HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council-Minutes-4/22/1992
MINUTES OF A
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF THE
COLLEYVILLE CITY COUNCIL
April 22, 1992
The special called meeting of the Colleyville City Council was called to order
by Mayor Alan Linford at 1:52 p.m.
Roll Call: Councilpersons Linda Ahlers, Cliff Carr, steve McKain, Cheryl
Feigel, and Ed McKnight were present. Mayor Alan Linford, City
Manager Bob stripling, and City Secretary Jean Harris were also
present.
1. EXECUTIVE SESSION: In accordance with Article 6252-17 See 2 paragraph f -
Legal - Litigation of School Site Special Use Permit
There was no need for Executive Session. The Council moved to Item 2 of the
Agenda
2. DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF SCHOOL SITE SPECIAL USE PERMIT AND
LITIGATION
Mayor Alan Linford and Mayor Pro Tem Ed McKnight stepped down due to conflicts
of interest and Mayor Linford announced that Councilperson Linda Ahlers would be
presiding.
Counci1person Ahlers advised that this meeting had been called concerning a
proposed agreement between the GrapevinejColleyville Independent School District
and the City of Colleyville. The proposed agreement was distributed to the
audience and time was allowed for their review of the agreement.
Councilperson Ahlers asked if there was anyone wishing to speak concerning this
item. There being none, Councilperson Ahlers read a letter from Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas F. Quinn, Jr., asking the Council to deny the request of the School
District.
Councilperson Feigel read the following statement into the record:
This whole issue is so unbelievable that I have to keep pinching
myself to make sure its not just a bad dream. Unfortunately its
real. I've been in a very awkward situation personally throughout
this issue. I've been an active advocate for education and
particularly for children's rights for the last 15 years. My job in
this chair is to try and make decisions that are best for the City
of Colleyville and the taxpayers. The irony here is a conflict
between those two entities. The best "short term" decision for the
children is not, in my opinion, the best long term "decision for the
City and I believe for the children too. My position, from the
outset, is that this is an "unsafe" site for an elementary school,
for very obvious reasons. The school district continues to claim a
constitutional right to build a school "anywhere" they want to,
however what they fail to add is that right is premised on being a
"reasonable" site. I firmly believe that a jury, provided with all
the facts, would agree that this is not a "reasonable" site for an
elementary school. Even the document entitled "Elementary School
Site Selection Criteria" provided for use by the school district,
clearly stated that "Safety" was the first priority in selecting a
site. However, the school district later notified us that document
was not used in selecting this site, which was already obvious to
many of us.
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
APRIL 22, 1992
Politics as it is in this area, I quickly realized that we were
being outstrategized in the public's eye and it had nothing to do
with "facts", or logic or what was good for either the City or the
children. What was really driving this issue and an urgency to
settle was an upcoming election. A settlement in itself wasn't all
bad as long as the parties involved remained committed to working
out all the problems fairly and honestly.
When the school board finally agreed to consider a settlement "out
of court" with two representatives from Colleyville and two
representatives from the Board of Trustees to begin negotiation, I
agreed. To my surprise, it was suggested by someone from GCISD that
I not be one of the two from the City. They obviously didn't want
to answer my questions. I reluctantly acquiesced - I was outvoted
anyway.
I shared some concerns to be represented at the first meeting. The
primary one being that any Council decision which might result from
these meetings be held over until after the election. We were
working on this issue with serious handicap with one vacant seat, in
addition to two Councilmembers who could not legally participate due
to employment of their spouses by GCISD. If felt any decision
relative to this issue was of major important to this City and
deserved a full Council discussion and vote. I believe that only
three Councilmembers, out of a full council of six, making this
decision was not a fair representation of our governmental process.
I was then assured that there would be no "hurry" to settle the
issue. It was agreed that the first meeting would be primarily to
"lay the ground rules" and that specific issued relative to safety,
traffic, etc., would be worked out at subsequent meetings. To my
surprise and dismay, this did not happen.
Today, after one meeting of the representatives of both boards, we
are being asked to vote on a settlement agreement. I am extremely
upset by this as I believe the one driving force to this agreement
is the desire by some to take pressure off those who are running for
an elected office at this time. There are some major problems with
this agreement that require thought, discussion, and compromise to
produce the best possible product for the City and for the Children.
Every other development that comes before this Council is seriously
scrutinized in minute detail to avoid problems we may not be able to
correct later. I believe it is irresponsible to "rush" this project
through without the same scrutiny to get the best product. Several
issues come to mind immediately that I feel merit more discussion.
There are probably others that I have not identified but would
surface through the discussions. Some of those I would point out
are:
1) Traffic - There has been no discussion relative to
traffic patterns and how to best handle the typical
school traffic congestion at "the" busiest intersection
on Highway 26 in Colleyville. Unless accommodations are
made now to hold the waiting cars, there will be a
gridlock on Highway 26 that will be impossible to deal
with later. Frustrated motorists will find alternate
routes around the congestion, and probably right through
out residential streets. (Example: When Kroger, at the
same intersection, submitted plans for development a
detailed traffic study was required which even involved
the State Highway Department to study traffic flow.)
The traffic count on Highway 26 is currently in the
20,000 car/day range. We're probably looking at 200-300
extra cars passing through the same intersection within
a 30 minute period, twice a day. We would be
irresponsible to not take the time to identify a way to
handle this traffic before it is upon us.)
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
APRIL 22, 1992
2) Center Park Drive will be eliminated from the Master
Plan by this agreement. This has not even been
presented to the Planning and Zoning Board, nor the
Master Plan Committee for their input. Furthermore, I
believe that Center Park Drive could effectively help
mitigate some of the traffic congestion associated with
the school, if we take some time to talk about the
traffic patters. (Example: A request by one of the
Developers to eliminate Caldwell Hughes Road as a
proposed through street was discussed over a period of
weeks, with a request for a traffic study to show the
future impact of eliminating this proposed road. Why
would this road be eliminated without any discussion at
all when there is significant potential for that road to
help relieve a major traffic problem.)
3) This agreement supposedly obligates the school
district to bus children across Highway 26 but no
specifics have been discussed, involving parents, to
insure a workable plan. Nor is there any assurance to
the City that the school district won't discontinue
busing at some point in the future, possibly due to a
lack of funds, which places the children right back into
the "unsafe" situation we are not debating. Given time,
I believe we could negotiate an agreement that if
bussing were discontinued, the school district would
share the "responsibility" and liability for safe
crossing of the children. It's certainly a topic that
I feel needs more discussion.
4) Last night, for the first time, we learned that
there is proposed a retention pond on the grounds of
this elementary school. We have no idea how deep, how
wide, what type of fencing will be provided, not to
mention the aesthetics. It would be totally
unprecedented for us to blindly accept a retention pond
without having many of those questions answered.
(Example: Kingswood Estates was held up for weeks
discussing the specifics of the proposed retention pond
and those were primarily related only to aesthetics.
Caldwell Creek's proposed retention pond also received
significant scrutiny, even to talking about the color of
the water. Albertson's proposed retention pond received
similar attention, and safety for children was a major
issue we dealt with relative to that retention pond.
This agreement will effectively accept a retention pond
which we know nothing about, right on the grounds of an
elementary school.
5) Many of these problems might normally be dealt with
during the process that most development must go through
for approval. However, this agreement will essentially
eliminate the process for the school district in an
attempt to expedite completion. Two more weeks of
discussion to address some of these problems will not
significantly impact the completion date of this school.
From personal experience, I know that "rain" has in the
past held up completion of a school by months, and
probably will again. I believe two weeks of productive
problem solving will be time well spent to give the
taxpayers of Colleyville and GCISD the "best" product
for their money.
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
APRIL 22, 1992
I urge my fellow Councilmembers to seriously consider
the haste in which we are moving. I believe that future
taxpayers, residents and parents will be faced with the
same frustrations we deal with today relative to
projects that weren't done right, if we move today to
accept this agreement. I feel it is "incomplete" and
inadequate and I will not support what I feel is a very
hasty action being driven by a desire to relieve
pressure on candidates running for political office.
In addition, I feel that ample opportunity has not been
given to the taxpayers of this community to express
their views on this matter. Although we may have met
the legal requirements of the law, I believe the spirit
of that law is to allow every opportunity for all
citizens who choose to speak on an issue to do so. This
concept, through three public hearings, was
overwhelming reconfirmed in the recent City Charter
Election. This special meeting was unanticipated even
by me as a Councilmember, and the timing at 1:30 p.m.
feels uncomfortably like an attempt to discourage public
input. I am most disturbed at this process.
I do not wish to unnecessarily prolong this issue but
hope that we would take time to thoughtfully consider
all the issues before we act. As a Councilmember for
two years I have worked hard to involve citizens in our
decision making. I have worked hard to facilitate a
team effort to many of our decisions. I have worked
hard to take politics out of decision making. The team
approach was abandoned when an informal agreement was
made and a special meeting to vote on that agreement was
set before any discussion with Councilmembers about the
contents of the agreement. Although we would like to
think we have risen above the typical small town
politics, this I believe, is a classic example of how to
beat the system. It leaves me very distressed.
Discussion ensued among the Council Members concerning the politics involved, the
benefit some feel the agreement is to everyone, the money and time expended to
solve this dispute, and the possible elimination of Center Park Drive.
Councilman McKain moved to approve the proposed agreement between the
GrapevinejColleyville Independent School District and the City of Colleyville
concerning the School Site Special Use Permit.
Councilman Carr seconded the motion.
Ayes:
Nays:
Councilpersons Ahlers, Carr, McKain, and McKnight
Councilperson Feigel
Councilperson Ahlers declared the motion carried.
Mayor Linford and Mayor Pro Tem McKnight returned to the Council desk.
3. DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION RATIFYING COUNCIL AGENDA
ACTION FOR THE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF APRIL 22, 1992 - Reading and
Public Hearing - Resolution R-92-776
Mayor Linford opened the Public Hearing and read Resolution R-92-776 in its
entirety.
There was no one present to speak concerning this item and Mayor Linford closed
~ the Public Hearing.
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
APRIL 22, 1992
Councilperson Ahlers moved to approve Resolution R-92-776, accepting the proposed
agreement between the GrapevinejColleyville Independent School District and the
City of Colleyville.
Councilman McKain seconded the motion.
Ayes:
Nays:
Councilpersons Ahlers, Carr, McKain, and McKnight
Councilperson Feigel
Mayor Linford declared the motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the City Council, Councilman McKain moved
to adjourn.
Councilman Carr seconded the motion.
Ayes:
Nays:
Ahlers, Carr, McKain, Feigel, and McKnight
None
Mayor Alan Linford declared the meeting adjourned at 2:18 p.m.
APPROVED THIS St:J. DAY OF ~
...!:L- NAYS, AND ....D..- ABSTENTIO .
, 19...!iL, BY A VOTE OF 5- AYES,
Minutes prepared by:
9::;;r~ ·
c~ty Secrotary