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05 - City Council MinutesItem No. 5 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS January 25, 2021 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, January 25, 2021, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufman, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Steven Clifford Council Members: Paula Portugal; Renae Stone; Gary Savage; Reginald Hughes; Linda Knox; and Clayton Pilgrim City Staff: 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_; MAA Smith. Public." Works Director; Doug Harris; Utilities Director; Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal; and Ron Hervey, Interim Library Director O eni:m g A yenda 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 and remembered city employee Tommy Harris, who recently passed away. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Portugal led the pledge. 4. Citizens' forum. Kelly Collins, 1720 W. Houston — he asked for a variance on a container he purchased prior to the container law. Mayor Clifford asked City Manager Grayson Path to get with Mr. Collins about this. Heath Johnson, 2315 W. Sherman — he said a KKK conference was planned for October 15, 2021 and asked Council to get in front of it to declare Paris was united against racism. Regular Council Meeting January 25, 2021 Page 2 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 Portugal and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve minutes from the meeting on January 11, 2021. 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissions: a. Paris Visitors & Convention Council Quarterly Activity & Financial Reports b. Love Civic Center Quarterly Activity & Financial Reports c. Main Street Advisory Board (12-8-2020) d. Paris -Lamar County Board of Health (9-28-2020 & 10-19-2020) c. Paris Economic Development Corporation (12-15-2020) f. Love Civic Center (11-12-2020) g. Paris Visitors & Convention Council Board of Directors (11-16-2020) 7. Receive December monthly'financial reports. 8. Receive December drainage report. 9. Receive demolition and code enforcement activity reports. i 10. Approve the Replat of Lots 1, 2, 3, Block A of the Exum 250 Addition, LCAD Property ID 53692 and 120396, located in the 2000 Block of Fitzhugh. 11. Approve RESOLUTION NO. 2021-001: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, ORDERING THE REGULAR MUNICIPAL ELECTION FOR THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, TO BE HELD ON THE FIRST SATURDAY IN MAY 2021, SAME BEING THE IST DAY OF MAY 2021, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ELECTING MEMBERS OF THE PARIS CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS 4,5 AND 7 FOR THE ENSUING TWO YEARS; DESIGNATING POLLING PLACES; ORDERING NOTICES OF ELECTION TO GIVEN; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 12. Approve RESOLUTION NO. 2021-002: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING AND APPROVING A CONTRACT BETWEEN THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS AND THE LAMAR COUNTY ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR TO ASSIST, COORDINATE, SUPERVISE, AND HANDLE CERTAIN ASPECTS OF ADMINISTERING THE GENERAL ELECTION FOR MAY 1, 2021, FOR THE CITY OF PARIS; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Regular Council Meeting January 25, 2021 Page 3 13. Approve RESOLUTION NO. 2021-003: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING A JOINT ELECTION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF PARIS AND PARIS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR THE MAY 1, 2021 ELECTION DATE; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 14. Approve RESOLUTION NO. 2021-004: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING A JOINT ELECTION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF PARIS AND NORTH LAMAR INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR THE MAY 1, 2021 ELECTION DATE; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Regular Aenda Council ,Member',Portugal said they hada several guests in attendance with regard to the Suddenlink item, and then made a Motion to move item 17 up on the Agenda. The Motion was seconded by Mayor Clifford. _Motion carried, 7 ayes 0 nays. 17. Discuss and provide direction to city staff with regard to Suddenlink's service. Council Member Portugal said she had received more complaints about Suddenlink over the last four years than any other item. She also said guests from Suddenlink were there citing Suddenlink Regional Vice President Mike Petty and Governmental Affairs Representative Johnny Moyer would be'answering questions. Council Member Portugal referenced the number of e-mails and handwritten notes she had received from people all over town regarding Suddenlink, the wait time of people holding, some as long as forty-five minutes before being disconnected. Council Member Portugal said she did not think they should settle for anything less than having the Paris office reopened. Mayor Clifford said they had been trying to stop the PEG fee for months but could never get in touch with anyone. Mayor Clifford asked Finance