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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/12/1986 - Workshop Minutes City Council MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1986 5:00 P.M. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: STUDENT GOV'T LIAISON: VISITORS PRESENT: Mayor Halter, Councilmen Bond, Tongco, Brown, McIlhaney, Runnels, Boughton None City Manager Cole, City Attorney Locke, Director of Capital Improvements Ash, City Secretary Jones, City Engineer Pullen, Personnel Director Dickson, Administrative Assistant Magoon, Assis- tant City Attorney Elmore, Council Coordinator Garrett Mike Hachtman See guest register. Mayor Pro-tern Runnels opened the meeting with Mayor Halter and Councilman Bond absent. Agenda Item No. 1 - Council concerns. No one spoke. Agenda Item No. 2 - Introduction of Carol Elmore, Assistant City Attorney to the City Council. City Attorney Locke introduced Carol Elmore, Assistant City Attorney, to the City Council. Agenda Item No. 3.- Signing of a proclamation designating the month of March as "Professional Social Work Month". Debbie Rabinowitz, a representative of the Social Workers, was present to accept the proclamation naming the month of March as "Professional Social Work Month". WORKHSHOP CITY COUNCIL MEETING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1986 PAGE 2 Agenda Item No. 4 - Discussion and Consideration of the Branch Library Location. Connie Norton and Susan Friesen, members of the Library Committee, were present to discuss the item. Connie Norton stated she would like for Council to consider carefully the location of the library. She stated her major concern with the Southwood Valley Athletic Park is that there is not easy bicycle accessibility and it is not centrally located. She also stated she voted only for a library; combining the Arts Council and Library is a different issue. Sue Friesen stated that she agreed with Ms. Norton, and added that these comments need not be construed negatively toward the Arts Council. Councilman Bond arrived at the meeting. Mike Hoelscher, a Library Committee member, urged the Council to make a decision on the library location as soon as possible. He noted that the committee is willing to work with the City Staff in establishing a location. Harry Ransom, a member of the Arts Council, commented that in his opinion, the council has three possibilities to consider: 1) to decide on a possible temporary structure; 2) to make a decision whether to co-ordinate with the Arts Council; or, 3) to buy or lease a structure, for example, the IRA's structure. Mayor Halter arrived at the meeting. Larry Ringer, Chairman of the Library Committee, stated that the committee's recommendations to the Council were based on trying to get the library underway as quickly as possible. He noted that IRA's building was expensive and and the committee considered the price to be unreasonable. He stated that the concept of a temporary site at the Athletic Park was derived because the park had parking and utilities. He noted that the committee also investigated the lease of existing spaces and felt each had drawbacks in terms of either location or limited parking. He noted another recommendation of the committee was that the city work with the Arts Council to develop a joint site. Jim Gardner spoke in opposition to the use of a temporary facility at the Athletic Park. He questioned whether the Council has reviewed all the possibilities. He handed maps of the location of the Southwood Athletic Park to each of the council members and stated that a more centrally located site would be beneficial to the patrons of the library. WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1986 PAGE 3 Mr. Gardner referred to an EAGLE article which quoted an organi- zation, saying "it would not be wise to locate the library near the A&M campus". He asked if the TAMU students would use the new library or continue using the A&M Library. Mayor Halter commented that one of the concerns of the Library Committee is that the new library not become a student library, but rather a community library. Dr. Ringer stated that the Central Texas Library System's recommendation is that the library not be located near the A&M C~pus. He also noted that there is not a centrally located area where everyone could reach the library by foot or by bicycle without crossing a major thoroughfare, such as Texas Avenue or Hwy 30. He noted that the committee has discussed with Clara Mounce of the Bryan Public Library some of the popular stops of the bookmobile and the committe has used this information to consider sites. He stated that the Redmond Terrace Shopping Center and the K-Mart Shopping Center are the two most heavily used bookmobile stops. He explained that most leased spaces obtained would mean extra financing because of construction and finishing on the inside. Councilman Bond pointed out that