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10/12/2020MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS October 12, 2020 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, October 12, 2020, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufman, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Steven Clifford Council Members: Paula Portugal; Renae Stone; Derrick Hughes; Gary Savage; Linda Knox; and Clayton Pilgrim City Staff: Grayson Path, City Manager; Stephanie Harris, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson; Finance Director; Randy Tuttle, Interim Police Chief; Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director; Thomas McMonigle, Interim Fire Chief; Carla Easton, City Engineer; M.A. Smith, Public Works Director; Roger Colson, Building Official; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal Opening A enda 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Clifford called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Finance Director Gene Anderson gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Portugal led the pledge. 4. Citizens' forum. Carol Hufnagel, 720 Bunker Street — she said she was curious who was responsible for patching the pot holes on the streets, and that speed bumps were not needed. 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 Council Member Hughes, and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. Regular Council Meeting October 12, 2020 Page 2 5. Approve minutes from the meeting on September 28, 2020. 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissions: a. Historic Preservation Commission (8-12-2020 & 9-16-2020) b. Planning & Zoning Commission (9-8-2020) 7. Approve an Airport Ground Lease Agreement with Larry David Ervin, for construction of a new airplane hangar at Cox Field Airport. Regular Agenda Receive presentation regarding the Texas Police Chief s Best Practice Re -Recognition. Interim Police Chief Randy Tuttle said the police department was first recognized in 2012 as a Best Practices Department, and this would be the third time the department had received the recognition. Chief Tuttle explained the process of obtaining this recognition, and said they had to apply every four years. Council Member Pilgrim arrived to the meeting at 5:34 p.m. 9. Discuss and act on an Agreement for Professional Services with the Texas Police Chief's Association for assistance with the search for a new police chief; and authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents. City Manager Grayson Path said the police chief was a high profile position, and that he would like to work with the Texas Police Chief's Association in this process. He said the total expense was not to exceed $6,000.00. Council Member Savage inquired as to when the actual search would begin. Mr. Path explained that they hope to begin advertising the position in two weeks and it would be a nationwide search. Mr. Path said the ad would be up for approximately four weeks. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Knox and seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 10. Discuss and act on a request to financially assist Paris Independent School District using CRF Program Funding; and authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents. Mr. Path said the City had been awarded almost 1.4 million dollars in CRF funding. He also said that the three school districts had reached out a month ago to request help with purchase of equipment for distance learning for their students. Mr. Path said the third party administrator Charles Edwards with Resource Management was there to answer any questions. Mr. Edwards explained at the current time, the City had expenses of approximately $200,000 to $300,000 and expected additional expenses of about $200,000 by the end of the month. Mr. Edwards said they Regular Council Meeting October 12, 2020 Page 3 recently learned that cities would be eligible for reimbursement for first responder salaries. He reported that the TEA initially asked the schools to reach out to their communities for assistance and TEA initially was doing a 50% match. Mr. Edwards said at this that time, TEA had committed to a 75% match so the City would be funding 25% with CRF funding. Council Member Savage inquired of Mr. Path's opinion about doing this. Mr. Path said he believed it to be a worthwhile program, because it would benefit the citizens. Council Member Stone said she thought it was a great idea because some of the children did not have laptops and did not want to be in school because of the virus. She said this was one of the best things they could do. Council Member Hughes wanted to know how the amounts were decided. Mr. Path said the schools requested the specific amounts. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Savage and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 11. Discuss and act on a request to financially assist North Lamar Independent School District using CRF Program Funding; and authorize the City manager to execute all necessary documents. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Portugal and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 12. Discuss and act on a request to financially assist Chisum Independent School District using CRF Program Funding; and authorize the City manager to execute all necessary documents. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Hughes and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 13. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2020-051: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING SECTION 7-18 OF ARTICLE 1I, BUILDING CODE, CHAPTER 7, BUILDINGS AND BUILDING REGULATIONS OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, TO REVISE THE LOCAL AMENDMENTS TO THE 2015 INTERNATIONAL BUILDING CODE, AND THE 2015 INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A SAVINGS CLAUSE, A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Engineer Carla Easton said staff would be discussing items 13, 14 and 15 together. She explained that in 2019, the Chamber of Commerce developed an educational series for local contractors and businesses to learn about building and fire codes. She also said it was during a question and answer session, it was asked if the City could possibly be able to make the Code more appropriate for Paris. From there, Ms. Easton stated a committee was put together to Regular Council Meeting October 12, 2020 Page 4 review the building and fire codes and make recommendations to the City Council regarding amendments. She said Mark Lacey was very involved in that process and was going to over the process with Council. Mark Lacey said they assembled a seven member committee, which included an architect, structural engineer, fire suppression engineer, master electrician, master plumber, builder and developer. He stated that the city staff ad hoc members were Building Official John Ankrum, Fire Marshal Clyde Crews and City Engineer Carla Easton. He said each member was given a copy of the code amendments for review, a citizen's forum was held and the committee met over several months. Mayor Clifford referenced item number five in the memo, which set out the city manager would have the authority to waive any local amendment after hearing both sides of the issue and making sound judgment based on the information provided. Mayor Clifford said he thought the Building Board of Appeals should be tasked with that role. Mark Lacey agreed. Ms. Easton said number five had been removed from the ordinance. City Council discussed in