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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 06.25.2013 CC-RThe 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, Tommy Gonzalez, Troy Hellmann, All Council Present. Steve Fought, John Heeeor,Jerry Hammedun. | Roohae|Junnowxe ' ! iStaff Present: | Paul EBrandenburg, City Manager;_—Joe�ca8n»��.{dx Secretary;Chapman, Aot�o��^ i ! �KA�h Rundell, Chief Laurie Aoeatent{��vK8mnoger John| |..~...-�. - . . . � ' . Sullivan, Fire Chief; Kimberly GarnattParks P�nne�AndnewGpurgin ' � ' ' ' | Principal Planner; Mike BabaqJa�Senior P|enne�K8arkK8iUe�Tran n8�rvic�eCUreo�o�Ed�an1� �Transportation Engineer — -- | Polasek, Transportation Services Director; Bill Dryden, Minutes Regular Session - To begin no earlier than 06:00 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.) A Call to Order --Meeting called to order at 6:10PM Pledge ofAllegiance Comments from the Mayor -VVecomeandKUeedngPnxeduma City Council Regional Board Reports City Manager Comments -Jmly 4th City Closures -3OthAnnual Gedoma4th ofJuly Celebration okSan Gabriel Park -FirevworkuPnuhibihod -VVahurConuemaionRogu|a!iono Action from Executive Session Motion byGonzalez, second byFought k/respond hothe mediator proposal concerning settlement ofthe DNT construction claim for payment onthe Southeast Artoha|DnwpnojectonbannaaodiuouooedinExeouUve Session. Approved 7-O Public Wishing to Address Council On a subiect that is posted on this agenda: Please fill out aspeaker registration form which can befound unthe table at the entrance to the Council Chamber. Clearly print your name and the letter of the item on which you wish to City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 1 of 7 Pages 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 subiect 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 meetings held on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 and Tuesday June 11, 2013 -- Jessica Brettle, City Secretary D Consideration and possible action to accept a matching grant from the Texas Historical Commission for a Certified Local Government Grant in the amount of $7,000 -- Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director and Laurie Brewer, Assistant City Manager E Forwarded from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board: Consideration and possible action to approve an Interlocal Agreement with Williamson County preserving 11.7 acres of parkland as part of the County's Regional Habitat Plan to protect endangered species -- Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director and Laurie Brewer, Assistant City Manager Motion by Fought, second by Eason 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: F Consideration and possible action to approve a Resolution providing for withdrawal of the City of Georgetown from membership in the Lone Star Rail District -- Bridget Chapman, Acting City Attorney Mayor described the item and the action that has been taken on the subject matter in the past. He said the City Manager has some authority to provide variance to the speakers. He said the City Manager has authorized a 30 minute presentation from the rail district. He said the City Council will then hear from those who have signed up to speak, followed by comments and discussion from the City Council. Chapman said, at the June 11, 2013, the City Council directed staff to prepare a resolution terminating the City's membership in the Lone Star Rail District. She said the City pays $49,500 $50,000 per year for the membership. Brandenburg said it is City Manager's discretion to provide organizations with extra time to present to the Council and noted, after being approached by the Rail District, he thought it wise to give them 30 minutes to speak. He introduced Joe Black from the Lone Star Rail District to the City Council. Black introduced himself from the Rail District. He provided a briefing of their project to the Council. With a Powerpoint Presentation, he introduced their funding expert Joseph Loussard and spoke about the objectives of the Lone Star Rail District. He provided the Council with a list of the jurisdictions and service area covered by the district as well as a map of the system. He said they plan to have 16 stations. He said, at their full service level, they plan to offer 32 round trips per day. He described the urban freight rail bypass line that the project also includes. He said the union pacific is in support of this project. He read a statement of support from union pacific. He posted a picture of a joint inspection exercise He spoke about some of the benefits of passenger rail and the LSTAR rail. He said it provides regional linkages between activity centers, it connects urban centers, it is congestion proof predictable service, expandable/responsive capacity, reduces growth in traffic demand, increases economic development and improves the property values that would pay the local cost of the service. He said there has been some mistaken information that has been put out asking if there would be a tax increase because of this project. He said there will not be a tax increase. He spoke about the proposed sites for rail stops and noted those could always change. He spoke about how 1-35 is one of the most dangerous highways in the United States and how this rail will improve