Loading...
MIN CC 09/26/1989CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 492 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 26TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1989 IN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 6:45 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday 0. Eugene Barrett City officers present: Gary Bell James L. Carter Gene Pipes, City Manager Ila G. Gaines William B. Green Scott Bounds, City Attorney William L. Hammock Percy Howard, Jr. Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary William H. Knotts, Jr. CITIZEN INPUT /INQUIRY SESSION David Revelle concerning damaged tree on his property Mr. Revelle advised he has discovered over the last few days, after observation of a certain tree on the corner of 14th Street and Avenue M, which is on his property, that it has been dying. He said he is very sure it was caused by the digging of the sewer line too close to it. He said if the city had dug under the root system, they could have probably saved the tree. He asked if he has any recourse as to the damage to the property, to the aesthetic value of the property, and where does he go from here. Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised if there is a claim for damages, Mr. Revelle will need to file that claim with the City Secretary for processing through the insurance company, who will evaluate it. He said the city will be glad to work with him on this. Steve Bodman. Chairman, 1989 Fair on the Square Mr. Bodman advised from Friday, October 6, through Sunday, October 8, the City of Huntsville will be host to several thousand visitors and guests. He said there will be over 50 hours of events, shows and activities to delight and entertain these many new friends. He noted one of the great fortunes of this specific weekend, is the simultaneous occurrence of the Walker County Fair Association Fall Festival 189, which is held at the Walker County Fairgrounds and the 15th Annual Fair on the Square held in the Central Business District. He said many civic and social organizations, as well as individuals, have contributed time and resources to insure that the City's numerous guests have many reasons to spend a lot of time here in Huntsville. He said it has occurred to the organizers of the Fall Festival 89 and Fair on the Square that Huntsvillels guests might be more inclined to participate in both of these major events if a shuttle service were provided. He said such a shuttle service will provide courtesy transportation between sites of both events, allowing the guests to move freely between locations. He said they feel this would be perceived as a great enhancement to the friendly atmosphere and reputation of Huntsville as well as a practical solution to what could develop as a traffic congestion problem in the downtown area. He said our friends at Brazos Transit have expressed a willingness to provide this shuttle service, however, they have been advised that a request for such provision of service needs to come from the city, not a non - governmental organization such as the Chamber of Commerce or the Walker County Fair Association. As such, on behalf of the various involved organizations and the many businesses that will benefit, he requested that at the earliest possible convenience, the City Council draft such a request for Brazos Transit to provide this shuttle service on October 7, 1989. Mayor Monday advised she will get with the City Manager and Brazos Transit to see what is necessary and then advise Mr. Bodman of the procedures. She indicated this will be done as soon as possible. FORMAL SESSION Mayor Monday called the formal session to order. Councilmember and Mayor Pro tem Howard presented the invocation. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the minutes of October 12 1989 and 1 CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 493 CONSIDER PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT ON DEVELOPMENT CODE REVIEW Consider the report of the Planning Commission Mr. Ed Smith. Chairman, concerning the review and recommendations of adjustments to the Development Code and implementation procedures Mr. Smith advised the Planning Commission has spent five months reviewing the city's development code. He said the Council asked for this review because of the city council's concern that the city was being targeted by some as being an obstruction toward development in the city by way of its development code. He said the Planning Commission solicited suggestions and mailed out 50 letters requesting them, however only three respondents brought 15 suggestions to their attention. Councilmember Bell noted one of the things the Council has heard on the streets for a long time is that the city codes are too restrictive. He asked Mr. Smith if it is his judgment, in light of the relatively small turnout on this review, that there is no great demand for changing the city's development code substantially. Mr. Smith said he feels there are not really that many problems with the code, because individuals are afraid to come forward to the planning department people, and they get a lot of assistance from those people, and if they get into a situation where they feel they need further assistance, then they come to the Planning Commission. He said he has found that many individuals get frustrated with paperwork. He said if there was some way that the amount of paperwork could be reduced and streamlined that would be more of an asset than the actual constant review and change of the development code Mayor Monday said then we are speaking of "ease of operation." Councilmember Bell said then it is not a "substance" criticism, but it is a "process" criticism. Mr. Smith said their frustration is the steps they have to go through, the number of copies of what they have to have, and all the different sign offs and check points they have to go through. He said we must remember when people come into this process, they don't know what they are supposed to do, so someone is having to tell them what to do now and what to do next and this is the procedure that is the concern. He said there is not really one person to tell them every single thing they have to do and act as a consultant for them. He said they are kind of out on their own going through the maze. Mayor Monday noted this is what the City had and lost and this is what it sounds like it need to put back. Councilmember Carter asked Mr. Smith if he made some suggestions in the recommendations about streamlining the process? Mr. Smith said that was not brought forward to them as a specific