Richland Hills City Council

The Regular Session is open to the public. If Executive Session is required, it will be held in the Council Conference Room, and is closed to the public. Please note that although the Council will generally consider the items on the agenda in the order shown below, the Council may elect to re-order items in order to accommodate the needs of the Council, city staff, presenters, or the public generally. Therefore, members of the public interested in any agenda item are encouraged to be in attendance at the start of the meeting.

1.	CALL TO ORDER
2.	INVOCATION AND PLEDGES OF ALLEGIANCE
3.	PRESENTATIONS/RECOGNITIONS/PROCLAMATIONS -- Consider the following: A) Mayor Ragan present five-year service award to Officer John R. Burkes, Jr., Firefighter/Paramedic, Fire Department.
	1/10/2012  Biography of Officer John R. Burkes, Jr., Firefighter/Paramedic, Fire Dept.
4.	BOARD APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS -- Appointments and resignations.
5.	APPROVE AWARD OF CONTRACT REGARDING WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM EVALUATION -- Consider discussing and approving an award of contract for the amount of $24,000 to the professional engineering firm Freese and Nichols Consulting Engineers to perform an evaluation of the city’s water distribution system operation.
	12/22/2011  E-mail from the Director of Public Works to the City Manager.
	12/22/2011  Document from the Director of Public Works to the City Manager.
6.	APPROVE 37th YEAR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM PROJECT PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS -- Consider discussing and approving 37th Year Community Development Block Grant Program plans and specifications regarding reconstruction of portions of Henry Drive and Reeves Street and authorize staff to seek competitive sealed bids for the project.
	12/21/2012  E-mail from the Director of Public Works to the City Manager
	12/21/2011  Map 1
	12/21/2011  Map 2
	12/21/2011  Map 3
	12/21/2011  Map 4
	12/21/2011  Cover
	12/21/2011  Memo
	12/21/2011  Specifications
7.	CALL PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING 38TH YEAR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM -- Consider discussing and calling a public hearing regarding the 38th Year CDBG Program for 7:00 P.M., Tuesday, January 24, 2012.
	12/21/2011  E-mail from the Director of Public Works to the City Manager.
	11/22/2011  Letter
	11/22/2011  Memo
	1/10/2012  Proposal Form
	1/10/2012  Proposal Guide
8.	CONSIDER APPROVING REAPPOINTMENT OF MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE AND SUBSTITUTE JUDGES -- Consider discussing and approving the reappointment of Municipal Court Judge J. Stewart Bass and Substitute Judges.
	1/10/2012  Ordinance
9.	CONSIDER APPROVING AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SCHEDULE OF FEES FOR BUILDING INSPECTIONS AND VACANT BUILDING INSPECTION -- Consider discussing and approving an ordinance amending the building inspection fees schedule and establishing fees for vacant building inspections.
10.	CONSIDER AMENDING REQUIREMENT OF ADVISORY BOARDS TO FOLLOW ADOPTED COUNCIL POLICY REGARDING SUBMISSION OF AGENDA ITEMS AND MINUTES -- Consider discussing and approving an amendment to the requirement of advisory boards, commissions and committees to follow Council adopted policy of submitting complete items, including minutes, for Council consideration by the Wednesday prior to the City Council meeting date. This item was placed on the agenda by Mayor Ragan.
	1/10/2012  Minutes for Agenda Item Number 8 from Tuesday, June 14, 2011 Regular City Council Meeting and minutes for Agenda Item Number 12 from Tuesday, June 24, 2011 Regular City Council Meeting.
11.	CONSIDER APPROVING AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SIGN CODE REGULATIONS REGARDING OFF PREMISE SIGNS -- Consider discussing and approving an ordinance amending the sign ordinance to allow benches which advertise a public service to be exempt from the off premise sign provision of the sign code. This item was placed on the agenda by Mayor Ragan.
	1/4/2012  Ordinance
12.	CONSIDER DISCUSSING ENTERING INTO AN AGREEMENT TO LEASE CITY BUILDING TO THE “WE’RE ALL ABOUT THE DRESS” ORGANIZATION -- Consider discussing entering into an agreement to lease city building to the “We’re All About the Dress” organization. This item was placed on the agenda by Council Member DeSoto.
13.	CONSIDER DISCUSSING AND APPROVING AMENDING LEASE AGREEMENT WITH FOUR SEVENS OIL COMPANY AND SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST CHESAPEAKE EXPLORATION LP AND TOTAL E&P USA, INC. -- Consider discussing and approving amending an oil and gas lease entered into on August 3, 2005 by and between the City of Richland Hills and Four Sevens Oil Company, Ltd. and subsequently revived, amended and assigned to Chesapeake Exploration, LLC, as successor in interest to Chesapeake Exploration LP, and Total E&P USA, Inc. , a memorandum of said lease is filed of record with the Tarrant County Clerk’s office as Instrument # D205248763, with a corrected property description filed of record as instrument #: D205295001, and subsequently amended and filed of record as instrument #: D208297704, D209139096, and D210003598, in order to amend the pooling provisions of said lease. This item was tabled at Council’s Tuesday, December 13, 2011 Regular Meeting.
