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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2008-02-11 MinutesMINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION AND REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, HELD IN THE CITY HALL, 7301 NORTHEAST LOOP 820 - FEBRURARY 11, 2008 WORK SESSION The City Council of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas met in work session on the 11th day of February, 2008 at 5:45 p.m. in the Council Work Room prior to the 7:00 p.m. regular Council meeting. Present: Oscar Trevino Mayor Suzy Compton Mayor Pro Tem, Council Place 3 John Lewis Council, Place 1 Ken Sapp Council, Place 2 Tim Barth Council, Place 4 David Whitson Council, Place 5 Scott Turnage Council, Place 6 Staff Members: Larry J. Cunningham City Manager Ogden Bo Bass Assistant City Manager Jared Miller Assistant City Manager Karen Bostic Managing Director Patricia Hutson City Secretary Monica Solko Assistant City Secretary George Staples City Attorney Mary Peters Public Information Officer Elizabeth Reining Assistant to City Manager John Pitstick Director of Planning & Development Larry Koonce Finance Director Mike Curtis Public Works Director Thad Chambers Economic Development Director Patrick Hillis Human Resources Director Jimmy Perdue Police Chief Kirk Marcum Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Eric Wilhite Chief Planner Jamie Brockway Purchasing Manager Sean Hughes Emergency Management Coordinator Absent: Tim Welch Council, Place 7 Call to Order Mayor Trevino called the work session to order at 5:45 p.m. A.1 Discuss Items from Regular City Council Meeting There were no items discussed. City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 2 A.2 IR 2008-013 Discuss 2008 Federal Legislative Positions Ms. Bostic presented a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the City's 2008 Federal Legislative Positions. As in previous years, four guiding principles were used to determine positions on city-related issues expected to come forward during the next legislative session. Ms. Bostic explained the four guiding principles -local control; predictable and sufficient level of revenue to provide for NRH citizen; opposition to unfundated mandates; quality of life. Ms. Bostic briefly discussed each of the highest priorities and the City's position: • Internet Sales Tax -City supports preserving point-of-origin sourcing for intrastate sales and point-of-destination sourcing for interstate sales; opposes any changes to sales tax sourcing laws; supports the application of sales taxes on applicable products and services purchased over the Internet. • Transportation Funding -City supports federal legislation that provides full funding for federal transportation programs; supports collaboration with local elected officials on the reauthorization of the surface transportation infrastructure program. • Telecommunications & Information Technology -City urges Congress to exempt Texas from any cable/video franchise legislation or FCC order; supports any Congressional proposal or FCC Order that recognized Texas has adopted a uniform statewide franchising system and does not preempt the Texas law; opposes any legislation that will restrict the ability to manage our rights-of-way or that allows rights-of-way users access without appropriate compensation to the city; opposes any legislation that would allow the position of PEG channels at the same quality broadcast as other channels and would not require the service to be offered to all residents. • Community Development Block Grant -supports the continuation of the CDBG program at current and/or increased levels, as this program has been and will continue to be important in funding revitalization efforts within the community; opposes any budget proposals that seek to combine, eliminate or reduce community development programs that have continually proven to be effective in redeveloping deteriorating areas of cities across the country. • Homeland Security -City urges Congress and the Federal Government to provide more guidance as to specific roles and responsibilities between levels of government when responding to natural disasters and threats; supports an increase in direct federal funding to local governments for preparedness and response training, threat assessment, communication systems, public health systems and critical infrastructure protection. • Public Safety & Collective Bargaining -opposes federal legislation which singles out a class of municipal employees to be provided special bargaining rights, and pre-empts investigative and disciplinary procedures that are already in place under civil service systems and the "Meet and Confer" laws of Texas. City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 3 • Immigration Reform -supports comprehensive immigration reform legislation that addresses border security and interior enforcement at the federal level of government; opposes any proposal that would mandate municipal enforcement of federal immigration laws. Ms. Bostic advised of suggested revised wording to Immigration Reform. Council was provided with a copy of the suggested revision. Council was also provided with a second revision to the wording, which was basically the same as the suggested revision, but simplified one of the statements. After the Council briefly discussed their preferences to the wording, the consensus of the Council was to go with the second revision. The second revision deleted the following language in the third paragraph - "The City of North Richland Hills strongly