10-08-18 Regular Meeting of the La Porte City Council

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thanked Council for approving funding for a new Recreation and Fitness Center; Councilmember Bentley commented the meeting was very productive tonight; expressed concerns of the Planning and Zoning Commission not being presented the same presentation presented at tonight’s meeting and commented the recommendation may have been different; commented he is impressed with the process of the PAC meetings; advised he visited the Municipal Court and sat with Assistant City Attorney Clark Askins, and commented he is looking forward to National Night Out; Councilmember Engelken commented Holiday Inn Expresshotels are good hotels, it just needs a better location; commented the presentations of the hotels were both interesting; commented an audit should be conducted on all hotels to confirm accurate funding of hotel occupancy taxes and encouraged the City to spray for mosquitoes with the recent rain events; Councilmember Earp wished Councilmember Kaminski the best with her upcoming procedure; requested Staff work with the Planning and Zoning Commission on the type and location of hotels; and the City to explore the hotel licensing concept presented tonight; Councilmember Ojeda requested the list of types of hotels be forwarded to the Planning and Zoning Commission for their information; and Mayor Rigby thanked the Chamber of Commerce for hosting the First Responders’ Breakfast that was well attended; he commented the only phone call he received in regards to the hotel was from Mr. Patel asking if he could sit down and give that presentation that they gave tonight; he stated he guesses the consensus is that it was the location; so, two blocks this side of 146 is bad and two blocks the other side of 146 is good; he doesn’t get it because he said the cars are still going to be on Fairmont Parkway; and they are told you’ve got a great product, we’d really like to have you, but we don’t want you there. Mayor Rigby stated about two years ago he recommended to this Council that Council look at an ordinance similar to the one the City has for apartment complexes that says you can’t build an apartment complex within a thousand feet of an existing one. Mayor Rigby continued that at the time, one councilman said, “I think if someone has enough money to build a hotel, they ought to be able to build it.” “Well, I guess that changed, because we are not going to allow that person to build this hotel.” 12. ADJOURN - There being no further business, Councilmember Engelken made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Councilmember Zemanek seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 9/0. _______________________________ Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary Passed and approved on October 8, 2018. ________________________________ Mayor Louis R. Rigby Page 7 of 7 September 24, 2018 Council Meeting Minutes