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05 - City Council MinutesItem No. 5 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS October 24, 2022 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, October 24, 2022, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufman, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Paula Portugal Mayor Pro -Tem: Reginald Hughes Council Members: Shatara Moore; Gary Savage, Mihir Pankaj; and Linda Knox City Staff Grayson Path, City Manager; Robert Vine, Assistant City Manager; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson; Finance Director;.Rich Salter, Police Chief, Andrew Mack, Director of Planning & Community Development; M.A. Smith, Public Works Director; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal Absent: Council Members: Clayton Pilgrim O pening Agenda 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Portugal called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Finance Director Gene Anderson gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Pro -Tem Hughes led the pledge. 4. A. Veterans Memorial Day Remembrance B. Citizens' Forum. Greg Purdy, representative of Birchwood Investment, 259 Hortown Road, Hopewell Junction, New York — he said there were 200-300 pieces of property and he and his team wanted to do something with the property not on the tax roll. He said they would hope to hit the 100 million dollar mark of investments and they would be submitting a bid in the next couple of days for the properties. Regular Council Meeting October 24, 2022 Page 2 Consent Agenda Mayor Portugal 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 Pro -Tem Hughes and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve minutes from the meeting of October 10, 2022. 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissions: a. Love Civic Center Quarterly Reports b. VC&C Quarterly Reports c. Main Street Advisory Board (9-13-2022) d. Paris Economic Development Corporation (9-20-2022 & 9-26-2022) 7. Receive September drainage report. L 8. Approve the Replat of the ;Tudor Addition, Lot 8A, Block 2, LCAD Property 20395, located at 845 N.E. Ila' Street. 9. Approve the Final Plat of the Lamar County Food Pantry CB *A Addition, Lot 1, Block A, and Lot`l, Block B, LCAD Properties 15096, 15071, 15073 and 15074, located in the 400 Block of N.W. 1s' Street. 10. Approve the Final Plat of the Ladell Estates CB 227D Addition, Lot 1, Block A, LCAD Property 17621, located at 1951 E. Cherry Street. Re ular Agenda 11. Discuss, conduct a public hearing and act on an Ordinance considering the petition of Ryan Whitaker for a Minor Master Thoroughfare Plan Amendment altering part of the proposed minor arterial roadway section A-3, on LCAD Parcel 50201, in the City of Paris, Block 317, Lot PT 10, A7 Askins Survey, located in the 2300 Block of N.E. 36d' Street. Planning Director Andrew Mack said at the Planning and Zoning's meeting of October 3rd, they approved a motion tabling action on this item and item 12. He also said their reason for tabling the action was because they wanted staff to prepare a third agenda item on this project. Council Member Pankaj asked that staff make sure to look at any floodways or waterways. Mayor Portugal opened the public hearing and continued it to the November 14 City Council meeting. A Motion to table this item was made by Council Member Pankaj and seconded by Mayor Pro -Tem Hughes. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. Regular Council Meeting October 24, 2022 Page 3 12. Discuss, conduct a public hearing and act on an Ordinance considering the petition of the City of Paris for a Minor Master Thoroughfare Plan Amendment altering part of the proposed minor arterial roadway section A-3, on LCAD Parcel 50218, A7 Askins Survey, Tract 8, located at 2330 N.E. 36t' Street. Mr. Mack said this item was similar to item 11 and asked that it be tabled to the next meeting. Mayor Portugal opened the public hearing and continued it to the November 14 City Council meeting. A Motion to table this item was made by Council Member Knox and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 13. Discuss and possibly act on the refinement of the City of Paris' policy on the demolition of homes as related to the 5 In 5 Neighborhood Revitalization Program. Planning Director Andrew Mack deferred to Council Member Knox. Council Member Knox said she was trying to think of ways of revitalizing the City's neighborhoods and to stop people from coming into dilapidated homes and starting fires. She also said she had met with a developer in her district about some burned out units: She said the developer was 'willing to revitalize a neighborhood block, and she thought they, might want to revise the policy'3to allow a developer who wanted to revitalize a block to move up on the list for