TUESDAY, February 25, 2009

SPECIAL WORKSHOP AND COUNCIL MEETING

6:00 P.M.

 

 

1. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Robin S. Border called the special meeting of the City of Hilshire Village to order at 6:00 P.M. at 8301 Westview, Houston, Texas 77055.

Invocation was given by Council Member Wolfe.

 

                        1.2. Present were Mayor Robin Border, Mayor Pro Tem Connie Castro, Council Members Cheryl Wolfe, Zandra Anderson, Shannon Whiting and John Denninger. Also present were Dennis Gorden and Joe Williams, Severn Trent

 

2. CITIZENS COMMENTS:

 

Bill Bristow, 1233 Pine Chase, For the record there are five people in the audience

 

3. ACTION ITEMS (CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON):

 

3.1 Council Member Anderson motioned that consideration and possible action on utility and trash collection issues and rates be looked at, seconded by Council Member Denninger.

 

The Mayor said he appreciated City Secretary Blevins for diligently researching these utility issues. One of the handouts in front of Council showed the usages of water for an average period of time (Dec 07 & Jan 08). The Mayor stated there were five residences that each used less 1000 gals of water. He found that very interesting and on the other side of the scale we have usage of 122,001gallons of water. Council Member Whiting stated she would like to see a year’s worth of data. The Mayor said that the State strongly recommends that you set up water rates to promote water conservation. Since we do not have a sliding scale we do not promote conservation. The Mayor stated Bunker Hill and Spring Valley charges for sewer usage not a set rate. Secretary Blevins asked if one could assume that water and sewer usage is the same. Councilmember Anderson stated that usage would be based on the size of the house, the number of users in the house and if you do or do not have a swimming pool.

 

The Mayor stated that there are a lot of issues that need to be discussed. Council Member Whiting wants to do a statistical analysis on the average distribution based on seasons, flagging the irrigation system. She wants to see it visually. Council Member Denninger asked why Council is looking at this; is the City looking to raise water rates to break even, make money or what. Council Member Anderson stated that the City should not make money. Mayor Border stated that the Utility Fund has to make a profit. It is the City’s responsibility to have an excess of funds reserved to make repairs or replace the City’s infrastructure.

 

Secretary Blevins listed different issues as: Meters not working, usage being high and residents stating they could not use that amount of water, residents wanting to read their own meter, renter’s moving in and out without reporting to the City, maintenance fee being charged on some residences with sprinkler systems and not charged to others. She also stated that a new move-in can either put a deposit down or give a credit letter in lieu of a deposit. The deposits are kept for one year and than returned if the credit history is good.

Secretary Blevins stated that she believes renters should pay a higher rate than home owners. Mayor Pro Tem Castro stated that the deposit should be across the board and the credit reference should be deleted. The mayor stated the deposit should be per meter. Council Member Anderson stated that the deposit should be returned after a set period of time.

Severn Trent stated that most Cities keep the deposit until the resident moves out and then the deposit goes toward their last bill. They also said that other Cities cut residents’ water off if the bill is over 60 days and then they have to pay for an additional hook-up fee. He also said that the renter’s rates are higher than the home owners. Secretary Blevins stated that she believes the home owner and the renter both should have a deposit for water.

 

Council Member Anderson asked how much interest is charged on late fees. Severn Trent stated that they charge 10% for anything over 30 days. Secretary Blevins stated that the residents are bringing payments to the City office on the day the bill is due so that they do not have to pay a late fee. Council said that the checks should not be accepted they should have to send payment to Severn Trent. Severn Trent stated that they now accept credit cards (except American Express) and they do not charge the City anything. The cost is charged directly to the users; however, a contract has to be signed by the City.

City Secretary Blevins asked if residents should call Severn Trent directly or should they call the City? She stated that she was told that these calls were part of her job. Council stated that all calls should go straight to Severn Trent and Severn Trent will than call Secretary Blevins if they could not handle the situation. Severn Trent than could put a hold on the account until all problems were resolved. Mayor Border stated that he would like to see the deposit resolved. Council decided $200.00 for a home owner in addition to a $300.00 deposit for a renter. The Mayor said the rate changes and the deposits need to be accepted at one time. He would like to see one increase not a bunch of little increases. Mayor Border said the City of Houston is going to increase rates by 25% and unfortunately TCEQ does not require the City of Houston to justify their increases and he believes the City is paying for their sewer renovations with these increases.

 

Mayors stated that we do not have a higher rate for non-residential entities. Mayor Border stated other Villages charge a larger rate for non residential entities. Typically the non- residential entities do not even pay taxes. The Mayor stated that we need to look at non-residential rates. He hopes that a committee will be formed to investigate this.

 

Mayor Border stated that as long as trash is collected through our taxes there are non-tax payers that are getting free service. He stated that he believes non-residential entities should have higher maintenance fees to cover the City’s services. The Mayor stated that Royal is planning on a very large increase. He stated that the maintenance charge for non- residential entities should be the utility charge of $20 plus 2 months of trash pick up, approximately $70.00.

 

Council Member Denninger stated that if the water is “on” then someone should be getting a bill. City Secretary Blevins stated that was correct; however, that might not be the case. Secretary Blevins stated that is why she believes the home owner and renter should pay a deposit. Severn Trent stated that the water meters should be read every month which would be able to control renters in and out. Mayor Border stated that he met with Severn Trent discussing them reading, billing and re-reading the meters when necessary for $3.00 a meter per month. Severn Trent would use a hand held computer which would help eliminate misread readings. A good point about them reading the meter is the computer peeps if there is a problem with the number keyed in – giving the technician time to re-input the data. This should cut down on re-readings Also, reading monthly eliminates problems because the time frame is shorter and you do not have to wait another two 2 months to see if it was a fluke or a leak. Mayor Pro Tem Castro asked if Severn Trent would read bi-monthly instead of monthly. Gordy Allen said the reason they don’t like bi-monthly readings is because when a resident has a leak you can loose a lot of water until your cycle goes around for the second problem reading. The Mayor suggested that meters be put on all water outlets used by the City so that the City can watch for leaks by unusual usage. Council Member Whiting said we would be doubling our cost by going to monthly readings. She said the variable is in how much money that Severn Trent has in delinquent accounts that they are managing. The Mayor wanted Council to know all the alternatives.

 

Mayor Border wanted to form a none-quorum committee to sit and go through these issues, the numbers, and making suggestions. The objective is to get answers to all the items we have discussed by the first of July so that we will have numbers to use on the budget.

Council Member Wolfe pointed out an error in the Mayor’s handout reminding him that the current rate is based on a 10,000 gallon minimum.

Council Member Anderson amended the previous motion to authorize the Mayor to form a committee to work through the water and sewer issues, seconded by Council Member Denninger. A vote was taken to approve the motion to form a committee to work through the water and sewer issues, the motion passed unanimously.

 

3.2 A motion was made by Council Member Anderson to take consideration and possible action on 1100 block of Glourie Water Quality issues, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Castro. The Mayor stated that a letter was sent out to all those with this issue. He thinks the City has the water issue solved, that an isolation valve was found closed that should have been open. Severn Trent said the water is staying clear and the residual is staying up. The Mayor stated that if the system goes back to dirty water than we have to find another solution. Severn Trent explained a method of scouring the water lines by injecting air. The cost is approximately $.90 per linear feet approximately $1,000 for this job. Another solution is cut a whole in the pipe line and replace the bad section. Severn Trent stated they would keep a close eye on this location. No action was taken on the motion of possible action on 1100 block of Glourie Water Quality issues.

 

8. MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMENTS:

 

Mayor Border stated he thought the letter from the City of Bunker Hill to their Fire and Police Departments requesting their 2010 budget remain the same as 2009 was a good idea. The Mayor felt Hilshire Village should request the same from their Fire and Police Departments.

 

Council Member Wolfe stated there was a rash of people not stopping at stop signs and it is getting to be a serious concern.

 

 

 

9. ADDITIONAL CITIZENS COMMENTS:

 

Bill Bristow, 1233 Pine Chase, stated when he had this problem he was never given a reason why the dirty water was happening. He had to replace all his appliances and had to install a water filter and a water softer. Mr. Bristow had to spend a lot of money and the City took no action. He asked what the difference was this time?

 

10. ADDITIONAL COUNCIL COMMENTS: NONE

 

11. ANNOUNCEMENTS: NONE

 

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

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                        ____________________

                                                                                                                                                                        Robin S. Border, Mayor

ATTEST:

 

__________________________

Susan Blevins, City Secretary