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05-A City Council Meeting MinutesREGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF PARIS January 14, 2008 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 6:00 P. M. Monday, January 14, 2008, 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; and Bill Strathern, Mayor Pro Tem City Staf£ Kevin Carruth, City Manager; Kent McIlyar, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson, Finance Director; Shawn Napier, City Engineer; and Doug Harris, Interim Director of Utilities Absent: Council Member: Kevin Gray 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Freelen called the meeting to order at 6:03 p,m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance and invocation. Gene Anderson gave the invocation and Council Member Brown led the pledge. 3• Presentation by City of Irving and discussion pertaining to proposed Memorandum of Understanding with City of Paris to study feasibility and possibly negotiate a water supply agreement to purchase raw water from Lake Pat Mayse. Public Works Director Jim Cline gave a presentation pertaining to the proposed Memorandum of Understanding. Council Member Strathern inquired about why they were in such a hurry. Mr. Cline said it was not a matter of hurrying, but a matter of getting started. He said these types of studies take time. Council Member Wilson wanted to know if silt study would be done. Mr. Cline said it would have to be included in an analysis. Mayor Freelen wanted to know if the water Irving got from Pans would be sold for a profit or be used for their needs. Mr. Cline responded there could be an agreement to sell to Upper Trinity and other entities. Mayor Freelen wanted to know if Paris would control the pump. Mr. Cline said that would need to be addressed before reaching an Agreement. Mayor Freelen wanted to know would happen if they had not reach an agreement at the expiration of the MOU. Mr. Cline said everyone would walk away. Council Member Strathern asked Mayor Herb Gears why they were in a hurry, Mayor Gears said they were trying to use diligence in studying the lake to determine where to begin to work. He Regular City Council Meeting January 14, 2008 Page 2 said they needed to determine if they wanted to consider an agreement and an agreement would take years to reach. 4. Convene in Executive Session pursuant to Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code, Consultation with Attorney, to receive advice of legal counsel pertaining to the duty of an attorney to his client under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Texas, regarding the following matters: A. To receive Attorney advice on proposed Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Irving pertaining to Lake Pat Mayse water and other related water rights and water allocation questions. Mayor Freelen inquired of Council if they wished to convene into Executive Session. It was a consensus of Council to remain in open session. Reconvene in open session to consider and take necessary action as deemed appropriate regarding those matters discussed in the Executive Session. Mayor Freelen continued to item 6. 6. Receive attorney advice, discussion and possible action on Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Irving, Texas to study feasibility and exclusively negotiate a water supply agreement for raw water through and from Lake Pat Mayse and other water rights and water allocation issues. Jim Mathews, an attorney specializing in water law, said he would begin by answering questions provided to him by Kent McIlyar, on behalf of Council Members. Mr. Mathews said Council Member Biard asked about the specific contractual and inferred obligations of the MOU. He went on to say the MOU committed the City of Paris to undertake a feasibility study for the purpose of attempting to develop an Agreement to sell water to the City of Irving. Mr. Mathews said it was clear that Irving wanted to investigate the feasibility of this and they wanted to work with the City of Paris. He also said the MOU did not commit the City of Paris to anything other than those types of studies with the intention of trying to develop an Agreement that would be brought back to the governing bodies of the two cities. Mr. Mathews said Council Member Biard had asked about the effect of executing the MOU on State allocation of non-permitted water rights in Pat Mayse. Mr. Mathews responded by saying he had reviewed the Corp of Engineer Contract and the City's water rights. Mr. Matthews said based on those two documents, it appeared that all of the water in Pat Mayse was currently permitted. He said the contract with the Corp allows the City to have control of the water between elevations of 415 and 451 of the