the 5 In 5 Program. Mayor Portugal said she was supportive of doing so. Mayor Pro -Tem Hughes inquired if that was not already the process. Mr. Mack 'said it was a budgetary matter and that it had been difficult to get the demolition company to move forward. Mr. Mack also said through CARES funding the City was able to purchase two new pieces of equipment and he believed they would be ,doing more demolition in-house. Council Member Pankaj said he was glad to have an in- house team and hopefully, this would mean the list would decrease and decrease. " Council Member Savage said it was not just burned out houses they needed to look at. Council Member Knox said these properties had been red tagged for over a year. Council Member Savage reminding everyone of the existing property owners who had dilapidated houses next to their property. He said he did not feel good about someone jumping in ahead of those property owners. Mayor Portugal said none of this should be a budget issue, because the Council had placed more money in the budget for demolition and the City was now doing this in-house too. Council Member Savage emphasized that demolition in general was a priority for the citizens who owned their homes and had a dilapidated structure next door to them. Mayor Portugal said Council Member Savage made an excellent point and that Council Member Knox's idea was a good one. Mayor Portugal said she would like to see more demolitions and more expedient. She said maybe the City should look at getting a new company to work with on the demolition process. Mayor Portugal inquired if it would help Council if staff provided a list of all the homes that were on the list for demolition and for the reason. Council Member Savage said he would like the list to include how long those structures had been on the list. Mr. Mack said staff had developed a map showing the location of those properties, as well as staff had an existing list. He said if Council wished, staff could put this item on a future agenda for a presentation. It was Regular Council Meeting October 24, 2022 Page 4 a consensus of City Council to not have a presentation at this time, but for staff to provide the list as requested to City Council. A Motion to refine the City of Paris' policy on the demolition of homes as related to the 5 In 5 Neighborhood Revitalization Program was made by Council Member Knox and seconded by Mayor Pro -Tem Hughes. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 14. Receive presentation, discuss and act on replacement of an antiquated telephone system and network system for the City of Paris. IT Manager Celso Arrieta and MIS Administrator Michael Gott reviewed the current and needed network and telephone systems for the City. Mr. Arrieta explained the network was no longer supported or maintained by the manufacture which resulted in higher costs and extended delay periods to restore communication when issues arose. Mr. Gott said the new solution would be more flexible and more efficient. He said with the current system, the City had to pay someone to climb the tower and fix the issue and with the next system everything would be tied to the Cloud. Mayor Portugal inquired if this new system would offer the _City more security and Mr. Arrieta answered in the affirmative. Council Member Savage inquired about the age of the current system. Mr. Gott said it was over nineteen years old. As to the telephone system, Mr. Arrieta said the system was over ten years old and the backup server was dead. 4 A Motion to approve replacement of the telephone system and network system was made by Council Member Pankaj , and seconded by Council Member Moore. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 15. Discuss and act, on awarding a bid to Pridemore Construction in the amount of $88,490.00, for the southern boat ramp construction project at Lake Crook. Assistant City Manager Robert Vine informed City Council that in March of 2022, staff inspected the southern boat ramp at Lake Crook after receiving citizen complaints about the condition of the structure. Mr. Vine reported the concrete ramp was breaking apart making it unsafe for boaters to use the ramp. He said the City sought bids for this project and received one sealed bid from Pridemore Construction for $88,490.00. Mr. Vine explained this project was eligible for funding from the Hotel Occupancy Tax, which the City would be responsible for 80% ($70,792.00) and the Lamar County Chamber would be responsible for 20% ($17,698.00) of this project. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Hughes and seconded by Council Member Knox. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Discuss and act on awarding a bid for Phase I of the Wastewater Treatment Plant to Thalle Construction Co., Inc. in the amount of $65,188,950.00. City Manager Grayson Path explained there were four agenda items regarding this subject, items 16 through 19. He said the first item was to award a bid for Phase I of the WWTP Regular Council Meeting October 24, 2022 Page 5 to Thalle Construction Co., Inc. He said the City's third party engineering firm, Garver Engineering, had reviewed the bid and found it to be complete. A Motion to award a bid for Phase I of the Wastewater Treatment Plan to Thalle Construction Co., Inc. in the amount of $65,118,950.00 was made by Council Member Pankaj and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 17. Discuss and act on Change Order #1 for the bid with Thalle Construction Co., Inc. for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Project Phase I, decreasing the amount by $2,266,308.00. Garver Engineer Lance Klement and Utilities Director Doug Harris presented the Change Order to the approved bid. Mr. Klement said he and is staff worked with the lowest bidder, Thalle, to identify adjustments in order to reduce the price. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Savage and seconded by Council Member Savage and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. 18: Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2022-074: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING APPENDIX A, SECTION A10.004, . "SEWER RATES FOR CUSTOMERS USING CITY WATER, OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS TO REFLECT CHANGES RECOMMENDED BY THE CITY';S RATE CONSULTANT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Path turned this item over to Finance Director Gene Anderson. Mr. Anderson referenced the new rate schedule in the agenda packets. Mr.. Anderson stated that the amendment was necessary to raise the needed funds to support the annual payments for the additional long- term financing. He said a new rate increase of 10.5% would need to take place in January 2023, and it was not previously scheduled. He outlined the increases through April 1, 2026. Mayor Portugal said these were unfortunate increases but it had to be done. She said the City had to pay for a project that needed to be done ten years ago. Mr. Path said the City Staff would be working hard for other options for cash flow. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Savage and seconded by Council Member Moore. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 19. Discuss and consider all matters incident and related to the issuance and sale of "City of Paris, Texas, Waterworks and Sewer System Revenue Bonds, Series 2022", including adoption of ORDINANCE NO. 2022-075: AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF SUCH BONDS, APPROVING AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT AND APPROVING OTHER INSTRUMENTS AND PROCEDURES RELATING THERETO. y October 24, 2022 Page Mr. Path said Mark McLiney with SAMCO would be speaking to Council about this item. Mr. McLiney said the rates were in place to cover the bonds and bonds were sold earlier that day. He said the City will have the money on November 9h. Following questions from City Council, a Motion to approve this item as made by Council a and seconded by Council e er Knox. Motion carried, 6 ayes — nays 20. Discuss x act on ORDINANCEAN ORDINANCE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTIN THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO TRANSFER UNENCUMBERED FUNDS FRO VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OTHER DEPARTMENTS ARE EXPECTED - ORIGINAL BUDGE APPROPRIATIONS; MAKINGFINDINGSd PROVISIONS RELATE TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING 1 REPEALER CLAUSE, A S EVtRABWAT CLAUSE, A SAVINGS AN ATE. Finance Director Gene Anderson explainedannual year-end ordinance which increased certain departmental budget's to cover expenditures. Hesaid the increases were offset by decreasing other;,a; a:,appropriati surplus or by using revenues that also exceedliudget. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Pro -Tem seconded carried,Council Member Pankaj. Motion nays. 21. Convene into executive session pursu I a;,i exchange, to Section 551.072 of the Texas Government Code, to deliberate the purchase, detrimentalin an open meeting would have a body d#, 1, , , person. 22° Reconvene into opera session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in executive session° Mayor Portugal reconvened City Council into open session at 6:47 p.m. and said there was no action to be taken. 23. Consider aapprove future events for City Council /or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004-081 , Regular Council Meeting October 24, 2022 Page 7 24. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Savage and seconded by Council Member Pankaj. Mayor Portugal adjourned the meeting at 6:47 p.m. PAULA PORTUGAL, MAYOR JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK