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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 11.23.2010 CC-RThe City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met in Regular Session on the above date with Mayor George Garver presiding. Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Mark Sokolow, City Attorney; Jessica Brettle, City Secretary; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer; Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager; Kevin Russell, Director of Human Resources and Civil Service; Terri Calhoun, Real Estate Services Coordinator; Thomas R. Benz, Systems Engineering Director; Edward G. Polasek, AICP, Transportation Services Director; Glenn Dishong, Utility Director; Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director; Randy Morrow, Director of Community Services; Walter Koopman, Technical Services Manager; Jordan Maddox, Interim Principal Planner; Jennifer Bills, Housing Coordinator; Elizabeth Cook, Community Development Director; Tamera Baird, Chief Plans Examiner; Mike Elabarger, Planner 111; Kathy Ragsdale, Utility Office Manager Regular Session - To begin no earlier than W25 PM (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.) Comments from the Mayor . Welcome and Meeting Procedures Mayor reviewed the meeting and hearing procedures and he welcomed a boy scout to the meeting and presented him with pin. City Manager Comments The City of Georgetown is now accepting applications for vacant or expiring terms on its Boards & Commissions. Information and applications can be obtained on the City's Website at www.georgetown.org or at City Hall which is located at 113 E. 8th Street. The Deadline for filing applications is January 14, 2011. City Offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday, November 25th and 26th for the Thanksgiving Holidays. There will be no trash pickup on Thursday, November 25th. Thursday trash collection slides to Friday. Friday trash collection slides to Saturday. Kick off the Holiday Season on Friday, November 26th at 5:30 p.m. with the Annual Lighting of the Square. For City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 1 of 12 Pages more information call 800.436.8696 or visit www.visitgeorgetown.com. The Annual Christmas Stroll on the Downtown Historic Square is scheduled for Saturday December 4h. A parade kicks off the day starting at noon! There will be a walk-through Bethlehem Village, WhooVille children's area and Santa's House, along with over 135 craft vendors and free entertainment on two stages featuring wonderful local acts. For all of the details, go to www.dgagtx.com. Action from Executive Session There was no action out of Executive Session. On a subiect 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 - As of the deadline, no persons were signed up to speak on items other than what was posted on the agenda. 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. C Consideration and possible action to approve the minutes of the Workshop and Regular Council Meeting held on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 -- Jessica Brettle, City Secretary D Consideration and possible action to approve a Resolution finding public convenience and necessity and authorizing eminent domain proceedings, if necessary, for the acquisition of +42.448 acre of real property and easements from George J. Shia and Forrest N. Troutman, Co -Trustees for the Lera Brock Hughes Trust No. 2, to effectuate certain public right-of-way and utility infrastructure improvements in connection with the Southeast Arterial One Road Project -- Terri Calhoun, Real Estate Services Coordinator and Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Systems Engineering Director E. Consideration and possible action to approve Task Order No. A&F-10-001 with Aguirre & Fields, LP, of Round Rock, Texas, for professional engineering services to complete the requirements for a Conditional Letter of Map Revision and to develop the necessary documentation for a Letter of Map Revision as part of the modifications to the 100 -year Flood Plain as part of construction of the Texas Department of Transportation's College Street Bridge Replacement Project in an amount not to exceed $28,000.00 -- Bill Dryden, P.E., Transportation Engineer and Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Director of Systems Engineering F Consideration and possible action regarding an increase to the existing agreement for work related to the identification of Wholesale Energy Options contracting with McCord Engineering in an amount not to exceed $25,000.00 for a total cost of $50,000 -- Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager G Forwarded from the Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board (GTAB): Discussion and possible action concerning CR 110, Carlson Cove and Mitchell Elementary School, and possible Task Orders SBE -11-001 and SBE -11-002 with Steger and Bizzell of Georgetown in an amount not to exceed $37,000 -- Edward G. Polasek, AICP, Transportation Services Director and Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Director of Systems Engineering H Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility System (GUS) Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to approve an Interlocal Agreement regarding the review of System Water Rates between the City of Georgetown, City of Round Rock, Chisholm Trail SUD, and Brushy Creek MUD and a related Task Order HDR -11-001 with HDR Engineering, Inc. for Review of BRA Raw Water System Rate in the amount of $40,000.00 -- Glenn Dishong, Utility Director and Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 2 of 12 Pages Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility Systen (GUS) Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to award the contract for Electric System Transmission and Substation Maintenance Services to Shermco Industries, Ltd. of Irving, Texas, for a period of five years and approve the amount of $45,502.00 for FY 2010/11 with a five year contract total of $218,620.00 -- Jimmy Sikes, T&D Services Manager and Glenn W. Dishong, Utility Director Motion by Sansing, second by Berryman to approve the consent agenda in its entirety. Approved 7-0 Legislative Regular Agenda Council will individually consider and possibly take action on any or all of the following items: J Discussion and possible action to direct the City Secretary to post on the city's website all campaign finance reports for the Mayor and City Council filed after January 1, 2010 -- Dale