quantity of water in storage. He said the City had water rights issued by the Texas Water Commission and followed up by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Mr. Mathews said it specified the amount the City was authorized to use for municipal purposes and industrial purposes. He advised that entering into this Agreement would Regular City Council Meeting January 14, 2008 Page 3 not have any impact on un-permitted water, because he did not think there was un-permitted water. With regard to an impact of entering into an Agreement on the State reallocation of permitted water, Mr. Mathews said he did not believe it would have a significant impact. He said the State did have the right to cancel water rights if there had been ten years of non use. Mr. Mathews stated there were exceptions that had been added to the cancellation provisions of the Water Code that expressly except from cancellation of water rights that are permitted through a reservoir and that is funded in part by the permit water. He went on to say the City of Paris had a water right in Pat Mayse that is predicated on the Corp of Engineer Contract, because the City paid a portion of the construction costs of the reservoir. Mr. Mathews informed Council he was not overly concerned about a cancellation of the City's water rights. Council Member Wilson said he understood there was a tremendous amount of water going over the spillway. He further said the outflow tube was at 451 and in the year 2001 an average amount of 151 million gallons a day of water went over the spillway. Council Member Wilson suggested raising the conservation pool three or four feet, and not raising the dam. He said it would his understanding there was anyone down stream and that all Irving was asking for was four feet. Mr. Mathews said if the premises were correct, that from a water rights standpoint it was a matter of going through the notice and amending the permit. He also said TCEQ could be difficult at times. Council Member Strathern said the engineer he spoke to said if they raise it, they would be flooding more land. He said he thought they were in too big of a hurry entering into the MOU and that he would rather the City of Paris come up with the money to pay for the study. He went on to say they had received information that he did not believe was correct. Council Member Brown said he did not understand why they needed to delay it, because they were just trying to get the engineer studies started. Mr. Mathews confirmed the MOU did not commit the City of Paris to sign a contract with the City of Irving at the end of the day. It commits the City of Paris to direct staff to develop a contract that would be brought back to the them and to the Irving City Council, and if both parties decide it is a good deal for them they could go forward. He said he was not there to sell them on the MOU, but to give his assessment of legal issues associated with the MOU. Mayor Freelen stated Council had discussed this item with the attorney, received advice from the attorney and it was time to decide whether or not Council wanted to take any action. A Motion to enter into the MOU with the City of Irving was made by Council Member Biard and seconded by Council Member Brown. Mayor Freelen asked if there was any discussion. Council Member Biard and Council Member Fisher said they wanted discussion. Council Member Biard said he wanted to make it clear they were just entering into the MOU to study the feasibility. He said that no one knew if there was water available that could be sold to the City of Regular City Council Meeting January 14, 2008 Page 4 Irving and they needed to find out if it was even feasible. Council Member Biard said they owe it to the citizens ofParis to find out ifit was available to Paris. Council Member Brown said he seconded it for that reason. He said they owed it to the citizens of Paris to see if there was a possibility of raising the outflow pipe or the dam to make sure that forty or fifty years from now Paris had water. Council Member Fisher said if Irving was willing to pay the City up to $200,000.00 for an exclusive right to negotiate, they should probably look around. Council Member Wilson said North Texas Municipal District contacted Paris, but he did not know if they had made any offers. Kevin Carruth added that it was his understanding several years ago North Texas Municipal District initially approached the City about buying the affluent and those conversations were ongoing until Tony Williams' departure. Kevin said the City had not had any contact with them until he contacted them this past week to find out if they had an interest. Kevin said they told him they would be interested after the negotiations with Irving had run its course. Council Member Strathern said he had worked on this for the past three weeks and it was an extremely complex issue. He said he did not like rushing into this and wanted to have more information priar to going to work with Irving. Council Member Strathern said they did not know what the future needs of Paris were and they needed to know that first. Mayor Freelen stated that once the study was done and if Paris did not have the water, they would not sell water. Mayor Freelen asked if there was any additional discussion. There was not and he asked for a vote. He stated he had a Motion to approve the MOU by Council Member Biard and a second by Council Member Brown. Motion carried, 4 ayes - 2 nays, with Council Member Fisher and Council Member Strathern casting the dissenting votes. Mayor Freelen recessed City Council at 8:00 p.m. for a break and reconvened at 8:12 p.m. Mayor Freelen opened the Citizens Forum. 7. Citizens Forum. David Nabors, 1822 E. Polk - asked Council to get clarification on the first paragraph of the Memorandum of Understanding prior to signing it. 8. Presentation and recognition of annual Police Deparhnent employee awards. Chief Louis presented "Officer of the Year" award to Billy Pillars; he presented "Civilian Employee of the Year" award to Karen Brewer; and he presented the "Top Marksman" award to Officer David Wolfe. 9• Presentation and recognition of 1,000 days ofno lost time accidents by Wastewater Treatment Plant Department. In recognition of 1,000 days of no lost time due to accidents, the employees of Wastewater Treatment Plant Department were presented a plaque by Kevin Carruth. Doug Harris, Interim Director Utilities accepted the plaque on behalf of the employees. City Council asked those Regular City Council Meeting January 14, 2008 Page 5 employees in attendance to please stand. Those recognized were J.P. Hinkle, Jason Barter, Brad Sulsar, Billy Shepherd and Jason Thoms. 10. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Freelen inquired if there were any items that Council Members wanted to pull from the Consent Agenda for discussion. Council Member Biard asked that the minutes of December 10, 2007, be corrected to reflect he left the room during discussion and the vote on item 9, and that he returned to the room after the vote. Subject to the correction, Council Member Wilson made a Motion to approve the Consent Agenda and Council Member Fisher seconded the Motion. The Council voted six (6) for and none (0) opposed to approve and adopt the Consent Agenda, Items l 0A, 10B(1), 1013(2), 10B(3), 10B(4), 10B(5), 10B(6), 10B(7), 10B(8), 10B(9), lOC, 101)(1), 101)(2), 101)(3), 101)(4) and l OD(5) as follows: A. Approval of minutes from previous City Council meetings. (12/10/07; 12/17/07) B. Receipt of reports and/or minutes from committees, boards, and commissions: (1) Airport Advisory Board. (10/2/07) (2) Board of Adjustment. (8/23/07; 11/13/07; 1/8/08) (3) Historic Preservation Commission. (8/8/07; 8/23/07; 11/13/07) (4) Library Advisory Board. (11/28/07) (5) Main Street Advisory Board. (5/15/07; 6/19/07; 9/26/07) (6) Paris Economic Development Corp. Board. (11/6/07) (7) Planning & Zoning Commission. (12/3/07) (8) Safety Committee. (12/4/07) (9) Task Force on Code Enforcement. (11/27/07; 12/11/07) C. Review, and acceptance of Monthly Financial Report. (Nov. 2007 and Dec. 2007) D. Consideration of and action on the following resolutions: (1) RESOLUTION NO. 2008-001: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING A LEGAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH JIM MATHEWS OF MATHEWS AND FREELAND, LLP, TO REPRESENT THE CITY OF PARIS 1N DISCUSSIONS AND NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE CITY OF IRVING ON A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING AND POSSIBLE WATER SUPPLY AGREEMENT FOR A SUPPLY OF WATER FROM AND THROUGH LAKE PAT MAYSE; MAKiNG OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTNE DATE. (2) RESOLUTION NO. 2008-002: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COLJNCIL Regular City Council Meeting January 14, 2008 Page 6 OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN AFFIDAVIT OF FULFILMENT OF FEE SIMPLE DETERMINABLE CONDITION REGARDING SALE OF CITY OF PARIS PROPERTY BEING A PORTION OF LOT 5, CITY BLOCK 179- A, LOCATED AT 36 AND 40 EAST KAUFMAN STREET; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (3) RESOLUTION NO. 2008-003: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AND THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF LAMAR COUNTY, TEXAS, APPOINTING DR. MARY GAIL MIESCH AS A MEMBER OF THE PARIS-LAMAR COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (4) RESOLUTION NO. 2008-004: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COLTNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPOINTING CLIFTON FENDLEY AS A MEMBER TO THE MA1N STREET ADVISORY BOARD TO SERVE THE UNEXPIRED TERM OF LISA HOUSE, WHICH EXPIRES MARCH 31, 2009; MAKiNG OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (5) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AFFIRMING THAT THE CITY OF PARIS HAS COMPLIED WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PUBLIC FUNDS INVESTMENT ACT; AMENDING THE CITY'S INVESTMENT POLICY; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTNE DATE. Mayor Freelen asked for a Motion to amend 10A. A Motion to amend the minutes of December 10, 2007, as requested was made by Council Member Wilson and seconded by Council Member Brown. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. 11. Consideration of and action on the following ordinances: A. ORDINANCE NO. 2008-001: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COLTNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, EXTENDING THE MORATORNM ON THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, RECONSTRUCTION, AND PLACEMENT OF BILLBOARDS AND OFF-PREMISES SIGNS WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS FOR A PERIOD OF ONE HLTNDRED EIGHT (180) DAYS FROM AND AFTER JANUARY 20, 2008; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Regular City Council Meeting January 14, 2008 Page 7 A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Brown and seconded by Council Member Fisher. Mayor Freelen stated that he had asked the Task Force on Code Enforcement to review this Ordinance, but that he wanted the Council to be a part of their meeting. He went on to say that the Task Force had taken on several big projects and needed additional time to study this item. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. Council Member Wilson said he had a question about item lOD(5) and inquired if Council could go back to the item. Kent McIlyar informed him they could, but would need a motion to reconsider. A Motion to reconsider item l OD(5) was made by Council Member Biard and seconded by Council Member Wilson. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. Council Member Wilson asked Gene Anderson if the City had any of the sub-prime backed loans in its funds and he wanted to know if there was anyway the City could restrict those from being in the City's funds. Gene Anderson said none of those were in the City's portfolio. In addition, he said they could specifically add a line that says the City will not invest in those type of funds. A Motion to amend lOD(5) with the inclusion of wording that would prohibit the use of investing in sub-prime backed loans was made by Council Member Wilson. Council Member Biard said he was fine with that, but would prefer to have the exact terminology. Gene Anderson said he could do research and get the proper wording for the types of loans they wanted to prohibit. Council Member Wilson suggested staff research it and bring it back to the next meeting. A Motion to table item l OD(5) until the next meeting was made by Council Member Wilson and seconded by Council Member Biard. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. 12. Discussion and designation of certain City Council Members to liaison positions with various City Boards and Commissions. Mayor Freelen inquired of Council to which Boards and/or Commissions they wished to serve in a liaison position. Council Member Wilson selected Planning and Zoning; Council Member Fisher selected Housing; Council Member Biard selected Main Street; and Council Member Strathern decided he would go to several different board meetings prior to making a decision. 13. Possible future agenda items. Council Member Wilson asked that a discussion and possible action item be placed on the next Agenda with regard to appointing a water committee to be involved in the study of Lake Pat Mayse. ~ . . . . . . . . . . _ ...T. . Regular City Council Meeting January 14, 2008 Page 8 Council Member Strathern wanted to know when the reclassifications were going to be on the Agenda. Kevin Carruth told him they would be on the next Agenda. Mayor Freelen wanted to know when the combined pay plan and car allowances were going to be on the Agenda. Kevin Carruth told him the items would be on the next Agenda. 14. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution 2004-081. Kevin Carruth provided Council with an Invitation to attend the TML-Region Winter Meeting in Longview, Texas on January 31S` at 6:30 p.m. There were no requests by Council to attend the meeting. 15. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Fisher and seconded by Council Member Biard. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. JESSE JAMES FREELEN, MAYOR JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK T.