issue He said this is just a general issue that he has picked up through telephone conversations but he did not have any one single person come to the Planning Commission with that specific arievance Councilmember Carter said then what Mr. Smith is saying is that we have a lot of first time developers in the City, noting surely the city has some "repeat" people developing property that ought to know after the first time they have gone through the process what is expected of them. Mr. Smith said he agrees with both of these points and they do have some of both, but even some of the repeat ones that know the procedures, feel that it is a little too cumbersome. Councilmember Barrett noted many of these people are not actually builders, but they are individuals who are trying to get something done for their residence or their business that would perhaps just be a one time visit. Mr. Smith said a case in point would be the Reverend Smith who was trying to get sewer facilities to his church that he was going to build on Highway 75 South in the triangle by the Shell Service Station; noting this was a first time effort for him and he claimed to know a lot about the "building and construction" trade, but he became very frustrated with the rituals of going through the city and going through all the proper steps and procedures to get from point A to point B. Mayor Monday felt this is a valid comment and something the Council needs to look at. She said we have discussed this before and it should be evaluated. Mayor Monday asked Mr. Smith if he would now like to proceed with highlighting points in his report. Mr. Smith said he would like for the Council to ask him about those recommendations that are of interest to them, as presented in the report. Councilmember Carter asked if this item can be brought back since the CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 494 unit has only seen it just a few moments ago for the first time. Mayor Monday said there is no problem inging it back later, but if the Council has any questions now, they would be appropriate. Mr. Smith noted two of the 15 suggestions were combined into one discussion, nine were discussed and spensed with at the meetings, and five suggestions have been assigned to subcommittees for further study, follows: A suggestion by Gerald Harris, P.E. concerns Development Code Section 505.1, Key or Flag Lots, as follows: "Key or flag lots (see Figure 5 -1) may be permitted to a limited extent in developments proposed for single family residential; provided, however, that the narrowest part of such a lot (the staff) shall not be less than 24 feet in width nor have a length greater than 200 feet. The developer shall restrict such lots to prevent the construction of any building, structure, wall or fence within the staff portion of such lot. The staff of the lot shall be restricted for access to the lot only. Such restrictions shall be shown on the face of the plat in the form of a notation." Mr. Smith indicated the proposed standard is: "The staff of a flag lot shall not have a length greater than 400 feet." He said the Planning Commission is recommending no action at this time, however, the suggestion has been assigned to a subcommittee of J.D. Schindler and Gerald Harris for further study. A suggestion by Gerald Harris, P.E. concerns the Development Code Section 505.4, Density Increases - - "The developer may increase density for multifamily residential lots (see section 502.4) and Unified Developments (see section 504.2). A variance from the maximum density stated in Table 5 -1 may be granted by the City by demonstrating that the character of the development and /or amenities incorporated in the development warrant such increases. In no case shall the density increase be more than fifty percent (50 %) in excess of the maximum density for the standard lot established in Table 5 -1. Mr. Smith advised the proposed standard is: "Remove the requirement for a variance for density increases. The factors or formula used to determine increased density requirements should be specifically stated in the code." Mr. Smith indicated the Planning Commission recommends no action be taken at this time, however, the suggestion was assigned to a subcommittee of J. D Schindler and Gerald Harris for further study. A suggestion from Gerald Harris, P. E. concerns the Development Code Section 604.4 -- Location of Intersections, (2) Collector Streets -- "The maximum distance between streets (centerline to centerline measurement) intersecting collector streets shall be 1000 feet; the minimum distance shall be 600 feet." Mr. Smith said the proposed standard is: "The maximum distance between streets shall be based on the number of lots planned in the block between intersections. There shall not be more than 20 lots between street intersections." Mr. Smith advised the Planning Commission recommends no action should be taken at this time, however, the suggestion has been assigned to a subcommittee of Marsha Phillips and Gerald Harris for further study. A suggestion from Gerald Harris, P.E. concerns the Development Code Section 604.4 Location of Intersections, (3) Local Streets, "The maximum distance between streets (centerline to centerline measurement) intersecting local streets shall be 1000 feet; the minimum distance shall be 200 feet." Mr. Smith said the proposal standard is: "The maximum distance between streets shall be based on the number of lots planned in the block between intersections. There shall not be more than 25 lots between street intersections." Mr. Smith advised the Planning Commission recommends no action L 1 CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 495 should be taken at this time, however, the suggestion has been assigned to a subcommittee of Marshal Phillip and Gerald Harris for further study. 