03-10-2025MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS
March 10, 2025
The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday,
March 10, 2025, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufman, Paris, Texas.
Present: Mayor: Mihir Pankaj
Mayor Pro -Tem: Gary Savage
Council Members: Rebecca Norment and Rudy Kessel
City Staff: Rose Beverly, City Manager; Rob Vine, Deputy
City Manager; Stephanie Harris, City Attorney;
Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson, Finance
Director; Rich Salter, Police Chief; Osei Amo-
Mensah, Director of Planning & Community
Development; Todd Mittge, City Engineer; M.A.
Smith, Director of Public Works; Thomas
McMonigle, Fire Chief; Danny Rowell, Interim
Utilities Director; and Clyde Crews, Fire Marshal
Absent: Council Member:
Opening A Benda
1. Call meeting to order.
Shatara Moore, Mickey Ellis, & Alix Putnam
Mayor Pankaj 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.
City Council led the United States Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge of
Allegiance.
4. Citizens' Forum.
Alvin Atwood, 2419 Bonham St. — he said the City use to attack him and made his life
harder but that was not the case anymore and he thanked the City.
Judy Resner — she said she was an architect who specialized in historic preservation, and
she was helping with the First National Bank Building. Ms. Resner said she thought they had a
plan for the building.
Regular Council Meeting
March 10, 2025
Page 2
Lisa Mikitarian, 1150 Pine Bluff — she handed out Guidelines for Filming in Paris and
said she had tried three different times to do this, but it did not get off the ground. Ms. Mikitarian
said there was a film group who wanted to film in Paris the first five days in April and asked if
at least some interim Guidelines could get approved so they could move forward with filming.
Consent Agenda
Mayor Pankaj 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 Norment and seconded by Council Member Kessel. Motion carried,
4 ayes — 0 nays.
A Motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Savage and
seconded by Council Member Norment. Motion carried, 4 ayes — 0 nays.
Approve minutes from the meeting of February 24, 2025.
6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards and commissions:
a. Building & Standards Commission minutes (11-18-2024)
b. Paris -Lamar County Board of Health minutes (11-18-2024)
7. Receive November 2024 financial report.
Re ular Agenda
8. Receive presentation of the Police Department racial profiling annual report.
Police Chief Rich Salter explained that the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure required
annual reporting to the local governing body on data collected relative to motor vehicle stops.
He said the police department contracted with a third party to take the raw data and provide an
analysis of Racial Profiling Compliance by the Paris Police Department. Chief Salter said Dr.
Eric Fritsch would be giving them the annual report.
Dr. Fritsch gave an executive summary and stated that the Paris Police Department was
fully in compliance with Article 2.132 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, that the
department was fully in compliance with Texas Law on Training and Education regarding Racial
Profiling, were in compliance on the Racial Profiling complaint process and public education
about the complaint process, the department was fully in compliance with applicable Texas Law
on the collection of Racial Profiling Date, the department was fully in compliance with
applicable Texas Law concerning the reporting of information to TCOLE, and the department
was fully in compliance with applicable Texas Law regarding Code of Criminal Procedure
Articles 2.132-2.134. Dr. Fritsch reported the Paris Police Department had not received any
racial profiling complaints. Next, Dr. Fritsch took City Council through the Analysis of the Data
and answered questions.
Regular Council Meeting
March 10, 2025
Page 3
9. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2025-012: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING
AN AMENDMENT TO A TAX ABATEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY
OF PARIS, TEXAS AND AMERICAN SPIRALWELD PIPE COMPANY, LLC
DATED SEPTEMBER 24, 2018.
City Attorney Stephanie Harris said this agreement was entered into in 2018, and the
amendment had to do with a start date.
PEDC Director Maureen Hammond explained American SpiralWeld company's supply
chain got interrupted during construction because of COVID. She said the original abatement
was 2020-2026 and the amendment was to extend it to 2027. Ms. Hammond said they were a
stellar company with more improvements in their plans.
