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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/22/2011 - Workshop Minutes City Council MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP `' CITY OF COLLEGE STATION SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF BRAZOS § Present: Nancy Berry, Mayor Council: Blanche Brick Jess Fields Karl Mooney, excused absence Katy -Marie Lyles Julie Schultz Dave Ruesink City Staff: David Neeley, City Manager Kathy Merrill, Assistant City Manager Frank Simpson, Assistant City Manager Carla Robinson, City Attorney Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Tanya McNutt, Deputy City Secretary Call to Order and Announce a Quorum is Present With a quorum present, the Workshop of the College Station City Council was called to order by Mayor Nancy Berry at 3:10 p.m. on Thursday, September 22, 2011 in the Council Chambers of the City of College Station City Hall, 1101 Texas Avenue, College Station, Texas 77842. 1. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on items listed on the consent agenda. 2b: Lance Simms, Assistant Director of Planning and Development Services, reported the definition was being tweaked to align with state law. The current ordinance allows for exceptions such as the hobbyist that has antique or specialty vehicles. 2e: Chuck Gilman, Director of Capital Projects, reported on the traffic counts, patterns and movements that were included in the report to TXDOT. The only public comment received to date has been a concern related to acceleration lanes on the service road. Staff will be watching this. There will be an opportunity for stakeholder input. WKSHP092211 Minutes Page 1 2f: Jeff Capps, Police Chief, provided a very brief overview of the funding request for the Brazos County Animal Shelter and how those funds will be expended based on actual costs. 2i: Chuck Gilman, Director of Capital Projects, explained that the original "guaranteed maximum price" meant the design could not come in over $6 million. The deductive change order for the new contract amount is $5,895,352. Any increase change order would have to come back before Council. 2j: Jeff Kersten, Director of Finance, explained this is an annual item to identify some of the exemptions from competitive bidding. This is an estimate for a blanket purchase order. He also explained some of the one - source vendors. 2. Presentation, possible action, and discussion regarding approval of the Offer of Settlement included in a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) pertaining to an emergency transmission interconnection with ETI ( Entergy). This approval must be given prior to the formal filing of the document at FERC. David Massey, Electric Division Manager, reported on the Entergy transmission interconnection and FERC filing. Hurricane Ike created widespread power outages in East Texas, and one of the hardest hit was the Entergy System, which is not in the ERCOT Power Grid. Many local Entergy customers had long outages. In 2009, the Texas Legislature directed the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and ERCOT to study possible solutions and look for the most feasible least cost solution. Entergy's western most service area had a lack of local generation, and there is no interconnection between ERCOT and SERC in this area. The proposed solution, based upon ERCOT studies of the transmission system, is for an interconnection at the College Station switch. There are special conditions of use, such as a declared emergency by the Governor. Federal approval is required. Filings at the PUC have been completed, and College Station has been instructed to proceed with the interconnection. College Station will be paid for all costs through a transmission cost of service filing. We must file an Offer of Settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in order to go forward. Outside legal counsel has been retained to handle filings at FERC and the PUC. The Interconnection Agreement will be coming before Council in the next few months. Construction is expected to be completed by May 2012. 3. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on appointing Council Liaison to Council and /or Citizen Committees. Council consensus was to postpone appointment of Council liaisons until after the Sunset Advisory Commission reports their findings. Council will continue to attend meetings on a rotating basis at the Design Review Board, Parks and Recreation Board, Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Zoning Board of Adjustments. Councilmember Schultz will act as an interim liaison for the Historic Preservation Committee. 4. Presentation, possible action, and discussion regarding the Council's development of their Strategic Plan. WKSHP092211 Minutes Page 2 Bob Cowell, Director of Public Works, provided an overview of the Council Strategic Plan. At L the July 12 Council Retreat the Council affirmed the community vision, organizational mission and core values. The Council identified goals and desired outcomes for each of the six strategic initiatives: • Financially Sustainable City • Providing Core Services and Infrastructure • Neighborhood Integrity • Diverse Growing Economy • Improving Mobility • Sustainable City Staff identified strategies for each initiative. The timeline for the completion of the plan has the staff developing and refining actions for strategies in October and developing the draft plan update. The draft Plan Update is expected to be presented to the Council for action. Policy items for Council consideration in order to develop the Council Plan of Work are scheduled for November. Implementation and maintenance of the Plan will utilize staff - developed business plans and performance measures and benchmarks. There will be quarterly reporting of those performance measures and benchmarks. Then, in January or February, the Council will conduct a Plan Workshop to prepare for the FY13 budget. 