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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/07/2003 City Council MINUTES OF REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL HELD ON APRIL 7, 2003 The Regular Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:07 p.m. on the 7th day of April 2003, at City Hall with the following roll call: Bernetta Henville-Shannon Mayor Present John Gordon Councilmember Present Lewis Jue Councilmember Present Joe McCourry Councilmember Present Lynda Bayliss Councilmember Present Perry Schrag Councilmember Present Joel Marks Councilmember Present and with seven present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: I 1.0 ] ROUTINE ANNOUNCEMENTS, RECOGNITIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS: Call to Order Invocation - Dale Cheatham, City Manager Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag Salute to the Texas Flag Mayoral Proclamation National Library Week - Nancy Boykin accepted the proclamation and invited the public to participate in National Library Week activities. Law Day - Judge Deborah Hollifield accepted the proclamation and invited the public to attend the open house at the Government Center sponsored by her and Constable Larry Floyd on May 1, 2003. In Support of Our Troops - accepted the proclamation and thanked the council for the recognition. Citizen Input Alisa Green, 4913 Womack Circle, expressed concern that citizen input was not allowed at the special session held on March 31 and urged the city council to make citizen input a part of every agenda. Marcie Kirkpatfick, 4304 Cape Cod, asked why the city Councilmembers had called a special session to be held at the same time a town hall meeting had been called by the mayor. Ms. Kirkpatrick was advised that council could not respond to her question during the meeting. 12.0 ]CONSENT AGENDA 2.1 Consideration of approval of the minutes of the council meetings held March 17 and 31, 2003 (Hicks) Motion to approve as written - McCourry; second- Bayliss, carried with all ayes. 2.2 Consideration of approval of an ordinance providing for the registration of retail electric providers; providing for registration fee and for the suspension or revocation of registration (Sparkman) Motion to approve as presented- McCourry; second- Bayliss, carried with all ayes. 2.3 Consideration of approval of an ordinance transferring $200,000 from the utility Operating Fund to the Special Capital Projects Fund (Koo) Mayor Henville-Shannon pulled this item for explanation. Mr. Johnston stated that for some time excess money has been transferred from the Utility Fund for special projects. April 7, 2003 Minutes 1 He said we have been able to replace an estimated $1 million in water and sewer lines using these funds. Motion to approve as presented - Jue; second - Bayliss, carried with all ayes. 2.4 Consideration of approval of cancellation of the April 21, 2003 council meeting (Council) Councilmember Marks pulled this item to clarify that a meeting could be held if necessary even though the council took this action tonight. Mr. Cheatham said a meeting could be called. Motion to approve as presented - Gordon; second - Marks, carried with all ayes. 3.0 I REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS 3.1 Consideration of an ordinance authorizing the city manager to execute an agreement with Oncor for the installation of streetlights on Blair Oaks between N. Colony and S. Colony (Leverich) Mr. Leverich gave a brief presentation on the types of streetlights to be installed. The time frame for installation is not known. The lights will have photosensitive bulbs, but can be converted to a timed system if the city chooses to do so in the future. Oncor will continue to maintain the lights just as they have been doing with the current streetlights. Motion to approve as written - McCourry; second- Jue, carried with all ayes. 3.2 Consideration of approval of a development plan for Tract "C", Planned Development District PD -16, located on the southwest corner of Memorial Drive and Morning Star (Persaud) Mr. Persaud gave a brief history of thc plan, stating thc 30-acre tract was zoned PD-9 and later re-zoned PD-16. Thc tract will bc developed in 2 phases. Mr. Pcrsaud advised that staff and the P&Z recommend approval of the development plan with stipulations. Councilmcmbcr McCourry asked Mr. Persaud to explain why there no right turn lane planned for southbound traffic on Morningstar. Mr. Pcrsaud advised staff had requested a traffic study and the study did not warrant a right turn lane in that location. Mr. Pcrsaud went on to say that there had bccn$ stipulations originally and the developer has met 4 of them. He said now, 2 mom have bccn added for a total of 3 stipulations as follows: 1. Engineering plans are to be approved in accordance with City specifications. 2. Outdoor lighting intensity shall not exceed 0.S-foot candle when measured 3 feet above grade at thc property line. 3. Developer agrees to construct a left turn lane for eastbound traffic on Memorial Drive turning north onto Morningstar with City participation of 50%. Mayor Henville-Shannon asked why the city had to pay half the cost of the left mm lane for eastbound traffic on Memorial Drive going north onto Morningstar and asked if the traffic engineer used numbers at full build out for the study. Mr. Persaud explained that the traffic study does not warrant full installation of the left mm lane and the city requested the lane be built. The developer has agreed to pay half the cost. Ms. Bridgette Shamburger, traffic engineer advised that the traffic study was done using numbers projected for full build out. Councilmember Marks expressed concern that there is no right turn deceleration lane planned for turning into the development. Mr. Persaud stated the traffic study did not show it was needed. Councilmember McCourry asked if there was room to stack cars off the street before going through the gates. Mr. Persaud indicated there would be plenty of room. Councilmember Marks asked if the money is available for the city's share. Mr. Cheatham said the city could easily fund their portion of $5,000 to $10,000. April 7, 2003 Minutes 2 Mayor Henville-Shannon also expressed concern about the back up on Momingstar leaving the city onto Hwy 121. Lengthy discussion followed regarding adding a fight mm lane from Morningstar onto Hwy 121. Mr. Persaud advised this had been looked at before and asked if the council would want to build the lane when it would not be needed in the future when 121 is complete. Ms. Shamburger, advised they look at that intersection and based on City of The Colony standards it would still operate at acceptable levels following construction of this development. Councilmember Marks said he could not agree to this without adding a right turn lane onto Hwy 121. Mr. Persaud asked again if council would want to do that even if it is not needed in the future. He said Tx DOT would allow a temporary asphalt lane. Randy Blair with Kimley- Horn advised the council that the intersection is not their property. It is not the responsibility of the developer. Councilmember Marks suggested we talk to the City of Lewisville about adjusting the signal lights to allow more traffic out of The Colony (in lieu of the fight turn lane). Mayor Henville-Shannon suggested the council hold their questions until a work session could be scheduled. Councilmember Gordon asked the cost for a temporary asphalt lane, clarifying that would mean two left turn lanes and one right turn lanes at that intersection. Mayor Henville-Shannon said when 121 is built, the traffic will all have to turn right and will get even more bogged down. Mr. Persaud advised there would be other avenues around and out of the city to ease that intersection. He further stated that staff does not have a cost for the asphalt at this time. Mayor Henville-Shannon suggested tabling this item. Councilmember Marks asked if this developer is responsible for this fight mm lane. Mr. Persaud they would be only if the traffic study warranted it. He suggested that council approve the development plan and direct staff to look into adding a right turn lane. Councilmember Marks said he has no problem approving the plan as presented, but he thinks the problem is traffic control. Motion to approve this item with stipulations - McCourry; second- Marks. Councilmember Gordon asked if staff would be asked to look at the right turn lane. Councilmember McCourry said that is not part of his motion, but he thinks it should be done, noting it is not the developer's responsibility. Mr. Cheatham advised that staff would research this matter. Motion carried with the following vote: Aye - Gordon, Jue, McCourry, Bayliss, $chrag, Marks No - Henville-Shannon 3.3 Consideration of approval of a site plan for Multi family development, Estancia at Morning Star, located on the southwest corner of Memorial Drive and Morning Star (Persaud) Mr. Persaud advised that staff and P&Z recommend approval with stipulations as follows: 1. Engineering plans are to be approved in accordance with City specifications. 2. Outdoor lighting intensity shall not exceed 0.5-foot candle when measured 3 feet above grade at the property line. 3. Developer agrees to construct a left turn lane for eastbound traffic on Memorial Drive turning north onto Morningstar with City participation of 50%. Mr. Nick Sulkowski with Kimley Horn gave a brief overview of the project. He noted the booster tank for providing water is part of the plan due to tests that showed the water pressure is about 48 PSI. He said that is inadequate to provide water to a 3-storied development. The pump will enhance the domestic water pressure over 60 PSI. Motion to approve the site plan with stipulations - $chrag; second- Gordon carried with all ayes. April 7, 2003 Minutes 3 3.4 Receive report from Cultural Arts Board Chair and consideration of appropriate action as a result of that report (Hill) Lori Hill, chair of the Cultural Arts Board commended the council for their hard work in furthering the arts in the community. She shared the board's mission statement, goals and current issues with the council. (See Attachment "A") She asked the council to be open to other ideas for a possible location for the arts facility and she asked them to be prepared for growth. Ms Hill said the board would like to get current hotel/motel tax and budget information. She asked the council what the board's position is regarding media releases, etc. She said the board needs direction from council. Councilmember McCourry said the board should be able to place items on Channel 17 and should work with the PlO to get information to the public. Mayor Henville-Shannon said that the issues brought out in this report should be discussed in a joint work session between the Council and the Cultural Arts Board. 3.5 Consideration of approval of correction to the record of the March 17, 2003 council meeting (Day) Mr. Day explained that council had taken action on item 3.5 on the March 17, 2003 agenda as follows: "Motion to reduce the plan review fee to 10% of the building permit fee for multi-family only - Jue; second - Marks. The vote on the motion was as follows: Aye - Jue, Bayliss, Marks; No - Gordon, McCourry, Schrag; Abstain - Henville-Shannon." Mr. Day said when he was asked to rule on the outcome he stated the motion had passed because the abstention would go with the motion (or the affirmative). The meeting was then adjourned. Mr. Day advised that upon further review of the matter, he determined the motion actually failed because the abstention did not go to the affirmative, it went to the negative, thus causing the motion to fail. In order to correct the record of the March 17, 2003 meeting, the following was read: The motion on item 3.5 on the March 17, 2003 agenda failed with the following vote: Aye - Jue, Bayliss, Marks; No - Gordon, McCourry, Schrag; Abstain - Henville-Shannon (This will be attached to the March 17, 2003 minutes as a cross reference to this action.) 3.6 Consideration of authorizing staff to proceed with drafting an ordinance that would allow alternate positions on advisory boards (Henville-Shannon) Motion to split the item and not address 4A and 4B until we receive legal advice from the city attorney, but to continue to discuss other boards - McCourry; second- $chrag. Mayor Henville-Shannon said she favors implementing an alternate policy, which would allow an alternate on a board to be automatically appointed to fill a vacancy on that board. She said the alternates would sit on the board would not have a vote. Mayor Henville-Shannon suggested that staff contact those persons the council has already interviewed to see if they are still interested and if so they could be appointed as alternates without advertising, interviewing, etc. She said this would streamline the process of filling vacancies (on boards). Councilmember McCourry re-stated his motion. Mr. Day, city attorney advised this item was only posted for advisory boards and since 4A and 4B are not truly advisory, it would not be necessary to make such a motion. Discussion continued. Councilmember Gordon said he is not in favor of appointing alternates because it would curtail new people from applying. Councilmember McCourry disagreed, stating that input from April 7, 2003 Minutes 4 alternates would be invaluable and they would be able to step in and fill a vacancy immediately. He said then the council would not feel pressured to fill a vacancy. Councilmember Bayliss said this seems like adding more people to those the council is trying to appoint. She asked if these people would be automatically appointed without receiving other applicants. Mayor Henville-Shannon said there are always applications on hand for those persons who have not been appointed. Councilmember Jue asked if alternates would be required to attend all board meetings. The mayor said they (alternate) could choose whether or not to attend all board meetings. Councilmember Gordon stated that not all applicants are qualified and this would not be fair to other applicants. Councilmember Schrag said the council's job is to fill the positions and just because a person is not appointed the first time, does not mean they cannot re-apply. Mayor Henville-Shannon said anyone who walks in to volunteer is qualified. Councilmember Gordon disagreed, stating not everyone, for example, is qualified to serve on P&Z. Councilmember Marks said if this alternate policy is implemented then the new council might not. get the chance to make appointments to boards. He said he is not sure this is a good idea. Councilmember Marks said the interview process is a good one. Councilmember Bayliss asked the city secretary if all applicants are notified every time there is a vacancy. Ms. Hicks explained that all applicants are reviewed, but normally only the applications of those persons who applied for the board on which there is a vacancy are pulled for council to review. Councilmember Gordon said he does not want to limit the talent pool and he called the question. Motion passed with the following vote: Aye - Jue, McCourry, Schrag, Henville-Shannon No - Gordon, Bayliss ,4bstain - Marks It was determined that this action did not resolve item 3.6, but merely postponed discussion of 4A and 4B boards. Motion to continue interviewing as is currently being done and not to add alternates to any boards except those that already have them - Marks; second - Gordon carried with the following vote: Aye - Gordon, Jue, Bayliss, Schrag, Marks No - McCourry, Henville-Shannon 3.7 Consideration of appointment to The Colony Economic Development Board of Directors (4A) (ltenville-Shannon) Mayor Henville-Shannon asked why Matt Armstrong and David Greer were not on the list