State of Texas )( City of Friendswood )( Counties of Galveston/Harris )( June 04, 2018 )(
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06/04/18 4803 STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( JUNE 04, 2018 )( MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON MONDAY, JUNE 04, 2018, AT 5:30 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR MIKE FOREMAN MAYOR PRO-TEM STEVE ROCKEY COUNCILMEMBER SALLY BRANSON COUNCILMEMBER TRISH HANKS COUNCILMEMBER ROBERT J. GRIFFON COUNCILMEMBER CARL GUSTAFSON CITY ATTORNEY MARY KAY FISCHER CITY MANAGER MORAD KABIRI CITY SECRETARY MELINDA WELSH Councilmember John Scott was absent from the meeting. REGULAR SESSION Mayor Foreman called the meeting to order. The invocation was given by Pastor David Bridges with Friendswood Friends Church. Mayor Foreman led the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Thad Roher, Friendswood Independent School District Superintendent, thanked Friendswood Police Chief Bob Wieners, the Police Department Staff, City Manager Morad Kabiri, Mayor Foreman, and Council for providing the school district with additional security the last two weeks of school. This allowed the school district to continue their mission of educating students. It was a big task and stated he wished he could share all the comments from parents and even students. The school district is grateful for the additional support that was provided. Bob Selig, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated he moved to Friendswood in 2011, heard their house had never flooded, during Hurricane Harvey his house had two feet of water in it for four days, and over the last nine months he has been dealing with flooding and bureaucracy issues. He stated he is concerned that he is not seeing activity to indicate that flooding is being addressed, developer issue on Dixie Farm Road, is city really interested in getting the flooding problem solved, lives a quarter of a mile from Clear Creek, and asked Council to address the flood issue and work with all government agencies necessary to focus not only on draining/dredging the creeks but also work on cleaning out the sewer system which has not been cleaned out in years. Deirdre Brown, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated she is a recovering grass roots advocate, tried to extract herself from dealing with city issues, but have seen some incredulous emails posted on social media and have concerns with efforts to try to sensor citizens on social media. She stated she was hopeful after Mayor Foreman was elected that citizens would see transparency, have not seen the efforts for transparency to date, habitual issue of altering documents, and has not heard back from any of Council after e-mailing them. She further stated she has seen recent emails which have been alarming to many who have read them, sat on the dais before, did her own research to get her own information on issues, complimented Councilmember Griffon, came across with glowing 06/04/18 4804 recommendations from parties present at the Council retreat, have heard and seen councilmembers try to sensor citizens, and remains hopeful that the city will have councilmembers with pride. Connie Ratisseau, Friendswood resident, address Council and welcomed the new councilmembers, does not want to keep coming to Council, wants to turn away, flooding is personal for a lot of people in Friendswood, when citizens hear of engineers contacting the city about reverting to old flood maps and what it means to their development, get on social media to know what citizens are concerned about, tries to be forthcoming with information that she has access to, and difficult at times to get. It is nine months after Hurricane Harvey and city is in a worse place now, received 54 inches of rain, people say it is a once-in-a-lifetime event, did not take 54 inches to flood her house or others. She stated in February saw the creeks rise with less amount of rain, listed sites on social media for citizens to receive information related to flooding, it is personal and hopes Council does something. Rene Nowalk, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated she moved to Friendswood in 1997, concerned about dirt relocation on Edgewood and Timber Creek, fill dirt is being used to raise the elevation of the corner of Timber Creek and Edgewood, flooding could occur, asks the city to provide transparency on how the elevation or mitigation has been implemented, Southbend Subdivision dirt near Brio site, discussed chemicals found on site, given the proximity of the Brio site to Southbend Subdivision there is a possible negative impact to the dirt, and asked the city to seek an independent assessment of the environmental impact of the waste fill. Dolly Cruise, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated she has lived in Friendswood since 1986, concerned for her neighbors and friends, read an email sent by Kathy Curry, a concerned citizen that lived near the Brio site concerned with dirt being distributed from the Brio site to other areas, and asked Council to listen. Don Johnson, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and congratulated Mayor Foreman, Councilmembers Hanks, Rockey and Griffon on their election. At the meeting as a citizen of the City of Friendswood, lives on Clear Creek, has been following Clear Creek for years, no structural changes to improve the conveyance of water has been made to Clear Creek in 50 years, upstream Brazoria Drainage District Four has managed to straighten the creek out, to widen it, to put a slope on the banks, and to clear all of the underbrush. There is a need to improve the conveyance and detention area to try and protect residents of Friendswood, all have been distracted by development on Dixie Farm Road where a permit was issued surprisingly for 150,000 cubic yards to be dumped on an 11 acre plat, asking Council to revoke the permit, and go back to the 2007 flood maps. Cheryl Johnson, Friendswood resident, addressed Council and stated she lives in Friendswood Estates between FM 2351 and Dixie Farm Road upstream from the Forest of Friendswood and across the creek from the paintball zone. She stated she wrote letters to Council, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), Zoning Board of Adjustment and Appeals, Construction Board of Adjustment and Appeals, and the Community and Economic Development Committee, has done a tremendous amount of correspondence and research, asked that any proposed zoning change on Dixie Farm Road be rejected by P&Z, needs to be a detention site, city should revert back to the 2007 flood maps, knows that with a two-inch rain now in Houston the creek rises where she lives 17 feet, asked Council to revoke the development permit because it is flawed, if not hold the developer’s feet to the fire and do what they are supposed to do. Councilmember Rockey asked if this item could be placed on a future agenda. City Attorney Mary Kay Fischer answered as the topic relates to threatened litigation it would not be in the city’s best interest to discuss in a public forum. Councilmember Gustafson stated he was not aware of any threatened litigation. City Attorney Mary Kay Fischer stated there was a Notice of Claim filed against the city. City Manager Morad Kabiri stated a Public Information Request can be submitted for the Notice of Claim and the environmental reports that have been done on the dirt. 06/04/18 4805 WORK SESSION Mayor Foreman opened the discussion regarding Capital Projects update. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Patrick Donart presented a PowerPoint presentation regarding the progress made on Capital Projects since the May Council meeting. He reported on Old City Park, Blackhawk Boulevard Phase II, Pavement Management Study, Lift Station No. 23, Blackhawk Wastewater Treatment Plant, current Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) projects, and current Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District projects throughout the city. Discussion took place between Mayor, Council, and Staff regarding that the dog park is anticipated to be opened for dogs by Fall, Staff is working on a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the desilting of 140,000 linear feet of storm sewer system. Pavement Management Survey, cost per mile evaluation is $1.4 Million per mile, total estimated cost over a five year period is $39 Million, Pavement Condition Index (PCI) score of 67, structural integrity of streets, various budget levels of repairs, to maintain a PCI of 67 estimated to spend $1.8 Million per year on repairs, sales tax revenue for streets is approximately $1.4 Million a year, Staff will evaluate the opportunity to capitalize on funds available to install sidewalks, sales tax revenue can only be spent on street repairs but sidewalks can be installed in conjunction with the repairs, and estimated cost is for light surface, asphalt versus concrete roads. Staff will go out for an RFP for unit prices on street repairs to see how much funding can be applied across the needs, and then Council can direct Staff on the batch of streets to tackle with the funding available. Mayor Foreman opened the discussion between Council, Staff, and the Planning and Zoning Commission regarding proposed changes to the Zoning Ordinance related to the Permitted Use Table and Regulation Matrix as enumerated in the Joint Public Hearing language. Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Rhonda Neel opened the Planning and Zoning Commission’s portion of the Joint Work Session. Community Development Director/City Planner Aubrey Harbin stated the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has been working on a few changes to the Zoning Ordinance for Council to review. The proposed changes are in reference to the Permitted Use Table (PUT), classifies business uses to determine if allowed in certain zoning districts.