concurs and also supports, along with the NLC, streamlined and acceptable guest worker programs that enable businesses to hire foreign workers in order to meet economic demands. In recent years municipalities have become the main service providers to immigrant families. The federal government should assist local governments to provide healthcare, education and social services to these new workers." The deleted language was replaced with the following language "The City of North Richland Hills strongly concurs and supports comprehensive immigration reform to allow companies to meet labor shortages with legal access to foreign workers through an acceptable guest worker program. In addition, since control of immigration practices is the responsibility of the Federal government, local governments should not have to bear the cost of enforcing federal immigration laws." A.3 IR 2008-020 Red Liaht Camera Program Update Chief Perdue updated the Council on the Automated Traffic Signal Enforcement Program approved by Council in November 2006. All of the seven intersections with nine approaches approved for the program are operational with the exception of the westbound Access Road of 820 at Rufe Snow. Chief Perdue reviewed with Council the number of violations and crash data for the intersections through December 2007. The first intersection was installed in May 2007 and first violations were issued in June 2007 after a 30-day warning period. Council was advised of calibration issues at some of the intersections and that no violations were issued during that time. Of the violations issued, there have been 23 hearings before the hearing officer with all 23 found liable; one violation has been appealed to the City Court and is waiting a trial date. Chief Perdue reviewed the revenues and expenses through December 2007. Chief Perdue advised that the City continues to receive questions that the yellow lights have been adjusted at the intersections. Chief Perdue advised that the City has not changed any of the lights and continues to follow the rules set aside by the Texas Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. There were no questions from the Council. City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 4 A.4 IR 2008-021 Emergency Management -- Weather Update Sean Hughes, Emergency Management Coordinator, presented a PowerPoint presentation providing an update on the City's emergency management preparedness, prevention and response efforts. The 2007 disaster season was recapped and Council was advised that all eligible disaster recovery projects have been submitted to FEMA and are awaiting approval and funding. The projects will be initiated after funding has been completed and received. Some of the projects include replacement of many of the sand bunkers on the golf course, replacement of a section of sanitary sewer, replacement of a maintenance vehicle on the golf course and reimbursement for debris removal on the golf course. Council was advised that Code RED refresher training was held on January 15 with 14 Staff members participating from the Police, Fire and City Manager's office. A Severe Weather Training Class held at Richland High School on January 22 was attended by over 75 citizen volunteers of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), Citizens Fire Academy (CFA) and Citizens Police Academy (CPA). The City's Emergency Operations Plan was revised and updated. The plan was submitted to the State of Texas and on January 25, 2008 was approved at the advanced level. The City is continuing to train and meet the National Incident Management System (NIMS) requirements. The Emergency Operations Center Command and General Staff are currently completing the ICS 300 and 400 segments of the NIMS requirements. The seventh CERT class with 21 members recently completed training, bringing the number of North Richland Hills CERT members trained to over 170. The City is involved regionally as a member of the Regional Emergency Planning Advisory Council (REPAC), Tarrant County (TCEM) and Regional (REM) involvement. The Emergency Management /Homeland Security Division participated in regional development of shelters in North Richland Hills. The City has two standing self-sustaining shelters with one shelter designated with ability to shelter pets. The City continues to maintain the readiness of ten outdoor emergency warning sirens. Additionally, one new siren, located at Tarrant County College NE, was added to the system and is tied to the Hurst and North Richland Hills system. There were no questions from the Council. A.5 IR 2008-022 Standard of Care for Treatment of a Heart Attack Fire Lieutenant Kyle McAfee, EMS Officer, and Dr. Roy Yamada, Emergency Medical Doctor for the Fire Department presented the item to Council. Council was advised that the national standard of care for treatment of a heart attack is for the patient to receive treatment within 90 minutes of the time the patient enters the hospital door. Several years ago, Dr. Yamada identified the need to decrease the 90-minute time. Dr. Yamada believed that the paramedics in the field were positioned to make a sizeable contribution in the treatment of patients suffering heart attacks. In May 2007, North Hills Hospital acknowledged the paramedics ability to correctly diagnose a heart attack and made the assumption that treatment time could be decreased considerably if the paramedics in the field were able to bypass the emergency room physicians and activate the Cath lab prior to the patient arriving at the hospital. This early diagnosis