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01/09/2017MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS January 9, 2017 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, January 9, 2017, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: A.J. Hashmi Council Members: Billie Lancaster; Aaron Jenkins; Billy Trenado; Steve Clifford; Matt Frierson; and Cleonne Drake City Staff John Godwin, City Manager; Stephanie Harris, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson, Finance Director; Carla Easton, City Engineer; Larry Wright, Fire Chief; Bob Hundley, Police Chief; Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director; Doug Harris, Utilities Director; Jerry McDaniel, Public Works Director; Priscilla McAnally, Library Director; and Alan Efrussy; Planning Manager Opening Agenda Call meeting to order. Mayor Hashmi called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Gene Anderson gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Lancaster led the pledge. 4. Citizens' Forum. No one spoke during citizens' forum. Consent Agenda Mayor Hashmi inquired of Council Members if they wished to pull any items from the consent agenda for discussion. There being none, a Motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Council Member Lancaster and seconded by Council Member Frierson. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve minutes from the meetings on December 5, 2016 and December 14, 2016. Regular Council Meeting January 9, 2017 Page 2 6. Receive reports and /or minutes from the following boards, commissions, and committees: a. Historic Preservation Commission (9 -14 -2016 & 11 -9 -2016) b. Paris Economic Development Corporation (11 -15 -2016) c. Paris -Lamar County Board of Health (8 -15 -2016 & 9 -19 -2016) d. Zoning Board of Adjustment (6 -21 -2016) e. Airport Advisory Board (10 -20 -2016) 7. Receive November monthly financial report. 8. Re- approve the City Investment Policy. 9. Receive November drainage report. 10. Approve the Final Plat of Lot 1, Block A, AAA Mini Storage Addition, located in the 1300 Block of N.W. Loop 286. 11. Approve RESOLUTION NO. 2017 -001: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PARIS, TEXAS RE- AUTHORIZING THE CITY TO BECOME ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN RESIDENTIAL TAX ABATEMENTS AND APPROVING GUIDELINES AND CRITERIA FOR THE RESIDENTIAL TAX ABATEMENT PROGRAM; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Regular Agenda 12. Receive presentation from Mayor Hashmi about a "Street of Dreams," discuss creation of a neighborhood empowerment zone and provide direction to staff. Mayor Hashmi said the idea of "Street of Dreams" was that of a luxury home and garden tour in the United States. He explained there would be a showcasing of homes by those who wanted to participate once the project was completed, and that people would be allowed to vote on categories. Mayor Hashmi expressed appreciation to Edwin Pickle and Keep Paris Beautiful for their donation toward the best landscaping category and said other categories would include best architecture, interior designing, and best renovations. He also said there was an award of $5,000 being donated by a generous donor for the home that gets the most votes based on criteria which will be set forth by the organizing committee. Mayor Hashmi then presented a modified idea of "Street of Dreams." He said the City was spending an enormous amount of money on infrastructure on one of the streets in town, with new water and sewer lines, new sidewalks, and a newly paved road which was one of the most travelled streets in town. Mayor Hashmi said the street was Pine Bluff and the project was expected to finish in the summer of 2017. He depicted photographs of the old historic homes from years past and said a number of the homes had either become dilapidated or uninhabited or Regular Council Meeting January 9, 2017 Page 3 just unkempt. Mayor Hashmi proposed the idea of organizing a rejuvenation project on Pine Bluff Street in which the City helps the residents in bringing the old glory back by assisting residents of that area. He suggested 1) assisting residents of that area by allowing them easy deliverability of permits for renovations; 2) waiving of permitting fees for those who want to improve the homes in that area; 3) Offer the home loan improvement program through the banks that is already in place; 4) Start strict code enforcement; 5) cleanup city owned properties on that street, and maintain them; and 6) give tax abatements (which already exist) on improvements that are made, inform and assist local residents on how to obtain and apply for them. Mayor Hashmi said this street was selected because it was heavy travelled, the City was already spending a lot of money on improvements and it could become a pilot project for other streets, and the project would be coming to completion in the near future. He also said at one time this was a very glorious street, and there were really a lot of homes that required improvements on this street. Mayor Hashmi ended his presentation by asking the Council if they would pass an ordinance allowing the City to waive permitting fees on this project in an effort to help rejuvenate this heavily travelled street in town. Mayor Hashmi also said he purchased two homes on this street but would not be requesting waiver of permits for renovation, nor would he be participating in the contest but would open the homes up for the tour. He also said that he would continue to live in District Seven. Council Member Drake said they would need to get the word out to the owners of the properties. Mayor Hashmi said after he and Mr. Godwin walked the neighborhood, three more of the dilapidated homes had sold. He said they would walk the neighborhood again and leave brochures. Council Member Clifford thought it was an interesting idea. Council Members Trenado, Jenkins and Lancaster favored the idea. A Motion to approve waiver of fees of renovation of homes on this street and to create a neighborhood empowerment zone as requested by city staff was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. Mayor Hashmi said he would like to move item 20 forward on the agenda. A Motion to move item 20 forward was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 20. Discuss drainage issues located at 3915 Shannon Drive, and provide direction to city staff. Mayor Hashmi said he requested this item be placed on the agenda. He said when neighbors built their homes, they built them higher. He also said at that time, either there was not a code about elevation or those who were to be inspecting were not doing so. Mayor Hashmi said the City was not required to fix personal property and then referenced the similarity of Patsy Carcuffe's property that Council Member John Wright had placed on an agenda in the past. Council Member Drake inquired if the homeowner had tried different options and Mr. Godwin said they had and this had been going on for about thirty years. Council Member Frierson said he would like to hear from the city attorney about this. City Attorney Stephanie Harris said they had to be careful because it was unconstitutional to work on private property unless there was a Regular Council Meeting January 9, 2017 Page 4 public purpose. Mr. Godwin said there were at least two property owners who would benefit, and added a lot of problems were inherited because either there were no codes or the codes were not enforced at that time. Council Member Trenado said if it was constitutional to correct this problem, then he would like to do so. Council Members Jenkins and Lancaster agreed with Council Member Trenado. It was a consensus of City Council that the City Attorney study this issue and advise the City Council. It was also a consensus if the City could constitutionally work on this property, for the staff come up with a plan and bring back a cost estimate. A Motion to move item 25 forward on the agenda was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Members Clifford and Trenado. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 25. Discuss and act on administering of kennel cough vaccinations to dogs at the animal shelter. Keith Flowers with the Lamar County Humane Association explained they were proposing at no cost to the City that while a dog was on "stray hold," which was the first 72 hours that all dogs get the kennel cough vaccination. He further explained they had people who were willing to donate money for the vaccines, provided they could get the police department and the City Council to make whatever changes were necessary to do that. Mr. Flowers said if a dog gets kennel cough, they had to euthanize them. Chief Hundley said there were other cities that had ordinances that provided for temporary ownership. A Motion to authorize the city staff to write the necessary amendments to the ordinance was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 13. Receive input from citizens regarding street and parks bond projects, discuss, and provide direction to city staff. Mayor Hashmi said they discussed this at the December 12 meeting and they had an opportunity to increase the city tax rate to sell bonds for capital improvements, but keep a lower net rate for taxpayers because of the upcoming reduction in the PJC rate. Mayor Hashmi explained they would sell approximately $11 million in bonds. He further explained there were two options and one was to issue certificates of obligation and the other was to place it on a ballot. Mayor Hashmi said he had received only positive comments and he favored certificates of obligation at this point. Council Members Jenkins, Trenado and Lancaster agreed with Mayor Hashmi. Council Member Frierson said he had received some push back on this from citizens. He inquired about the amount normally issued by the City. Mr. Anderson said he could research it, but he knew the City had issued $5 million in bonds in the past and was confident they had not gone over $10 million. Council Member Frierson inquired how the $11 million was reached and Mayor Hashmi said from the PJC annexation. Council Member Frierson said several people thought they were capitalizing on the PJC vote and forcing a tax rate increase. Mayor Hashmi said yes, the City was capitalizing on the PJC vote and were raising the tax rate, but that citizens Regular Council Meeting January 9, 2017 Page 5 would still be paying less in property taxes and would have their streets redone. He also said they were not fixated on the streets listed and he was fine with $10 million. Mayor Hashmi said the City was in a fortunate situation. Council Member Drake said she had been contacted by citizens who were for and who were against this, although both sides said something needed to be done. Council Member Frierson asked if this was a maintenance issue and if it was budgeted. Mr. Godwin said maintenance projects were in the budget, such as chip seal and the budget was around $460,000 for that. Citizen Don "Pinky" Wilson said if they issue certificates of obligation, they would be raising the taxes without a vote of the citizens. He invited Council Members to go with him and look at streets. He asked they consider overlay of streets, which was a lot less expensive. He said they needed to sit down and analyze what they were doing in street maintenance. Mayor Hashmi said they had not decided the streets and the costs were estimates. Mr. Wilson said he did not like the idea of issuing $10 million dollar in bonds and then finding a project. He said what