Granite Shoals hires Townsend as interim CM

Granite Shoals hires Townsend as interim CM

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Clearly feeling the pressure of impending projects and reassured by previous service, the Granite Shoals City Council on Tuesday, March 13, unanimously voted to hire Marvin Townsend to serve as interim city manager.

The city is about to embark on its $3 million road project and funds should be available next week to begin the three-phase restoration of Phillips Ranch Road, Prairie Creek Road and Valley View Lane. Council approval was given also on Tuesday night to a three-phase approach to converting granite mining buildings into an outdoor sports complex under its $500,000 Texas Parks & Recreation Department (TPWD) grant.

Assistant City Manager Peggy Smith, who also wears the Utility Department Director hat, has had interim city manager duties added to her workload since Ken Nickel's unanticipated resignation at the end of February. Townsend will take the helm Monday.

On March 7 the council voted to engage the Texas First Group to locate candidates for the post and owner of the company, Kerry Sweatt, said it felt like coming home as he introduced Townsend, one of three previous interim city managers his company found for Granite Shoals.

“I was last here for four months in 2013,” Townsend reminded the council. “I am coming back to you with mixed emotions. I was thinking just a short time ago..Granite Shoals was the most stable (city management arrangement) I could think of with one of the finest city managers around.”

“I am well aware of some of your long-term concerns,” he said. “I followed the development when the Mezger family property was brought into the city family. You got road bonds passed; passed twice, when it is hard enough to pass them once. That was a big issue when I was here before.”

Townsend was asked if he could devote as many as two years to the project.

Yes, but don't recommend it,” he said. “Shortly after your city council election (May 2) you should get serious about selection of a permanent city manager to have someone on board as you begin your budget process.”

“We have a lot of projects,” said councilwoman Anita Hisey. “With you as interim, can you make the decisions and make things happen? We want to know you are not tiptoeing until a new city manager can be found.”

“I had a busy 3-4 months here before, including terminating a key staff member at the outset,” said Townsend.

“When you came in, I was brand new to council,” said councilman Tom Dillard. “After conflict with our old city manager, I thought the sky was falling. You were unflappable.

“Now we have projects that are not in the planning stage—the Quarry Park Outdoor Recreation Center, road bonds, ongoing problems with the water plant-—but we are on a much more stable financial basis than when you were here before. Can you still be as unflappable?”

Townsend's answer was yes. In addition to working himself up through the ranks of Corpus Christi city government from a budget and research analyst to city manager from 1956-1989, he was Laredo city manager from 1982-1989.

He had gone from a city with 3,000 employees and a $126 million budget to one that had been cut to half that in a serious economic bind: the city had a general fund deficit and a peso devaluation, which reduced annual revenues by $4 million.

“I was the first city manager in Laredo,” said Townsend. “During my time there, the city quadrupled by annexation, added a water system, passed bonds—things people said we couldn't do—and we were $70,000 above water.”

Among his other career appointments, Townsend was executive director of the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool, 1991-2012. An Austin resident, Townsend said he would require housing expense on the dates of night meetings.

The council interviewed Townsend at the opening of the meeting and requested he leave before any debate or decision. Although Texas First had suggested at least two other candidates, council members did not wait for executive session or future meetings, and made their decision in the regular order of the agenda later on.

Parks and roads

To gain council approval for a new approach to construction phases of the Quarry Park Outdoor Recreation Center, Smith had brought representatives of Grand Development Specialists (GDS) and local businessman H D Irvin, owner of the local steel erector company who donated time and manpower to conversion of similar buildings for covered tennis courts in Quarry Park.

Except for the need to remove one section of deteriorated metal, Irvin assured the council that the buildings were sound and explained how an ordered approach to rehabilitation of remaining metal requires three steps.

As to why the city might have received contradictory assessments from engineers consluted on the project, Irvin said that was easily understood.

“There are metal building engineers and structural engineers,” he said. “For some reason they don't communicate well. This is a totally different engineering task from structural engineering.”

GDS representatives assured them many opportunities would remain to analyze and provide input on the process.

Both the Quarry Park project and the roads project will benefit from prompt action they were told. Although actual paving requires only about 10 days, giving contractors a window between June 1 and Sept. 30 to schedule equipment gives the city the best advantage for the best bid on that phase of work. That, in turn, depends on prompt preparation work. Since roadbed preparation of Phillips Ranch Road, never constructed or maintained as a county road, will be more extensive, preparation must begin there.

The information came from a meeting between members of KC Engineering, mayor Carl Brugger, mayor pro tem Jim Davant, finance director Wendy Gholson and other staff members.

Fencing

In a final vote of four to three, the council approved the adoption of Ordinance 727 to replace Ordinance 708 that pertains to fencing in the Residential Single Family (R-1) Zoning District. Falling in line with staff concerns, Brugger and council members Todd Holland and Mark Morren opposed the adoption. Most notably they were concerned that a change in wording from “new and good quality” materials to simply “good quality” placed heavy responsibility on staff members for a subjective interpretation.

Councilwoman Shirley King and Davant, who have conveyed a number citizen opinions to the council, and Hisey, liaison to the Planning & Zoning Commission throughout a long debate over the ordinance, voted yes, along with councilman Tom Dillard.

“To be respectful of everyone's position, we have staff that wants something easy to enforce, citizens who want something easy to understand and easy to build and a P&Z trying to do the same thing we are, I think,” said Dillard. “We have batted this back and forth and have yet to have a meeting with fencing on the agenda that didn't have a citizen come with an absolutely valid question.

“We are not going to come to a perfect agreement.”

Hisey, who has seen first hand debate both in the P&Z and in the council, was stern with her colleagues.

“The P&Z voted 5-2 for “good quality” materials as long as there is a definition of the term,” she said. “We can not get on the same page because interpretation is everything.

“For the longest time the P&Z did not get any council support. The fencing ordinance has come back a year, two years. Their 5-2 vote allows used materials. They want to compromise.”

City Secretary Elaine Simpson, who records the minutes of both bodies was able to report that the P&Z did propose a definition but it was not formally included in the motion for the proposal sent to the council.

As approved, new Ordinance 727 contains the addition: “All materials must be designed for use as fencing.”

Smith explained after the meeting that used or repurposed materials can fall into that category as long as they are properly prepared according to the lengthy materials specifications of the ordinance.

For example, wood would need to be dimensioned or milled uniformly and treated. Concealed metal posts or pipe could be used with the wood, provided non-galvanized pipe is painted.

The council requested that city attorney Brad Young return to a future meeting with a refined draft of a revised Sign Ordinance. Discussion will continue on restrictions on flashing or blinking lings, traveling message and other lighted signs.