safety in the Central Texas area. He introduced Joseph Loussard, wh spoke about Project Connect is an effort between organizations to look at high capacity transit throughout central Texas and beyond to south of San Antonio. He showed the Council where they are in the planning process. He said, right now, they are reaching out to the communities to talk about funding plans. He continued City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 2 of 7 Pages to speak about the conceptual funding plan. He said there are no final decisions being made at this time. He said there are some fundamental things about the funding plan, including maximizing federal participation and looking at partnerships with communities. He spoke about Tax Increment Financing District and how this concept will contribute to the construction of this project. He described the areas where these districts would be established. Black spoke about the issues of leaving the District and wanting to join later and how they do not yet have a specific policy about this. He said if the City leaves and wish to come back in, there will be some financial consideration. He said it is more of an equity issue than anything else. He said, if Georgetown leaves and wants to come back, it could be from $50-$100 million to come back in. He said there would be a financial consequence to leaving the district and then coming back. He said local funding is the gateway to capital funding from public and private sources. He described the development of their financial plan alternatives. He showed Council the capital funding outline. He said both federal and state governments believe this is real and noted they have invested money already. He said this project has been classified a "Federal Highway" Administrator's priority" on the national level. He said LSTAR will build the freight rail bypass line and turn ownership over to Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR). He spoke about the local funding commitments. He said, at their initial service level, the O&M on an annual basis would be $30 million. He noted the $30 million annual by the remaining District cities and their counties. He spoke about the interfocal agreements that would be entered into with the various cities. He said they want the local jurisdictions to hold them accountable. He said, when in operation, LSRD will annually identity excess funds to return to the contributing jurisdictions. There was much discussion. The following people spoke against the Resolution: Arthur Dale, Tom Dale, Andrew Solin, Paul Newton, Rick Williamson, Marcy Urban, Dwight Richter, Jay Pierson , Lalena Parkhurst, Reg Bess mer, Nick Ramos, Ana Thomas, Sarah Blankenship, Ruth Roberts, Joshua Long, Judy Sheppard, Sandra Nenga, Melanie Jamison, Amir Hessabi, Gwen Green, Paula Trietsch Chaney, Robert Slobod, Dan McCullough, Jane Bonk, Nancy Miller, Roy Peck, Gardner Ayres, Zoe Selbin, Mary Griffith, Paula Hundley, Dwaine Boydstun, Sharon Lesikarr, Diane Gadell, Brenda O'Dell, Marie Smith, Steve Johnston, Matthew Dula, Kathleen Webb, Selene Mills, Ross Hunter, Michael Cox, Rachel Cummins The following people spoke in favor of the Resolution: John Marler, David Schumacher, Rick Lutowski, Terry Putnam For complete video and audio of the comments from the public, please visit the City of Georgetown's GTV website at hftp://government.georgetown.orq/gtv/ Meeting recessed at 8:47PM Meeting resumed at 8:55PM Gonzalez said we are focusing a lot on the $50,000 annual amount. He said it is not a lot, but it is the cost of operating and maintaining the rail that will be a lot of money. He said the other part of the equation is that the general fund is $39 million and that is where this membership costs comes from. He said Georgetown is the only entity in Williamson County paying into the district and yet there are six stations in the County. Gonzalez asked and Black said the stations are brought forward from Project Connect. Black said the CAMP© Transit Gonzalez said, when you make the commitment to run for office and do public service, he is bound to what his constituents want. He said, in his elections, he did not make rail a campaign issue. He said the majority of his constituents sent the message that they are not in favor of this. He said only fifty people spoke today versus the survey that had 900+ responses. He said we have to look at the big picture and noted it is obvious the citizens are not wanting this. He said citizens should not disenfranchise his constituents or place personal attacks on him. He spoke about the survey and said it was a scientific poll. He said he is representing his citizens. Jonrowe asked and Black confirmed they are public agency established by the Texas Legislator. Black said they have a twenty member board, some are elected officials and some are representatives of the business community. Jonrowe said there has been talk of comparing Georgetown to other communities and she asked about the advantage of staying in now rather than coming in later. He said staying in will give the City a voice in the process. Black spoke about some of the other communities and how they do not have the financial ability to City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 3 of 7 Pages come in at this point. Jonrowe asked and Black said our membership dues do not commit the city to any future funds. Jonrowe asked about density and how many people are saying the City does not have the population densitv to support this proiect. Black said this is a leaacv proiect that is looking out 30-50 vears into the future.