Recap February 8, 2023 City Council Meeting, Submitted by Council Member Debra Hines and approved by Mayor Jeff Rasco
Received by City Staff on November 1, 2023
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City Council meeting recaps are unofficial summaries of Council meetings. They are not minutes of the meetings, which can be found on the city's website along with video recordings of the meetings. The recaps have been very popular with citizens – they contain more information than official minutes and are less time consuming than watching the videos. Councilmember Debra Hines has generously given her time to produce the recaps since taking office in 2021.
This Recap submitted by Councilmember Debra Hines and approved for distribution by Mayor Jeff Rasco
Feb 8th 2023 Regular Council Meeting Recap
Consent Agenda:
Items 1-3 were pulled from the Consent Agenda for discussion.
Edits were made to correct typos and on page 22 of the packet an edit was made to update missing information about the volunteer work done at Par View
Reports:
Planning and Zoning: Will call a public hearing to discuss Short Term Rental Regulations and Minimum Lot Sizes and the proposed zoning changes that they would involve.
Ordinance Review Committee: A final draft of the “Important Woodcreek Ordinances” document has been prepared and is ready for final review and passage. They postponed the Chair and Vice Chair election until March. Efforts to update Chapter 34 have been tabled pending further collaboration with larger governmental entities like the County and State. The City Manager clarified that the responsibility of the Ordinance Review is to review items which Council has sent them and that they cannot by ordinance take things from other boards. City Manager Rule recommended that Council be more specific in what they send for review rather than the pending request for a full review of the code of ordinances.
Parks and Recreation: They decided to focus on Creekside first in the order of operations of utilizing POSAC grant funds. A survey of the land and trees has been received.
Platinum Roads: Council Liaison Bailey is compiling a list of local paving companies within 50 miles of the City. So far 15 have been identified. They will receive letters requesting a bid. On Feb 10th the RFP will go out on the Civ Cast system and on the 15th letters will be mailed. They anticipate starting the $227,000 chip seal project on various smaller, less traveled roads and cul-de-sacs within the City. Stay alert for notifications about street closures. Pease sign up for City of Woodcreek official notification emails here: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/newsletter/subscriptions
Tree Board: No new business to report. On the next agenda they will be discussing their role in the on-going disaster response and recovery. It was mentioned that a new tree inventory may be needed. The Oak Wilt Assistance Application has been reviewed and submitted back to Council for review and possible action in this meeting
City Manager’s Report:
-Thank you to the volunteers in the past week
-Thank you to those who utilized the dump site. It ran constantly from about 9AM – 5PM on the Saturday after the storm. The site is almost clear. The previously planned second dump weekend for this Saturday has been postponed to work out additional logistics.
-Large brush pick up has been delayed until next Tuesday, Feb 14th. It will not interfere with regular trash pick-up. Woodcreek will have a second round of curbside brush pick up with a date to be determined. There may even be a third round as we gage needs over the next month. The brush pick up will NOT collect furniture or other household items. Piles MUST be away from hydrants, electrical boxes, mailboxes and out from under trees. The brush will not be picked up if it is too close to a structure or under low hanging trees. It will have to be moved. In addition, placing it over hydrants and electrical boxes could cause service provision issues if the trucks damage those items. Please double and triple check your piles and those as you drive around.
-Regular updates on the disaster response and brush removal will continue
-The Right-of-Way work has begun. Contracts were awarded to the four companies who attended the requested meeting. Companies were contacted based on recent work done in the City and their names being listed in applications. The four companies are all local. They are TexStar, Healthy Oak Trees, Brush Barber, and Simple Leaf Tree Care. They are conducting “make safe” work by eliminating hazards, making clean cuts where breaks occurred, cutting and stacking large, downed or broken limbs, and collecting the brush debris in the right-of-way for pick up by Waste Connections. They were instructed to clean their tools and paint fresh cuts.
-The Texas Department of Emergency Management representative commended Woodcreek on its quick response. Woodcreek was the first city to issue a disaster declaration and the representative was impressed with Woodcreek’s brush disposal plans and the level of planning already in place.
City Secretary’s Report:
-There is a new email address where residents who need assistance with clean up due to significant financial or physical limitations can be connected with volunteers. Email assistance@woodcreektx.gov if this applies to you or if you would like to offer volunteer time. Volunteers will not be conducting tree work or performing unsafe requests. Their goal is to remove brush and downed limbs and get them curbside for pick up.
ARPA Ad Hoc Work Group is officially closed as the purpose for which they were formed is no longer needed. The City Manager can serve in this role as the monetary threshold requiring the city to hire outside administrators and engineers was not met.
Chapters 154+ is in the second draft of Chapter 154 Site Development and a new Chapter on Environmental Protections is nearing ready for a first draft review. Meetings were postponed allowing staff and Councilmembers to respond to the ice storm disaster.
New Business:
Item 4: The presentation of the Spirit of Woodcreek award was postponed until all the Parks Board could attend the next meeting and the award could be ready since the disaster naturally impeded that process. Mayor Rasco made the statement that in lieu of the official award to the Parks Board, he would like to formally nominate all Woodcreek for their efforts in the past week and the contributions of volunteers helping the City and other neighbors. It was an excellent display of the “Spirit of Woodcreek.”
Item 5: Interim City Attorney Roger Gordon provided a resolution for consideration that creates submission windows for certain types of improvements. Council unanimously approved edits to add additional sections to clarify which permits this applies to exactly and to better define when an “administratively complete” application letter will be issued this starting the “shot clock” that promotes full review and action to be taken within 30 days.
Item 6: No action was needed. The disaster declaration naturally expired, and the State now has one in place making it possible that Woodcreek still met any additional needs as they arise if necessary. Please fill out the structure damage claims here: https://damage.tdem.texas.gov/ By filing these claims you are helping to assist in the state being awarded FEMA relief funds. You can also input hours you have worked volunteering to help clean up using this QR code
Item 7: Councilmember Grummert nominated Joe Branco as a full member of the Ordinance Review Committee. He was previously named alternate. The Council unanimously approved this appointment. No alternative replacement was made. Please apply if you are interested.
Item 8: Council voted unanimously to approve the Oak Wilt Assistance Application with minor edits. The questions posed by the Tree board were all answered.
Item 9: No motion was made to discuss this item.
Item 10: Council unanimously approved the consideration of a restructuring and recodification of the full City of Woodcreek Code of Ordinances approving the draft structure in the packet as a starting point and authorizing the existing Ad Hoc Workgroup overseeing the update of Chapters 154+ to be the body set to work on this process initially. Councilmembers Hines and Councilmember Grummert lead the group. The Interim City Attorney Roger Gordon was authorized by the Council to consult with the group as needed.
Item 11: No motion was made to discuss this item.
Item 12: The 2023 Citizen Survey was approved unanimously by the Council. One copy will be mailed to every house. You may also take the survey online. Please only take the survey once per resident over 18. You do not need to submit a paper copy and a digital copy. Staff are already working on sending this out. The survey will close March 8th and the results are expected at the April regular meeting.
