REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 19, 2008

 

  <>1. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Robin S. Border called the regular meeting of the City of Hilshire Village to order at 7:00 P M at 8301 Westview, Houston, Texas 77055.

Invocation was given by Council Member Castro.

 

                  1.2. Present were Council members Brian Henault, John Denninger, Shannon Whiting and Mayor Pro-tem Connie Castro. Also present were Efrain Him, P.E., of Claunch & Millers, Inc., (CMI) Engineer for the City and David Olson of Olson and Olson, Attorney for the City. Council member Zandra Anderson arrived after the minutes were approved.

 

                  1.3. Approval of minutes of Regular Meeting of January 15, 2008: It was moved by Council Member Whiting and seconded by Council Member Castro that the minutes be approved with typographical changes supplied by Council Member Whiting. Vote was taken. Motion carried unanimously.

 

2. CITIZENS COMMENTS: Doctor Russel Williams, (1254 Ridgeley Drive), stated that he was asking City Council to repair his retaining wall which was damaged by the Ridgeley construction crew. He was upset because he had already discussed this with council and the construction supervisor and he was assured that the walls would not be touched. Mayor Border stated that City Council had already made the decision that anything in the right of way was at risk. Mr. Williams would like City Council to use left over money to make repairs since they originally told him the wall would not be damaged.

Janet Wourms, (8201 Burkhart), stated that she has talked to the construction workers at ravine crossing E and she was upset that so many trees were coming down and that the workers are not experienced and do not have ravine crossing knowledge. She wanted to know if her trees that the Forester said would stay would be cut down. She wants to know who is overseeing the cutting of the trees. Also she would like to know why all the trash has not been picked up and what would happen if a tornado had hit the city. She wants to know if she will be notified if the water is turned off.

 

3. REPORTS TO COUNCIL:

Out of order of agenda:

                  3.2. Fire Commissioner: David Labbe’, Alternate Fire Commissioner passed out reports from the January’s meeting. There was one ambulance call. There are no financial statements at this time. During their meeting the main discussion was on TML retirement fund not being funded properly. It is currently a pay as you go system. The Chief passed around a plaque where he was chairman of the Texas Commission of Fire Protection for the last twelve years. He is much respected around the state. The fire department had two serious fires in December. One was a very hot fire due to the way the house was remodeled with no openings from one part of the attic to another. The other was an apartment complex where it took a long time to put out the fire. They will need to start looking at these jobs when they are permitted.

Tom Archer, Fire Commissioner, gave a report for January where he stated that we had two fire calls (both ambulance calls) the treasurer’s report showed that they were 66% under budget at this time. They discussed CD’s on hand for equipment purchase within the month of August. The Chief had explained a call the fire department had received regarding a 54 year old male that had a heart attack. He was revived by the paramedics. His prognoses were good when they admitted him to the hospital. The Chief will be checking the fire hydrants in the neighborhood and they will be loading streets and crossings at that time into a new computer program.

 

3.1. Police: Detective Gary Finkelman reported that nothing happened in

January but that was not the case in February. We had two homes burglarized on Archley. The reason he was late was due to the fact that they were busy raiding the apartment where the suspects were. The police recovered some of the guns and some other items. At this time he could not state what all they had recovered. He will talk more about this next month after their reports are filed. He would like for residents not to hesitate in calling in anything suspicious. Councilmember Whiting asked how the robbers entered the houses “did they enter through the creek?” Detective Finkelman said that they came from the streets but they target homes that backed up to the creek.

 

                  3.3. Treasurer: Mayor Border stated that the Treasurer, Tricia Fowler, had resigned because she felt guilty because she was not able to fulfill her job due to the fact that she was too busy and the City was on a search for a replacement. Several income statements have been put out but the mayor would like council to wait till next month to go over any details.

