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05 - City Council MinutesItem No. 5 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS March 8, 2021 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 8, 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; M.A. Smith, Public Works Director; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal O penin A Benda 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. Don Yarbrough, 234-24"' N.W., Paris, founder of Willburgers of Lamar County — he said they clean up around the Trail de Paris, and he had a deal with Bill Loranger to pick up the trash, bag it and then Bill has someone pick it up. He said they would like to be able to pick up trash from city streets, they could then stage the bags and the City could pick them up. Mayor Clifford asked Mr. Yarbrough to get with the City Manager after the meeting. Consent Agenda Mayor Clifford inquired of Council Members if they wished to pull any items from the consent agenda for discussion. Council Member Pilgrim referenced item 9 and inquired if the issues that occurred during construction were cleared up. Public Works Director Michael Smith Regular Council Meeting March 8, 2021 Page 2 said that was a different project. A Motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Council Member Savage and seconded by Council Members Portugal and Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. Approve minutes from the meeting on February 23, 2021. 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissions: a. Paris Economic Development Corporation (1-19-2021 & 2-3-2021) b. Building & Standards Commission (1-25-2021) c. Airport Advisory Board (1-28-2021) d. Library Advisory Board (1-202-2021) e. Planning & Zoning Commission (2-1-2021) f. Housing Authority of the City of Paris (12-17-2020) 7. Receive Council Member Savage's appointment of Taisley B. Scroggins to the Charter Review Committee. Accept the bid and award the contract for the purchase of roadway materials to the lowest responsible bidder for the twelve-month period beginning April 1, 2021. 9. Authorize final payment in the amount of $60,318.33, close out the contract with Bernal Construction for Johnson Woods Drive Channel Bank Stabilization Project, accept the improvement, and authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents. Re alar Agenda 10. Receive presentation of the police department racial profiling annual report. Interim Police Chief Randy Tuttle introduced Dr. Eric Fritsch with Justice Research Consultants, LLC. Dr. Fritsch presented the 2020 Racial Profiling Analysis for the Paris Police Department. He said this annual reporting was required under Article 2.132-2.134 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which was data collected on motor vehicle stops. Council Member Savage inquired about officers knowing the race of people they stopped 7% of the time and was that an alarming number. Dr. Fritsch said it was not an alarming number and gave a comparison to other cities, citing this percentage was consistent across lawn enforcement agencies throughout Texas. Mayor Clifford said perhaps it was because Paris was a smaller town and most of the streets had a slower speed limit in Paris, so they might know the ethnicity before they make a stop. Dr. Fritsch explained White drivers constituted 64.41 % of all drivers stopped, Black drivers constituted 28.20% of all drivers stopped, and Hispanic drivers constituted 6.82 % of all drivers stopped. Council Member Stone inquired about what constituted the searches. Dr. Fritsch said either consent of the drive or based upon probable cause. Council Member Pilgrim asked if there was anything in this report that should cause them alarm. Dr. Fritsch said there was not, and that the analysis of the data revealed that the Paris Police Department was fully in compliance with applicable Texas Laws on the Racial Profiling complaint process, public Regular Council Meeting March 8, 2021 Page 3 education about the complaint process, and that analysis of the data revealed that the Department is fully in compliance with applicable Texas Law on the collection of Racial Profiling Data. 11. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2021-008: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, CONFIRMING THE APPOINTMENT OF THE CITY MANAGER'S APPOINTMENT OF ANDREW MACK AS THE DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. City Manager Grayson Path explained the Director of Planning & Community Development position had been vacant since October 2020, and this was a combined position with the City Engineer. He said he had requested the position be separated out and refocused, and that was done with the approval of City Council. Council Member Savage asked about the effect on the budget. Mr. Path said this would not have an impact on the budget for a couple of years. Mr. Path said a total of five individuals were interviewed by an interview team. He said Mr. Mack held an impressive array of education and training credentials that helped him prepare in leading this department. He presented Andrew Mack as his selection to the Director of Planning and Community Development position, citing his thirty six years of community planning experience, which included zoning, planning, subdivision, code enforcement, building code, and the fire code. Andrew Mack introduced himself to City Council, and said he was looking forward to serving the City of Paris. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 12. 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 said at the December 14, 2020, City Council discussed possible option for using the balance of CRF Program Funding. He said due to the recent snow storm, he and the Mayor discussed bringing this item back sooner than as originally planned for this summer. Mayor Clifford said during the snow storm, he spoke to Mr. Path who informed him the City did not have a generator big enough to run the pump at the water plant. Mr. Path said this situation brought to light some significant equipment needs that the City has for responding to emergency situations, including generators. Mr. Path also said his original recommendation was to utilize the non -committed CRF Program Funding for investing in the City's municipal emergency response capability, that specifically being equipment that would be used to respond to an emergency such as another virus, a tornado, hailstorm, power outage or snow storm. Mr. Path reported that City had external commitments that included a third party administrator, the Health Department and the three local school districts. Mr. Path said this would leave approximately 1.2 million dollars the City could spend toward equipment. Council Member Portugal said she would like to see extra generators so they could be provided to places offering warming stations, if needed. Mr. Path said if the Council was ok with this, he could develop parameters and bring back to the Council. Mayor Clifford said he would like for Mr. Path to prioritize a list of equipment needed. It was a Regular Council Meeting March 8, 2021 Page 4 consensus of City Council for Mr. Path to develop parameters and prepare a prioritized list of needed equipment to bring back to City Council for consideration. 