- Hammerlun asked and Black said Round Rock is interested in participating through Project Connect. Hammerlun thanked Black for talking about their O&M costs. B!aGk said the Gammitment they aFe as for annual O&M costs. Hammerlun asked and Black said they are participating with other entities through Project Connect but it will lead them into the Rail District. Black said the CAMPO travel demand model has never been F4)A FTA compliant. Black said there is an interlocal agreement between Capital Metro and the City of Austin and the Rail District in order to advance this study. Hammerlun asked and Black spoke in detail about the ridership study. Hammerlun asked and Black said they have a very good partner in TXDOT., Black said this is the first legislative session he can remember where the Director of TXDOT was involved in pushing legislative to get money put toward rail relocation. He continued to speak about this. He spoke about the changing of minds of TXDOT regarding the possibility for rail. Fought spoke about the cost to re-enter and added the $50 million to the $100 million amount is out of the ball park. Black said he feels that they need to have lower barriers to enter into the district. Fought asked and Black said they are hoping to change the County's mind about joining the district. Fought said this is a big project and there is a lot of risk. He noted he is not sure if the City should lean into this risk without participation from the County. Black said we are not asking the cities to share in the risk of capital. Fought said that is not necessarily true. He said he would not put his money on this and he is having difficulty saying he would put your money on this. Hesser said his issue is regarding the TIF. He asked and Black explained how the TIF would work. Hesser asked and Black said,if the Gity qat out and Game baGk in, they GGuld pFebably get in fbF $400, the am Black said if the City opts out and the other jurisdictions have not, there will be ramifications to the funding plan because of that decision. He said development decisions would have been made and the City would be shorting its funding ability to pay into the system. He said they would get farther and farther into a hole the later the City waits to get back in. Hesser asked that Black send him the financial statement. Hellmann asked and Black said the stations in Williamson County are not final yet and added some of the stations will also be capital metro stations. He spoke about his discussions with other Williamson County entities. Hellmann asked and Black said Cedar Park does not currently have a station. He said recently, Cedar Park approached capital metro asking for a station. Black said, now that Cedar Park wants a station, they will need to bear much of the cost. That cost is a policy decision at the Board level. Hellmann asked and Black siad, at the highest service level, there will be a train leaving the station every 15 minutes. He said them urould Eason said it sounds like the real problem for people is the issue of getting out and the cost of getting back in. She spoke about the possibility of missing out on the opportunity of that infrastructure being built. She said there needs to be a better understanding of the uniqueness of Georgetown. Black said Georgetown is unique as it is not on the Union Pacific rail line and he spoke about what "that means for the planning process. He said it will be more expensive to build and study environmentally. He said the Board of Directors selected Georgetown as the Northern terminus. Eason described why Birkmnn and Williamson County got out of the district. Gonzalez asked and Black confirmed he is paid to work for the district and said his job is to study the facts and present the facts. Gonzalez asked and Black said none of the rail he has worked on has failed. Gonzalez asked and Black said, just like every road in the country, there is no money returned. Gonzalez asked and Black said there are no additional taxes related to the rail. He said most people see the rail as a positive advantage to their business. City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 4 of 7 Pages Jonrowe said Gonzalez is being disingenuous and trying to throw confusion on this issue. She said, at the end of the day, it is going to be up to Council to see how the City votes for this in the future. Black agreed. Jonrowe asked and Black said it is a misconception that they Georgetown ` build the station. Black said the value capture mechanism is the one they have in their legislation. Jonrowe asked and Black confirmed the City will have the ultimate authority on how the rail will be built and funded. Hammerlun said he would like to talk more about the timeline. He asked and Black said the environmental studies and reports can be done in about 4 years. Black said they are about send a letter of initiation to the federal highway administration to formally open the project. He continued to describe this process. Hammerlun asked and Black said there are multiple locations being studied with respect to rail relocation. Hammerlun said the worst case scenario is this the Environmental process would take five years and best case is three years. Hammerlun asked and Black said the money for this study comes from state and federal entities as well as private investors. Hammerlun asked for a best case scenario timeline and Black provided this to him. Hammerlun asked and Black said he has worked on projects where the ridership is both below and above what was expected. Black added none of his projects have failed. Fought said he thinks the TIF or TOD is a fine idea. He noted he is trying to evaluate the risk versus the reward. He said there was mixed information regarding who was going to build the station. Fought asked and about + trips per day and how many people per trip. Black said it would be about 500-600 people per trip. Fought said what he is trying to calculate the risk on this. He said that is a lot of growth we have to have to support that. Fought spoke about the travel time between Georgetown and Austin. He said people would have to drive to the station, pay money to park, pay to take the rail, then maybe rent a car once he gets to the final stop. He said it seems you would not get to your final destination as quickly. Black said it is not true that the stations would be in undeveloped areas. He said some cities want the station downtown so it can be a gateway to their downtown area. He said New Braunfels wants their station downtown because they see it as a destination. He said Georgetown saw Georgetown's station as more of a commuter station from previous Station Technical Advisory Committee meetings conducted with city staff He said it will vary depending on the station. Hesser asked and Black said their hope is for 12 round trips per day. Slack added the 12 round trips per day is the expectation for the initial service level, but that the service plait would be modified to . accommodate the collective funding capacity and availability of the District participants. Hesser asked about how much the TIF would need to produce for maintenance costs. Black spoke about how these costs would be broken up between all of the participating entities. Hellmann asked about the TIF- gateway traffic' intersections around the Austin employment districts and Black said they have done traffic counts at some of the intersections and they were the same as 30 years ago because they are at their maximum. Slack said this shows that multimodal solutions are needed to address congestion problems-- roads, rail and other transit. #e Slack said there will not be one station that will suffer with regard to reductions in service levels to meet available revenue -- service reductions to save costs would affect the entire system, not individual stations alone Hellmann asked and Black said the north corridor study includes Lone Star Rail as a given. Hellmann asked and Black spoke about how the rail plans are going to be connecting the airport to the Austin area. Hellmann appreciates his candor and being transparent. Eason said one question she received was if the City will be paying $50,000 after the station is built. Black said the official response is they do not know yet . He said his recommendation is to remove that cost but noted it is a Board decision. Eason said all of the entities are in this together and people across the country are subsidizing participation in this program. He said there are a lot of misconceptions that Round Rock staff has regarding costs. Eason said she would like to bring up the survey. She quoted the actual question regarding if citizens would support or not support a tax increase on transportation related items. She said no transportation item received majority support. She said 70% of the respondents would not support tax increases for construction of new overpasses on 1-35 or expanding FM 1460 from Georgetown to Round Rock. She said people need to understand the real question of the survey. Motion by Gonzalez, second by Fought to approve the Resolution. Jonrowe read a statement into the record. For complete video and audio of the statement, please visit the City of Georgetown's GTV website at hftp:l/government.georgetown.orq/gtvl Fought said this has been a good discussion. He said this is not going to be free. He noted the cost is shared but it is there and it is substantial. He said there are Georgetown tax dollars involved. He said he is trying to City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 5 of 7 Pages evaluate the risk in all of this and he feels the city is bearing too much cost and gaining too much operational risk. He noted this needs to involve the County. He said, without the County in it, in his view it does not pay. Fought said he is interested in Project Connect. He said it makes sense to him to turn this over to GTAB for further study and discussion. He said, in his opinion, take participation off the table for now and ask GTAB to take a look at it and work with the County and see if they are going to participate. Vote on the motion: Approved 6-1 (Jonrowe opposed) Eason said she voted in favor of this motion because she will be bringing this back to Council as a motion to reconsider. G Public Hearing and First Reading of an Ordinance for rezoning of 4.503 acres in the John Powell Survey, to be known as Mac Haik Ford Truck, from A, Agriculture to C-3, General Commercial, located in the 7200 Block of Kelley Drive — Carla Benton, Planner and Andrew Spurgin, Planning Director (action required) Jonrowe left the dais. Spurgin described the item and said there is an SUP application that is a companion to this item as well. He said the Planning and Zoning Commission considered this item on June 4th and approved it unanimously. He read only the caption of the Ordinance on first reading after having satisfied the requirements of the City Charter. Public Hearing was opened at 10:37PM No persons were present to speak. Public Hearing was closed at 10:37PM Motion by Hellmann, second by Fought to approve the Ordinance on first reading. Approved 6-0 (Jonrowe absent) H Public Hearing and First Reading of an Ordinance for a Special Use Permit for 4.503 acres in the John Powell Survey, to be known as Mac Haik Ford Truck, to allow an automotive use in a C-3 Zoning District, located in the 7200 Block of Kelley Drive -- Carla Benton, Planner and Andrew Spurgin, Planning Director (action required) Spurgin described the item and said this is a companion to the previous case. He said this will allow for a full service automotive use. He added this item does require a public hearing. He read only the caption of the Ordinance on first reading after having satisfied the requirements of the City Charter. Public Hearing was opened at 10:39PM No persons were present to speak. Public Hearing was closed at 10:39PM Motion by Hammerlun, second by Fought to approve the Ordinance on first reading. Approved 6-0 (Jonrowe absent) I Second Reading of an Ordinance for a Rezoning of 34.174 acres in the Joseph Fish Survey, located at 4700 Williams Drive, between Wildwood and Woodlake Drives, from 9.04 acres of the Office (OF) District and 25.13 acres of the Local Commercial (C-1) District to 14.97 acres of the Office (OF) District and 19.20 acres of the Local Commercial (C-1) District -- Mike Elabarger, Senior Planner, and Andrew Spurgin, AICP, Planning Director (action required) Spurgin described the item and said this is a request to rezone and enlarge the office portion on this property by 6 acres. He said the Planning and Zoning Commission recommends approval of the item. He read only the caption of the Ordinance on second reading. Motion by Hammerlun, second by Gonzalez to approve the Ordinance. Approved 6-0 (Jonrowe absent) J Second Reading of an Ordinance to approve formally adopting the Fiscal and Budgetary Policy to be used City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 6 of 7 Pages in preparing the 2013114 annual budget and to guide financial operations -- Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer (action required) Rundell described the item and said this was discussed with Council in a Workshop on June 11. She reviewed the recommended changes to the policy and read only the caption of the Ordinance on second reading. Motion by Fought, second by Hammerlun to approve the Ordinance. Approved 6-0 (Jonrowe absent) K Forwarded from the Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board (GTAB): Consideration and possible action to award a contract for the 2013 Street Asphalt Recycling/Mill Overlay to Cutler Repaving Inc., of Lawrence, Kansas in the amount of $909,942.50 -- Mark Miller, Transportation Services Manager and Edward G. Polasek, AICP, Transportation Services Director Fought left the dais. Miller described the item. He described the cutler process for the Council and said this will involve a portion of Williams Drive. He said he will be meeting with the downtown lowdown group to discuss the process with the merchants as this will also be used downtown. Fought returned to the dais. Motion by Hammerlun, second by Hellmann to approve. Approved 6-0 (Jonrowe absent) L Forwarded from the Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board (GTAB): Consideration and possible action to award a contract to Intermountain Slurry Seal, Inc., of Lewisville, TX, for the rejuvenation and single course surface treatment portion of the 2013 Street and Drainage CIP in the amount of .$1,161,486.02 -- Mark Miller, Transportation Services Manager and Edward G. Polasek, AICP, Transportation Services Director Miller described the item and said spoke about the rejuvenation and single course surface treatment portion of the 2013 street and drainage CIP. He said this would be the third round of this process and will also include the chip seal. Motion by Hellmann, second by Gonzalez to approve. Approved 6-0 (Jonrowe absent) M Forwarded from the Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board (GTAB): Consideration and possible action to award a Construction Contract to Joe Bland Constructors, LP, of Austin, Texas, for the construction of the DB Wood Road Improvements at Public Safety Operations Building in the amount of $638,448.42 -- Edward G. Polasek, AICP, Transportation Services Director and Bill Dryden P. E., Transportation Engineer Polasek described the item for the Council. He said staff and GTAB are both recommending approval of this item. Motion by Fought, second by Eason to approve. Approved 6-0 (Jonrowe absent) Approved �/) Je Mayor George arver City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 7 of 7 Pages Ac6Journment The meeting was adjourned at 10:47 PM. A st: City retaryJessica Brettle