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05 - City Council MinutesItem No. 5 CITY COUNCIL DRAFT MINUTES MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS August 28, 2023 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 28, 2023, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufman, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Reginald B. Hughes Mayor Pro -Tem: Mihir Pankaj Council Members: Shatara Moore, Gary Savage, Rebecca Norment, Clayton Pilgrim, and Rudy Kessel City Staff: Grayson Path, City Manager; Robert Vine, Assistant City Manager; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson; Finance Director; Rich Salter, Police Chief, Doug Harris, Utilities Director; Todd Mittge, City Engineer; Andrew Mack, Director of Planning & Community Development; M.A. Smith, Public Works Director; Thomas McMonigle, Fire Chief; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal O penin A enda Call meeting to order. Mayor Hughes called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Finance Director Gene Anderson gave the invocation. 3. United States Pledge of Allegiance & Texas Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj led the United States Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge of Allegiance. 4. Citizens' Forum. Paul Allen, Lamar County Chamber of Commerce President — he said he had received many concerns from local businesses and schools about item 20. He expressed the importance of local companies and said they are what make Paris. Jason Stephens, 910 Medalist and district manager for Sanitation Solutions — he said they employed 50 people and their payroll was over 3 million dollars. He said those employees and company spent their money right here in Paris, they supported local events and he urged the City Council to award the trash service to Sanitation Solutions. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2023 Page 2 Melba Harris, 3552 Clarksville — she said a couple of years ago the City added an assistant city manager and now there was a request to add another one, with that person getting an additional $20,000.00 in salary. Ms. Harris said it was nothing against the person because she. had confidence in him but there were people here that could not afford a gallon of milk. She said she did not support adding another assistant city manager. Ken Kohls, 3935 Brandyn Place — said he would appreciate Council supporting Sanitation Solutions, because they were a local business. Ronnie Walters — he said he had worked at Sanitation Solutions for 10 years and he wanted to continue to work for them. Jason Fitzgerald — he said he was from CARDS and they would like to be housed here and would have the opportunity to hire locally, if awarded the contract for trash. Jeff Martin — he said he owned four Subways in the community and everyone was fighting costs. He said commercial trash was added to decrease the cost of residential costs and asked that Council table this item to everyone could better understand the full impact to business owners. Billy Dicken — he said he owned Hillbilly Inflatables. He said this year public works would not allow them to put up water slides in the park and asked that someone look into this. Wayne Kerby, 390 N.E. 30th Street — he said he opposed the zoning change in item 18. Consent Agenda Mayor Hughes said that Council Member Moore had a conflict with regard to item 13, and asked that she be recused from discussing and voting on that item. A Motion to recuse Council Member Moore was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. Mayor Hughes inquired of Council Members if they wished to pull any other items from the consent agenda for discussion. There being none, a Motion to approve the consent agenda with the exception of item 13, was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Hughes and seconded by Council Member Kessel. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve minutes from the meetings of August 14, 2023. 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissions: a. Main Street Advisory Board (7-11-2023) b. Historic Preservation Commission (7-12-2023) c. Paris Economic Development Corporation (7-18-2023) d. Airport Advisory Board (5-18-2023) Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2023 Page 3 e. Paris Visitors & Convention Council (6-26-2023) 7. Receive July monthly financial report. 8. Receive July drainage report. 9. Receive demolition and code enforcement activity reports. 10. Approve the Bill of Sale and Demolition Agreement between the City of Paris and South Main Acquisitions, LLC, for 230 South Main Street. 11. Accept the approved Love Civic Center and Visitors Convention Council budgets for FY 2023-2024, and accept the 2023-2024 Program of Work for Love Civic Center and Visitors Convention Council. 12. Approve the Final Plat of the Margaret Place Addition, Block A, Lot 1, LCAD 15593, located at 1503 Margaret Street. 13. Approve the Final Plat of the Aya & Ayce Estates Addition, Block A, Lot 1, LCAD 17620, located at 1933 E. Cherry Street. 14. Approve the Final Plat of the Rodriguez Estates, Block 32-C, Lots 1 and 2, LCAD 13848, located at 1167 Lamar Ave. 15. Approve the Replat of the Fuller & Dohoney Addition, Block H, Lots 1 and 3, LCAD 11476, located at 1233 Cooper Street. 16. Approve a renewal of the Lake Gibbons Hay Lease with Cole Pridemore. 17. Approve an Agreement with Paris Soccer Association for soccer fields at the Sports Complex. Council Member Moore left the room during consideration of item 13. A Motion to approve item 13 was made by Council Member Savage and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. A Motion to return Council Member Moore to the meeting was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj and seconded by Council Member Moore. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. Regular Agenda 18. Discuss, conduct a public hearing and act on AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING AND ADOPTING REVISIONS TO THE CITY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND FUTURE LAND USE MAP FOR THE CITY OF PARIS AS IT PERTAINS TO BLOCKS 1-6 OF THE SPRINGLAKE ADDITION, FROM EAST PRICE STREET TO CHERRY STREET, Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2023 Page 4 BETWEEN 28TH STREET NORTHEAST AND 30TH STREET NORTHEAST, CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY FIFTEEN (15) ACRES IN THE CITY OF PARIS, FROM LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (LDR) TO MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (MDR); MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Planner Andrew Mack said at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting of August 7, 2023, they recommended approval of amending the FLUM to provide for a medium density residential land use designation for a six block area. Council Member Pilgrim inquired what would be allowed in medium density and Mr. Mack said anything short of apartments. Council Member Savage wanted to know if there was a specific interest and Mr. Mack said there was a specific interest for duplexes. He also said amending the comprehensive plan amendment takes in more area for future growth. Mayor Hughes opened the public hearing and asked for anyone wishing to speak in support or opposition of this item, to please come forward. Wayne Kerby, 390 -30th N.E., said the biggest concern was for the people who live on 30th N.E. He said if this was approved, it would flood their front yards and suggested taking out some of the acreage that fronted 30th N.E. Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj asked Mr. Mack if taking out some of the acreage had been considered. Mr. Mack said P&Z took his input but recommended what was before them tonight. Mr. Mack said City Council could amend the ordinance or send it back to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj said he had no problem with Mr. Kerby's request. Council Members Norment and Savage also said they had no problem with Mr. Kerby's request. Mr. Mack said there was frontage on two roads so they would want to look at that. Mr. Mack suggested continuing the public hearing and this item to the second meeting in September. A Motion to continue the public hearing and consideration of this item to the second meeting in September was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 19. Receive presentation from Jason Claunch, discuss and act on a Professional Services Agreement with Catalyst Commercial, Inc., in the amount of $125,000.00 cost to be shared with the Paris Economic Development Corporation and the Carl Cecil Foundation, for a Housing Assessment to increase economic health, business attraction and quality of life, and authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents. City Manager Grayson Path said on April 10, 2023, the City Council authorized a professional services agreement with Catalyst Commercial, Inc. to conduct a full housing assessment for the community. Mr. Path also said on May 17th and 18th, several separate focus groups were conducted and inspired more items to be considered than originally envisioned. Mr. Path reported that Catalyst had taken the results of the Phase I analysis and developed a scope of service for Phase II. Next, Mr. Path introduced Jason Claunch of Catalyst. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2023 Page 5 Mr. Claunch said the Catalyst Team would meet with city management and development staff to discuss housing goals, objectives and approach to the process. He said they would tour the focus areas, which consisted of growth areas, existing neighborhoods and housing options that could accommodate affordable housing. Mr. Claunch also said they would ask the City to coordinate interviews with additional individuals or groups to provide guidance on desire outcomes and identify issues relevant to the growth of Paris. Mr. Claunch reported they would identify City strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, aspiration, and results in regard to affordability, existing housing stock, planned housing developments and future housing developments that could accommodate corporate, families, workforce, and affordable needs based upon the market demand findings. Mr. Claunch explained that Catalyst would provide a written summary and debrief the City Staff to discuss findings from the physical inventory and initial existing conditions analysis. Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj inquired about a timeline. Mr. Claunch estimated six to nine months, and up to twelve months at the most. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 20. Receive presentation from Lynn Lantrip, representative of Solid Waste Specialists, regarding solid waste service, discuss and award the residential and commercial trash service bid to CARDS; and authorize signing of the contract, to include one/week pickup in carts, and excluding industrial roll -offs. City Manager Grayson Path said the City Council had discussed at their meeting of May 23, 2022, the difficulty keeping the service of residential solid waste going due to staffing levels. Mr. Path also said at that time, the situation had been ongoing for nearly a year and was reaching a critical point. He said at that meeting, City Council authorized a reduction from twice a week to once a week pickup, which cut the number of positions needed. He also said that City Council and City management staff discussed that efforts should be made to outsource the City's solid waste service as a permanent solution. Mr. Path said discussions continued at the Council meetings of November 14, 2022, January 23, 2023 and February 27, 2023. Mr. Path said the City contracted with Solid Waste Specialists (SWS) to provide third party consulting services to assist the City with preparation and issuance of procurement documents necessary to seek qualified bidders for the City's solid waste service. Mr. Path explained that it was agreed in order to attract more attention, commercial would be added to the residential bid. He said that temporary construction roll -offs were taken out. Mr. Path also said that an ad-hoc review committee was formed which consisted of Mayor Hughes, Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj, Council Member Savage, Grayson Path, Rob Vine, Michael Smith and Edwayne Samis. Mr. Path reported a pre-bid meeting was held which resulted in four interested bidders, with Sanitation Solutions/Waste Connections and CARDS submitting bids. Mr. Path said bids were opened July 10, 2023; the review process by SWS and the Committee began. Mr. Path turned over the presentation to Lynn Lantrip who reviewed the Committee's process, conclusion and recommendations. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2023 Page 6 Lynn Lantrip with Solid Waste Selection explained what was going on in Paris with regard to solid waste collection and reviewed the procurement process. He pointed out one point of overall difference being the interviews of the two companies. He explained the interview questions were the key and specifically, the question of how many customer service representative do you intend to add? He said it was important that service representatives be available to answer calls and questions. Mr. Lantrip said the scoring committee was extremely impressed by responses from CARDS. Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj said he would like to hear from his colleagues about excluding taxing entities because he had received several phones calls about this. Mayor Hughes, Council Member Kessel, and Council Member Savage said they had received calls too about excluding taxing entities and businesses. Mr. Path said they could authorize a contract change to exclude taxing entities such as school districts, the college and the county. Council Member Norment said business owners should be allowed to choose whom they wanted for their service. Council Member Kessel said Mr. Lantrip said most cities included commercial and residential, and asked Mr. Lantrip about that. Mr. Lantrip said nearly all of them included commercial and residential and added that many years ago Ft.Worth was the only city that did not, but they had over 230,000 residences. Mr. Path said if taxing entities were not included, they would not have the protection the City would have. Council Member Moore wanted to know if they could defer this decision to a later date. Mr. Path said Council could table the item or make a decision at this meeting. Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj said from the business side and from being a part of the committee, he truly believed this committee was doing what was best for the business community and the citizens. He said had they only bid residential, they would not have gotten bids. Council Member Pilgrim said he heard from a number of his constituents, had received some of their bills and they were comparable. He inquired if a 5% increase every year was common. Mr. Lantrip said 5% was the cap. Council Member Pilgrim said this needed to be done, and expressed appreciation to the committee. He asked Mr. Path if the City trash service was being subsidized. Mr. Path said it was barely supporting itself and in another year, they would be looking at another rate increase. Council Member Pilgrim said they had to understand that a private company could do it better and more efficient and for the City to continue the service did not make sense for the taxpayers. Mayor Hughes allowed Wayne Kerby and John Schaffer to address the Council. City Council continued their discussions, which included the landfill, continuing bulk pickup, dropping off brush, and selling old trucks and equipment. A Motion to table this item pending more due diligence was made by Council Member Norment and seconded by Council Member Moore. Motion failed, 2 ayes — 5 nays, with Mayor Hughes, Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj, Council Member Savage, Council Member Kessel and Council Member Pilgrim casting the dissenting votes. A Motion to award the contract to CARDS with the exclusion of the taxing entities was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj and seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 2 nays, with Council Member Norment and Council Member Moore casting the dissenting votes. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2023 Page 7 21. Discuss and provide direction on any necessary edits to the proposed budget for FY 2023-2024. Mr. Path said during the August 8, 2023 City Council budget workshop meeting, he had given them a presentation and a detailed memorandum regarding the proposed fiscal year budget for October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024. He explained that the City Council had the authority to request edits at that time but as they got closer to adoption of the budget, they would be under deadlines pursuant to State Law and the Charter. Mr. Path asked if Council had any questions or concerns. Council Member Savage said his concern was about the addition of new job creations. He said if these positions were added, that they needed to see improvement in operations. Mr. Path said that was the goal. Mr. Path asked if there were any changes. It was a consensus of the City Council to move forward with the budget as presented. 22. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2023-035: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, CALLING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 ON THE CITY MANAGER'S PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023-2024; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Finance Director Gene Anderson explained that a public hearing on the proposed budget was required by Section 48 of the City Charter and Section 102.006 of the Local Government Code. He said the proposed budget was filed with the City Clerk on July 25, 2023. Mr. Anderson asked Council to pass a resolution calling for a public hearing on September 11, 2023. A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj and seconded by Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 23. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2023-036: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, CALLING A PUBLIC HEARING TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE CITY'S PROPOSED PROPERTY TAX RATE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023-2024; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Path said a public hearing on the proposed tax rate was required by Chapter 26 of the Texas Tax Code, and asked that Council approve the resolution calling a public hearing for September 11, 2023. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Kessel and seconded by Council Member Norment. 24. Receive presentation from Paul Dennehy regarding the Grand Theater Building Assessment Report and consider authorization to issue request for proposals to perform asbestos and biohazard abatement and cleanup. Regular Council Meeting August 28, 2023 Page 8 Mr. Path introduced Paul Dennehy, who went through the history and assessment of the building. He said the building was sound and it was important to get the biohazard out and get it cleaned up. He recommended a total gut of the interior. He estimated the asbestos survey to cost between $2,500 and $2,800 and the second stage of asbestos abatement costing approximately $75,000 to $100,000. Mr. Path explained the first step was to get the survey test, staff had done that on Friday, and once the results were received they could begin the procurement process. Mayor Hughes asked Mr. Path if the funds were available. Mr. Path answered in the affirmative and said once bids were received; staff would bring those to the City Council. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Pilgrim and seconded by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. A Motion to authorize issuance of a request for proposals to perform asbestos and biohazard abatement and cleanup was made by Council Member Pankaj and seconded by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 25. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004-081. No future events were referenced. 26. Adjournment. There being no further business, Mayor Hughes adjourned the meeting at 7:42 p.m. REGINALD B. HUGHES, MAYOR JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK