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Home My WebLink About11/12/1998 - Workshop Minutes City CouncilCITY OF COLLFG[ STATION Mayor Lynn Mcllhaney Mayor Pro Tempore David Hick$on City Manager George K. Noe City Council Steve Esmond Ron Silvia Swiki Anderson Larry Madott Anne Hazen MINUTES COLLEGE STATION CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP SESSION Thursday, November 12, 1998 at 3:00 p.m. City Hall Council Chambers, 1101 Texas Avenue COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor McIlhaney, Mayor Pro Tem Hickson, Councilmembers Silvia, Esmond, Mariott, Anderson, Hazen STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Noe, City Secretary Hooks, City Attorney Cargill, Jr., Assistant City Manager Bwmer, Finance Director Cryan, PARD Director Beachy Mayor McIlhaney opened the meeting at 3:02 p.m. Agenda Item No. 1 -- Discussion of consent agenda items listed for Regular Council Meeting. No items were removed for discussion. Agenda Item No. 2 -- Presentation~ discussion and possible action on Vision Statement #7 (Employment/Prosperity). Report by Dr. John Crompton~ member of the Parks and Recreation Board to discuss fiscal impacts of parks. Dr. John Crompton was invited to make a presentation on the economics of public parks. His presentation was based on incentives to attract visitors. He discussed the role of the public sector in the tourism business. Dr. Crompton presented financial statistics of athletic tournaments and special events sponsored by the city. He also discussed the economic incentives to attract retirees to B-CS. Mayor Mcllhaney thanked Dr. Crompton for the information. No action was required. Agenda Item No. 3 -- Presentation~ discussion and possible action on Council Strategic Issue #3 - Accessibility In and Out of Bry. an/College Station. Report by Michael Parks from the Metropolitan Planning Organization and Ronnie Hale from the Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee. Assistant City Manager Tom Brymer introduced Michael Parks and Ronnie Hale. Mr. Hale serves as Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee. He reported on the progress of the Highway 6 Coalition whose purpose is to study a four lane divided highway from Waco City Of College Station, Tcxa~ Providing Customer Serviee Excellence Council Workshop 11/12/98 Page 2 to Houston. Mr. Hale also discussed the project to connect Highway 21 to Interstate 45 and a four lane project on Highway 21 from Bryan to Madisonville. He presented the funding and letting schedule for highway projects in 1999. He emphasized the importance to communicate with state legislators on the funding aspects of these projects. Michael Parks, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, presented an update of projects that will affect the local communities in the next five-ten years. He announced the contract letting schedules. Questions were asked by councilmembers. No action was required. Agenda Item No. 4 -- Presentation~ discussion and possible action on the proposed Carter Creek relocation proiect. Development Services Director Jim Callaway updated the council since its last review of the project. At that time, council directed staff to serve as a mediator between the developer and representatives of the Brazos Greenways Council. He presented significant changes as a result of the ongoing process: · proposal reduces the amount of land reclaimed for development, allowing a larger greenway area along the new channel; · proposal calls for city financial participation to offset the reduction in reclaimed developable property; · proposal calls for review of the project by wildlife biologists; · proposal includes extension of a greenbelt from the University Drive area to the Brazos Center Developer Mike Davis and Christian Turner from Brazos Greenways Council presented their viewpoints on the proposal and received council comments. Staffrecommended that the city not purchase the property at costs projected in the proposal. They recommended that work continues with the Greenways Council and the developer to develop alternative ways of offsetting the value of land not reclaimed. They also recommended that council not pursue any purchase of property unless the price is based on an appraisal of current fair market value. James Bond came forward on behalf of his client, Jim Sowell Constrnction Company from Dallas. This company is owner of property in the proposed development. He shared an interest by Steve Brown, President of this company to continue to be as cooperative as possible. Mr. Brown supported the development of this property and hoped that all parties