13. Discuss and act on a Hangar Wait List Application and Hangar Waiting List Policy for Cox Field Airport. City Clerk Janice Ellis explained that city staff had received complaints about the manner in which hangar assignments were being made at the airport. Ms. Ellis said that city staff met with airport manager, Jerry Richey, and from there a hangar wait application and hangar wait policy was drafted. Ms. Ellis also said that the airport board approved the documents on February 25. Mayor Clifford inquired the number on the waiting list and Ms. Ellis said there were approximately twenty people. Mayor Clifford said the rent was too low on these hangars, as he had said in the past. Council Member Knox said she thought the City had an airport manager, and Ms. Ellis said they did and he was a contract employee. Council Member Savage said he thought this should be the job of the airport manager. Council Member Pilgrim said most of the people out there did what they were supposed to but there were a handful that did not. Council Member Stone said she wanted everyone out there to be treated the same. City Manager Grayson Path said this application and policy was one of the changes at the airport and he would be making additional changes in the future. Following additional discussion, Council Member Knox said she would like to have a sentence added to the policy to make it clear that when you purchase a plane from someone who has a hangar that the hangar does not go with the plane, the City makes all hangar assignments and enters into agreements to reflect same. Subject to inclusion of the additional statement on the policy, a Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Knox and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 14. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2021-005: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS DECLARING UNOPPOSED CANDIDATES IN CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS 5 AND 7 FOR THE MAY 1, 2021 GENERAL ELECTION BE ELECTED TO OFFICE; DETERMINING THAT NO GENERAL ELECTION BE HELD IN DISTRICTS 5 AND 7; DIRECTING THAT A COPY OF THE THIS ORDINANCE BE POSTED AT APPROPRIATE POLLING PLACES; DIRECTING THAT A CERTIFICATE OF ELECTION BE ISSUED TO THE UNOPPOSED CANDIDATES; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Ms. Ellis reported that Linda Knox, candidate for District 5 and Paula Portugal, candidate for District 7 were both unopposed for the May 2021 election. She said the deadline had passed for any additional candidates to make application. Regular Council Meeting March 8, 2021 Page 5 A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Hughes. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 15. Discuss and act on a request from Samantha Hughes to waive her rent at the Event Center until May 2021, as related to Covid-19. A Motion to remove this item from the table was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Members Portugal and Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — nays. Ms. Ellis explained that in July 2019, Mrs. Hughes entered into a Lease Agreement with the City to rent the Event Center for a monthly rate of $1,200.00. She said Mrs. Hughes used the building to prepare, package and serve food to children at the Boys & Girls Club and youth at City Square. Ms. Ellis also said this past summer Mrs. Hughes reported her State funding was reduced by the State due to Covid and the Club had to reduce the number of children they served. She reported that Mrs. Hughes missed some payments in the summer of 2020 and called Mr. Path to let him know she could not make rent and under the Covid circumstances, Mr. Path agree to forgive her rent payments missed this past summer. Ms. Ellis said in December of 2020, Mrs. Hughes said she was still having trouble making the rent and asked if Mr. Path would consider waiting her rent, at which time Mr. Path informed Mrs. Hughes he would need to take the request to the City Council, as Mrs. Hughes is requesting a waiver of her monthly rent until May 2021. Ms. Ellis also said that city staff reviewed the financial information provided by Mrs. Hughes and it appeared that her expenditures exceeded her income. Ms. Ellis said Mrs. Hughes provided a need benefit to the children and youth in the community as confirmed by the Boys and Girls Club, as well as City Square. Ms. Ellis stated that Samantha Hughes was at the meeting to answer questions City Council may have about her operations. Council Member Portugal asked Mrs. Hughes to describe the services she provides. Mrs. Hughes described her services before and after Covid, citing she had been serving 300 children but that number was now around 115. Council Member Savage said they also had to shut down City Square for a time due to Covid, and the services that Mrs. Hughes provides goes along way. Council Member Portugal said it was an excellent program and inquired since the number of children they were serving was down, was the number of employees decreased. Council Member Savage said Campbell Soup had also cut production during Covid but they did not get rid of employees, because it was hard to keep good employees. Katrina Mitchell, Unit Director of the Boys and Girls Club said before Mrs. Hughes began this food program, the Club got their food from Dallas and it arrived frozen that so many times the children were eating half frozen or cold food. Ms. Mitchell said you could not put a cost to what Mrs. Hughes provides to the children. She also said Mrs. Hughes followed the guidelines set out by the government. Mayor Clifford said he had reviewed the financial information provided and questioned how Mrs. Hughes was able to make it because there was one month that her expenses were approximately $17,000 more than what she took in. Mrs. Hughes said she had to put in her own money. Mayor Clifford said perhaps he was missing something and expressed concern how she could continue her service. Mrs. Hughes said she turns everything into the State. Council Member Savage said they had received recommendations from the Boys and Girls Club, City Square and Grayson Path. Regular Council Meeting March 8, 2021 Page 6 A Motion to convene into executive session pursuant to Section 551.071 was made by Council Member Portugal. Motion failed 3 ayes — 4 nays, with Council Members Stone, Savage, Hughes and Knox casting the dissenting votes. Following additional discussion, a Motion to forgive the rent through May 2021 and cut the rent in half from June 2021 through December 2021, was made by Council Member Savage and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Convene into executive session pursuant to: A. 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. B. 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, regarding potential loan to Paris Economic Development Corporation. Mayor Clifford convened City Council into executive session at 6:53 p.m. 17. Reconvene into open session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in executive session. Mayor Clifford reconvened City Council into open session at 7:08 p.m. A Motion to authorize the City Attorney to work with the PEDC's attorney regarding a potential loan to the Paris Economic Development Corporation was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Knox. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 18. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004-081. None were referenced. Regular Council Meeting March 8, 2021 Page 7 18. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Mayor Clifford and seconded by Council Member Portugal. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 7:08 p.m. STEVEN J. CLIFFORD, M.D., MAYOR JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK