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1995-09-28CITY OF SOUTHLAKE SPIN Standing Committee Meeting 4ESPIN M Thursday, September 28, 1995 6:30 p.m. 004 Standing Committee Members Present: Rex Potter, Chair; Cara White, Vice -Chair; Gary Fawks, Secretary, Scott Martin, Shelly Minton, June Haney, Pattie Minder, David Baltimore, Laura Miklosko, Karen Cienki, Betty Springer, Peter Sporrer, Doug Fierce, Katie Holzgraefe Standing Committee Members Absent: Martin Schelling, Joe Mast Guests Present: Terry Fox, Southlake Journal; John Hicks, Grapevine Sun Staff Present: Shana Yelverton, Assistant City Manager; Kevin Hugman, Assistant to the City Manager A brief reception preceded the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chair Rex Potter. Agenda Item No 2 Approval of 8/24/95 Meeting Minutes - Upon motion by Gary Fawks, second by Shelly Minton, the minutes were approved. agenda Item No. 3. Administrative Comments - Rex Potter led the discussion on the following administrative comments: Welcome New SPIN Reps - Mr. Potter introduced Shelly Minton (Neighborhood #5) and Pattie Minder (Neighborhood #8) as the Standing Committee's newest members and welcomed them. SPIN Vacancies - Mr. Potter noted that there are currently two SPIN neighborhoods which will need replacement representatives. SPIN Neighborhood #16 needs a representative as a result of Dick Johnston's resignation, and SPIN Neighborhood #7 will need a new representative when Peter Sporrer relocates to Houston. The neighborhoods have been notified, but no volunteers have come forward. Mr. Potter asked the Standing Committee to let him know if they are aware of any individual that might like to serve as a SPIN leader in these areas. SPIN Standing Committee Meeting September 28, 1995 SPIN Reports to the City Council - Mr. Potter reminded the Standing Committee of the obligation to make a very brief presentation during the "SPIN Report" section of the City Council meeting. Scott Martin missed his presentation due to illness and will make this up. Shelly Minton and Doug Fierce are the next SPIN representatives that are scheduled to appear. Shana Yelverton noted that the Council agenda was lengthy and only one should appear. SYAC Volunteers Are Needed - Kathleen Farrell prepared a memo which has been provided to the Standing Committee requesting adult volunteers to help with the Southlake Youth Advisory Commission. Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact the City Manager's Office. All America City Award - The National Civic League has provided written comments regarding Southlake's application for the All America City Award. A copy of these comments was provided to the Standing Committee. Kevin Hugman noted that the selection committee was generally impressed, but that we need to be more specific about what has been accomplished. More time to see results should provide the track record they look for when they review the application. Mr. Hugman also noted that the next application will need to show how the private sector and community based organizations are participants in the governing process. Maguire Thomas SPIN Meeting - Rex Potter commented on the meeting to the Standing Committee. Approximately 130 people attended the meeting. Mr. Potter noted that he was generally happy with the meeting and believed that the residents were appreciative of holding it. A copy of a letter prepared by Mr. Potter was provided to the Standing Committee. The letter was intended to be purely factual. Betty Springer asked if the total density of the property was 2.18. Mr. Potter stated that it was. He encouraged the Standing Committee representatives to read the letter and hand it out if they believe it is appropriate to do so. Cable Television/PC Based Bulletin Board Project - Kevin Hugman provided the committee with an update on the project. The cable project is underway, with the equipment ordered. The equipment should be in within ten days. Once the equipment arrives, Harron Cable will train staff on its use. The capability will be available by the end of October. This is a semi - joint project with CISD, who will have half of the pages. Mr. Potter asked if the school's video equipment will be available. Mr. Hugman stated that he believed it would. The computer bulletin board project has been delayed while the City explores several options. Again, the city is looking to work with CISD on the project. Presently, staff is looking at an Internet option, but costs issues are at play. He will report back to SPIN once options have been analyzed. Scott Martin noted that there is some software available at no cost. The Standing Committee expressed concern at abandoning the bulletin board because not everyone has access to the Internet. 2 SPIN Standing Committee Meeting September 28, 1995 Upcoming Events - Shana Yelverton provided the Standing Committee with a handout which outlined the process for updating the City's Master Thoroughfare Plan and the Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan. Additionally, she provided a listing of the upcoming planning and zoning activity for the City. Betty Springer asked if the worksheet could identify the SPIN neighborhood in which the activity will take place. Doug Fierce suggested that a legend be provided. Splitting Planning & Zoning Commission - Rex Potter brought the Standing Committee up to date regarding a committee the Council would like to form to evaluate splitting the Planning and Zoning Commission into two separate boards. Mr. Potter was asked to make recommendations from SPIN and he did. The Council has appointed Gary Fawks and Betty Springer. This raises the issue of how SPIN representatives should be appointed to various committees. He asked the representatives to let him know what areas they have interests in. Shana Yelverton agreed to develop a form for each representative to fill out. He pointed out that the Council may also be interested in getting non -Standing