5. Council Calendar • September 23 Grand Opening of the Agriculture & Life Sciences Complex at 600 John Kimbrough Boulevard, 3:00 pm • September 26 CSFD Annual Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service at Fire Station 2 - Rio Grande and Harvey Mitchell Parkway, 12:00 pm • September 27 CSFD's Fire Station 6 Groundbreaking Ceremony at 610 University Drive, 9:00 am • September 29 Chamber of Commerce Legislative Luncheon, Briarcrest Country Club, 12:00 p.m. • September 29 Proclamation Reading /Signing - National Night Out at Brazos County Building — Atrium, 3:00 pm • October 3 2011 Fall Girls Softball Opening Ceremonies Invitation at Stephen C. Beachy Central Park Field 3, 5:45 pm • October 4 National Night Out at CSPD, front door entrance, 5:00 pm • October 6 Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting in Council Chambers at 6:00 • October 11 -14 TML Annual Conference in Houston at 8:00 pm • October 13 City Council Workshop/Regular Meeting in Chambers at 3:00 & 7:00 Ln3 Council reviewed the Council calendar. The Health Department meeting has moved to September 28. I L 6. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on future agenda items: a Council Member may inquire about a subject for which notice has not been given. A statement of specific WKSHP092211 Minutes Page 3 factual information or the recitation of existing policy may be given. Any deliberation shall oimir be limited to a proposal to place the subject on an agenda for a subsequent meeting. Councilmember Lyles requested an item about dedicating a percentage of franchise fees for road maintenance for the FY 13 budget. There was Council consensus to place this on the agenda. 7 Discussion, review and possible action regarding the following meetings: Animal Shelter Board, Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, Audit Committee, Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Greenways Advisory Board, Brazos County Health Dept., Brazos Valley Council of Governments, Brazos Valley Wide Area Communications Task Force, BVSWMA, BVWACS, Cemetery Committee, Code Review Committee, Review Board, Historic Preservation Committee, Interfaith Dialogue Association, Intergovernmental Committee, Joint Relief Funding Review Committee, Landmark Commission, Library Board, Mayor's Council on Physical Fitness, Mayor's Development Forum, Metropolitan Planning Organization, National League of Cities, Outside Agency Funding Review, Parks and Recreation Board, Planning and Zoning Commission, Research Valley Partnership, Regional Transportation Committee for Council of Governments, Signature Event Task Force, Sister City Association, TAMU Student Senate, Texas Municipal League, Transportation Committee, Zoning Board of Adjustments. Councilmember Lyles stated that the Arts are back. She provided a brief report on the Celebration of the Arts event. (kr Councilmember Ruesink reported on the IGC. They want uniform food establishment ordinances in the surrounding area. The high speed rail quarterly meeting will be in College Station in December. Councilmember Schultz reported on the RVP. Councilmember Fields reported on the TAMU Student Senate and stated they are looking forward to working with the City. 8. Executive Session In accordance with the Texas Government Code §551.071- Consultation with Attorney, and §551.074- Personnel, the College Station City Council convened into Executive Session at 4:54 p.m. on Thursday, September 22, 2011 in order to continue discussing matters pertaining to: A. Consultation with Attorney to seek advice regarding pending or contemplated litigation; to wit: • City of Bryan's application with TCEQ for water & sewer permits in Westside /Highway 60 area, near Brushy Water Supply Corporation to decertify City of College Station and certify City of Bryan • Clancey v. College Station, Glenn Brown and Kathy Merrill, Civil Action No. 09-CV- 01480 WKSHP092211 Minutes Page 4 • Rachel Rahn v. Alma Martinez, The Arkitex Studio, Inc. et al, cause No. 09- 000656- CV361 • Chavers et al v. Tyrone Morrow et al, No. 10- 20792; Chavers v. Randall Hall et al, Case No. 10 CV -3922 • College Station v. Star Insurance Co., Civil Action No. 4: -CV -02023 • Woodruff v. College Station, Cause No. 10- 000515 -CV -272 • Ongoing criminal investigation of municipal court missing funds • PUCT Docket No. 39066 B. Consultation with Attorney to seek legal advice; to wit: • Legal issues regarding possible revenue sharing and legislation in bio- corridor • Texas Reliability Entity Compliance Issues • Legal Issues Concerning Use of Community Development Funds related to the Holleman Street Property C. Deliberation Regarding Personnel; to wit: • Council Self Evaluation • Internal Auditor The Executive Session adjourned at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 22, 2011. No action was required from Executive Session. CP' 8. Adjournment MOTION: There being no further business, Mayor Berry adjourned the workshop of the College Station City Council at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 22, 2011. Nancy Belly, Mayor ATTEST: Sherry Mas urn, City Secretary WKSHP092211 Minutes Page 5