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Council mulls ‘bill of rights’
By STEVE MARK
In the second City Council meeting of the new administration, West University Place City Manager Michael Ross outlined potential goals for the council’s next two years. Many items looked the same as the ones Ross charted before the last council, and for the most part, that isn’t bad news for the city.
Except for Police Chief Ken Walker and Fire Chief Steve Ralls, who have been patient with what many consider below-standard facilities. Both sat quietly at Monday’s council meeting, with hopes West University officials make one of the preliminary 2009-’10 goals, as worded below, a priority:
Address police and fire facility deficiencies.
“The reason we didn’t do that (before) is that we really had our hands full,” said Mayor Bob Kelly.
Kelly was referring to the 2008 bond election and the tasks of orchestrating construction of the new recreation center and revamping of Colonial Park, which has overshadowed every other issue on the previous administration’s plate.
With most of those decisions concluded — more on that in a moment —the Council has settled on two significant priorities, among others.
“I want to make it clear that our facilities come under budget, and that we take care of our police and fire facilities,” said Councilman George Boehme, who referred to Ross’ suggested outline as an unofficial “bill of rights.”
Mayor Kelly added his desire to oversee a serious evaluation of the city’s maintenance procedures. Other recommendations, which are more operational issues than items that are part of the council’s overall direction and tone, include tackling the city’s storm water detention on the Bellaire/College Transportation and Drainage project, and the continued evaluation of adding neighborhood park space.
This council would also wants to place on the front burner naming rights revenue for the city’s parks and recreational facilities.
Not on the stated list, but something the past council dealt with often and the current one, no doubt, will have to address, is the perceived lack of uniformity of ordinances for development in the downtown/Edloe business district, and a master plan for that area.
“We have an unusual hodgepodge of development standards,” said Boehme, who owns the Edloe Street Deli. “If we want to encourage a pedestrian-friendly Edloe Street, we should encourage the development of the buildings there.”
“The challenge is trying to do that when you have multi-faceted owners,” responded Ross, whose sentiments are well known by city leaders dealing with a finite area with limited parking, bordered closely by residences.
Councilman Chuck Guffey had another idea.
“I think we might want to revise the term for council and mayor,” said Guffey, no doubt still reeling from the rigors of the recent election. “It seems to me like the two-year term is inefficient. You’ve gotten in office and all of a sudden you have to run again.”
Guffey is in favor of a three-year term, and such discussion would require a re-examination of the city charter, which was revised two years ago and is normally redone every six years.
Guffey, by the way, identifies with the vocal minority of West U. residents that lost a contentious pool debate Monday night. The city was recently told by the general contractor, Tellepsen, that West U. could save in excess of $68,000 a month if closing and the start of reconstruction at Colonial Park were moved to Labor Day, as opposed to next spring after the opening of the new swim and recreational center on Bellaire. This would allow contractors to work on both aquatic facilities at the same time, saving at least $340,000 on construction costs, but means the city would be without an operating pool from September through March 2010. The new plan would allow the renovated Colonial Pool to open by next summer, as opposed to late 2010.
Many residents were outraged at the possible lack of a swim facility during the winter months and the need to find alternative venues after Colonial is closed.
“The number of people who would use this next summer would outweigh the number who use it this winter,” reasoned Guffey. “We can’t throw away that kind of money.”
Some city officials estimate only 25 or so residents use Colonial Pool during the winter months, though that argument doesn’t appease frequent lap swimmers.
“Not having any facility operating for a year would be poor service,” said resident Fran Orovitz.
“It’s a resource we’re going to miss,” exclaimed West U. resident Frank Griffin.
The Council unanimously voted for the new timetable, meaning those die-hard swimmers will have to find another venue until the new facility is opened next spring.
“When this was first being proposed, the intent was to have a pool open all year,” said Mayor Kelly. “As with so many things in life, things change. A significant factor is not closing the pool for the summer. It is the jewel of West University Place.”
“The faster we get this done, we’ll be getting it done at the best possible price,” added Councilman Bob Fry. “We’d get both pools in eight months.”
With that, some of West U’s hard core, though disgruntled, swimmers began speed dialing other pools for memberships. And, maybe, city leaders can now focus on the police and fire stations.
Except for Police Chief Ken Walker and Fire Chief Steve Ralls, who have been patient with what many consider below-standard facilities. Both sat quietly at Monday’s council meeting, with hopes West University officials make one of the preliminary 2009-’10 goals, as worded below, a priority:
Address police and fire facility deficiencies.
“The reason we didn’t do that (before) is that we really had our hands full,” said Mayor Bob Kelly.
Kelly was referring to the 2008 bond election and the tasks of orchestrating construction of the new recreation center and revamping of Colonial Park, which has overshadowed every other issue on the previous administration’s plate.
With most of those decisions concluded — more on that in a moment —the Council has settled on two significant priorities, among others.
“I want to make it clear that our facilities come under budget, and that we take care of our police and fire facilities,” said Councilman George Boehme, who referred to Ross’ suggested outline as an unofficial “bill of rights.”
Mayor Kelly added his desire to oversee a serious evaluation of the city’s maintenance procedures. Other recommendations, which are more operational issues than items that are part of the council’s overall direction and tone, include tackling the city’s storm water detention on the Bellaire/College Transportation and Drainage project, and the continued evaluation of adding neighborhood park space.
This council would also wants to place on the front burner naming rights revenue for the city’s parks and recreational facilities.
Not on the stated list, but something the past council dealt with often and the current one, no doubt, will have to address, is the perceived lack of uniformity of ordinances for development in the downtown/Edloe business district, and a master plan for that area.
“We have an unusual hodgepodge of development standards,” said Boehme, who owns the Edloe Street Deli. “If we want to encourage a pedestrian-friendly Edloe Street, we should encourage the development of the buildings there.”
“The challenge is trying to do that when you have multi-faceted owners,” responded Ross, whose sentiments are well known by city leaders dealing with a finite area with limited parking, bordered closely by residences.
Councilman Chuck Guffey had another idea.
“I think we might want to revise the term for council and mayor,” said Guffey, no doubt still reeling from the rigors of the recent election. “It seems to me like the two-year term is inefficient. You’ve gotten in office and all of a sudden you have to run again.”
Guffey is in favor of a three-year term, and such discussion would require a re-examination of the city charter, which was revised two years ago and is normally redone every six years.
Guffey, by the way, identifies with the vocal minority of West U. residents that lost a contentious pool debate Monday night. The city was recently told by the general contractor, Tellepsen, that West U. could save in excess of $68,000 a month if closing and the start of reconstruction at Colonial Park were moved to Labor Day, as opposed to next spring after the opening of the new swim and recreational center on Bellaire. This would allow contractors to work on both aquatic facilities at the same time, saving at least $340,000 on construction costs, but means the city would be without an operating pool from September through March 2010. The new plan would allow the renovated Colonial Pool to open by next summer, as opposed to late 2010.
Many residents were outraged at the possible lack of a swim facility during the winter months and the need to find alternative venues after Colonial is closed.
“The number of people who would use this next summer would outweigh the number who use it this winter,” reasoned Guffey. “We can’t throw away that kind of money.”
Some city officials estimate only 25 or so residents use Colonial Pool during the winter months, though that argument doesn’t appease frequent lap swimmers.
“Not having any facility operating for a year would be poor service,” said resident Fran Orovitz.
“It’s a resource we’re going to miss,” exclaimed West U. resident Frank Griffin.
The Council unanimously voted for the new timetable, meaning those die-hard swimmers will have to find another venue until the new facility is opened next spring.
“When this was first being proposed, the intent was to have a pool open all year,” said Mayor Kelly. “As with so many things in life, things change. A significant factor is not closing the pool for the summer. It is the jewel of West University Place.”
“The faster we get this done, we’ll be getting it done at the best possible price,” added Councilman Bob Fry. “We’d get both pools in eight months.”
With that, some of West U’s hard core, though disgruntled, swimmers began speed dialing other pools for memberships. And, maybe, city leaders can now focus on the police and fire stations.
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