Loading...
02 Council Min 08-24-04 Spec. SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF PARIS AUGUST 24, 2004 The City Council of the City of Paris, Paris, Texas met in Special Session, Tuesday, August 24, 2004, at Love Civic Center, 2025 S. Collegiate Drive, Paris, Texas. Mayor Curtis Fendley called the meeting to order with the following Council members present: Jim Bell, Jay Guest, Mary Ann Fisher, Don Wilson, Karen Wilkerson and Rick Poston. Also present were Interim City Manager Terry Townsend, City Attorney Larry W. Schenk and Asst. City Clerk Sherian Dixon. Mayor Fendley called for a discussion with a Brinkley Sargent Architect from Dallas, regarding plans, specifications, and the bidding process for the reconstruction and conversion of the UARCO Building to a new Police, court and jail facility. Mayor Fendley indicated that Council would like to know why the bids were so much over the budget and where they need to go from here. Police Chief Karl Louis came forward and introduced, Hal Sargent. Mr. Sargent th said they bid the project out on August 5 and there was one bidder, Harrison, Walker and Harper, who bid $588,000 over budget. Mr. Sargent asked for permission to re-bid the project. He indicated that they had looked into changing several electrical items, changing the glass and aluminum system to a simpler system, eliminating the shielding in the courtyard, simplifying the entrance canopies, taking the audio-visual part of the project out of the bid and making it a separate line item, and revising the security cameras. Mayor Fendley asked how much he thought that would reduce costs. Mr. Sargent said he felt that some contractors didn’t bid because of the distance to Paris. He also felt there wasn’t much competition among the subcontractors because there was only one general contractor. He said some of the people who didn’t bid said they like to bid on building a new building instead of doing a remodel. He said he did explain to some contractors that this was a clean project now and that the building was basically a warehouse now and they said they would be interested in bidding, then. Special Meeting of the City Council August 24, 2004 Page 2 Councilwoman Wilkerson indicated that two contractors, who had pulled out of the bid, told her it was because of the poor quality of the plans and too many addendums. Councilman Wilson wanted to know why there were so many addendums, because subcontractors tend to pull out when there are too many addendums. He said there was a problem with one plan room, who accidently sent back an addendum, so they had to do an extension of the bid date. He did say there shouldn’t have been so many addendums, that items could have been grouped together to make fewer addendums. Councilwoman Wilkerson said her concern was that the Architects were asked to put plans and specifications together that fit into the City of Paris budget and that th is not what happened. Mr. Sargent said this was only the 5 time in his career that a bid had been over. There was discussion about items in the specifications that were too expensive. Councilman Bell was concerned that the security systems are adequate for their needs but not be too expensive. Mr. Sargent said the Audio Visual and the Furniture would be bid out separately so they would have more control over the quality of vendor. Mayor Fendley asked if there were extras or frills in the plans that could be taken out. Mr. Sargent said that the building is more square footage than what is called for and there has to be lights, electricity, sprinklers, and other mechanical things for those areas that are not going to be used at first. He said they made a courtyard because there was a need for more natural light in the building. He said the cost of making the atrium into a room with a roof is only $31,000 less. He complimented the City staff on the way they got the building cleaned out and ready for construction. Mr. Sargent said the Greenville project was $158.00 per foot and the Paris project was $126.00 per foot. He said he heard that some of the subcontractors inflated their numbers when they knew they were the only ones bidding. Special Meeting of the City Council August 24, 2004 Page 3 Mr. Sargent said they were sending out a new, clean set of plans with no addendums. Councilman Wilson asked if they were to put the bid out again and a similar situation happened, could they go to a construction manager for the project. Mr. Sargent said there needs to be a proposal, but it is more expensive to build a building this way. Mr. Schenk said by law, this must be competitively bid. He reminded them that they already have a building and this will basically be an inside job and could be done any time of the year. He said bidding might be the best way to get under budget, so why not try it again. Councilman Wilson suggested re-bidding and if that doesn’t work, then doing the project manager process. He asked if Brinkley Sargent would help them with that process. Mr. Sargent said they would. Mr. Sargent was concerned if they started negotiating on the project, they will start taking too many things away and won’t get the building they want or deserve. Mr. Bell voiced his concern about getting the security back in. Mr. Sargent said the basic security will be in the building, but the outside security fence is an alternate and will only be added if the bid comes in low enough. Chief Louis thanked the Council for their concern and input and thanked them for allowing the Police Department to continue with this project. Mayor Fendley called for consideration of, discussion of, possible action on, or providing direction to staff regarding the reconstruction and conversion of the UARCO Building to a new police, court and jail facility. There was none. Resolution 2004-146, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Paris, Paris, Texas, authorizing the advertisement for new bids for the reconstruction and conversion of the UARCO Building to a new police, court and jail facility, was presented. Councilman Bell made a motion to approve the Resolution as presented. Councilman Guest seconded the motion and it carried 7 ayes, 0 nays. Mayor Fendley called for consideration and discussion of, possible action on or providing direction to staff regarding the position of Interim City Manager. Mayor Fendley indicated that he had contract Don Davis and Kerry Sweatt, who have the Special Meeting of the City Council August 24, 2004 Page 4 City Manager service, by e-mail and voice mail, but hadn’t heard from them as yet. He said the cost would be $55.00 per hour with travel pay and they were flexible as to the number of hours. Councilman Guest suggested making it a job. It was decided to make it full time and cut back if needed. Councilman Guest made a motion to authorize the Mayor to contact the service and get a full-time Interim City Manager. The motion was seconded by Councilman Poston and carried 7 ayes, 0 nays. Mayor Fendley called consideration, discussion and possible action or direction to City Staff regarding the results of recent salary surveys associated with filling current employee vacancies. He said the only position which wasn’t discussed at the last meeting was that of Lindsey Harper, the Main Street Coordinator. Mayor Fendley reminded the Council that she was pregnant and would be leaving in October and wouldn’t return after the baby was born. Finance Director Anderson said he would have the results of the salary survey by next week. Mayor Fendley indicated that the position of Main Street Coordinator would be addressed next week. Mayor Fendley said the position of Library Director needed to be posted, also. Interim City Manager related that the position was already posted and wondered if the Council wanted to change the salary or grade of that position, also. Mr. Townsend said it had been suggested to make that Grade 40, with a starting salary of $40,000.00, topping out at $48,000. It was decided to re-post the position and do interviews at the new pay level and grade. Next the Council discussed the Community Development Budget with Lisa Wright, Director of Community Development. Ms. Wright said she had more cuts to the budget that she had figured. These included cutting batteries to $100.00, zeroing out Line item 0352, reducing electronic data processing to $500.00, and zeroing out maintenance agreement. On the Main Street budget, Ms. Wright proposed cutting postage to $250.00 and special events to $15,000. On the MIS budget, she cut communications and telephone to $100.00. On a question from Councilwoman Wilkerson, she said Special Meeting of the City Council August 24, 2004 Page 5 Michael Gott was the MIS person. On the Airport budget, Ms. Wright cut the following line items: 1. Tires to $150.00 2. Mechanical to $25.00 3. Tuition & training to zero Ms. Wright reminded the Council of the request to do away with the airport manager and have the Fixed Base Operator manage the Airport. She spoke with the FAA, who said that Paris is a 139 airport and a 139 airport usually does not have the FBO’s managing the airport because the FBO’s would have to inspect themselves. She indicated she would have a quote from J. B. Richey at the Thursday meeting, so the Council would get some idea of the cost for having the FBO manage the Airport. City Engineer Shawn Napier came forward and said he could cut wearing apparel down to $2000.00 and motor vehicles to $2500.00. Public Works Director and Interim City Manager Terry Townsend reminded the Council that they had asked what were the potential costs of keeping the $50,000.00 in the budget for the Lake Crook Trails grant. A general discussion about the pros and cons of keeping the grant followed. Interim City Manager Townsend explained the recurring maintenance costs associated with the trail. Councilman Poston made a motion to take the grant out of the budget and give it back to the state. The motion was seconded by Councilman Bell and carried 6 ayes to 1 nay, Councilwoman Wilkerson voting no. Councilwoman Wilkerson expressed her concern about the ramifications of returning a grant to the State. She felt this would “red flag” Paris and it would be harder to get any kind of grant in the future. Mr. Townsend said the State has had that happen before and they will remember that the City of Paris did this, but in several years, personnel will change and they will forget. Councilman Wilson said he would like to change his vote. Special Meeting of the City Council August 24, 2004 Page 6 In the Parks and Recreation, Interim City Manager Townsend said he could use some temporary help. On a question from Councilman Bell about the Health Department, Finance Director Anderson explained there was a dispute over some Medicare money that supposedly went to the Health Department. He explained the State has attached some Medicare/VA payments that would have gone to EMS to offset what they say the Health Department owes them. He indicated the City is in communication with the State to get this straightened out, as the City has no record of receiving that from the State. Councilman Bell said he would like for that to be noted on the Health Department budget as a disputed amount or contingent liability. In the Library budget, Mayor Fendley reminded the Council that there is a resolution coming for county fees. Finance Director Anderson said they also reduced the media and book budget and added three employees back in for 24 hours per week. Interim Library Director Priscilla McAnally requested that a Library employee be promoted from a Clerk II to a Paraprofessional. She stated the employee had been doing the Paraprofessional job for two years. A discussion of the grade and step plan ensued. Ms. McAnally said she thought the new plan would not affect old employees. Councilman Wilson said it would when the old employee goes to a new grade, or any promotions or transfers. On a question from Councilwoman Fisher, Mayor Fendley said the new plan would go into effect once it was voted on. It was decided that department heads would go through the City Manager to reclassify employees. Mayor Fendley said that Woodall Field was in the budget under Parks and Recreation. He said the other non-profits were not in the budget. Councilman Bell said he understood the importance of some of these organizations, but felt it would be better to include more benefits than some of these. Police Chief Louis voiced his support of NETCADA, which worked for drug rehabilitation and to help people get counseling, as well as the Children’s Advocacy Center. Special Meeting of the City Council August 24, 2004 Page 7 Mayor Fendley felt these were all supported by the United Way and shouldn’t be in the City budget. Councilman Poston said he struggled with the idea of using taxpayers’ money to support non-profits. Councilman Wilson said we should be supporting some of these organizations that help the Police Department and Court system, but asked where do they draw the line. Councilwoman Wilkerson made a motion to take the contribution to Woodall Field out of the budget. The motion was seconded by Councilman Poston and the motion carried 4 ayes, 3 nays, Councilman Bell, Mayor Fendley and Councilwoman Fisher. Councilwoman Wilkerson questioned if the Health Department was a revenue generating entity. Finance Director Anderson said the revenue comes from grants and some local fees. He said the contributions from the City and County make up for the shortfall in those grants and fees. Mayor Fendley said the PEDC budget was originally $64,000.00. He said with an amendment to the executive salary, the budget is now $61,417.00, with no raises. There was a discussion of the Council’s authority over the PEDC budget. On a question from Councilwoman Wilkerson, Mayor Fendley said the PEDC is accountable to its board and the board is accountable to the City Council. City Attorney Schenk cut his minor apparatus budget by $800.00 and his minor furniture and fixture budget by $500.00. Mayor Fendley said that the Council still needed to talk about Health Insurance and the Retirement plan, but it was the consensus to do that after the Council found out how much money had been saved with these cuts. It was decided to publicize in the newspaper about the Library Fees and to send a notice to the county residents who use the Library. It was the consensus of the Council not to change the sanitation fee. th Mayor Fendley reminded the Council of the meeting on Thursday, August 26. It Special Meeting of the City Council August 24, 2004 Page 8 was decided to wait to set the date for the Public Hearing until Thursday. City Attorney Schenk called the Council’s attention to memos on the authority of the City to issue Certificates of Obligation without an election and on the Charter election. It was decided to discuss this after the budget. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned. _____________________________ CURTIS FENDLEY, MAYOR APPROVED AS TO FORM: __________________________________ SHERIAN DIXON, ASST. CITY CLERK