Loading...
05 - City Council MinutesItem No. 5 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS January 11, 2021 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, December 14, 2020, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufrnan, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Council Members: City Staff Steven Clifford Paula Portugal; Renae Stone; Gary Savage; Reginald Hughes; Linda Knox; and Clayton Pilgrim Grayson Path, City Manager; Stephanie Harris, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson; Finance Director; Thomas McMonigle, Fire Chief; Randy-- Tuttle, Interim Police Chief Russell Thrasher,,; Interim EMS Director M.A. Smith, Public,Works Director; Clyde Crews, Fire M! arshal; and;Ron, Hervey, Interim Library Director;. O 'enine A yenda. Call meeting to order. Mayor Clifford called the meeting to order at 5;30 pm. 2. Invocation. Finance Director Gene Anderson gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Portugal led the pledge. 4. Citizens' forum. Jim Hamaker, 4401 171i S.W. — he said he was representing bicyclists and encouraged making Paris more bicycle user friendly. He gave examples of 191i S.W. and 191` out FM 79 not having shoulders on the road. He said not having shoulders prohibited access to those who wanted to ride their bikes to some of the industries at which they work. He recommended a committee be formed to study the economics of it with regard how much money could be saved not owning two vehicles. Ryan Matthews — he introduced himself as an applicant for the Historic Preservation Commission. He explained he and his wife had recently purchased a historic building across from the courthouse and outlined the plans for that building. Regular Council Meeting January 11, 2021 Page 2 Consent A enda Mayor Clifford said he wanted to pull items 8 and 9 from the consent agenda for discussion, and inquired of Council Members if they wished to pull any items. Council Member Portugal referenced items 6a and 6d, and said she would like to get the minutes in a more timely fashion. She also complimented the promptness of the Planning & Zoning Commission minutes. With regard to item 8, Mayor Clifford said this explains what the City can and cannot invest in. With regard to item 9, Mayor Clifford said the City had about 22 million dollars in the bank that was getting 1/3 % of interest off of its money. He said the PEDC was paying 3% on loans of about 1.7 million dollars. Mayor Clifford wanted to know if the City could loan funds to PEDC, giving them a better interest rate which in turn would give the City more return on its money. Mayor Clifford said he had brought this up before and would like for it to be looked into as to whether or not it was legal. Mr. Anderson said staff would have to do further research, but that the PEDC usually ';borrowed, money for longer terms. Mayor Clifford inquired about entering into a contract with PEW; Council Member Savage said this made sense if they could legally do it. City Attorney Stephanie Harris said it would probably be acceptable for a project but probably not ,acceptable to retire debt. Ms. 'Harris said she would look into it and get back to them. Ms. Harris advised City Council they would need to vote on items 8 and 9 separately. A Motion to approve items 8 and 9 was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion ''carried,,'7 ayes — 0 nays. A Motion to approve the remainder of the consent agenda was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve minutes from the meeting on November 9, 2020. 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissions: a. Historic Preservation Commission (11-11-2020) b. Paris Economic Development Corporation (11-17-2020) c. Paris Public Library Advisory Board (11-18-2020) d. Housing Authority (9-15-2020) e. Planning & Zoning Commission (12-7-2020) 7. Approve a Professional Services Agreement with Sensus for utility services, in the amount of $57,215.00. 8. Re -approve the City Investment Policy. Regular Council Meeting January 11, 2021 Page 3 9. Award the bid to Liberty National Bank to serve as the city's depository beginning March 1, 2021 and ending February 28, 2023. Re alar Agenda 10. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2021-001: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, EXTENDING THE MAYOR'S DECLARATION OF LOCAL DISASTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY AND ORDER DATED MARCH 19, 2020, AS EXTENDED BY RESOLUTION NO. 2020-011 AND BY ORDINANCE NOS. 2020-014, 2020-017, 2020-023, 2020-030, AND 2020-035 FOR AN ADDITIONAL NINETY DAYS (90) DAYS; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Attorney Stephanie Harris advised that they should extend the declaration of disaster throughout the duration ,of the pandemic because it had implications for receipt of state and federal disaster related funding andxeimbursemerits; 4 Mayor Clifford said they had done this several times and should do so again, should there be additional funds available to the'City. A Motion!' to approve this item was made by Council Member Portugal and seconded by Mayor Clifford. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0nays. 11. Discuss and appoint one member to fill a vacant position on the Historic Preservation Commission. City Clerk Janice Ellis reported that Randy Hider resigned from the Historic Preservation Commission, leaving one vacancy. She stated that staff advertised for the vacancy, and received an application from Tanner Dobrovolsky who currently was on the Main Street Advisory Board and an application from Ryan Matthews who had purchased a historic downtown building. Mayor Clifford inquired if anyone wanted to make a nomination. Council Member Knox nominated Ryan Matthews and Council Member Savage seconded the Motion. There being no further nominations, Mayor Clifford called for a vote and Ryan Matthews was appointed to serve on the Historic Preservation Commission, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 12. Discuss and act on extending the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) CoVid- 19 sick leave program. City Manager Grayson Path explained the provisions approved by the Federal Government which required certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to CoVid-19 expired December 31, 2020. Mr. Path said other employers, including schools and municipalities were voluntarily extending the FFCRA Program given CoVid-19 was still a serious issue in Regular Council Meeting January 11, 2021 Page 4 communities. Mr. Path explained that the City had employees impacted and needed to take time off for testing and possibly even quarantine periods. He gave an example of a new employee who got CoVid-19 from another employee and the new employee did not have accrued sick time but was sick and could not come to work. Mr. Path explained the four options available with regard to extending the program through March 31, 2021 or not extending the program. He said this would be an added benefit for employees. Mr. Path also said they could make a decision tonight or wait until the next meeting when they would be discussing a more complete total of expenses. Council Member Knox said she was in favor of extending this benefit for the employees because they should not have to use personal or vacation days. Mayor Clifford inquired about the estimated costs so far and Mr. Path said it was approximately $88,000.00. Mayor Clifford wanted to know the percentage of employees that had been out due to the pandemic and Mr. Path said approximately one-third of the employees. Mr. Path said his recommendation was to extend the FFCRA Program through March 31, 2021, to be re-evaluated at that item,_ to make it retroactive to -January 1, 2021 and to simply make it an extension and not a new bank of hours. Mayor Clifford said he supported,this but wanted to know how the City was determining -if an employee was put due to ,CoVid-19. HR Director Sandy Collard said a note from the doctor was required or a copy of a test result reflecting positive. '';Council Member Savage said he', supported this because otherwise, it puts the employee in a bad place. He said if an employee was sick but was not getting paid, that employee might be inclined to come to work and then other employees would be infected. A Motion to approve Mr. Path's recommendation was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 13 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: First National Bank Building and associate properties. Mayor Clifford convened City Council into executive session at 5:55 p.m. 14. Reconvene into open session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in executive session. Mayor Clifford reconvened City Council into open session at 6:31 p.m. Mayor Clifford said City Council discussed possible incentives for First National Bank Building and no action was taken. 15. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004-081. Regular Council Meeting January 11, 2021 Page 5 Council Member Portugal requested a discussion about Suddenlink's Customer Service, or lack thereof and the City's options. Council Member Knox requested a discussion of a possible Charter review and committee, because there had not been one in about ten years. Grayson Path mentioned the virtual Police Chief interview on Thursday, January 21, at 5:30 p.m. 16. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Pilgrim and was seconded by Council Members Portugal and Knox. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m. STEVEN J. CLIFFOZD, M.D ., MAYOR JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK