Galveston City Council on Thursday voted 6-1, with Elizabeth Beeton opposed, to authorize City Manager Michael Kovacs to formally submit a candidate list of mobility improvement projects to the Houston-Galveston Area Council with a request that they be included in the FY 2013-2016 Transportation Improvement Program.  Document

Beeton objected to a request for two transit vehicles for the Victory Lakes Park & Ride Service. Listen

“I don’t want to vote for more stuff for Victory Lakes,” Beeton said.  “I’m willing to support requesting additional money from H-GAC for transit service for our residents.  That’s what I consider to be a higher priority.”

The candidate list also includes a replacement bridge for the Pelican Island Bridge, replacing two lanes with no shoulders to two lanes with a shoulder on the approach roadway and a reduced shoulder and bike path on the bridge deck.

Other members of the city council questioned the priorities in the proposal, but agreed to move forward.

“I think we’ve been a little bit behind the curve in being proactive in the Houston-Galveston Area Council,” said Mayor Lewis Rosen.  “I think we are going to take a proactive look.  I don’t see how we cannot go forward with this right now.”

Marie Robb, who was appointed at the last meeting to represent the city council at the H-GAC explained why neither she nor Beeton, who was named the alternate member, did not attend the recent meeting of the H-GAC Board of Directors.

“Our names had not been submitted to the H-GAC, hence we were not made aware of the meeting,” she said.

The city council voted 5-0-2, with Cornelia Harris Banks and Norman Pappous abstaining, to approve a specific use permit in order to operate a convenience store and gasoline service station with a Burger King restaurant on the Broadway Funeral Home property in the 5800 and 5900 blocks of Broadway.  Listen

Interim Director of Planning and Community Services Lori Feild Schwarz explained that the project was redesigned so that it no longer needs a variance to permit the sale of alcohol, which had been opposed by Primira Iglesia Bautista.

“They’ve shifted the building, they’ve shifted doorways,” she said.  “And so, based on the way we take those measurements, (they) are meeting that 300 foot distance from the church next door.”

The city council voted unanimously to defer action on award of a $121,032 bid from Excello Construction to  provide housing reconstruction services at 2113 Avenue M ½.

The city council discussed but took no formal action on a proposal to direct the city manager to arrange for the immediate payment of all monies owed to contractors who have complied with all requirements of the City of Galveston Recovers Program.  The item will be included on a future workshop agenda.

The city council voted 6-1, with Beeton opposed, to refer a proposed ordinance that would eliminate wall plane articulation requirements next to bodies of water back to the Planning Commission.

A proposal to engage Williams and Resnick LLP to represent the city in the BP oil spill matter was pulled from the agenda by City Attorney Dottie Palumbo and was not considered for action by the city council.

The city council voted unanimously to appoint Shrub Kempner to the Finance & Fiscal Affairs Committee.

The city council, in workshop and in the regular session, held extensive discussion of assignment of city council members as ex-officio representatives to city boards, committees and commissions, but the deliberations broke down before the list of 35 was resolved. 

The assignments that were completed include the Scholes International Airport at Galveston Advisory Committee, with Rusty Legg as the ex-offico;  the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee, with Robb as ex-officio; the Arts and Historic Preservation Advisory Board, with Banks as ex-officio; Building Standards Commission, with Pappous as ex-officio, the Commission for the Arts, with Legg as ex-officio; Galveston Ethics Commission, with Robb as ex-officio; Families, Children & Youth Board, with Banks as ex-officio;  and Finance and Fiscal Affairs Committee, with Beeton and Pappous as ex-officios.

Ex-officio positions still not filled include the Intermodal Transportation Committee, the Historic Landmark Commission and the Tax Foreclosed Property Resale Committee.

All other agenda items were approved unanimously. Agenda