Gene Anderson if he had ever been able to talk to a person and Mr. Anderson said not until tonight. Council Member Hughes asked that Kelly Collins from his district be allowed to speak about this item. Mr. Collins said that he called four times yesterday and was hung up on all four times. He said his cable goes out when the wind blows or when it rains. Mr. Collins said he was paying $150.00 a month and was not getting the service he deserved. Council Member Savage said he gets tons of phone calls for packages for Suddenlink but when you call them with a problem you do not get the same type response, as you hold for forty-five minutes. Council Member Knox said she quit Suddenlink a long time ago. Mike Petty said any escalation in complaints should go to the Governmental Affairs Representative Johnny Moyer. Council Member Portugal said every city should have the Regular Council Meeting January 25, 2021 Page 4 representative's contact information. Mr. Petty said he did not know why the City did not have the number before tonight and that they had hired more people to assist with calls. Council Member Portugal asked Mr. Petty to address the plans to re -open the local office. Mr. Petty said there were no plans to re -open. Council Member Portugal asked City Attorney Stephanie Harris to address the options or alternatives of where citizens could go next. Ms. Harris explained that the City no longer had a franchise agreement with Suddenlink or Altice, because franchise authorization, specifically rates, were now governed by the Texas Public Utilities Commission. Ms. Harris further explained cable and internet services were regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. Mayor Clifford asked that a link be placed on the City's website to other sites where consumers could register their complaints. 15. Discuss and act on how to expend the City of Paris' allocation of Coronavirus Relief Funding from the Texas Department of Emergency Management. City Manager Grayson Path explained the.' City of Paris had been allocated a -maximum of $55.00 per capita which Js $1,393;150.00. He said an, initial 20% was given to the 'City upon submittal of the Resolution this summer and; the remaining balance was available for reimbursement. ',Mr. Path said he -had been communicating with the State through ;the City's third party administrator and this was the final step of approval to receive the City's total allotment, and now they needed to decide how to spend, the funding once received. Mr. Path also said the City had three external commitments as being 1) Third Party Administrator, ) Paris - Lamar County Health District, and 3) the three local ISDs. Mr. Path said he did not have a good recommendation tonight, as the City was still incurring expenses due to Covid. Mr. Path and City Council discussed options, including the expenses to date, remaining external commitments, any vaccination expenses, and :.additional related pay/leave due to Covid. Following additional discussion, Mayor Clifford preferred to revisit this item in three months so that perhaps they would have a better idea of expenses. It was a consensus of City Council to do so. 16. Receive a presentation with regard to the Wastewater Treatment Plan Project, amendment to the engineering agreement, long-term financing options and rate adjustments. Mr. Path reviewed the timeline and stated that City Council approved Amendment #1 to the Professional Engineering Services Agreement with Garver to proceed with Phase II of design, authorized the City Manager to sign the Agreement once a plan of action for a long term financing was established. He explained the City was not going to be able to get a zero interest loan from the Texas Water Development Board. Lance Clement with Garver explained that the TWDB was very behind on funding and the City recently received a published draft of the Intended Use Plan. He said the Paris project ranked 90th out of 99 projects, because the staff did such a good job of keeping the plant going. Mr. Clement said in November the TWDB came out with drastic changes to their program citing Regular Council Meeting January 25, 2021 Page 5 given the ranking, the size of the project, every change they made fatally impacted Garver's proposal. Mr. Path explained that City Staff worked very closely with representatives of Garver, SAMCO Capital (financial advisers), McCall, Parkhurst & Horton, LLP (bond counsel) and NewGen Strategies & Solutions, LLC (rate consultants) to carefully examine all possible options, which included phasing the WWTP, phasing CO options, possibly pursuing TWDB loans as part of future phases, and phasing in rate increases. Mr. Path said this was not an action item but if the City Council was agreeable with this plan proposed, City Staff would bring back to Council several action items at the February 8 City Council meeting. Mr. Path reviewed with City Council the options of Certificates of Obligation, a Garver Agreement Amendment, Debt Payments and Adjustment of Rates. Mr. Clement reviewed Phases 1 and 2 of the project, stating the process would take almost seven years