the City had was a lack of maintenance over the last couple of years. Council Member Drake inquired if they sold $10 million and the cost was $6 million what they would need to do. Mr. Godwin said they would have the full amount in the bank and would have to spend it within three years. Finance Director Mr. Anderson said they could put the excess funds in the INS and use it to pay back the debt. Mr. Wilson said he was in favor of issuing $5 million in certificates of obligation. Mayor Hashmi said he had no objection to that. Citizen Daryl Hughes said Tudor was not on the list and that street contained no speed signs, no stop signs and no sidewalks. He said it was a dangerous street. Council Member Lancaster agreed with Mr. Hughes and said there were a lot of streets in her district that needed to be considered. Mayor Hashmi said they could start with $5 million if that was more cost effective. Mr. Godwin said his first reaction would be to do two streets but he hated to leave out big or small streets. Mr. Godwin said $5 million concerned him because they already had overlay included in the cost estimate and added there was no problem in finding streets in Paris that needed to be re- built. Mayor Hashmi suggested they go with $10 million and let the people vote. It was a consensus of the City Council to call a special election. 14. Conduct a public hearing, discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2017 -001: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING ZONING ORDINANCE NO. 1710 OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AS HERETOFORE AMENDED, TO ADD "SOLAR FARM" AND "DISTILLERY" USES BY AMENDING SECTION 8, "USE TO LAND AND BUILDINGS;" BY AMENDING SECTION 12 -100, "SPECIFIC USE PERMITS;" BY ADDING SECTION 29, "PARTICULAR REQUIREMENTS FOR SOLAR FARMS;" PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Godwin said Council recently heard this item and requested staff provide more information regarding electric generation, and any health hazards indicating larger areas for solar Regular Council Meeting January 9, 2017 Page 6 farms. Mr. Godwin said staff had added additional safety precautions into this ordinance and that Planning & Zoning approved it. Mayor Hashmi opened the public hearing and asked anyone wishing to speak in support or opposition of this item, to please come forward. With no one speaking, Mayor Hashmi closed the public hearing. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Members Lancaster and Trenado. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 15. Conduct a public hearing, discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2017 -002: AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING CHAPTER 22, "MOBILE HOMES AND MOBILE HOME PARKS," OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES; AMENDING ZONING ORDINANCE NO. 1710 OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AS HERETOFORE AMENDED, BY AMENDING SECTION 8, "USE OF LAND AND BUILDINGS," AND BY AMENDING SECTION 22, "GENERAL DEFINITIONS;" PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mayor Hashmi inquired if there were any questions and there were none. Mayor Hashmi opened the public hearing and asked anyone wishing to speak in support or opposition of this item, to please come forward. With no one speaking, Mayor Hashmi closed the public hearing. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Receive presentation on the status and progress of sale of properties with delinquent taxes. Mayor Hashmi expressed his appreciation to attorney Tracy Pounders for his hard work on this task. Tracy Pounders presented an update to City Council, which included the number of properties they started with and the number of properties left to be sold, unmarketable properties due to title but being the highest priority, tax liens, tax warrants, delinquent taxes, and abandoned properties. He informed City Council the next tax sale would be held March 7. Mayor Hashmi said maybe the City could spend some of the money on advertising of these tax delinquent properties. 17. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2017 -003: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING ARTICLE III, "SMOKING REGULATIONS," OF CHAPTER 17 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS BY AMENDING SECTION 17.46, "DEFINITIONS," AND SECTION 17.53, "PROHIBITION OF SMOKING IN ENCLOSED PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT "; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS RELATED TO THE SAME; PROVIDING A Regular Council Meeting January 9, 2017 Page 7 REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A PENALTY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Godwin said the current ordinance contained speculative language, in that two walls constituted an enclosed space and it made more sense to change it to three walls. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Frierson. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. Council Member Drake stepped out of the meeting room at 6:50 p.m. 18. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2017 -004: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING ARTICLE VII, "TOWING AND IMPOUNDMENT POLICY" OF CHAPTER 31, "TRAFFIC CODE," OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT IN SEC. 31 -138 THAT VEHICLE OWNERS PROVIDE PROOF OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (LIABILITY INSURANCE) TO CLAIM VEHICLE IMPOUNDED UNDER SAID ORDINANCE; MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED OT THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A SAVINGS CLAUSE, A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Chief Hundley explained the Texas Attorney General had issued an opinion state that cities did not have the authority to require proof of financial responsibility before releasing an impounded vehicle. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Clifford and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. Council Member Drake returned to the meeting room at 6:52 p.m. 19. Discuss and act on a request from the Breakfast Noon Optimist Club for funding in the amount of $2,000 for support of the 2017 baseball program. Mr. Godwin said this was a good program and last summer the club had asked for $8,000 but the person who was to present it to Council left employment and did not pass it along to the other representatives. Mr. Godwin said as a result, the City did not fund any of the program. Council Member Trenado agreed that it was a very good program. State Director for Dixie Baseball said Paris was the only City who had not done anything for the baseball program and they would like the City to be a partner, because Dixie does bring State tournaments to the City. A Motion to support the program in the amount of $8,000 was made by Council Member Trenado. Council Member Drake asked where the funds would come from. Mr. Godwin said the money could be absorbed in the budget. Following additional discussion, Council Member Regular Council Meeting January 9, 2017 Page 8 Trenado amended his Motion to support the program in the amount of $6,000 and it was seconded by Council Member Jenkins. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 21. Receive update on drainage work. Council Member Drake said she had requested this item and asked for a timeline on clean-up of ditches in Johnson Woods between Clarksville Street and Clark Lane. Public Works Director Jerry McDaniel gave an update on drainage work in the City which included a timeline of nine months. Council Member Drake depicted photos of work which needed to be done and discussed it with Mr. McDaniel. 22. Receive disannexation request from Andrew Preston, discuss and provide direction to staff. Mr. Preston told City Council the reason he was requesting disannexation was because the City did not provide water and sewer and there was neglected property around his property. Mayor Hashmi said one concern he had was disannexation of his property would create an island type situation. Following additional discussion, City Attorney Stephanie Harris advised that it was against the City's guidelines to create an island. It was a consensus of City Council to not move forward with disannexation of this property, but if the adjoining property owner to Mr. Preston also filed an application they would consider disannexation of both properties. 23. Discuss development practices and procedures. City Engineer Carla Easton reviewed with City Council the ten general steps to consider during the development process. She explained the process generally took from four to twelve weeks, depending on the project. 24. Discuss and act on renting large trash containers for clean-up along the West Trail de Paris. Council Member Lancaster said she requested this item because there were dilapidated buildings that had been tagged for years along the trail that was being built. She said she would like to start a clean-up project along this area, provide trash containers, and that she could get volunteers. Mr. Godwin said they were working on the area and if they got the trash containers, he believed that people would use them. It was a consensus of City Council to place trash containers along the West Trail de Paris. 26. Discuss the holiday sanitation schedule for the upcoming year. Council Member Drake stated that several people had contacted her in regard to trash not being picked up during holidays. Mr. Godwin provided City Council with a schedule and said that not all the zones got the same number of pick -ups. Council Member Drake said trash trucks did not run on Friday due to weather and there were homes that still had trash sitting by the Regular Council Meeting January 9, 2017 Page 9 curbs. She said she was not against city employees getting holidays but perhaps they could come up with options for when they have a weather day, or holiday or simply look at a different way of getting notification to citizens. Council Member Lancaster said in the past Wednesday was used as a make -up day. Mr. Godwin advised he would bring some options to City Council. Council Member Drake said they might also want to look at curb side recycling. 27. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2017 -002: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPOINTING TWO ALTERNATE MEMBERS TO THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 16 OF THE CITY ZONING ORDINANCE AND THE CITY'S POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR STANDING BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Godwin explained that most cities have five regular members and two alternate members. He further explained that you needed to have five members at every meeting, because if you only had four members that one member could deny everything. City Clerk Janice Ellis said they had received one application and that was from Chris Fitzgerald. A Motion to appoint Chris Fitzgerald as an alternate member was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Drake. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 28. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004 -081. Mayor Hashmi requested that an executive session item be placed on the next agenda with regard to the First National Bank Building. Council Member Drake invited everyone to attend the Annual Texas Student Crime Stopper Convention to be held at the Love Civic Center February 6 -8. 29. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Frierson and was seconded by Council Member Drake. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. n \ \