5. A suggestion by Gerald Harris, P.E. concerns the Development Code Section 610.2 -- existing standard: "The length of cul -de -sac and dead -end streets is the distance from the right -of -way line of the intersecting street along the centerline of the cul -de -sac or dead -end street to the center of the circular turnaround. The maximum length of cul -de -sac and dead -end streets shall be related to the expected traffic volume, expressed in vehicle trips per day (VID), of the street at the time of full development. The developer shall furnish the City all necessary data to substantiate the length of the proposed street. VID for residential areas shall be based on an average of 5 trips per day per dwelling unit. The maximum length of any cul-de -sac or dead -end street shall be: VID LESS THAN 100, 1,000 FEET; and VID of 101 or greater, 600 feet. Mr. Smith advised the proposed standard is: "The maximum length of a cul -de -sac street shall be based on the number of lots planned in the block between intersections. There shall not be more than 20 Lots between the street intersection and the end of the cul -de -sac. The lots shall be counted on one side of the street only for the purpose of determining the total length of the cul-de -sac street." Mr. Smith advised the Planning commission recommends no action be taken at this time, however, the suggestion has been assigned to a subcommittee consisting of Marsha Phillips and Gerald Harris, Mr. Smith said the Planning Commission plans to be open to suggestions at all times and not just during this review period. Mr. Smith expressed his sincere appreciation to Mr. Dale Brown, Director of Planning; Ms. Cindy KelLgren, Building Official; Mr. Sonny Davidson, Planner; and Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director of Design Engineering, and others for their fine support. Councilmember Knotts thanked the Planning Commission, noting he has always been a strong advocate of what we have written. He said he was glad the Planning Commission was recommending "no changes," and that as soon as the people in Huntsville learn that they have a set of rules by which to live, and the City Council learns that it has to back those rules, then we will be a lot better off. Mayor Monday said the Council does appreciate the time and effort. She said if the Council has any questions, she will bring this item back for further discussion. Mr. Smith said he will be glad to visit with the Council again at that time. Mr. Smith said there were two areas in the development_ code that surfaced as auestionable areas "in- house" [they did not come from the outside] . He said those two areas are specifically having to do with the development code standards on driveways. He said they have uncovered a fallacy in the logic as to how the city applies the development code to driveways He said they also have the sight triangle issue come up with the Baptist Church. He said in that particular meeting the Commission has to grant a variance for that particular issue. He said these are still under review. He said the Commission will be suggesting to the Council changes in those areas of the development code. Mayor Monday felt perhaps the proper time for the review of these recommendations should then be at the time these in -house suggestions are resolved and the Council could review those recommendations from the Commission at the same time. CONSIDER ORDINANCES Consider Ordinance No. 89- 25- -Notice of intent to issue certificates of obligation for the purchase of a front loading refuse truck for the Sanitation Division as planned in the FY 1989-90 budget Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented this ordinance, the caption of which is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 89 -25 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING PUBLICATION OF NOTICE TO BIDDERS AND NOTICE OF INTENTION TO ISSUE CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION FOR A DIESEL POWERED FRONT LOADING REFUSE TRUCK, AND MAKING VARIOUS PROVISIONS RELATED THERETO [NOT TO EXCEED $115,000, 4 YEAR C.O.] CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 496 He said this item was discussed at great length a few weeks ago in the extensive budget meetings. He said this is the formal notification of the city's intent to use certificates of obligation to pay for this truck in the Sanitation Division. Mr. Pipes said this is one in a series of three ordinances required under the law to issue certificates of obligation. Councilmember Howard made the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 89 -25 and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider Ordinance No. 89- 9-26.2 creating a new Chapter 18 of the Code of Ordinances "Emergency Reportina Equipment and Procedures." Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented the draft ordinance concerning alarm systems and a memorandum from Lt. Larry McDugle, dated September 8, 1989, concerning the difficulties with the current situation. Mr. Pipes then asked Chief Hank Eckhardt to detail those problems and answer any questions the Council may have. He said then the City Attorney will review the ordinance and answer any of the Council's questions. Mr. Pipes said this ordinance is a substantial departure from the current situation. He said this draft ordinance is being offered as a solution to the problem. Chief Hank Eckhardt advised of the problems with the alarm situation in Huntsville. He said over a six month period, beginning January 1 through June 30, the city determined it was responding to over 8,000 calls for police services and of those, 947 were alarm calls, of which all were false alarms with the exception of eight calls. He said over 10% of the Police department's response for police services was for false alarm calls. Additionally, he said the police department monitored 29 alarms of businesses and residences at the department. He said besides these 29 alarm systems in Huntsville that are hooked into the police department, there are over 158 alarm systems that are in -place inside the city limits of Huntsville and not connected to the department, and this was determined through call records indicating those were systems to which the department had been responding in false alarms. He said of those 158 alarm systems the department does not monitor, they know they are monitored in 20 different cities in six different states across the United States, some as far away as New York state. He said this creates some problems for the department when an alarm is activated at a business or residence and it is monitored in New York Arkansas New Mexico. etc., when the People who are monitoring do not have available to them someone for the Huntsville Police to notify that the alarm is sounding at their business or residence He said this creates problems for the department. Mr. Eckhardt said they are also not always willing to let the department know who they are when callina to advise of the activated alarm and this creates problems for the department as well. Chief Eckhardt said the false alarms they receive are due mainly to inadequate training or no training to employee error. He said when the officers respond to the situation, they discover that the person that has the system does not know how to shut it off and reset it nor Properly care for it He said in addition, an employee