CITY OF HUNTERS CREEK VILLAGE, TEXAS

MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING

MAY 16, 2006

 

 

The City Council of the City of Hunters Creek Village, Texas convened in regular session at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16, 2006, at City Hall, #1 Hunters Creek Place, Hunters Creek Village, Texas.

 

Present:           Mayor                          Steve Reichek

                       Council Members:       George Shannon, Mayor Pro Tem

Michael Cokinos

                                                            Peggy Burck

                                                            Roger Stark

City Secretary:            Deborah Loesch

City Attorney:             Cheryl Wilson

                                                                       

With a quorum of the Council Members present, Mayor Reichek called the session to order at 7:35 p.m.  It was noted that Councilmember Art Casper was not in attendance.

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS

 

Public comments were received from:

 

            Kim Trippon regarding the proposed zoning ordinance change.

 

            Ed Holland regarding information provided to residents on proposed zoning ordinance changes.

           

REPORTS

 

Fire Commissioner.  Elwin Peacock reported that the board has reviewed and approved the final draft of the 2005 audit with approximately $138,000 being refunded to the Villages and the City of Hunters Creek portion will be about $30,700.  Over budgeting occurred with the change in personnel forecasting in the 2007 budget.  Readjustments to the 2005 budget will be submitted for approval at the June meeting.  Additional funding will be needed for hurricane emergencies and can be handled through reserves in various accounts.  Guidelines are being developed for control of cash flow and transfers.  The 2007 budget has been finalized and will be in final draft for approval at the June meeting.  Further clarification will be needed on the proposal to take money from the EMS collections to pay for large equipment purchases.  May 25th the Villages are participating in a hurricane emergency preparedness meeting at Memorial High School, with personnel from the utility companies, Harris County Office of Emergency Management and fire and police departments.  Developing a plan for making non-interest loans to fire personnel going to paramedic school to use as an incentive to remain with the department after receiving certification.  A house on Country Lane was donated to the department to be used for training purposes before being demolished.  The annual Shrimp boil will be on Saturday, May 20th at noon.

 

Mayor Reichek presented a plaque to Police Commissioner Benny Hruzek for recognition of over 20 years of service as commissioner for Hunters Creek.

 

Police Commissioner.  Benny Hruzek reported that we have had no burglary activity except at construction sites.  Received a lower than usual false alarms to date.  The department is considering purchasing automatic vehicle locators to place in patrol cars so dispatchers can see where the patrol cars are at when sending out a call for service. 

 

City Treasurer’s Report.  Bob Dodson, City Treasurer, reported that the City has received on an average of 4.71% in interest on money market accounts.   He is watching the rate for treasury bills and until they go higher, cash will be kept in the money market accounts.  Currently have $9.2 million in deposits at Wells Fargo, with $14,000 in TexPool.  He presented his recommendation to Council to consider engaging the services of Municipal Revenue Counselors to collect on the past 6 years sales taxes. 

 

A motion was made by Councilmember Cokinos with a second by Councilmember Shannon to approve the proposal submitted by Municipal Revenue Counselors, subject to review by the City Attorney, and authorize the Mayor to execute the agreement.  The motion carried unanimously with Council voting four (4) for and none (0) opposed.

 

Christopher Breaux, representing Null Lairson as the City’s auditors, presented the 2005 financial report.  Bob Dodson stated that the Finance Committee has reviewed the report and he recommends acceptance of the report under the Consent Agenda.  Mr. Breaux indicated that report reflects a clean opinion (highest that can be given) with no material weaknesses.  They are recommending that the capital project accounts be separated from administration/operations by creating a separate company for the accounting of those projects.  He will be working with the City Secretary in the future to accomplish this.

 

City Engineer’s Report.  Bobby Deden, City Engineer, reported:

 

  1. Pifer Road Drainage Improvements – a one half section of paving has been laid and working towards Little Lisa.  It has been requested that an additional crew be put on to accelerate the project, but there is not enough room to work with 2 crews.  Sanitary sewer leads need to be finished and tie into the drainage system to make the system functional.  Anticipated completion in about 8 weeks.

 

  1. Memorial Drive Phase 3 – bid solicitation was pulled awaiting the design of Three Corners street width.  Looking at a combining Phase 3 and Phase 4 to get a better competitive pricing.  Water and sanitary sewer lines need to be upgraded on Three Corners and along Memorial and will be presented to the Memorial Villages Water Authority for participating.

 

  1. Piney Point Village’s Soldier’s Creek Relief Project – working along Hedwig Road, expecting another 3-4 weeks for cleanup work on Memorial Drive.

 

  1. SBC Construction permit – anticipate another 2-3 weeks before completion.

 

  1. PUBLIC HEARINGS.  A public hearing was held to receive testimony for or against the following proposed amendment to Chapter 14 of the Code of Ordinances of City of Hunters Creek Village, the same being the City’s comprehensive zoning ordinance by adding a new sub-paragraph to Sub-Section 6-4 b. thereof; providing for an exception to the minimum required yards for conforming lots legally created and lying within a subdivision which were in existence on March 25, 1955, where yard requirements/building lines were established by recorded deed restrictions or a recorded plat.

 

The public hearing was opened for comments.  Comments were received from Kim Trippon and Ed Holland.  Hearing no further comments, the public hearing was closed.

 

CONSENT AGENDA

 

Upon a motion made by Councilmember Stark and a second by Councilmember Shannon, the motion carried unanimously.  The Council voted four (4) for and none (0) opposed to approve and adopt the consent agenda as follows:

a.         Approval of the Minutes of the March 27, 2006, March 31, 2006, April 11, 2006, and April 18, 2006 meetings.

b.         Approval of the appointment of Paul Addington as Building Official.

c.         Approval of the 2006 consumer price index adjustment to municipal telecommunications rights-of-way access line rates as set by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

d.         Acceptance of the 2005 Annual Financial Report.

REGULAR AGENDA

 

Discussion and possible action to elect a mayor pro tem.

 

A motion was made by Councilmember Stark with a second by Councilmember Shannon to elect Councilmember Burck as mayor pro tem for a term of one year.  The motion carried unanimously with Council voting four (4) for and none (0) opposed.

 

Discussion and possible action to reconsider previous action regarding the delinquent taxes owed by Paul E. Licata.

A motion was made by Councilmember Burck with a second by Councilmember Stark to accept the $5,000 down payment received from Mr. Licata, allow for the remainder to be paid by installments and authorize the execution of a standard agreement and agreed judgment.   The motion carried unanimously with Council voting four (4) for and none (0) opposed.

Discussion and possible action to consider approval of a proposal by Municipal Revenue Counselors for sales and use tax enhancement services.

Please refer to action taken during City Treasurer’s Report.

Discussion and possible action to consider an ordinance adopting Amendment #3 to fiscal year 2006 budget to transfer funds for contract personnel for public works and allocate funds for surveying and design costs for Memorial Drive Phase IV.

A motion was made by Councilmember Burck with a second by Councilmember Stark to approve and adopt Ordinance No. 668 amending the fiscal year budget for 2006.  The motion carried unanimously with Council voting four (4) for and none (0) opposed.

Discussion and possible action to consider approval of a proposal with Prejean & Company, Inc. to perform a topographic survey for Memorial Drive Phase IV project.

A motion was made by Councilmember Stark with a second by Councilmember Shannon to approve the proposal from Prejean & Company for surveying and authorize the Mayor to execute the agreement.  The motion carried unanimously with Council voting four (4) for and none (0) opposed.

Discussion and possible action to consider approval of Change Order #2 with C. E. Barker for the Pifer Road improvement project for cost adjustments for the reduction the road width for Pifer Road from 28’ to 26’.

A motion was made by Councilmember Shannon with a second by Councilmember Cokinos to approve Change Order #2 in the amount of $181,806.38.  The motion carried with Council voting two (2) for (Shannon, Cokinos), one (1) opposed (Burck), and one (1) abstaining (Stark).

Discussion and possible action to approve the payment of the completion bonus to C. E. Barker for Pifer Road improvements project.

The motion died due to lack of a second.  No formal action occurred.

ADJOURN OPEN MEETING

A motion was made by Councilmember Stark with a second by Councilmember Cokinos to adjourn the meeting.  The motion carried unanimously with Council voting four (4) for and none (0) opposed.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Deborah L. Loesch, TRMC

City Secretary

 

 

These minutes approved on the          20th                  day of             June                 , 2006.

 

Ordinance No. 668 is on file in the City Secretary’s office and is made a part of these minutes by reference.