03-11-2024MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS
March 11, 2024
The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 530 p.m. on Monday,
March 11, 2024, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, Paris, Texas.
Present: Mayor: Reginald B. Hughes
Mayor Pro -Tem: m1h1r Pankaj
Council Members: Gary Savage, Rebecca Norment, and Rudy Kessel
City Staff: Grayson Path, City Manager; Robert Vine,
Deputy City Manager; Doug Harris, Assistant
City Manager; Stephanie Harris, City Attorney;
Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson; Finance
Director; Rich Salter, Police Chief; Todd Mittge,
City Engineer; M.A. Smith, Public Works
Director; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal
Absent: Council Members: Shatara Moore and Clayton Pilgrim
1. Call meeting to order.
2. Invocation.
Finance Director Gene Anderson gave the invocation.
3. United States Pledge of Allegiance & Texas Pledge of Allegiancq
Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj led the United States Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas
Pledge of Allegiance.
Brandon Bond — he said he thought he was going to be on the agenda. He said he was
promised services and not provided services. He said he would like to have presented his case.
ConsenLA
..g,,enda
Mayor Hughes 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 Kessel and seconded by Council Member Norment. Motion carried,
5 ayes — 0 nays.
Regular Council Meeting
March 11, 2024
Page 2
5. Approve minutes from the meeary
tinof Febru
g 26, 20241
6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissionsl
a.. Airport Advisory Board (11-16-2023)
b. Paris Economic Development Corporation (1-16-2024)
c. Historic Preservation Commission (1-10-2024)
d. Planning & Zoning Commission (2-5-2024)
7. Approve Change Order No. 1, with One Reef, LLC for the Grand Theater Project,
increasing the contract amount by $5,573.00 (for removal of damage plaster walls and
columns not identified on plans); and authorize the City Manager to execute all
necessary documents.
I " a do
01 1
8. Conduct the first public hearing on a request for disannexation for property located at
3197 FM 1497 (LCAD #103154) within the City limits of the City of Paris.
City Attorney Stephanie Harris said at the Council meetiof January 22, staff wa
ngs
instructed to move forward with this disannexation. She also said notice of two public
hearings was published pursuant to State Law, and this was the first public hearing but no
action was to be taken. Ms. Harris reported that the second hearing would take place at their
special meeting March 18, 2024 and action would be considered at their meeting of April 8,
2024.
Mayor Hughes opened the public hearing and asked for anyone wishing to speak about
this item, to please come forward. With no one speaking, Mayor Hughes closed the public
hearing.
9. Receive the Paris Economic Develo, I "Itwo "-$ BE =0
Paris Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Maureen Hammond
presented the 2023 Annual Report to City Council. Ms.Hammond began with PEDC's mission
consisting of "to plan, promote, finance, and construct opportunities for the retention, growth,
and attraction of business that enhance the level of employment, the economic base and the
quality of life in Paris and Lamar County, Texas." Next, Ms. Hammond referenced the new
companies and expansions more specifically, Um*versal Fabricating, Ametsa Packaging,
Lionshead Speciality Tire & Wheel, Delco Trailers, Huhtamaki, TxDOT, and Delco. She
outlined planning for the future as related to Economic Development Administration Grants.
Ms. Hammond recognized the Land Committee, Marketing Committee, and Policy Review
Committee. Lastly, Ms. Hammond provided information with regard to economic impact,
building permits, the revenue trend, total job growth, manufacturing job growth,
unemployment rate, and the average wage from 2010 to 2022.
N,egular Council Meeting
March 11, 2024
Page 3
City Council commended Ms. Hammond on her efforts and accomplishments in
economic development.
10. Discuss a request received from the Red River Valley Veteran's Memorial Museum to
consider expanding the lease to add a facility and parking and provide direction to staff.
City Manager Grayson Path said the City of Palis leases land to the RRVVMM for the
Red River Valley Veterans Memorial Museum next to the Love Civic Center. He said they
built and maintained a memorial honoring veterans. Mr. Path explained that the RRVVMM
approached the City about amending their lease to allow them to construct a building, that
would provide an on-site office, restroom, and provide a free meeting space for Veteran groups.
George Wood with RRVVMM said they would make the building look good. Mayor Hughes
inquired about the start date and Mr. Wood estimated one year. It was a consensus of City
Council that Staff begin negotiations for an amendment to the existing lease for the purpose of
building a facility on the premises.
C0111411"CIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, REPEALING ARTICLE 12.04,,
"SOLID WASTE." OF CHAPTER 12, "'UTILITIES,"" OF THE CITY OF PARIS
CODE OF ORDINANCES AND REPLACING SAME WITH A NEW ARTICLE
12.04"SOLID WASTE-" MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS
RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A SAVINGS CLAUSE, A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND
DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Assistant City Manager Doug Harris said collection of solid waste was contracted to a
third -party and began for residential customers on February 5, 2024. He also said the
commercial solid waste collection was scheduled to begin by a third -party contract on
September 1, 2024. Mr. Ham's explained that the implementation of contracted solid waste
collection pertaining to residential collection and commercial collection required amending the
current solid waste ordinance.
A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj and seconded by
Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 5 ayes
12. Discuss and act on a 90 -day Moratorium for the 5 -In -5 Housing In -Fill Development
Program.
Deputy City Manager Robert Vine said a few years ago the 5 -in -5 Housing In -fill
Program was created and the program had been successful. He said so far there were 25
dwellings completed and when the agreements were done, the City would have a total of 75
completed dwellings. Mr. Vine also said staff wanted this program to get even better and
wanted to make sure it was the best it could be. He explained there was a housing study that
had been done by a third party and those results were expected to be to the City in April. Mr.
Vine explained that Staff would like to get the results and evaluate what changes need to be
made. He said Staff's request was to hit the pause button for up to 90 days. He said there were
Regular Council Meeting
March 11, 2024
Page 4
three applications that would be processed, one was ftom Adam Bolton, and two were from
Invest Fannin. Mr. Vine said Staff recommended pausing future applications until they could
review data from the housing assessment and then could come back with recommendations.
Council Member Savage said he was in support of granting the moratorium and
stepping back to make the program better. Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj agreed, as did Mayor
Hughes. Mr. Vine said the goal was to bring back an even better product.
A Motion to approve the moratorium was made by Council Member Norment anil
seconded by Council Member Savage. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays.
13. Receive a presentation about the events for the April 8, 2024 Eclipse.
Mr. Vine gave a presentation about the upcoming Eclipse which included the expecte('
number of visitors, traffic, impact on local restaurants, impact on fuel providers, impact on cit�
services and impact on local business services. Mr. Vine advised of the preparation effort4
which consisted of public education and planning meetings with emergency management, firs -
responders, TxDOT, Lamar County Chamber of Commerce, medical facilities, school districts
Pic, hotel/motels, ministerial alliance and grocers, fuel providers and other local businesses
With regard to City preparation efforts, Mr. Vine stated that no City employees would b(
taking vacation during this time,, some employees may be performig other duties as assigned
some non-essential services may not be available on Aprilthere would be 20 portabb
toilets to supplement facilities in parks, that City trash trucks would be placed in strategii
locations to help with trash, there would be increased staffing in the police department, fir(
department and EMS, staff planned to fill all ground and elevated storage tanks for wate,
production ahead of time, that the Emergency Operations Center would be up, and the Cit,
would have their own supply of fuel. Mr. Vine said the City was working with businesses th
had message signs to share welcome Eclipse messages, recorded a PSA to educate the publi
and recorded a PSA for public and visitors startin April 4th
9 gthrouh the Eclipse weekend.
.
14. 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 governinental 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: retain development.
Mayor Hughes convened City Council into executive session at
15. Reconvene into open session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in
Executive Session.
Mayor reconvened City Council into open session at 6:51 p.m. and said there was no
action to be taken.
Regular Council Meeting
March 11, 2024
Page 5
16. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to
Resolution No. 2004-08 1.
17. Adjournment.
There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member
Savage and seconded by Mayor Pro -Tem Pankaj. Motion carried, 5 ayes - 0 nays. Mayor
Hughes adjourned the meeting at 6:52 p.m.
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NICE ELLIS, CITYLE,
4R/ S
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MIHIRF' A NNI KvAA J',MAYOR PRO -TEM