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Home My WebLink About06-11-12 Regular Meeting of La Porte City Council LOUIS RIGBY DARYL LEONARD Mayor Councilmember District 3 JOHN ZEMANEK TOMMY MOSER Councilmember at Large A Councilmember District 4 DOTTIE KAMINSKI JAY MARTIN Councilmember at Large B Councilmember District 5 MIKE MOSTEIT MIKE CLAUSEN Councilmember District 1 Councilmember District 6 CHUCK ENGELKEN Mayor Pro-Tem,Councilmember District 2 CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA Notice is hereby given of a Regular Meetingof the La Porte City Council to be held June 11,2012, beginning at 6:00 p.m.in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, LaPorte, Texas, for the purpose of considering the following agenda items. All agenda items are subject to action. The City Council reserves the right to meet in a closed session on any agenda item should the need arise and if applicable pursuant to authorization by Title 5, Chapter 551, of the Texas Government Code. 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. INVOCATION – The invocation will be givenbyDr. B.L. Worsham,Second BaptistChurch. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The Pledge of Allegiancewill be led by Councilmember Dottie Kaminski. 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS (Limited to five minutesper person.) 5. CONSENT AGENDA (a) Consider approval or other action of the minutes of theregularCity Council meeting held onMay 14, 2012; and minutes of special City Council meetings held on May 7, 2012; May22, 2012; May 23, 2012; and May 29, 2012 – P. Fogarty (b) Consider approval or other action regarding the appointment of citizens to serve on the Charter Review Advisory Commission – P. Fogarty (c) Consider approval or other action authorizingthe purchase of land located at 114 S. Third Street by the La Porte Development Corporation for future parking for Main Street business patronsand visitors –S. Osborne (d) Consider approval or other action of an ordinance vacating, abandoning, and closing the th alley in Block 795, La Porte, and the South 15Street Right-of-Way between Blocks 795 & 796, La Porte, and authorizing the execution and delivery of a deed to the adjoining landowner – T. Tietjens (e) Consider approval or other action to increase the fee schedule for the collection of containerized commercial solid waste by Republic Services, Inc., by five percent,effective November 1, 2012, until October 31, 2013 – D. Mick (f) Consider approval or other action authorizing the Mayor to executeaMutual Aid Agreementwith Harris County, for fire suppression services – D. Ladd 6. AUTHORIZATIONS/ORDINANCES (a) Consider approval or other action regarding an ordinance adopting revisions to the City of LaPorte Employee Policies Handbook to incorporate the updated Emergency Pay Policy – J. Suggs (b) Consider approval or other action regarding a contract with Harris County Community Services Department for an award in the amount of $728,804 from Harris County Community Services Department for funding the City’s Home Investment Partnership (HOME) Program IV; appropriating a sum of up to $59,640 in City matching funds plus a five percent contingency for the City match ($9,108) for a total of $68,784 – T. Tietjens (c) Consider approval or other action authorizing the Interim City Manager to execute Amendment No. 2 to the Exclusive Right to Sell/Lease Contractwith Main Properties Real Estate, for the listing of six HOME grant properties – T. Leach 7.PUBLIC HEARING AND ASSOCIATED ORDINNACES (a)Public Hearing toreceive comments regarding recommendation Planning and Zoning Commission to approve Special Conditional Use Permit # 12-91000001 for developofthe City of La Porte Animal Shelter and Adoption Center at 10901 Spencer Highway – T. Tietjens (b) Consider approval or other action regarding Special Conditional Use Permit # 12-91000001 for developofthe City of La Porte Animal Shelter and Adoption Center at 10901 Spencer Highway – T. Tietjens 8. DISCUSSION OR OTHER ACTION (a) Discussion or other action regarding an ordinance appointing a Mayor Pro-Tem for a term commencing June 11, 2012, and expiring May 31, 2013 – Mayor Rigby (b) Discussion or other actionregarding appointment of members to the Chapter 172 Employee Retiree Insurance and Benefits Committee and the La Porte Area Water Authority – P. Fogarty (c) Discussion or other action regarding Bayport Deepening and Widening Projectby the Port of Houston – S. Gillett 9. STAFF REPORTS (a) Receive report regarding Port of Houston acoustical report – T. Leach (b) Receive drainage report – J. Garza 10. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS (a) Juneteenth Celebration, June15-19, 2012 (b) Chamber of Commerce Steak Cookout, Thursday, June 21, 2012 (c) CityCouncilMeeting, Monday,June 25, 2012 11. COUNCIL COMMENTS regarding matters appearing on the agenda; recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policies– CouncilmembersKaminski,Zemanek, Leonard, Engelken, Mosteit, Clausen, Martin,Moser and Mayor Rigby. 12. EXECUTIVE SESSION The City Council reserves the right to meet in closed session on any agenda item should the need arise and if applicable pursuant to authorization by Title 5, Chapter 551, of the Texas Government Code, including, but not limited to, the following: Texas Government Code, Section 551.074 – Personnel Matters: For the purpose of deliberating the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment and/or duties of a public officer or employee: Discussnegotiating a contract with candidate forposition of City Manager. 13.RECONVENE into regular session and consider action, if any, on item(s) discussed in executive session. 14. ADJOURN I n compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of La Porte will provide for reasonable accommodations for persons attending public meetings. To better serve attendees, requests should be received 24 hours prior to the meeting. Please contact Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary, at 281.470.5019. CERTIFICATION I certify that a copy of the June 11, 2012, agenda of items to be considered by the City Council was posted on the City Hall bulletin board on June 5, 2012. Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary Council Agenda Item June 11, 2012 1.CALL TO ORDER 2.INVOCATION – The invocation will be given by Dr. B.L. Worsham, Second Baptist Church. 3.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Councilmember Dottie Kaminski. 4.PUBLIC COMMENTS (Limited to five minutes per person.) *********************************************************************************** LOUIS RIGBY DARYL LEONARD Mayor Councilmember District 3 JOHN ZEMANEK TOMMY MOSER Councilmember at Large A Councilmember District 4 DOTTIE KAMINSKI JAY MARTIN Councilmember at Large B Councilmember District 5 MIKE MOSTEIT MIKE CLAUSEN Councilmember District 1 Councilmember District 6 CHUCK ENGELKEN Mayor Pro Tem Councilmember District 2 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCILOF THE CITY OF LA PORTE MAY 14, 2012 Monday, May 14, 2012, The City Council of the City of La Portemet in a regularmeetingonat the City 6:00 p.m Hall Council Chambers, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, at . to consider the followingitems of business: 1.CALL TO ORDER Mayor Pro Tem Engelken called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Members of Council present: Councilmembers Zemanek, Mosteit, Engelken, Martin, Moser, and Clausen.Mayor Rigby and Councilmembers Kaminski and Leonard were absent. Also present were City Secretary Patrice Fogarty, Interim City Manager Steve Gillett, Assistant City Manager Traci Leach and Assistant City Attorney Clark Askins. 2.INVOCATION -The invocation was given by Assistant City Attorney Clark Askins. 3.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE -The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilmember Tommy Moser. 4.PRESENTATIONS, PROCLAMATIONS and RECOGNITIONS (a) Proclamation – Motorcycle Safety and AwarenessMonthin the City of La Porte – Mayor Rigby Mayor Pro Tem Engelkenpresented a proclamation proclaiming the month of May as Motorcycle Safety andAwareness Month inthe City of La Porte. (b) Recognition – 2012 Silver Leadership Circle Award – Mayor Rigby Mayor Pro Tem Engelkenrecognized the City’s Finance Department for receiving the 2012 Silver Leadership Circle Award. Assistant City Manager Traci Leach accepted the award. (c) Presentation – Municipal Court Traffic Safety Award – Mayor Rigby Mayor Pro Tem Engelkenpresented the Municipal Court Traffic Safety Award to Judge Denise Mitrano and court employees. (d) Presentation – “Employee of the (First) Quarter” Mike Martin (Police Officer) – Mayor Rigby Mayor Pro Tem Engelkenrecognized Police Officer Mike Martin as “Employee of the First Quarter.” 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS (Limited to five minutes per person.) Maury Rubenstein,1718 Roscoe, addressed Council and presented photos of his property. Mr. Rubenstein advised Council of a past rain event and the cost of his maintaining debris, drainage andthe natural sloughon the property he owns. Page 1 of 6 May 14, 2012, City Council Meeting Minutes Chuck Rosa,812 S. Virginia St., addressed Council regarding attendance of members of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Walt Jones,1603W. Main St., addressed Council regarding the regulation/permitting of tow truck operators and storage facilities. Mr. Jones requested Council’s support of his business in La Porte. Ricky Sanchez, Territory Representative with Equipment Southwest, Inc., Irving, TX, addressed Council regarding Bid #12021 for Truck Mounted Hydraulic Cleaning and Vacuum. Mr. Sanchez advised Equipment Southwest, Inc., was the second lowest bidder during the bid processand provided additional informationhe felt would save the city money. Gideon Jones, 10403 Quiet Hill, addressed Council in opposition to thenew animal shelter’s locationwithin the La Porte Municipal Airport property. Ted Powell, 1700 Roscoe St., addressed Council with concerns of executing a lease termination agreement and development services agreement with the Economic Alliance Port Regionfor 908 W. Main Street. 6. CONSENT AGENDA – Consent agenda items are considered routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. A Councilmember may remove any item for discussionand/or separate action. (a) Consider approval or other action of the minutes of the City Council meeting held on April23, 2012 – P. Fogarty (b) Consider approval or other action regarding the appointment of Travis Stiver to the LaPortePolice Reserve Force – K. Adcox (c) Consider approval or other action awarding Bid # 12020 for Crawler/Excavator and Bid # 12021 for Truck Mounted Hydraulic Cleaning and Vacuum – D. Mick (d) Consider approval or other action regardingan ordinance authorizing the Interim City Manager to execute an Industrial District Agreement and Water Service Agreement with Baypark Industrial Properties, L.P. – T. Tietjens Ordinance2012-3411: Assistant City Attorney Clark Askins read the caption of AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION BY THE CITY OF LA PORTE OF AN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT AGREEMENT WITH BAYPARK INDUSTRIAL PROPERTIES, L.P. A TEXAS CORPORATION FOR THE TERMS COMMENCING JANUARY 1, 2008, AND ENDINGDECEMBER 31, 2019, MAKING VARIOUS FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SUBJECT, FINDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS LAW, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. Ordinance2012-3412: Assistant City Attorney Clark Askins read the caption of AN ORDINANCE APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING A WATER SERVICE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF LA PORTE AND BAYPARK INDUSTRIAL PROPERTIES, L.P., A TEXAS CORPORATION; MAKING VARIOUS FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SUBJECT; FINDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS LAW; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. CouncilmemberMosteit moved to approve the consent agenda pursuant to recommendations by MOTION PASSED. City Staff. CouncilmemberClausen seconded. Ayes: Mayor Pro Tem Engelken, Councilmembers Zemanek, Mosteit, Martin, Clausen, and Moser Nays: None Absent:Mayor Rigby, Councilmembers Leonard and Kaminski Page 2 of 6 May 14, 2012, City Council Meeting Minutes 7. AUTHORIZATIONS (a) Consider approval or other action regarding an ordinance amending Chapter 78, “Vehicles for Hire,” of the La Porte Code of Ordinances, regarding regulation/permitting of emergency tow truck operators – T. Tietjens Planning Director Tim Tietjens presented a summary. Ordinance2012-3413: Assistant City Attorney Clark Askins read the caption of Ordinance AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 78 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF LA PORTE, TEXAS BY ESTABLISHING REGULATIONS FOR USE OF STORAGE FACILITIES BY AUTO WRECKERS OPERATING IN THE CITY LIMITS; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; CONTAINING A REPEALING CLAUSE; PROVIDING THAT ANY PERSON VIOLATING THE TERMS OF THIS ORDINACE SHALL BE DEEMED GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR AND UPON CONVICTION SHALL BE FINDED IN A SUM NOT TO EXCEED TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS; PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE CAPTION HEREOF; FINDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS LAW; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Councilmember Zemanek moved to approve Ordinance 2012-3413, regarding an ordinance amending Chapter 78, “Vehicles for Hire,” of the La Porte Code of Ordinances, regarding regulation/permitting of emergency tow truck operators. CouncilmemberMoserseconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Mayor Pro Tem Engelken, Councilmembers Zemanek, Mosteit, Martin, Clausen, and Moser Nays: None Absent:Mayor Rigby, Councilmembers Leonard and Kaminski (b) Consider approval or other action regarding the La Porte Area Water Authority authorization for itsGeneral Manager to execute an agreement with the City of Houston to release $138,898.00 from the La Porte Area Water Authority contingency reserve – D. Mick Public Works Director Dave Mickpresented a summary. CouncilmemberZemanek moved to approve authorizing the La Porte Area Water Authority’s General Manager to execute an agreement with the City of Houston to release $138,898.00 from the La Porte Area Water Authority contingency reserve. Councilmember Clausenseconded. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Mayor Pro Tem Engelken, Councilmembers Zemanek, Mosteit, Martin, Clausen, and Moser Nays: None Absent:Mayor Rigby, Councilmembers Leonard and Kaminski (c) Consider approval or other action regarding appointing members to the Citizens’ Charter Review Advisory Commission – P. Fogarty City Secretary Patrice Fogarty presented a summary.There is one nominee still to be named, by Councilmember Leonard. Consensus by Council is to wait until there is a full slate before approving all members to the Citizens’ Charter Review Advisory Commission. Page 3 of 6 May 14, 2012, City Council Meeting Minutes (d) Consider approval or other action authorizing the Interim City Manager to executea lease termination agreement for 908 W. Main Streetand a development services agreement with the Economic Alliance Port Region – T. Leach Assistant City Manager Traci Leach presented a summary. Councilmember Martin questionedwhythe six-year membership feeis in the agreement. Assistant City Manager Traci Leach responded the term was requested by theEconomic Alliance Port Region. Six years is the amount of time left on the existing lease, and theEconomic Alliance Port Regionwanted the agreement to beconsistent with the development servicesagreement. Councilmember Martin also questioned the benefits and reporting received from the Economic Alliance Port Region. Assistant City Manager Traci Leach advised theCity can tap into a higher level of accountability, and the Economic Alliance Port Regionis available to come before Council and provide quarterly reports. Councilmember Zemanekquestioned if there are any penalties if the building isnotvacatedas promised. Assistant City Manager respondedthere are no penalties,but the Economic Alliance PortRegionindicated they would vacate well in advanceof the deadline. Councilmember Zemanek moved to approvethe Interim City Manager to executea lease termination agreement for 908 W. Main Streetand a development services agreement with the MOTION PASSED. Economic AlliancePort Region. Councilmember Moser seconded. Ayes: Mayor Pro Tem Engelken, Councilmembers Zemanek, Mosteit, Martin, Clausen, and Moser Nays: None Absent:Mayor Rigby, Councilmembers Leonard and Kaminski (e) Consider approval or other action authorizing the Interim City Manager to negotiate and execute a purchase and sale agreement, and any necessary agreements and instruments related thereto, for the transfer of 908 W. Main Street to the La Porte Development Corporation, acting as an independent foundation, for the sale of such property to K. Belle Interests for the development of office space – T. Leach Assistant City Manager Traci Leach presented a summary. Councilmember Martin moved approve authorizingthe Interim City Manager to negotiate and execute a purchase and sale agreement, and any necessary agreements and instruments related thereto, for the transfer of 908 W. Main Street to the La Porte Development Corporation, acting as an independent foundation, for the sale of such property to K. Belle Interests for the development of MOTION PASSED. office space. Councilmember Mosteit seconded. Ayes: Mayor Pro Tem Engelken, Councilmembers Zemanek, Mosteit, Martin, Clausen, and Moser Nays: None Absent:Mayor Rigby, Councilmembers Leonard and Kaminski 8.DISCUSSION OR OTHER ACTION (a) Discussion or other action regarding funding for regional bus service in the proposed Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Budget – T. Leach Assistant City Manager Traci Leach discussed future funding for regional bus service in the proposedFiscal Year 2012-2013 Budget. Page 4 of 6 May 14, 2012, City Council Meeting Minutes Council directed staff to move forward with funding regional bus service in the proposed Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Budget. (b) Discussion or other action regarding refund to La Porte Real Property, LLC, pursuant to Section 4 of the Rail Spur Agreement – S. Gillett/K. Askins Interim City Manager Steve Gillettdiscussed a refund to La Porte Real Property, LLC, pursuant to Section 4 of the Rail Spur Agreement. Councilmember Martin moved to approve the refund to La Porte Real Property, LLC, pursuant to MOTION PASSED. Section 4 of the Rail Spur Agreement. Councilmember Zemanek seconded. Ayes: Mayor Pro Tem Engelken, Councilmembers Zemanek, Mosteit, Martin, Clausen, and Moser Nays: None Absent:Mayor Rigby, Councilmembers Leonard and Kaminski 9.STAFF REPORTS (a) Receive report regarding results of the Citizen Survey – T. Leach Assistant City Manager Traci Leach shared a PowerPoint presentation and reported the results of the Citizen Survey. (b) Receive drainage report– J. Garza Senior Engineer Julian Garza provided a drainage reportand additional information not contained on the submitted report. 10.ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS (a) La Porte DevelopmentCorporation Board Meeting, Tuesday, May 15, 2012 (b) Harris County Mayors’ and Councils’ Association Dinner, Thursday, May 17, 2012 (c) City of La Porte Employee Picnic, Saturday, May 19, 2012 (d) Memorial Day, City Offices Closed, Monday, May 28, 2012 11.COUNCIL COMMENTS regarding matters appearing on the agenda; recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policies– CouncilmembersZemanek,Engelken, Mosteit, Martinand Moser.. Councilmembers Zemanek,Moserand Mayor Pro Tem Engelkencongratulated recipients of the proclamationandrecognitions and wished Councilmember Kaminski a speedy recovery; Councilmember Mosteit congratulated recipients of the proclamation and recognitions; Councilmember Clausen also congratulated the recipients of the proclamation and recognitions and announced the La Porte High School Baseball Team will be playingin the regional quarter finals this weekend; Councilmember Martin sent condolences to the Valerius family, commented on the Dog Park, Sylvan Beach Day,congratulated and thanked the Red Suspenders for donating $3,000.00 to the La Porte Special Olympics Program, and conveyed thanks to staff at Bay Forest Golf Course on the new bulkheads. Page 5 of 6 May 14, 2012, City Council Meeting Minutes 12. EXECUTIVE SESSION The City Council reserves the right to meet in closed session on any agenda item should the need arise and if applicable pursuant to authorization by Title 5, Chapter 551, of the Texas Government Code, including, but not limited to, the following: Texas Government Code, Section 551.074 – Personnel Matters: Deliberation concerning the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee: Denise Mitrano, Municipal Court Judge City Council recessed the regular meeting to convene an executive session at 7:45 p.m. to discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee: Denise Mitrano, Municipal Court Judge. 13.RECONVENE into regular session and consider action, if any, on items discussed in executive session. The regular meeting was reconvened at8:35 p.m. Noaction was taken. 14.ADJOURN There being no further business, at 8:35 p.m. Councilmember Clausen moved to adjourn the meeting. Respectfully submitted, _______________________________ Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary Passed and approved on June 11, 2012. ________________________________ Mayor Louis R. Rigby Page 6 of 6 May 14, 2012, City Council Meeting Minutes LOUIS RIGBY DARYL LEONARD Mayor Councilmember District 3 JOHN ZEMANEK TOMMY MOSER Councilmember at Large A Councilmember District 4 DOTTIE KAMINSKI JAY MARTIN Councilmember at Large B Councilmember District 5 MIKE MOSTEIT MIKE CLAUSEN Councilmember District 1 Councilmember District 6 CHUCK ENGELKEN Mayor Pro Tem Councilmember District 2 MINUTES OF THE SPECIALMEETING OF THE CITY COUNCILOF THE CITY OF LA PORTE MAY 7,2012 Monday, May 7,2012, The City Council of the City of La Portemet in a special meetingonat the City Hall 5:00 p.m Council Chambers, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, at . to consider the following items of business: 1.CALL TO ORDER Mayor Rigbycalled the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Members of Council present: Councilmembers Leonard, Mosteit, Engelken, KaminskiandMartin. Absent: Councilmembers Clausen, Zemanek and Moser.Also present was City Secretary Patrice Fogarty. 2. EXECUTIVE SESSION The City Council reserves the right to meet in closed session on any agenda item should the need arise and if applicable pursuant to authorization by Title 5, Chapter 551, of the Texas Government Code, including, but not limited to, the following: Texas Government Code, Section 551.074 – For the purpose of deliberating the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment and/or duties of a public officer or employee: Interview of candidate for city manager. City Council recessed the regular meeting to convene an executive session at 5:01 p.m. 3.RECONVENE into regular session and consider action, if any, on items discussed in executive session. The regular meeting reconvened at 7:09 p.m. No action was taken. 4.COUNCIL COMMENTS regarding matters appearing on the agenda; recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policies– CouncilmembersKaminski, Leonard,Engelken, Mosteit, Martinand Mayor Rigby. There were no comments. 5. ADJOURN – Therebeing no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:09 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________ Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary th Passed and approved on the 11of June, 2012. _____________________________________ Mayor Louis R. Rigby Page 1 of 1 May 7,2012, City Council Meeting Minutes LOUIS RIGBY DARYL LEONARD Mayor Councilmember District 3 JOHN ZEMANEK TOMMY MOSER Councilmember at Large A Councilmember District 4 DOTTIE KAMINSKI JAY MARTIN Councilmember at Large B Councilmember District 5 MIKE MOSTEIT MIKE CLAUSEN Councilmember District 1 Councilmember District 6 CHUCK ENGELKEN Mayor Pro Tem Councilmember District 2 MINUTES OF THE MAY 22, 2012, SPECIALMEETING OF THE CITY COUNCILOF THE CITY OF LA PORTE Tuesday, May 22,2012, The City Council of the City of La Portemet in a special meetingonat the City 6:00 p.m Hall Council Chambers, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, at . to consider the followingitems of business: 1.CALL TO ORDER Mayor Rigbycalled the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Members of Council present: Councilmembers Leonard, Mosteit, Engelken,Clausen, Zemanek, Moser, KaminskiandMartin. Also present wasCity Secretary Patrice Fogarty. 2. EXECUTIVE SESSION The City Council reserves the right to meet in closed session on any agenda item should the need arise and if applicable pursuant to authorization by Title 5, Chapter 551, of the Texas Government Code, including, but not limited to, the following: Texas Government Code, Section 551.074 – For the purpose of deliberating the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment and/or duties of a public officer or employee: Interview of candidates for city manager. City Council recessed the regular meeting to convene an executive session at 6:01p.m. 3.RECONVENE into regular session and consider action, if any, on items discussed in executive session. The regular meeting reconvened at 8:32p.m. No action was taken. 4.COUNCIL COMMENTS regarding matters appearing on the agenda; recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policies– CouncilmembersLeonard, Mosteit, Engelken, Clausen, Zemanek, Moser, Kaminski and Martin;Mayor Rigby. There were no comments. 5. ADJOURN – Therebeing no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:33p.m. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________ Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary th Passed and approved on the 11of June, 2012. _____________________________________ Mayor Louis R. Rigby Page 1 of 1 May 22,2012, City Council Meeting Minutes LOUIS RIGBY DARYL LEONARD Mayor Councilmember District 3 JOHN ZEMANEK TOMMY MOSER Councilmember at Large A Councilmember District 4 DOTTIE KAMINSKI JAY MARTIN Councilmember at Large B Councilmember District 5 MIKE MOSTEIT MIKE CLAUSEN Councilmember District 1 Councilmember District 6 CHUCK ENGELKEN Mayor Pro Tem Councilmember District 2 MINUTES OF THE MAY 23, 2012, SPECIALMEETING OF THE CITY COUNCILOF THE CITY OF LA PORTE Wednesday, May 23,2012, The City Council of the City of La Portemet in a special meetingonat the City 6:00 p.m Hall Council Chambers, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, at . to consider the followingitems of business: 1.CALL TO ORDER Mayor Rigbycalled the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Members of Council present: Councilmembers Leonard, Mosteit, Engelken,Clausen, Zemanek, Moser, KaminskiandMartin. Also present was Asst. City Secretary Sharon Harris. 2. EXECUTIVE SESSION The City Council reserves the right to meet in closed session on any agenda item should the need arise and if applicable pursuant to authorization by Title 5, Chapter 551, of the Texas Government Code, including, but not limited to, the following: Texas Government Code, Section 551.074 – For the purpose of deliberating the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment and/or duties of a public officer or employee: Interview of candidates for city manager. City Council recessed the regular meeting to convene an executive session at 6:01p.m. 3.RECONVENE into regular session and consider action, if any, on items discussed in executive session. The regular meeting reconvened at 9:50p.m. No action was taken. 4.COUNCIL COMMENTS regarding matters appearing on the agenda; recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existingpolicies – Councilmembers Leonard, Mosteit, Engelken, Clausen, Zemanek, Moser, Kaminski and Martin; Mayor Rigby. There were no comments. 5. ADJOURN – Therebeing no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:51 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________ Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary th Passed and approved on the 11of June, 2012. _____________________________________ Mayor Louis R. Rigby Page 1 of 1 May 23,2012, City Council Meeting Minutes LOUIS RIGBY DARYL LEONARD Mayor Councilmember District 3 JOHN ZEMANEK TOMMY MOSER Councilmember at Large A Councilmember District 4 DOTTIE KAMINSKI JAY MARTIN Councilmember at Large B Councilmember District 5 MIKE MOSTEIT MIKE CLAUSEN Councilmember District 1 Councilmember District 6 CHUCK ENGELKEN Mayor Pro Tem Councilmember District 2 MINUTES OF THE MAY 29, 2012, SPECIALMEETING OF THE CITY COUNCILOF THE CITY OF LA PORTE Tuesday, May 29,2012, The City Council of the City of La Portemet in a special meetingonat the City 6:00 p.m Hall Council Chambers, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, at . to consider the followingitems of business: 1.CALL TO ORDER Mayor Rigbycalled the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Members of Council present: Councilmembers Leonard, Mosteit, Engelken,Clausen, Moser, KaminskiandMartin. Absent: Councilmember Zemanek. Also present wasCity Secretary Patrice Fogarty. 