at a business may inadvertently set off the alarm system while they are doing their daily work. Other reasons for alarms to be activated, he said, are from wind rattling the windows, rain hitting against the roof, internal air flow from the air conditioner or heating units. He said if the units are properly adjusted, any one of those things could set off an alarm system. He said they have also found that the subscribers themselves may have an armed robbery alarm at a convenience store and a Person comes in and fills their car with gas and drives off without Paying for the gas and then the attendant Pushes the robbery alarm and the officers think they are responding to an armed robbery in Progress and get to the scene and it turns out it was a "gas drive -off" where someone has stolen 55410 worth of gas. The obvious problems with this, he said, is that as the officers are responding, it creates additional liability for the city and hazards for the citizens on the streets as well as for the officers themselves, because when they arrive on the scene, there have been times when a person comes walking out of the convenience store- -a legitimate customer, and the officers are not sure whether that is the legitimate customer or an armed robber, which creates a rather tense situation for a couple of minutes until everything comes to light as to exactly what happened. 1 1 CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 497 Chief Eckhardt noted also that some of the people that have a business and an alarm system and the alarm activates at 5:00 A.M. and the officer arrives on the scene and checks it out and can't find any reason for the alarm to be activated - -no indication of a break -in or anything of that sort - -the person the department has to notify that the alarm is activated, does not want to come out to reset the alarm until 8:00 A.M. and then the alarm continues to sound for another 2 -3 hours and this creates a problem for anyone living in the area. He said the department in turn gets complaints from the citizens that are trying to sleep. Another problem found through the study, Eckhardt noted, is that they also have maintenance personnel that go in to maintain the alarm system and they'll come in to work on alarms systems, in the department or elsewhere, and don't tell anyone they are going in to work on them and when the alarm activates, the officers again respond to a false alarm. Chief Eckhardt said the main concern on their part is the risk the city has in those types of situations and the effective use of their manpower, when over 1 /10th of the calls they are responding to are false alarms. He said they, in turn, visited with the City Manager and City Attorney to advise them of this situation and provided information from other cities that have alarm ordinances. He said the City Attorney had some information as well and this was all reviewed and the proposed ordinance drafted for the Council's review this evening. He said the reason for this ordinance is to put some regulation on the system. He said they are told there are somewhere over 200 alarm systems in Huntsville and the situation concerning them has been growing. He said the systems are a good thing, but if they are not adequately maintained and properly handled, they create an undue problem for the police department, the citizens and the businesses. Chief Eckhardt said the question as to whether the police department should monitor alarms came up in the past and what was developed then was a bid and a contract for a vendor to supply the equipment that the police department monitors. He said over a period of time, the city was to own that equipment and it does own it at this time, in fact. He said there never was an ordinance adopted, although there were some in-house regulations developed on the 29 alarm systems in the police department, but not on all the other systems outside. Councilmember Knotts asked if the Police Department monitors his alarm system, which he has with Resources Unlimited, noting he has had some false alarms in the past. Chief Eckhardt said he was not sure about this particular alarm, but the department does monitor residential alarms if the person wants the alarm system to come straight to the police department. He said if he has his alarm system with Resources Unlimited, they would call the police department when it is activated. Chief Eckhardt said the equipment is designed so that the false alarms can be eliminated. Mayor Monday asked if the Council had any questions about the alarm ordinance being proposed by the City Attorney and staff. Councilmember Green has several questions on the proposed ordinance, as follows: Page 33, Section 18 -3. Form of Application. "Each permit application must contain the following information: . . . (b) the names and telephone numbers of an alarm system or of two persons who are able to and have agreed to: . . . Councilmember Green felt this information should be from the permit holder rather than the alarm system. Also, in item (d), the word "robbery" was used twice and one should be deleted. In addition, under Section 18- 4-- Transferability: False Statements ". (b) An alarm permit cannot be transferred to another alarm system except. . . . " Councilmember Green suggested changing the word "alarm system" here to "permit holder." Chief Eckhardt said the reason it says alarm system as opposed to permit holder is that there are some potential permit holders that have more than one alarm system in several different locations. Councilmember Green said it sounds as if we are speaking of the device itself. City Attorney Scott Bounds said he may need to make this clear about "alarm site," and it may need to include alarm site locations; noting he will work on that. Councilmember Green noted under subsection (c) of this same section, it requires: "A permit holder shall cancel a permit for any alarm system which is CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 498 removed from an alarm site " and asked what incentive there is to do that. City Attorney, Scott Bounds, said this would prevent them from being charged future inspection fees or to violate public law; to commit an offense by failing to repair it, if it continued to malfunction, etc. Mr. Bounds said it is not a criminal offense. Page 34 Section 18 -5 Permit Duration and Renewal. "A permit is issued for one year and must be renewed every year upon submission of an updated application. It is the responsibility of the permit holder to submit an application prior to the permit expiration date. The chief shall determine the first expiration date of the permit." Councilmember Green suggested having a billing system as he is not sure most people would remember the dates. He said since the city would have a cueing system, it would seem appropriate for the city to do this. Mr. Bounds said the city generally does remind people of these due dates and it just does this as a matter of course. Page 34 Section 18 -8. Indirect Alarm Reporting, (a) "A person who is engaged in the business of relaying alarm notifications to the City shall: . . . (2) comply with the requirements of this chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated by the chief; and . . ." Councilmember Green asked what rules and regulations does the Chief of Police have the authority to promulgate? City Attorney, Scott Bounds, said he determines the manner of communication of alarm notifications,, who they go to, and what type of paper trail there is. Councilmember Green asked the City Attorney to look at this carefully. Also Councilmember Green asked the definition of a "relay intermediary." as it issued in subsection (3) (b) "A person who is a permit holder commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly allows alarm signals to be reported through a relaying intermediary that is not licensed to provide such service." City Attorney, Scott Bounds, said under the state statutes dealing with alarm devices, a relaying intermediary would be someone like Lee Mackey of Resources Unlimited, that service where one has a type of alarm device that goes to their service. Councilmember Green asked if this should be a Dart of the definition. Mr. Bounds said that is defined by state statute. Mayor Monday asked if a person signs up with "X" company and they do not know about this ordinance and that company is not licensed in the city, does this mean the company is in violation as is the person who signed up with them Mr. Bounds said "no.,' Chief Eckhardt said the answer is "Yes" if the person "intentionally or knowingly" did this. Mr. Bounds said they have some "first time" rules. The Mayor was concerned that this is not something a person would commonly know exists. Chief Eckhardt said the spirit is not to catch someone, but to help that person realize the problem and that is reducing the false alarms. Mayor Monday noted the problem is then that there are some alarm systems that are purchased from catalogue stores and hooked up to Kansas that never called the police station and they know nothing about those. Chief Eckhardt said the problem includes even a siren at someone's house that goes off that the department does not know about. Councilmember Knotts said the person who installs those will not necessarily be Licensed. Chief Eckhardt said they do not have to be licensed, but the intermediary would, like Resources Unlimited. Mr. Bounds said they would have to be a permit holder with the city, but they would not get involved in the state law system procedure for a privately owned system. Mayor Monday asked if she wants to buy an alarm system for her house and she does not want to hook it up to anyone but it has an audible alarm on it and it goes off and the police find out about it, will she have to go down and get a permit Chief Eckhardt said this is correct. She said, until that time, however, she won't need one because the police won't know she has one. Chief Eckhardt said that is also true. Councilmember Gaines said this would be true for an outside audible alarm, but what about an alarm that only sounds inside the house? Mr. Bounds said that is different but only if it is not used to call the police department. Chief Eckhardt said this ordinance intends to address only those alarm systems that somehow or another cause the police to respond. Page 35 Section 18 -9 Direct Alarm Reporting: Automatic Alarm Notification Prohibited. "An alarm system which transmits automatic alarm notifications directly to the communications center of the police department shall be prohibited." Councilmember Green asked if this is new. Mr. Bounds said it is new and it was 1 LJ CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 499 discussed before. Councilmember Green noted then we cannot have an alarm system that comes here that is not Personally activated with the Police. City Attorney Bound said this is another of the areas where the Police Chief would designate a number. He said we don't want an automatic dialing device. Chief Eckhardt said he thinks the state law has already outlawed these particular systems, but what it is the kind one could buy at Radio Shack that had a recording so that when the alarm went off at the house, that recording will dial the police department and keep repeating this message. Councilmember Green asked if the Point is that it cannot ao to the communications center, or what is the Point? He asked if a bank can have an automatic device so that if someone is breaking in it would automatically go to the communications center. Chief Eckhardt said their alarm systems go to the alarm monitoring equipment. He said the devices here are the ones that go to the phone lines in the 911 telephone line and tie that line up. Councilmember Green said he has no problem with that, but is this how we define the communication center? He said we are saying it can't go to the phone, but it can go to the station. Chief Eckhardt said maybe we can change the words of communication system and outline specifically our telephone, like the 911. Mr. Bounds said it is intended not to go to the police department, but to the normal incoming telephone lines that people would use. Councilmember Green felt this needs clarification then as to what is the communication center. Chief Eckhardt felt this could be improved. Councilmember Green then referred to Section 18 -12. System Performance Reviews and Consultations (b) "If there is belief that an alarm is the result of circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the permit holder, the permit holder or the permit holder's representative may request a conference with the chief." Councilmember Green asked if the word "alarm" here means "false alarm 11 Chief Eckhardt said it does mean what they would term as a false alarm. Councilmember Knotts felt it would be up to the chief to determine if this is a false alarm or not. Councilmember Green felt it should state "false alarm" here, but Councilmember Knotts said it may not always be a false alarm. City Attorney Bounds said the city only has a charge for false alarms. Page 36, Section 18 -13 inspection: re- inspection fee Councilmember Green felt there was a conflict in the content of subsection (a) and subsections (3) and (5) of Section 18 -14 Revocation of Permit Subsection (a) states: "Except as provided in Subsections (b), (c) and (d) below, the holder of an alarm permit shall pay a fee for each alarm notification emitted from an alarm system as follows: (1) the first five alarms in any calendar year, E0; (2) the next five alarms in that calendar year, $10 each; and (3) all alarms over 10 in any calendar year, $30 each." Whereas, subsections (3) and (5) of Section 18 -14 state: "The chief shall revoke an alarm permit if he determines that: . . . 11(3) the alarm signal device because of mechanical malfunction or faulty equipment causes at least five false alarms in any twelve (12) month period "; and (5) "an alarm system generates an excessive number of false alarm notifications in any twelve consecutive month period. An excessive number shall be presumed to be ten (10)." Councilmember Green felt these sections needed to be reviewed for any conflicting statements Mayor Monday said subsection (3) states the chief shall revoke the permit if one has five false alarms in a twelve month period and asked how will be know this. Councilmember Green said the problem is we have to prove it Mayor Monday said there is a fine schedule in an earlier section that allows one ten false alarmsbefore a fine is affixed. She asked if we will not allow someone to have an alarm system if they have five false alarms or will they be allowed to be fined for it and who determines that. She said we say we will fine them for all alarms over ten in any calendar year, but then we say the chief "shall,11 not "may," revoke the permit. City Attorney Bounds said the Council cannot leave it totally up to the discretion of the chief and it has to give him some guidelines as to what is a reasonable number of alarms for which he can revoke a permit. He said the way it is written is "five" due to mechanical Problems or "ten" due to basically human and mechanical problems within a twelve month period. He said if the Council believes the city should be more tolerant on false alarms, then it will need to establish those guidelines there Mayor Monday asked if there is a procedure for re- acquiring a permit Councilmember Green said there is an administrative process and he has a little bit of a problem with that, just from the structural standpoint that it ends with the City Manager, not that he could not do it, but he would think there ought to be at Least some process beyond that. Mayor Monday asked if he felt it should come to City Council. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 500 Councilmember Green said he was not sure, but if someone were really upset about it, they could perhaps take it to court and he is sure there is a process for that. He said under Section 18 -15, subsection (a) indicates the appeal process, but it ends there. City Manager, Gene Pipes said he was not sure the Council wanted to get into an administrative matter to that degree. He said if they will set the parameters, the staff will be as judicious as possible. Mayor Monday said she would question five false alarms on mechanical failure as from the list she saw, it seems that there are a large number of people that have five false alarms. Chief Eckhardt said he and Mr. Bounds will review this again. Councilmember Barrett said the ordinance says the excessive number of false alarms shall be presumed to be ten. Mr. Bounds said this includes the full year. Councilmember Green asked under the section discussina financial institutions which are required by Law to have alarm systems, why would they have to get Permission from the Chief of Police to install it? Mr. Bounds said although they are required to have it, the difference is the federal government doesn't require us to have this, and certainly the federal government has not said it is something we have to do, and we can establish reasonable guidelines under what conditions we will do it. Councilmember Green said he assumes what we are doing here is establishing guidelines and if they meet the guidelines we establish, then why do we need extra permission? Mr. Bounds said under this whole general category of central alarm installation users, that unlike the alarms that come in by relay intermediary or people calling in on the phone lines, these come into and are monitored at the police station and the lights light up. He said this is what we have there now and it is a different type of alarm system. Chief Eckhardt said we have 29 of them, six of which are fire alarms, but the majority of the other 23 are financial type institutional alarms. Mr. Bounds said because they are on the monitor board in the dispatcher's office, and it is just continually Lite and generally they are not, instead of just a phone call, the dispatcher is having to deal with at least three other individual systems. Councilmember Green asked if this whole thing deals primarily with central alarm systems. Mr. Bounds said it deals with all alarm systems Councilmember Green said but this specific section deals with just central alarm systems. He asked why we have isolated financial institutions then and not just talked about central alarms- -how are they different other than they have regulations to meet. Mr. Bound said that is the only reason they are there. He said that may be a hold over from an ordinance that he prepared two to three years ago when there was a proposal made that we not regulate alarms or have anybody have alarm devices at the city's police department other than those individuals who are required by law to have such service. Councilmember Green asked if we should have another Paragraph dealing with any other central alarm systems other than financial institutions Mr. Bounds said it does say: .". . . and any other Persons desiring to use direct signal alarms." Mr. Bounds said direct signal line means they have a Permanent line access to the city. Chief Eckhardt suggesting changing "financial institutions and other Persons" to "all Persons using direct signal alarms." Page 38, Section 18 -16- -Other Central Alarm Installation Users subsection (e)-- Councilmember Green said he has a Problem with broad statements that might require any change that the chief deems to be advisable He said this seems a bit broad. Subsection (e) reads: "The chief may require any change, modernization, or consolidation of alarm signaling equipment that he deems advisable. In no event shall the City become Liable for charges for these changes." Mayor Monday suggested that Perhaps the specific monthly fee should be stipulated here or Perhaps it should read "a designated monthly fee" so we won't have to amend the ordinance each time the fees are changed Mr. Bounds said the amount is usually in the ordinance and it can be amended if it changes. Mayor Monday asked the City Attorney to review again this ordinance and incorporate the suggested changes and bring it back for the Council's review at a later date. Mr. Bounds said he proposes that this ordinance take effect 60 days after passage so that information can be made available to the citizens and they will have time to learn about the requirements of the ordinance. 