Hi everyone,
My first year has been very interesting, to say the least: from a hurricane (Ike) in Sept 08, to snow in December 08, to flood in April 09, to drought in July 09, not to mention the economic crisis our whole country is experiencing. It seems there are new surprises every week!
The good part is that there are some great folks in League City, doing great things-things to be very proud of! As I practice my mantra of "Keep your eye on the ball, " I am ever reminded that you are the "ball;" it is you that we are working for--to provide you with the solid foundation (good infrastructure, good water system, good road system) from which you can do your great things and make all of us proud.
Our invocation was given by Pastor Daniel Diaz de Leon Sr. of Faith Assembly of God, with all Council persons in attendance except Jim Nelson.
It was my pleasure to recognize the American Legion Post #554 Baseball Team who will be participating in the American Legion All State Baseball Tournament coming up. These young folks are some of the great folks I mentioned above! My thanks to Councilman Baron for bringing the team to our attention and making sure that we recognized them.
Fifteen citizens spoke in Citizens Request for Hearing, about various subjects: for the dog park, against the dog park, the proposed Palomino Road Bridge, and drainage issues. One citizen brought pictures to show the progress being done on Benson Gully which should help that area tremendouusly. He paid kudos to the city crews who worked so hard to clear the debris and brush.
Because of the number of folks in the audience about the Dog Park, Items 15. A & B were moved up. Councilman Paulissen made a motion not to fund the Dog Park, which was seconded by Councilman Phalen. After some discussion about our attention needing to be focused on infrastructure, water, and other urgencies, a vote was taken, with the count being 4-2. Sanborn and Baron voted yes.
Item 15.B was a request to allow me to enter into a contract with a professional engineering firm to determine the current operating condition and needed improvements to the League City Water Plant on Hwy 3 in Webster. Paul Lopez, a Supervisor in our Water Production Department spoke, telling us that the City had purchased the land on the corner of Hwy 3 and Magnolia in 2000 for $175,000, and the structures on the property were included by the Gulf Coast Waste Authority. Paul said that the City did some design work on the structure to bring it online with our water system. The Water Production Department has tried numerous times to start the system; however it failed each time. To date, we have spent more than a million dollars on the Plant, and have achieved nothing!
For all of you citizens, this is what I have been told by a group of our own Water Production employees, who requested to see me about the Plant. I arranged a meeting with them on July 9th, at 10 am. After that meeting, I immediately scheduled a bigger meeting at 3:30 which included 3 Water Supervisors, our acting City Administrator Mr. Jahns, City Attorney Arnold Polanco, Chief Jez, and Mayor Pro Paulissen to sit in with us. The consensus was that it is imperative that we should hire an engineering firm quickly to address this plant. This is a five year old problem that has just come out, being necessitated by the drought conditions and our use of water. Thanks to our hardworking employees, we now know about the situation and must take IMMEDIATE action to fix it. Thankfully, this is exactly what the supplemental Agenda is for, and we added this matter to it. Council was shocked that they had not known about this situation before.
I will be sending out an update with regards to where swe are with the Webster water production plant as I receive the information. Thanks to our Water Production personnel for bringing the situation to my attention!
Paul Lopez said that his employees have worked 271 overtime hours in the last two weeks, and that our water system would get some relief if this Plant could become functional ASAP! Motion to approve was made by Councilman Paulissen, seconded by Councilperson Sanborn, and passed 6-0. I have instructed our City Engineer Jack Murphy to get an engineer out THIS week.
In the Mayor's comments, I welcomed our new Interim Administrator, Marcus Jahns, and announced that he will begin a search for an Interim Public Works Director.
In Old Business, Council voted 6-0 to approve a resolution authorizing publication of Notice of Intention to issue Certificates of Obligation for the 518 Bypass. Motion was made by Paulissen, seconded by Councilman Phalen. This is the beginning of the Bypass, everyone! Engineer Murphy said, in response to a question, that the bridge over Robinsons Gully will have 16 feet mean tide clearance.
Director of General Services, Travis Doughty, asked Council to make a commitment that the City would provide a land site for a Regional Household Hazardous Waste Collection Site. He is preparing an application for a $600,000 grant from Houston Galveston Area Council. the motion to make this commitment was made by Councilperson Sanborn, seconded by Councilman Barber, and passed 6-0.
It has been proposed that we create a Comprehensive Plan Task Force to plan a revision of our Comprehensive Plan. Although several Councilmen said that they didn't think we were quite ready to bring in a consultant yet, nevertheless the vote to create the committee was 6-0. Motion by Councilman Baron, second by Councilman Lee.
The only item that came from Executive Session was that the Council instructed City Attorney Arnold Polanco to have a meeting with Scott Freudenburg, President of the Glen Cove HOA, regarding Cypress Bay issues.
Thank you to the folks who came to the meeting--it's always good to see you out there.
Just remember, as we continue to discover things that have been done in past administrations, that you elected me to change the way the City was going, and I am working on that EVERY day.
Thank you for your wonderful support! Do a raindance for a nice steady rain!
Toni Randall
Mayor
League City