 

3.4. Engineers: Harry Walker of CMI gave the report because Efrain Him was on vacation. Harry stated that none of the contractors had completed the project at this time. P.M. Construction was 95 % complete and we are asking for payment to bring them up to 95%. They should be finished next month. Metro City has completed the water line installation. They are working on the Lift Station and the wet well is in. AAA has started the paving and drainage work. They will start with Ravine E. 1209 Pine Chase restoration work has been completed. They submitted a permit application for a waiver on the new storm water rules that TCEQ has come up with. Council Member Anderson wanted to know why AAA was not using subcontractors to do the ravines like council was told. Harry stated that he did not know that she was told that they were going to use a subcontractor for the ravine. They did not submit anything stating that they were going to subcontract the work out. Council Member Anderson wanted to know what experience they had with ravines. She was told that they have done ravines in the past but does not think of this magnitude. Council Member Whiting asked who Council Member Anderson had spoken to at the jobsite but a reply was not provided. She also wanted to know why they were using large equipment down in the ravine when we were told they would not use large equipment. She stated the reason why we were not using a top approach was because we did not want to destroy the trees. Harry said they are only taking down the trees that are needed to complete the job. Harry said he would get something in writing from them stating their experience.

 

 

 

                  3.5: Building Official: Ted Lazarides, Building Official, had previously distributed his written report. He stated it was a very quiet January. Steve Tacconelly’s foot bridge at 8013 Anadell was engineered correctly. A letter was written to Mr. and Mrs. Mays, 8108 Bromley, giving them 10 days to respond. The culverts at the end of Mallie Court will be removed. The dirt at the Tribble address was from the street contractors. Council Member Anderson indicated that the mounds of dirt were at Mallie Court.

 

                  3.6. Mayor and Council: The Mayor stated that from this time forward no anonymous calls will be taken. Monarch Schools will not be out of the Mennonite building within the time frame that was stipulated.

 

                  3.7. HVCEFFC (Conduit bonds): The Mayor stated that this account shows $54,800.00 balance.

 

                  3.8. City Secretary: A list of citizens concerns was submitted to Council. There have been a lot of problems with the water billings. A new form has been put into effect and will be put on the website for residents to fill out and email to us. We have not had any move ins or outs. Council member Whiting asked if the wording had been changed in the trash letters that were sent to the residents. Assistant City Secretary stated that 23 letters had been sent on Friday and the wording had been changed.

 

4. CONSENT AGENDA: The mayor asked to remove item 4.8. Council Member Henault asked to remove the Claunch and Miller and Severn Trent invoices. A motion was made by Council Member Henault and seconded by Council Member Castro to approve the agenda as presented excluding the invoices to Claunch and Miller and Severn Trent from 4.1, 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6 and 4.8. The motion carried unanimously.

 

4.1 Council Member Henault questioned Claunch and Millers invoice and

wanted to know if there was a typographical error. Everyone agreed the invoice should be $2,086.66. Council Member Whiting moved and Council Member Henault seconded that the invoice to Claunch and Miller should be paid in the amount of $2,086.66. The motion carried unanimously. Council Member Henault questioned Severn Trent’s invoice regarding the fire hydrant valve, asking if that was something the street contractors did, everyone agreed it was not. Council Member Whiting stated the amount to be paid was outrageous. The decision was to delay payment for now.

              

Out of Order of the agenda

4.4 Council Member Anderson wanted someone to substantiate the

invoice for application number 2 and explain it. A motion was made to pay PM Construction Application No. 2 for Ridgeley Drive Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project by Council Member Castro and seconded by Council Member Whiting. Council Member Denninger said that he sees no problem with paying these invoices since the City has signed paperwork from Claunch and Miller requesting payment be made for application no. 2. The motion was carried unanimously.

 

                 

 

 

4.5 A motion was made to pay Metro City Construction for

Application No. 2 for work related to the Ridgeley Drive Utility Improvements Project 2 in the amount of $131,881.58 by Council Member Whiting and seconded by Council Member Castro. The motion was carried 4-1 with Council Member Anderson voting no.

 

4.6 The Mayor stated that this is a repeat of a motion not recorded.

Council Member Henault moved and Council Member Whiting seconded that they wanted to clarify the duties of the salaried City Hall office staff to include attendance at City Council meetings and these persons are to be compensated through the salaried structure. Council Member Denninger wanted the wording for the office staff to be more specific. City Attorney, David, advised that we delay acting on this matter.

 

5. DISCUSSION: Nathan Krupke, Sanderson, Knox, and Belt. Nathan stated that on page one of your financial report you will see our independent auditors report that shows that the City has the highest degree of assurance, your financial statements have all the required disclosures and the city as a whole has a clean report of opinion from your auditors. On page twenty-one you will see your statement of revenue. The City has a 1.3 million net decrease of ending fund showing that the City is doing well in the fund balance. The water and sewer fund shows the Cities revenue stayed the same as last year.

 

6. ACTION ITEMS (CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON):

 

                  6.1 Council Member Henault moved and it was seconded by Council Member Anderson to authorize the payment of $235.50 to Marco’s Lawn and Landscape Co. for restoration work done on the swimming pool feed water line at 1209 Pine Chase Drive. Harry Walker stated that we were taking Mr. Samuels on faith and there are not any other problems at this time. The motion was carried unanimously.

Out of Order of agenda

                  6.6 Council Member Henault moved and it was seconded by Council Member Whiting to authorize payment of $24,984.85 to CMI/Metro City for completion of the Lift Station installation as designed. Mayor Border stated that he met with CMI and the two gentlemen from Metro City and he agrees that it is fair to make this payment and that we have not spent the extra $30,000 put aside for unforeseen expenses. Harry stated that this is a legitimate mistake and Metro City has been very upfront and will finish the job regardless. Tony Rodriquez said the packet was bid by an estimator who stated that he planned to use same numbers as the original bid and no one realized that he transposed the numbers. This is the number the Harry came up with taking the cost of Metro City’s labor and equipment out of the cost and asking the City to reimburse for the material and extra cost. The Lift station is complete and they are waiting for the pump and then waiting for Center Point. Council Member Henault asked if there will be another payment at another time. Harry said there was another

 

payment and Council Member Henault asked if we could hold this payment until April’s Council meeting. Harry stated that no supplemental funds have been used. Council Member Henault moved and it was seconded by Council Member Whiting to amend the motion to read “to table this authorization until April’s Council Meeting” and the motion carried unanimously.

 

6.2 Council Member Castro moved and it was seconded by Council Member Henault to approve the ordinance providing for the holding of a general election on May 10, 2008, for the purpose of electing one (1) mayor and two (2) council members (Place 1 and Place 2) for a term of two (2) years, and providing details relating to the holding of such elections. The motion carried unanimously.

 

6.3 Council Member Whiting moved and Council Member Henault seconded a motion to approve a policy concerning City emails to residents. Council Member Henault wanted a policy to be put in place to send out city information (emergencies, utility, road issues, council meetings, ordinances and city reminders) to residents. All emails should be approved by the Mayor and sent out by the City Secretary. The motion carried unanimously.

 

Out of order of agenda

6.5 Council Member Henault moved and it was seconded by Council Member

Anderson to approve signage be placed stating fines would be doubled in the construction zones. Council Member Denninger wanted to know why the City would want to do this. Council Member Anderson said that it is scary to recreate in the City because some drivers are speeding. The motion failed 3-2 with Council Member Anderson and Whiting voted for the signs.

 

6.4 Mayor Border adjourned council meeting to go into an executive session at 8:47 P.M. Council Meeting was reconvened at 9:10 P.M. A motion was made by Connie Castro and seconded by Shannon Whiting to accept the resignation of former City Secretary (Claudia Bammel) and to authorize the Mayor to execute a letter on behalf of the City appointing Susan Blevins as the new City Secretary at a new salary effective March 1, 2008. The motion carried unanimously.

 

MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMENTS: Mayor Border stated Doctor Williams’

comments were not the same that the Mayor remembered. The Mayor recalled that he did not state that Dr. Williams did not have to worry about anything in the right of way. Council Member Whiting would like to send an email regarding Ridgeley construction. The mayor reminded everyone that March 10^th was the deadline for applying for a position in the city election.

 

 

 

 

 

8. ADDITIONAL CITIZENS COMMENTS: None

 

9. ANNOUNCEMENTS: None

 

10. ADJOURNMENT: It was moved by Council Member Henault and seconded by Council Member Castro and Anderson to adjourn.

 

 

                                                                                                                              ____________________

                                                                                                                              Robin S. Border, Mayor

ATTEST:

 

__________________________

Susan Blevins, City Secretary