HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 07.26.2011 CC-RMinutes of the Meeting of the Governing Body
of the City of Georgetown, Texas
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met in Regular Session on the above date with Mayor
George Garver presiding.
Council Present: Council Absent:
Patty Eason, Danny Meigs, Bill Sattler, Pat All Council Present
Berryman, Tommy Gonzalez, Rachael Jonrowe,
Troy Hellmann
Staff Present:
Paul E Brandenburg, City Manager; Bridget Chapman, Acting City Attorney; Jessica Brettle, City
Secretary; Elizabeth Cook, Community Development Director; Jordan Maddox, Principal Planner; Cart
Miller, Tourism Manager; Trina Bickford, Purchasing Manager; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Offcier; Ed
Polasek; Transportation Services Director; Terri Calhoun, Real Estate Services Coordinator, Robbie
Wyier, Historic District Planner; Bill Dryden, Transportation Engineer; Glenn Dishong; Utilities Director
1�1
Regular Session - To begin no earlier than 06:00 P
(Council may, at any time, recess the Regular Session to convene an Executive Session at the request of
the Mayor, a Councilmember, or the City Manager for any purpose authorized by the Open Meetings Act,
Texas Government Code Chapter 551.)
A Call to Order
Fledge of Allegiance
Comments from the Mayor
- Welcome and Meeting Procedures
City Council Regional Board Reports
- CAPCOG
Berryman said she is preparing a report on the past CAPCOG meeting and she will be providing that to Council
at the next meeting.
-CAMPO
Mayor said he serves on this Board and described what the Board does for the community. He said the meeting
for August is being cancelled for a lack of items to be discussed.
- Lone Star Rail District
She said they have not had a meeting as of today-
- 1-35 Corridor Segment 3 Committee
Hellmann says he has no new information on this committee.
City Manager Comments
Budget and Tax Rate Public Hearings
College Street Bridge- Transportation Project of the Year
City Council Meeting Minutes/
Page 1 of 11 Pages
Brandenburg described the item and Dryden presented the award to the City Council.
Police Promotional Ceremony
Nero thanked the City Manager and the Council and said this is the third opportunity he has had to promote
some officers within his department. He described the recent changes made to the promotional process. He
read the text on the plaques that were presented to each one of the officers being promoted. He said these are
three great, well deserving men and a great portion of the City's future is in their hands. He introduced the family
members that are here with those officers being promoted. Mayor congratulated the officers.
Action from Executive Session
Motion by Eason, second by Gonzalez to retain attorney Patricia Carls for review of legal documents related to
Water Oak Development Project on terms discussed in Executive Session. Approved 7-0
Motion by
Eason,
second
by Meigs to
proceed with letter of
response to
TXDOT and payment
following terms
as defined
in July
11, 2011
letter from
TXDOT for acquisition
for discussion
of property
for airport
clear
zones.
Approved 7-0
On a subject that is posted on this agenda: Please fill out a speaker registration form which can be found on the
table at the entrance to the Council Chamber. Clearly print your name and the letter of the item on which you wish to
speak and present it to the City Secretary on the dais, preferably prior to the start of the meeting. You will be called
forward to speak when the Council considers that item.
On a subject not posted on the agenda: Persons may add an item to a future City Council agenda by contacting the
City Secretary no later than noon on the Wednesday prior to the Tuesday meeting, with the subject matter of the
topic they would like to address and their name. The City Secretary can be reached at 512/930-3651.
B - Keith Peshak regarding airport board meetings and the airport runway.
Peshak said the first charge of official corruption has to do with the May meeting of the Airport Board. He spoke
of the occurrences at that Board meeting. He said there was no record of the adjudication or even if one
happened. He said the second charge of official corruption has to do with the June meeting of the Airport Board
and how the public was denied a request to speak on a public item. He said the third charge is also regarding
the June meeting of the airport board where there was no mention in the public record about an offer being
made to repair an NDB beacon for free. He spoke about an incident at the airport and a discrimination
accusation. He continued to describe his concerns regarding the airport and the runway.
C = Paul Linehan regarding preliminary subdivision plats and associated revisions.
Line) Ian said he sent council a letter on July 21 talking about the preliminary plan process. He said his main
concern is that the process does not allow for minor revisions. He noted Austin; Cedar Park and Pflugerviile all
have provisions in their Codes to allow for revisions. He explained why the City's process is costing him
thousands of dollars due to what the Code says about planning revisions. He said market conditions, end users
and other costs change and it can get expensive to make revisions to address those changes within the City's
plan revision process. He said, in all cities, it is important that Council trust the staff. He said staff is interpreting
the Ordinance as per how legal counsel has told them in the past. He noted he knows every City is unique, but
he does not think any City would want to make it more time consuming and expensive to fix thing that staff can
do. He continued to describe his concerns with the City's revision process.
Brandenburg said
Cook
noted it
is her
thought to take this up during the regular UDC amendment process. He
said this issue will
be in
the next
cycle
of the UDC
amendments
for discussion
by Council.
D - Erin Welch regarding preliminary subdivision plats and associated revisions.
