* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:02] SO I NOW CALL THIS WORK SESSION OF [ CITY OF BAYTOWN NOTICE OF MEETING CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023 4:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBER, CITY HALL 2401 MARKET STREET, BAYTOWN, TEXAS 77520 AGENDA CALL TO ORDER AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF QUORUM ] THE BAYTOWN CITY COUNCIL ORDERS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14TH. IT IS 4:04 PM WE ARE IN BAYTOWN CITY HALL CHAMBERS. WE DO HAVE A QUORUM. UH, FIRST ITEM WE HAVE IS OUR CITIZEN COMMENTS. CITY CLERK. DO WE HAVE ANYONE THAT HAS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK? ALRIGHT, THANK YOU MA'AM. SO WE MOVE ON TO ITEM, [a. Discussion regarding the City’s rate structure for sewer services, including the sewer rate cap.] UH, TWO A IS DISCUSSION REGARDING THE CITY'S, UH, RATE STRUCTURE FOR SEWER SERVICES, INCLUDING THE SEWER RATE CAP. UM, IT DOES HAVE MY NAME NEXT TO IT. YES, MA? SURE. YOU DON'T WANNA PREFACE ANYTHING. UH, FOR COUNCIL? UH, I JUST WANTED TO, THROUGH DISCUSSIONS THE MAYOR HAD ASKED THAT, UH, WE BRING THIS FOR THE CITY COUNCIL TO SEE THAT, UH, UH, ASK STAFF TO MOVE FORWARD WITH BRINGING, UH, UH, COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE RATE STRUCTURES SO THAT, UH, COUNCIL CAN CONSIDER, UH, RATES IN THE NEAR FUTURE. UH, DUE TO, UM, JUST SOME THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN HEARD THROUGHOUT THE, THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER WITH THE ADDITION OR WITH THE REMOVAL OF THE SEWER CAP LAST YEAR. RIGHT. AND SO I'M SURE LIKE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS AND YOU KNOW, WE, WE'VE HEARD, WE'VE HEARD AT LEAST ONE CITIZEN COME SPEAK WITH US, UH, AT LEAST ABOUT HER PARTICULAR WATER BILL. I BELIEVE THERE'S PROBABLY A, A, A MULTITUDE OF FACTORS. I THINK. SO IT SEEMS LIKE FOR PEOPLE WHO WERE IMPACTED, IT COULD BE 1, 1, 2 OR THREE REASONS. UH, I WOULD LIKE STAFF TO OBVIOUSLY EXPLORE WAYS THAT WE CAN, UH, ONE, UH, UNDERSTAND WHAT TOOK PLACE AND THEN IF THERE'S ANY OPTIONS INCLUDING, UM, SETTING A SEWER CAP THAT'S, OR ADJUSTING IT IN SOME FORM OR FASHION. UM, I BELIEVE THAT WAS PROBABLY JUST ONE OF THOSE UNINTENDED SITUATIONS WHERE, UH, AND THEN YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU KIND OF TOP THAT WITH A VERY DRY SUMMER AND SO IT KIND OF JUST SNOWBALLED, I THINK IN THE AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER WATER BILL, WATER BILLS THAT OUR CITIZENS RECEIVED. AND SO THAT KIND OF, SO I ONLY WANTED US TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT. AND I DO APPRECIATE STAFF. UM, YOU KNOW, UH, I KNOW THAT THEY'VE LOOKED INTO INDIVIDUALLY THAT THE, THE, UH, THE ISSUES THAT MAY HAVE BEEN FORWARDED TO THEM, BUT I KIND OF WANNA REALLY LOOK HOLISTICALLY AS A COUNCIL AND, AND WHAT OPTIONS MAY BE AVAILABLE TO GO AND KIND OF, UM, REDUCE THE IMPACT OF SOME OF THE, THE PREVIOUS DECISIONS. OKAY. ALRIGHT. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON IT? JUST WANTED TO, TO KIND OF PUT IT OUT THERE. UH, WE WILL NOW HAVE A FEW ITEMS. WE ARE GONNA RECESS AN EXECUTIVE SESSION. SO ARE YOU MOVING ON? EXCUSE ME? ARE YOU MOVING ON TO THE NEXT, ARE WE GONNA DISCUSS THE YEAH, TWO A TWO AVE. YEAH. I HAD A QUESTION FOR TWO A. OKAY. UM, ON THE SEWER CAPS, UM, IT, WHAT, WHAT IS OUR, OUR WATER INTAKE? I DON'T KNOW IF SOMEBODY CAN ANSWER THAT. UH, OUR WATER OUTPUT, WHAT IS OUR OVERALL WATER OUTPUT? GOOD EVENING. UH, FRANK SIMINO, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS AND ENGINEERING. UM, SO IN GENERAL, UH, THE BAYTOWN AREA WATER AUTHORITY PRODUCES AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT 14 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY. UH, CITY OF BAYTOWN CONSUMES, I BELIEVE ABOUT 12 MILLION GALLONS OF THAT JUST TO KIND OF AVERAGE NUMBERS. AND, AND WHAT ABOUT OUR INTAKE, OUR SEWER INTAKE? HOW, HOW MUCH DO WE, SO THE SEWER, UM, IT DEPENDS ON RAINFALL. SO, UM, RIGHT. AND FRANK, IF YOU DON'T MIND, UH, MR. GRIFFITH, UH, WHAT WE HOPE TO DO, UM, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING WITH THE MAYOR, WE DIDN'T COME WITH ANY NUMBERS TODAY. WHAT WE WERE HOPING TO DO, BECAUSE WE, WE DO WANNA LOOK AT THE, I THINK WHAT YOU'RE GETTING TO FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, UH, IS THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO SEE, UM, ARE WE, ARE PEOPLE PAYING FOR WATER THAT THEY'RE NOT USING? UM, THEY MAY BE SPRINKLING AND THEY'RE PAYING A HIGHER PIECE FOR THEIR, FOR THEIR SPRINKLING PIECE. CORRECT. THAT'S ACTUALLY NOT GOING INTO THE SEWER SYSTEM. WE PLAN TO BRING AS MUCH DATA AS WE CAN AT THE NEXT MEETING. THIS WAS JUST TO SEE IF COUNCIL DID ACTUALLY WANT US TO BRING THIS BACK. OKAY. AND SEE, UH, AND THEN REALLY DIVE IN DEEP ON THE UTILITY RATES AND FOR DIFFERENT QUESTIONS. UNDERSTOOD. OKAY. BUT WE DIDN'T COME TODAY WITH DATA. WE, WE DO HAVE DATA. WE JUST DIDN'T COME TODAY FOR THAT SPECIFIC THING. IT WAS JUST TO BRING IT TO COUNCIL. OKAY. AND I JUST WANNA THANK STAFF FOR BRINGING THIS BACK UP AND, AND IF WE MOVE FORWARD. SO I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT. AND MAYOR, I MAKE A COMMENT. I THINK THE, I THINK THE MAYOR HIT IT ON THE HEAD. THERE'S, THERE WAS A TRILOGY OF THINGS GOING ON. WE HAD A DROUGHT, RIGHT? SO PEOPLE WERE WATERING MORE TO KEEP THEIR GRASSES ALIVE. I KNOW I WAS, WHICH CAUSED A HIGHER USAGE THAN NORMAL THAT WE DIDN'T ANTICIPATE WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT REMOVING THE SEWER CAP. SO THOSE INDIVIDUALS WERE PAYING MORE FOR SEWER THAT THEY WERE ACTUALLY USING FOR IRRIGATION THAT THEY WOULDN'T NORMALLY DO. THEN THERE WAS THE, THE, I HATE TO SAY TYPICAL OR STANDARD. FRANK WILL GET ONTO ME THE ANOMALIES OF, YOU KNOW, I, YOU KNOW, I HAVEN'T CHANGED MY HABITS AND ALL OF A SUDDEN MY, MY WATER CONSUMPTION IS FIVE TIMES NORMAL. WELL, THAT'S AN ANOMALY. AND, AND STAFF HAS BEEN VERY GOOD ABOUT FOLLOWING THOSE [00:05:01] UP. AND THEN THERE WAS THE IMPACT OF REMOVING THE SEWER CAP COMPLETELY. UM, SO THAT'S THE TRILOGY OF THINGS THAT ALL HAPPENED AT ONE TIME. SO I APPRECIATE THE MAYOR AND STAFF. LET'S LOOK AT THIS AGAIN, BRING IT BACK TO US AND LET, LET'S DISCUSS IT. 'CAUSE IF WE HAD KNOWN WE WERE GOING THROUGH A RECORD DROUGHT, WE PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN THE CAP OFF. 'CAUSE WE KNEW PEOPLE WERE GONNA BE IRRIGATING MORE. WE DIDN'T, COULDN'T SEE THAT CRYSTAL BALL. SURE. SO, SO WE APPRECIATE THE MAYOR GETTING, BRINGING IT FORWARD WITH STAFF. BUT THAT'S THE THREE THINGS. THE ONE THING AS FAR AS THE ANOMALY AS FAR AS, WOW, MY WATER USAGE IS TRIPLED OR FIVE TIMES AS NORMAL. THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN NO MATTER WHAT WE DO. BUT WE NEED TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE CAP ISSUE AGAIN. SO I DO APPRECIATE STAFF AND THE MAYOR'S PERSISTENCE ON THAT. ALRIGHT. ALRIGHT. SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO ITEM TWO A UNLESS THERE'S, UNLESS THERE'S ANY, ANY OTHER COMMENTS? THREE. THREE. THIS GONNA BE [3. EXECUTIVE SESSION] THREE A. UH, SO THE CITY COUNCIL, LET ME SEE HERE. SCRIPT. SCRIPT. OH, SO WE'LL NOW RECESS INTO AND CONVENE AN EXECUTIVE SESSION PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE CODES SECTION 5 5 1 0.074 TO DELIBERATE THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND DUTIES OF THE CITY MANAGER. SECTION 5 5 1 0 7 4 DELIBERATE THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF DUTY AND DUTIES OF THE MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE, SECTION 5 5 1 0.07. ONE TO SEEK THE ADVICE OF CITY ATTORNEYS REGARDING PENDING OR CONTEMPLATED LITIGATION INVOLVING THE CITY OF BAYTOWN AND SECTIONS 5 5, 1 0.07, 1.072 AND OH EIGHT SEVEN TO SEEK THE ADVICE OF CITY'S ATTORNEYS. THE CITY ATTORNEYS DELIBERATE THE PURCHASE, EXCHANGE, LEASE OR VALUE OF REAL PROPERTY AND OR DELIBERATE, UH, DELIBERATE REGARDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEGOTIATIONS. TIME IS NOW FOUR 10. SO NOW WE'RE, WE'LL GO INTO RECESS. YES. OH, THANK YOU. I'M SORRY. YEAH, I WAS GONNA LOOK FOR YOU MEETING OF THE BAYTOWN CITY COUNCIL AND ANNOUNCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 5 5 1 0.102 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE. NO ACTION WAS TAKEN IN EXECUTIVE SESSION. WE'RE GONNA CURRENTLY RECESS THE, UH, UH, WORK SESSION, UH, AND THEN RECONVENE WITH THE REGULAR MEETING. UH, LET'S SAY YOU WANT FIVE MINUTES, SIX 40. UH, SO WITH THAT WE'RE RECESSED. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.