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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/15/1983 City Council MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON AUGUST 15, 1983 A REGULAR SESSION of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. with the following members present: Larry Sample Mayor Scott North Councilman Noel Long Councilman Norman Adeler Councilman Don Amick Councilman Charles Dodds Councilman Marlene Poole Councilman and with no members absent; thus, a quorum was established. 1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Sample led the Council and members of the audience in the pledge of allegiance to the United States flag. 2. CITIZEN INPUT Helen Gray was recognized and stated that she was under the impression that the meeting on August 8th was a closed session, and she therefore did not attend. She stated further that she was very disappointed with the Counc'il's action taken at the August 8th meeting (making the provisions of Article 1182-C-1 of VACS applicable to The Colony), as she felt they had "gone behind MUD's back". Mrs. Gray was also concerned that the City's "Old General" fire truck had never been made into a monument and placed at Fire Station No. 1, as she had been told that it would. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Councilman Poole moved to approve the minutes of the Special Session held on August 8, 1983, as presented. Seconded by Councilman North, the motion passed by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 4. PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING AN 5.14% INCREASE IN AD VALOREM TAXES AS REQUIRED BY THE 1983/84 FISCAL YEAR BUDGET Before the Public Hearing was opened, Janice Carroll, City Manager, explained that there had been an error on the agenda originally posted showing the percentage of increase to be 8.82%. She advised that this had been corrected on an additional agenda posted later. Councilman North moved to open the Public Hearing. Seconded by Councilman Amick, the motion passed by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Mrs. Carroll was recognized and explained the current tax rate of 34¢ would yield $1,086,955, and the proposed tax rate of 37¢ would yield $1,182,863 or a difference of $95,908. She advised further that in order to maintain the same services as at present, as well as the bond payments at the new value, the tax rate would actually be .35191¢ for 1983/84. She stated that this increase was due to bond indebtedness which was more for the 1983/84 fiscal year than for 1982/83. She then explained that the 5.14% increase in the tax rate was obtained by dividing the proposed tax rate of 37¢ by .35191¢. She then advised that the effect of the increase on an average home in The Colony ($70,000) would be $21.00. As there were no comments for or against the proposed increase, Council- man North moved to close the Public Hearing. The motion was seconded by Councilman Poole. Mrs. Carroll then stated that a notice would be published this week in The Colony Courier advising that a meeting to vote on the tax rate would be held on August 22, 1983, at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall and that City Attorney John Boyle would prepare this tax levy ordinance. Mayor Sample then called for a vote on the motion on the floor, which passed by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 5. CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST BY THE COLONY VOLUNTEER FIREMEN FOR THE USE OF CITY FACILITIES Wayne Scott, a Colony volunteer fireman, was recognized and stated that they were requesting the use of Fire Station No. 1 for the annual Haunted Fire Barn for three nights ending on Halloween and Station No. 2 for "Lunch with Santa" on either the first or second Sunday in December. He explained that the proceeds of these events are used for needy families in the community. Mrs. Carroll stated that both she and Fire Chief Ronnie Gothard fully supported both of these activities. Councilman Dodds moved to approve the use of Station No.1 for the Haunted Fire Barn and the use of Station No. 2 for Lunch with Santa as requested. Seconded by Councilman North, the motion passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Mayor Sample thanked the Volunteer Fire Department for their work in these fund-raising activities. 6. PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING ZONING CHANGE FROM SPECIAL PERMIT/DAY CARE TO GENERAL RETAIL AS REQUESTED BY DR. FRED HOLT AND DR. JOHN RIVERA ACTING AS AGENTS FOR THE COLONY JOINT VENTURE ON PROPERTY LOCATED ON PAIGE ROAD AT STRICKLAND AVENUE NORTH OF THE LA PETITE DAY CARE CENTER Councilman North moved to open the Public Hearing. Seconded by Councilman Poole, the motion passed by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Janice Carroll, City Manager, was recognized, and she stated that Mr. Bradburry, Director of Community Development, was present at the meeting and had a preliminary site plan on this property. She also explained that the Planning and Zoning Commission had held their Public Hearing on this request and had also approved this zoning change. Both Dr. Holt and Dr. Rivera were also present at the meeting, and Dr. Holt stated that he and