Welch gave her three minutes to Mr. Linehan,
Statutory Consent Agenda
The Statutory Consent Agenda includes non -controversial and routine items that Council may act on with
one single vote. A councilmember may pull any item from the Consent Agenda in order that the council
discuss and act upon it individually as part of the Regular Agenda.
E Consideration and
possible
action to
approve
the
minutes of the Workshop and Regular Council Meeting held
on Tuesday, July 12,
2011 -- Jessica
Brettle,
City
Secretary
City Council Meeting Minutes/
Page 2 of 11 Pages
F Consideration and
possible action to approve the recommendation by
the Convention and Visitors Bureau board
for approval of an
allocation
of $1,570.00 in Hotel Occupancy Tax
(HOT) funds to the Williamson Museum
for assistance with
advertising
the 2011 Chisholm Trail Days Event --
Cad Miller, Tourism Manager
G Consideration and possible action to adopt a Resolution authorizing the City of Georgetown to participate in
an interlocal agreement with the Harris County (Texas) Department of Education for the purpose of
participating in their Interlocal Purchasing Cooperative Program, Choice Facility Partners -- Trina Bickford,
Purchasing Manager and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer
H Consideration and possible action to approve a Resolution finding public convenience and necessity and
authorizing eminent domain proceedings, if necessary, for the acquisition of real property from Georgetown
Railroad Company, to effectuate certain public infrastructure improvements in connection with the Southeast
Arterial One roadway project -- Ed Polasek, Transportation Services Director, Terri Calhoun, Real Estate
Services Coordinator
Consideration and possible action to approve a Resolution authorizing the vacation and abandonment of a
wastewater utility easement on Lot 3, Replat of Lots 2 and 3, W.D. Ischy Tract, a subdivision of record in
Cabinet BB, Slide 28, Plat Records of Williamson County, Texas; and authorizing the Mayor to execute a
quitclaim deed and any other documentation necessary to effectuate such vacation and abandonment; and
establishing an effective date -- Terri Glasby Calhoun, Real Estate Services Coordinator and Glenn Dishong,
Utilities Director
J Consideration and possible action to nominate Kevin Russell, Director of Human Resources, to the Texas
Municipal League Intergovernmental Employee Benefits Pool (TMLIEBP) Board of Trustees -- Paul
Brandenburg, City Manager
Motion by Hellmann, second by Meigs to approve the consent agenda in its entirety. Approved 7-0
Council will individually consider and possibly take action on any or all of the following items:
K Public Hearing and possible action to allow the addition of Medical Clinic uses as an allowed use per the
approved Planned Unit Development (PUD) District for 0.3083 acres in Morrow Addition, Block O (pt), located
at 1208 S. Main Street -- Robbie Wyler, Historic District Planner and Elizabeth A. Cook, Community
Development Director
Wyler gave a bit of history on the property. He said, in March of 2003, the district was changed to PUD Planned
Unit District.
He said, in 2005, She Spa obtained a certificate of occupancy and has been operating in this this building since.
He added they are recently up for sale and said the applicant here tonight is a prospective purchaser of that
property. He said the applicant would like to take over some spa services already assigned to the property and
add some medical clinic uses to the property. He said a list of those additional uses have been provided to
Council. He noted, because of the detailed development plan for that site, the addition of those extra uses will
need to be approved by the Council. He listed the documents that have been provided for the Council. He said
staff is in support of the inclusion of the medical uses within the detailed development plan. He said they feel
that the site would be appropriate for those uses. He said there were concerns regarding parking and added the
applicant, Dr. Newman, has addressed the parking issues in a letter provided to the Council. He said the
applicant feels that the overall employees would be reduced from 3 to 5 and, with the services proposed, the
overall client turnaround time would be reduced to do the length of the procedures. Gonzalez said this is an
important corridor of the area and it seems that the traffic would increase. Wyler explained why the applicant
feels the traffic would actually be reduced. Gonzalez asked and Wyler said the uses on the list will be the only
uses allowed and the applicant would have to come back to Council with any additions to that list.
Public Hearing was opened at 6:46 PM
Speaker,
Dr. Daniel Leeman,
said it is
pleasure to be in front of Council. He said his current office is in Austin
but he is
looking to move some of his
business closer to home in Georgetown. He said he was intrigued when
he saw that
She, Etc. was up
for sale.
He noted it seemed to him that it was a logical decision is to take what
She Etc.
does now along with
its clientele, along with offering new services. He said the concern he keeps
hearing
is regarding
parking.
He
said
they plan
to reduce
the
number
of staff that are on site. He said there are
City Council Meeting Minutes/
Page 3 of 11 Pages
also days where there are only two people on schedule. He added their services do not have a high turnover.
He noted, overall, he feels confident that the traffic will not be an issue at the site.
Speaker, Sandra Dronet, said she bought She Etc because it is a house of ministry. She said that whole house
has a lot of wonderful energy and everyone from everywhere has been coming there for years. She said she
has a client list of almost 7,800 men and women. She noted she loves Georgetown and has supported
everything in town. She said she is leaving for personal reasons and she is not sure of the future for her. She
noted this needs to happen because it is godsend for the community.
