Goodbye to the Council and to blogging

  At the upcoming meeting Monday (agenda here), two new members will be sworn onto the Woodway City Council, and two current members will be continuing for another term.  None of the Council races were contested, so each person who filed will be on the Council.  Councilman Paul Scibielski and I decided that it was time to let someone else have all the fun.  Gil Lillard and Barbara Grandy will continue their positions, joined by Bob Howard (taking Paul's place) and Mike Tambrella (taking my place).  Mike is a great asset to Woodway, having contributed to the community in many ways, including being on the Arboretum Board.  Mike's wife runs Patti's Kitchen, a really high-quality catering service.  Below is a picture of Mr. Tambrella at the Arboretum tour last January.

  I ran for the Council two years ago because I thought there were problems in Woodway's management, but I was wrong.  I found the City to be remarkably well run.  There are always issues with infrastructure (esp. water and sewer maintenance), and sometimes ordinances will upset residents (like the "no RVs in driveways" rule), but all in all this is a great place to live.  City Manager/Police Chief Yost Zakhary does an amazing job of balancing the various demands with grace.  I can assure you that the members of the Council are without exception dedicated, honest and working for the City's best interests.  The City staff I got to know are also wonderful.  Jennifer Canady is incredibly professional and attentive to details.  Natalie Edwards and Donna Barkley do a great job.  Janet Schaffer runs the Arboretum very well and is really easy to work with.  Woodway Finance Director William Klump is amazingly thorough and knowledgeable of the City's finances, and as honest as they come.  If anyone tries to tell you that there is anything amiss with the City's finances, don't believe it.  I don't see how anyone who knows William could be worried about dishonesty there.  In fact, if you hear anything bad about City management, I encourage you to go see Yost, meet the staff or at least talk to any of the Council members. They are all approachable and glad to help.

  This is the end of my Hello Woodway blog, though I plan to leave the existing posts up and available indefinitely (including my Favorite Things 1 page) in case they are of use to anyone.  I would hope that one of the current Council members might start a blog to communicate with Woodway residents.  It is easy to do, doesn't take all that much time, and doesn't have to cost anything either (at least Google blogs like this one are free to set up and run).  Thank you for allowing me to be your Councilman for the past two years.  I learned a lot, met many fine people, and perhaps even helped a few good things to happen too.

New Councilman Mike Tambrella, representing Ward 2, Place 1.

Agenda for April 9th meeting

The agenda for the upcoming April 9th meeting has been posted here.

Results of the February 27th meeting

Mayor Don Baker opened the meeting at 5:35 pm, and asked me to do the invocation.

There were no visitors to speak on general issues.

Item 3 was a proposed development in the Lake Forest Addition (off Estates just past the Arboretum). What are being considered are individually-owned "garden homes". This is only in the consideration phase, by developers that have experience with a similar project in Waco that has gone well. The Council seemed open to the idea even though some ordinance changes might be required. The City staff will explore the issues.

Item 4 was the "consent agenda" and consisted of several relatively routine things that are generally approved as a package, though any Council member can request that an item be pulled from this group for future consideration. This time around, the main things were a couple of well-related items, new bullet-resistant vests, re-appointment of the Municipal Judge and audio-visual equipment for the Arboretum (almost $50k but budgeted already).

(Incidentally, every Tuesday at 3:30 pm is municipal court with Judge Gobel, and on Thursdays trials are held as necessary, though generally avoided if possible. The public is, I believe, welcome at both of these.)

Item 5 was to act on the consent agenda, which was approved unanimously.

Item 6 was the City Manager's Report ("as submitted"), and Item 7 was City Council Reports (none).

The meeting adjourned at about 6:20 pm. The next meeting is next Monday, March 5th (to avoid spring break, otherwise it would have been a week later).

Results of the February 13th meeting

Mayor Don Baker opened the meeting at 5:30 and gave the invocation himself.

The next agenda item was to hear from visitors, but none chose to speak.

We then went to item 4, discussion of a plan to build a medical office building along the north side of Hwy 84 a few blocks from the intersection with Hwy 6. The plan was a good one, and the Council approved its progression to the Planning and Zoning Board. This proposal is scheduled to be discussed again for (I believe) final approval at the March 5th Council meeting (moved up from the 12th because of spring break).

We then returned to item 3, Executive Session to discuss pending litigation (O'Bric vs City of Woodway).

Having returned to normal session, we went over the consent agenda. The main items were repair of one well, construction of volleyball pits at the Woodway Family Center, and formally approving the general City election for Saturday May 12th, 2012. The consent agenda was approved unanimously.

About the May election: at that time, four Council positions will be elected, currently held by Gil Lillard, Paul Scibielski, Barbara Grandy and myself. I believe all of these except me (see earlier post) will be running for re-election. I have found that everyone on the Council is an asset to the City. Each of them is thoughtful and brings valuable insights to the issues we discuss. I imagine there are many in Woodway that would do a good job on the Council, but I call tell you that Gil, Paul and Barbara certainly do.

As for my position (Ward 2), I know that Mike Tambrella will be seeking to replace me on the Council. I'll post more on this later, but suffice it for now that Mike is an outstanding choice for the Council. He has extensive experience, including a long-term appointment to the Arboretum Board.

The meeting ended at 6:20 pm, one of the shorter sessions I have been part of.

Results of the January 23rd meeting

Mayor Don Baker opened the meeting at 5:30 pm, and Mayor pro tem Gil Lillard gave the invocation.

Then the time for visitors to speak came, and there were two who chose to.

Pete Peterson came to say "thank you" to the City staff and Council for helping Woodway be a great place to live. He went on to describe his candidacy for Justice of the Peace. Checking this out later, I found a You Tube video here. I do not know Mr. Peterson personally, and this does not constitute an endorsement. But he strikes me as very likable person, has many years with the Highway Patrol, and I appreciated that he made the effort to speak at the meeting.

Then Parnell McNamara came to say that he is running for County Sheriff, and feels that his approx. 33 years with the U.S. Marshal's office was good experience for the job. I checked around some and found this and this on You Tube. Again, I do not know him personally, but he seems to me to be a very impressive person, and someone I think would do a good job as Sheriff.

Next came Jed Walker to make a second presentation on the proposed Colonnade apartments project (adjacent to the Hollywood Theaters). I blogged about this after the December 12th meeting (see here). At that time, the Council was concerned about a portion of the land in question being reserved for planned commercial development, and also that adding more rental property to Woodway was less desirable than individually-owned properties. Mr. Walker described a few changes, mainly that the plans had been re-worked to leave the section mentioned above as planned commercial. This required decreasing the number of units from 277 to 240. I asked how developing for individual ownership (rather than rental) would influence the project. The answer was that market research had shown that there was nowhere near a demand for 240 condominiums in Woodway. Then four major figures in the area (Linc Harris of First National Bank of Texas, Dr. Michael Thrasher, Dr. Mark Barrett, and Dr. Everett Watson) came to speak in support of the project. In particular, Dr. Barrett stated that the project would afford convenient housing for the medical staff working at Providence. The Mayor then polled the Council, and six of the seven were in favor of the development, largely because it was so well planned and would be using space surrounded by unsightly Waco industrial areas. Mayor Baker remained against the proposal because (a) a new zoning type would have to be developed to allow this, and (b) the project goes way beyond the currently allowed density of six units per acre (this project requires about 16 per acre). This presentation was intended only to get a sense of the Council's level of support for the project, and did not result in a vote of any kind. Given the Council's support, the City Manager will proceed but with some caution.

Then was a quarterly financial report by Financial Director William Klump. This covered the last quarter of 2011, and there were "no surprises". Revenues are in general up somewhat, including sales taxes (which had taken a hit in the past year or so).

Then was a quarterly report on the Arboretum by Janet Schaffer, Director of Arboretum, Tourism and Recreational Services. Arboretum rentals had been about the same as last year, with 89 events (52 of them paid rentals) in 2011.

At that point I had to leave the meeting to get to a commitment at Baylor. If you are interested in the remaining agenda items, there is audio of each meeting posted a day or so later. (Added 1/26: the audio is available here, along with that of all the earlier meeting for the past year or so).

An early peek at the Arboretum pavillion

I had an opportunity to see the Arboretum maybe 60% complete today, with the rest of the City Council and many others. The building is impressive, able to seat about 350 or so, with space for catering, etc. It is very well designed (in my opinion). What follows are three photos I took (front, main room and from rear).

Agenda for the January 23rd meeting

The agenda has been posted at the City website here. Looks like a fairly uneventful meeting to me.

Job openings with the City of Woodway

The City posts job openings here.

Results of the January 9th meeting

Mayor Don Baker opened the meeting at 5:31 pm and called on the Reverend Charles Packard of the First Presbyterian Church in Woodway to make the invocation.

Then holiday decorating awards were given to the Corley, Waggener, Treese and Morris families (the last three were all present). Neighborhood awards were announced for the Wooded Crest, Buckingham Court, Ridgepoint Drive and Forest Oaks Circle areas for multi-family Christmas decorations.

Next was a time to hear from visitors, but none present chose to speak at this time.

Then were the quarterly presentations by the Public Safety Department (vehicle and home burglaries are up, as are assaults, but several categories of crimes are down) and the Community Services Development (14 homes or businesses are under construction in Woodway).

Then was a public hearing on an application to develop in a planned zoning area. This concerned details of the plans submitted earlier by representatives of John Cawthron to develop a lot near the Hollywood Theaters for a single story retail/medical building. The Council had requested a change or two from an earlier plan, which the developer provided. The Council voted to approve the application.

