1996-05-16STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING
May 16, 1996
MINUTES
Standing Committee Members Present: Cara White, Chair; Laura Miklosko, Vice Chair; Joe
Mast, Secretary; Martin Schelling, Jan Francis, Doug Fierce, Pattie Minder, David Baltimore,
Jim Goggin, Karen Cienki, June Haney, Michele Williams, Katie Holzgraefe
Staff Present: Curtis E. Hawk, City Manager; Shana K. Yelverton, Assistant City Manager;
Agenda Item No. 2. Approval of 3/28/26 SPIN Standing Committee Meeting Minutes - Upon
motion by Laura Miklosko, second by Joe Mast, the minutes were approved with one correction:
Doug Fierce's name was spelled incorrectly on page two.
Agenda Item No. 3. Administrative Comments - Cara White noted that there were several items
to be discussed under this section of the agenda:
✓New SPIN Rep - Cara White welcomed Jim Goggin, the new SPIN representative for SPIN
Neighborhood #13, stating how pleased that the Standing Committee is to have him join as
part of the SPIN program and we look forward to working with you.
✓$,peaking of New SPIN Reps... - Several SPIN representatives terms are expiring in June.
Sandy LeGrand, City Secretary, has mailed letters notifying representatives if the term has
expired. Representatives were asked to let her know their intentions as soon as possible.
✓llacoming Development Cases - Staff provided a copy of the upcoming development case.
As a reminder, the schedules are subject to change depending on P&Z and City Council
action. Nonetheless, these should provide Standing Committee members with advance
"warning" of what is coming down the pike.
✓Ordinance/Articles of Incorvoration - There has been an effort in the past to revise SPIN's
ordinance and articles of organization. SPIN is probably at the point where the group needs
to go ahead and begin looking at this again. SPIN members should let the Executive
Committee members know if they have suggestions about changes that need to be made. David
Baltimore was working on those previously, and they need to be finalized. Cara White
discussed forming a team to address this issue.
✓ 1 n ar - May and June promise to be very hectic months. As such, staff has put together
a calendar for SPIN representative's convenience.
SPIN Standing Committee Meeting
May 16, 1996
✓SPIN Report - Thanks to Jan Francis for making the SPIN Report at the last City Council
meeting. The next speaker will be Doug Fierce, who will be speaking at the May 21st meeting.
✓VQcoming SPIN Retreat - It is time to begin planning for this year's SPIN Retreat. Anyone
who is interested in helping to plan this retreat should let Shana Yelverton know. The
Executive Committee has discussed this and hopes to hold it late summer. Each SPIN
representative will be contacted to determine when each will be able to attend such a retreat.
Joe Mast stated that he will work on this- project. Pattie Minder suggested that August or
September might be a better time of the year to hold it. Cara White suggested that staff could
survey the Standing Committee to see when the best dates are.
✓Election Process - Each rep received a neon green election survey, which they were asked to
fill out and return to staff. Staff will be putting together a ballot for the upcoming officer
elections. Doug Fierce asked when the elections would be held. Joe Mast noted that the
current terms expire May 31. As such, the elections need to be held to fill the positions.
✓And Finally... SPIN's Going to Have a Birthday Party!! - Next month will mark the 2-year
anniversary of the SPIN Standing Committee. Staff and the Executive Committee plan to have
cake and ice cream and celebrate SPIN's successes, and hope to honor aU SPIN
representatives who have served on the Standing Committee.
Agenda Item No. 4. Presentation: Metronort 114 Partnership - Cara White introduced City
Manager Curtis Hawk and Councilmember Sally Hall, who were present at the meeting to
discuss the Metroport 114 Partnership project.
Curtis Hawk pointed out that the date for going to the Transportation Commission has been
changed to June 18, 1996. Mr. Hawk spent time explaining the history of S.H. 114, and noted
that it had been discussed for almost a decade, but no money had been available to fund the
reconstruction. As such, over time the requests have been scaled back.
The portion through Southlake is right at $60 million. The entire project is $172 million. The
City of Southlake has thus determined priorities hoping that by breaking the project into smaller
pieces the State might have more inclination to fund it.
He noted that there are several projects related to S.H. 114, and several cities had been focusing
on different pieces of the project. He used the Roanoke bypass as an example. He noted that the
State is now working on acquiring right-of-way through Southlake, the only piece for which
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SPIN Standing Committee Meeting
May 16, 1996
right-of-way has not been acquired.
An initiative has recently begun to form a partnership of entities interested in S.H. 114 -- by
combining forces, it is anticipated that the chances for funding might be enhanced. The
partnership is "housed" in the Metroport Cities Partnership, an organization that has promoted
cooperation between cities for a number of years.
Mr. Hawk then discussed the traffic pressures that will occur once the Texas Motor Speedway is
operational. This has caused several cities to join the efforts. There are cities, Chambers of
Commerce, businesses, utility companies, and other organizations involved. The northeast
Tarrant County area has a tremendous population base, and economic base. Much of the
economic base is along S.H. 114. This, coupled with the significant growth that will occur, will
affect the corridor tremendously. Even without the race track, growth projections are enough to
justify the expansion.
The Commission needs to understand the issues as they make their decisions. The Metroport
group plans to provide significant data to make the case. He discussed the planning process for
making the presentation, and the presentation elements. The total cost of this effort is $70,000,
which is being shared by the various groups. There will be twenty minutes for the presentations.
Mr. Hawk pointed out that Martin Schelling is very involved in the process. Sally Hall then
discussed the petitions and letter writing campaign. These efforts have an impact on elected
officials. She stated that she came to ask SPIN for help with this project by taking petitions to
the neighborhoods. She mentioned that Grapevine will be sponsoring "Main Street Days" and
she thought it might be a good idea to work the event to try to get people to sign the petitions.
She noted that she was willing to pay for SPIN representatives to get into the event if they would
be willing to try to get signatures.
Jim Goggin suggested putting information on the cable channel. There is something on the
channel already, but Karen Cienki suggested that it might be a good idea to inform viewers that
they can contact their SPIN representative to sign a petition for the project.
Aizenda Item No. 5. Election Project Updates/Evaluation Form - Cara White began the
discussion by stating that SPIN was very involved in trying to get information out to the public
during the elections. The voter registration drive was the first initiative, then the candidate's
video program was produced and aired on Cablevision 25. Also, the SPIN Standing Committee
hosted the Candidates Forum. She stated that she had received good feedback on these projects,
however, thought the group should discuss them.
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SPIN Standing Committee Meeting
May 16, 1996
Karen Cienki stated that she put together her observations regarding the election projects
attached as part of the minutes. This information was included in the packet for review by the
Standing Committee. Jan Francis concurred with some of the points made by Karen about
having a separate forum for mayoral and council candidates. Joe Mast stated that Karen Cienki
had done an extraordinary job on the forum.
Cara White also noted that SPIN projects such as these need to be evaluated by the entire group
to determine the appropriateness of the project. The Executive Committee has developed a draft
evaluation form that was included in packets. This is a tool that could be used to determine the
appropriateness of projects. She opened the floor for comments on the evaluation form. Laura
Miklosko made a motion to approve the form as modified. Second by David Baltimore. Motion
was approved unanimously.
The group determined that it would be appropriate to begin working on election projects in
October.
Aizenda Item No. 6. SPIN Representative Vacancy Challenges - Cara White introduced the issue
by pointing the Standing Committee to the gray sheet included in the packet, which outlines the
problems which occur when a SPIN vacancy arises. The Executive Committee has discussed
this issue, and has identified several alternatives which were outlined on the handout. She
opened the floor for further discussion.
Michele Williams asked if there was a way to ensure that there is an alternate when the SPIN
representative is appointed. Cara White pointed out that this is an issue that has always been
discussed, and some of the representatives do indeed have alternates.
Shana Yelverton noted that there are really two problems. One is filling vacancies, the other is
covering the neighborhood during the interim when there is no SPIN representative. The
handout listed three alternatives for dealing with this project problem. Jan Francis noted that she
like the
idea of having partners, particularly if there is someone adjacent to your neighborhood. Doug
Fierce asked if the ordinance would have to be revised to include a "floater." Shana Yelverton
stated that it would. The group seemed to prefer the partnership concept. SPIN representatives
decided to think about the options and to discuss it further at a future date.
Agenda Item No 7 Internal Process and Procedures - Joe Mast and his team brought election
procedures to the SPIN Standing Committee during the February meeting. Cara White noted that
the rest of the processes and procedures will be discussed and she turned the floor over to Joe
Mast.
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SPIN Standing Committee Meeting
May 16, 1996
Mr. Mast discussed the need to change the ordinance to accommodate term issues that had been
identified. Laura Miklosko suggested that Standing Committee representatives should provide
input by the next meeting. The internal processes and procedures were also presented, updated
from the previous submittal, and are attached as part of the minutes.
There was some discussion regarding requiring a particular age for a SPIN youth representative.
Katie Holzgraefe noted that she began working with SPIN when she was in seventh grade -- she
is not an advocate of an age limitation. The thing is to find someone who can take on the job.
Joe Mast thought that a concrete age is needed, both maximum and nunimum. The group agreed
that the SPIN youth representative should be a high school student, and finally determined that
the age range should be expressed as "grades ninth through twelfth."
Joe Mast expressed his thanks to his committee for their hard work on the project.
Agenda Item No 8 Guidelines for Neighborhood/Developer Meetings - Cara White noted that
this is an issue that came up a couple of months ago. Laura Miklosko developed a draft set of
guidelines for handling these situations, which has been further clarified by staff.
Karen Cienki noted a typographical error on page two. Doug Fierce noted that he thought the
process laid out was a good one, and since it is not an ordinance the Standing Committee can be
flexible in its application.
David Baltimore suggested that SPIN representatives should always notify the Standing
Committee when they plan to host a meeting. Development impacts the entire city, and everyone
should be kept informed of what is going on. SPIN sponsored meetings should be advertised.
He wanted to include this as part of the guidelines.
Martin Schelling moved to approve the guidelines, second by Joe Mast. The Standing
Committee unanimously approved the guidelines with the suggested modification.
Agenda Item No. 9. Status of Goals and Objectives - Cara White introduced this topic, noting
that status sheets had been included in the packets. She asked if anyone had any questions about
the goals and objectives. There were none -- the status reports provided sufficient information.
Agenda Item No. 10.Open Forum - Pattie Minder announced that there is a proposal on the table
to rezone a piece of property on the corner of FM 1709, for cafe uses. Her subdivision is
opposed to this and she wanted to make the Standing Committee aware of the issue.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
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SPIN Standing Committee Meeting
May 16, 1996
ATTES .
Shana Yelvertn, Staff Liaison