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08-12-2024MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS August 12, 2024 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 12, 2024, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor Pro -Tem: Gary Savage Council Members: Mickey Ellis, Rebecca Norment, Alix Putnam and Rudy Kessel City Staff: Rob Vine, Interim City Manager; Stephanie Harris, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson, Finance Director; Rich Salter, Police Chief, M.A. Smith, Public Works Director; Osei Amo-Mensah, City Planner; Thomas McMonigle, Fire Chief; Danny Rowell, Interim Utilities Director; Paul Strahan, Airport Manager; Celso Arrieta, IT Manager; Todd Mittge, City Engineer; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal Absent: Mayor: Mihir Pankaj Council Member: Shatara Moore Opening A enda Call meeting to order. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Finance Director Gene Anderson gave the invocation. United States Pledge of Allegiance & Texas Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Ellis led the United States Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge of Allegiance. 4. Citizens' Forum. Larry Schenk, 3765 Dawn Dr. — he spoke in support of a COLA for retirees citing the City only had one more year to take advantage of this opportunity. Stephen Red Holmes — 146 CR 43600 — he spoke in support of a COLA for retirees. Tiny Freelen, 804 -12th N.E. — he spoke in support of a COLA for retirees. Regular Council Meeting August 12, 2024 Page 2 Wanda Thorpe, 1880 E. Washington — she spoke in support of a COLA for retirees. Consent A aenda Mayor Pro -Tem Savage inquired of Council Members if they wished to pull any items from the consent agenda for discussion. Council Member Norment asked that item 13 be pulled out. She said that the acoustics were bad in the room they last met and she would have voted yes on this item had she known what was being proposed. Subject to the minutes of August 5, 2024, being corrected to reflect Council Member Norment's affirmative vote, a Motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Council Member Ellis and seconded by Council Member Kessel. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve minutes from the meetings of July 11, 2024, July 22, 2024, July 29, 2024, and August 5, 2024. 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissions: a. Love Civic Center Board (5-9-2024) b. Housing Authority (5-31-2024) c. Planning & Zoning Commission (7-15-2024) 7. Receive June & July demolition & code enforcement reports. 8. Receive June drainage report. 9. Receive the May monthly financial report. 10. Receive the 2024 tax appraisal roll from the Lamar County Appraisal District. 11. Receive PEDC's approved Budgets for FY 2024-2025. 12. Receive PEDC's approved Plan of Work for FY 2023-2025. 13. Confirm Professional Services Agreement approved on August 5, 2024, with Baker Tilly in the amount of $28,600.00 (city manager recruitment & community survey), regarding services related to a City Manager search. 14. Receive 2024 Tax Rate Calculations as required by the Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019 (SB2). Regular Agenda Mayor Pro -Tem Savage said they needed to move item 17 up. A Motion to move item 17 up was made by Council Member Norment and seconded by Council Member Putnam. Motion carried, 5 ayes - 0 nays. Regular Council Meeting August 12, 2024 Page 3 17. Convene into executive session pursuant to 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. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage convened City Council into executive session at 5:41 p.m. 18. Reconvene into open session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in executive session. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage reconvened City Council into open session at 6:13 p.m. and said there was no action to be taken. Interim City Manager Rob Vine asked that item 16 be moved up on the agenda. A Motion to move item 16 up on the agenda was made by Council Member Kessel and seconded by Council Member Ellis. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2024-034: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, ACCEPTING FOR FILING A PETITION FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FORESTBROOK PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 1; CALLING A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE ADVISABILITY OF THE CREATION OF SAID DISTRICT; AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF NOTICE BY THE CITY CLERK REGARDING THE PUBLIC HEARING; AND APPROVING A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT. Interim City Manager Rob Vine introduced consultants Mark McLiney, Chris Settle and Mary Petty through vide conference. Mr. Vine explained that approving this item was not creating a Public Improvement District but simply accepting the petition. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage said he would like for the consultants to explain there was no risk to the City. Mr. McLiney said no City funds would be used but that a PID assessment would be used, PID Bonds would be issued and that would be paid by the people. Ms. Petty said the Resolution was a statutory requirement to get the process moving forward and then a notice would need to be published and a letter sent to the landowner. Ms. Petty answered questions from City Council, and stated the hearing on this petition would take place on September 9a' at the City Council meeting. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage confirmed with the consultants that this project was on Nathan Spaulding because it was his project. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Ellis and seconded by Council Member Kessel. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. Regular Council Meeting August 12, 2024 Page 4 15. Conduct the public hearing on a request for disannexation for property located on or around CR 22500, south and west of the Kimberly-Clark plant (LCAD parcels 71112, 71113, 70422, and 70423) within the City limits of the City of Paris. City Attorney Stephanie Harris said this was the second of two public hearings required and no action was necessary. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage opened the public hearing and asked for anyone wishing to speak about this item, to please come forward. Consultant for the applicant Gary Peters spoke in support of this item. He said the property was southwest of Kimberly Clark, it was a 1500 acre piece of property but only 170 acres was in the city limits and that was the request for disannexation. He explained the proposal regarding tax revenue loss and they were willing to pay $768,000.00 over the next three years and assist in making improvement to the Trail de Paris. Mr. Peters answered questions from the City Council. Interim City Manager Rob Vine asked that item 20 be moved up. A Motion to move item 20 up was made by Council Member Kessel and seconded by Council Member Norment. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. 20. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2024-035: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING THE DONATION OF CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY; FINDING THAT SUCH DONATION IS FOR A PUBLIC USE; AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE A WARRANTY DEED TO EFFECTUATE SAID DONATION; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Attorney Stephanie Harris said the land that the Club currently owns on NE 1 st St. would not accommodate any expansion of the facility, and that the City owned property adjacent to the Club on the East side of their property. She also said the property had two baseball fields on it, but neither had been used in many years. She stated that on December 14, 2020, the Club approached the City Council to request that the City donate the property to the club to facilitate the expansion. Ms. Harris said at the last meeting, Council approved conveyance, and this was allowed pursuant to State Law because it was a nonprofit entity for public use and if they ever ceased to use the property for public purpose, the land would automatically revert to the City. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage said the Club thought this property belonged to them all along. He also said they had been trying to accomplish this for four years. Ms. Harris explained the property required subdivision since the fields were part of a larger tract. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage emphasized all the good things the Boys and Girls Club do to support the children in the community, and said he was in favor of approving this item. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Kessel and seconded by Council Member Norment. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. Regular Council Meeting August 12, 2024 Page 5 19. Receive presentation from the Interim City Manager and Finance Director, discuss and provide direction on the FY 2024-2025 Budget for the City of Paris. Interim City Manager and Finance Director Gene Anderson presented the proposed FY 2024/2025 Budget. Mr. Vine said the budget message was sent to the Council last week and tonight they would hear a summary of the budget message. Mr. Vine reviewed the property tax rate, balance of operational funds, the financial policy, and priorities with police department pay increases being number one. Council Member Norment said she would like to see police pay higher than $66,000.00. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage, Council Member Ellis and Council Member Putnam agreed. Council Member Kessel inquired what that would do to the budget. Finance Director Gene Anderson said it would roughly add about 25% to the department budget if they increased the salaries to $70,000.00. He also said there were 14 vacant positions. Mr. Anderson said they might have to do the de-minimis tax rate which was allowed for cities with a population under 30,000. He reported this would raise $500,000.00 and would not have to go an election. He explained that the voter approval rate would amount to only about half of that. Mr. Anderson said he had gone over the budget several times and there were not enough expenditures to cut to reach $500,000.00. Council Member Kessel wanted to know how fast they could get the 14 positions filled. Chief Salter said he thought they could get five or six police officers hired next year. He also said candidates had to take the civil service exam which slows the process down. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage wanted to know if Council increased the police pay to $70,000.00 if that would create a budget problem. Mr. Anderson said if Council did the de-minimis tax rate, that he thought that would not be a problem. Next, Mr. Vine touched on the other priorities, which included the City Council Strategic Plan, the Wastewater Treatment Plan/Utility Rates/Property Tax Levy, Employee Pay and Benefits, Rising Costs, Capital Projects and Purchases, Reclassification of Current Employees, Maintaining Operational Services, Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency, and the Street Mill and Overlay Project. Mr. Vine reviewed proposed adjustments in FY 2024-2025 budget, fire apparatus replacement, replacement programs for police cars and EMS ambulances. Mr. Vine also reviewed the breakdown of all revenues, a breakdown of all expenditures, capital outlay and departmental budgets. City Council Members expressed a desire to review some of the department budgets more in depth and discussed having budget workshops. City Clerk Janice Ellis outlined the budget calendar timeline and said if Council wanted to schedule budget workshops, they would need to do so the following week because of the timeline. She said if the second budget workshop was not needed, it would be easy to cancel but more difficult to schedule because of the required 72 hours' notice. It was a consensus of City Council to schedule budget workshops for Monday, August 19th and Thursday, August 22n1 21. Discuss and act on three appointments to the Traffic Commission and one appointment to the Historic Preservation Commission. Ms. Ellis said appointments were made on July 8a' but there were remaining vacancies and that staff re -advertised. She also said additional appointments were made on July 22 n but there were still remaining vacancies. Ms. Ellis said that Staff re -advertised again, as well as called applicants who applied for other boards and were not appointed. Ms. Ellis reported that Regular Council Meeting August 12, 2024 Page 6 Gloria Day, Linda Vandiver, and Sequoia Bruce expressed an interest in serving on the Traffic Commission and that Millicent Kee said she would like to serve on the Historic Preservation Commission. A Motion to appoint these applicants to the respective boards was made by Mayor Pro - Tem Savage and seconded by Council Member Norment. Motion carried 5 ayes — 0 nays. 22. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2024-036: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPOINTING ANGIE BRISCOE AND JERRY WILLIAMS TO FILL TWO VACANT ALTERNATE POSITIONS ON THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 16 OF THE CITY ZONING ORDINANCE AND THE CITY'S POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR STANDING BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Ms. Ellis said there were two remaining alternate positions remaining on the Board of Adjustment and that Angie Briscoe was interested in serving on this board and that Jerry Williams was a new applicant. A Motion to appoint the two applicants to the Board of Adjustment was made by Council Member Ellis and seconded by Council Member Putnam. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 0 nays. 23. 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: Lions Head. B. Section 551.074 of the Texas Government Code, to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee to wit: City Manager. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage convened City Council into executive session at 7:35 p.m. 24. Reconvene into open session and possibly take action those matters discussed in executive session. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage reconvened City Council into open session and said there was no action to be taken. Regular Council Meeting August 12, 2024 Page 7 25. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004-081. No one referenced a future event. 25. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Ellis and seconded by Council Member Norment. Motion carried, 5 ayes - 0 nays. Mayor Pro -Tem Savage adjourned the meeting`(�1714417,p.m. •SHE Clr), *'% O 0�, yam• .-yam. I...... 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