Then the Council discussed and voted on the meeting schedule through June, basically every second and fourth Mondays with a few changes to avoid holiday conflicts.

Then there was discussion of the Master Fee Schedule with respect to commercial and construction-related POD storage modules. The Council agreed with a staff recommendation to have no restrictions on either one, but to limit residential non-construction related POD usage to no more than 60 days per year with a permit.

Then came the consent agenda. Most noteworthy were:

(a) Bids to repair roof damage to the Community Services Building. Council member Jane Kittner suggested using more reflective shingles, probably at somewhat higher cost. City staff will investigate the cost of this and the Council will re-consider this item in the near future.

(b) A discussion of an "interlocal agreement" between the City and the County District Attorney's office on the division of the value of crime-related property and money seized by the Woodway Public Safety Department. Basically, this is a reaffirmation of a long-standing agreement that gives the City between 50-70% of such proceeds (depending on the details of the case), and the remainder goes to the County. This was necessary because of the change in County DAs recently.

(c) Appointment of Randall Riggs and Mitch Davison to the Bluebonnet Board, a water-related council of some relevance to Woodway water supplies.

The Council approved the consent agenda, exclusive of the roof repair item, unanimously.

In Council Reports, Councilman Scott Giddings reminded the group of the "Bound for the Brave" 5k/1K fun run being held on January 21st. This is a fundraiser by the Woodway Youth Commission to benefit the families of police officers who died in the line of duty. Registration is $20 ($25 on the day of the event) and includes a T-shirt. The event is announced on the City website here.

The meeting concluded at 6:20 pm.

Agenda for the January 9th meeting

The agenda for the upcoming meeting has been posted to the City website here.

Musical rocks at Seminole Canyon

Recently I took an iPhone video of my mother-in-law "playing" the bell-like rocks at a special place in Seminole Canyon State Park (about 40 miles west of Del Rio, TX). Each rock seems to have a different pitch.

Fall colors in Woodway

The evergreen live oak trees contrast nicely with what I believe are red oaks.

Waco Tribune Herald writes about our new Council member, Barbara Grandy

A nice story about our newest Council member, Barbara Grandy, has appeared in the Waco newspaper here.

Results of the December 12th meeting

Mayor Don Baker opened the meeting at 5:34 pm, and Reverend James Menke of Trinity Lutheran Church at Badger Ranch gave the invocation.

Next was administration of the oath of office to new Council member Barbara Grandy. Barbara was appointed by the Council last week from a field of 15 applicants.

Then volunteer Ray Dobbs and Assistant Police Chief Robert Smith presented a check for $8,000 toward a new rescue truck. This was from funds raised in last summer's barbeque, the 38th annual one.

Then was an excellent presentation by Jed Walker proposing a new apartment development adjacent to the Hollywood theaters. The design was well-planned and very impressive. But the proposal required a dramatic deviation from Woodway zoning ordinances. The plan was for 272 one-to-three bedroom units located on 15.8 acres, which corresponds to about 17 units per acre, generating $137K in property taxes annually for Woodway. However, Woodway ordinance limits developments to no more than 6 units per acre. The developers said this was not financially feasible for apartment developments. Mayor Baker, in particular, voiced serious opposition to apartments especially if special zoning was required. He rightly stated that individual ownership protects property values much better than do rental properties. The developers, I believe, will consider condominiums that have individual ownership rather than rental status. I hope something acceptable can be developed in this location.

Next was a time to hear from visitors, but no one present elected to speak.

Then came discussion of a problem with water accumulation as a result of a resident innocently building up the outflow of a pond. The water had covered a City manhole and also had invaded a couple of backyards. Interestingly enough, while a State-issued permit was supposed to be required before making the modification, a permit also appears to be necessary to undo it! The City is investigating how to proceed.

Next was a discussion of how Woodway's votes for the McLennan County Appraisal District's Board of Commissioner candidates should be cast. The Council voted to support John Embry, who has been helpful in the past.

Then came the consent agenda, mainly purchase of new glass for the Woodway Family Center.

The meeting adjourned about 7 pm. HEB had provided a holiday cake, which City Secretary Jennifer Canady had divided up for everyone to take some.

Agenda for the December 12th meeting

The agenda for the upcoming meeting has been posted at the City's website here. This will be the first meeting with new Council member Barbara Grandy.

Results of the December 5th meeting

Mayor Baker opened the meeting at 5:33 pm. The invocation was scheduled to be delivered by a pastor from Central Presbyterian Church but there must have been a mistake somewhere. Mayor Baker gave the invocation himself.

The next item was to hear from visitors, but though there were several visitors, none elected to speak.

