2014-01-27 Regular Meeting of La Porte City Council minutes

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depends on them like everyone else does. She is not against trucks making a living and supports a study to be conducted as mentioned by David Brady and Councilmember Moser. Mayor Rigby commented he received a letter from the Texas Trucking Association, and the City is asked that Council abstain from action on this item until the Federal Highway Administration has had time to investigate, and he further asks that municipal law enforcement abstain from issuing citations under the authority of this ordinance. The Mayor read from the letter, "Because all violations impact the safety rating of the drivers and carriers, alike, all citations issued under this ordinance must be contested under the grounds of the federal statute noted above." The Mayor went on to say that in this letter and the one he received from Steve Stewart, they talk about jeopardizing the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding through the Texas Department of Transportation. Mayor Rigby added that, as Councilman Mosteit pointed out, someone from the legal side would have to tell us what liability or exposure we would have. Mayor Rigby asked Chief Adcox if he knows how long the FHWA's investigation will take. Chief Adcox stated he cannot say how long it will take, but that copies of documents and maps have been provided to the investigator. He does not know the timeframe. Mayor Rigby also agrees with Mr. Brady and Councilmember Moser regarding hiring an expert to conduct a study and advise Council of options; but in the interim, Council needs to provide to the City Manager direction to enforce the ordinance or do what the City has been doing in the past and allow reasonable accommodation for fuel, rest and food. He asked the City Manager if that's a fair statement? The City Manager replied, "Yes, sir." The Mayor stated Council probably needs a motion for the ordinance change; and a motion to hire a consultant; or not to enforce the ordinance until an investigation... Mayor Rigby paused and then asked the city attorney for help with what is needed. Assistant City Attorney Clark Askins stated it would be good to have separate motions on these items. The Mayor then stated regarding the agenda item to amend Section 70-179 of the Municipal Code of Ordinances, he will entertain a motion. Councilmember Zemanek moved to change the wording from "specifically authorized to accommodate truck parking" to "specifically designed and marked to safely accommodate truck parking." Councilmember Kaminski seconded. Discussion ensued. Councilmember Martin asked if this would apply to new businesses only, or does it apply to existing businesses. How would existing businesses accommodate the new ordinance change? Police Chief Ken Adcox responded if the parking lot is not currently designed for truck parking, the business would submit to the City for approval with a designed site plan for parking. Councilmember Moser wanted clarification on the following: If we have existing hotels that have tractors staying at them, they're not going to be able to stay if the parking lot is not striped properly? City Manager Alexander stated, that is correct. Chief Adcox responded, not according to our existing ordinance. Chief Adcox stated the agenda item to adjust the definition was placed on the agenda prior to that complaint coming in. He then provided some statistics. In the last 30 days, officers took action on 136 on -view truck route violations; only 5 complaints came in on truck route violations or truck parking violations where a citizen called something in; but 136 times officers spotted a truck route violation and took some sort of appropriate action. He believes that is why we are having these complaints because officers are enforcing the ordinance. Mayor Rigby questioned whether a truck parked at Kroger or Burger King is a violation of the truck route. Chief Adcox responded, "Yes. The parking lot is not a part of the truck route." Mayor Rigby stated, "So we are going to tell Port Auto Truck Stop that they can no longer park the 40-50 trucks that they have in their parking lot because that is not on a designated truck route." Chief Adcox Page 5 of 10 January 27, 2014, Council Meeting Minutes