TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

7:00 P.M.

 

 

1. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Robin S. Border called the regular meeting of the City of Hilshire Village to order at 7:00 P.M. at 8301 Westview, Houston, Texas 77055.

Invocation was given by Council Member Anderson.

 

                        1.2. Present were Mayor Robin Border, Council Members Cheryl Wolfe, John Denninger, Shannon Whiting, Zandra Anderson and Mayor Pro Tem Connie Castro. Also present were Efrain Him, P.E., of Claunch & Miller, Inc., (CMI) Engineer for the City, David Olson of Olson and Olson, Attorney for the City, Manisha Patel, City Treasurer and Ted Lazarides, Building Official.

 

2. CITIZENS COMMENTS:

 

Don Detata, 1314 Bridle Spur Lane, stated he would like clarification of what is Council’s intent for driveways in a Cul-de-sac. Mr. Detata stated that there was conflicting information stated between Council Member Anderson, Mayor Pro Tem Castro and the Civic Club newspaper.

 

Marc Grosz, 1238 Glourie, stated he heard that the City government was trying to amend the ordinances through defining net building area to a limitation of 4,000 square foot homes. He stated limiting habitat space would be unconstitutional and he would object to that ordinance.

 

Mayor Steven Tacconelly, 8013 Anadell, stated he was disappointed on how some of the citizens addressed City Council at the last meeting regarding the City’s ordinances. The ordinances have benefited the residences in the past; however, they may need to be amended. He believes City Council should enforce the City’s ordinances as they are stated which will protect all of the citizens.

 

Mayor Ronnie Ralston, 1206 Pine Chase, stated he was Mayor between 1986 and 1988. He believed in raising taxes and was known as the Mayor who raised the taxes the highest amount. He does not understand what City Council is trying to accomplish. The City already has a zoning ordinance and it states what size house you can have on your lot. He did not understand how a mistake was made by the Building Official if he knew the City’s ordinances.

 

Omar Vidal, 1309 Glourie Drive, stated he purchased a 13,000 square foot lot and with the proposed ordinance on the net building area, he would only be able to build a 5200 square foot house and that would not be big enough for his family. He would then be forced to sell his property.

 

Mark Taub, 1313 Pine Chase, believes very strongly that we all know what the ordinances are but we are not enforcing them. He stated he believes the house being built on his street is a monstrosity. He has heard that the ordinances were not being enforced. He does not believe it is fair to make some abide by the ordinance and not others.

 

Nancy Friedman Taub, 1313 Pine Chase stated she was at the meeting because she had heard that at the last meeting some citizens stated that we should not have any deed restrictions and she couldn’t disagree more. She stated the community was unique due to our trees and if you want to build a bigger home you need to go across Westview.

 

Mayor Edward Davis, 1103 Glourie Drive, stated he was here to comment on the items not going to be voted on because a public hearing needed to be scheduled. He stated when the City was incorporated in 1955 everyone had septic tanks and personal water wells and it was charming. However, 50 years later septic tanks are not sufficient and the sewer lines put in 50 years ago were not meant to last 50 years. He stated you have to look at the Village today where the property tax has increased and our infrastructure needs to be replaced to reflect those increases. The one thing he loves about the Village is the diversity of the homes built and the trend now is bigger homes. He feels restrictive ordinances will keep someone from selling their property. The improvements we have recently made were essential to the growth of the City and the City needs to continue its improvements to allow for the increase in property value. If the lots are not marketable our tax base will go down.

 

Donna Archer, 1307 Friarcreek Lane, stated her opposition to both restrictive ordinances being proposed. She stated that the driveways in her subdivision are appropriate and functional. Freedom is important and residents should be trusted to use their property to their best advantage. She does not believe it is the City Council’s responsibility or right to impose their beliefs onto the citizens of Hilshire Village.

 

Tom Archer, 1307 Friarcreek Lane, stated the City’s residents elect our City Council and this is not a forum to exercise personal vendettas, criticize other volunteers or to change the City to their liking. City Council should not discourage people from building their dream home and they should leave changing the ordinances to engineers and architects of which we have plenty in the City.

 

Don Detata, 1314 Bridle Spur Lane, stated that years ago the City let the residents on Glen Hilshire build where the back of their house faces the front of his house and that is wrong.