provided to council for consideration. Ms. Hicks advised they were not in the pool of applications for 4A. Mayor Henville-Shannon asked council if they wanted to advertise for applicants or consider persons already interviewed. It was noted that some of the applicants provided to council for this meeting had not been intervSewed. Councilmember Schrag said the council should interview as soon as possible, but that it should be advertised and opened up. Councilmember Jue clarified that while he understood the mayor's purpose in asking for alternates he believes it is one of the council's responsibilities to interview for board positions. He went on to say it was the council's fault for not addressing the vacancy on 4A sooner. Councilmember Jue said in the future the council should act more expediently. Mayor Henville-Shannon they (council) tried to fill the position in December of last year, but council was not happy with the choice that was there. Motion to wait until after the May election to interview for 4,4 vacancies - Marks; second - Gordon. April 7, 2003 Minutes 5 Councilmember Gordon suggested that staff advertise for a 7 - 10 day period for applicants. Motion carried with the following vote: Aye- Gordon, Jue, Bayliss, $chrag, Marks, Henville-Shannon No - McCourry 3.8 Consideration of approval of an amendment to the policies for The Colony Governmental Television to allow candidates running for public office air time on local cable channels (McCourry) Councilmember McCourry said he believes the cable channel is a good way to get information out to citizens and recommended allowing candidates for election to use the channel within FCC guidelines to introduce themselves to the voters. He said it could not be in place for the May 2003 election, but he said the policy should be amended before the next election. Councilmember Gordon reminded council that we have two years to give staff direction. Mr. Cheatham said he does not think the existing policy specifically prohibits this but he wants to be sure the council is in favor of it before proceeding. Mayor Henville-Shannon said it would be O.K., but that she doesn't want to open it up for political rhetoric. Councilmember McCourry noted that this topic is already covered in the policy. Councilmember Schrag said council should work through the details in a work session. Councilmember McCourry said he would like to give staff direction to pull together the information and asked council to strike the section regarding "political programming" on page 7. Mr. Gary Day, city attorney suggested a proposed motion to allow staff to begin drafting an amendment which could be brought back to council, "Motion to approve an amendment to the policies for The Colony Governmental Television to allow candidates running for public office air time on local cable channels in a manner and under procedures recommended by staff and subsequently approved in final form by this council." Councilmember Marks said he is not ready to make an amendment tonight and that he is not sure we should be in this business. Motion to approve an amendment to the policies for The Colony Governmental Television to allow candidates running for public office air time on local cable channels in a manner and under procedures recommended by staff and subsequently approved in final form by this council - Schrag; second- McCourry. Councilmember McCourry stated that this is the council's responsibility and quoted a section of the existing policy, "To promote quality programming that will inform, educate, entertain, and enlighten the citizen of The Colony and keep them abreast of City events and issues." Motion carried with the following vote: Aye-Jue, McCourry, Bayliss, $chrag, Marks, Henville-Shannon Abstain - Gordon 14.0 I EXECUTIVE SESSION 10:05 p.m. Reconvened in Executive Session 4.1 Executive Session as authorized by Section 551.086 of the Government Code regarding Economic Development, to-wit: A. To deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect. 10:22 Convened in open session 4.2 Consideration of appropriate action to be taken as a result of executive session. April 7, 2003 Minutes 6 Motion to authorize the mayor and city manager to a letter of incentive commitment as presented in executive session - Gordon; second- $chrag carried with all ayes. APPROVED: Patti A. Hicks, City Secretary April 7, 2003 Minutes 7 The Colony Cultural Arts Board Mission Statement To nurture, enrich, enhance, mentor, and advance all cultural arts for the citizens and children of The Colony and beyond. Goals * To advise the council on cultural arts matters · To promote the city as a community that values and supports the arts · To listen and respond to the artistic voice and vision of the community · To encourage and increase tourism * To support a venue for educational, amateur and professional arts programs Issues continue to investigate best possible use of buildings for cultural arts/visitors information center · plan for anticipated growth of arts programming · obtain current and projected figures from possible funding sources including HOT Tax and 4B revenue · press releases, cable access program, web sight, and other ways to promote community awareness on art matters · request directions from council