detail with Mr. Lacey about sprinkler systems as to requirements with regard to the square footage of commercial buildings and residential properties. The recommendation of the committee was to eliminate the local amendment requiring buildings over 6000 square feet to have fire sprinklers, because the code minimum was based on construction type and was typically 12,000 square feet. Mr. Lacey said the local amendment was adopted due to the size of the fire department and available resources to respond to fire. Next, City Council discussed the ISO rating and Council Member Portugal said Paris' rating of three was excellent. Interim Fire Chief Thomas said he was concerned the next time Paris was rated that the score might not be as good, because of the aging equipment and loss of manpower. He did say there were other factors, which include the availability of water and Paris was good on that factor. Mayor Clifford asked how many firefighters were needed. Chief McMonigle said to open the East side station, they would need an additional fifteen firefighters over the next ten years. Council Member Pilgrim confirmed with Mark Lacey that sprinkling a building was not necessary if you had a warehouse with non- combustible materials, such as storing of pipe. Ms. Easton and Mr. Path answered questions from City Council with regard to plan review. Mr. Lacey recommended approval of the amendments. With the exception of number five, a Motion to approve the amendments was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Knox. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 14. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2020-052: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS; AMENDING CHAPTER 12 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING ARTICLE II, "FIRE CODE," SECTION 12-53, "FIRE CODE AMENDMENTS;" MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A SAVINGS CLAUSE, A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Regular Council Meeting October 12, 2020 Page 5 Council Member Portugal inquired with the passing of these amendments, would possession of fireworks still be illegal. Fire Marshal Clyde Crews said it would still be illegal to possess fireworks. With the exception of number five, a Motion to approve the amendments was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Members Portugal and Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 15. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2020-053: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING CHAPTER 25, "PLUMBING AND GAS," ARTICLE II, SECTION 25-17, "SAME — AMENDMENTS," OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A SAVINGS CLAUSE, A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. With the exception of number five, a Motion to approve the amendments was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Discuss and act on engaging the services of a third party engineer firm to review the utility bond project. City Manager Grayson Path said following the last City Council meeting, it was clear there was concern about the performance on this project and at one point there was discussion of engaging a third party engineer to audit the project. Mr. Path said as City Manager, he felt he should place an item on the agenda to seek guidance on how the City Council wished to proceed. Council Member Knox said she thought Public Works Director M.A. Smith had been involved with this project and inspections. Mr. Path said Mr. Smith had not been involved in the entire project. Mayor Clifford expressed concern about the project not being done according to contract. He gave examples of the requirement to fill in ditches at the end of the work, a requirement to have traffic flaggers and another requirement all materials be made in the United States. He said he had seen photographs that depicted material used was not made in the United States, even though the contract required it. Mayor Clifford said that corners were cut with significant savings for the contractor, and he was concerned about the quality of the work. He said the contractors bid this project with the understanding they were to do everything in the contract, but they did not and the people on 171i Street suffered. He said he wanted a report of what was not done and suggested that maybe, a lawyer could do this task. Mayor Clifford said he wanted to hire someone completely independent of any firms previously used. Mr. Path said he had spoken with a firm if Council wanted to meet with them. He said if they wanted to hire the firm they could, or they could choose another firm. Council Members Pilgrim and Portugal said they were in favor of doing this. Council Member Knox inquired if this was something they were going to have to do on the entire project. Council Member Hughes said the engineer design Regular Council Meeting October 12, 2020 Page 6 group should be responsible for checking on the contractor's work. He said the hired inspector was nice to the citizens but he did not do his job. Council Member Hughes said the inspector was paid for a job he did not do. Mr. Path said this is where a third party could be their advisor. Mayor Clifford wanted to know who was responsible for making sure that the contractor did not use parts from China. Mr. Path said the inspector was responsible. Mayor Clifford said he wanted all of these things audited. Mr. Path offered to bring in a firm he used in his past community for them to interview. Council Member Savage said the Council had concerns and that they needed to bring in a third party firm. Mr. Path said he could contact the firm and get something set up to meet with them. A Motion to engage the services of a third party engineer firm to review the utility bond project was made by Council Member Savage and seconded by Council Member Knox. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 17. Discuss and act on meeting dates for November and December. City Clerk Janice Ellis said ordinarily the City Council cancelled the second meetings in November and December due to holidays, as outlined as option one. She also said the other option would be to reschedule those two meetings for a different date. Ms. Ellis recommended option one. A Motion to approve option one was made by Council Member Pilgrim and seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 18. Convene into Executive Session pursuant to Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code, Consultation with Attorney, to receive legal advice from the City Attorney about (1) pending or contemplated litigation and/or (2) on matters in which the duty of an attorney to her client under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Texas clearly conflict with this chapter, to -wit: including but not limited to review of competitive bidding laws. Mayor Clifford convened City Council into executive session at 7:14 p.m. 19. Reconvene into Open Session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in Executive Session. Mayor Clifford reconvened City Council into open session at 7:49 p.m. He said Council received advice from the city attorney and there was no action to be taken. 20. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004-081. No future events were referenced. Regular Council Meeting October 12, 2020 Page 7 21. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Portugal and was seconded by Council Member Knox. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 7•,J� m. X11®�HECly® .® 9 m mer• ••, to _ M.D., :. ....... ........ .,_.._.., STEV J. CLIFFO l MAYOR k ELLIS,