 

Susan Ray, 1302 Friar Creek Lane, stated she opposes the ordinances on the driveway and the lot sizes.

David McDuffie, 1335 Pine Creek Lane, wanted to make sure there was going to be a public hearing on theses issues. He was very disappointed to see 4.3 on the Agenda after last months meeting. Shannon Whiting suggested that a public committee be formed to look at this topic and David agrees that it be done. He stated the wording was incorrect on the ordinance.

 

Stephanie Post, 8014 Bromley, stated that everyone is very concerned about the type of development being made in Hilshire Village. She would like to see a committee look into this matter and give thought to the type of construction that will be allowed.

 

James Mayes, 8108 Bromley, thinks it is ludicrous for one or two people to sit on Council and commit vendettas against citizens in the Village or act in their own self interest. Mr. Mayes stated the reason the room was filled is because citizens believe they need to police what is being legislated by Council. He challenges Council to hire a consultant to make these types of decisions on a lot by lot basis for the good of the people.

 

David McDuffie, 1335 Friarcreek, stated that at the last meeting it was stated the ordinances were being interpreted by the City Official the way they had always been interpreted. Mr. McDuffie did not believe this to be correct. He stated that it might be correct for the current Building Official but not the past Building Officials.

 

Mayor Border asked that everyone in the audience stay for the whole meeting so they could hear exactly what is said in order that discussions do not get lost in translation. Mayor Border also requested that the other three (3) Mayors in the audience email him with any violations that they see. He will then check into anything that looks illegal.

Out of Order

5. REPORTS TO COUNCIL:

 

5.1. Police: Chief Gary Finkelman discussed the monthly report where there was an arrest of a suspicious person looking into cars. When the person was questioned it was determined he had outstanding traffic tickets. The burglary was for the same mixer board that was stolen and recovered last year at Terrance Methodist Church. The Hilshire Grove motor vehicle was an incident where a purse was left in the front seat of a car and the car was broken into. The felony was believed to be done by a health provider.

 

The Police Department had one retirement, Mark Gexler, and promoted Daryl Bond and Larry Doyle to rank of Sergeant.

Out of Order

3. REPORTS TO COUNCIL:

 

3.4. Engineers: Efrain Him of CMI gave his report regarding Ridgeley Drive Reconstruction Project Utility Improvements (Package 2) – Metro City has replaced the defective level float at the lift station. As requested by the City the auto dialer system will be reprogrammed to call Severn Trent’s 24 Hour Emergency Center, then Severn Trent’s local person, Vernon Kahanek and then the Mayor.

 

After receipt of the drawings and lift station O&M manuals, HDR/C&M will prepare the project’s close-out package and then present it to Council with a request for a final disposition to Metro City.

 

Paving & Drainage Improvement (Package 3), AAA Asphalt Paving, Inc. has completed the black base material installation work on the Ridgeley Drive southbound lane between Archley Drive North and Archley Drive South. The Contractor has also completed the asphalt pavement milling, lime-fly ash stabilization and black base material installation on Ridgeley Drive northbound lane between Archley Drive North and Archley Drive South.

 

AAA Asphalt Paving, Inc. is currently replacing the affected driveways between Archley North and Archley South. They are in the process of removing and replacing the driveway culverts at the ditches along Ridgeley Drive from Archley South to Westview.

 

Construction of Channel Crossing A is anticipated to begin in two (2) weeks and a meeting will be scheduled with the Ridgeley Drive Committee, the Urban Forester and the affected residents.

 

HDR/C&M recommends that payment be made to AAA Asphalt Paving, Inc. for an amount of $150,441.25 (Pay Application No. 9) for completion of approximately 65.49% of the work and within 102.96% of the contracted time.

 

Efrain stated that Hilshire Oaks’ safety issues have been looked into and he will get with the Mayor this week and then recommendations would be made to Council next month.

4. ACTION ITEMS (CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION):

 

4.1 Mayor Pro Tem Castro made a motion to authorize payment to AAA Asphalt Paving, Inc., Pay Application No. (9) for work related to the Ridgeley Drive Paving & Drainage Improvements Project (Package 3) in the amount of $150,441.25-HDR/C&M, seconded by Council Member Whiting. A vote was taken to authorize payment to AAA Asphalt Paving, Inc. in the amount of $150,441.25 and the motion passed unanimously.

 

The Mayor excused City Engineer Efrain Him from further attendance of the current Council meeting.

 

5. REPORTS TO COUNCIL:

 

5.2 Fire Commissioner: David Labbe’ gave an activity report for October 2008. October had seven (7) service calls, five (5) ambulance calls, one (1) service call and one (1) fire call. The financial report shows the Village Fire Department’s debt is currently 4.23% under budget. A new pumper truck was purchased in the amount of $557,000 leaving Village Fire Department’s sinking fund at $44,116.51.

 

The Villages Mutual Insurance Cooperative voted to continue with Aetna Medical insurance plan for 2009.

 

The commissioners discussed succession plans following Chief Calagna’s announcement of retirement scheduled for August 2010.

 

The Fire Department will use Belt, Harris and Association this year for their audit.

 

4. ACTION ITEMS (CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION):

 

4.1 A motion was made by Council Member Anderson to approve a change to Ordinance Number 606 to read “a property owner will be allowed one driveway access of up to sixteen (16) feet in width even if the width of the driveway exceeds 50% of the number of feet where the property right-of-way meets the paved street”, seconded by Council Member Wolfe.

 

Council Member Anderson stated that she wanted to stress that this change only affects the City’s right-of-way and not the property owners’ property. She stated that some of the cul-de-sac residents would be restricted if they had a pie shape lot. The number one issue is drainage and when you have too big of a driveway it limits the amount of open ditches and also the City needs access to the City’s public works. If you allow a single property owner to use the whole city’s right-of-way for the personal use of a driveway you eliminate parking. Council Member Anderson stated she wrote the ordinance and did not intend for the driveway in cul-de-sacs to be 22 feet in width. Council Member Wolfe suggested that the wordage be “a property owner will be allowed one driveway access from 10 to 22 feet as long as the width of a driveway does not exceed 50%.” Mayor Border stated that he did not see the need for the change since this will affect less that 30 residents.

 

A vote was taken to approve a change to Ordinance Number 606 to read a property owner will be allowed one driveway access of up to sixteen (16) feet in width of the driveway even if the width exceeds 50% of the number of feet where the property right-of-way meets the paved street and the motion failed 2-3. Council Member Anderson and Wolfe voted for the motion and Council Members Denninger and Whiting and Mayor Pro Tem Castro voted against the motion.

Council Member Anderson asked David Olson what was the correct way to request a public hearing. David Olson stated just advertise the public hearing. Council Member Anderson said that it still needed to be voted on by Council to see if they wanted to have a public hearing on this issue. David Olson said the vote would have been to direct staff to advertise the public hearing.

 

Mayor Pro Tem Castro stated she was confused why this was put on the Agenda because she thought it was decided that a committee would be formed to look at this and then at the end of the meeting there would be a motion to be put on the Agenda with an absolute change. Council Member Anderson said it was to be put on the agenda as a discussion with possible action.

 

4.3 A motion was made by Council Member Anderson to direct staff to publish a notice to define net building area to include both floors of any building excluding garage, carport, covered porches, breezeways and accessory buildings, seconded by Council Member Denninger. Council Member Denninger seconded the motion but it did not mean he agrees with including both floors. Mayor Border stated that he talked to Mike Woodruff from the Board of Adjustments to see if his committee would look into this and make recommendations. The Mayor wants to know what issues Council is trying to address. Council Member Whiting wanted to know what Council was trying to define here. She stated Council needs to decide what they would like a committee to look at. The Mayor stated we are looking at scale. The large lots are gone. Council Member Whiting stated looking at doing this with one piece of verbiage is a knee jerk reaction. She said there are set back issues, lot sizes, sheer wall restrictions and scale that depend on lot sizes.

 

Council Member Anderson said she would try to explain what was going on. She stated that everyone needs to look at the ordinance as a whole. There are two variables; footprint and the size of the house. There is a maximum lot coverage which is 60% of lot area located behind the front building line and shall not exceed 50% of the lot area located in front of the required front building line. Examples of nonpermeable constructed surface shall exclude stepping stones, air conditioner supports, landscape border stones, wooden decks and similar materials or structures. Computation of lot coverage by example is that nonpermeable constructed surfaces shall include buildings, garages, accessory buildings, pools, patios, sidewalks, driveways, any paved surface for automobiles and other nonpermeable constructed surface areas, but shall exclude by way of examples only, stepping stones, air conditioner supports, landscape border stones, wooden decks, and similar materials or structures. The ordinance states a dwelling unit shall not exceed forty percent (40%) of the lot area. Nonpermeable means it does not drain.

The second computation of a dwelling unit (the house) defines the net building area shall not exceed forty percent (40%) of the lot area. The lot area means the total horizontal area within the property lines of a lot. There has been a limit of what the footprint could look like and the size of the dwelling unit. The idea is to have a house that is in sync with the size of the lot. The issue is rather or not “does net area mean both floors of the house.” The discrepancy is the phrase “taken at grade”. The net building area shall mean the enclosed building area taken at grade of the main building, exclusive of garage, carport, covered porches, breezeways and accessory buildings. However, your footprint can not exceed 60% for non permeables behind the required front building line and 50% of the lot area located in the front of the building line. The reason “taken at grade” was mentioned was that some of the houses in Hilshire Village have levels below grade. Also, the maximum height must be considered. The structure height can not exceed thirty five feet. All of these things are taken into consideration when figuring the size of the house. Council Member Anderson said there are three (3) functions of property value: the size of the house, drainage and aesthetics. A clarification is not needed because not all people are building their dream homes. Some contractors are trying to build the biggest house they can possibly build.

 

Ted Lazarides stated that net building area is essentially the air conditioned square footage of the building and everyone is getting hung up on the definition of net area when the issue is the 40% maximum. Council Member Whiting asked how we know what is built is what is shown on the plans? Ted stated that the City requires a slab survey prior to pouring the foundation.

 

Council recessed at 9:19 P.M.

 

Council reconvened at 9:32 P.M.

 

Mayor Pro Tem Castro stated that a committee needs to be created with the Building Official and will then come to us with ideas and a possible solution if we need one. This is a complex issue with a lot of variables.

 

Mayor Border stated we need to talk about exclusions, how many garages can be built, and how many accessory buildings can be included. The Mayor stated he does not have an understanding of what needs to be changed.

 

Council Member Wolfe said she researched other Villages because it was said during the last council meeting that Hilshire Village was the most restrictive. She reported that Bunker Hill was more restrictive and their building area could not exceed forty-five percent (45%) of lot area but they include driveway, walkway and accessories. She thinks we need to consider adding the garage to limit the size of buildings. She stated an open space needs to be reserved for trees.

 

The Mayor stated the lot on Pine Chase has room for trees but one can not see behind it. Each of the homes on either side have large footprints but are not two story. One can see the trees in their back yards but you can not see the trees behind the two story house.

 

Council Member Denninger thinks we need to take a broader look at this.

 

Council Member Whiting stated that a committee needs to look at other cities to determine their preferences. This research is going to take time. Council Member Whiting has sent Mayor Border a list of items for the committee.

 

Mayor Border stated he would like to defeat this motion and form a committee. The motion was withdrawn.

 

Council Member Anderson stated the following might streamline the situation. She talked to Ted and he is going to take the scenario of taking out the forty percent (40%) and find what can actually be built on the lot. There are variables, like garage, car port, etc. to get an idea of what someone could build on that 11,400 square foot lot.

5. REPORTS TO COUNCIL:

 

5.2 Fire Commissioner: David Labbe’ gave an activity report for August and September 2008. August had two (2) service calls. The VFD expenditures were 3.81% under budget for the year to date. September had thirteen (13) calls. The VFD expenditures were 4.15% under budget for the year to date. The administrative Sub-Committee has reviewed the By-Laws and has developed a list of changes to be presented to the board at the next meeting. VFD has decided to go out for bids for the upcoming audit. The new fire engine has arrived and Lt. Wilson is being promoted to Captain.

5.3 Building Official: Ted Lazarides stated there were twelve (12) permits issued for miscellaneous construction and one new construction at 8001 Anadell. Ted stated that his official email address is building @hilshirevillagetexas.com and all emails sent to him should go through the official address and the City Secretary will forward the emails to him. He would in turn reply with a copy to the City; thereby, leaving a clear record of communication of City business.

 

Council Member Whiting asked Ted about the two houses with garage clearance issues. She wanted to know when the City takes responsibility instead of the home owner. David Olson said the City is not bound by negligence for the mistakes of their employees. Mayor Border stated that the builders are going to try pushing their designs to the limit. He stated with all the ordinance changes it is difficult for the builders to see our changes if the Muni code is not up to date. Council Member Denninger stated it is still the responsibility of the home owner, the builder and the architect that to comply with our ordinances. He believes we need to put a stamp on the plans in this regard. Ted stated the plan check that has been passed and used was incorrect. It has been corrected but it was not going to be passed out for contractor’s use in the future. Council Member Wolfe questioned Ted’s knowledge of the City’s ordinances.

 

Council Member Anderson wanted to know where the ordinance was for the space between attached garages. It was stated that the hearing was set for November’s meeting but was not done because the City Secretary did not post the public notice in the paper in time for the meeting. Council Member Anderson asked legal to assist in these type items.

 

Council Member Anderson said there were a lot of items being missed when checking building plans and she wanted to know if the Building Official was looking at the ordinances on the computer or the book of ordinances. Mayor Border stated that if Council would like for Ted to leave please state so but he added that Ted was honest enough to admit his mistakes and sophisticated enough to take on the builders we are getting in the City.

 

5.4 Treasurer Report: Manisha Patel stated she has submitted the 4th Quarter Investment Report. Mayor Border asked if she had confirmed that the City’s market value is covered. The Mayor stated that in this market he wanted to make sure our collateral was indeed sufficient to handle our deposits due to the fact that all the money is not backed by FDIC.

 

5.5 Mayor and Council:

 

Mayor Border: NONE

 

Council Member Whiting: NONE

 

Council Member John Denninger: stated if a resident has a question or concern, please call a Council Member and discuss it.

 

........... 5.6 HVCEFFC (Conduit Bonds) City Secretary Blevins stated the balance in the

account was $2,171.19.

 

5.8 City Secretary Report: City Secretary Blevins announced that the City was still having problems with their emails and had to send the agenda out to ten (10) citizens at a time. She stated she was checking into using an outside company to send the emails through.

City Secretary Blevins stated she had a meeting with representatives from FEMA and had been assigned someone to help fill out all the paperwork required to receive reimbursement.

 

ACTION ITEMS (CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION):

 

9. CONSENT AGENDA: A motion was made by Council Member Denninger to approve the Consent Agenda as presented less item 8.2, Minutes of Council Meeting of October 21, 2008 and 8.3, Minutes of the Special Council Meeting of November 5, 2008, seconded by Council Member Wolfe. A vote was taken to approve the Consent Agenda less items 8.2 Minutes of Council Meeting of October 21, 2008 and 8.3 Minutes of the Special Council Meeting of November 5, 2008 and the motion passed unanimously.

 

9.1 A motion was made by Council Member Whiting to approve the Minutes of Council Meeting of October 20, 2008 with changes presented to Council, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Castro. A vote was taken to approve the Minutes of Council Meeting of October 20, 2008 with the changes presented to Council and the motion passed unanimously.

 

9.4 A motion was made by Council Member Anderson to approve the minutes of the Special Council Meeting November 5, 2008 with changes presented to Council, seconded by Council Member Denninger. A vote was taken to approve the minutes of the Special Council Hearing Meeting November 5, 2008 with changes presented to Council and the motion passed unanimously.

 

10. MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMENTS:

 

Mayor Border stated he has registered with TML for courses on December 11 and 12th on economic development of business in cities.

 

11. ADDITIONAL CITIZENS COMMENTS:

 

Judith Shields, 1302 Glourie Drive, stated she was a recycler and that she would like the City to negotiate with the Garbage/Recycle Company to pick up on another day during Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Garbage Company only picks up once a month during November and December. She also stated that the City needed to design and purchase a new sticker that does not fade and deteriorate.

 

12. ADDITIONAL COUNCIL COMMENTS: NONE

 

13. ANNOUNCEMENTS: NONE

 

14. ADJOURNMENT: It was moved by Council Member Whiting and seconded by Council Member Wolfe to adjourn.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                        ____________________

                                                                                                                                                                        Robin S. Border, Mayor

ATTEST:

 

__________________________

Susan Blevins, City Secretary