Item 3 was first a public hearing followed by a discussion on the taxation of "goods in transit", which basically refers to products warehoused in or passing through the City. This was a minor tax adopted in 2007, but recent Texas Senate Bill 1 required that taxing entities reaffirm their desire to continue this tax. It generates maybe a few thousand dollars a year in Woodway. The Council voted to adopt this tax, though I abstained since I'm not sure I agree with the idea behind such a tax.

Item 4 was to approve the minutes of the last meeting (November 28th).

Item 5 was an application to develop in a planned district, for a single story retail/medical building near the Hollywood theaters. There was perhaps a 15 minute discussion with a representative of the developer concerning some aesthetic aspects of the plan. The Council voted unanimously to send this to the Planning and Zoning Commission for further consideration.

The next item (#6) was a discussion of options to deal with the infrastructure surrounding the Business Acres well. This is the well that is producing rather warm (116°F) water that needs to be cooled before being pumped through PVC pipes (otherwise the heat weakens the plastic pipe). There were a few options presented, some cheaper and some more expensive. But the bottom line is that you get what you pay for, and the Council decided to choose the long-term cheaper option rather than the short-term one. This will involve, among other things, a 1 million gallon concrete holding tank, said to be maintenance-free by well-consultant Bob Wallace. The City already has one such tank that has given very good service. In contrast, the cheaper steel tanks (as on Bosque) have to be sand-blasted and painted at intervals at a cost of about $100k each time. I think this was a good decision for the long-term stability of the Woodway water system.

Item 7 concerned "pod" type storage containers within the City. The Council had previously expressed a strong sentiment against having such storage containers in residential areas on any sort of permanent basis, but commercial situations had not been seriously addressed. The Council was shown photos of three commercial sites in Woodway with pod-type storage, at least one of which was unsightly. There was sentiment expressed that the City should not burden businesses with fees for long-term pod storage. City staff are investigating how to proceed.

Item 8A was an Executive Session to discuss possible replacements for General Bill Weber's at-large Council position. Afterwards, in open session, item 8B was discussion and to consider action on choosing a replacement for the open Council position. There were several highly qualified applicants, and the Council voted unanimously to appoint Barbara Grandy to the open Council position. Ms. Grandy has served the City of Woodway in several capacities through the years including service on the Woodway Beautiful Commission, the Carleen Bright Arboretum Board, and the Parks and Recreation Commission. Her dedicated efforts led to the City receiving a $10,000 beautification award from the State of Texas. In addition, she was instrumental in the organization of the very first "Trash-Off Day" in Woodway, and she served on both the original master plan committee and the master plan expansion committee for the Carleen Bright Arboretum. Ms. Grandy has also volunteered in many other ways throughout the Woodway community such as serving as chair of the Woodway Foundation.

The meeting adjourned at 7:59 pm. Contrary to my expectation, this was a long meeting (2.5 hours). Another meeting next Monday!

Agenda for the December 5th meeting

The agenda has been posted at the City website here. It looks to be one of the shorter meetings.

The November 28th meeting

The meeting opened at 5:32 pm, with the invocation given by Pastor Jim Gray of First Baptist Church of Woodway.

There were no visitors present to speak.

Then Finance director William Klump gave the quarterly report, which finalized the 2010-11 fiscal year. Woodway is doing well financially, especially in the area of water sales, since the Hwy 84 well has come back online.

The next topic was year end budget transfers. This is where the City transfers funds that remain in certain categories to other categories. Then we discussed the proposed Charter Amendment language, to be voted on in the upcoming May 2012 election. The City will be making a serious effort to explain all aspects of the proposed changes, most of which are to fix outdated things. With one minor addition, the Council voted to approve the wording for the ballot. This will be presented in both English and Spanish.

Then came the "consent agenda", where several relatively minor items are discussed. This time, purchase of a 4" tapping machine was requested. This allows smaller pipes to be rapidly connected to larger ones. Also, some electronic equipment for three patrol cars was requested, and two special use permits were presented. All were approved.

The Council then went into executive session to discuss a property issue.

Back in open session, the Oncor tree-trimming effort was discussed. Oncor works very hard to keep the power on despite many, many conflicts between tree branches and power lines. If you find a bright green door-hanger on your property, it means Oncor will be doing some trimming nearby soon.

The meeting adjourned about 6:30 pm. There are meetings for each of the next two weeks. City Manager/Police Chief Yost Zakhary commented that this was the only time he could recall that the City Council will have met three consecutive weeks. The next meeting (Dec. 5th) may be more interesting.

Agenda for the November 28th meeting

The agenda for the upcoming meeting of the Woodway City Council has been posted here. Among other things there will be a quarterly presentation of of City finances, and discussion of and possible action on the ballot wording of the proposed Charter changes.

An immediate opening on the City Council

There is an immediate opening on the City Council as a result of the resignation of General Bill Weber. Any qualified voter who has resided in Woodway for at least one year is eligible to apply. The application form is on the City website here and has a December 1 deadline.