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Home My WebLink About08-29-2002 Committee Meeting• MINUTES OF THE BAYPORT EXPANSION OPPOSITION COMMITTEE AUGUST 29, 2002 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Engelken at 6:01 p.m. Members of the Committee Present: Chairperson Chuck Engelken, Councilmembers Mike Mosteit and Peter Griffiths Members Absent: None Members of City Executive Staff and City Employees Present: Acting City Manager John Joerns and City Secretary Martha Gillett 2. Members considered approving the Minutes of the Bayport Expansion Opposition Committee Meeting of August 21, 2002. Motion was made by Councilmember Mosteit to approve the minutes of the Committee Meeting_on August 21, 2002 as presented. Second by Councilmember Griffiths. The motion carried. Ayes: Mosteit, Griffiths, Engelken Nays: None Abstain: None 3. PETITIONS, REMONSTRANCES, COMMUNICATIONS, AND CITIZENS AND TAXPAYERS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE PORT OF HOUSTON EXPANSION REVIEW COMMITTEE There were not any petitions, remonstrances, communications, or citizens wishing to address Council. Let the record show there were no citizens present. 4. DISCUSS RESPONSE TO REVISED PERMIT APPLICATION #21520 SUBMITTED BY PORT OF HOUSTON AUTHORITY JULY 22, 2002 To stress the importance of the opposition, bolding or underlining the first, second and third points was suggested. Reference to an alternate location needs to be made in the letter. The Committee decided the entire City Council needed to sign the letter. 5. NEW BUSINESS Chairperson Engelken shared newspaper articles with the Committee. • Bayport Expansion Opposition Committee Minutes - 8/29/02 (Cont'd) Page 2 6. COMMITTEE COMMENTS Councilmember Mosteit voiced his opinion of not being totally opposed to the Bayport sight. No matter what we do, he feels the sight will be approved. Unfortunately, La Porte does not have enough votes in the County to make a difference; even the threats of a lawsuit will just string it out. Mr. Mosteit was hoping that if we are unable to defeat this, perhaps we could use this opportunity to have a type of tax for the investors, which would contribute to further development of the La Porte area (e.g., hotel, convention center). We need to attempt to make something positive out of the negative. The final letter is to be published in the "Bayshore Sun" and the "Houston Chronicle This Week". Councilmember Griffiths is pleased with the letter and thanked staff. Chairperson Engelken also thanked staff. 7. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Committee, this meeting was duly adjourned at 6:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~t~ {{~ f; i~., Martha A. Gillett, TRMC City Secretary Approved on this 29th day of August 2002. C~i~~"~ ~'G' Chairperson Chuck Engelken This is the final meeting of this subcommittee and there will be no future meetings. Therefore, the chairperson shall approve the final minutes. The proposed 20-foot wall is objected to for a number of reasons: ^ First, there is no study or evidence to either evaluate or support its potential effectiveness for noise mitigation. ^ Second, the wall certainly will interrupt the prevailing southeast breezes that have been enjoyed by adjacent neighborhoods for years and are a trademark of our community. Third, the presence of a 20-foot wall, approximately 50 feet from the nearby homes may certainly be objectionable from the standpoint of visual pollution. When coupled with the loss of bay breezes this proposed mitigation would in fact further compound the negative effects of the proposed Bayport project. While the Community Advisory Group referenced potential mitigation strategies for the North Shore, including possible construction of a noise bamer (wall), they did so based on the premise that additional detailed analysis, beyond that provided by the DEIS, be provided. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to this revision. We hope that you concur that a supplemental DEIS should be developed, or at least, further public meetings to better describe these revisions be conducted. Additionally, a detailed analysis of the noise barrier for all facets of environmental issues should be undertaken. In closing, aside from our comments regarding this revision, the City remains opposed to the Bayport site, or any combination including Bayport, because we believe the DEIS reinforces our concerns that this site would have substantial long term negative impacts for our community. We encourage the Port of Houston to consider the severe damaging impacts of the Bayport location and seriously consider alternate sites. Likewise, we ask the Army Corps of Engineers to deny the permit for this location. Sincerely, a or No an L. one ~, ----~ . /. i eY t~-Griffiths, Councilman At-Large A Mike Mosteit, ouncil ct 1 J oward Eb w, ouncilma ct 3 5 ., ~ . ~^t ~ c,... ~ ~ ,~N i ..,... , ;: . ~, Barry Beasley, Councilman At-Large B Chuck Engelken, Jr. Councilman District 2 J es n, Councilman District 4 %'~ Bruce Meismer, Councilman District 6 John Joerns, Acting City Manager Knox W. Askins, City Attorney