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1994-08-25Ile CITY OF SOUTHLAKE SPIN STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING August 25, 1994 MINUTES Committee Members Present: Camille Rasdal, Martin Schelling, Pamela Muller, Dick Johnston, Carolyn Hobbs, Joe Mast, Ernest Johnson, Scott Martin, Karen Reynolds, Katie Holzgraefe, Ron Maness, Robin Jones, Peter Sporrer. Members Absent: Cara White, Bill Salazar, Betty Springer, Rick Patterson, Wayne Haney, June Haney. Staff Present: City Manager, Curtis E. Hawk; Municipal Judge, Brad Bradley; Assistant City Manager, Shana Rice; Administrative Intern, Kathleen Farrell. The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Assistant City Manager Shana Rice. Shana opened the meeting by requesting that committee members turn in the completed survey included in the meeting packet. f Agenda Item No. 2. Election of Officers. Shana Rice explained the provision of the SPIN ordinance which requires the Standing Committee to elect officers, and directed the group to refer to the job description for each of the officer positions. The committee is required, by ordinance, to elect a Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary. Nominations were solicited by secret ballot. Names proposed as potential officers were listed, and committee members were asked to select officers from all the names submitted. Final voting was conducted through secret balloting. The following officers were elected: Ron Maness, Chair Pamela Muller, Vice Chair June Haney, Secretary Item No 3. SPIN Standing Committee Articles of Incorporation. Shana Rice told the Committee that she had received some comments and questions regarding the SPIN Articles of Incorporation. She noted that, during the TEAM Focus exercise, the SPIN Standing Committee Meeting Minutes August 25, 1994 Page Two Committee had been informed that Karen Reynolds would be bringing forward proposed changes. Karen Reynolds then presented her ideas for revising the Articles to the Committee. Her suggestions are reflected in the attached marked up copy of the Articles. The issue of the structure and requirements for Neighborhood Councils generated significant discussion. Karen Reynolds articulated her belief that all residents of the neighborhood should be allowed full participation, and that selecting a smaller group to serve as voting representatives within the neighborhood should not be a requirement. Other members of the Committee disagreed. One of the core issues centered around the requirement of a quorum. Many members of the group were concerned that it would be difficult to get neighborhood residents to commit to spending a great deal of time working as a member of a SPIN group, which may make it difficult to get a quorum for every meeting. Karen reiterated that she felt it was important to get people to the meetings, and that it should not make a difference who comes as long as residents of the neighborhood have an opportunity to participate. After much discussion, it was determined that the Standing Committee would be interested in amending the Articles of Incorporation to include a minimum requirement of four residents at each neighborhood meeting, consisting of the Standing Committee representative and/or designee ( and three residents. The group also discussed the number of meetings which should be required of neighborhoods. Dick Johnston pointed out that the Standing Committee representative could conceivably call a meeting and have no neighbors show up. He suggested that the language read to require a minimum number of called meetings. Shana Rice pointed out that prior approval by Council is required before the Articles can formally be amended. She suggested that each member compile a list of concerns or suggested changes prior to the next meeting, at which time action could be taken. Ultimately it was decided that each Standing Committee representative should submit their comments in writing to Ron Maness by September 3, 1994. Ron agreed to compile a comprehensive list and to disseminate it to the members of the group. Item No. 4. Quarterly Meeting with City Council. The discussion of this item began with deliberation on finalizing the date for the joint meeting with the City Council. Joe Mast and Ernest Johnson expressed an interest in having the dates remain as scheduled, since changing dates could result in their not being able to attend. After some discussion on alternate dates, it was determined that the September 29, 1994 date was the best for holding the joint meeting with the City Council. Discussion then moved to the format of the joint meeting with Council. How does the Standing SPIN Standing Committee Meeting Minutes aw August 25, 1994 Page Three Committee wish to structure the meeting? Members were in agreement that the meeting should be highly structured. The discussion that followed centered on possible agenda items. One suggestion was that the group go around the table and express some of their neighborhood's concerns. Another suggestion was to select two or three issues for discussion, and several were listed as possibilities. This suggestion raised several questions, including what would the group discuss concerning the issues? Several members voiced an interest in conducting research on the issues prior to taking it up with Council. Shana reminded the group that each Council agenda includes an item for SPIN reports, at which time individual neighborhood concerns could be raised. To date, about half of the Standing Committee members have appeared before Council. There was discussion about developing an educational component to Standing Committee meetings. Ron Maness suggested that the meeting be structured so that the Standing Committee could discuss the "game plan", that is, how SPIN is operating and how the Standing Committee wishes to interact with Council. Then some of the neighborhood concerns could be raised, albeit without getting into detailed discussions. Scott Martin believed that the Council should be telling the Standing Committee what they can do based on the neighborhood concerns. Shana Rice pointed out that since the meeting will be a joint meeting, the Mayor will preside over the meeting and have input into the agenda development. At this point in the meeting, there was considerable discussion of the "hot" topics, such as architectural standards control, zoning, etc. Karen Reynolds suggested that an expectations exercise might be useful for the first meeting. Ultimately it was decided that Ron Maness, as Chair of the Committee, would work with staff and the Mayor to develop an agenda, and that Ron would be the primary spokesperson for the Standing Committee during the meeting. Item No. 5. Update on Progress of SPIN Neighborhood Councils. Shana Rice suggested that it would be helpful for Standing Committee members to share information with each other. For example, Committee members could get together and discuss what is working, what isn't, ways to handle problems, etc. She suggested that City staff could organize early morning coffees which would allow Standing Committee members a time to come together for informal information sharing. The group was generally receptive, but expressed concerns about their time constraints. Karen Reynolds suggested that staff could schedule some informal time just prior to regularly scheduled meetings. SPIN Standing Committee Meeting Minutes August 25, 1994 Page Four Item No. 6. Meeting Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. Ronald Maness, Chair ATTEST: Shana Rice, Assistant City Manager