involved will be winners from enhanced development of this property. Mr~ Bond commended the process so far and urged council to proceed to the next stage. Councilman Anderson made a motion to direct staffto continue with the process which will allow the developer to make additional presentations to other governmental entities. This motion included staff's recommendations. Motion seconded by Councilman Silvia which carded unanimously, 7-0. Council Workshop 11/12/98 Page 3 Agenda Item No. 5 -- Discussion and possible action on Council Strategic Issue #17 - City H~II Center. Assistant City Manager Tom Brymer presented the history of this item and past decisions, reviewed the vision of the project, and requested council authorization for staff to proceed with the next phase of the process~ He displayed the city hall complex and described the development of the structure since its inception in 1969 to the existing building. HOK was hired as a consultant in 1995 to conduct a utilization study of today's city hall building. HOK recommended a phased approach. As part of the phased approach, staffrecommended a decompression of the functions that remain at City Hall after Utilities Customer Services moves to their new building in the spring of 1999. When phasing is completed, staff recommended the sale of existing site for commercial usage. He noted that a potential area for a new city hall center site is focused on the area bounded by Texas Avenue on the east and south by FM 2818, north by Krenek Tap Road and west by the East Bypass. If council desired to move forward in terms of implementation, staff.recommended the following steps: · Council authorization to begin land purchase negotiations · Acquire consultant services for site master plan · Appoint a citizen advisory committee to work with staffand consultant to plan the site · Prepare for "interim decompression" Gale Touchstone and Norma Miller, two citizens who served on the CIP Bond Committee addressed the council in opposition to designating a new city center site at this time. Council directed staff.to bring this action plan to the Council in January during the discussion of prioritizing bond issues. No action was required. Agenda Item No. 6 -- Committee Reports Councilman Silvia provided an update from the recent meeting of the Brazos County Board of Health. Mayor McIlhaney reported that she met with the MPO to receive an update on contract letting dates and discussed public input into the process. The regional planning committee met to identify legislative issues. Resolutions will be presented to Council at a future date. City Manager Noe reminded council of the upcoming joint meeting with Bryan Council, County Commissioners and legislators. Agenda Item No. 7 -- Agenda requests by Councilmembers Mayor Mcllhaney indicated that two councilmembers have made requests for future agendas and these items will be placed on the December agenda. Agenda Item No. 8 -- Council Calendars Joint Meeting with City of Bryan and County Commissioners, 11/16 Brazos Center Project Unity Town Hall Meeting, 11/17 Lincoln Center National League of Cities, 12/1-5 Kansas City, Missouri Council Workshop 11/12/98 Page 4 Agenda Item No. 9 -- Executive Session Mayor Mcllhaney announced that the Council would convene into executive session at 5:10 p.m pursuant to Sections 551.071,551.074 of the Open Meetings Act to seek the advice of the city attorney with respect to pending and contemplated litigation, to consider the appointment and evaluation of public officers, and to consider staffand legal reports. Staff'and Legal Repons {LGC 551.075 } Pending and Contemplated Litigation { LGC 551.071 } Bryan v. College Station: Cause No. 40,381-85 Docket No. 15020 Docket No. 16157 Cause No. H-95-5627 Cause No. 43,098-85 Docket No. TX-98-2000 Cause No. 96-03168 Cause No. 97-02587 George & Tara Sopasakis v. College Station Lewis v. College Station Franklin Gold v. College Station, Bryan and BVSWMA Wendy Boriskie v. College Station Personnel {LGC 551.074} 1. Discussion ofjob performance of City Attorney Councilman Anderson stated that he has sought legal advice with regards to Section 551.021 of the Open Meetings Act and he expressed concern that the certified agenda is not being recorded in accordance with the law. He will attend the executive session with prejudice. Mayor Mcllhaney emphasized that the city maintains the certified agendas in accordance with the law. Any action taken from executive session items will follow the regular meeting agenda. PASSED AND APPROVED this 10th day of December, 1998. _~EST: ~ City Secxc-tary CoNnie Hooks APPROVED: Mayb/r Lynn'Mcllhaney /