Speaker, Lenora Fillmore, said she lives next door and the parking around the property. is an issue. She said it is
not so much the turnover as it is the number of cars at any one time. She said there are many days she can not
park in front of her house. She said, other than that, she has no problem with the addition of medical services
there and noted it is a lovely place and it is wonderful to live next to it. She said, if you have five customers, five
customers in waiting and five employees, there will be fifteen cars around the property.
Speaker, Norman Filmore, said he has enjoyed having Sandy as a neighbor. He noted the intentions regarding
parking are wonderful, but added he would like to see something on paper about what the parking is going to
be. He said this is opposed to the idea that people can park wherever they want.
Speaker; Shawn Trotter, said she is Sandy's daughter and noted she has been there many times working the
front desk when they have been busy. She noted many people come in and complain that they can not find
parking because cf events happening at Dos Salsas or around the square. She said they are every cognizant of
the fact that people should not block driveways. She said reducing the number of staff would definitely reduce
the number of cars around the property. She said the applicant is a wonderful doctor and a wonderful family.
She said the spa is really good for the community and the parking challenges would still continue no matter what
is decided.
Speaker, Dr Leemann, said he does not see how the worst case scenario of having fifteen cars on the premises
would work. He said the procedures they do would range from 30 minutes to half a day. He said his intention is
to be respectful of the neighbors and of the parking and to continue what Sandy started. He said he is confident
that the parking is not going to be an issue or as much of an issue as it was.
Public Hearing was closed at 6:58 PM
Eason asked and Wyler said the plan was not that detailed and there are no provisions that address events or
parking restrictions. He said parking conditions can be added to the plan if the Council wishes. Berryman spoke
about the events that usually occurred at the spa but noted this new proposed spa is a specialty service
business and said someone could not afford to have a party there. She said the makeup and nature of the
business will limit the traffic and parking in the area. She said the parking is not going to be an issue. She said
she senses there is not going to be a problem because she knows the people who have been working there in
the past. Jonrowe said, if the neighbors think there is an issue, then there is and their concern is worthy of being
addressed. She spoke about the many traffic issues in the downtown area. She said Dr. Leeman has given us
assurance that he will do his best but noted she is not sure what the city can do to make sure that happens.
She noted this could be more about a personal relationship between neighbors. Eason said she is trying for
consistency. She said they have done specifics for other businesses, especially in old town, related to bed and
breakfast and home based businesses. She said, by putting it in black and white, if anything were to happen to
this business the restrictions will be there for future owners. Kreger said in your approval tonight , the council
can limit the services to just the procedures he is recommending and those uses that are on the current list.
Kreger said the Council can choose to limit the parking but noted the city does not limit parties on private
properties; but Council can limit the amount of parties the applicant can have per year. Mayor asked and Wyler
said if anything differs from the uses on the proposed list, it will have to come back to Council for approval.
Gonzalez said; moving forward with respect to the neighbors, he thinks it would be good to establish what the
parking will be for the property and in the event of growth the applicant will have to come back to Council to
change their parking plan.
Motion by Gonzalez, second by Eason to approve the inclusion of the medical uses and that a parking plan for
the property be specified by the applicant.
Berryman asked and Gonzalez clarified his request and how the applicant would be able to estimate parking
now and into the future. He noted, if there is future growth that would impede on the neighbors, the applicant
would have to come back to Council. Wyler said, if the clinic would increase the number of employees, they
would have to come back to Council for approval. Gonzalez agreed with Wyler's summary. Hellmann asked for
clarification on the anticipated parking. There was much discussion about the parking conditions in the area.
City Council Meeting Minutes/
Page 4 of 11 Pages
Eason said, right now, there are parking spaces and if any point in time there is is overflow, it will become a
problem. She said they should try to schedule the appointments so there is no overflow. Gonzalez said he was
to make sure they are not restrictions their parking to just on their property because there is a lot of public
parking in the area. Mayor asked and Wyler showed the site plan. and described the property and its parking
area for the Council. Kalea Robertson, who works with the applicant, spoke about the parking in the area and
on the property. She said the parking on the property should be able to address their needs. Wyler reviewed the
motion for the Council
Approved 6-1 (Meigs opposed)
Brandenburg asked how
staff
would monitor this and
Wyler said the enforcement would be complaint driven.
Eason said that is how it
is for
the city's home based
businesses.
L Consideration and
possible action
to vote
to place
adoption of the
proposed 2011 tax rate on a future
agenda and to set
dates
for two
public
hearings
-
Micki
Rundell,
Chief Financial Officer
Rundell described the item and said this is a higher tax rate than last year due to the voter approved bonds that
were approved by the voters last year. She said Texas state law requires that the City hold public hearings when
the proposed tax rate exceeds the effective rate. She said this is not the vote to adopt the tax rate, but it is just
to allow the City to go forward with publication.
Motion by Eason to vote to place adoption of a tax rate of $0.3875 cents per $100 valuation, equaling $0.22290
cents for Maintenance and Operation and $0.16460 cents for debt service, as an action item at the August 23,
2011 Council meeting to be held at 6PM at City Council Chambers, at the northeast corner of Seventh and Main
Streets, Georgetown, Texas and set two public hearings, as required by law, to be held on Tuesday, August 9 at
3:00 PM, and on Thursday, August 18 at 6:00 PM at City Council Chambers, at the northeast corner of Seventh
and Main Streets, Georgetown, Texas.
Record Vote:
Eason- Yes
Hellmann- Yes
Meigs- Yes
Sattler- Yes
Berryman- Yes
,J orr-owe- 'Yes
Gonzalez- Yes
SJM #
M Consideration and possible action to approve the 2011 Redistricting Plan -- Mayor George Garver
Mayor reviewed the redistricting process that Council has been through so far and asked that the City's attorney,
Cobby Caputo present to Council the redistricting maps under consideration. Caputo thanked the Mayor and
said they have received a request from the County to change lines in Sun City to address voting precincts. He
explained this proposed change for the Council. Mayor asked and Caputo confirmed that this only effects the
Sun City portion of the map. Mayor asked and Caputo said the County said this would make it easier to have an
appropriate number of polling places for that area. He said this change only effects the revised plans and these
new proposals are now labeled "Plan A-1 Revised and Plan B-1 Revised." Caputo reviewed Plan A, Plan B,
Plan A revised and Plan B revised for the Council and the strategies that were used to draw the lines on each of
those maps.
Mayor said comments and questions are welcomes from the audience but any questions to the attorney must
fall under the 3 minute speaker time limit.
Speaker, General Charles "Chuck" Graham, said he has learned that the people who sit on the dais are the
people who look forward to supporting the entire city. He said we have done good planning and have good
roads. He said he thinks the City should applaud the present and past council members for what they are done
for the City. He said he was pleased to hear that Council put together criteria in which standards were set for
what should happen in these plans. He also applauded the fact that Council allowed the law firm to come up
with draft plans instead of drawing the lines themselves. He said it seems the council is taking the position of
being statesman rather than politicians. He said it seems more and more, as the council goes along, that politics
are coming back in the process. He said the Council needs to go back and be statesman and do what is best
for the whole community. He said he thinks Council will find that Plan B or B revised is the best way to go.
City Council Meeting Minutes/
Page 5 of 11 Pages
Speaker, Kim Moran, said she has attended two formal meetings and has followed this along with General
Graham. She said, unless a resident has had these maps in front of them, it would be hard to make a decision
ori which plan they prefer. She said, at the two formal meetings in Sun City, there was an overwhelming
majority in favor of Plan B or B revised. She said to Sattler that most people from the Kiwanis Club are for Plan
B revised. She said she is discouraged about the politics that are going on with the Council. She urges council
to put politics aside and to don't make Sun City the soccer ball and kick them around. She said Sun City is
proud to be a part of the City and said they know that Plan B is the best plan for the entire City as well as Sun
City,
Speaker, Karin Truxillo,
said she no longer lives in Sun City and has a lot of friends in the Georgetown
Villages
and her preference is for Plan A revised. She said,
prior to this redistricting proposals, Dale Ross was
his
Council person and his
district went up and all over
the place. She said it should not be the miles and
distance
for each district but the
preference of each Council
person. She added she thinks Georgetown Village
should
be separated from Sun
City and asked that Council
approve Plan A revised.
Speaker, Porter Cochran, said she appreciates the Sun for its reporting on the redistricting process. She said
she is disappointed in the city's law firm that would allow for private meetings with Council members. She said
she is wondering who is going to pay for all of this. She said the City needs more transparency. She noted all
meetings of Council and attorneys should be a public forurn on the dais. She said too many of our
Councilmembers are self serving and working for their own interests. She noted some of the Council members
have never had an opponent and, therefore, feel they do not have to work for their constituents. She said she is
a resident of Sun City and she has been a volunteer in Georgetown for many years. She said she has taken
time to learn our staff. She said Sun City is the largest economic engine in Georgetown and she feels Sun City
is being thrown under the bus. She said Plan A and A -revised is some of the worst gerrymandering she has ever
seen. She said she supports Plan B or B revised. She said they need the City and City Council to step up and
be the best man and woman they can be and think for themselves. She asked that Council make them proud.
Speaker, Ross Hunter, said he wants to talk about what appears to be a tangible appearance of impropriety. He
said the public learned after the Sun article, that four Councilmembers met with the law firm behind closed
doors. He said he only knows what is in the newspaper and noted they are only looking at the possibility of
wrong doing. He said, because there is no open record, there can be no supposition that everything was done
cleanly. He said he is riot making the assumption that there is something wrong, but noted everything
happened behind a veil. He said there has to be a public record that there was no wrong doing. He said 14.2
hours of open meetings with individuals is completely unaccounted for. He read one line item from the billing
record. He said, on May 27, 2011, the firm is charging for possible ways to finalize a plan based on results of
meeting with T. Hellmann. He said T. Hellmann knows what that refers to but the public does not. He said to
find out that these private meetings have been going on when the citizens were proud of the process and
transparency so far is disappointing. He noted the citizens need to know exactly what happened and added they
need a public record. He said the City has two great possibilities, the spector of undue influence by one council
member over the law firm or a violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. He said the City is in a procedural
crisis that needs to be fixed. He said the Mayor should make application to the Texas Municipal League to give
the citizens a determination on were the City stands and how to move forward. He said we have not learned
everything yet and the City needs to surface a lot of material to the public record. He noted he recommends that
the City receive outside legal opinion on these matters and investigate further.
Speaker, Joe Pondrum, said he lives in River Ridge and is reeling from the last speaker. He said the people of
River Ridge 3 are overwhelming in favor for Plan B and B revised. He asked that Council put the approval of
either of those plans on the agenda and move forward with it.
Speaker, Rick Williamson, said he wanted to speak to the comments that were made earlier in the meeting. He
feels very strongly about the comments made by Ross Hunter that something needs to be figured out. He said
all we know is what we are allowed to read. He said the citizens try their best to be knowledgeable but, when
things go on behind closed doors, it offends us highly. He said they want to object highly and, of the plans we
have been give, obviously Plan B makes the most sense and is the plan most people want. He noted he would
like for the Council to dig in and discuss what has been going on.
Eason said she thinks a lot of people have been very active in this process and she appreciates everyone who
has sent their emails and have spoken and attended meetings. She sees an overwhelming support for Plan B,
Plan B revised and she noted she has seen when someone actually chooses between those plans, the support
has been for Plan B revised. She said she can not speak to the Plan B-1 revised, because it was just presented
to her tonight. She said she is going with the majority in support for Plan B revised. She said she would like to
pursue the benefits of Plan B-1 revised to see how that may be beneficial.
City Council Meeting Minutes/
Page 6 of 11 Pages
Hellmann said he would like to address the concerns that were brought up earlier by the citizens. He said he
did not think he was doing anything wrong because the law firm was wanting input. He said he met with Caputo
in person and got to see how they maneuvered the map. He said, at that point, there were no divisions or lines
drawn yet. He said he went as a learned and noted his kids go to school in the Village and he has friends in the
Village and they expressed concerns to him that they would like the chance to be separated from Sun City. He
continued to describe what else occurred at that meeting. He continued to explain what happened in his
meetings with Caputo. He said he thought it was part of his job to go and be a part of the process and to figure
out what was going on. He said he does not in any way want to put the hint of impropriety on this process. He
said he welcomes the scrutiny from TML if the Council and the citizens feel that is appropriate. He said he
thinks there is value with each Council member going down and being involved but he sees how there can be
concerns with that. Hellmann he thinks Plan A, Pian A revised or Plan A-1 revised best meets the criteria that
Council set forth.
Meigs said he would like to appeal to Council's logic and common sense and ability to do the right thing even
when it's hard. He said, if the Council passes a set of criteria, it should be followed. He spoke to some of the
comments heard during the public hearing process. He said he supports Plan B and Pian B revised because it
meets the criteria set forth by the Council. He described why he feels Plans A or A revised do not meet the
criteria. He said it would be an advantage for the Williams Drive area to have more than one Council members
in the area. He said when he asked Caputo for a definition of "communities of interest," he received a response
that it can mean anything to any Council member. He asked how one would define a "community of interest."
He said, in his opinion, Berry Creek has more in common with Sun City and the Village than Thousand Oaks
and his area. He said it has been argued that the village has been under -represented and disenfranchised
which assumes Sattler has been unresponsive but he does not agree with that and he does not think that Sattler
would agree with that either. He said Sun City will vote for the best candidate no matter their age or place of
residence. He said Plan B and B revised are the most fair and equitable plans for Georgetown because they
meet all of the criteria set forth by the Council.
Sattler said the purpose of redistricting is to correct the in equities of population that have existed in each district
throughout the last ten years. Ne said we are in violation of the 10% or less population deviation requirement at
this time on five of the seven districts the City has. He said Sun City is almost double of what should be a
normal sized district in the City. He continued to speak about the deviations through the City. He said he has
been looking at redistricting in the light of correcting these in equities and the City should not let politics come
into play while making decisions.
Berryman said it is very difficult for us to come to a decision because a group of citizens will end up not where
they want to be and unhappy. She said, in her mind, politics are not the driving issue. She noted the driving
issue is trying to correct the in equities we have now. She said the one district that needs to be split happens to
be a district where a lot of people vote. She described the two different maps and how each one tries to
address that issue. Berryman asked and Caputo clarified what gerrymandering is for the audience and Council.
He said the court has talked about a broader concept of gerrymandering but noted they do not talk about that as
unconstitutional. He spoke more about this broader concept and what can fall under it. Berryman said they
have worked very hard and are above this kind of negativity that is coming from a vocal minority. She said they
were told to speak with Bickerstaff to point out about their district's particular concerns and issues. She spoke to
Caputo and said she thinks it is the Council's job to do so. There was discussion about who spoke to the law
firm between meetings. Berryman asked and Caputo said there was no conspiring. He said everyone but
Jonrowe either visited or called their firm with comments and concerns. He noted most of his discussions with
Council members have been expressed in meetings.
Jonrowe asked and Caputo said each one of those maps included input from Council. Caputo explained how he
and his firm came up with the initial three plans after Council first requested three maps. Jonrowe asked and
Caputo said he did not change any of the maps because of what one Council member said. Jonrowe asked and
Caputo said the firm drew the maps according to the criteria set forth by Council and noted he does not think
any one of the maps perfectly meetings all of that criteria. Caputo spoke about how each map fails on a
particular criteria. Jonrowe asked and Caputo said the County only had one request to get rid of the "tail" up in
Sun City. She said she does not think people should not have gone to the lawyers and this is why she has not
done that yet. She noted Council should have defined better when a Council person could go to the firm and
talk.
Gonzalez said, when he originally discussed this with Council, he requested three plan option which would give
the Council a good starting point. He said he truly felt they could have a non-political issue and figure out what's
best for Georgetown. He said, unfortunately, there is always politics involved no matter how fair Council wants to
be. He said, after everything was put together and Bickerstaff came in with a plan, it becomes a political issue
City Council Meeting Minutes/
Page 7 of 11 Pages
between groups of people with differing opinions. He said, at the end of the day, you have two different
sets of
people and neighborhoods with
arguments for why they do not
fit in Sun City. He briefly described how
he came
up with his decision for what he
thinks is the best plan. He said
he supports Plan A or Plan A revised.
He said
he thinks Council has gone out
of their way to make this as fair
as possible. He said he called Caputo
and had
a great discussion on the future
of district 7. He said he thinks
the method Council has chosen for this
process
has
been
fair.
option.
Mayor asked Caputo about the firm's billing. He read a few line items referencing Caputo drawing boundary
lines with a Council member. Caputo said no one drew an entire plan but noted, when he worked with Sattler,
they drew different ways to draw Sun City. He said they wanted input about his neighborhood and where the
lines should be. He said he can draw lines on a map but it won't make any sense because he is not familiar with
the area or the neighborhood. Mayor said, according to the billing, the firm consulted with one council member
three days before the June 16 meeting. He noted he heard from three different Council members that they were
able to see the maps prior to the scheduled June 16 meeting. Caputo said his recollection with the meetings are
that they did not finalize a plan. Mayor said the intent of council was to get an impartial quality set of plans to
start the dialog. Mayor said and Caputo agreed that he served on the Cedar Park Council for 11 years. Mayor
asked if Caputo would be comfortable if a fellow Council member went off, drew lines and come up with
concepts prior to a meeting. Caputo said he is not going to be attacked or accused of things that did not
happen. He said he was up front that he and Gonzalez discussed the boundaries of District 7. Mayor said at no
time did Caputo say that one Council member spent 6 hours with the firm. Mayor said we hired what we thought
was a fine law firm that would help the City maintain a degree of neutrality without politics. He noted he believes
that Caputo has violated that trust and added there are people in this room who believe that the Council people
did less wrong because they were under the impression it was your idea on how to do business. He said, in
reality, a law firm should have been asking if they are authorized to spend six hours with us. Caputo said, if
someone had told him not to call, he would not have done so. Caputo said if the process is flawed he does not
know what to do about it because this is how the process has been done over the years. There was much
discussion regarding Council's interactions with the law firm.
Eason said, at this point, maybe it would be a good idea to start over. She thinks this process has been highly
polluted and added we need better direction for the attorneys and to clean this process up. She said she sticks
with her opinion in that the plan that meets the criteria the most is Plan B or Plan B revised. She said she thinks
all of the plans should have been sent out for public review, not just four of them.
Hellmann asked and Chapman said, with regard to open meetings violations, the Open Meeting Act prohibits a
quorum meeting without it being publicly noticed with the intent of circumventing the act. She said, in her legal
opinion, there is nothing wrong with one council member discussing a legal issue with legal counsel. She does
not know whether a group of council members met together because the Act does not require that a quorum be
present but only that a quorum of members discuss the same matter at different times to reach a consensus on
an issue outside of a properly noticed meeting. She said can't really give a proper opinion at this point because
she does not have enough information. She noted, from what she heard tonight, there is nothing legally wrong
with that. Hellmann continued to speak about Plan A, Plan A revised and why Georgetown Village should be
considered when choosing the plan . He said he also likes the fact that there will be one Williams Drive corridor
representative on the Plan A map. He added he likes the fact that, for the most part, it is compact. He said he
can certainly sympathize with the people in River Ridge, though. He said looking at the criteria is a valid way to
decide on a proper plan. He said, when he does look at the criteria, he sees that Plan B in no way complies with
criteria number four. He said if we had a perfect plan there would not be an argument and why this is a hard
decision. He noted, in his opinion, Plan A is a more balanced approach to the criteria.
Meigs asked why one neighborhood should be given special determination over another. He spoke about the
distance issue when talking about District 3 in Plan A. He said, out of logic, a person would approve Plan B. He
said he was surprised that, at the first meeting, there was a consensus about Plan A. He noted he has questions
and concerns about that. He said maybe he is misunderstanding what a starting point is, but there seemed to
be a lot of input before beginning the process and quite a consensus at the first meeting.
Sattler spoke
about
Plan B
and
asked what
it would look like if Council swapped Districts 2 and 3. He said that
would get rid
of the
politics.
He
continued
to
describe
this
option.
Berryman said she has had many businesses and individuals along William Drive come to her with numerous
problems. She added Williams Drive needs better representation and, in Pian A, it is a single corridor district
with one Council member taking responsibility of that district. She said Williams Drive is a major corridor in
Georgetown. She noted she has represented a portion of that area during her time on the Council. She said
Williams Drive is going to be a huge cost for the City to maintain into the future. She said, in Plan A, the City
would have one person assigned to that corridor. She noted someone is going to have to step up and be a
City Council Meeting Minutes!
Page 8 of 11 Pages
leader and this Council needs to make sure the Williams Drive corridor has one person as a representative. She
spoke about District 3 and how it is impossible to make it more compact. She explained the geographic
obstacles in that area.
Jonrowe thanked everyone for their comments. She spoke to the people who are submitting comments and ask
that they make sure they add the reason they are in support of a particular plan. She noted, in the beginning,
she saw things from the point of view of the people in the Village. She said demographics are not as important
as common interests. She said the people of the Village should be proud to be coupled with Sun City. She noted
people in Sun City make informed decisions and will not vote for someone because of their age or what
neighborhood they live in. She noted she supports Pian B. She said the point of view of the people from the
Village are being represented because there are people on the Council with small families. She said the
Council on this dais is not in competition with one another and they work for the benefit of all people in
Georgetown.
Gonzalez apologized to Caputo and said the Council's errors or omissions should not be put on him. He said he
wished he could be as eloquent of a speaker as Ms. Jonrowe but he would like to say that same thing about the
folks on Leander Road. He said it is not so scary to be with Sun City. He said it is a great argument but it
applies to all neighborhoods. He addressed the distance of his district being almost seven miles and added no
one has expressed concern about that district. He said it would be a bad idea to start this thing over because
there is probably not a better solution. He said he thinks the Council has done the best they can with these
plans.
Mayor suggested Council do nothing further with this tonight. Mayor suggested this item come back to the next
meeting so that there is cooler temperaments and that people have had time to think through the decision.
Gonzalez said Council can stew on this for two weeks, but no one is going to change their mind on the maps.
He said he does not think there is a benefit in delaying the vote. Meigs said he would like to wait and see
Sattler's idea put on paper.
Motion by Meigs, second by Eason to postpone until the next regular meeting, take a look at Sattler's
suggestion that could be incorporated on a map and have a special workshop next week to look at other ideas
and consider suggestions from Council. Gonzalez said and Hellmann agreed that incorporating Sattler's
suggestion; would not change their mind on which map they would support.
Sattler asked that Council receive access to Caputo and his people to see how this will come together.
Berryman said she likes the idea that Sattler is trying to solve a problem but noted he is missing the point.
Sattler clarified what his suggestion was earlier in the meeting. Mayor said if Council wants to work with different
lines, all Council needs to do is establish a special session where the maps can be pulled up and Council can
alter, modify and look at anything Council wishes to be consider. Mayor said he would prefer that the law firm
come to Council rather than Council going to them. Sattler agreed and said that would eliminate any question of
lack of transparency. Eason said the reason she is agreeing with the motion is because this could initiate a
review of the whole map. Sattler asked that it be done next week as opposed to two weeks from now, if
necessary. The Council agreed on a date and time for a Special Workshop to be held on August 3, 2011 at 5:30
PM. Vote on the motion: Approved 6-1
Meeting recessed at 9:20 PM
Meeting resumed at 9:31 PM
N Consideration and possible direction to staff on the selected 2011 Annexation Areas -- Jordan J. Maddox,
AICP, Principal Planner and Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director
Maddoz reviewed the 2011 proposed annexation areas that were presented to the City Council at the earlier
workshop. Mayor asked and Maddox said there are three areas that caused staff some concern due to costs to
bring service to those area. Mayor asked and Maddox said the Council can pull any of these areas off of the list
at a later time if they so choose but they can not put any areas back on. Maddox said there will be an action item
every time these areas come to Council, so changes can be made many more times in the future. Berryman
asked and Maddox explained why staff is recommending the removal of areas 13-17. He said areas 14 and 16
require the most capital improvements and provide the least amount of return to the City. Maddox said the issue
here is the wastewater provision to these areas. He clarified this for the Council. Berryman asked that Council
look at the part that is next to Shell Spur Road. She said that is the area that will most likely have development.
There were many questions about the proposed annexation areas.
Motion by Gonzalez, second by Meigs to approve the staff recommendations.
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Page 9 of 11 Pages
Berryman made a friendly amendment to approve all areas to be reconsidered when they come back to
Council. Gonzalez accepted the friendly amendment.
Vote on the motion as amended: Approved 7-0
O Consideration and possible action related to impacts of TxDOT Proposition 12 funds and CAMPO Phase 11
Call for Project Applications on previously submitted project applications for FM 1460 improvements from
Quail Valley to La Conterra Boulevard and pedestrian improvements on North Austin Avenue from
Williams Drive to Georgetown High School through the CAMPO Combined Call for Projects FY 2012 - FY
2014 and the possibility of adding the SW Bypass from SH 29 to Leander Road to our application -- Edward G.
Polasek, AICP, Transportation Services Director
Polasek said Council has been given a map related to this item. He noted CAMPO released a second call for
projects for Proposition 12 funds. He said these dollars are for road construction projects only. He noted this
call will not effect any of the previous applications. He said the caveat is the eligible projects must be ready for
construction by 2013. He noted the City does not really have anything out there except for the Southwest
Bypass which runs from DB Wood road to the Bypass through to Leander Road.. He said the map given to
Council that shows that the City is ready for the environmental and construction for that project. He said the right
of way acquisition is under way now. He noted they sent letters to the property owners and they have received
one response. He said the one cost he sees is mitigation for the caves. He said the total City commitment that is
not currently in the budget or in the works would be $1.9 or $3.1 million. He said the City would apply for over
$20 million for the construction of this bypass. He said there is a table on the Council's maps that demonstrates
how the traffic along Leander Road would be affected by the partial and full construction of the Southwest
Bypass. He said the staff recommendation is to approve moving forward with this application.
Motion by Meigs, second by Gonzalez to approve.
Berryman asked and Polasek said the Northwest Blvd. Bridge is years away environmentally, so they are not
able to apply for that. Meigs asked and Polasek explained how the data on the Leander Road was gathered
and estimat . Meigs said the fear off Leander road was the truck traffic will increase. Polasek disagreed and
said the truck traffic would actually decrease. There were many questions. Vote on the motion: Approved 7-0
P Forwarded from the Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board (GTAB):
Consideration and possible action to award a contract for the 2010/11 CIP Street Reconstruction and
Rehabilitation Project to Cash Construction Company, Inc., of Pflugerville, TX, in the amount of
$1,211,915.00 -- Edward G. Polasek, AICP, Transportation Services Director and Bill Dryden, P. E.,
Transportation Engineer
Polasek said this item came to Council through GTAB with a unanimous recommendation. He said the low
qualified bidder was Cash Construction for a total of $1.3 million. He said, in doing projects like this, they like to
commingle some of the water and drainage improvements the City may have in the same area. He described
all of the improvements to be made in that area.
Motion
by
Hellmann, second by Jonrowe
to
approve the item. Jonrowe said the people of Eubank Street are
going to
be
ecstatic about this. Approved
7-0
Q Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility Systems (GUS) Advisory Board:
Consideration and possible action to approve Task Order HDR 11-003 with HDR Engineering, Inc., of Austin,
Texas, for design and construction support services for modifications to the existing Glasscock Substation,
in the amount of $354,736.00 -- Jimmy Sikes, T & D Services Manager and Glenn Dishong, Utility Director
Sikes said this is a Task Order using HDR to begin the design and construction to the Glasscock Substation.
Motion by Gonzalez, second by Sattler to approve the task order. Approved 7-0
R First Reading of an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas ("City") amending the
Project Plan and Reinvestment Zone Financing Plan for Downtown Georgetown Tax Increment
Reinvestment Zone, containing findings and provisions related to the foregoing subject, and providing a
severability clause -- Bridget Chapman, Acting City Attorney and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer
Chapman said this would expand the eligible projects under the current TIRZ plan. She said this would provide
City Council Meeting Minutes/
Page 10 of 11 Pages
for economic
development
opportunities
and real estate transactions in the downtown
area.
She read only the
caption of the
Ordinance on
first reading
after having satisfied the requirements of the
City
Charter.
Motion by Hellmann, second by Sattler to approve the Ordinance on first reading. Approved 7-0
S Consideration and possible action to authorize staff and the Mayor to utilize the attendance warning and
removal notification letters and to take appropriate action regarding attendance on the City's boards,
commissions, and committeesM -- Mayor George Garver
Mayor described the item for Council. Gonzalez said it is a fair warning and, if someone has an extenuating
circumstance they can come to Council for appeal. Mayor said this does not address that and the word staff
and Council got is that there are no excused absences.
Motion by Gonzalez, second by Meigs to approve the item.
Sattler asked and Mayor confirmed that the letters will go the Council members that serve on a Board as well, if
they have excessive absences. Approved 7-0
T Consideration and possible action to
appoint
an ad hoc committee to study
and draft ordinances regarding
the working relations between City
Council
and City Staff -- Mayor George
Garver
Mayor described the item for approval by the Council. He said the committee would be made up of Troy
Hellmann, Danny Meigs, Patty Eason, the City Attorney and City Manager.
Motion by Sattler, second by Jonrowe to approve the committee.
Berryman said she is against ad hoc committees and she feels that all Council member should be able to
participate if they so choose. Mayor said the meetings will be posted according to the Open Meetings Act and
any Council member who wants to attend the meetings of the committee can do so. Approved 7-0
U Consideration and possible action to appoint an ad hoc committee for the the development of evaluation
forms and the recommended process for the evaluation of the City Manager and the City Secretary --
Mayor George Garver
Mayor described the item for the Council. He said these committees will discuss and recommend an evaluation
form and process for the evaluations of the City Manager and City Secretary. He said this proposal would have
one of the two Councilmembers who worked on the attorney evaluation process on each of the committees.
Motion by Gonzalez, second by Meigs to approve the committees.
Berryman said that ail Councilmeinbers be rnade aware of the meetings so That they [nay attend if they so
choose. Approved 7-0
V Discussion, direction and possible action on City Attorney position -- Mayor George Garver
This item was pulled from the agenda.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 PM.
City Council Meeting Minutes/
Page 11 of 11 Pages
Secretary Jessica Brettle