to complete. Finance Director Gene Anderson reviewed the three rate options that had been developed. Mr. Anderson said Option #1 was a two rate increase, provided the most stability for the WWTP operations and pays back debt with Waste Water Utility revenues. He said Option 2 ,was a three rate increase, while not offering as much stability for the WWTP operations but did help soften the increases over time. Mr. Anderson said ,Option #3 was a semi=annual increase; provided the least stability of the three options for the WWTP operations, but was the :best route of phasing in the increases over time, allowing payers to acclimate over the course of six years. Mr. Path and Mr. Anderson answered questions from City Council and provided the dates and estimated amount of increasesfor the three options. Mr. Path said this was a large project that would require an increase while trying 3. to maintain a 1-1 coverage ratio between revenue and expenses, and not dip into the City's reserves. Council Member Portugal said she preferred option #3. Council Member Knox said she preferred the faster option but was, sure her constituents would appreciate option #3.. Mayor Clifford confirmed with Mr. Anderson that with option #3 they would end up with a higher rate at the end. Mr. Anderson said that was correct because with option #3, they would be delaying the principal. Council Member Savage said he was in agreement of option #3, which was phasing in the rates. Mr. Path said the hope was when the City got to Phase 2, that a loan would be available. Utilities Director Doug Harris explained how the wastewater works. It was a consensus of City Council to go with option #3 and that City Staff bring the documents to their next City Council meeting. 18. Discuss and possibly authorize the City Attorney to file suit for collection of the following debts to the City: • Brentwood Terrace Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center $ 7,008.00 • Heritage House of Paris $14,014.00 • Legend Healthcare & Rehabilitation $ 1,433.00 • Stillhouse Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center $ 9,310.00 Ms. Harris reported that over the past two or three years, four local nursing homes failed to pay EMS bills related to transports for which insurance and Medicare do not provide Regular Council Meeting January 25, 2021 Page 6 coverage. Ms. Harris said specifically these instances were when the providers called EMS because there was no driver on duty at the facility. Ms. Harris explained she had written demand letters to each facility but none of the facilities had paid their bills. She asked for authorization to file collection suits on these facilities, if necessary, in order to obtain payment. A Motion to authorize the City Attorney to file suit for collection against these four entities was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Members Portugal and Pilgrim. Motion -carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 19. Discuss and consider a Charter Review Committee and process for selection. City Clerk Janice Ellis said at the January 11 City Council meeting, Council Member Knox requested an agenda item to possibly appoint a Charter Review Committee to review the Charter. Ms. Ellis said the last time the Charter was amended was in 2011 and at that time, the Council made the proposed changes of two amendments. She said the amendments were approved by the voters. Prior to 2011, Ms. Ellis reported the Charter Election was amended in 2007, that seventy propositions were on the ballot and that all seventy passed. Ms. Ellis said the City Council at that time appointed eleven board members, and they began their work in November of 2006 preparing for the May 2007 election. She said that she and Council Member Knox had discussed the two options and felt that the best option was to appoint a Charter Review Committee. Ms. Ellis also said that each Council Member selected a person to serve on the committee and each council member placed a name in an envelope and an additional four people were selected from that method. Mayor Clifford inquired if they appoint a committee, when it might be taken to an election. Ms. Ellis estimated May of 2022 because they had just called the election for May of 2021. She added that the committee would need time to review the Charter, make recommendations to the City Council, and educate the public. Ms. Ellis said that all of the proposed amendments would have to be mailed to every single registered voter in the City. She also said they would have to hire someone to do the Spanish translation and budget for this election in the upcoming year. It was a consensus of City Council to select a Charter Review Committee and bring the names back at the February 22 City Council meeting. 20. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004-081. None were referenced. Regular Council Meeting January 25, 2021 Page 7 21. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Knox and was seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m. STEVEN J. CLIFFORD, M.D., MAYOR JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK