The September 13th meeting

With military precision, the meeting began right at 5:30 pm, as usual. The invocation was done by me, recruited on the spot. Then Jan Burnett (of Woodway Beautiful) and Mayor Bill Weber made the Yard of the Month awards to the Williams, Holmes, Black and Bauer families, but none were present. Then Finance Director William Klump received the GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for excellence in budgetary matters.

An annual proclamation of Woodway Public Safety Association Day (September 25th) was read by Mayor Weber. This is the day the 37th Annual Barbeque will be held (see here for details).

Item #4 was the continuation of the youth curfew ordinance. This ordinance requires that youths under 16 years of age be off public areas between the hours of 11 pm and 6 am Sunday - Thursday, and between midnight and 6 am Friday and Saturday, with all reasonable exceptions, such as accompanied by parent, etc. Councilman Scott Giddings asked how many violations there had been in the past three years (since it was last renewed), and Assistant Police Chief Robert Smith said there had been two. The continuation passed unanimously.

Then was time for visitors. Former Councilwoman (and current P&Z Board member) Dee Smith said that the recent threat by a Florida pastor to burn the Koran reminded her of what Woodway has gone through, that is, the power of one person to stir up trouble. She warned the Council not to assume that people don't pay attention to Mike O'Bric's accusatory letters, and that the proper response has to come from the Council. Councilman Gil Lillard described how he had marked both letters he received as "return to sender" and suggested that response. Mayor Weber mentioned that a response to the most recent letter was an agenda item later tonight.

Then Kevin Draper came to ask about the status of the ordinance on wind power generators. The Mayor stated that there was a meeting of the Ordinance Committee that very evening following the main meeting, and that a proposal might be expected by the October 4th meeting. The Drapers are very interested in using wind power to lower their electricity bills.

Then came items 6A-H, the "consent agenda", things that needed to be approved but were unlikely to need extensive discussion. These included the last three meeting's minutes*, reappointments to the Youth Commission, paying for emergency repairs to the Bosque well ($31k), an agreement with Waco for a cost-free repair/expansion/realignment of part of Ritchie Road, paying the invoice from Barney Knight ($23.6k) and a soil/foundation study in preparation for a new building at the Arboretum ($8.6k). All approved unanimously.

* I have noticed that the official minutes are really detailed, usually much more than these blog notes, and you can request a copy from the City Secretary Jennifer Canady.

Item 8 was acceptance of a settlement agreement with Atmos Energy, the providers of natural gas to Woodway and many other cities. Apparently there had been a large-scale settlement for overcharging, which will amount to a savings of $1.40 per month for gas customers (there is no gas in my part of Woodway I gather). Approved unanimously.

Item 9 was to allow the City to contribute to the Texas Municipal Retirement System at a rate of 14.39% instead of the usual maximum of 13.5%. Approved unanimously.

Item 10 was a resolution in support of Yost Zakhary as City Manager/Police Chief and support of his service as 4th Vice President of the International Association of Chief's of Police. This was done to encourage Mr. Zakhary and to show that he has the Council's support. The resolution received unanimous approval by the Council, and a copy was signed by all the Council immediately after the meeting.

Item 11 was a discussion on the merits of updating the City Charter, and everyone thought that was a good idea, including the City Attorney Mike Dixon. There was some debate about how soon we could hope to accomplish this. All Charter changes require voter approval, so we would arrange for this to be voted on at one of the May Council elections, but whether it could be May 2011 or a year later was unclear. Mayor Bill Weber reminded everyone that even the Declaration of Independence didn't take that long(!). The possible timing is being explored.

Item 12 was a discussion on correspondence received from Mike O'Bric, specifically the letter dated August 24th. Mayor Bill Weber said that he felt the City had been in a battle with it's hands tied, and felt that there needed to be a change in "the rules of engagement". I think the sense of the Council was that each accusatory letter be addressed promptly, and in a variety of venues. In addition to a direct reply to Mr. O'Bric, a response could be posted online, go out in water bills, be included in Woodway Today, etc. There was some discussion on whether the City should send him a bill for the recent investigation.

The Council went into Executive Session at 6:46 pm to do the annual performance evaluation of City Manager/Police Chief Yost Zakhary. Open session resumed at about 7:13 pm.

There was an update on the Hwy 84 well rejuvenation, which is encountering some difficulties but none that are insurmountable yet.

There was some discussion of getting audio of the Council meetings available, and I believe that is proceeding.

The meeting adjourned at 7:23 pm.