Ross, Councilmember District 6 Mayor described the item. Ross said the City now has the technology to do this and there could be some cost savings in doing this as well. He said, if this passes, taxpayers can find the information they need on the City's website. He said many other entities do this as well. He said the only thing he would suggest is that the City Secretary work with legal counsel to see if any information has to be redacted before being placed on the website. Motion by Ross, second by Berryman to approve the item. Meigs said he thinks this is a great idea but he asked about the date which was chosen for the start date. He added he thinks, the further back they go, the better. Gonzalez said whether or not they go back or start January 1, a member of the public can ask for others as well. Berryman said we should start with the January 1 date as it will relate to the currently seated Council. Ross said this would be reports filed after January 15, 2010. He said this is to go forward instead of going back. Sansing asked what would happen if you filed your final report prior to January 1 and there were no other campaign finance reports to file. Ross said if you have filed a final report, then the City can just have the final report on the website. Sansing thanked Ross and added transparency is a good thing. Vote on the motion: Approved 7-0 K Discussion and possible action to direct the City Secretary to post on the city's website all expense reports filed by the Mayor and Council after June 1, 2010 -- Dale Ross, Councilmember District He said both of these projects are 6 Ross described the item and said these are expenses reports that should be submitted each month by each Councilmember. He said if someone turns in receipts with information that should be redacted, that should be done prior to putting it on the website. Sansing said he does not think there needs to be any receipts online. Motion by Ross, second by Sansing to approve. Meigs asked about June 1, 2010 deadline and Ross noted these expense reports were not required until June 1st. Approved 7-0 L Consideration and possible action to approve a contract for the repair of the North San Gabriel River trail lights that were destroyed in the September flood to Mercury Electric from Liberty Hill, Texas, in the amount of $119,000 -- Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director and Randy Morrow, Director of Community Services Garret described the item and said it is for the repair of the lights that were destroyed during the flood that occurred on September 8, 2010. She said there were 17 poles that were completely sheared off and 5 that needed repairs during the flood. She said the emergency repair is needed for the safety of citizens on the trail. She said whichever expenses are not covered by Texas Municipal League insurance will be covered by previous year's fund balance. Motion by Sansing, Berryman to approve the contract. Approved 7-0 M Forwarded from the Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board (GTAB): Consideration and possible action to approve professional engineering services with Kasberg, Patrick & Associates, LP of Georgetown, Teaxs for Task Order No. KPA-10-008 for the Maple Street Drainage Improvements in an amount not to exceed $77,906.00 and Task Order No. KPA-11-001 for the Gabriel View Drive/John Thomas Drainage Improvements in an amount not to exceed $40,291.00 -- Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Systems Engineering Director and Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations Benz described the item and said this is for two separate drainage projects. He described both of those projects. He said both of these projects are in place so the City can address the drainage in both of the areas. City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 3 of 12 Pages He began by speaking about Maple Street. He said this is an area where the City received significant flooding in the past flood but noted the City has been working on it since 2002. He said KPA did a preliminary report which is recommending to Council the improvements before them tonight. He showed Council a picture of the flood plain for the existing conditions today in that area. He said there are three options and he described those options. He said the first option would be to do nothing, the second option would result in a 200 foot bridge and the third option would be a hundred foot bridge. He showed Council a picture of putting four ten by eight boxes in that would put 12 structures in the flood plain. He said this is the option staff is recommending the City move forward with. He said, no matter what they do, they will not be able to pull all structures out of the flood plain. He said the construction costs associated with this is about $500,000, the 100 foot bridge is $1 million and the 200 foot bridge is $1.5 million. He spoke about the second task order and said it is regarding the intersection of Gabriel View and John Thomas. He said the subdivision was built in 1976 and that intersection acts as a drainage channel and river. He said this has been a continual issue. He said this is to evaluate the situation and figure out a way to reroute some of the water coming down John Thomas toward Gabriel View. Speaker, Gary Courier, said he and his wife live on Gabriel View Drive, which is a main thoroughfare through Riverbend Subdivision. He added that street is frequented by joggers and dog walking. He said they are at the intersection of John Thomas Drive and Gabriel View Drive. He noted the problem is they have runaway flood waters and noted they have had several instances of flooding in their home. He spoke about how the resurfacing of Gabriel View contributed to this flooding. He described the costs they incurred after the flooding. He said they contacted the City about this problem and was told to put sandbags in front of the property each time if rains heavily. He spoke about improvements they made to try to deter water and added it seemed to work until this past September. He said there was over a foot of water into their home. He said they tried to place sandbags across their driveway but, unfortunately, they did not act quickly enough to prevent the substantial damage. He said they are proud to be members of the City and added they pay taxes. He said they are asking for City services to come up with an adequate plan to help with the drainage in the area. He said it is a neighborhood problem and added all residents in that location have suffered flooding. He asked the City Council to approve the measure. Sansing said this has come up many times before even before the Courier's lived at that location. He said the City has looked at this with respect to helping with insurance and he added their former insurance guy said the City could not pay for any of this. He said since the City accepted the subdivision, it should help with at least some of the cost. He said there may not be anything to do about that but he does feel the City is partially at fault for this. Eason said she needs clarification on this . She said she is not happy with the option that would leave 23 homes in the flood plain. She said she will in no way support that option. Benz said the improvements would leave 9 of the existing 23 structures in the flood plain. Eason asked about the difference in cost by making it so that there would only be seven structures left in the flood plain. Eason said, to her, the best option would be to get the most people out of the flood plain. Benz described what each option would provide for the City in terms of improvements. Eason said what is being given to Council now does not match the numbers in her packet. Thomison said the table Council is looking at has four different options for the Maple Street/San Jose area. He said the first option is the "do nothing" approach, which would leave 23 houses in the flood plain. He added not all of these are residential structures. He said option two would be the construction of a 200 foot bridge and added they modeled the section as if the road would not be there. He said this option would leave 8 structures still in the fully developed flood plain and 6 are residential structures. He said the 100 bridge option would do the same thing. He said it would reduce the problem a little more, but it won't solve it. He said the fourth option would be to use the existing structure and add an additional box culvert. He said that would be a half a million dollars but it would leave 12 structures in the flood plain, 10 of which are residences. He said three of those residences barely touch the elevation. He said the probability is that it is actually just 7 houses in the flood plain. Eason asked and Thomison said options two and three would drop the City to only 6 residences in the flood plain. Eason asked and Thomison described the difference in cost between the second and third option and why the prices were so different. Eason asked and Thomison said staff is recommending option three for approval. Benz clarified and said they are actually recommending option four. Berryman asked and Thomison said option four is actually seven houses and options two and three are six. Thomison added there are actually ten houses that just touch the elevation but staff believes are above the flood plain. Gonzalez asked if there is a fifth option that removes all the homes from the flood plain. Thomison said they looked at that option and added the only solution would be to create a levy system. He said the City can build a levy system however, the drainage system to Smith Branch would be cut off. He added it is not feasible. Sansing said, without some serious re-channelization of the creek, you will not be able to pull everyone out of the flood plain in that area. Gonzalez asked if it would be feasible to have a City -paid flood insurance for those homeowners that can not afford flood insurance and have homes that can not be taken out of the flood plain. Eason said she still wants to see the most people being brought out of the flood plain. She said she can not vote for an option that would provide the city with savings and put more people in peril. Berryman asked and Eason confirmed she would like City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 4 of 12 Pages to look at option three. Mayor suggested Council vote on the Gabriel View task order first. Motion by Berryman, second by Sansing to approve Task Order KPA -11-001 regarding the John Thomas and Gabriel View Drainage Improvements and direct staff to see if there is some way to assist the residents who are affected by the flooding. Approved 7-0 Mayor moved on to the San Jose neighborhood and Maple Street Improvements. Sattler said he understands the item is to approve the Task Order for option four. Benz said, if the City wants to move forward with a different option, staff would have to bring back a new task order and the cost associated with that. Motion by Sansing, second by Eason to have staff bring back a task order which provides option 3 as the project in place, for the Maple Street the roadways. Improvements. Briggs said he knows it is in the interest of time to fix this. He said his request is to bring back this task order and to do that directly with the City Council and not through a Board first, as is traditionally done. Council agreed to do this. Vote on second motion: Approved 7-0 N Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility System (GUS) Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to approve the contract for the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone (EARZ) - VI & VII, Manhole Rehabilitation to Fuquay, Inc. of New Braunfels, Texas, for the amount of $271,825.00 -- Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Systems Engineering Director Benz said this is a contract to do the rehabilitation as a result of the EARZ testing that the group does every year. He said this first item is for the manhole rehabilitation for the amount of $271,825 and added they will repair 68 manholes in the area. Motion by Sansing, second by Gonzalez to approve the contract. Approved 7-0 O Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility System (GUS) Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to approve the contract for the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone (EARZ) - VI & VII, Trenchiess Rehabilitation to Repipe Construction, Ltd. of Houston, Texas, for the amount of $1,183,613.10 -- Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Systems Engineering Director Benz described the item and said this is for trenchless rehabilitation. He said they are using a process that will do the rehabilitation in place, without having to disrupt the roadways. Motion by Berryman, second by Sansing to approve the contract. Approved 7-0 P Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility System (GUS) Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to renew the Professional Services Agreement between the City of Georgetown and ElectSolve to provide operations services for the City's existing Automatic Meter Reading System in the amount of $61,200.00 -- Walter Koopmann, Technical Services Manager and Glenn W. Dishong, Utility Director Koopman described the item and said Electsolve has been providing this service to the City since 2002. Motion by Berryman, second by Eason to approve the agreement. Approved 7-0 O Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility System (GUS) Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to authorize the approval of the annual license renewal and system support of software and hardware repair for the AMR Genesis and MVRS system between the City of Georgetown and Itron Incorporated in the amount of $53,650.00 -- Walter Koopmann, Technical Services Manager and Glenn Dishong, Utility Director Koopman said this is for the license renewal on the City's existing Automated Meter Reading System. Motion by Gonzalez, second by Berryman to approve the license renewal and system support. Approved 7-0 R Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility System (GUS) Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to amend the Water Utility Services Agreement between the City of Georgetown and Highlands at Mayfield Ranch, Ltd., regarding deferral of the Escalera Water Storage Tank City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 5 of 12 Pages Capacity Payment -- Glenn Dishong, Utility Director and Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager Dishong described the item and said the City entered into agreements with both Highlands at Mayfield and Parkside at Mayfield. He said the agreements provides for them to pay a portion of the cost for the water tank. He said this will agree to defer the payment from Parkside until they are set up and ready to go. He said, in the meantime, they are paying the City interest. Motion by Sansing, second by Gonzalez to approve the amendment. Approved 7-0 S Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility System (GUS) Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to approve Task Order MEI -11-001 for CIP Development of Leander Road Phase 3 in the amount of $70,000.00 and Task Order MEI -11-002 to provide preliminary and final electric design of current CIP projects in the amount of $65,000.00 with McCord Engineering, Inc., of College Station, Texas, for professional engineering services related to Planned Distribution System Construction Assistance -- Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Systems Engineering Director and Glenn Dishong, Utility Director Benz described the item and said this is for two different task orders. He described the two task orders and said both projects were approved in the Capital Improvements Projects list this past year. Motion by Sansing, second by Eason to approve both Task Orders. Approved 7-0 T Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility System (GUS) Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to award the contract for the Construction Manager at Risk for the Lake Water Treatment Plant --Phase III Expansion to Matous Construction Limited, LTD, in an amount not to exceed the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) $12,4691849.00 -- Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Systems Engineering Director and Glenn Dishong, Utility Director Dishong described the item and said, in the summer of 2009, there was water demand at treatment capacity. He said Chisholm Trail was also in need of expansion at that time. He said the City then executed a contract with Chisholm Trail to become partners for the expansion of the current plant site as well as a future site. He said another element of the agreement was to expand the current plant using a different procurement process. He said the expansion of the plant was broken up into two pieces. He explained the two initial pieces of the project. He said the third piece of that project was to expand the plant by another 8.8 million gallons per day and added that project is equally paid for by Chisholm Trail and the City. Dishong spoke about the process of selecting a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) for this project. He said the CMAR committee selected Matous Construction for this project. He spoke about the guaranteed maximum price from Matous. He said this went to the GUS Board and added the approval of this item by the Board was not unanimous. He said he is aware that there are some concerns about this process for the expansion. He said they have selected the committee making this recommendation and he listed the members of the committee. Briggs said he raised questions regarding the process of how the City got to the selection of CMAR for this project. He said he is not going to speak negatively about anyone in the process but he said his role is to evaluate these and make sure the City is in the right place. He said he felt there were issues raised and things in the process that slowed it out relative to opening the proposals to make sure the City is clear with the law. He noted the legal part of the process slowed them down a little bit. He said, as they began to deliberate and bring this to the GUS Board, they got closer to final design. He said he challenged the staff and consultants to be able to revaluate the process. He said he went to the GUS Board and he said the Board heard the concerns he had and were open to receive information from the City's partners Chisholm Trail. He said Chisholm is in need the capacity in the worst way. He said the concern is how to deliver to Chisholm in the best way possible. He said he does not necessarily believe that the current process provides that and he is making the recommendation that they either pre qualify bidders because of the expeditious nature of this, bid the project with half the capacity needed for Chisholm Trail by a specific delivery date or summer of 2010. He said he did not tell the GUS Board this because at the time he was hoping for a design -bid -build process as an option if Chisholm could make it through the summer, but he added they can not. He said they did not talk at GUS about the opportunity of pre qualifying bidders, expediting the drawings and bidding a specific time of delivery to meet summer demand of 2012. He said he challenged the engineers who checked with other contractors as to whether or not that can be done in the time table. He said the indication is that it can be done, even though there may be a cost. He said the bidding process would be an open process. He said, under the CMAR, you have a guaranteed maximum price for delivery, which is a guaranteed known. He said he does know that, if they bid it out, it could be a higher cost. He added it is the expectation that it would be less, but it will be a more open process. He said he does not necessarily feel the process they have been through has been an open and transparent process. City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 6 of 12 Pages Speaker, Bruce Matous, thanked Council for the opportunity to submit a proposal for the construction management for the lake water treatment plant. He spoke about their qualifications for this project. He said the CMAR process is a good option for this project. He said they would anticipate that the work will be broken down into twelve different packages. He described those packages. He said their project management team will include their engineering and purchasing staff in every decision. He said the team will select the best value for the City of Georgetown and they will carefully consider the location of the vendor so they can service the product after finished. He noted they have strong relationships with local vendors. He added they have a strong safety record and they pride themselves with a safe workplace. He said their firm has completed over 250 million dollars worth of work on water treatment plants and they have never received a lawsuit. He thanked the Council for their time. Speaker, Jennifer McKnight, General manager at Chisholm Trail and spoke about their situation. She began by saying how much Chisholm Trial values their partnership with the City of Georgetown. She said, for many years to come, the two entities will be partners in both the North and South plant. She said she appreciates all the work City staff has put into the process so far. She spoke about when this process first started during the severe drought a few years ago. She said staff worked with Chisholm Trail closely and both entities got through the drought successfully. She said, unfortunately, Chisholm's needs did not end with the drought. She said their needs are critical and they need some more treatment capacity on the ground. She said they continue to meet peak periods and they have promised their customers that they will provide them with water no matter what. She said a lot of effort has been put into looking over proposals. She noted she was not aware that some of the staff felt that the process was not as transparent as it could have been. She said their goal is to get more treatment capacity and meet the needs of their customers. She said they would like to continue to work with the Council and, if CMAR is not the right method, they understand that. She said it may be necessary to amend the contract they have regarding this process. She noted, as Briggs said, there is no guarantee that if they do this through another method, that it would be at a cheaper or equal cost. She said they appreciate their partnership with the City and would like to continue it for years to come. Briggs clarified that the contract calls for either Construction Manager at Risk or any other option to expedite service. He said whatever the City does going forward, they need to provide Chisholm with the capacity. Sattler asked and Briggs said he does not know the exact percent of the completion of the drawing from Camp, Dresser, McKeee, but between the 17th to 20th of January the plans and specifications will be complete. Sattler asked and Briggs confirmed there are liquidated damages of non delivery and other issues if the City goes with the CMAR process. Benz said the actual damage until June 1 is $2,000 per day. He spoke about how they came up with that number. Sattler asked and the design engineer for the project, Allen Woelke, spoke about the pumps that will be used for the project in order to improve deliveries. Sattler said he saw some discrepancies when he was looking at the schedule. He asked if Georgetown needs the extra capacity in 2012. Briggs said no they do not need the capacity but noted it will be needed in 2013. Sattler asked and Briggs confirmed his question was whether or not Council felt comfortable expediting the process and building half of the plant on an expedited schedule so that Chisholm has extra capacity by June of 2012. Briggs said he asked and was told that it would be possible to meet that date. Sattler asked and Briggs said the City would bid both portions of the project, but only half would be on an expedited schedule to meeting Chisholm's needs. There was much discussion regarding how the City would meet the June 2010 deadline. Woelke said, if the plans were advertised in the Sun on the 16th, they can receive bids three weeks after the advertisement. He said, typically, we want to give four weeks for the advertisement. He said it would be the middle to end of February and then it would have to come to Council and GUS Board for approval of the lump sum bid. Briggs said his recommendation would be to shoot these straight back to this governing body instead of the GUS Board first in order to get it moving to meet the time frame. Mayor asked and Briggs said the Council could also call a special meeting to speed up this item as well. Sattler asked about their difference in schedule between the CMAR schedule and what he just suggested right now. Woelke described the schedule. Sattler asked and Woelke confirmed he thinks the June 2012 deadline is feasible. Briggs said the difference between the two processes is roughly 90 days. Sansing said, by the time it gets advertised and put out, they are still looking at some timeline in late February or March even if they stayed with the CMAR process. He said this option being presented is a better arrangement as far as transparency goes. He is not willing to commit the taxpayers to pay an extra chunk of change as he feels this project could be built for a lot less than what is being proposed. He said he is in favor of what Sattler is suggesting. Gonzalez said, in reviewing the CMAR process, there are lot of questions regarding transparency. He spoke about this newly proposed option and how it will be a more transparent process. Sattler asked if Council directs staff to go out for a lump sum bid and advertise it over the next three weeks, would it be possible to get qualified responses. Briggs confirmed and said staff would immediately place a posting for qualified construction firms to submit a bid to receive in the month of December so that the pre City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 7 of 12 Pages qualified list of contractors that would bid the process and facilitate this going forward. He said those contractors would be competing against each other to bid the project based on the complete drawing whenever they are done in January. He said, rather than qualifying the contractor at the end of the project, the City would be doing that at the front end. There were many comments about the proposed process for this new option. Sokolow said, with this process, the Council can informally notify companies but you can not narrow the scope of candidates. He said, when you advertise for bids, anyone is about to bid on it. Briggs asked Sokolow and said many other entities have pre -qualified the bidders in advance to make sure they are capable of doing this type of work. Sokolow said he will look to see what other entities have done that. Sansing said it is critical that the City pre qualify bidders so they can expedite it on the back side. He said he would like to suggest picking March 15, 2011 as a date to start turning dirt. Sattler agreed and said notice to proceed could be March 1 and then turn dirt on March 15. Sansing said that staff calculate backwards from that date to determine when to advertise and approve the next time, even if Council must have a special meeting. Mayor asked that Sattler make a motion to move forward as quickly as possible to achieve the goals that have just been set forth. Motion by Sattler, second by Sansing that staff prepare an advertisement to solicit qualified contractors to do a lump sum bid as soon as possible with the end goal of a Notice to Proceed of March 1, 2011 with construction to begin by March 15, 2011 and for a start up date not later than June 1, 2012. Sansing said he has trouble with the June 1, 2012 date. Sattler agreed but said he would like at least get the ball rolling and move forward with this process. Briggs said and Council confirmed, in order to meet these deadlines, they would not mind having a special meeting for award of the contract. Mayor asked and Briggs said what Council says is doable but Woelke says it is awfully tight. Woelke said he does not think it would not be possible to have these online by June 2012. Sansing said he is trying to place the bar high and he thinks some capacity is better than nothing. He added, while he is really concerned with Chisholm's water, he thinks the City can at least make a bid dent in their needs if not serve it completely by having a partially operating expansion of what the City does now. There was much discussion. Vote on the motion: Approved 7-0 U Public Hearing on the annexation into the city limits of twenty tracts of land totaling 5,495.81 acres, more or less, out of the Thompson, Powell and Evans Surveys, designated as 2010 Area SWI located in the southwest quadrant of the City's ETJ adjacent to Leander Road and IH 35-- Jordan J. Maddox, AICP, Interim Principal Planner and Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director Maddox described the item and said this is a public hearing for the annexation of the area indicated. He said this area is essentially most of the land located south of Leander Road and west of 1-35. He said Council initiated these annexations this past summer. He said the first reading of the ordinance is scheduled for December 14th. He said this item does not require council action and added this is just a public hearing to complete state requirements for annexation. Public Hearing was opened at 6:36 PM. Speaker, Misty Ventura, said she is an attorney representing Texas Crushed Stone and Georgetown Railroad. She said over a hundred people are here at the meeting to communicate that they do not want to be annexed into the City. She said many of their speakers will talk about the various reasons why they do not want to be annexed. She said, on June 8, the Council also appointed a committee and all have been working diligently in drafting an industrial district agreement that would result in this property remaining in its current state and maintaining the status quo. She said they are eager to finish the agreement and noted they believes they are very close. She noted a few new issues have come up and they are going to move forward with staff to get those resolved to prevent annexation. She said she is concerned that this Council does not understand how many people are impacted by this annexation and what the consequences are. She said the active quarry has been in business over 50 years, employs over 100 people and it is very important that they maintain the quarry operation in the extra territorial jurisdiction. She said they are eager to move forward with the industrial agreement but, at the same time, they are not afraid to move forward with the annexation. She said they all expect this property to operate as a quarry regardless of whether it is inside or outside of the corporate limits. She said the preference is to maintain the status quo and continue to operate the quarry in the same manner its been operating over the past 50 years. She listed the next list of speakers and what issues each person will cover. Speaker, Mark Dixon, Vice President of Georgetown Railroad, said he has been a resident of the Georgetown area for over 29 years. He said he is here to speak against the annexation as a member of Georgetown Railroad. He said both Georgetown Railroad and Texas Crushed Stone has operated in Georgetown for over 50 years. He noted both of these companies have functioned and produced quality products all without the request of City services. He said, for many years, their primary request was to be left alone. He said some of you may City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 8 of 12 Pages recall in the 1980s, Georgetown Industrial District was created whereby an agreement was made to not annex the property in exchange for cash. He said, through the district agreement, the City was also relieved from providing any services to the property which would be required under annexation laws of the state. He said subsequent extension of the the railroad provided extensive right of way for the City. He said the Industrial Agreement has made for a beneficial relationship between the companies and the City. He said, through their meetings with the City, they are told the City is anxious to begin construction of the Southwest Bypass. He noted one of the elements of the City plan is a bridge over the Georgetown Railroad and added the Railroad accepts this plan. He said they have similar roads like this in Round Rock. He said, if this road is as important as he is told, they support having the bridge as well. He said there are some that would encourage you to substitute an at grade crossing and added this is not acceptable to the Georgetown Railroad. Speaker, Tony Wilson, Personnel Director of Texas Crushed Stone, read a letter that addresses the concerns and opinions of the employees at Texas Crushed Stone. He said Mr. Snead has not been able to answer some of the questions the employees have. He noted the letter asked about what will change once the property is annexed and why other surrounding quarries are not annexed either. He asked who is building the road and who is incurring this expense and asked if this road will raise taxes. He continued and said the letter asked why that road is important and who will benefit from that road. He said business has been slow the past couple of years, but added they will continue to provide quality products to the community. Speaker, Darryl Fritsch, said he is CPA Controller for Georgetown Railroad/Texas Crushed Stone and added he is considered the new guy by terms of employment even though he's been there for eight years. He spoke a little about sales, in terms of their market. He said they are blessed by their location because there isn't that much quality rock between here and Louisiana. He said, in good years, they can sell over 10 million tons of top quality rock. He said they have been one of the top producers in the United States. He said their price is about 1 cent for every 5 pounds of rock, but added they make a lot of pounds. He said every dollar ends up coming back here to the Georgetown area. He said, not only do they sell to Williamson County, they also inject new money that is taken from other communities. He said their business model is based on their people, their quality of rock and a good business model that is structured around this Industrial District Agreement. He said it has worked since 1983 and asked why the City would want to mess with success. He addressed the issue of sales tax and noted the majority of the product they sell is tax exempt. He said, add in the wholesale customers and they are going to collect a sales tax at their point of sale. He said, if the City is considering annexing for sales tax reasons, it's not plausible. Speaker, Clint Fraser, Vice President of engineering for Texas Crushed Stone, said he has been an employee at Texas Crushed Stone for over 30 years. He said it takes about 600 tons of stone per capita to bring a family into this community and added this rock must come from somewhere. He added the closer the source, the more economical the construction. He said Texas Crushed Stone brings a very valuable commodity to the City. He listed the tonnage used for the construction of the Wolf Ranch development in Georgetown. He said rock is cheaper than dirt, but delivery cost doubles the longer the distance traveled. He said they have a system with the Industrial District that has worked for over 25 years. He asked Council to reconsider the Industrial District Agreement as a viable alternative to the annexation. Speaker, Kent Snead, Vice President of Maintenance and Purchasing for Texas Crushed Stone, gave a brief summary and history of the relationship between Texas Crushed Stone and the City. He also spoke about the Georgetown Railroad Company. He said the jobs pay well and added a skilled operator can make up to $70,000 a year in a good year. He noted these people stay put and raise families in the community. He said there are a few employees who have been working with the company for over 40 years. He said he brings this up to demonstrate that they have a long and productive relationship with the City as well. He spoke about the industrial district agreement and added they do not seek any City services. He said they look forward to their relationship with City staff but added, they oppose annexation at this time. Speaker, Nancy Snead, said she is the emotional side of all of this. She asked why the City wants to annex. She said the City's proposed road will go through the quarry and through her ranch house. She said her in laws lived there until 1982 and added she and her husband moved there and lived there for 27 years. She spoke about the animals that live on the property. She said, since the house was built in the 70s it was time to do some remodeling. She said she agreed to give up her house if they would build the road properly, with a bridge over the railroad tracks and over the active quarry. She said that is not the plan that is on the drawing board at this time. She said she was surprised that this road project was tied to this renewal of the Industrial District. She said the quarry does not ask for anything from the City and added they just want to provide jobs for their employees. She concluded and said she is against the annexation. Speaker, Dwight Shupe, Misty Ventura's partner, said the Council will be handed materials that will identify 127 employees who are opposed to this annexation. She said they play the paper game all the time and said they City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 9 of 12 Pages are pleased to be there as legal spokespersons for these people. He said he would like the City to take a look at the people whose lives that will be impacted by this decision. He said when the City says its going to annex the property, it needs to look at the people that are affected. He says you don't usually have forced annexations over the objection of the people involved. He said he and his partner are doing this type of work for 42 years He said there are two reasons why a City would do this and added it would be to make a ton of people through taxes or they don't like the land uses or they want to zone it some sort of way. He said if the City is not going to make a bunch of money or zone the property differently, then why would it want to annex the property. He noted the City can accomplish anything they want through an Industrial District Agreement. He said he would like the City to table this annexation and move forward with the Industrial District Agreement. He thanked the Mayor and Council for their time. Speaker, Bill Snead, thanked the City for their service and he said they will deal with whatever decisions the City makes. Public Hearing was closed at 7:08 PM V Public Hearing on the annexation into the city limits of two tracts of land totaling 450.71 acres, more or