Southwest Management District Board of Directors met Oct. 25

Southwest Management District Board of Directors met Oct. 25.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

DETERMINE QUORUM; CALL MEETING TO ORDER.

The Board of Directors of the Southwest Management District held a regular meeting at 12:00 p.m. at Hawes Hill & Associates LLP; 9610 Long Point Road, Spring Branch District Conference Room, Suite 130, Houston, Texas 77055, outside the boundaries of the District, open to the public, and open to the public via videoconference and teleconference, and the roll was called of the duly appointed members of the Board, to-wit:

Position 1 - Kenneth Li, Chairman

Position 2 - Fred Bhandara, Vice-Chairman

Position 3 - David Peters

Position 4 - Harry Shani, Secretary

Position 5 - Don Wang

Position 6 - Peter F. Acquaro, Jr.

Position 7 - John R. Holmes, Jr.

Position 8 - Stephen Le, Jr.

Position 9 - Raj Adnani

and all the above were present, with the exception of Directors Acquaro, Holmes and Le, Jr., thus constituting a quorum. Also present were Alice Lee, Annie Trinh, Alan Bernstein, and Linda Clayton, all with Hawes Hill & Associates, LLP; Jennifer Abad, Municipal Accounts; and Pat Hall, Equi-Tax. Others attending the meeting were Erica Rocha, SEAL Security; Wilfredo Santamaria, METRO; Skip Reeder; Charmaine LeBlanc; Ronald Plotkin; Frank Donnelly; Hannah Zarr; Veronica Hernandez; Sandra Rodriguez; Sam Chang; Michael Roa; and Brenda Chen. Chairman Li called the meeting to order at 12:07 p.m.

RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENTS.

Public Comments were received from Skip Reeder with Houston One Voice.

APPROVE MINUTES OF MEETING HELD SEPTEMBER 27, 2021.

Upon a motion made by Director Bhandara, and seconded by Director Shani, the Board voted unanimously to approve the Minutes of the September 27, 2021, Board meeting, as presented.

RECEIVE ASSESSMENT COLLECTION REPORT.

Ms. Hall presented the Assessment Collection Report, included in the Board materials. She reported a 97% collection rate on the 2020 assessments, no uncertified values and 309 unsettled accounts. She reported the public hearing on the supplemental assessment roll is scheduled for this Wednesday.

RECEIVE MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT AND APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES.

Ms. Abad presented the Bookkeeper's Report and went over invoices, included in the Board materials. Upon a motion made by Director Shani, and seconded by Director Wang, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Bookkeeper's Report and approved payment of invoices, as presented.

RECEIVE UPDATE AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE.

Director Wang reported the Committee met on October 13, a copy of the Committee Minutes is included in the Board materials.

a. Consider support funding request from Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation for a forklift. Ms. Lee reported the Committee reviewed a request from Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation to provide support funding for the purchase of a forklift. She reported the Foundation provides food distribution in the District. She reported the cost of a forklift ranges between $10,000 and $20,000. She reported the Committee is recommending approval in the amount of $5,000.00 and the Foundation will conduct a fundraiser for the balance of the cost. Upon a motion made by Director Shani, and seconded by Director Peters, the Board voted unanimously to approve the support funding request from Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation for the purchase of a forklift in the amount of $5,000.00.

b. Consider sponsorship request from the Police and Clergy Team for the 12th annual Christmas Toy event. Ms. Lee reported the Committee reviewed the request from the Police and Clergy Team to sponsor its 12th Annual Christmas Toy event and is recommending approval in the amount of $1,000.00. Upon a motion made by Director Adnani, and seconded by Director Peters, the Board voted unanimously to approve the Police and Clergy Team request to sponsor its 12th Annual Christmas Toy Event in the amount of $1,000.00.

c. Consider sponsorship request from Sharpstown Civic Association for its 2022 Liberty Festival. Ms. Lee reported the Committee reviewed the request in the amount of $10,000.00 from Sharpstown Civic Association to sponsor its 2022 Liberty Festival to secure the fireworks company for the event and is recommending for approval. Upon a motion made by Director Shani, and seconded by Director Adnani, the Board voted unanimously to approve the sponsorship request from Sharpstown Civic Association for the 2022 Liberty Festival in the amount of $10,000.00 for a deposit for the fireworks.

RECEIVE UPDATE FROM PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE.

Ms. Lee reported the Committee met on October 13, a copy of the Committee Minutes is included in the Board materials.

a. Consider support funding request from Houston Fire Department for the Intterra Reporting & Analytics Subscription. Ms. Lee reported the Committee reviewed the request from HFD for support funding for its Intterra Reporting and Analytics software program. She reported the annual subscription cost of the software program is $16,560 and the Committee is recommending approval in the amount of $2,500.00 towards the cost of the subscription. Ms. Lee reported staff is working with the Council Member's office to pursue other funding avenues to cover the full cost of the subscription for future years. After discussion by the Board, this item was tabled.

b. Consider support funding request to be allocated to HPD Midwest, South Gessner and Westside for the 2021 holiday season safety initiatives. Ms. Lee reported the Committee discussed funding for overtime hours during the holiday season for the shopping areas in the District. She reported the overtime would start on Friday after Thanksgiving and continue through to December 25. She reported in 2019 the District provided support funding in the amount of $45,000.00 to be split between the three patrol stations and the Committee is recommending the same amount for this year. Upon a motion made by Director Wang, seconded by Director Adnani, the Board voted unanimously to approve the support funding request to be allocated between the three patrol stations: HPD Midwest, South Gessner and Westside for overtime during the holiday season in the amount of $45,000.00 to be allocated to the three stations in the amount of $15,000.00 each.

RECEIVE UPDATE AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ENVIRONMENTAL AND URBAN DESIGN COMMITTEE

Ms. Lee reported the Committee met on October 13, a copy of the Committee Minutes is included in the Board materials.

a. Consider Price Wagener Task Order for irrigation repairs. Upon a motion made by Director Peters, and seconded by Director Shani, the Board voted unanimously to approve Price Wagener Task Order #2989 for irrigation repairs at 8510 Beechnut and 8526 Beechnut in the amount of $1,356.00, as presented.

b. Consider SMC Task Order for irrigation repairs. Upon a motion made by Director Wang, and seconded by Director Peters, the Board voted unanimously to approve SMC Task Order #1280 for irrigation repairs on Bellaire Blvd. in the amount of $4,621,00, as presented.

c. Consider support letter to METRO for its Bus Rapid Transit and Request.

d. Consider support letter to METRO for new bus pads for 17 bus stops in the District. Upon a motion made by Director Adnani, and seconded by Director Wang, the Board voted unanimously to (c) approve providing a support letter to METRO for its University METRO Rapid BRT Project; and (d) approve providing a support letter to METRO for the proposed improvements to 17 bus stops in the District.

RECEIVE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT.

The Executive Director's Report is in the Board materials for review.

ADJOURN.

There being no further business to come before the Board, Chairman Li adjourned the meeting at 1:07 p.m.

https://southwestmanagementdistrict.org/the-district/more-information/board-agendas-meeting-minutes-and-board-packets/