PUBLIC HEARING September 30, 2008

 

 

1. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Robin S. Border called the Public Hearing Meeting of the City of Hilshire Village to order at 6:00 P.M. at 8301 Westview, Houston, Texas 77055.

 

Out or Order

 

3. DISCUSSION: Mayor Border said the purpose of the Public Hearing was to discuss the City’s Budget and the City’s Rollback taxes; however, most people would like to hear about the Hurricane.

 

3.1 The Mayor stated that the clean-up of Hurricane Ike’s debris is almost complete. The debris company is making their 2^nd pickup of debris and should be completed tomorrow. As the right-of-way is cleared in front of each residence a letter will be placed on their door stating that the debris was cleared and any further debris to be removed would be the resident’s responsibility.

 

Mayor Border stated that he has emailed, called, written and even talked on a radio talk show in an effort to get FEMA to extend the time frame for reimbursement of cleanup and repairs due to Hurricane Ike. The estimated cleanup cost for The City of Hilshire Village is $150,000.00

 

2. CITIZENS COMMENTS/PUBLIC FORUM

 

Dick Rains, 9 Pine Creek Lane, asked if the City was through picking up debris on his street. The Mayor said he would make sure the street was cleared. Mr. Rains also asked if the City would take care of a tree that fell in the bayou in which Harris County Flood District was responsible. Mayor Border said it was HCFD’s responsibility but the City would address the situation with FEMA and HCFD.

 

Bill Bristow, 1233 Pine Chase Drive, asked about clearing of debris in the bayou.

 

Manisha Patel read a letter from Virginia Tomlinson, 1106 Glourie, expressing her deep appreciation for outstanding leadership during the recent crisis.

 

Ethelene Bucy, 1249 Ridgeley, stated that it was unbelievable that the City was making money off the Hurricane. She could not believe it was costing her $255.00 for each of her residences. Mayor Border explained to her that he had already decided to eliminate the permit fee on all Hurricane related permits and charged only the $25.00 administration fee and the inspections fees. Mrs. Bucy was not satisfied with this. She still did not see why the City was charging for these inspections. City Secretary Blevins explained that the City has to pay for an outside inspector for these inspections. Council Member Anderson stated that we should not charge anything for Hurricane related permits.

 

Patti Joiner, 4 Pine Creek Lane, stated that she would like to work with Council in getting CenterPoint to bury all their wires to eliminate the electrical issues we had in the City during storms and help the esthetics of the City. Mayor Border stated that he has talked to CenterPoint on many occasions but to no avail.

Brad Tutunjian from CenterPoint stated that it was not feasible to do this. He stated that he could not give a specific cost to do this type work nor did he believe burying the lines would solve the issue of no electricity after a storm unless all of The City of Houston did the same. Mayor Border asked if it would be feasible for the City to hire its own contractors to bury the lines. Brad Tutunjian stated that it would have to be a CenterPoint Contractor because the wires belong to CenterPoint and that it does not matter which Franchise Agreement we sign, the wires still belong to CenterPoint.

 

Council recessed at 6:40 P.M. to allow City Council to talk to Brad Tutunjian regarding the Franchise Agreement.

 

Council reconvened at 7:15 PM.

 

2. CITIZENS COMMENTS/PUBLIC FORUM

 

Bill Bristow, 1233 Pine Chase, stated that he hopes that the City Council goes over the budget line by line for the sake of the Citizens.

 

3.2 City’s Proposed Budget for fiscal year 2008/2009 was discussed line by line by Mayor Border.

Unrestricted General Fund: Mayor Border started with Revenue. Total Revenue of $725,506.00 includes an $84,512.00 transfer from General Fund Savings due to a shortage of revenue. Mayor Border stated that interest rates have dropped considerably from last year; however, we have an increase in Franchise Tax due to the new Franchise agreement with CenterPoint. The total Unrestricted General Expense is

$725,506.00. Police and Fire Protection is the City’s largest expense. The City may have to change the type of trash service we have. This includes an increase in insurance if Council approves changes and increase in Audit Fees. Extra funds have been put into City Hall expenses for maintenance on air conditioning and for Alarm Protection Service. Due to a meeting with Amegy Bank by the Mayor and City Secretary bank charges have been reduced. The City has 13 different checking accounts that have to be balanced every month. The City’s official news paper has been changed to reduce cost. There is a $5,000.00 place marker for emergency situations so that we do not have to amend the budget for such situations. Non Metro Engineering is any engineering that needs to be done outside of Metro. The Unrestricted General Fund is a balanced account and has no profit.

Restricted General Fund: Mayor Border stated that the FEMA Grant Revenue and Expenses balance out. This will be true if the City receives 100% reimbursement from FEMA.

Child Safety Fees are restricted because they can only be spent on expenses to educate children on safety.

 

 

Metro Ridgeley is funds we received by Metro to be spent on expenses on Engineering and Construction for paving and drainage.

Other Metro Revenue includes the $99,000.00 the City receives yearly and the interest we make on the different Metro Accounts. This money is to be spent on Metro projects by the City. The $5.000.00 Metro funded expense is budgeted yearly for clearing the right-of-ways.

Bridal Spur Revenue has been removed until all paperwork has been completed.

Debt Tax is the tax the City collects to pay off the million dollar debt. The payment for 2009 is $160,537.00.

Utility Fund revenue is $300,000.00. The Mayor stated he was concerned with water rates but after meeting with Mayor White he is comfortable with these numbers. The Mayor stated he increased the budget expenses by approximately 10% and hopefully this will cover increases in cost. The Lift Station should have a substantial lower maintenance cost since it is new. The City will be in trouble when Vernon Kahanek retires and the City will be in for a huge costly surprise. $5,000.00 has been placed in the budget for emergencies. The total Operating Expense is $257,337.00. The Utility Fund is an Enterprise Fund and is supposed to make money. This money is used to make repairs and replace City Utilities. The Net Income should be approximately $42,000.00.

 

3.3 City’s Proposed Rollback Tax Rate for 2008. There are three types of tax rates. One is “the whatever you want to charge” tax rate and requires a vote on the ballot by the citizens. The second and third are the effective tax rate and the rollback rate. The City is proposing the rollback rate which is the rate the City uses when it is short of money.

4. MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMENTS: Council Member Anderson and Wolfe stated that the City should not charge Ethelene Bucy for her electrical inspections because all she has done for the City and the fact that she was without electricity for so long. Council Member Anderson thought that her job was not that big of a job and did not need inspections. Council Member Whiting and Mayor Pro Tem Castro stated that all residents need to be treated the same.

5. ADDITIONAL CITIZENS COMMENTS: Russ Bourquien, 1327 Glourie Drive, stated that the City needs to raise the tax rate or rezone to remove those that do not pay taxes.

 

Stephanie Post, 8014 Bromley, stated that her house was the one that flooded and she had to move out. She invited the City Council to meet her at her house that following Saturday morning to view the damage. Regarding permit fees, she said this was an issue that the council needed to carefully consider, because those with significant damage had yet to request permits because they were still dealing with the insurance companies. When it was time to repair their homes the work would be significant. The requests for work the City had received to date were just the tip of the iceberg.

Greg Whiting, 1319 Pine Chase, said that waiving the fees is a good idea but everyone should be treated the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. ANNOUNCEMENTS: NONE

 

7. ADJOURNMENT: It was moved by Council Member Anderson and seconded by Council Member Whiting to adjourn.

                                                                                                                                                                        ____________________

                                                                                                                                                                        Robin S. Border, Mayor

ATTEST:

 

__________________________

Susan Blevins, City Secretary