2. EXECUTIVE SESSION The City Council reserves the right to meet in closed session on any agenda item should the need arise and if applicable pursuant to authorization by Title 5, Chapter 551, of the Texas Government Code, including, but not limited to, the following: Texas Government Code, Section 551.074 – For the purpose of deliberating the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment and/or duties of a public officer or employee: Discuss candidates for position of City Manager. City Council recessed the regular meeting to convene an executive session at 6:01p.m. 3.RECONVENE into regular session and consider action, if any, on items discussed in executive session. The regular meeting reconvened at 6:45p.m. Councilmember Engelken moved to authorize Mayor Rigby to negotiate a contract with the top city MOTION PASSED. manager candidate. Councilmember Mosteit seconded. Ayes: Mayor Rigby, Councilmembers Engelken, Mosteit, Leonard, Kaminski, Moser, Martin, and Clausen Nays: None Absent:Councilmember Zemanek 4.COUNCIL COMMENTS regarding matters appearing on the agenda; recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policies– CouncilmembersLeonard, Mosteit, Engelken, Clausen, Zemanek, Moser, Kaminski and Martin;Mayor Rigby. There were no Council comments. Page 1 of 2 May 29,2012,City Council Meeting Minutes 5. ADJOURN – Therebeing no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:46 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________ Patrice Fogarty, City Secretary th Passed and approved on the 11of June, 2012. _____________________________________ Mayor Louis R. Rigby Page 2 of 2 May 29,2012,City Council Meeting Minutes PRELIMINARY COST ESTIMATE FOR PROPOSED PARKING LOT ALONG THIRD STREET, LOTS 24-28, BLOCK 40 CITY OF LA PORTE, TEXAS SECTION "A" - PAVING ITEMBIDUNIT NO.ITEM DESCRIPTIONUNITQUANTITYPRICEAMOUNT 1Mobilization for Entire Contract @_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________LS1.00$10,000.00$10,000.00 Per Lump Sum 26" Reinforced Concrete w/ #4 Rebar on 24" Centers @_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________SY1,650.00$32.00$52,800.00 Per Square Yard 3Manipulation of Lime Subgrade @_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________SF15,720.00$1.50$23,580.00 Per Square Foot 4Hydrated Lime & Lime Slurry @_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________TON40.00$150.00$6,000.00 Per Ton 5Striping @_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________LS1.00$1,500.00$1,500.00 Per Lump Sum 66" Dowel Curb @_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________LF365.00$3.00$1,095.00 Per Linear Foot 7Stormwater Pollution Prevention (BMP) @_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________LS1.00$2,000.00$2,000.00 Per Lump Sum 8Tie-In to Third Street @_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________LS1.00$1,000.00$1,000.00 Per Lump Sum SUBTOTAL SECTION "A" $97,975.00 Plus 15% Contingency $14,696.25 TOTAL PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE $112,671.25 AREA MAP 788789790791 PROPOSED CLOSING PROPOSED CLOSING SOUTH 15TH ST. ALLEY IN BLOCK 795, LP (60 x 400 = 24,000 SQ. FT.) (16 x 400 = 6,400 SQ. FT.) 797796794 795 824825826827 1 inch = 100 feet 8.17 EMERGENCY PAY POLICY Revised 5-29-12 When an emergency impactsCity employees’ work schedules and status during emergency conditions and a “state of emergency” has been declared by the Mayor,the City Manager may grant emergency administrative leave with pay beforeand/or after the occurrence of a disaster, whether natural or man- made. If it is determined that a civil emergency condition exists, including, but not limited to, riots, civil disorders, severe weather or hurricane conditions, other natural disasters, chemical incidents, or similar conditions, the City Manager may suspend all provisions of the City of La Porte’s Personnel Rules except for those sections concerning Safety and Wages and Discipline. When emergency conditions exist, there may be a significant impact to City employees’ work schedules and status. Emergency conditions may include riots, civil disorders, severe weather or hurricane conditions, other natural disasters, and chemical incidents or similar conditions. When such conditions exist, the Mayor may declare an emergency or disaster. The City Manager may then implement the provisions of this Emergency Pay Policy and may suspend all regular pay practices. During an emergency or disaster, the City will also follow the guidelines established in both the City’s Emergency Operations Plan and Continuity of Operations Plan. Scope This practice applies to all non-exempt and exempt employees, and includes civil service personnel. Declaration of Emergency or Disaster Notification of State of Emergency/Disaster : When a stateof an emergency or disaster is imminent or has been declared, the City Manager or designee will notify all employees through Department Directors and/or Supervisors of such declaration. Emergency Periods Pre-Impact Period -This is the time period prior to the impending disaster and includes emergency response activities and preventive measures by the City of La Porte’s departments in preparing for the impending emergency. This period begins and ends as determined by the City Manager. when the City Emergency Operations Center or the City Manager declares an emergency is imminent. Emergency Period - This is the time period during which emergency response activities and restoration of critical services are conducted to protect life and property, and most other regular City services are suspended. This period begins and ends as declared determined by the City Manager. For hurricane or storm related emergencies, the emergency period this may include the period immediately prior to and/or following the storm’s impact. up to 36 hours prior to the storm’s impact and up to 36 hours following the storm’s impact. Post Impact/Recovery Period -This is the time period immediately following the emergency, during which activities are conducted to restore the City’s infrastructure and services to pre-disaster conditions. During this period, some employees may be required to return to work to assist with restoration of critical services, conduct emergency clearance of roadways, provide damage assessments, etc. This period begins when the City Manager declares it safe for all employees to return to workand ends when the City Page 1 of 5 Managerdeclares the period is over. This period begins and ends as declared determined by the City Manager. Recovery Period - This period begins when the City Manager declares determines it is safe for all employees to return to work, although some activities may continue in order to restore City services to normal conditions. The period ends as determined by the City Manager, in consultation with the Department Directors. Emergency Administrative Leave/General Provisions No one is excused from work until the City Manager, through the department directors, authorizes employees to leave, even if a public announcement of office closures or suspension of services is issued, unless the employee is participating in a general public evacuation ordered under an emergency evacuation order, and the employee is not designated as “Emergency Essential” and “Emergency Non- Essential” personnel or is necessary for the safety and well-being of the general public including a person necessary for the restoration of vital services. Employees must return to work as soon as an emergency isover they are notified it is safe to do so in order to participate in the Post Impact and/or Recovery Periods. Employees dismissed from work during an emergency will be on emergency administrative leave for their regular scheduled hours, pursuant to this policy. This leave will start when the employee is dismissed by his/her Department Director and will continue until the City Manager declares determines it is safe for all employees to return to work. Employee Responsibilities Employees are expected to return to work on their next scheduled day or shift following the City Manager’s declaration. Once the City Manager declares determines it is safe for all employees to return to work, employees are expected to return to work on their next scheduled day or shift. If an employee fails to show up for work or cannot show up for other reasons then the time lost will be Leave of Absence Without Pay, unless other paid leave (vacation, sick, etc.) is approved. During an emergency or disaster, any unauthorized absence from work or assignment may be considered sufficient cause for discharge, unless the employee is participating in a general public evacuation ordered under an emergency evacuation order and the employee is not designated as “Emergency Essential” and “Emergency Non-Essential” personnel or is necessary for the safety and well-being of the general public, including a person necessary for the restoration of vital services. Employee Safety The City of La Porte recognizes that all “Essential” employees have personal and family responsibilities that may conflict with the obligation to fulfill their job requirements during hazardous weather or state of local emergency. When evacuation of personal residences is required, employees will be permitted and expected every effort will be made to allow employees to make arrangements for their families like any other citizen, including the use of authorized shelters. Employees who are not able to return to work due to unavoidable or unsafe conditions related to the emergency (for instance, they have evacuated the area and are unable to return, or they are unable to leave their residence to return to work at City facilities due to impassable roadways, etc.) must contact their department director or designated supervisoras soon as possible and utilize appropriate leave time. Page 2 of 5 Employee Status Prior to a declaration of a civil emergency, Department Directors and/or Supervisors shall designate “Emergency Essential” and “Emergency Non-Essential” personnel. All personnel shall be advised of their January May 1st status as of each year. Individual employee status may change, as the needs of the City change during the civil emergency, or at the discretion of the department director. Emergency Non-Essential After a needs assessment is made, some employees may be temporarily dismissed from work, concurrently or successively, as determined by the emergency needand the department or function. These employees will be designated as “Emergency Non-Essential.”Theywill be placed on emergency Paid Administrative Leave pursuant to this policy. Each Department Director and/or Supervisor is responsible for identifying employees who are considered “Emergency Non-Essential”. “Emergency Non- Essential” employees may be required to perform emergency related duties prior to an incident and immediately following the incident, as directed by their supervisor. However, these employees are not on the City’s “Ride-Out Team” for a hurricane or other storm-related event. These employees may be temporarily dismissed from work, concurrently or successively, as determined by the emergency need and the department or function. If these employees are dismissed from work due to emergency conditions, they will be placed on emergency Paid Administrative Leave pursuant to this policy. Emergency Essential Each Department Director and/or Supervisor is responsible for identifying those employees who will be required to remain at work andrespond in the event of emergency conditions and those employees will be designated as “Emergency Essential.” “Emergency Essential” employees may be required to be available immediately before (Pre-Impact), during (Emergency)—, IKXLSWI[MXLMRXLI)QIVKIRG]3TIVEXMSRW and/or after the disaster or emergency condition (Post- 'IRXIVSVSRXLI'MX]vWw6MHI3YX8IEQx{ ?+A Impact and Recovery) to perform duties directly related to the emergency conditions, as determined by the City. Post-Impact/Recovery Assigned Post-emergency, all City employees are considered Post-Impact/Recovery Assigned employees. All City employees are to return to work after the City Manager declares it is safe to do so. After the return to work, some employees may be further identified as "Essential Recovery," while others may be temporarily excused from work. The City Manager and each department or function is responsible for identifying those employees who are essential to the quick restoration of critical services to the community. These employees designated as "Essential Recovery" employees are required to work during periods after the emergency when other employees may be dismissed or on authorized leave. Notwithstanding, an "Essential Recovery" employee will be allowed reasonable emergency paid administrative leave to secure the employee's home and family and attend to immediate personal needs resulting from the emergency. Emergency Duty Assignment In the event of an emergency or disaster, the City Manager may assign employees to any duty to the extent that the City is not in violation of any State or Federal Law. This includes employees of one department serving in an emergency capacity for any other department or function as assigned. Compensation for Hours Worked During a Declared State of Emergency or Disaster 1. During the Emergency Period, employees released from work or who are not required to report to work due to the emergency event shall receive pay for their normally scheduled workday. These Page 3 of 5 hours shall count as “time worked” for the purpose of computing overtime for non-exempt employees and shall be clearly noted on the time sheet with the appropriate emergency coding as designated by the Finance Department. Non-Exempt Personnel: 2. During the Pre-Impact and Post-Impact Periods, essential, non-exempt emergency personnel will be compensated at one and one half times their normal hourly rate for hours worked. During the Emergency Period, essential, non-exempt emergency personnel will be compensated at 2 times their normal hourly rate for the duration of the emergency this period. Emergency Exempt Personnel: 3. During the Pre-Impact, Emergency and Post-Impact emergency Periods, essential, Once this policy has been implemented, exempt emergency personnel will receive up to 40 hours of compensatory time for the first 40 hours worked, regardless of the period. Thereafter After the first 40 hours worked, essential, exempt emergency personnel will be compensated at one and one half times their normal hourly rate of pay during the Pre- Impact Period. Once During the Emergency Period begins, these employees will be compensated at 2 times their normal hourly rate for the duration of this period. During the Post-Impact Period, these employees will be compensated at one and one half times their normal hourly rate for hours worked. These rates will be computed as if the employee was not paid on a salary basis through the duration of the emergency. If an employee fails to take the compensatory time off within the specified time period one year, then the employee forfeits the unused compensatory time off, unless failure to use the compensatory time off is due to a (1) separation of employment (2) placement in a leave without pay status (3) to perform service in the uniformed services or (4) because of an on-the-job injury with entitlement to injury compensation, at which time the employee will be paid at one and one- half times their hourly rate for the amount of compensatory time the employee has left. 4. During the Recovery Period, regular pay practices will apply to all employees, exempt and non- exempt. 5. The additional compensation shall be in addition to the employee’s regular salary. Each department will provide the appropriate forms for non-exempt and exempt employees to document their hours worked. This documentation must include an explanation of the emergency work performed and be approved by the employee’s Supervisor. The documentation must then be forwarded to the City Manager’s Office for approval. Nothing herein shall be construed to affect the non-exempt or exempt status of such employees. 6. Payment for overtime related to an emergency or disaster will be paid in a separate payroll upon review and approval by the City Manager. Employees will receive their regular rate of pay for the pay period until the approval process is completed. 7. Employees who are out on prior-approved leave or who called in sick during any of the three periods will continue to be charged for such leave. All other policies concerning remuneration shall comply with the City of La Porte’s Employee Policies Handbook and the Fair Labor Standard Act. At the director’s discretion, previously approved leave may be cancelled when a state of an emergency or disaster is imminent or declared. Page 4 of 5 The following table applies to all emergency essential and emergency non-essential personnel who perform emergency-related work during any of the emergency pay periods. Summary of Emergency Pay Provisions Pre-Impact Period Emergency Period Post-Impact Period Recovery Period This is the time period This is the time period This is the time period during which activities are prior to the impending during which emergency conducted to restore the This is the time period disaster. This period Period response activities and City’s infrastructure and when normal City includes emergency Description restoration of critical services to pre-disaster services may resume. preparation activities and services are conducted to conditions. During this Recovery efforts will be preventive measures by protect life and property, period, some employees ongoing; however, all the City of La Porte and most other regular may be required to return to employees will be departments preparing for City services are work to provide damage required to return to work. the impending suspended.assessments, emergency emergency. clearance of roadways, etc. The Mayor declares an emergency or disaster is City Manager determines PeriodAs declared determined As declared determined by imminent and the City it is safe for employees to Begins: by the City Manager. the City Manager. Manager implements this return to work. policy. Asdeclared determined City Manager determines it determined As declared determined by the City Manager, in As declared Period Ends: is safe for employees to by the City Manager. by the City Manager. consultation with the return to work. Department Directors. Non-Exempt:Non-Exempt:Non-Exempt: Non-Exempt: 1.5x for all scheduled2x for all scheduled hours1.5x for all scheduled hours Regular pay practices hours worked worked worked apply How do you Exempt: Once the policy has been implemented, exempt emergency personnel will receive 40 hours compensatory pay for each time for the first 40 hours worked, regardless of the period. Thereafter, the following compensation will apply. period? Exempt: Exempt: Exempt:Exempt: 1.5x for all hours over 40 Regular pay practices 1.5x for all hours worked 2x for all hours worked worked apply How do you pay if on pre- Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave approved leave? Page 5 of 5 8.17 EMERGENCY PAY POLICY Revised 5-29-12 When emergency conditions exist, there may be a significant impact to City employees’ work schedules and status. Emergency conditions may include riots, civil disorders, severe weather or hurricane conditions, other natural disasters, and chemical incidents or similar conditions. When such conditions exist, the Mayor may declare an emergency or disaster. The City Manager may then implement the provisions of this Emergency Pay Policy and may suspend all regular pay practices. During an emergency or disaster, the City will also follow the guidelines established in both the City’s Emergency Operations Plan and Continuity of Operations Plan. Scope This practice applies to all non-exempt and exempt employees, and includes civil service personnel. Declaration of Emergency or Disaster Notification of Emergency/Disaster : When an emergency or disaster is imminent or has been declared, the City Manager will notify all employees through Department Directors and/or Supervisors of such declaration. Emergency Periods Pre-Impact Period -This is the time period prior to the impending disaster and includes emergency response activities and preventive measures by the City of La Porte’s departments in preparing for the impending emergency. This period begins and ends as determined by the City Manager. Emergency Period - This is the time period during which emergency response activities and restoration of critical services are conducted to protect life and property, and most other regular City services are suspended. This period begins and ends as determined by the City Manager. For hurricane or storm related emergencies; this may include the period immediately prior to and/or following the storm’s impact. Post Impact -This is the time period immediately following the emergency, during which activities are conducted to restore the City’s infrastructure and services to pre-disaster conditions. During this period, some employees may be required to return to work to assist with restoration of critical services, conduct emergency clearance of roadways, provide damage assessments, etc. This period begins and ends as determined by the City Manager. Recovery Period - This period begins when the City Manager determines it is safe for all employees to return to work, although some activities may continue in order to restore City services to normal conditions. The period ends as determined by the City Manager, in consultation with the Department Directors. Emergency Administrative Leave/General Provisions No one is excused from work until the City Manager, through the department directors, authorizes employees to leave, even if a public announcement of office closures or suspension of services is issued, unless the employee is participating in a general public evacuation ordered under an emergency evacuation order, and the employee is not designated as “Emergency Essential” and “Emergency Non- Essential” personnel or is necessary for the safety and well-being of the general public including a person necessary for the restoration of vital services. Page 1 of 4 Employees must return to work as soon as they are notified it is safe to do so in order to participate in the Post Impact and/or Recovery Periods. Employees dismissed from work during an emergency will be on emergency administrative leave for their regular scheduled hours, pursuant to this policy. This leave will start when the employee is dismissed by his/her Department Director and will continue until the City Manager determines it is safe for employees to return to work. Employee Responsibilities Once the City Manager determines it is safe for employees to return to work, employees are expected to return to work on their next scheduled day or shift. If an employee fails to show up for work or cannot show up for other reasons then the time lost will be Leave of Absence without Pay, unless other paid leave (vacation, sick, etc.) is approved. During an emergency or disaster, any unauthorized absence from work or assignment may be considered sufficient cause for discharge, unless the employee is participating in a general public evacuation ordered under an emergency evacuation order and the employee is not designated as “Emergency Essential” and “Emergency Non-Essential” personnel or is necessary for the safety and well-being of the general public, including a person necessary for the restoration of vital services. Employee Safety The City of La Porte recognizes that all employees have personal and family responsibilities that may conflict with the obligation to fulfill their job requirements during hazardous weather or state of local emergency. When evacuation of personal residences is required, every effort will be made to allow employees to make arrangements for their families like any other citizen, including the use of authorized shelters. Employees who are not able to return to work due to unavoidable or unsafe conditions related to the emergency (for instance, they have evacuated the area and are unable to return, or they are unable to leave their residence to return to work at City facilities due to impassable roadways, etc.) must contact their department director or designated supervisoras soon as possible and utilize appropriate leave time. Employee Status Department Directors and/or Supervisors shall designate “Emergency Essential” and “Emergency Non- May 1st Essential” personnel. All personnel shall be advised of their status as of each year. Individual employee status may change, as the needs of the City change during the emergency, or at the discretion of the department director. Emergency Non-Essential Each Department Director and/or Supervisor is responsible for identifying employees who are considered “Emergency Non-Essential”. “Emergency Non-Essential” employees may be required to perform emergency related duties prior to an incident and immediately following the incident, as directed by their supervisor. However, these employees are not on the City’s “Ride-Out Team” for a hurricane or other storm-related event. These employees may be temporarily dismissed from work, concurrently or successively, as determined by the emergency need and the department or function. If these employees are dismissed from work due to emergency conditions, they will be placed on emergency Paid Administrative Leave pursuant to this policy. Emergency Essential Each Department Director and/or Supervisor is responsible for identifying those employees who will be designated as “Emergency Essential.” “Emergency Essential” employees may be required to be available immediately before (Pre-Impact), during (Emergency)—, IKXLSWI[MXLMRXLI)QIVKIRG]3TIVEXMSRW and/or after the disaster or emergency condition (Post-Impact 'IRXIVSVSRXLI'MX]vWw6MHI3YX8IEQx{ and Recovery) to perform duties directly related to the emergency conditions, as determined by the City. Page 2 of 4 Emergency Duty Assignment In the event of an emergency or disaster, the City Manager may assign employees to any duty to the extent that the City is not in violation of any State or Federal Law. This includes employees of one department serving in an emergency capacity for any other department or function as assigned. Compensation for Hours Worked During a Declared Emergency or Disaster 1. During the Emergency Period, employees released from work or who are not required to report to work due to the emergency event shall receive pay for their normally scheduled workday. These hours shall count as “time worked” for the purpose of computing overtime for non-exempt employees and shall be clearly noted on the time sheet with the appropriate emergency coding as designated by the Finance Department. Non-Exempt Personnel: 2. During the Pre-Impact and Post-Impact Periods, non-exempt emergency personnel will be compensated at one and one half times their normal hourly rate for hours worked. During the Emergency Period, non-exempt emergency personnel will be compensated at 2 times their normal hourly rate for the duration of this period. Exempt Personnel: 3. Once this policy has been implemented, exempt emergency personnel will receive up to 40 hours of compensatory time for the first 40 hours worked, regardless of the period. After the first 40 hours worked, exempt emergency personnel will be compensated at one and one half times their normal hourly rate of pay during the Pre-Impact Period. During the Emergency Period, these employees will be compensated at 2 times their normal hourly rate. During the Post- Impact Period, these employees will be compensated at one and one half times their normal hourly rate for hours worked. These rates will be computed as if the employee was not paid on a salary basis through the duration of the emergency. If an employee fails to take the compensatory time off within one year, then the employee forfeits the unused compensatory time off, unless failure to use the compensatory time off is due to a (1) separation of employment (2) placement in a leave without pay status (3) to perform service in the uniformed services or (4) because of an on-the-job injury with entitlement to injury compensation, at which time the employee will be paid at one and one-half times their hourly rate for the amount of compensatory time the employee has left. 4. During the Recovery Period, regular pay practices will apply to all employees, exempt and non- exempt. 5. The additional compensation shall be in addition to the employee’s regular salary. Each department will provide the appropriate forms for non-exempt and exempt employees to document their hours worked. This documentation must include an explanation of the emergency work performed and be approved by the employee’s Supervisor. The documentation must then be forwarded to the City Manager’s Office for approval. Nothing herein shall be construed to affect the non-exempt or exempt status of such employees. 6. Payment for overtime related to an emergency or disaster will be paid in a separate payroll upon review and approval by the City Manager. Employees will receive their regular rate of pay for the pay period until the approval process is completed. 7. Employees who are out on prior-approved leave or who called in sick during any of the three periods will continue to be charged for such leave. All other policies concerning remuneration shall comply with the City of La Porte’s Employee Policies Handbook and the Fair Labor Standard Act. At the director’s discretion, previously approved leave may be cancelled when an emergency or disaster is imminent or declared. Page 3 of 4 The following table applies to all emergency essential and emergency non-essential personnel who perform emergency-related work during any of the emergency pay periods. Summary of Emergency Pay Provisions Pre-Impact Period Emergency Period Post-Impact Period Recovery Period This is the time period This is the time period This is the time period during which activities are prior to the impending during which emergency conducted to restore the This is the time period disaster. This period Period response activities and City’s infrastructure and when normal City includes emergency Description restoration of critical services to pre-disaster services may resume. preparation activities and services are conducted to conditions. During this Recovery efforts will be preventive measures by protect life and property, period, some employees ongoing; however, all the City of La Porte and most other regular may be required to return to employees will be departments preparing for City services are work to provide damage required to return to work. the impending suspended.assessments, emergency emergency. clearance of roadways, etc. The Mayor declares an emergency or disaster is City Manager determines PeriodAs determined by the City As determined by the City imminent and the City it is safe for employees to Begins: Manager. Manager. Manager implements this return to work. policy. As determined by the City City Manager determines it As determined by the City As determined by the City Manager, in consultation Period Ends: is safe for employees to Manager. Manager. with the Department return to work. Directors. Non-Exempt: Non-Exempt:Non-Exempt:Non-Exempt: Regular pay practices 1.5x for all hours worked 2x for all hours worked 1.5x for all hours worked apply How do you Exempt: Once the policy has been implemented, exempt emergency personnel will receive 40 hours compensatory pay for each time for the first 40 hours worked, regardless of the period. Thereafter, the following compensation will apply. period? Exempt: Exempt:Exempt:Exempt: Regular pay practices 1.5x for all hours worked 2x for all hours worked 1.5x for all hours worked apply How do you pay if on pre- Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave approved leave? Page 4 of 4 )QIVKIRG]4E]4SPMG] 8.17 Emergency Pay Policy When an emergency impacts City employees’ work schedules and status during emergency Mayor conditions and a “state of emergency” has been declared by the , the City Manager may grant emergency administrative leave with pay before and/or after the occurrence of a disaster, whether natural or man-made. If it is determined that a civil emergency condition exists, including, but not limited to, riots, civil disorders, severe weather or hurricane conditions, other natural disasters, chemical incidents, or similar conditions, the City Manager may suspend all provisions of the City of La Porte’s Employee Policies Handbook that may be in conflict with this section, not inconsistent with the City of La Porte Charter or state law. Scope This practice applies to all non-exempt and exempt employees, and includes civil service personnel. Declaration of Emergency Notification of State of Emergency : When a state of emergency is imminent or has been declared, the City Manager or designee will notify all employees through department directors or managers of such declaration. Emergency Periods Pre-Impact Period -This is the time period prior to the impending disaster and includes emergency response activities and preventive measures by the City of La Porte’s departments in preparing for the impending emergency. This period begins when the City Emergency Operations Center and the City Manager declares an emergency is imminent. Emergency Period – This is the time period during which emergency response activities and restoration of critical services are conducted to protect life and property, and most other regular This period City services are suspended. begins and ends as declared by the City Manager. For hurricane or storm related emergencies, the emergency period may include up to 36 hours prior to the storm’s impact and up to 36 hours following the storms impact. Post Impact/Recovery Period – This is the time period during which activities are conducted to restore the City’s infrastructure and services to pre-disaster conditions. This period begins when the City Manager declares the emergency period has concluded. Emergency Administrative Leave/General Provisions No one is excused from work until the City Manager, through the department directors, authorizes employees to leave, even if a public announcement of office closures or suspension of services is issued. Employees must return to work as soon as an emergency is over to participate in the Post Impact/Recovery Period. Employees dismissed from work during an emergency will be on emergency administrative leave pursuant to this policy. This leave will start when the employee is dismissed by his/her Department Director and will continue until the City Manager declares that it is safe for all employees to return to work. Employee Responsibilities Employees are expected to return to work on their next scheduled day or shift following the City Manger’s declaration. If an employee fails to show up for work or cannot show up for other reasons then the time lost will be Leave of Absence Without Pay, unless other paid leave (vacation, sick, etc.) had been or is approved. Employees Safety The City of La Porte recognizes that all “Essential” employees have personal and family responsibilities that may conflict with the obligation to fulfill their job requirements during hazardous weather or state of local emergency. When evacuation of personal residences is required, employees will be permitted and expected to make arrangements for their families like any other citizen, including the use of authorized shelters. Employees who are not able to return to work due to unavoidable or unsafe conditions related to the emergency (for instance, they have evacuated the area and are unable to return, or they are unable to leave their residence to return to work at City facilities due to impassable roadways, etc.) must contact their department director or designated supervisor as soon as possible and utilize appropriate leave time. During a state of emergency, any unauthorized absence from work or assignment may be considered sufficient cause for discharge. Employee Status Prior to a declaration of a civil emergency, Department Directors shall, designate “Emergency Essential” and “Emergency Non-Essential” personnel. All personnel shall be advised of their st January 1 status as of each year. Individual employee status may change, as the needs of the City change during the civil emergency, or at the discretion of the Department director. Emergency Non-Essential After a needs assessment is made, some employees may be temporarily dismissed from work, concurrently or successively, as determined by the emergency need and the department or function and those will be designated as “Emergency Non-Essential.” They will be placed on emergency Paid Administrative Leave pursuant to this policy. Emergency Essential Each department director is responsible for identifying those employees who will be required to remain or respond in the event of emergency conditions and those employees will be designated as “Emergency Essential.” “Emergency-Essential” employees may be required to be available immediately before (Pre-Impact), during (Emergency)—, those within the IK Emergency Operations Center—and/or after the disaster or emergency condition (Post- Impact/Recovery) to perform duties directly related to the emergency conditions, as determined by City. Post-Impact/Recovery Assigned Post-emergency, all City employees are considered Post-Impact/Recovery Assigned employees. All City employees are to return to work after the City Manager declares it is safe to do so. After the return to work, some employees may be further identified as “Essential Recovery,” while others may be temporarily excused from work. The City Manager and each department or function is responsible for identifying those employees who are essential to the quick restoration of critical services to the community. These employees designated as “Essential Recovery” employees are required to work during periods after the emergency when other employees may be dismissed or on authorized leave. Notwithstanding, an “Essential Recovery” employee will be allowed reasonable emergency paid administrative leave to secure the employee’s home and family and attend to immediate personal needs resulting from the emergency. Emergency Duty Assignment In the event of an emergency, the City Manager may assign employees to any duty to the extent that the City is not in violation of any State or Federal Law. This includes employees of one department serving in an emergency capacity for any other department or function as assigned. Compensation for Hours Worked During a Declared State of Emergency 1. During the Emergency Period, employees released from work or who are not required to report to work due to the emergency event shall receive pay for their normally scheduled workday. These hours shall count as “time worked” for the purpose of computing overtime for non-exempt employees and shall be clearly noted on the time sheet with the appropriate emergency coding as designated by the Finance Department. 2. Non-Exempt Personnel: During the pre-impact and post-impact periods, essential, non- exempt emergency personnel will be compensated at one and one half times their normal hourly rate for hours worked. During the emergency period, essential, non- exempt emergency personnel will be compensated at 2 times their normal hourly rate for the duration of the emergency period. 3. Emergency Personnel: During the pre-impact, emergency and post-impact emergency periods, essential, exempt emergency personnel will receive up to 40 hours of compensatory time for the first 40 hours worked. Thereafter, essential, exempt emergency personnel will be compensated at one and one half times their hourly rate of pay computed as if the employee was not paid on a salary basis through the duration of the emergency. If an employee fails to take the compensatory time off within the specified time period then the employee forfeits the unused compensatory time off, unless failure to use the compensatory time off is due to a (1) separation of employment (2) placement in a leave without pay status (3) to perform service in the uniformed services or (4) because of an on-the-job injury with entitlement to injury compensation at which time the employee will be paid at one and one-half times their hourly rate for the amount of compensatory time the employee has left. 4. The additional compensation shall be in addition to the employee’s regular salary. Each department will provide the appropriate forms for exempt employees to document their hours worked. Nothing herein shall be construed to affect the exempt status of such employees. 5. Employees who are out on prior-approved leave or who called in sick during any of the three periods will continue to be charged for such leave. All other policies concerning remuneration shall comply with the City of La Porte’s Employee Policies Handbook and the Fair Labor Standard Act. At the director’s discretion, previously approved leave, may be cancelled when a state of emergency is imminent or declared. Post Impact/Recovery Pre-Impact Period Emergency Period Period This is the time period prior to the impending disaster. This is the time period during This is the time period during This period includes which emergency response which activities are emergency response activities and restoration of conducted to restore the preparation activities and critical services are conducted City’s infrastructure and preventive measures by to protect life and property, services to pre-disaster the City of La Porte and most other regular City conditions, and some city Summary of departments in preparing services are suspended. services may be suspended. Emergency Pay for the impending Provisions emergency. StartsStarts – – City Activates City Manager Starts – EOC and the City Manager As declared by City declares all clear. End declares an emergency is Manager – As declared by Ends imminent. – City manager declares Department Heads in Ends – As declared by all clear.consultation with City City ManagerManager. For Persons Designated as Essential: Non Exempt - 1.5x for all Non Exempt Non Exempt – 2x for all – 1.5x hours scheduled hours How do you pay for scheduled hours worked Exempt – Compensatory ExemptExempt each period? – 1.5x for all hours – 1.5x for all hours time for first 40 hours over 40over 40 worked How do you pay if on Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave pre-approved leave? How do you pay if on No extra pay No extra pay No extra pay a regular day off? When do you require Must take paid leave or the employee to use Administrative Leave Administrative Leave leave without pay leave? For Persons Not Designated as Essential: Non Exempt - Non Exempt Non Exempt 1.5x for all – 2x for all – 1.5x hours How do you pay for scheduled hours scheduled hours worked ExemptExemptExempt each period? – Compensation – 1.5x for all hours – 1.5x for all hours time up to 40 hours over 40over 40 How do you pay if on Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave Continue to charge leave pre-approved leave? How do you pay if on No extra pay No extra pay No extra pay a regular day off? When do you require Must take paid leave or the employee to use Administrative Leave Administrative Leave leave without pay leave? ORDINANCE NO. ________________ AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING REVISED CITY OF LA PORTE EMPLOYEE POLICIES HANDBOOK TO INCORPORATE UPDATED EMERGENCY PAY POLICY; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; FINDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS LAW; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA PORTE: Section 1. The City Council of the City of La Porte hereby adopts the “City of La Porte Employee Policies Handbook” dated June 12, 2012, a true and correct copy of which is attached to this Ordinance as Exhibit “A”, incorporated by reference herein, and made a part hereof for all purposes. Section 2. The City of La Porte Employee Policies Handbook hereby adopted, shall supersede all previous City of La Porte Personnel Policy Manuals and City of La Porte Employee Policies Handbooks heretofore adopted by the City Council of the City of La Porte, on its effective date of June 12, 2012. Section 3. If any section, sentence, phrase, clause, or any part of any section, sentence, phrase, or clause, of this Ordinance or the City of La Porte Employee Policies Handbook hereby adopted, shall for any reason, be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining portions of this Ordinance, or said Employee Policies Handbook, and it is hereby declared to be the intention of this City Council to have passed each section, sentence, phrase or clause, or part thereof, irrespective of the fact that any other section, sentence, phrase or clause, or part thereof, may be declared invalid. Section 4. The City Council officially finds, determines, recites, and declares that a sufficient written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of this meeting of the City Council was posted at a place convenient to the public at the City Hall of the City for the time required by law preceding this meeting, as required by the Open Meetings Law, Chapter 551, Texas Government Code; and that this meeting has been open to the public as required by law at all times during which this ordinance and the subject matter thereof has been discussed, considered and formally acted upon. The City Council further ratifies, approves and confirms such written notice and the contents and posting thereof. Section 5. This Ordinance shall be effective from and after its passage and approval, and it is so ordered. The City of La Porte Employee Policies Handbook adopted by this Ordinance, shall be effective from and after June 12, 2012. PASSED AND APPROVED, this ___ day of ________________, 2012. CITY OF LA PORTE By: ______________________________ Louis R. Rigby Mayor ATTEST: _________________________________ Patrice Fogarty City Secretary APPROVED: _________________________________ Clark T. Askins Assistant City Attorney 2 AIRPORT BLVD FARRINGTON DR Section 4. This Ordinance shall be effective from and after its passage and approval, and it is so ordered. PASSED AND APPROVED this the _____ day of June, 2012. CITY OF LA PORTE By:______________________________ Louis R. Rigby Mayor ATTEST: _________________________________ Patrice Fogarty City Secretary APPROVED: __________________________________ Clark T. Askins Assistant City Attorney Chapter 172 Committee Name & AddressPositionTerm Council District ExpiresAppointment Martha Gillett Citizen Position 2013N/A 1 VacantCitizen Position 2013N/A 2 Aaron CorralesRetiree 2012N/A Representative Matt DaeumerEmployee N/AN/A Participant Michael DolbyFinance StaffN/AN/A Vacant Human N/AN/A Resource Staff Clark Askins Legal StaffN/AN/A Vacant Alternate N/AN/A Position 1 Juliane GrahamAlternate N/AN/A Position 2 Applicants:Dorothy M. Coker, J.P. Jackson, Richard Warren, W. Randolph Woodard, Shirley Jones, T.J. Walker, Nancy Ojeda La Porte Area Water Authority Name & AddressTerm Council District ExpiresAppointment Randy Woodard2013N/A Dennis Steger2013N/A Vacant2013N/A David JandaN/AN/A Ken SchlatherN/AN/A Applicants:Abraham Rosa, Dorothy Coker, J.P. Jackson, Sharon Jones, Nancy Ojeda Collaboration in Science and Technology Inc. ,,, CONSULTANTS IN ACOUSTICS NOISE AND VIBRATION REVIEW OF PORT OF HOUSTON AUTHORITY BAYPORT CONTAINER FACILITY AND ITS NOISE IMPACT ON THE CITY OF LA PORTE, TEXAS CSTI REPORT NO. 698R2 CSTI PROJECT NO. 6178 8 MAY 2012 Prepared and Approved By: Robert D. Bruce, PE, INCE Bd. Cert. Arno S. Bommer, INCE Bd. Cert. bob@cstiacoustics.com arno@cstiacoustics.com Noel W. Hart, MS, INCE noel@cstiacoustics.com Prepared For: The City of La Porte 604 W. Fairmont Parkway La Porte, TX 77571 16155 Park Row Blvd., Suite 150, Houston, TX 77084-6971 Ph: 281.492.2784 Fax: 281.492.1434 www.cstiacoustics.com City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CSTI acoustics was retained by the City of La Porte (PO No. 120389) to investigate a number of issues relating to the noise from the Port of Houston Authority’s (POHA) Bayport Container Facility. There has been concern about noise due to POHA expansions since the late 1990s. Since 2007, the noise from the POHA Bayport Container Facility has been an issue of concern for residents and cities near the facility. The City of La Porte requested sound level data from the POHA for the following dates: April- July 2010 Sept–Nov 2010 Mar-May 2011 August 2011 Dec 2011 POHA provided three Excel workbooks: Weekly Charts NMT 1 La Porte Requested: BAYPORT TERMINAL: WEEKLY SOUND LEVEL MONITORING REPORT, MAR. 29 2010 - JAN. 02 2012 Weekly Charts NMT 2 La Porte Requested: BAYPORT TERMINAL: WEEKLY SOUND LEVEL MONITORING REPORT, MAR. 29 2010 - JAN. 02 2012 Calibration Records La Porte Req Some data was provided for each of the dates on which the City of La Porte cited the POHA. These three electronic workbooks have been reviewed by CSTI in performing our work under the City of La Porte PO No. 120389. These tasks include: 1.Review the POHA sound data. 2.Match-up City of La Porte Police measurements with POHA noise monitor data. 3.Investigate the adequacy of POHA noise monitor calibration. Our review of the POHA sound data concludes that the instrumentation is highly sophisticated and customizable. It can be made capable of measuring any standard , L, L, Letc. over various time periods including acoustical parameter such as L eqmaxminn, one-second, one-minute, one-hour, etc. and capable of analyzing the sample in octave or one-third octave bands of frequency. It may also be made capable of recording WAV files when a sound level is exceeded or over pre-determined time intervals.It is also capable of sending alerts either through email and/or text message whenever the sound level exceeds a selected value. None of the information provided to CSTI suggested that there was any attempt to measure exceedances of the City of La Porte's Noise Ordinance. for all of the days with complete data. A comparison of the CSTI calculated the L dn of 55 dBA indicates that at NMT 1 L of 55 dBA was exceeded calculated levels with an L dndn 97.3% of the time measured and at NMT 2 94.7% of the time. Since the POHA did not report data that can be used to evaluate compliance with the City of La Porte's Noise Ordinance, a direct comparison is not possible. If the POHA had provided data or one-second data, then direct comparison could have been made. Since the La L max Porte Police Officer was reading the A-weighted one-second sound level on the sound level meter and since this value may not have persisted for as long as a minute, it is likely that the Police Officer's readings could be greater than those at NMT 1 and NMT 2 even though the complaint location is somewhat further from the Bayport Container Facility than the CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 2 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 monitors.The Police Officer readings are not inconsistent with the POHA noise monitor data. Considering the potential distribution of sounds during a minute and considering that the Police Officer’s readings were based on what was heard and read from the sound level meter, we conclude that the Officer’s readings are reliable. Based on the given calibration records, NMT 1 produced reliable data on the days data was taken. NMT 2 produced reliable data except between 30 March and 9 June 2011, when the calibration was off by up to 2.1 dB. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 3 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ 2 1INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 6 2CITY OF LA PORTE NOISE REGULATION ........................................................ 7 3POHA EQUIPMENT ......................................................................................... 7 4ANALYSIS OF CALIBRATION INFORMATION FOR NMT 1 AND NMT 2 ............. 8 4.1NMT 1 ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 4.2NMT 2 ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 4.3Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................ 9 5REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF THE SOUND MONITOR DATA .......................... 9 5.1POHA Data ............................................................................................................................................... 10 5.2Measured Data ........................................................................................................................................ 10 6LA PORTE'S POLICE SOUND MEASUREMENTS ...............................................15 6.1Assumptions about La Porte’s Measurements ......................................................................................... 15 6.2Citations Issued to POHA Officials Relating to Noise Violations ............................................................... 16 6.3Attenuation of Sound to Residence ......................................................................................................... 16 7COMPARISON OF LA PORTE AND POHA SOUND LEVELS MEASUREMENTS ....16 7.1Measurements ........................................................................................................................................ 17 7.2Analysis ................................................................................................................................................... 35 8CONCLUSION ................................................................................................36 8.1Review ..................................................................................................................................................... 36 8.2Match-up.................................................................................................................................................36 8.3Adequacy of calibration ........................................................................................................................... 36 APPENDIX A: LA PORTE NOISE ORDINANCE .........................................................37 APPENDIX B: ACOOUSTICAL TERMINOLOGY .........................................................42 CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 4 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 TABLES Table 1. Noise Limits ................................................................................................. 7 FIGURES Figure 1. B&K 3639 Environmental Noise Monitoring Terminal ......................................... 8 Figure 2. B&K 4184 Microphone for NMT 1 .................................................................... 8 Figure 3. B&K 4952 Microphone for NMT 2.................................................................... 8 Figure 4. Aerial View of POHA Noise Monitors .............................................................. 10 Figure 5. NMT 1 One-Hour L Data ........................................................................... 11 eq Figure 6. NMT 2 One-Hour L Data ........................................................................... 12 eq Figure 7. L for NMT 1 Data as a Function of Day of Week ........................................... 13 dn Figure 8. L for NMT 2 Data as a Function of Day of Week ........................................... 14 dn Figure 9. EXTECH 407736 Sound Level Meter ............................................................. 15 Figure 10. Sound Levels at 3810 Sailfish on 4/29/2010 ................................................ 18 Figure 11. Sound Levels at 3810 Sailfish on 5/07/2010 ................................................ 19 Figure 12. Sound Levels at 3921 Sunrise on 5/16/2010 ............................................... 20 Figure 13. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 5/21/2010 ................................................ 21 Figure 14. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 5/29/2010 ................................................ 22 Figure 15. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 6/06/2010 ................................................ 23 Figure 16. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 7/09/2010 ................................................ 24 Figure 17. Sound Levels at 3921 Sunrise on 9/11/2010 ............................................... 25 Figure 18. Sound Levels at 3810 Sailfish on 10/21/2010 .............................................. 26 Figure 19. Sound Levels at 510 North Shady on 11/16/2010 ........................................ 27 Figure 20. Sound Levels at 3903 Barracuda on 11/24/2010 .......................................... 28 Figure 21. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 3/25/2011 (2345) ..................................... 29 Figure 22. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 3/25/2011 (0213) ..................................... 30 Figure 23. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 5/05/2011................................................31 Figure 24. Sound Levels at 3907 Sailfish on 8/06/2011 ................................................ 32 Figure 25. Sound Levels at 3906 Sailfish on 12/19/2011 .............................................. 33 Figure 26. Sound Levels at 414 South Shady on 12/30/2011 ........................................ 34 CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 5 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 1 INTRODUCTION CSTI acoustics was retained by the City of La Porte (PO No. 120389) to investigate a number of issues relating to the noise from the Port of Houston Authority’s (POHA) Bayport Container Facility. There has been concern about noise due to POHA expansions since the late 1990s. Since 2007, the noise from the POHA Bayport Container Facility has been an issue of concern for residents and cities near the facility. The City of La Porte requested that the POHA provide sound levels for the following dates: April- July 2010 Sept–Nov 2010 Mar-May 2011 August 2011 Dec 2011 POHA provided three Excel workbooks: Weekly Charts NMT 1 La Porte Requested: BAYPORT TERMINAL: WEEKLY SOUND LEVEL MONITORING REPORT, MAR. 29 2010 - JAN. 02 2012 Weekly Charts NMT 2 La Porte Requested: BAYPORT TERMINAL: WEEKLY SOUND LEVEL MONITORING REPORT, MAR. 29 2010 - JAN. 02 2012 Calibration Records La Porte Req Some data was given for the days on which the City of La Porte issued citations. This report summarizes the following: 1.CSTI's professional opinion as to the adequacy of calibration of the POHA sound monitors. 2.CSTI's review and evaluation of the sound monitor data provided by the POHA for specified dates, times, and addresses. 3.CSTI's assessment of the City data and a comparison with the POHA data. Section 2 discusses the City’s Noise Regulation. Sections 3 and 4 present a brief discussion of the POHA noise monitoring equipment and calibration. Section 5 presents an overview of the POHA noise monitoring data. Section 6 discusses the citations issued to the POHA for violations of the City’s Noise Regulation. Section 7 presents a comparison of the POHA noise measurements with the City of La Porte noise measurements. Section 8 presents a summary of this project. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 6 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 2CITY OF LA PORTE NOISE REGULATION The complete Noise Pollution Regulation for the City of La Porte is reproduced in Appendix A. The pertinent points are: Sound nuisance shall mean any sound which either exceeds the maximum permitted sound levels specified in section 34-92 of the ordinance, or otherwise unreasonably disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others within the limits of the city. A-weighted sound levels are to be measured. A Type 2 sound level meter is to be used. Slow scale of the sound level meter is to be used. Sound levels are limited to those values given in Table 1. Table 1. Noise Limits Property type Daytime Hours (7:00 AM-9:00 PM)Nighttime Hours (9:00 PM-7:00 AM) Residential 65 dB(A) 58 dB(A) Nonresidential 70 dB(A) 65 dB(A) The section, “General Prohibitions” is reproduced below: (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to make, assist in making, continue, cause to be made or continued or permit the continuance of any sound, noise, or vibration in the territorial limits of the city or within the area immediately adjacent and contiguous to the city limits and extending for a distance of 5,000 feet beyond the city limits, which either exceeds the maximum permitted levels specified in section 34-92, of this article, or for the purposes of subsection (b), otherwise unreasonably disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others within the limits of the city. Any sound, noise, or vibration in violation of this article is declared to be a common and public nuisance. (b) It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue, or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary, or unusual sound, noise, or vibration that annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others. In determining whether a sound, noise, or vibration is loud, unnecessary, or unusual, the following factors shall be considered: time of day; proximity to residential structures; whether the noise is recurrent, intermittent, or constant; the volume and intensity; whether the sound, noise, or vibration has been enhanced in volume or range by any type of electronic or mechanical means; and whether the sound, noise, or vibration is subject to being controlled without unreasonable effort or expense to the creator thereof.” In other words, noise makers producing noise in excess of the limits in Table 1 at the receiving property line are in violation. Noise that does not exceed the limits may also be a “common and public nuisance,” and may still be considered to be in violation of the ordinance. 3POHA EQUIPMENT The spreadsheet “Calibration Records La Porte Req” provided some of the details about the POHA equipment. The POHA noise monitoring system is a Type/Class 1 system in accordance with IEC 61672 and ANSI S1.4. Each noise monitor consists of a B&K 3639 environmental noise monitoring terminal coupled to an outdoor microphone. NMT 1 uses the 4184 microphone and NMT 2 uses the 4952 microphone. The 4184 is built especially for high-humidity areas and also includes an acoustic test source for more accurate remote calibration checks. Figures 1 to 3 illustrate the B&K equipment. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 7 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 1. B&K 3639 Environmental Noise Monitoring Terminal Figure 2. B&K 4184 Microphone for NMT 1 Figure 3. B&K 4952 Microphone for NMT 2 The POHA monitoring systems chosen by the port are extremely versatile instruments capable of being programmed to capture nearly any form of acoustical data including L, eq L, L, L (Appendix A presents descriptions of acoustical parameters) over almost any maxminn desirable time interval. The system can also be programmed to send email and/or text message notifications when the sound levels exceed a specified number. 4ANALYSIS OF CALIBRATION INFORMATION FOR NMT 1 AND NMT 2 Three sheets were provided in one of the three Excel Workbooks to demonstrate the instrument calibration of the noise monitors. No explanations of the sheets were provided. The first sheet is titled “Calibration Chart for Weatherproof Microphone Unit Type 4184.” It is dated 6 May 2009 and is annotated to say it is from NMT 1. The second sheet is titled CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 8 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 “Outdoor Microphone Type 4952” and is dated 17 December 2009. It is annotated as being from NMT 2. The third sheet is the calibration check records for each noise monitor from 29 March 2010 to 1 January 2012. The calibration check record has 10 columns. The Site Name, Location Name, Location Index, Start and Stop Date/Times of the calibration checks are self-explanatory. The remaining columns, “After,” “Before,” “Insert,” “Probe,” and “Deviation” require explanation. “After” and “Before” are the measured sound levels before and after the calibration check. “Insert” is the sound level obtained during the application of the insert voltage signal provided by the SLM, and “Probe” is the sound level obtained while the acoustic calibration system built into the SLM was energized. We think “Deviation” is how much the current calibration level deviates from the previous. 4.1NMT 1 The calibration record of NMT 1 shows “Insert” levels of 103.8 to 104.3 dB with “Probe” levels from 46.4 to 92 dB. The levels are consistent the majority of the time with only a small fraction of anomalies. The “Deviation” ranges from 0.0 to 0.5 dB. 4.2NMT 2 The calibration record of NMT 2 shows “Insert” levels ranging from 97.8 to 100.3 dB. The “Probe” levels are listed as varying from 37.1 to 68.9 dB, but since it is our understanding that this microphone does not have an acoustic calibration probe, we do not know what this data represents, if anything. It appears the “Probe” level function was not functioning, because the levels are very similar to the “After” and “Before” measured sound levels. The “Insert” and “Deviation” levels are abnormally high between 30 March 2011 and 9 June 2011. The “Insert” and “Deviation” levels are consistent the rest of the time. The “Deviation” ranges from 0.0 to 2.1 dB. 4.3Conclusions Based on the given calibration records, it appears NMT 1 produced reliable data on the dates given. It appears NMT 2 produced reliable data on the dates given except between 30 March 2011 and 9 June 2011 when the data calibration was off by up to 2.1 dB. 5REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF THE SOUND MONITOR DATA The POHA sponsored the installation of two noise monitor stations in La Porte, just south of the Shore Acres and La Porte communities. These stations are labeled as NMT 1 on the west side and NMT 2 on the east in Figure 4 and are circled. Also shown are the physical addresses where residents have complained about the noise from the Bayport Container Facility. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 9 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 4. Aerial View of POHA Noise Monitors 5.1POHA Data In two of the three POHA electronic workbooks, a figure was plotted for each week from Monday at 7 AM to Monday morning a week later, presenting the sound level as a function of time. The code for the plots is as follows: “monitor number-number of the week after start of the measurements.” So Figure 1-1 of the POHA spreadsheet would be the first week of measurements at NMT 1 and 2-1 would be the first week of measurements at NMT 2. 5.2Measured Data Figure 5 and Figure 6 present the one-hour L data for NMT 1 and NMT 2 respectively. eq The sections where the data are blank in Figure 5 and in Figure 6 are times when the POHA Excel workbook does not have any data. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 10 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 5. NMT 1 One-Hour L Data eq 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 Date/Time CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 11 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 6. NMT 2 One-Hour L Data eq 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 Date/Time As shown in the figures, there are significant variations in sound levels over time. This could be due to variations in noise from the POHA facility and/or variations in noise from other sources. Also note that the data presents only averages over one-hour intervals and the measured sound levels could easily exceed these averages during the same time period. Another way of summarizing the noise measurements is to calculate the day-night sound ) and plot it as a function of the day of the week. Figure 7 presents this data for level (L dn the NMT 1 location and Figure 8 presents the data for the NMT 2 location. The plotted data covers the entire monitoring period for which we were given data with each data point representing a single day. of 55 dBA has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and An L dn numerous other organizations as a noise level that is generally acceptable for evaluating noise impacts at residences provided: The operation is year-round The location is an urban residential community The community has previous exposure to intruding noise The noise is not impulsive and does not contain tonal sounds When these conditions are not met, then the calculated Lis normalized by making dn corrections for the existing conditions, which includes increasing and decreasing the can be used to estimate community response to a measured values. The normalized L dn noise source. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 12 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 for NMT 1 Data as a Function of Day of Week Figure 7. L dn 80 75 70 65 60 Lαͷͷ dn 55 50 Day CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 13 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 8. L for NMT 2 Data as a Function of Day of Week dn 80 75 70 65 60 Lαͷͷ dn 55 50 Day As shown in the previous figures, there is significant variation for each day of the week and therefore no clear pattern to the data. Typical L values are 58 to 62 dBA with very few dn values below 55 dBA. days having L dn CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 14 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 6LA PORTE'S POLICE SOUND MEASUREMENTS The previous section presented the data collected by the noise monitors of the POHA. This section reviews and discusses the measurements performed by the City of La Porte Police Department. 6.1Assumptions about La Porte’s Measurements We have assumed that the Police Officer made measurements in accordance with the La Porte Regulation. Our assumptions are listed below. Sound level meter was a Type 2 meter and was set to the A-weighting scale using the slow time response interval. The measurements were taken at the end of the driveway of the complainant. The Officer heard sounds that sounded like they were from the Bayport Container Facility and measured the sound level of these noises. The length of time that the level was observed could have been as short as 1 second or as long as a few seconds depending on the duration of the noises. It is our understanding that the La Porte Police used a sound level meter (SLM) similar to that shown in Figure 9. The SLM is an EXTECH model 407736 or 407735. This meter is a Type 2 instrument. It can measure the sound level using A-weighting or C-weighting filters and with a slow or fast time constant. It also has a Max Hold feature which measures the maximum sound level using a fast time constant over a user-determined length of time until the reset button is pressed. Figure 9. EXTECH 407736 Sound Level Meter CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 15 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 6.2Citations Issued to POHA Officials Relating to Noise Violations Citations were issued to the POHA relating to noise complaints as noted in Table 3; the addresses are color-coded. These seventeen citations were issued based on the complaints of individuals residing at 8 different addresses—2 of the addresses closer to NMT 1 and 6 closer to NMT 2. These addresses are shown in Figure 4. Table 2. City of La Porte Noise Citations issued to the POHA Decibel Date Time Street Level 04/29/10 0034 3810 Sailfish 69.0 05/07/10 2230 3810 Sailfish 62.3 05/16/10 2355 3921 Sunrise 64.0 05/21/10 2140 3915 Sailfish 64.0 05/29/10 2200 3915 Sailfish 65.8 06/06/10 2127 3915 Sailfish 78.0 07/09/10 2230 3915 Sailfish 62.7 09/11/10 0433 3921 Sunrise 64.0 10/21/10 0420 3810 Sailfish 63.0 11/16/10 2000 510 North Shady 66.3 11/24/10 0406 3903 Barracuda 60.1 03/25/11 2345 3915 Sailfish 63.1 03/25/11 0213 3915 Sailfish 68.3 05/05/11 2325 3915 Sailfish 79.3 08/06/11 2210 3807 Sailfish 60.3 12/19/11 2347 3906 Sailfish 68.0 12/30/11 2242 414 South Shady 60.0 6.3Attenuation of Sound to Residence We attempted to calculate sound levels at residences based on the noise levels measured by POHA at NMT 1 and 2. We developed a SoundPLAN computer model to calculate the sound levels at each of the residences and at the POHA monitoring locations. However, this approach proved to be unreliable since the location of the source of the offending noise within the Bayport Container Facility had to be known in order to accurately calculate the sound propagation effects from the monitoring locations to the residences. 7COMPARISON OF LA PORTE AND POHA SOUND LEVELS MEASUREMENTS There are a number of differences between the POHA measurements and those of the Police Officer that preclude an easy comparison of the data. The POHA monitors collected data in one-minute averages and aggregated it into hourly data. The POHA used a Type 1 sound level meter with built in calibration capability. Properly calibrated, a Type 1 instrument is about 1 dBA more accurate than a Type 2 instrument. The POHA noise monitors measure which is an energy average over a time period (in this case, one-minute), whereas the L eq the Police Officer measured one-second sound levels, not one-minute averages. This is likely the largest source of differences between the Police and POHA measurements. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 16 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 7.1Measurements Figure 10 to Figure 26 present plots of the City of La Porte Police data (one-second sound levels) in comparison with the POHA data for NMT 1 and NMT 2 (one-minute L eq measurements) for the time period 30 minutes before and after each of the citations listed in Table 3. The nighttime noise limit is also plotted for comparison. We do not know if the time clocks for either the Police or the POHA noise monitors were synchronized with the actual times, so the reported Police times and POHA times may not be synchronized. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 17 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 10. Sound Levels at 3810 Sailfish on 4/29/2010 80 70 69.0 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3810 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 18 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 11. Sound Levels at 3810 Sailfish on 5/07/2010 80 70 62.3 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute LeqNMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3810 Sailfish58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 19 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 12. Sound Levels at 3921 Sunrise on 5/16/2010 80 70 64.0 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3921 Sunrise 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 20 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 13. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 5/21/2010 80 70 64.0 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3915 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 21 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 14. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 5/29/2010 80 70 65.8 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3915 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 22 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 15. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 6/06/2010 80 78.0 70 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, NO DATA La Porte Police, 3915 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 23 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 16. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 7/09/2010 80 70 62.7 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3915 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 24 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 17. Sound Levels at 3921 Sunrise on 9/11/2010 80 70 64.0 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3921 Sunrise 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 25 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 18. Sound Levels at 3810 Sailfish on 10/21/2010 80 70 63.0 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3810 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 26 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 19. Sound Levels at 510 North Shady on 11/16/2010 80 70 66.6 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, NO DATA La Porte Police, 510 North Shady 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 27 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 20. Sound Levels at 3903 Barracuda on 11/24/2010 80 70 60.1 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3903 Barracuda 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 28 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 21. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 3/25/2011 (2345) 80 70 68.3 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3915 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 29 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 22. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 3/25/2011 (0213) 80 70 63.1 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3915 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 30 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 23. Sound Levels at 3915 Sailfish on 5/05/2011 80 79.3 70 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3915 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 31 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 24. Sound Levels at 3907 Sailfish on 8/06/2011 80 70 60.3 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3807 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 32 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 25. Sound Levels at 3906 Sailfish on 12/19/2011 80 70 68.0 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 3906 Sailfish 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 33 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Figure 26. Sound Levels at 414 South Shady on 12/30/2011 80 70 60.0 60 50 40 Date & Time of Measurement NMT-1, 1-minute Leq NMT-2, 1-minute Leq La Porte Police, 414 South Shady 58 dBA, MAX Night Level @Residential CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 34 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 7.2Analysis A review of the figures in the previous section raises the question of whether or not the sound level measurements made by the La Porte Police are possible considering the measurements made by POHA. However, since POHA measured one-minute L values and eq the Police Officer read one-second sound levels; we would expect the POHA sound levels to be different and the Police Officer’s readings to be higher. In addition, we might expect the time as recorded by the Police Officer to be different from the POHA monitors by as much as several minutes. values for the interval from 5 minutes The following table presents POHA’s one-minute L eq before to 5 minutes after the Police Officer’s measurement of 69.0 dBA on 4/29/2010. Figure 10 indicates that the Officer measured 69.0 dB at 12:34 AM whereas the peak at NMT 1 of 56.1 dBA is 2 minutes later at 12:36 AM. Since the Officer was at the site and made a measurement when he heard a loud sound coming from the Bayport Container Facility, it is very likely that these two measurements are of the same sound. The 56.1 dBA is highlighted in yellow in Table 4. Table 3. Variation of Sound Levels at NMT 1 from Figure 10 Time (AM) dBA 12:31 50.0 12:32 49.7 12:33 49.7 12:34 50.0 12:35 51.0 12:36 56.1 12:37 50.1 12:38 50.2 12:39 50.9 12:40 50.6 12:41 50.3 The loudest sound in Table 4 is 56.1 dBA. If we assume that the maximum value of 69.0 dBA measured by the Officer lasted for 3 seconds out of the 60 seconds covered by the POHA monitor, the one-minute L for this period would be 56 dBA, matching the monitor eq data at NMT 1. This is one possible scenario by which 56.1 dBA could have been measured at NMT 1 and 69.0 dBA could have been measured by the Police Officer with both sound level meters measuring the same sound event. If we assume that all of the Police Officer data lasts at least one second and that the minimum distance effect between the POHA monitoring sites and the City measurement location is about 1 dBA, then the maximum difference between monitored data and Police data should be 16 dBA. All of the data falls within this range if we allow for ± 2 minutes for clock synchronization. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 35 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 8CONCLUSION CSTI has concluded its analysis of the three tasks assigned to us under City of La Porte PO NO. 120389. These tasks include: 1.Review the POHA sound data. 2.Match-up City of La Porte Police measurements with POHA noise monitor data. 3.Investigate the adequacy of POHA noise monitor calibration. 8.1Review Our review of the POHA sound data concludes that the instrumentation is highly sophisticated and customizable. It can be made capable of measuring any standard acoustical parameter such as L, L, L, L, etc. over various time periods including eqmaxminn one-second, one-minute, one-hour …etc. and capable of analyzing the sample in octave or one-third octave bands of frequency. It may also be made capable of recording WAV files when a sound level is exceeded or over pre-determined time intervals.It is also capable of sending alerts either through email and/or text message notifications whenever the sound level exceeds a selected value. The POHA data was reported in one-minute sampling periods as L and one-hour sampling periods as L and L; no L was reported.No eqeq90max attempt to measure exceedances of the City of La Porte's Noise Ordinance was reported. data with an indicator for each The spreadsheets provided to us present hourly L eq measurement as daytime or nighttime, apparently in preparation for calculation of day-night sound level (L); however,no calculations of the L were given.CSTI proceeded to dndn for all of the days with complete data. A comparison of the calculated calculate the L dn of 55 dBA indicates that at NMT 1 an L of 55 dBA was exceeded 97.3% levels with an L dndn of the time measured and at NMT 2 94.7% of the time. 8.2Match-up Since the POHA did not report data that can be used to evaluate compliance with the City of La Porte's Noise Ordinance, a direct comparison is not possible. If the POHA had provided L data or one-second data, then a more direct comparison would have been easier. Since max the La Porte Police Officer was reading the A-weighted one-second sound level on the sound level meter and since this value may not have persisted for as long as a full minute, it is likely that the Police Officer's readings could be greater than that at NMT 1 and NMT 2 even though the complaint location is somewhat further from the Bayport Container Facility than the monitors.The Police Officer readings are not inconsistent with the POHA noise monitor data.Considering the potential distribution of sounds during a minute and considering that the Police Officer’s readings were based on what was heard and read from the sound level meter, it is likely the Officer’s readings are reliable. 8.3Adequacy of calibration Based on the given calibration records, NMT 1 produced reliable data on the days data was taken. NMT 2 produced reliable data except between 30 March and 9 June 2011, when the calibration was off by up to 2.1 dB. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 36 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 APPENDIX A: LA PORTE NOISE ORDINANCE CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 37 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 38 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 39 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 40 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 41 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 APPENDIX B: ACOOUSTICAL TERMINOLOGY Decibels (dB) are the units of sound pressure level, sound level, sound power level, and noise level. Sound pressure level, usually measured in: octave bands of frequency one-third octave bands of frequency A-weighted sound level, dBA C-weighted sound level, dBC Z-weighted sound level, dBZ The slow and fast scales represent the exponential averaging time constants of the sound level meter. The fast scale has a time constant of 125 milliseconds whereas the slow scale has a time constant of 1 second. Most noise regulations, including the one used by the City of La Porte, are written in terms of the A-weighted sound level on the slow scale of the meter and the units are frequently referred to as dBA. , is the energy equivalent sound level. This is simplified Equivalent sound level, L eq shorthand for saying that the value is a logarithmic average of the various sound levels. As an example, the A-weighted sound levels shown in the following table with values from 52 to 58 has an arithmetic average of 55.0. However, in acoustics, instead of averaging the sound levels, we calculate the average sound pressure and then calculate the sound level corresponding to that average sound pressure. The equivalent sound level, or logarithmic average, of these values is 55.5. Sample Sound Level, dB 1 54 2 53 3 55 4 56 5 57 6 58 7 55 8 52 9 58 10 52 Lis the maximum value of the sounds measured during the sample. max Lis the minimum value of the sounds measured during the sample. min is the value that is exceeded n% of the time. So L would be the sound level that was L n 90 exceeded for 90% of the time. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 42 of 43 8 May 2012 City of La Porte, TX Comparison of City’s and Port’s Noise Measurements CSTI Job No. 6178 Day-night sound level, Lis a single number representing the sound level over a 24 hour dn values with 10 dBA added to each of the hours at period. It is calculated from hourly L eq night from 10 PM until 7 AM—9 hours. For example, if the hourly L data were as shown in eq the following table, then the L would be 64 dBA. Note that the arithmetic average of these dn values is 56.4, but due to the intrusive nature of nighttime sound levels and the 10 dB correction applied to the sound levels at night, the day-night sound level is much higher. Day-Night Sound Level, Sample Correction, Corrected Level, dB dB dB 48 0 48 7 AM-7:59:59 53 0 53 8 AM-8:59:59 54 0 54 9 AM-9:59:59 56 0 56 10 AM-10:50:59 58 0 58 11 AM-11:59:59 60 0 60 Noon-12:59:59 60 0 60 1 PM-1:59:59 61 0 61 2 PM-2:59:59 58 0 58 3 PM-3:59:59 55 0 55 4 PM-4:59:59 59 0 59 5 PM-5:59:59 57 0 57 6 PM-6:59:59 56 0 56 7 PM-7:59:59 53 0 53 8 PM-8:59:59 61 0 61 9 PM-9:59:59 62 10 72 10 PM-10:59:59 59 10 69 11 PM-11:59:59 55 10 65 Midnight-12:59:59 AM 52 10 62 1 AM-1:59:59 51 10 61 2 AM-2:59:59 53 10 63 3 AM-3:59:59 55 10 65 4 AM-4:59:59 58 10 68 5 AM-5:59:59 60 10 70 6 AM-6:59:59 Note that the nighttime definition is one hour off from La Porte’s definition. CSTI Report No. 698R2 Page 43 of 43 8 May 2012 Council Agenda Item June 11,2012 10.ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS (a) Juneteenth Celebration, June 15-19, 2012 (b) Chamber of Commerce Steak Cookout, Thursday, June 21, 2012 (c) CityCouncil Meeting, Monday, June 25, 2012 11. COUNCIL COMMENTS regarding matters appearing on the agenda; recognition of community members, city employees, and upcoming events; inquiry of staff regarding specific factual information or existing policies– Councilmembers Kaminski, Zemanek, Leonard, Engelken, Mosteit, Clausen, Martin, Moser and Mayor Rigby. 12.EXECUTIVE SESSION The City Council reserves the right to meet in closed session on any agenda item should the need arise and if applicable pursuant to authorization by Title 5, Chapter 551, of the Texas Government Code, including, but not limited to, the following: Texas Government Code, Section 551.074 – Personnel Matters: For the purpose of deliberating the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment and/or duties of a public officer or employee: Discuss negotiating a contract with candidate for position of City Manager. 13. RECONVENE into regular session and consider action, if any, on item(s) discussed in executive session. *********************************************************************************** Council Agenda Item June 11, 2012 14. ADJOURN ***********************************************************************************