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08/28/2017MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS August 28, 2017 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 28, 2017, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Steven Clifford Council Members: Billie Lancaster; Billy Trenado; Linda Knox; Cleonne Drake; and Paula Portugal 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; Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal; Doug Harris, Utilities Director; Jerry McDaniel, Public Works Director; Alan Efrussy, Planning Director; Tom Hunt, Municipal Judge Absent: Council Member: Aaron Jenkins Opening Agenda 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Clifford called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Pastor Bob Seale gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Drake led the pledge. 4. Citizens' Forum. Janine Lauren, 1760 NE 34h — she asked the City Council to not pass the budget, because it was not clear. She referenced past budgets and budgets from other cities. Chad Bird, 540 W. Austin — he said he promoted concerts and the Civic Center needed to be upgraded to host concerts for national bands. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2017 Page 2 Patsy Carcuff, 315 York Street — she said for the past several years residents had been moving in her neighborhood and changing the elevation of their property which resulted in flooding of her property. She said they did not have permits to do that type of work and was before Council to ask for a solution. Larry Schenk — he said he was there to speak about item 14 and wanted to know if he should speak under this forum or would he be allowed to speak when they got to item 14. Mayor Clifford said he would allow him to speak when they reached that item. Skipper Steely — he said he wrote history about the City and referenced industrial history. He suggested they keep PEDC and possibly add a Type B tax. Consent Agenda Mayor Clifford 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 Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards, commissions, and committees: a. Main Street Advisory Board (7-11-2017) b. Historic Preservation Commission (7-12-2017) c. Paris Visitors & Convention Council (5-17-2017) d. Paris Economic Development Corporation (7-21-2017) e. Building & Standards Commission (7-17-2017) f. Planning & Zoning Commission (6-5-2017) g. Paris Housing Authority (6-20-2017) 6. Receive July monthly financial report. 7. Receive July drainage report. 8. Receive demolition and code enforcement activity reports. 9. Re -appoint Thomas E. Hunt III as Municipal Court Judge and Don Biard as Associate Municipal Court Judge for the City of Paris. 10. Appoint one member to the Main Street Advisory Board and one member to the Building and Standards Commission to fill unexpired terms. Regular Agenda 11. Conduct a public hearing, discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2017-029: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2017 Page 3 AUTHORIZING THE APPLICATION FOR THE EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT (JAG) PROGRAM, GMS APPLICATION NUMBER 2017 -H2284 -TX -DJ; AUTHORIZING AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH LAMAR COUNTY; AUTHORIZING THE EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS; ACCEPTING SAID GRANT AWARD UPON NOTICE THEREOF; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF ANY AND ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR ACCEPTANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SAID GRANT UPON NOTICE THEREOF; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Chief Hundley said this was the annual grant in the amount of $11,039, and it would be split 50/50 with Lamar County Sheriff's Office. He said it would be used for equipment. Mayor Clifford opened the public hearing and asked for anyone wishing to speak in support or opposition to this item, to please come forward. Chief Hundley said he supported this application. With no one else speaking, Mayor Clifford closed the public hearing. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Trenado. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 12. Discuss and authorize naming the bridge near the Love Civic Center trailhead to the "Earl Erickson Bridge," and authorize placement of appropriate signage to identify donors. City Manager John Godwin introduced Mary Clark, who gave a short presentation on behalf of the NETT Board of Directors. Ms. Clark asked the City Council to authorize naming the bridge near the Love Civic Center trailhead as the "Earl Erickson Bridge," citing Mr. Erickson's vision, dedication and countless hours of hard work in developing the Northeast Texas Trail, which included the Trail de Paris. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Knox and seconded by Council Members Lancaster and Portugal. 13. Discuss and authorize renaming a portion of Center Street to "Rita Haynes Boulevard." Mr. Godwin said when he moved to Paris, Ms. Haynes was one of the persons he met and she explained how the Red River Valley fairgrounds worked. He said in recognition of Rita Jane Haynes' service and contributions to Paris and Lamar County, they would like to rename the portion of East Center Street that lies inside the fairgrounds "Rita Haynes Boulevard." A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 14. Discuss and possibly act on a COLA for City of Paris retirees. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2017 Page 4 Mayor Clifford asked that anyone wishing to speak about this item, to please come forward. Larry Schenk, 3765 Dawn Drive — he spoke in support of the COLA for retirees. He said their whole effort had been directed at a COLA for long term 30-40 year employees whose wages were so low while they worked that their pensions were correspondingly low. Mr. Schenk referenced the city manager's e-mail to Ms. Rose in 2012, and said COLA adjustments had not been considered every budget year. Mr. Schenk asked City Council to consider giving a COLA to retirees, citing there was sufficient money in the general fund, utility funds, and the reserves to do this. Tommy Haynes, 3095 Abbott — he said the City was receiving money from property taxes since 2008, but did not share with retirees through a COLA. He asked Council to look at the fund balance at the end of December and inquired if some of that could be used to fund the COLA. Mr. Haynes said if this was not approved this year, their fear was that it would never happen because the amount would be too great. Charles Whitley, 725 SE 30th — he said he was a police department retiree and when they retired, they were getting a small increase. He asked them to reinstate the COLA. Janine Lauren, 1760 NE 34th — she said if the Council would look at the budget they would see they could reduce the city manager's budget by $200,000 and fund the COLA. Connie Stauter — she said the retirees did not have any leverage except to appeal to the Council's sense of fairness. Ms. Stauter said medicines and utilities continued to increase and asked the Council to consider giving the retirees a COLA. John Godwin said he did not make $300,000 a year. He also said the COLA for retirees was not a bad expense. Mr. Godwin explained that when you put together a budget, you look at everything and that he did look at this. He further explained that if they did not purchase an ambulance this year to pay for this COLA, then next year they would have to purchase two ambulances. Mr. Godwin referenced the years that capital items were deferred and the City got in trouble. He explained two ways to cut the budget, and emphasized he did not think it was a good ideal to pay recurring expenses out of reserves. Mr. Godwin said in the last few months there were four people who retired from the City and then took other jobs, so they were drawing retirement and getting another salary. Mr. Godwin emphasized that a person could retire even at age 40, after 20 years of services. He explained they could not just select a certain group to receive a COLA, because it was not legal. Mr. Godwin said he would do what the Council directed him to do, but that he did not recommend this expense because there were too many items the City needed in way of capital items. Mayor Clifford said if the City had unlimited resources, he would be for doing this but that the City did not have unlimited resources. Council Member Drake wanted to know how much money the City would have at the end of September and Mr. Godwin said he did not know off the top of his head, but we did have reserves. Retiree Tommy Haynes said there was $50 Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2017 Page 5 million dollars in the two budgets, and the retirees had been left out for ten years. Council Member Trenado asked Mr. Godwin if he knew of any businesses that guaranteed their employees a COLA after retiring. Mr. Godwin said he could not answer that question about the private sector. Council Member Portugal said she really wanted to help the retirees and referenced her husband retirement early and that he did not get anything paid toward his insurance. Council Member Portugal said she also retired and works part-time. She said she knew it was tough, because her insurance was going to double. Council Member Drake said she had already made up her mind before tonight, but she had changed it. She referenced family members and friends who had retired from the City. A Motion to not include the COLA in the budget was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Trenado. Motion carried, 5 ayes — I nay, with Council Member Drake casting the dissenting vote. 15. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2017-033: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING CHAPTER 29, STREETS, SIDEWALKS, AND OTHER PUBLIC PROPERTY," OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, TO ADD ARTICLE VI TO CHAPTER 29 REGARDING WIRELESS FACILITIES IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A SAVINGS CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Attorney Stephanie Harris explained that SB 1004 goes into effect September 1, 2017 as new Texas Local Government Code Chapter 284. She further explained that prior to the effective date, cities could charge franchise fees to wireless providers who wanted to install equipment in the rights-of-way or prohibit wireless providers from doing so altogether. Ms. Harris said Chapter 284 mandates that wireless infrastructure and service providers have access to the public rights-of-way to locate their facilities without negotiating franchise agreements or paying franchise fees. In order for the City to regulate the proliferation of small cell wireless facilities, Ms. Harris said Council must pass an ordinance prior to the effective date. Council Member Knox confirmed with Ms. Harris that the ordinance provided for enforcement. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Knox. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Consider and possibly approve appointment by city attorney of a contract prosecutor pursuant to City of Paris, Texas Charter Sec. 28. Ms. Harris said the current contract prosecutor Zach Ressler had resigned effective the end of this month and local attorney Chris Fitzgerald had agreed to undertake the limited prosecutorial duties. Ms. Harris explained this was on a part-time basis. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2017 Page 6 A Motion to authorize the city attorney to hire Mr. Fitzgerald on a contract part-time basis was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Mayor Clifford. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 17. Discuss an Economic Development Program and provide direction to staff. Mayor Clifford said he had asked Mr. Godwin to put together a plan for economic development structure should the proposition be approved in November. Mr. Godwin reviewed the proposed program with City Council, which included termination of the PEDC Board and Operations, as well as obligations of the PEDC. He also reviewed general fund budget changes, employees, road maintenance tax use and need, and creation of an advisory board. Mayor Clifford expressed appreciation to Mr. Godwin for the proposed plan, as did Council Member Drake. Council Member Portugal inquired if three years down the road whether or not a new council decide to change the amount. Mr. Godwin said that was always the option of the Council, and that all that they could do was commit to their budget one year at a time. Mayor Clifford said he noticed PEDC had a net worth of $4.2 million dollars but PEDC's obligation was $6.2 million dollars, which is why it would take almost two years to satisfy all of PEDC' s obligations. Mayor Clifford also said one of PEDC's obligations was a loan guarantee and when that loan gets paid, then the City could have quite a bit of money for economic development. Council Member Drake said this was a good start if the citizens decide this is the way to go. 18. Discuss and act on the fiscal year 2017-18 budgets for Love Civic Center and the Visitors & Convention Council. Chamber President Ken Higdon said he had asked that they send any questions to him, that he did receive questions and sent the responses. Council Member Knox thanked Mr. Higdon and said she had spent the weekend going over everything. She noted the Chamber had a busy few months and Mr. Higdon agreed. Council Member Knox said she did not think this budget process fit in well with what the Chamber had been doing the last couple of months. She said she noticed a lot of gaps in the budget and though it needed to be tabled for a little more work. Council Member Knox made a Motion to table this item. Council Member Knox said she wanted to see an explanation for every single line item and she did not get that. She also said a point that was made by the city manager was that budgets were a good planning tool. Mr. Higdon said they did not take this budget lightly, and the board had put a lot of time and effort into it. Mr. Higdon also said they provided that information with the line items to the city manager and he was sorry she did not receive that information. Mayor Clifford said he got it that afternoon at 3:00, which consisted of about 100 pages and believed he was the only that received it. Mr. Higdon reported they had a great year at the Civic Center and that they had a church that rented space every Sunday that there was not an event, but that would go away soon. Council Member Knox said she printed off a past budget which reflected line item explanations, not in depth but nice explanations. She asked Ken to consider using the same type format. Mr. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2017 Page 7 Higdon said there were items in the current budget they needed to begin working on pretty quickly. Mayor Clifford said he just received this information and he would have liked to gotten it last week, but did not. Mayor Clifford said a Motion to table this had been made and he seconded the Motion. Council Member Drake wanted to know when he needed this budget approved and Mr. Higdon said that was up to the Council. Council Member Knox said she had read the agreement between the City and Chamber and it said they had to present their budget by August 1, along with a plan of program of work which she did not see. There being no further discussion, Mayor Clifford called for a vote. Motion carried, 4 ayes — 2 nays, with Council Members Drake and Portugal casting the dissenting votes. Mayor Clifford said he would forward the information he received to the rest of the City Council. 19. Discuss and act on Paris Economic Development Corporation's FY 2017-18 budget. PEDC Director Michael Paris said Council Member Knox had requested an itemized budget, and he presented to City Council the PEDC budget reflecting line item expenses and descriptions. Mr. Paris said Council Member Knox specifically asked about salaries, to which he explained the increase was due to the two temporary employees going to full-time. He said there were three employees, including him. Council Member Drake inquired about his retirement plan. Mr. Paris said he had a 401k, the two staff members did not have retirement, but insurance was budgeted for all three employees. Mr. Paris explained the categorizations of Depot Operations. Council Member Knox inquired about the Paris News expense and Mr. Paris said it was for a subscription to the newspaper. Mr. Paris said PEDC increased legal fees, due to the Council taking PEDC to a vote and that Ms. Harris might have a conflict of interest. Mayor Clifford disagreed with the increase of legal fees and said the city attorney should be consulted as to whether or not a conflict existed. He said he wanted that zeroed out of the current budget and the upcoming budget. Mr. Paris reviewed items under the Industrial Park, Lamar County Days