and phone call has City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 5 reduced the door to treatment time for the patient to 48 minutes. The attainment of the 48 minute treatment time exceeds the national standard for 78% of patients to receive catherization within 90 minutes. There were no questions from the Council. A.6 IR 2008-024 2007 Economic Development Review Thad Chambers, Economic Development Director, presented a PowerPoint presentation, updating the Council on economic development activities. New home starts and residential permits are down from previous years, while new businesses exceeded the previous three years with commercial permit values down. The City has seen an increase in taxable sales. Mr. Chambers advised of retail development activities, North Hills Hospital expansion, office development and new business activities. The City continues to work with and support the Chamber, Quad Cities and Corridor 26 Association. Over 200 guests attended the 2007 Business Appreciation Luncheon. Eighty-eight businesses that had been in the City for over 20 years were honored at the luncheon. B.0 EXECUTIVE SESSION -The Cif Council may enter into closed Executive Session to discuss the following as authorized by Chapter 551 Texas Government Code Mayor Trevino announced at 6:34 p.m. that the Council would adjourn to Executive Session pursuant to the provisions of Section 551.071, Texas Government Code the City Council will meet in closed session to seek the advice of its attorney about pending or threatened litigation: Robert Coffman. C.0 Adjournment Mayor Trevino announced at 6:37 p.m. that the Council would adjourn to the regular Council meeting. REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING A.0 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Trevino called the meeting to order February 11, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 6 Present: Oscar Trevino Suzy Compton John Lewis Ken Sapp Tim Barth David Whitson Scott Turnage Mayor Mayor Pro Tem, Council, Place 1 Council, Place 2 Council, Place 4 Council, Place 5 Council, Place 6 Council Place 3 Staff: Larry J. Cunningham Ogden Bo Bass Patricia Hutson Monica Solko George Staples Absent: Tim Welch City Manager Assistant City Manager City Secretary Assistant City Secretary Attorney Council, Place 7 A.1 INVOCATION Councilman Turnage gave the invocation. A.2 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilman Turnage led the pledge of allegiance. A.3 SPECIAL PRESENTATION(S) AND RECOGNITIONS) ANNUAL BUNNY & BEAR DRIVE PRESENTED BY HALEY WHATLEY Ms. Haley Whatley presented the Council with a memento from her 8th Annual Bunny & Bear Drive benefiting Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth. Ms. Whatley will also be recognized in Washington DC as one of the Texas Top Two Youth Volunteers selected in the 13th Annual National Awards Program. A.4 CITIZENS PRESENTATION None. City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 7 A.5 REMOVAL OF ITEM(S) FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA None. B.0 APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS APPROVED B.1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JANUARY 28, 2008 CITY COUNCIL MEETING B.2 RP 2007-13 CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FROM MARCUS BLAGG AND T.J. STANKIEWICZ TO APPROVE A REPEAT OF LOT 1, BLOCK 1, INTO LOT 1 R-1 & 1 R-2, BLOCK 1, CULP ADDITION (LOCATED AT 6700A DAVIS BLVD - 4.548 ACRES). COUNCILMAN TURNAGE MOVED TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. COUNCILMAN WHITSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 6-O. PUBLIC HEARINGS C.1 ZC 2007-13 CASE HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN BY APPLICANT. REQUEST FROM KEITH HAMILTON TO WITHDRAW ZONING CHANGE REQUEST FROM "RI-PD" RESIDENTIAL INFILL PLANNED DEVELOPMENT AND "NS" NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES TO "NR-PD" NON RESIDENTIAL PLANNED DEVELOPMENT (LOCATED IN THE 8900 BLOCK OF MID CITIES BLVD - 5.855 ACRES) -ORDINANCE NO. 2973 WITHDRAWN Mayor Trevino advised that the public hearing was continued from the January 14, 2008 City Council Meeting and that the applicants had withdrawn the request. Mayor Trevino closed the public hearing and advised that no action was required. C.2 ZC 2007-14 CASE HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN BY APPLICANT. REQUEST FROM KEITH HAMILTON TO WITHDRAW ZONING CHANGE REQUEST FROM "RI-PD" RESIDENTIAL INFILL PLANNED DEVELOPMENT TO "R-2" City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 8 SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (LOCATED ON THE 8700 BLOCK OF MARTIN DRIVE - 4.108 ACRES). -ORDINANCE NO. 2974 WITHDRAWN Mayor Trevino advised that the public hearing was continued from the January 14, 2008 City Council Meeting and that the applicants had withdrawn the request. Mayor Trevino closed the public hearing and advised that no action was required. PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT D.1 No items for this category. PUBLIC WORKS E.1 PW 2008-004 APPROVE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (TXDOT) UPDATED AGREEMENT FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF TRAFFIC SIGNAL LIGHTS ON STATE HIGHWAY RIGHT-OF-WAYS -RESOLUTION NO. 2008- 009 APPROVED Mike Curtis, Public Works Director presented the item. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is notifying cities that an "updated" maintenance agreement for traffic signal lights on state controlled roadways must be executed. The updated agreement includes the same responsibilities for the City and the State, but now identifies new locations where traffic signal lights have been installed since the previous agreement. All cities in the State, with a population of 50,000 or more, are required to execute the same agreement for maintaining traffic signal lights on State controlled roadways. Traffic signal lights on controlled access freeways (Loop 820 Frontage Road) within the City will continue to be maintained by the State. COUNCILMAN SAPP MOVED TO APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. 2008-009. MAYOR PRO TEM COMPTON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 6-O. E.2 PW 2008-005 APPROVE SUBORDINATION AGREEMENT FOR THE 1998 CITY/DEVELOPER AGREEMENT WITH BILLY AND ERNESTINE GRAHAM - City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 9 RESOLUTION N0.2008-010 APPROVED Mike Curtis, Public Works Director presented the item. The City of North Richland Hills executed aCity/Developer Agreement with Billy J. Graham and Ernestine Graham in 1998 pertaining to Hightower Drive street improvements and Calloway Branch channel improvements. The channel improvements were constructed several years ago and Mr. Graham paid the city as outlined in the agreement. The street improvements were also completed several years ago; however, the agreement did not require payment to the City of North Richland Hills until the property was sold. In 2006, approximately 56 acres were sold and the City received $65,520.28 and approved a partial release of the lien held against the property for the street improvements. A portion of the property still remains unsold and the city still maintains a lien against this portion of the property. Since the execution of the 1998 City/Developer Agreement mineral rights have been leased from the Grahams. The 1998 agreement did not specifically address how mineral rights would be considered if such a lease occurred. The Subordination Agreement would spell out the rights of the City and the property owner as they pertain to mineral rights. The agreement would clearly indicate that the property owner has all rights to minerals as it pertains to their Lease Agreement. The City would not have any rights to the minerals under the property which it currently has a lien against. City staff is recommending that the Subordination Agreement be executed. COUNCILMAN LEWIS MOVED TO APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. 2008-010. COUNCILMAN EARTH SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 6-O. GENERAL ITEMS F.1 GN 2008-011 CALLING MAY 10, 2008 CITY COUNCIL ELECTION AND AUTHORIZING A JOINT ELECTION AGREEMENT WITH OTHER TARRANT COUNTY POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS AND CONTRACT FOR ELECTION SERVICES WITH TARRANT COUNTY -RESOLUTION NO. 2008-088 APPROVED Ms. Patricia Hutson, City Secretary, presented the item. The Resolution orders the City's General Election for May 10, 2008 for a Mayor and Council Places 2, 4, and 6 for two-year terms of office, establishes voting locations, provides for the appointment of election officials, provides for early voting and election day procedures and authorizes the City Secretary to execute a contract with Tarrant County for election services. Tarrant County has requested those governing bodies holding a May election to enter into a joint election agreement and contract with the County for election services. The City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 10 election will be held jointly with other Tarrant County cities and schools with Tarrant County administering the election. COUNCILMAN WHITSON MOVED TO APPROVE GN 2008-011; RESOLUTION No. 2008-088. COUNCILMAN TURNAGE SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 6-O. F.2 PU 2008-006 AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF REPLACEMENT MOBILE DATA COMPUTERS FOR FIRE APPARATUS FROM PORTABLE COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $142,608 APPROVED Larry Koonce, Finance Director presented the item. In the 2007/2008 capital budget, Council approved $164,850 for the purchase and installation of 21 Mobile Data Computers (MDC) for the Fire Department in their apparatus to communicate with the Tiburon computer aided dispatch and records management system. MDCs also allow dispatch to communicate with public safety units, relaying incident and other relevant information. They are the primary communication link for the fire unit. The MDCs integrate with our communication system to record departure and arrival times, unit status and location information. The purchase of this equipment will fulfill the City's plan to replace all public safety MDCs in the Police and Fire Departments. Currently, the Fire Department apparatuses utilize 12 year old equipment. The units have become increasingly unreliable and not repairable. The City solicited and received bids from 3 vendors that participate in and are approved by the State of Texas Department of Information Resource (DIR) cooperative purchasing program. The bids are as follows: MDC Units Installation Total Cost Portable Computer Systems $113,257.00 29,351.00 142,608.00 CDW-G $122,123.00 23,806.00 145,929.00 System 3x/4xx $119,691.85 Unavailable Recommendation is to award the bid for the Purchase and Installation of Replacement Mobile Data Computers for Fire Apparatus to Portable Computer Systems, Inc. in the Amount of $142,608. COUNCILMAN BARTH MOVED TO APPROVE PU 2008-006. COUNCILMAN WHITSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 6-O. City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 11 F.3 GN 2008-012 APPROVE 2008 FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE POSITIONS APPROVED Karen Bostic, Managing Director presented the item. As in previous years, four guiding principles were used to determine positions on city-related issues: The four guiding principles used to develop the orogram are• • Support for local control; • Insuring a predictable and sufficient level of revenue to manage local affairs; • Opposition of unfunded mandates; • Support of legislation that increases the quality of life for citizens of North Richland Hills. The Citv's positions on various issues fall into the following categories• Protecting Local Programs, Powers and Revenues • Internet Sales Tax • Telecommunications & Information Technology • Community Development Block Grant Protecting the Homeland • Homeland Security • Public Safety & Collective Bargaining Unfunded Mandates Transportation Immigration Reform MAYOR PRO TEM COMPTON MOVED TO APPROVE GN 2008-012 THE 2008 FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE POSITIONS. COUNCILMAN WHITSON SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 6-O. F.4 GN 2008-013 APPROVE ATMOS ENERGY, CORP., MID-TEX DIVISION SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND NEW TARIFFS -ORDINANCE NO. 2980 APPROVED On September 20, 2007, Atmos Energy Mid-Tex Division filed a Statement of Intent to Increase Rates within the City of North Richland Hills. The Statement of Intent indicated that the company was seeking a $52 million rate increase. Suspension of the effective date gave the City, along with other members of the Atmos Cities Steering Committee, time to analyze the schedules and evidence offered by Atmos to support its request to City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 12 increase rates. The suspension was approved by Council at the October 8, 2007 City Council meeting. A contested case proceeding before the Railroad Commission on Atmos' current application will take several months and cost ratepayers millions of dollars in rate case expenses and would not likely produce a request more favorable than that to be produced by the settlement. The ACSC Executive Committee recommends that ACSC members take action to approve the Settlement Agreement. This Settlement Agreement achieves several desirable outcomes including• • Reverses rate design decisions that unfairly impact residential ratepayers. • Does away with piecemeal ratemaking problems inherent to the GRIP surcharge process. • Eliminates exposure to potential court reversal of the multi-million dollar Poly-1 Pipe disallowance (Atmos' issue on appeal in Docket No. 9400). • Avoids uncertainty and potential negative consequences of Railroad Commission rate review (in the two most recent rate cases affecting Atmos Mid-Tex customers, the Commission has reversed rate reductions recommended by its own hearings examiners in favor of rate increases). • Implements an expedited rate review process that includes the cities and allows review of all aspects of Atmos' cost of service. • Requires Atmos to reimburse ACSC for more than $500,000 paid to litigate GRIP surcharge cases. • Protects ACSC members and their citizens from the remote possibility that a litigated outcome or settlement with other parties produces a result more favorable than the ordinance passed by ACSC members by including a Most Favored Nations provision in the Settlement Agreement. The approval of the Settlement Agreement and Tariffs with Ordinance No. 2980 will increase the average residential customer by .37%, or 20¢ per month, the average commercial customer by 1.18% or $3.48 per month, and the average industrial customer by .12% or $3.58 per month. COUNCILMAN TURNAGE MOVED TO APPROVE GN 2008-013; ORDINANCE NO. 2980. COUNCILMAN EARTH SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 6-O. F.5 ACTION ON ANY ITEM DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION LISTED ON WORK SESSION AGENDA No action needed. City Council Minutes February 11, 2008 Page 13 G.1 INFORMATION AND REPORTS Mayor Pro Tem Compton made the following announcements. The North Richland Hills Fire Department is offering classes each month in CPR and the use of Automated External Defibrillators. Upcoming classes are scheduled from 1 to 5 p.m. on February 15th and 6 to 10 p.m. on March 4th. The cost is $25 per person. For more information, please call 817-427-6900. The City of North Richland Hills invites local businesses to compete and have fun in the Companies in Action program presented by HealthMarkets. Activities begin with a dodgeball tournament on February 16th. For registration information, please contact the Parks & Recreation Department at 817-427-6600. Early voting for the March 4th Republican and Democratic Primary Elections will be held February 19th through 29th. In North Richland Hills early voting will take place at the NRH Recreation Center, 6720 NE Loop 820. Early voting will also take place at several other locations in Tarrant County. For voting times, locations and more information, visit www.tarrantcounty.com/evote or call 817-831-VOTE. Kudos Korner -Officer Rick Dena, Police Department. A call was received from a long- time resident expressing gratitude for the caring, resourceful and compassionate way Officer Dena responded to a 911 call from a neighbor. As a resident since 1979, the caller said he has always had the utmost respect, regard and admiration for the NRHPD and Officer Dena is a fine example of an outstanding organization. G.2 ADJOURNMENT Mayor Trevino adjourned the meeting at 7:31 A ~~~~qN tson ~ Secretary ~1 ,_n~ I~ Oscar Trevino -Mayor