less, out of the Thompson and Donagan Surveys, designated at 2010 Area SW2, located in the southwest quadrant of the City's ETJ adjacent to Leander Road and IH 35 -- Jordan J. Maddox, AICP, Principal Planner and Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director Maddox described the item and said this is regarding the annexation of 450 acres and is related to the previous item. He said this is a Public Hearing required by State law and the first reading is set for December 14, 2010. Public Hearing was opened at 7:12 PM No persons were present to speak. Public Hearing was closed at 7:12 PM W Public Hearing on the voluntary annexation into the City of 60.24 acres out of the Isaac Jones Survey, located at 4887 Williams Drive near the intersection of Sedro Trail -- Jordan J. Maddox, AICP, Interim Principal Planner and Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director Maddox described the item and said this is a petition for a voluntary annexation. He briefly described the development that will go in that area. He said the applicant would like to delay the first reading until March 8, 2011 to allow the development application to catch up. He said this is the second public hearing in this process. Public Hearing was opened at 7:13 PM No persons were present to speak Public Hearing was closed at 7:13 PM X Public Hearing and First Reading on a Rezoning for approximately 704.25 acres in the Addison and Flores Surveys, from AG, Agriculture and PUD, Planned Unit Development with a base district of RS, Residential Single -Family to PUD, Planned Unit Development with a base zoning district of RS, Residential Single -Family, also known as the Southwestern University campus, located northeast of Maple Street and University Avenue -- Jennifer C. Bills, AICP, LEED AP, Housing Coordinator and Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director Bills described the item and said this is the public hearing and first reading for the rezoning. She said this rezoning updates Southwestern's current Planned Unit Development zoning and added it also adds on some property to the east side of the campus. She said the main deviations is use and added their base district is RS. She showed them a map of the existing buildings and how this rezoning will affect the area. She said staff is supportive of this rezoning. She read only the caption of the Ordinance after having satisfied the requirements of the City Charter. Public Hearing was opened at 7:17 PM No persons were present to speak. City Council Meeting Minutes/ Pagel 0 of 12 Pages Public Hearing was closed at 7:18 PM Motion by Sansing, second by Gonzalez to approve the Ordinance on first reading after having satisfied the requirements of the City Charter. Approved 7-0 Y First Reading of an Ordinance to establish the health insurance rates for Retirees -- Kevin Russell, Director of Human Resources and Civil Service Russell described the item and said this is a follow up to a Council meeting last month that spoke about separating retirees from the active employee population. He said this Ordinance will establish a separate retiree rate as well as a $325 supplement per month for retirees this year. He said this supplement will bring their benefits up to par with the current active employee rates. He read only the caption of the Ordinance after having satisfied the requirements of the City Charter. Motion by Sattler, second by Gonzalez to approve the Ordinance on first reading. Approved 7-0 Z First Reading of an Ordinance to make changes to the City's Personnel Policy #350 on Longevity -- Kevin Russell, Director of Human Resources and Civil Service Russell said this is to modify the longevity policy so it coincides with the rest of the policy which states, if an employee is terminated from the City, the City will not have to pay out the longevity to that employee. He said this will not apply to public safety employees. He read only the caption of the Ordinance on first reading after having satisfied the requirements of the City Charter. Motion by Sansing, second by Berryman to approve the Ordinance on first reading. Approved 7-0 AA Second Reading of an Ordinance amending the Unified Development Code (UDC) adding new Section 10.07.040 "Temporary Off -Premise Signs for Open Houses and Model Homes", amending Section 16.02 "Definitions"; and amending the Code of Ordinances Section 15.04.045 "Development Processing Fees" associated with Temporary Signs -- Elizabeth A. Cook, Community Development Director and Tamera Baird, Chief Planners Examiner Cook described the item and spoke about the revisions that were made after the suggestions at the last meeting. She said these revisions do not allow the signs on Highway 29 from Hutto Road to Scenic Drive. She read only the caption of the Ordinance on second reading. Motion by Gonzalez, second by Berryman to approve Ordinance 2010-43, Approved 7-0 BB Second Reading of an Ordinance on a Rezoning from IN, Industrial District to C-1, Local Commercial District for 1.45 acres being Lot 2, Block D, of the Horizon Commercial Park, located at 701 Quail Valley Drive -- Mike Elabarger, Planner III and Elizabeth A. Cook, Director of Community Development Elabarger described the item and read only the caption of the Ordinance on second reading. CC Second Reading of an Ordinance amending Electric Rates and Charges to include a dedicated and transparent monthly Energy Efficiency and Conservation Fee --Kathy Ragsdale, Utility Office Manager and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer Ragsdale described the fee to Council. She said this fee would be $1 added to all residential and small commercial bills. She added this charge will only go into effect after the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) charge is taken off of the bills. Eason asked and Ragsdale described the actual cost to the citizens. She said the PCA is just over one cent per kilowatt hour. She noted this will be taken away in about a month. Eason said she wants the public to understand that this is more than a good tradeoff. Ragsdale added these fees are going toward conservation programs within the City. She read only the caption of the Ordinance on second reading. Motion by Sansing, second by Gonzalez to approve Ordinance 201045. Approved 7-0 Motion by Sansing, second by Berryman to adjourn -- 9:03 pm City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 11 of 12 Pages City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 12 of 12 Pages The meeting was adjourned at 09:03 PM.