he has been working with Strand engineering and looking at grant opportunities. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Discuss the need for water infrastructure improvements. COMMITTEE REPORTS There were no committee reports. COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS & REPORTS There were no Council member reports. MAYOR’S REPORT There was no Mayor report. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m. These minutes were read and approved on this day of , 20 . Mark Guthrie, Mayor Attest: Giani Cantu, City Secretary