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Regular Council Meeting <br />January 25, 2021 <br />Page 4 <br />representative's contact information. Mr. Petty said he did not know why the City did not have <br />the number before tonight and that they had hired more people to assist with calls. Council <br />Member Portugal asked Mr. Petty to address the plans to re -open the local office. Mr. Petty said <br />there were no plans to re -open. <br />Council Member Portugal asked City Attorney Stephanie Harris to address the options or <br />alternatives of where citizens could go next. Ms. Harris explained that the City no longer had a <br />franchise agreement with Suddenlink or Altice, because franchise authorization, specifically <br />rates, were now governed by the Texas Public Utilities Commission. Ms. Harris further <br />explained cable and internet services were regulated by the Federal Communications <br />Commission. Mayor Clifford asked that a link be placed on the City's website to other sites <br />where consumers could register their complaints. <br />15. Discuss and act on how to expend the City of Paris' allocation of Coronavirus Relief <br />Funding from the Texas Department of Emergency Management. <br />City Manager Grayson Path explained the City of Paris had been allocated a maximum of <br />$55.00 per capita which is $1,393,150.00. He said an initial 20% was given to the City upon <br />submittal of the Resolution this summer and the remaining balance was available for <br />reimbursement. Mr. Path said he had been communicating with the State through the City's <br />third party administrator and this was the final step of approval to receive the City's total <br />allotment, and now they needed to decide how to spend the funding once received. Mr. Path also <br />said the City had three external commitments as being 1) Third Party Administrator, 2) Paris - <br />Lamar County Health District, and 3) the three local ISDs. <br />Mr. Path said he did not have a good recommendation tonight, as the City was still <br />incurring expenses due to Covid. Mr. Path and City Council discussed options, including the <br />expenses to date, remaining external commitments, any vaccination expenses, and additional <br />related pay/leave due to Covid. Following additional discussion, Mayor Clifford preferred to <br />revisit this item in three months so that perhaps they would have a better idea of expenses. It <br />was a consensus of City Council to do so. <br />16. Receive a presentation with regard to the Wastewater Treatment Plan Project, amendment <br />to the engineering agreement, long-term financing options and rate adjustments. <br />Mr. Path reviewed the timeline and stated that City Council approved Amendment #1 to <br />the Professional Engineering Services Agreement with Garver to proceed with Phase II of <br />design, authorized the City Manager to sign the Agreement once a plan of action for a long term <br />financing was established. He explained the City was not going to be able to get a zero interest <br />loan from the Texas Water Development Board. <br />Lance Clement with Garver explained that the TWDB was very behind on funding and <br />the City recently received a published draft of the Intended Use Plan. He said the Paris project <br />ranked 90`t' out of 99 projects, because the staff did such a good job of keeping the plant going. <br />Mr. Clement said in November the TWDB came out with drastic changes to their program citing <br />