THE WOODLANDS TOWNSHIP Meeting REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES THE STATE OF TEXAS COUNTIES OF HARRIS & MONTGOMERY The of The Woodlands Township met in regular session, open to the public, on August 20, 2015, posted to begin at 9:00 a.m. The meeting was held in the Board Chambers at the office of The Woodlands Township, 2801 Technology Forest Boulevard, The Woodlands, Texas, within the boundaries of The Woodlands Township. STANDARD ITEMS 1. Pledge of Allegiance; Chairman Tough invited Zachary White, from Troop #87, to lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag and Texas State flag. 2. Call meeting to order; Chairman Tough called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. and declared that notice of this meeting was posted 72 hours in advance at the Courthouses of Montgomery County and Harris County and inside the boundaries of The Woodlands Township at the Township office building located at 2801 Technology Forest Boulevard, The Woodlands, Texas. The roll was then called of the duly elected members of the Board with all members present, excepting and. As there was a quorum of directors present, the Board proceeded to conduct business. Present: Absent: Staff Present: Chairman Bruce Tough; ; ; ; ; Don Norrell, Monique Sharp, John Powers, Alan Benson, Nick Wolda, Susan Welbes, Miles McKinney, Bret Strong, Daniel Ringold, Robin Cross 3. Receive, consider and act upon adoption of the meeting agenda; 1
Motion by: moved to adopt the agenda with the following change: Move Regular Agenda Items #7 and #8 to the Consent Agenda. Treasurer Bunch asked that Item #7 (A&O Mounted Patrol) be kept on the Regular Agenda for discussion and that Consent Agenda Item #6(c) be pulled for discussion on the Regular Agenda. Secretary Bass then amended his motion accordingly. Second by: 4. Recognize public officials; Chairman Tough recognized the following individual: Amos McDonald- Alden Bridge Village Association Board member 5. Public comment; There was no public comment. CONSENT AGENDA 6. Receive, consider and act upon the Consent Agenda; (This agenda consists of non-controversial or "housekeeping" items required by law. One motion with modifications, if applicable, approves for action, all items contained within the Consent Agenda. Items may be moved from the Consent Agenda to the Regular Agenda by any Board Member making such request prior to a motion and vote.) Motion by: moved to adopt the Consent Agenda with the following changes: *Move Consent Agenda Item #6(c) to the Regular Agenda *Move Regular Agenda Item #8 to the Consent Agenda Second by: a. Receive, consider and act upon approval of the July 16, 2015 and July 22, 2015 minutes for the of The Woodlands Township; 2
b. Receive, consider and act upon Administrative Reports for Community Services for August 2015; c. Receive, consider and act upon Administrative Reports for Law Enforcement and Community Policing for August 2015; Note: This item was received under the Regular Agenda. Marian Leck, Director of Law Enforcement for The Woodlands Township, was called on to address a request for information from Director Bunch regarding crime rate comparison in areas where Mounted Patrol is present versus crime rate in areas without Mounted Patrol. Director Bunch commented that his purpose in asking for this information is to make sure that resources are being allocated to areas where crime is more prevalent. Ms. Leck explained that Mounted Patrol is a piece of law enforcement, but not the entire scope of law enforcement which uses a layered approach. As Ms. Leck shared with the Board, "Mounted Patrol, in itself, are not security officers, but are there to be observant and to provide information to security and law enforcement as necessary; they are a concierge service on a horse." Board discussion followed. Motion by: moved to receive and accept the Law Enforcement and Community Policing Report for August 2015. Second by: d. Receive, consider and act upon the Transportation Administrative Report for Transportation for July 2015; e. Receive, consider and act upon Administrative Reports for The Woodlands Fire Department for August 2015; f. Receive, consider and act upon a conveyance of Village of Creekside Park West Section 22, Restricted Open Space Reserve " E" and Village of Creekside Park Section 34, Restricted Opens Space Reserve s "A" & "C"; g. Receive, consider and act upon award of bid to re-plaster and deck refurbishment for Falconwing Park and Ridgewood Park pools; h. Receive, consider and act upon the Excess Debt Service Tax Collections Report for the period July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015, as certified by the Montgomery County Tax Assessor and Collector; i. Receive, consider and act upon a 2015 2016 Debt Service Collection Rate as certified by the Montgomery County Tax Assessor and Collector; 3
REGULAR AGENDA 7. Receive, consider and and act upon award of bid for Courtesy Mounted Patrol Services; John Powers, Assistant General Manager of Community Services for The Woodlands Township, presented background information on this item. Mr. Powers provided clarification to the Board that Alpha & Omega resubmitted its proposal without the add alternate of eleven additional zones plus Creekside Park, 3% hourly rate increase, 40 hours of additional support services and 200 hours of donated services. Board discussion followed. A request was made by Director McMullan and Director Bunch to have staff collect data on crime rates between I-45, Shenandoah and Town Center. Chairman Tough then asked Don Norrell, President/General Manager of The Woodlands Township, to respond to the above request. Board discussion followed. Motion by: moved to accept the proposal from Alpha & Omega Services as amended dated August 10, 2015 for the basic level of services for Courtesy Mounted Patrol Services and authorize the President/General Manager to execute a five year service agreement. Second by: NO 8. Receive, consider and act upon a resolution of support for proposed mobility projects contained in the Houston - Galveston Area Council Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) 2015 Call for Projects important to The Woodlands Township; Note: This item was approved under the Consent Agenda. 9. Receive, consider and act upon discussion of Harris County Appraisal District election process; Chairman Tough called on Daniel Ringold, legal counsel for The Woodlands Township, to present this item. Mr. Ringold reviewed the process for nominating a prospective candidate or nominee to the Harris County Appraisal District. Mr. Ringold commented that an individual must satisfy certain residency, employment, and conflict-of-interest requirements to be eligible to serve on the. Board discussion followed. The Board requested that staff contact the Creekside Park Village Association Board President, Nancy Becker, to determine interest in having the Township Board nominate a Creekside Park (Harris County) resident as a candidate for election to the HCAD Board of Directors representing Conservation and Reclamation Districts. It was also suggested that Township Board members could also nominate a candidate as long as all eligibility requirements are 4
met. Motion by: moved to refer this item to Nancy Becker, President of Creekside Park Village Association (CPVA), and Board members of CPVA requesting prospective candidates or nominees; expand request to include Township Board members. Second by: CLOSED MEETING (if applicable) 10. Recess at 9:39 a.m. to Executive Session to discuss matters relating to real property pursuant to 551.072, Texas Government Code; deliberation of economic development negotiations pursuant to 551.087, Texas Government Code; discuss personnel matters pursuant to 551.074, Texas Government Code; and to consult with The Woodlands Township's attorney pursuant to 551.071, Texas Government Code; 11. Reconvene in public session at 11:37 a.m.; Chairman Tough informed the Board that it was not necessary to take action at this time on matters discussed in Executive Session. AUGUST 26, 2015 BOARD MEETING The following items may be considered at the August 26, 2015 Meeting: Information Only - Proposed Consent Agenda items for August 26, 2015 meeting: Matters related to a conveyance in The Village of Creekside Park West; Information Only - Proposed Regular Agenda items for August 26, 2015 meeting: Matters related to the financial report; Matters related to the adoption of the 2016 Budget and 2015 Tax Rate; Matters related to the award of a bid for Park and Pathway Maintenance Service; Matters related to a amendment to a interlocal agreement with Montgomery County for signalization improvements; Matters related to agreement with The Woodlands Development Company, regarding pathway improvements; Matters related to a revision to the 2015 meeting schedule; DISCUSS FUTURE AGENDA /ANNOUNCEMENTS 5
12. Consideration of items to be placed on the agenda for next month's meeting; Director Bass requested that the Board evaluate lowering the property tax rate from 23 cents to 22 cents or 22.5 cents at its August 26, 2015 meeting. Director Bunch requested that the Board receive a presentation on the option to build a Performing Arts Theatre on the top level of the Transit garage at the Board's August 26th meeting. Director Bass then asked Director Bunch if his request could be placed on a later agenda. Director Bunch agreed to wait until the Board's September Retreat to receive the presentation. 13. Board announcements; and There were no Board announcements. 14. Adjournment. Motion by: moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:41 a.m. Second by: Mike Bass Secretary, 6