Committee representatives who are active in SPIN involved in these committees. Scott Martin noted that it would be worthwhile to find "vice chairs" to help serve in this capacity. Agenda Item No 4 1995-96 SPIN Goals and Objectives - Rex Potter briefly reiterated the process that the Standing Committee went through to document the group's goals and objectives. He noted that the Executive Committee had "fleshed out" the action plans, and that the Standing Committee is now asked to review these and make sure that the plans are representative of the entire committee. The committee reviewed the goals one -by -one and commented on each. A correction was made to Goal One, Objective Two, Action Plan One. The target date will now include information requiring that the report be submitted during the first quarter of 1996. Action Plan Six target date was corrected to show 4th Quarter 1995. The committee then discussed that interim reports on each subcommittee's progress should be provided at the Standing Committee meetings to ensure progress is being made on each objective. Betty Springer expressed her interest in tying together the City Manager's Report and a SPIN newsletter, since this effort does not need to be duplicated. Scott Martin expressed his interest in having the minutes reviewed prior to submitting them to City Council, but the committee pointed out that City Council and P&Z unapproved minutes are distributed. Mr. Martin also SPIN Standing Committee Meeting September 28, 1995 requested that the minutes be distributed earlier. The committee discussed the self evaluation report and decided to act on it at the October meeting. They felt it was important to finalize the report and get it out to the City Council and others interested in the program. Strengthening public awareness was discussed. Goal Two, Objective Two, Action Plan Two was modified to say "Contact local newspapers regarding establishing regular SPIN columns." Gary Fawks commented that the Executive Committee also discussed using the press to advertise SPIN openings. The committee discussed putting together a "welcome packet" to provide to new residents. Scott Martin suggested working with local "welcoming" groups. Gary Fawks noted that the Executive Committee had discussed handing them out to new utility customers. The committee corrected the comments referring to the action plan establishing a training committee. The responsible group is now #1, #4, A, #12, and #14. June Haney expressed concern that the Standing Committee is not in the business of training. Shana Yelverton explained that she sees the committee as being in place to provide direction to staff, who could then coordinate the efforts to get training provided to the Standing Committee and other SPIN activists. With regard to Goal Five, Objective One, June Haney requested that she be removed as a member of the subcommittee working on this and moved to Goal One to work on identifying groups to work with SPIN. The committee had no problem with making this change. Scott Martin asked if the goal of motivating citizens to participate had been left off. He wants to increase participation and believes that the citizens should be at meetings participating in the program. Committee members agree that it would be nice if this would occur. However, they do not believe that you can force people to fully participate. Gary Fawks stated that communicating better and working on the identified action plans should help motivate people. Doug Fierce believes that as SPIN achieves more success, involvement will increase. Betty believes that Goal Two addresses Mr. Martin's concerns. Karen Cienki disseminates information to selected representatives in the various subdivisions in her neighborhood, and she has determined that this works well. As long as the citizens are getting information, she believes she is accomplishing her task. Betty Springer suggested modifying Goal Two, Objective Two to read "Strengthen public awareness of SPIN and encourage increased community involvement. " Upon motion by Betty Springer, second by David Baltimore, the 1995-96 Goals and In SPIN Standing Committee Meeting September 28, 1995 Objectives were approved as amended. Agenda Item No. 5. October Joint Meeting with City Council - Rex Potter pointed out that the next joint meeting with the City Council is scheduled for October 26 at the Solana Education Center. He suggested that the Standing Committee present the goals at the meeting. Scott Martin suggested presenting them in a brief manner. Doug Fierce suggested that this would be a good time to extend the invitation discussed during the goal setting sessions. Doug Fierce suggested that this might also be a good time to express the Standing Committee's willingness to be involved in City committees. The agenda for the meeting will include: ✓Discussion of Self Evaluation ✓Discussion of Goals & Objectives ✓Open Discussion The Standing Committee will meet prior to the joint meeting with a work session that will begin at 6:30 p.m. The social will be held at 7:30 p.m., and the meeting with the City Council will begin at 8:00 p.m. Standing Committee representatives should present comments to the Executive Committee prior to October 16 on the self evaluation document. The Executive Committee will take the comments and work through them during their meeting on the 16th. Agenda Item No. 6. Open Forum - Rex Potter opened the floor for comments. Betty Springer complimented the Executive Committee on its efforts. Scott Martin agreed. Pattie Minder made the Standing Committee aware of her neighborhood's negotiation with a developer and noted that she feels that the process has worked well. Rex Potter suggested that the Standing Committee continue to have neighborhood meetings, reminding them that there are four meetings required per year. The committee discussed the difficulties of getting people to attend the meetings. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.