14.	CONSIDER DISCUSSING AND APPROVING AN OFFER BY CHESAPEAKE EXPLORATION, LLC TO LEASE CITY PROPERTY – Consider discussing and approving an offer by Chesapeake Exploration, LLC to lease approximately 12.187 acres of City of Richland Hills-owned minerals out of the George Akers Survey, Abstract 30, Tarrant County, Texas; and notice of intent to appear in protest of Railroad Commission Rule 37 Case No. 0272674, Permit No. 713704. This item was tabled at Council’s Tuesday, December 13, 2011 Regular Meeting.
15.	REMOVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS -- Any Council Member may remove any item from the Consent Agenda for separate discussion and action at this time.
16.	CONSENT AGENDA -- A) Approval of Tuesday, December 13, 2011 and Monday, December 19, 2011 Regular Meeting Minutes.
	12/13/2011  Tuesday, December Regular Meeting Minutes
	12/19/2011  Dec. 19, 2011 Special Meeting Minutes
17.	COUNCIL MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS/COMMENTS -- A) Mayor Ragan to report of employee holiday event held Friday, December 23, 2011.
18.	PUBLIC INPUT OR PUBLIC COMMENTS -- Public.
19.	EXECUTIVE SESSION: Pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Texas Government Code, executive session may be held under one or more of Sections 551.071, 551.073, 551.074, 551.076, 551.087, 413.183(f) and 418.106(d) & (e), either at the end of the Regular Session or at any time during the meeting on any item on the agenda if a need arises for the City Council to seek advice from the City Attorney or otherwise convene in closed session as permitted by such sections of the Open Meetings Act. The City Council may take action on any agenda item listed for executive session consideration upon reconvening in open session. Please refer to agenda for the items posted. The sections referenced above are generally described as follows: Section 551.071: Consultation with Attorney The City Council may conduct a private consultation with its attorney when the City Council seeks the advice of its attorney concerning any item on this agenda, about pending and contemplated litigation, or a settlement offer, or on a matter in which the duty of the attorney to the City Council under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Board of Texas clearly conflicts with Chapter 551; particularly, 1) amending an oil and gas lease entered into on August 3, 2005 by and between the City of Richland Hills and Four Sevens Oil Company, Ltd. and subsequently revived, amended and assigned to Chesapeake Exploration, LLC, as successor in interest to Chesapeake Exploration LP, and Total E&P USA, Inc. , a memorandum of said lease is filed of record with the Tarrant County Clerk’s office as Instrument # D205248763, with a corrected property description filed of record as instrument #: D205295001; 2) subsequently amended and filed of record as instrument #: D208297704, D209139096, and D210003598, in order to amend the pooling provisions of said lease and an offer by Chesapeake Exploration, LLC to lease approximately 12.187 acres of City of Richland Hills-owned minerals out of the George Akers Survey, Abstract 30, Tarrant County, Texas; and notice of intent to appear in protest of Railroad Commission Rule 37 Case No. 0272674, Permit No. 713704 and 3) seek advice regarding bond refinancing and legal responsibilities of financial advisors. Section 551.072: Deliberation regarding real property: The City Council may conduct a closed meeting to deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property. The City Council may conduct a closed meeting to deliberate a negotiated contract for a prospective gift or donation to the City. Section 551.074: Deliberation regarding Personnel Matters The City Council may deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of public officers, including the City Manager, City Secretary, City Attorney, Municipal Judge and non-advisory city boards and commission members. A complete list of the city boards and commissions and the membership of those boards and commissions is on file in the City Secretary’s Office. Section 551.076: Deliberation regarding Security Devices The City Council may deliberate the deployment, or specific occasions for implementation of security personnel or devices; particularly, receive report from the Chief of Police regarding building security. Section 551.087: Deliberation regarding Economic Development Negotiations The City Council may discuss or deliberate regarding commercial or financial information received from a business prospect that the city seeks to have locate, stay or expand in or near the city and which the City is conducting economic development negotiations or to deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect. Section 418.183(f): Texas Disaster Act The City Council may deliberate information: (1) for purposes of preventing, investigating, or responding to an act of terrorism or related criminal activity and involving emergency response providers, their staffing, contact information and tactical plans; (2) that relates to the risk or vulnerability of persons or property, including infrastructure, to an act of terrorism; (3) that relates to the assembly of an explosive weapon, the location of a material that may be used in a chemical, biological or radioactive weapon, or unpublished information pertaining to vaccines or devices to detect biological agents or toxins; (4) that relates to details of the encryption codes or security keys for a public communication system;(5) that relates to a terrorism-related report to an agency of the United States; (6) that relates to technical details of particular vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure to an act of terrorism; (7) that relates to information regarding security measures or security systems intended to protect public and private property from an act of terrorism; or (8) any other topic subject to discussion in closed session pursuant to the Texas Disaster Act. Section 418.106(d) & (e): Local Meetings to Discuss Emergency Management Plans regarding Pipeline Safety. The City Council may discuss emergency management plans providing for disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery in executive session when those plans contain sensitive information relating to critical infrastructure or facilities, and the safety or security of the infrastructures or facilities could be jeopardized by disclosure of the emergency management plan.
20.	ADJOURNMENT This facility is wheelchair accessible. If you plan to attend this meeting and you have a disability that requires special arrangements at the meeting, please notify the City 72 hours in advance of the meeting so that reasonable accommodations can be made. For sign interpretive services, please call also 72 hours in advance.