A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Norment and seconded by
Council Member Kessel. Motion carried, 4 ayes — 0 nays.
10. Discuss and possibly act on an Amendments to Procedures for Appointing Members to
Boards & Commissions.
City Clerk Janice Ellis explained that in June of 2020, the Council approved procedures
for appointing Board and Commission Members. She said the procedures included a system
whereby each Council Member marked a ballot using a point system. Ms. Ellis said over the
last couple of years several Council Members had mentioned about going back to former
procedure where the Mayor opens the floor, takes nominations and they vote.
Following a brief discussion, a Moton to retain the current procedure was made by
Council Member Kessel and seconded by Council Member Norment. Motion carried, 4 ayes —
0 nays.
11. Discuss and possibly act on Revisions to Policies and Procedure for Boards and
Commissions.
Ms. Ellis said during the round of board appointments last summer, there was discussion
about revision of the board policies and procedures. She also said in October an e-mail was sent
to Council Members and board liaisons for input. Ms. Ellis said she would go over the list of
four items and if Council would vote separately on each item, it would be appreciated.
1. Addition of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Board. Ms. Ellis said this board
had members and was active, and they needed to add it to the list.
A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Kessel and seconded by
Mayor Pro -Tem Savage. Motion carried, 4 ayes — 0 nays.
Regular Council Meeting
March 10, 2025
Page 4
2. Change the appointment of terms to two or three years depending on governing State
Law or ordinance to include no term limits. Ms. Ellis said the reason was because
they were having trouble filling the boards but on the other hand there might be a
member who wished to serve another term but could not because of the term limits.
Council discussed different scenarios and Mayor Pro -Tem Savage said if there were not
enough applicants to fill a board, he was fine with re -appointing a current member to continue
to serve.
A Motion for the term limit to stay in place with the exception of if there were not enough
applicants and in that case, Council could re -appoint a member for another term, was made by
Council Member Norment. Motion carried, 4 ayes — 0 nays.
3. Delete the requirement of a general workshop covering the City's Ethics Policy and
Open Government Training. Ms. Ellis explained in the past this workshop had not
been well attended and that each new board member receives a letter from her office
about how to comply with the City's Ethics Policy and the Texas Open Government
Training (Public Information Act & Open Meetings Act) mandated by the Texas
Attorney General.
A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Pro -Tem Savage and seconded by
Council Member Norment. Motion carried, 4 ayes — 0 nays.
4. Ms. Ellis reported that each Board liaison currently conducts a workshop on the
Board's specific responsibilities, and this needs to be in the policy.
A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Kessel and seconded by
Mayor Pro -Tem Savage. Motion carried, 4 ayes — 0 nays.
12. Discuss and appoint two Council Members to fill the vacant positions on the Paris
Development Code Planning & Zone Sub -Committee.
Duke McGee, Building Official/Assistant Director of Planning & Community
Development, said that Planning & Zoning had a sub -committee to undertake a process to
consolidate the zoning and Subdivision Ordinances and other development design standards into
a unified development code to be known as the Paris Development Code. Mr. McGee explained
that two of the Council Members who had been appointed were no longer on the Council. He
also said remaining was Mayor Pankaj but that two more Council Members were needed.
A Motion to appoint Mayor Pro -Tem Savage and Council Member Norment to the two
vacancies was made by Mayor Pankaj and seconded by Council Member Kessel. Motion carried,
4 ayes — 0 nays.
13. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to
Resolution No. 2004-081.
Regular Council Meeting
March 10, 2025
Page 5
Mayor Pankaj asked if they could look into the filming guidelines and Ms. Beverly answered in
the affirmative.
14. Adjournment.
There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Mayor Pro -Tem
Savage and seconded by Council Member Kessel. Motion carried, 4 ayes - 0 nays. Mayor Pankaj
adjourned the meeting at 6:09 p.m.
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