04-A City Council Min.REGULAR 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 Staff: 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
l. 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 Paris 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
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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
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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 ofthe 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
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Januaiy 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 of Paris to find out if it 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 prior 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 Department 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 of no 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
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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 1 OA,
10B(1), 10B(2), 10B(3), 1013(4), 10B(5), 10B(6), 10B(7), 1013(8), 10B(9), IOC, 10D(1), 101)(2),
lOD(3), lOD(4) and 101)(5) as follows:
A. Approval ofminutes 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 ofAdjustment. (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 IN 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 EFFECTIVE DATE.
(2) RESOLUTION NO. 2008-002: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
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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 BE1NG 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 BOA.RD 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 COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPOINTING CLIFTON FENDLEY AS
A MEMBER TO THE MAIN STREET ADVISORY BOARD TO SERVE
THE UNEXPIRED TERM OF LISA HOUSE, WHICH EXPIRES MARCH
31, 2009; MAKING OTHERFINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO
THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTNE 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 COUNCIL 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
HUNDRED EIGHT (180) DAYS FROM AND AFTER JANUARY 20, 2008;
MAKING OTHER F1NDiNGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT;
AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTNE DATE.
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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 l OD(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 l OD(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 staffresearch 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 Couricil 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.
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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 315` at 6:30 p.m. There were no requests by Council to attend the
meeting.
15. Adjournment.
There Ueing 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. ,
r
J SE JA S FREELEN, MAYOR
~
ICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK
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