Dr. Rivera planned to subdivide this property for their two uses; Dr. Holt was planning an animal clinic, and Dr. Rivera would have optometrist's office and optical bus~ness at this location. Councilman Adeler asked Dr. Holt about the type of animals he would have at this location, and Dr. Holt stated that he dealt only with small animals and that they would all be housed inside his facility. At this time, Mrs. Carroll read the description of the General Retail classifi- cation from the Zoning Ordinance, as follows: The GR, General Retail district is applied to the substantial strip retail areas which because of the nature of development are not appropriate for inclusion in the SC, Shopping Center district. The uses specified in the GR, General Retail district include most types of retail activity except for certain -2- '00 . open-type displays such as used car lots and heavy machinery sales which are not compatible with the retail shopping function intended in the GR, General Retail district. It is, however, anticipated that in some situation a future change to a Commer- cial or Office classification might be appropriate to permit the transition of strip retail areas which are no longer in demand for retail use to other productive forms of land use. There being no comments for or against this zoning change, Councilman Dodds moved to close the Public Hearing, with the recommendation that the ordinance necessary for approval of this zoning change be prepared. This motion was seconded by Councilman Poole. Mayor Sample did, at this time, ask Mr. Bradburry if there was anything unusual about this site plan, and Mr. Bradburry answered that there was not. Councilman North asked about the type of construction to be used, and Dr. Holt answered that it would be brick and would blend with the area. Mrs. Carroll explained to Dr. Holt and Dr. Rivera that the subdivision of the property would be handled during the platting process. Mayor Sample then called for a vote on the motion on the floor, which passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 7. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING COST ESTIMATES FOR ROOFING REPAIR ON THE CITY HALL BUILDING Mr. Bradburry, Director of Community Development, was recognized and presented the three proposals which had been received, as follows: American Eagle Roofing Inc. $4,000 H. G. Roofing Co. 3,900 Lusk Bros. Roofing Co. 4,700 He then explained that, although the proposal from H. G. Roofing was the lowest, the proposal from American Eagle included a three- year guarantee, rather than just one year, as well as better materials. Mrs. Carroll advised that the American Eagle proposal of $4,000 would be an amount over the budget, which would need to be taken from the Contingency Reserve as a line-item transfer. Mr. Bradburry then advised the Council that the problems with the roof were urgent at this time, due to existing leaks which have already rotted out the flooring in some places. Councilman Poole asked about the possibility of redoing the Police Department section of the building during this process, in order for it to match the rest of the facility, and Mrs. Carroll stated that this would be checked into. Councilman Poole asked about the references given by American Eagle, and Mr. Bradburry stated that he had checked into these and that they were very good. Mrs. Carroll, at this time, stated that she would recommend the proposal from American Eagle, when asked by Mayor Sample. Councilman North moved to accept the proposal from American Eagle Roofing Inc. of $4,000. Seconded by Councilman Adeler, the motion passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 8. CONSIDERATION OF THE COLONY YOUTH SOCCER ASSOCIATION REQUEST FOR EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE CONCESSION STAND AT TURNER STREET COMMUNITY PARK Mrs. Carroll introduced Richard Haas, who was present at the meeting to represent The Colony Youth Soccer Association, and advised the Council that they had in their packets a letter from the CYSA, which included this request among others. She explained that the use of the concession stand was the only item in this letter being considered at this meeting. Mrs. Carroll advised that the -3- staff had no problem with CYSA's use of this concession stand. She did clarify for Mayor Sample that this is an existing arrange- ment. Mr. Jerry Van-Y, Parks Superintendent, was also present, and stated the Parks and Recreation Department had experienced no problems with this arrangement. It was clarified that the word "exclusive" was somewhat misleading, as the soccer associa- tion had agreed to work with other organizations regarding use of the facility, and the City's approval of the arrangement was on this basis. Councilman North stated that he felt the reason for the use of the word exclusive was due to equipment that the soccer association did have in the stand. Councilman Dodds moved to approve the use of the concession stand at Turner Street Community Park for 12 months beginning September 1, 1983, on the same basis as last year. Seconded by Councilman Long, the motion passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 9. CONSIDERATION OF PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD RECOMMENDATION TO INCREASE THE GROUP FEE FOR STEWARTS CREEK PARK Janice Carroll, City Manager, stated that Jerry Van-Y, Parks Superin- tendent, was present and that he had been present at the Parks and Recreation Board meetings when these fees were discussed. The Parks and Recreation Board was recommending that the fee for groups up to 50 be raised to $25 and that for groups of 51 up the fee be raised to $50. Mayor Sample asked if these groups would have stickers on their cars so that they could be identified and so that park personnel would be able to ticket persons in the park without permits. Mr. Van-Y stated that the groups would have some type of permit by which they could be identified. Council- man Amick asked about the purpose of the increased group permit fee as opposed to the $2.00 per car daily permit. Mr. Van-Y stated that although there might not be that great a difference in the money, they were also considering the public relations standpoint. Councilman Amick then stated that he did not feel the proposed group fees were high enough, considering the maintenance expense in the park, especially after use by groups. Councilman Dodds asked about the possibility of requiring a deposit, which could then be refunded if the group did a satisfactory job of cleaning up. Mayor Sample recognized Charlie Parker, a member of the audi- ence, who stated that he did not feel there had been an adequate history established as yet regarding group use of the park. He also felt that a deposit would place the City in the position of having to judge whether a group had cleaned up satisfactorily. Councilman Adeler suggested having a fee of $1.00 per person, which had been brought up by Mr. Parker. At this time, Mr. Parker also stated that he felt there should be a standard policy established regarding who is required to pay these fees and which groups would be exempt. After further discussion, Councilman North moved to table this item and send it back to the Park and Recreation Board for further study, with the d~rection that they come up with a suggested fee, incorporating the Council's suggestions. Seconded by Councilman Dodds, the motion passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 10. CONSIDERATION OF PARTICIPATION WITH THE TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE IN OPPOSING THE SOUTHWESTERN BELL RATE INCREASE REQUEST FILED ON JUNE 24, 1983 Janice Carroll, City Manager, stated that the Council had in their packets information from. TML concerning this rate increase request. She advised further that if the City chose to participate, there would be a fee of four cents per capita, payable to TML, which would come to $463.32. At this time, she recommended that the City not participate with TML in this effort. Councilman Long stated that he would recommend that The Colony participate with -4- TML in opposing this rate increase as the amount we would pay is small in comparison to the cost to other cities, and The Colony would eventually be affected by this increase. Councilman Long then moved that The Colony participate with the Texas Municipal League in opposing this rate increase request filed on June 24, 1983. The motion was seconded by Councilman Poole. Councilman North then asked Mrs. Carroll for a brief history of our participa- tion and non-participation in these rate cases. Mrs. Carroll answered that in any case in which it was felt it would benefit the citizens of The Colony, the City had participated, and she stated further that her reason for not recommending participation this time was due to the possibility of metered calling in the near future, as well as the fact that this increase would be mainly in local charges, rather than long distance, and she felt that The Colony would not be affected as adversely as it would be with an increase in long-distance charges. She explained further that she felt that if the metered calling is put into effect, The Colony would benefit overall. A resident who was present in the audience was recognized by Mayor Sample and stated that the City had not asked any of the citizens what they thought about this rate increase request, and he felt that Southwestern Bell was always asking for these rate increases and each time they also take away a service. There followed a lengthy discussion regarding this issue. Mrs. Carroll did clarify that the funding for participation in this rate case would come from the Professional Services line item in the General Administration Department budget and further that the funds would need to be transferred from the Contingency Reserve. She advised the Council at this time that all of these needed transfers from the Conltingency Reserve could be handled at one time by the Council. Mayor Sample then called for a vote on the motion on the floor, which passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Ail members present voted aye Noes: None There being no further action to be taken by the Council, Councilman Dodds moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Councilman Poole, the motion passed by the following vote: Ayes: Ail members present voted aye Noes: None Mayor Sample adjourned the meeting at 8:55 p.m. ATTEST: JANICE CARROLL, CITY SECRETARY -5-