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10-A City Council Mtg Min 12-17-07 JOINT MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF PARIS AND PARIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION December 17, 2007 The City Council of the City of Paris and Paris Economic Development Corporation met for a special session at 5:00 P. M. Monday, December 17,2007, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: Jesse James Freelen Council Members: Will Biard; Mary Ann Fisher; Don Wilson; Stephen Brown; Kevin Gray; and Bill Strathern, Mayor Pro Tern City Staff: Kevin Carruth, City Manager; Kent McIlyar, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson, Finance Director, Lisa Wright, Community Development Director; and Doug Harris, Interim Director of Utilities PEDC Board John Wright; Dick Severson; Chad Brown; and Dan Smith PEDC Staff Pete Kampfer, Executive Director; Shannon Barrentine; and Rachel Schory 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Freelen called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance and invocation. Gene Anderson gave the invocation and Council Member Strathern led the pledge. A Motion to bring item 4. forward was made by Council member Brown and seconded by Council Member Wilson. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. 4. Presentation of proposed Buxton Retail Study, deliberation and possible action and/or authorization to enter into an Agreement with Buxton to perform the Retail Study. Mayor Freel en stated that PEDC met prior to this Council Meeting, that they recessed and that this meeting was a continuation ofthat meeting. PEDC Director Pete Kampfer introduced Tim Keith with Buxton, who gave a presentation of their proposed retail market study. Mr. Keith answered questions from Council Members regarding recruitment of new retail business and informed them of Special City Council Meeting December 17, 2007 Page 2 the type of results to expect from the study. Mr. Kampfer informed Council this study would be funded through an Economic Development Corporation. After the presentation, PEDC unanimously approved entering into an Agreement with Buxton, and subsequently adjourned their meeting at 5:46 p.m. A Motion to ratify the Agreement between PEDC and Buxton was made by Council Member Brown and seconded by Council Member Gray. Motion carried, 6 ayes - I nay, with Council Member Strathern casting the dissenting vote. 3. Citizens Forum. Mayor Freelen asked those who wished to speak about the water or the Casa Bonita Apartments to please wait until Council reached the item. Ray Banks, 3450 Robin Road - he asked if citizens would be able to get answers to their questions during the public hearing. Mayor Freelen answered in the affirmative. 5. Public hearing to receive citizen input, discussion and possible action regarding memorandum of Understanding with the City ofIrving on possible sale and transportation of raw water from Lake Pay Mayse. Prior to opening the public hearing, Mayor Freelen announced that Kevin Carruth would give a presentation on this subject. Kevin stated the City of Paris was approached by the City of Irving at the beginning of October and since that time there had been two additional stafflevel meetings to discuss the Memorandum of Understanding. Pursuant to the MOU, Kevin explained the responsibilities of Irving would be to pay Paris $40,000.00 for right of exclusive negotiation; reimburse Paris up to $160,000.00 for consulting expenses incurred by Paris; conduct required engineering studies related to pipeline and water availability/ feasibility and share such information, studies and reports; provide analysis of required permitting and licensing; and maintain appropriate confidentiality until an agreement was executed. In addition, Kevin explained the responsibilities of Paris would be to participate in exclusive negotiations until December 31,2008 or earlier, if mutually agreed; cooperate fully in the analysis and evaluation ofthe feasibility ofthe project and share such information, studies, and reports; and maintain appropriate confidentiality until an agreement is executed. Kevin went on to say that the Memorandum of Understanding did not obligate Paris to do anything other than sit down and talk. He also said that the State owns the water in Pay Mayse Lake and could reallocate the water should the City not plan for the future use of the water. Kevin stated the studies would provide data needed to make an informed decision and would be required by Paris for any future planning, regardless of any sale to Irving. He also stated that any future sale would have to be approved by Council at a later time. Kevin explained he had obtained lake level information from the Corp web-site. He displayed a map provided by the Texas Water Development Board which reflected Pat Mayse Lake Special City Council Meeting December 17,2007 Page 3 and Lake Cooper. He pointed out that Lake Cooper had a larger surface area but only one-fourth of the water compared to Pat Mayse. Kevin further stated that during the drought Pat Mayse would have supplied Paris for another two years without rainfall. He also said at normal consumption Pay Mayse would last over five years without rain. Mayor Free1en opened the public hearing and asked anyone who wished to speak to please come forward. Robert Brunson, 2598 Clark Lane - he said he did not agree with the figure calculated for usage from the lake, that he was opposed to selling water rights and that he was in disagreement in that Pay Mayse had more water that Lake Cooper. Mayor Free1en stated this item was not about selling water rights, but about conducting a study of Pat Mayse Lake. Ron Collier, 1710 Clarksville, Doc's Marine - expressed concern about the lake being unusable for recreation purposes. Linda Thompson, 966 S.E.20th Street - expressed concern about selling water out of Pat Mayse Lake. Richard Manning, 2655 Cypress - expressed concern about a decision being made that could affect future generations. He inquired about selling of waste water as discussed in the past. Council Member Wilson stated the study would include return flow/outfall of the wastewater treatment plant. Kevin Carruth said it would benefit the City of Paris to investigate whether or not the City could be in control of the allocation of the water and receive payment. He said that 60% ofthe water was not allocated to anyone and the state could come in and allocate it. Council Members Strathern and Biard inquired as to when the State would do this. Kevin said he did not know the time frame. Carl Hargrove, 150 N. Main - said he would like for the City to make money off ofthe water, but he wanted to make sure the City had enough water. Richard Swint, 2510 Stillhouse Road - he said this was an important issue and that it would be a terrible mistake to sell the water. He said he did not believe there was a surplus of water and pointed out that the drought contingency plan had been implemented last summer. Council Member Wilson said conducting the study would provide data and answer many questions. Vic Ressler, 4020 Holbrook - he said the numbers were confusing to him and asked Kevin Special City Council Meeting December 17,2007 Page 4 what they were proposing to sell. Kevin said they would not know numbers until the study was done. Mr. Ressler confirmed with Kevin Carruth that the advantage of signing the MOD was to get a free study. Jim Page, 3845 N.E. 47th Street - provided photographs ofthe lake to Council depicting lake levels down by seven feet. He said if the lake level dropped in the twenty foot level, there would be no lake left. David Nabors, 1822 E. Polk - stated this could be an income source for the City of Paris; however, a lot of work needed to be done first and it needed to be determined ifthere was enough water. He asked the Council not to enter into an agreement, but to allow ninety days to obtain figures other than those provided by the Corp of Engineers. Bennie Gray, 640 Willburn - opposed the sale of water. Johnny Stout, 1055-28th S.E - stated the lake was not as deep as it once was, because it had filled in over six feet in the last ten years. Don Taylor, 515 Bunker - concerned about what he read in the newspaper about the possibility of illegal closed meetings. Mayor Freelen said the last city manager was terminated, because he did not communicate with the City Council. Kent McIlyar stated there had been no illegal meetings. He explained that a full body of the City Council was seven; a quorum was four and there was nothing close to a quorum present during the informational sessions. Further, he stated there was no discussion nor deliberation of the issue at the informational meeting. Barney Bray, 3220 Mahaffey - he emphasized that this item was about getting a study conducted by professionals who could give data to the City Council, which would provide them sufficient knowledge to make a decision. Pete Kampfer, 3510 Abbey Lane - he reiterated Barney Bray. Gary Nash - he said he would rather the City Council allocate the water than the State. Ray Banks, 3450 Robin Road - he commended Council for conducting a public hearing and said there was a flaw in the Drought Contingency Plan. Mayor Freelen said they were in the process of reviewing the Drought Contingency Plan. Charles Richards, 3820 Castlegate - he told Council that he still thought they violated the open meetings law. Special City Council Meeting December 17,2007 Page 5 Mayor Freelen assured Charles Richards that the Council was not going behind anyone's back and would not do anything to hurt the community. Council Member Wilson added that Council continuously received updates from the city manager on city business, and he did not how that could be construed as a violation of the open meetings law. Sharon Nabors, 1822 E. Polk - she said she thought it would cost more than $160,000.00 to conduct the study and urged the Council to be cautious in entering into any type of Agreement. Mack Ross, 3475 Reno Drive - he said he supported this agreement. Council Member Strathern said the citizens were concerned about selling water and had unanswered questions. He expressed concern about moving too fast, because he did not believe they had enough information. He stated he would like to spend an additional three months studying the issues. Council Member Biard also said he had additional questions. He inquired about the possibility of the City of Paris paying for the study and not having the City of Irving involved. Council Member Brown said that he would never sell water rights nor would he sell water that Paris needed. Council Member Fisher said she did not want to rush into this and wanted more time to study the issue. Council Member Wilson suggested each Council Member formulate questions to be answered by the water lawyer, Jim Matthews. Mayor Freelen suggested they ask Jim Matthews to come to the next meeting for the purpose of answering questions. City Council directed staff to ask Jim Matthews to come to the meeting on January 14, 2008. Mayor Freelen recessed the Council at 8:24 p.m. and reconvened Council at 8:29 p.m. 6. Discussion of and possible action on demolition of Casa Bonita Apartments and funding options. Bee Garmon, Chairperson for Keep Paris Beautiful/Make Lamar County Shine, stated their goal was to bring Casa Bonita down or assist in bringing it down. She said they had obtained a permit for Barney Bray to take brick down from the first building and that Keep Paris Beautiful was paying for it. Council Member Strathern inquired about the brick. Ms. Garmon confirmed Mr. Bray was hauling it off and it was considered partial payment for his services. Council Member Strathern expressed concern about this process. Ms. Garmon said Mr. Bray was going to give them an estimate on the remainder of the buildings. She also said they were going to get a bid on any asbestos that needed to be removed. Mayor Freelen inquired about grants available to clean up tires. Bee said this past summer they got one for $6,000.00 and cleaned up junk tires. Council Member Biard asked if Casa Bonita had been inspected for asbestos. Lisa Wright answered in the affirmative and said she had gotten rough estimates, one in the amount of $372,000.00 which was for knock-down and delivery to the landfill. She said the other estimate was for $460,000.00. Council Member Brown wanted to know if the estimate included brick on the building and Lisa answered yes. Council Member Brown said the cost would be less without the brick. Lisa said that Earl Erickson was interested in getting some ofthe bricks to use on the Trails De Paris. Council Member Biard said that ifthe City was going to clean up Casa Bonita, that the City should get full ownership from the other Special City Council Meeting December 17, 2007 Page 6 taxing units. Council Member Fisher left at 8:42 p.m. Council Member Wilson expressed concern about the lack of safety fencing around the apartments. He went on to say they did not need to wait for a grant, because the condition had severely deteriorated over the past twenty- five years. Council Member Biard suggested that staff put the project out for bid, both as an entire unit and per individual unit. Council Member Wilson suggested removing the brick prior to placing it out for bid. It was a consensus of Council to have staff go out for bids for removal of the apartments, as an entire unit and per individual unit. In addition, Council directed staff to continue applying for grants. 7. Possible future agenda items. Mayor Freelen said they need to have a future workshop on billboards and signs. 8. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Biard and seconded by Council Member Brown. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m. JESSE JAMES FREELEN, MAYOR JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK T