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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/21/2002 City Council MINUTES OF REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL HELD ON JANUARY 21, 2002 The Regular Session of the City Council of thc City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on the 21st day of January 2002, at City Hall with the following roll call: Bernetta Henville-Shannon Mayor Present John Gordon Councilmember Present Lewis Jue Councilmember Present David Stanwick Councilmember Present A1 Garcia Councilmember Present John Dillard Councilmember Absent Dave Kovatch Councilmember Absent and with six present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: ~ ROUTINE ANNOUNCEMENTS, RECOGNITIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS: Call to Order Invocation - Councilmember David Stanwick Presentation of the Colors - Girl Scout Troop #503 Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag Salute to the Texas Flag 2001 Annual report from Community Waste Disposal (Medigovich) Mr. Medigovich reported there had been a 47% increase in recycling since the city switched to the bin system. He also stated there had been a 31% decrease in complaint calls this past year. CWD participated in the following city events: July 4th Parade and Celebration, the Trinity River Trash Bash and the Christmas Parade. Presentation of plaque to Joe Agnew (Persaud)- Mr. Agnew was not present Presentation of plaque to Delaina Hammock and Sue Walden (Terrall) EDC President A1 Garcia and Tom Terrall presented plaques of appreciation to Ms. Hammock and Ms. Walden for their dedication and service to the city by serving on The Colony Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors. Mayoral Proclamations: Declaring Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Mayor Henville-Shannon read the proclamation, which had been read and presented at the MLK celebration earlier in the day. Declaring Anniversary Day - Mayor Henville-Shannon read the proclamation declaring January 24, 2002 as 25th Anniversary Day for the City of The Colony and presented it to the city manager. Special Recognition of City of The Colony 25th Anniversary (Hicks) City Secretary Patti Hicks gave a brief history of the City of The Colony, citing facts about the land, the original Home Owner's Association and Law Enforcement Commission, Home Rule Charter Commission and other interesting information. Ms. Hicks advised that city scrapbooks from City Hall, Police Department, M.U.D. and Eastvale would be on display through the end of January and invited the public to come and browse. Mayoral Comments - Collin County Community College is once again broadcasting on Channel 71. The Charter Amendment Election is set for February 2, 2002. 1.1 Citizen Input Barbara Carey with Christian Community Action (CCA) thanked the city for their continued assistance and presented the mayor with a plaque. Joe McCourry, 5769 Bedford Lane and Larry Johnson, 5800 Concord advised the council that the residents of The Legends area took over the Home Owner's Association (HOA) on January 21, 2002 1 January 17, 2002. They were then advised that the gas easement would have to be cleaned up or they would face substantial fines from the city. Both wanted to know why this problem had not been addressed with the developer before the residents took over the HOA. They said this is too much expense for the residents to take on. They advised that the developer is behind on paying the rollback taxes on the property and that has caused residents to be unable to sell or refinance their homes. Mr. Johnson said if the residents pay for the clean up they will expect some financial assistance from the City and advised that litigation is possible (if no assistance is received). 14.0 I STAFF REPORTS 4.1 Receive report from City Secretary regarding effect of new county voting precinct numbers (Hicks) Ms. Hicks clarified the new voting precinct numbers reminded everyone that voting precinct lines within the city had not changed, but some numbers did change as a result of the recent council redistricting. OLD NUMBER NEW NUMBER POLLING PLACE 110 231 Senior Center 112 222 Peters Colony 117 233 Senior Center 119 232 Senior Center All other precinct numbers stayed the same and the polling places are the same as they have always been for city elections. 201,202, 219, 221 Vote at Camey Elementary 109 Vote at Peter's Colony Elementary [2.0[ CONSENT AGENDA 2.1 Consideration of approval of the minutes of the council meeting held January 7, 2002 (Hicks) Motion to approve the minutes as written - Stanwick; second - Garcia carried with all ayes. 2.2 Consideration of approval of an ordinance amending Chapter 6 relating to placement of political signs around polling places (Hicks) Motion to approve the ordinance as written - Stanwick; second - Garcia carried with all ayes. 2.3 Consideration of approval of an ordinance authorizing the purchase of one pick up truck through the Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments in the amount of $29,776.92 (Morrison/Sparkman) Motion to approve as recommended - Stanwick; second - Garcia carried with all ayes. 2.4 Consideration of authorizing Change Order No. 3 to Camino Construction, Inc. in the amount of $14,400.00, for six emergency water main repairs (Saldafla) 2.5 Consideration of authorizing Change Order No. 4 to Camino Construction, Inc. in the amount of $33,400.00, for twelve water main repairs (Saldafla) January 21, 2002 2 Councilmember Gordon pulled items 2.4 and 2.5 for discussion. He stated that he thought water and sewer lines were being replaced as the street was being replaced along Blair Oaks. Mr. Saldafia explained that in two instances the flanged, bolted connections on the 18" transmission line has been found to be leaking. He said the transmission line is not in need of replacement, but the connections apparently are. Mr. Saldafia said staff recommends going ahead with replacement or repair of the connections now rather than waiting until the street is complete. Mr. Johnston advised the council that the bond fund would be reimbursed for these repairs from the operating budget of water distribution. Mr. Saldafia told the council these two change orders take care of all the connections on Blair Oaks from N. Colony to S. Colony. Mr. Johnston reiterated that the line should be good for another 20 years. Mayor Henville-Shannon asked if there would be other change orders. Mr. Saldafia said there might be some quantities that need changing, but right how he does not know of any changes. Motion to approve items 2.4 and 2.5 as presented - Gordon; second - Stanwick carried with all ayes. 2.6 Consideration of an ordinance authorizing the purchasing of Municipal Court software from Incode at an approximate cost of $40,579.00 (Ristagno/Johnston) Motion to approve as presented - $tanwick; second - Garcia carried with all ayes. 2.7 Consideration of authorizing the expenditure of funds from the Court Security Fund for the purchase of security equipment for Municipal Court in the amount of approximately $8,644 (Ristagno/Johnston) Motion to approve as presented- Stanwick; second - Garcia carried with all ayes. 2.8 Consideration of authorizing the renewal of a lease with Mr. John Mitchell for the lease of an irregular tract of laud contiguous to his residence at 4301 Queen Circle (Johnston) Councilmember Garcia stated that he would like to bring all three leases of this type back to the council at the same time. He said all the leases should be consistent. Mr. Johnston agreed and asked the council to postpone this item so staff can do some further review. Motion to postpone - Stanwick; second - Gordon carried with all ayes. 2.9 Consideration of authorizing the following fund transfers: From Utility Fund Construction Fund to the Street Construction Fund - $608,327 From Street Impact Fees Fund to the Street Construction Fund - $645,000 From Drainage Impact Fees Fund to the Drainage for Office Creek/Memorial Drive - $200,000 (Johnston) Motion to approve as presented - Stanwick; second - Garcia carried with all ayes. 2.10 Consideration of approval of council expenditures (Council) Motion to approve as presented - Stanwick; second - Garcia carried with all ayes. 13.o I REGULAR AGENDA ] January 21, 2002 3 3.1 Consideration of approval of a resolution authorizing the hiring of counsel to obtain a 700 sq. ft. tract of land for construction of a public roadway (Persaud) -- Before opening discussion, Mayor Henvillc-Shannon asked if Councilmember or staff had any conflicts with this item. There being none, she allowed discussion to begin. Mr. Persaud advised the council that the Billingsley Company proposes to construct a collector street (Tittle Drive) with four 12 feet lanes located in the City of Lewisville. He further advised that Tittle Dhve would access Plano Pkwy. About 1100 feet south of SH 121, which traverses a narrow strip of land approximately 700 square feet in size and which is owned by the Maharishi Global Development Fund (MGDF). He went on to say that most of the land is within a 10 ft. utility easement, which runs parallel to Plano Pkwy. Mr. Persaud said initial discussions with the MGDF and the developer and/or the city regarding the use of this property (for the street) have proved futile. Councilmember Stanwick said that Tittle Drive was part of the presentation for the Windhaven extension and he said he doesn't recall any mention of exact alignments for this roadway. He said the first he heard about condemnation was last week and he was disturbed that it had not been brought to council's attention earlier. Councilmember Stanwick said he has a problem with taking private property for no valid reason. Councilmember Stanwick continued that (it appears) the whole reason for this action would be to secure a median cut. He stated he is not in favor of a median cut until a traffic study is done. He also expressed concern that we have made 3 major deviations from the thoroughfare plan. He said the city should look at the big picture, possibly from a regional aspect. He said if the traffic generated by this roadway was only cars he would feel differently, but 90% of the traffic will be semi trucks. Councilmember Stanwick reiterated that he is not in favor of this item. Councilmember Jue said he wants to know the purpose and who benefits from this -- roadway, Lewisville or The Colony. He said traffic from the Sysco plant is the issue and it is obviously the goal to get that traffic to Hwy. 121. He went on to say that we should hear from the landowner (before initiating condemnation). Councilmember Jue said he has a problem with starting condemnation proceedings without hearing the landowner's point of view. Councilmember Gordon said it appears The Colony is being asked to take all the traffic for the Sysco plant. He said that is not fair of Lewisville or the developer to ask that of our city. He also said he had no knowledge of possible condemnation until he received an e-mail last week. Councilmember Gordon said we are putting the city in an adversarial role before it's necessary. Councilmember Jue also expressed concern over hiring an attorney he had never heard of, noting previously council had reviewed attorneys before hiring them. Mayor Henville-Shannon said this item is to authorize hiring an attorney and noted that some of the questions being asked will be answered at a later time. She said questioning what benefits The Colony would reap was a good one and wondered if those questions were asked when the city decided (to pay for fight-of-way) to extend Josey Lane or when improvements to Boyd Rd. were discussed. The mayor agreed that a traffic study is needed. Mr. Saldafia reminded council that a traffic study is part of the requirements for the approval of the realignment of Headquarters Drive. He also reminded them currently Plano Pkwy. is not a tTuck route. Councilmember Jue agreed that independent counsel is needed and stated that an economics professor actually projected the benefits of extending Josey Lane. He also explained that Boyd Rd. is a county funded project that will directly benefit Wyrmewood, which is in the City of The Colony. Councilmember Stanwick said the council needs to decide if they want to proceed (with condemnation) or not and if we don't want to, then we don't need to hire counsel. He said he is not convinced we have to cross that property. January 21, 2002 4 Mayor Henville-Shannon said we do need to find out the benefits before making a decision. Gordon Hikel, city attorney advised that before eminent domain proceedings are initiated there are certain statutory requirements that have to be met. He said the city should negotiate with the landowner, get an appraisal and make an offer. He said if no agreement could be reached then eminent domain proceedings could be initiated. Councilmember Gordon said before hiring an attorney we need to know the benefits to The Colony and we need to talk to the landowner. Henry Billingsley advised that they (Billingsley Co.) have talked to city staff over the last 2-3 months and that it appears the council has not been kept informed. He suggested a work session of all parties involved. Mr. Billingsley said he thought the landowner would agree due to receiving approximately $200,000 in benefits from the transaction. Mr. Billingsley said if they have to, they could move the roadway. He said the road could be skewed about 30%, but that would not be the best alignment. He also noted that in either case, the city would require a left turn stacking lane and a right lane from Plano Parkway. Motion to deny the resolution - Jue Mayor Henville-Shannon said before taking the motion she would like to discuss holding a work session between all parties. Councilmember Stanwick advised it is not necessary to deny the resolution, noting that if the council takes no action, the matter goes away. Councilmember Jue withdrew his motion. Mayor Henville-Shannon said a time would be set for a work session in the near future. 3.2 Discussion and consideration of advertising non-profit organizations on Cable Channel 17 (Henville-Shannon) - This item was not addressed. With no further business to address the meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. APPROVED: Bernetta Henville-Shannon, Mayor ATTEST: Patti A. Hicks, TRMC, City Secretary January 21, 2002 5