03-10-1988 (City Council) Minutes 433
CALLED CITY COUNCIL
MEETING - MINUTES
MARCH 10, 1988
7 :00 P . M.
The Wylie City Council met in a called session on Thursday,
March 10 , 1988 at 7 :00 P.M. in the Council Chambers,
Municipal Complex . A quorum was present and notice of the
meeting had been posted for the time and in the manner
required by law. Those present were Mayor Chuck Trimble,
Mayor Pro-Tem Sandra Donovan, Councilmembers John Akin, Cal
Westerhof , Kent Crane, City Manager John Pitstick, Code
Enforcement Officer Roy Faires, Public Works Superintendent
Don White, Assistant City Engineer Ron Homeyer, and
Secretary Candi White.
Mayor Trimble called the meeting to order and Councilman
Crane gave the invocation.
CONVENE COUNCIL INTO WORK SESSION: Mayor Trimble convened
the Council into a work session.
DISCUSSION OF PERIMETER STREET FEES: City Manager, John
Pitstick explained that staff was not recommending any
changes to the fees, but did want to make some
clarification. Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer,
explained that the staff would like to get away from
charging developers perimeter street fees and have the
developer actually build the street in as many cases as
possible. He also stated that the ordinance reads that the
City will have the developer build the street, except in
cirumstances deemed by the City as not being feasible, at
which time the developer would be able to pay the fee. Mr .
Homeyer felt that this would leave the option to the City,
rather than the developer in order to get more streets built
rather than fees paid. He went on to say that rather than
charging the developer when he subdivides a piece of
property , the City should require him to submit a site plan
review, at which time he should pay the fee, enabling the
City to collect from developers who develop a large piece of
property other than for the purpose of a subdivision. City
Manager , John Pitstick explained that the perimeter street
fee ordinance is tied into the subdivision ordinance,
therefore, if a developer doesn' t subdivide they are not
required to build a street, so the staff would like to tie
it to active development, but not change the wording of the
ordinance. Councilman Akin felt that this is very
important, as the City has not done it this way in the past,
and have let developers get half a subdivision developed and
then leave, and the City didn' t have anything to fall back
on.
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Mayor Pro-Tem Donovan asked if the ordinance would come back
to Council for action. Mr . Pitstick said that it wouldn' t
have to come back to Council for action, as the wording is
already in the ordinance, but the staff just wanted
clarification so that when a plat was put before the Council
for approval, staff could recommend that a street be built
rather than fees being paid. Code Enforcement Officer, Roy
Faires stated that an amendment could be made to the
building ordinance to require a site review plan and pay
fees before getting a building permit . Mayor Pro-Tem
Donovan said it would be much better for the City to have
small lots that were actively being developed than a large
lot with nothing being done with it.
Mayor Trimble said that if it was deemed feasible by the
City that the developer build the street, it would have to
be built before he could receive a certificate of occupancy.
Councilman Crane wanted to clarify that this would
definitely apply to commercial property, as a lot of the
worst streets in the City will become commercial zoning and
most commercial has some kind of deliveries, and could cause
a real problem with delivery trucks without some sort of
street improvement .
Mayor Trimble stated that the City needed to take this into
consideration when doing future planning.
DISCUSSION ON THE HIGH 0 & M WATER LINE PRIORITY LIST: City
Manager, John Pitstick explained that this item is an
appendage to the major street reconstruction program to
include funds to do some projects that are high operation
and maintenance or cause a large liability to the City. Mr .
Pitstick also explained that the City only has about
$52 ,000 .00 to spend with a list of about $200 ,000 .00 worth
of projects. Mr. Pitstick said that staff is proposing a
priority list, but like to have some concensus from Council
about what they feel are top priorities. Mr . Pitstick
explained that the costs were figured for manhours and
equipment costs per year for specific projects.
Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer explained that the
first priority as recommendation from the staff is Eubanks
Lane from Hwy 78 to Old Hwy 78 . The City had a sewer line
installed, at which time the contractor included costs for
additional base rock , which the staff felt the city didn' t
have the money for, nor did they feel the additional rock
was a real necessity. Mr . Homeyer said that the project is
now complete and on a dry day, the road has a very good
surface, but on a wet day the road is extremely slick and --�
the County is requiring the City to fix it. He also
explained that the $5 ,000 would pay for a three inch surface
and provide an all weather road surface.
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Mayor Pro-Tem Donovan was concerned about spending $5,000 on
the road, when it might not hold up with school buses
driving on it to the new school . Mr. Homeyer explained that
the County would put a single or double coarse penetration
on top of the surface the City provided.
Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer, explained that the
second priority was the off-site drainage ditch in Wyndham
Estates, in which the concrete channel is falling into the
ditch and is in need of immediate repairs . Councilman
Westerhof asked who' s specifications were followed when the
channel was put in. Mr . Faires , Code Enforcement Officer
said he thought it put in to County' s specifications, as the
street was outside the city limits at that time . Councilman
Akin said that the City needs to go to the County and ask
for their help since the channel was built to their
specifications.
Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer, recommended that the
City go back into the Northwest corner of the intersection
and start relaying the pipes. Mayor Pro-Tem Donovan stated
that if the City is losing a road, the City Attorney needs
to send a letter to the County giving them a specified
length of time to repair the channel or that the City would
repair it and send the County a bill .
Councilman Crane asked if there was a cheaper way to fix the
road . City Manager, John Pitstick, said that the City could
probably piece it for about $10 ,000 to $15 ,000 but that it
probably wouldn' t last another year. He also stated that
the City would have to go to the County Commissioners to ask
them to repair it, but that he felt like there would be a
problem, as the County' s policy is that once property is
annexed into the City, the maintenance responsibility
belongs to the City. Mayor Pro-Tem Donovan told Mr .
Pitstick that if he talked to the County and they wouldn' t
repair the road to bring it back to Council and they would
try to work on the County themselves.
Assistant City Engineer , Ron Homeyer , explained that the
third priority on the list was the Holiday Terrace Addition
sewerline in which the creek crossing needed to be repaired.
Mr. Homeyer said that Holiday Terrace is the subdivision
behind the hospital , and the drainage channel which is
upstream from the sewer treatment plant is what is in need
of repair to avoid a health hazard. Councilman Westerhof
asked how he proposed to repair it. Mr . Homeyer explained
that it would take approximately 80 to 100 feet of line and
then they would concrete incase the whole thing .
Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer said the fourth
priority was the E. Brown St. drainage improvement which
would consist of enclosing the existing ditch. He also
explained that the ditch is fairly deep and would not take a
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substantial amount of money, but would prevent a very
dangerous roadway.
Mr . David Mayes said that this problem with the ditch was
right beside his house, and the problem did not exist when
he moved in. He also said that his builder told him that he
saw a problem, as water was coming down the alley and
washing through his yard, rather than the culvert. He said
that the City has cleaned the ditch out once, which helped,
but that it needs to be fixed. Mr. Mayes also explained
that the ditches are washing out at the end of the alley and
that one car has been in the ditch.
The fifth priority was a 24-hour monitoring system for lift
stations and water pump stations by means of radio telemetry
equipment . Mr . Homeyer told the Council that the city
presently has a man check all seven lift stations at least
one time every day, and preferably twice daily. He
explained that the manhours and one truck costs
approximately $9100 per year just to check all the lift
stations to make sure none are down. With a monitoring
system, a man could be free to do other things than checking
lift stations, as there would be a warning from the system
anytime a lift station was down. Mr . Homeyer said this
system would cost $25,000 .
Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer, explained that the
sixth priority on the list was the South Cottonbelt area
sewerline in which the 4-inch sewer main needed to be
replaced with an 8-inch line in order to eliminate the major
problems of clogged lines in the area. Public Works
Superintendent, Don White, said that his department has to
clean out the lines in that area approximately once every
two weeks. Mayor Trimble asked if there was a general
policy about sharing the cost with the property owners.
City Manager, John Pitstick explained that the City is
responsible at the property line. Mayor Pro-Tem Donovan
said that she didn' t feel that the City should start
assessing the citizens for sewer lines, when they don' t know
what size line is in front of their house when they buy it
and they will already be assessed for street reconstruction.
Mr . Pitstick explained that as the City starts repaving the
streets, part of the drainage and sewer repair could be done
and added into the street costs.
The seventh project on the list of priorities was the W.
Brown St . waterline in which the 1-inch water line needs to
be replaced . Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer explained
that the 1-inch water line which is about eight to ten
inches below the road surface has broken numerous times, and
staff feels like it should be replaced where is crosses
Brown St. , as well as running it back to Cottonbelt to an
existing 8-inch line to provide fire protection to the
entire area. Councilman Akin agreed, as this situation has
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�.. hurt the City on the key rate for fire protection for a long
time.
Mr . Homeyer explained that the eighth project on the list of
priorities was the Masters Avenue waterline. He said that
there is a 1 1/4-inch PVC line that runs from Fourth St . to
Masters, along Masters to the cemetery , which hasn' t caused
a lot of problems until recently when the new funeral home
moved in, and staff would like to see a full size line from
Fourth St. over to Fifth St. Public Works Superintendent,
Don White, explained that this could be done in-house.
South Ballard St. water and sewer lines was the ninth
project on the priority list . Mr. Homeyer explained that
the sewer main in the alley is very shallow and flat and
should be replaced to service the area adequately. He also
said the waterline to Ballard St. on the East side is a 1
1/4-inch, 1-inch and 3/4-inch system that services four
duplexes and three houses, therefore the person on the end
isn' t getting any water .
Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer explained that another
project on the list of priorities is the Rich property water
line in which the cost would be for materials only. He also
said that the City is hauling water to the site and that the
cost for that service is astronomical . Councilman Westerhof
asked if anyone had talked to Mr . Rich to see if there was
a contract. City Manager, John Pitstick explained that Mr .
Rich had bought a piece of property and wanted to build on
it and was told that he had to annex into the City and that
he would have water in six months and that the City would
deliver water to him until that time. He also said that it
has been two years and he still doesn ' t have water lines.
Public Works Superintendent, Don White said that the city
furnishes his tank and pumps and must clean the tank and
service the pumps. Councilman Akin asked if North Texas
Municipal Water District could furnish water from the line
that runs to the landfill . Mr . Homeyer said that North
Texas Municipal Water District won' t serve individuals.
Councilman Crane felt that as a temporary solution, the city
should ask North Texas Municipal Water District about using
the line for an annual fee so that it wouldn' t become
permanent . Mayor Pro-Tem Donovan agreed to the temporary
solution, as she felt the city could handle the cost of this
project better next year than this year .
The last project on the list of priorities was the Shiloh
Baptist Church sewer line. Assistant City Engineer, Ron
Homeyer said that the church has been expecting to have a
sewer line installed since they were annexed into the City,
and they had budgeted $6 ,000 for the line which will cost
about $15 ,000 . Mayor Trimble asked where they had gotten
the figure to budget only $6 ,000 . Mr. Homeyer explained
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that he had given them a figure on old cost figures, which
didn' t include the creek crossing .
Mr . McDonald, from Shiloh Baptist Church told the Council
that the church had intended to put in a septic system, but
decided they would rather put in a sewer line, and that Mr .
Homeyer and Mr . Faires told them they could put in the line
for about $6,000 .
Mayor Pro-Tem Donovan said she had been working with the
County to try to do away with septic tanks . Councilman
Crane was also under the impression that the City' s
subdivision ordinance didn' t allow septic tanks. Mayor
Trimble felt like these people should be able to do whatever
they needed to do.
City Manager, John Pitstick explained that the
recommendations that were presented by the staff were their
feelings on what the first five things were that need to be
done this year , unless the Council felt the need to change
the order of priorities. He also said that he wasn' t
looking for a vote on this , but did want a general concesus
from the Council in order to allocate $40,000 to $50,000 for
these projects if the street program was approved.
The general concensus of the Council was that the top four
priorities were Eubanks Lane additional base rock, Holiday
Terrace Addition sewerline, 24-hour monitoring system for
lift stations and water pump stations and splitting half of
the cost to install sewer lines for Shiloh Baptist Church.
Council also felt that Wyndham Estates off-site drainage, E.
Brown St. drainage improvements and the Rich property water
line were also critical areas of concern and that the city
should consult the County and North Texas Municipal Water
District immediately on those.
There being no further business, a • . t ' was made to
adjourn with all in favor .
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