1 1 CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 501 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT- -Gene Pipes New Library Hours Set Mr. Pipes, City Manager, said the Library Board has met and is proposing new library hours for the fall term, as follows: Monday to Tuesday, 11:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M.; Wednesday and Thursday, 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.; and Friday and Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Councilmember Carter suggested longer hours on Saturday by perhaps cutting the hours on Wednesday. Councilmember Bell suggested using volunteers to extend the hours. Ms. Hunter, Librarian, advised very few library patrons use the library after noon on Saturday so the even longer hours there are not justified. She indicated a staff person must be in the library when the library is open to answer reference questions, etc., and the library cannot be open staffed with volunteers. Highway 19 Association Meeting Mr. Pipes advised members of the Highway 19 Commission met with the Highway Commission in Austin today. He said the Highway Commission authorized a study by staff on the feasibility of four lane project as an alternate but could not recommend the project, given the general criteria, because of the number of vehicles not approaching 20,000 vehicles /day. Mr. Pipes said the issue is until the roadway is improved, the number of cars won't pick up. He said they are providing the Highway Commission additional information. The projects will continue on a piecemeal basis. It was noted having four lanes from Riverside on into Trinity would certainly help the road work portion of the Highway 19 project. He said there are other segments along the way that are in active planning stage and there is a commitment to a very strong program of maintenance, resurfacing, over the next six years, which will add shoulders to those areas that do not presently have shoulders. He said Commission members were extremely concerned and urged the Highway 19 Association members that were present to attend and support actively the inclusion of Highway 19 in the new Texas Trunk Highway System. He said public hearings on that system will be held October and November at various locations around the state. He said members of the Highway 19 Association will be urged to make as many of those public hearings as possible to urge the consideration of Highway 19 as part of the Texas Trunk Highway System. He said those dates for those hearings are: Thursday, October 12, 1989 in Houston at the Ramada Inn Astrodome; noting they will undoubtedly be going down in a group and will be happy to provide transportation for anyone who would like to go there. In addition to this, he said, they are meeting in El Paso, Amarillo, Arlington, Corpus Christie, San Angelo, San Antonio and in Austin on Wednesday, November 8, 1989. He said another group present today raised a question with the Commission about this particular meeting schedule and indicated it very clearly leaves out the East Texas area from even having a public hearing site. So the Commission staff is working this afternoon to secure a site in Tyler or Longview on November 13 for an additional public hearing. He said when this is firmed up, we will have three opportunities: Houston, Austin or Tyler, that will be convenient to the Highway 19 Association, and they will, in fact, try to make all three of those meetings. He said this project is of vital interest to the city and is something that is very important to the long term future interest of the city. MAYOR'S REPORT - -JANE MONDAY Public Utility Commission Task Force -- Testimony Mayor Monday advised she presented testimony at the recent Public Utility Commission Task Force meeting in Austin. She advised the PUC Task Force has been appointed by the governor to review the PUC operations and its composition. She said there was testimony on both sides of the issue and a recommendation may be made in the special session. She felt it was very important for the City of Huntsville to be there to protect its original jurisdiction in utility rate matters. Senator Kent Caperton Press Conference Mayor Monday advised Senator Caperton has called a press conference for tomorrow to announce his political intentions. She said she will keep the Council advised on that announcement. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK °P° 502 Reception for Volunteers --set for October 10 Mayor Monday advised the annual Mayor and Council's Reception for Board and Commission volunteers will be held on October 10 at First National Bank, Flag Room. She invited the Council to bring their spouses to the reception. COUNCIL ACTION Parking Lot Plan Needed for Downtown Councitmember Knotts urged the Council to develop some sort of plan in order to set some guidelines concerning the provision of downtown parking areas. For instance, he asked what the Council would do if First National Bank requested assistance of the city for them to add a third level to their parking garage. He felt the city needed more guidelines than just to react to a specific request and this needs some planning, such as what area we would do, how many net parking places we would receive. He said the one we did assist on recently has several parking places on it that are reserved and it had two businesses on it and they would require so many off - street spaces, so the net space actually available to the public may be Less than we anticipated. He felt the guidelines would insure that the city will benefit, will establish the distance from the downtown square that qualifies for city assistance; i.e., is Holland Chevrolet considered downtown, etc.? He asked if Huntsville National Bank wants to resurface their parking lot, is the city going to pay 50% of their cost to resurface their lot? Mayor Monday advised in the downtown project grant, that hopefully will be confirmed in March, the very first year of the grant includes a streetscape design and that does exactly what Councitmember Knotts is addressing. Councitmember Knotts noted however, we have already gone ahead with parking lot participation before we have the benefit of this study. Mayor Monday said the city is only going ahead on individual requests. Councitmember Knotts said but what the city is spending on these parking lots now won't qualify as the city's matching on the grant. Mayor Monday said that is correct and the city will look forward to reviewing those as they are proposed to the city and that the city does look forward to doing exactly what he is talking about when the streetscape is developed. Councitmember Knotts felt, however, the city is setting a precedent and it will be hard to argue against it without a plan. Mayor Monday said the city would not want to argue against any proposal if it met our guidelines and we would be delighted to have it presented to us. Councilmember Knotts asked if the city would help FNB on 50% of their third level. Mayor Monday said as each request is made the city will evaluate it and it would come before the Council. She agreed that it would be most helpful in the streetscape plan and she is looking forward to that. Establish downtown and historic districts Councitmember Bell noted he had requested that lines be drawn to establish what constitutes the downtown area. He said he feel it would be appropriate for the City Council to hold a work session to talk about what is the downtown area. He said he knows there has been some discussion on the historical district and it is time to come decide on that. He asked if the city wants to establish an historical district? He said there are some areas in town we very seriously need to think about to protect them some way or another with an historic district designation. He said while the city has a map, he understands it is going to vary as we proceed. He asked if the council can sit down and talk about this as to what is the downtown area, what in general the city wants to do with the downtown area, does the downtown area become part of the historical district that the city may designate? He felt a work session is warranted. He said he understands this is appropriate after the cultural planner is hired; however, he said it is not entirely clear that the city is going to hire a cultural planner as that is still uncertain and secondly, before he spends any money at all on a cultural planner to tell him what the downtown area needs and where it should be, he would like to find out what the downtown area is. Mayor Monday said she feels it is appropriate for him to visit with Linda Pease, Arts Commission Coordinator, to see how that might best fit in and how we might best work with that question in light of the downtown project. Councitmember Knotts felt we need to determine this whether we get the grant or not. He said we are going to do something so we need the plan whether we get the cultural planner or not. Mayor Monday felt the best thing to do would be to visit with Linda Pease about this to see what she might 1 1 CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 BOOK "P" 503 recommend. Councilmember Bell asked if a work session can be held on this topic as it is under the council's purview to start defining some of these things. Mayor Monday said she felt that would be appropriate, but she needs to visit with Linda Pease to see where we are in the system and how she feels that might best fit and how we might best address all that and she will get back with him. Sidewalk Work on 12th Street Councilmember Carter noted he supports Councilmember Bell's request for defining downtown as discussed above. He said in conjunction with this, there is some construction work on 12th Street. He said he assumes a new sidewalk will go in there and his question was whether it would be pavers or traditional sidewalk and how does this particular sidewalk work fit into the downtown development plan. Mr. Pipes said the only concrete work being done on 12th Street is in connection with the utility line going there and the city is putting back the stand up curb. He said if the sidewalk has been disturbed, what will be put back is what was there. Councilmember Carter said if we are doing a downtown development project, that is supposed to be uniform, then we need to be doing what is going to need to be there a year from now instead of having to tear it out and put pavers in or something else later. He said we need to sit down and decide what we are planning for downtown and what we mean by downtown. He said he would hate to spend money putting in a gray sidewalk there now and then find out later that in this development plan for downtown, that we should have used something else and then have to tear it up and install the proper improvement. Gene Pipes, City Manager, indicated he understood this concern, and asked if the Council proposes that the utility work stop then in the downtown area until we . . . Councilmember Carter said he did not want it to stop and did not want to get in the way of the work there, but felt the council needs to decide . . . Mr. Pipes said the work that is being done is not a result of the downtown project, but is the result of the utility work that has gone on through there to put it back into a functional condition until such time as the Council can arrive at a consensus on the other project. Councilmember Carter said it seemed to him the city would be spending the money twice and the Council needs to decide what it intends to do so it does not waste money with this sidewalk and find out later that the architect or planner, etc. wants to do something different, noting this new work being done now will not conform to what the long range plan requires. Councilmember Bell noted he read in Newsweek of the passage of the disabled rights bill which mandates that cities do curb cut sidewalks at intersections. Mayor Monday said this is one of the things the streetscape plan does, and a top priority on its list is to provide handicap access throughout this area. Mr. Pipes said the sidewalks being replaced or restored will provide for this as well. Mrs. Fi_nney's driveway Droblem Councilmember Howard advised that Mrs. Finney on 10th Street is having a problem with the apron of her driveway and needs some asphalt in the sidewalk area. He said there is rock there now and the youngsters are throwing the rocks here and there and she is complaining because of the rocks in her yard, against her house, etc. Mr. Pipes advised he will look into the matter. ADJOURNMENT ctfully submitted e aw, City S eta September 26, 1989