and marketing for the airport. Mayor Clifford inquired if any of the money for marketing was being spent in Paris and Mr. Paris said it was not. Mayor Clifford said he would like it to be spent in more than a fifty mile radius in order to attract business and people to Paris. Mr. Paris also covered business incentives and debt service. Council Member Knox inquired about Paris Lakes, including the $250,000 set aside for infrastructure. Mr. Paris said the $250,000 was not a reoccurring expense and is still there, because Paris Lakes had five years to complete the infrastructure and they had not done so. Mr. Paris said it was to help them but they had not completed construction, which was required as part of the agreement. Mr. Paris said they were in their last year to complete it and that June 1, 2018 was the deadline. Mayor Clifford confirmed that nothing had been spent. Council Member Knox asked if this if was the construction on the Southeast Loop that was to be an upscale hospital, upscale shopping center and so forth. Mr. Paris said it was for the construction on the Southeast Loop and understood that the plans had changed three times. Council Member Knox confirmed with Mr. Paris that the incentives had not changed. Mr. Paris said it was specific to the roads that were to be built out there. Following the presentation, Mayor Clifford inquired of Mr. Paris how much money they were setting aside for the $4.7 million dollars remaining on the loan guarantee. Mr. Paris said Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2017 Page 8 the EDC had never set aside money for that and it was part of the future cash flows. Council Member Clifford said he did not think this would happen, but if the loan were to be defaulted, then PEDC would have to pay $4.7 million dollars that it did not have. Mr. Paris said it would be paid out of future cash flows but not immediately. Mayor Clifford said this is the item that is keeping PEDC quite a bit in the hole for the next two years. Mr. Paris said Chapter 380 agreements and incentive agreements are all funded with future cash flows by economic development corporations. Mayor Clifford said they did just receive a legal opinion that the entire deal may not be valid at all. Mayor Clifford said the expert opinion came from an economic development lawyer. Mr. Paris said the lawyers he talked to said it was legal but unfortunately it was not the smartest thing to do. Mayor Clifford confirmed with Mr. Paris that PEDC was promising future money should it become payable. Mr. Paris went over the estimated income and expenses. Council Member Knox wanted to know what PEDC did with their surplus. According to their Bylaws, Mr. Paris said the surplus goes back into the general fund and is placed into two mechanisms that hold their reserve cash. Council Member Knox said this type of breakdown was exactly what she wanted and was helpful. With the changes stipulated by Council, a Motion to approve the Paris Economic Development Corporation's budget was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Members Knox and Portugal. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 20. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2017-030: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, CALLING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 ON THE CITY MANAGER'S PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017-18; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Godwin said he had nothing new and that at this point, they needed to call the public hearings on the proposed budget and proposed property tax rate. Mr. Godwin reminded City Council they would have a special meeting next Tuesday, September 5 at 5:30 p.m. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Trenado. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 21. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2017-031: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, CALLING TWO PUBLIC HEARINGS TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE CITY'S PROPOSED PROPERTY TAX RATE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017-18; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Mayor Clifford. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2017 Page 9 22. Convene into Executive Session pursuant to Section 551.087 of the Texas Government Code, (1) to discuss or deliberate regarding commercial or financial information that the governmental body has received from a business prospect that the governmental body seeks to have locate, stay, or expand in or near the territory of the governmental body and with which the governmental body is conducting economic development negotiations; or (2) to deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect described by Subdivision (1), as follows: • Kimberly-Clark Corporation • JS Baking, LLC Mayor Clifford convened City Council into executive session at 7:34 p.m. 23. Reconvene into Open Session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in Executive Session. Mayor Clifford reconvened City Council into open session at 8:18 p.m. and said Council discussed some economic development projects. 24. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004-081. Council Member Knox said at an earlier meeting they talked about having some long range planning meetings. Mr. Godwin said if they would e-mail to him and the mayor some possible available dates in October, he would set something up. 25. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Drake and was seconded by Mayor Clifford. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 8:19 p.m. >^M TEV J. CLIFf6RD, M.D., MAYOR ELLIS,