he does not see a large cost factor in finishing the inside of a leased space in an existing building. He asked if the committee has examined all available rental spaces. Dr. Ringer responded that the investigations reported by the committee are nine or ten months old. Dr. Ringer pointed out that most office parks have extremely limited parking. Councilman Bond asked if the committee had looked into the possible site of the Piggly Wiggly leased space or the Welsh Street Office Park. Dr. Ringer replied affirmatively, but stated there is a parking problem in the Welsh Street Office Park. Councilman Brown stated that the office spaces in the area of FM2818 and Welsh Street have lowered their rental rates. Dr. Ringer replied there is limited parking at these sites. Councilman Boughton asked what are other locations where the bookmobile stops. Dr. Ringer replied that it also stops at Raintree Addition. After further discussion, Councilman Runnels stated that he felt the Council had two options to consider. 1) Does the council want to go along with the Arts Council's planning and share a temporary building for several years until permanent plans are firmed up in the future; or, 2) Commit to a library on its own, which may be a temporary building for awhile and as soon as possible a permanent structure. Councilman Tongco commented that the Council should keep in mind that the tax issue vote was on the library alone and did not involve the Arts Council. WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1986 PAGE 4 Councilman Bond commented that the library may be able to accom- modate the Arts Council in a temporary setting and continue to work toward a permanent program. He also felt that the Southwood Athletic Park would not be a feasible option. Councilman Brown suggested that the committee look into the 2818 area for a location, and noted the rates have lowered since the committee's study nine months ago. Councilman Boughton asked the council if the library should continue investigating possible locations or should the council direct the staff to research other locations. Mayor Halter replied that he felt the library committee should not be tied further into investigating, because of the consider- able time they had already contributed to the project. He stated two options the Council chould consider; 1) a temporary building as recommended by the Committee and/or 2) buy or lease a space. He recommended asking city staff to look further into possible locations. Councilman Boughton stated that she has received many objections to the Southwood Athletic Park and feels the staff should look further into a leased space. Councilman Boughton made a motion for the city staff to proceed with investigating further library possibilities, such as leased spaces. Councilman Brown seconded the motion which was approved unanimously, 7-0. City Manager Cole asked for direction from Council for the parameters and boundaries which they would like staff to review. Councilman Boughton stated that she would like to have studies prepared on locations between Southwest Parkway and FM2818 and also Brothers Street. Mayor Halter stated other parameters the staff should consider be Southwest Parkway, Wellborn Road, Rock Prairie Road, and Texas Avenue. Mayor Halter asked the city staff to investigate the various potential rental properties within the parameters and also to investigate the possibilitiy of temporary sites, not excluding the Southwood Athletic Park. He also asked Councilman Tongco, Councilman Brown and Councilman Bond to meet with the staff to review the information they have gathered. Councilman Boughton asked what age group uses the bookmobile most often. Susan Friesen replied that elderly people usually walk to the Redmond Terrace Shopping Center and school age kids visit the K-Mart location. City Manager Cole asked which type of location would the Council like to see emphasized. Mayor Halter stated that the leased WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1986 PAGE 5 space option should be dealt with first. City ManaGer Cole asked if a 3-year lease would be sufficient time for a leased space. The council concurred. Councilman Bond stated he hopes that the library will fast Grow into a point of pride for the citizens and also that the library will not become another Governmental entity but should become the citizens' organization. Mayor Halter commented that after the decision of a library location has been made, he would like to see a fund-raisinG drive underway to raise additional funds for books. Mayor Halter thanked everyone for their participation. Agenda Item No. 5 - Adjourn. Mayor Halter adjourned the meeting at 6:00 p.m. ~ary ~er~f mayor ATTEST- ecretary GUEST REGISTER Workshop City Council Meeting Wednesday, March 12, 1986 5:00 P.M. 19. 20. 21. 22. 6 ~ 23. 24 8! 25 9 ~ 26 10. ~~~~~/ 27. 28. 11. 29. 12. 30. 13. 31. 14. 32. 15. 33. 16. 34. 17.