05-CITY COUNCIL 03.11.13 MINUTES-�. 1
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS
March 11, 2013
The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday,
March 11, 2013, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufman, Paris, Texas.
Present: Mayor: A.J. Hashmi
Council Members: Aaron Jenkins; Billie Lancaster; John Wright;
Richard Grossnickle; Matt Frierson; and Cleonne
Drake
City Staff: John Godwin, City Manager; Kent McIlyar, City
Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson,
Finance Director; Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director;
Alan Efrussy, Planning Director; Shawn Napier,
City Engineer; Larry Wright, Fire Chief; Bob
Hundley, Police Chief; and Doug Harris, Utilities
Director
Opening A�enda
1. Call meeting to order.
Mayor Hashmi called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
2. Invocation.
Pastor Van Lazaroff gave the invocation.
3. Pledge of Allegiance.
Council Member Grossnickle led the pledge.
Mayor Hashmi asked that item 4b moved forward on the Agenda. A Motion to move
item 4b forward on the Agenda was made by Council Member Wright and seconded by Council
Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays.
4. b. Public Announcements.
• Recognition of Matthew Draeger for his outstanding acts of volunteerism.
Mayor Hashmi introduced Matthew Draeger, a sophomore at Paris High School. Mayor
Hashmi recounted numerous acts of volunteerism undertaken by Matthew Draeger. He
specifically pointed out Operation Second Chance, a program started by Matthew. Mayor
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Hashmi said Matthew recruited a team that collected over 19,000 items, and had distributed
items to 1,264 needy families. On behalf of Congressman Hall, Mayor Hashmi presented to
Matthew a flag that had flown over the United States CapitoL Mayor Hashmi also presented
Matthew Draeger with a key to the City and a personal contribution to Operation Second
Chance.
a. Citizen's forum.
Mayor Hashmi asked those wishing to speak with regard to item 23, to please wait until
they reached that item on the Agenda.
Consent A�enda
Mayor Hashmi inquired of Council Members if they wished to pull any items from the
Consent Agenda for discussion. Council Member Wright asked for discussion on item 9, and
wanted know how sidewalks became a higher priority over Pat Mayse and the water treatment
plant. City Manager John Godwin explained during the budget process, Doug Harris requested
approximately $800,000 worth of capital improvements that included Pat Mayse, the water
treatment plant, SCADA improvements, and lift station improvements. Mr. Godwin said the
sidewalks were included in the year zero projects and the other projects could be moved up if
needed to be. Mayor Hashmi asked for discussion on item 8. Mayor Hashmi inquired why the
policy suggested five months of reserves, as he and Gene Anderson had discussed four months.
Mr. Anderson said having the policy and having five months of reserves, helps the City's bond
rating resulting in a lower interest rate when borrowing money. City Council discussed the
duration of replenishing cash reserves if the fund dropped below the minimum requirement
amount. It was a consensus that the duration to replenish cash reserves would be eighteen
months.
Subject to changing the cash reserves policy to replenish cash reserves within eighteen
months should the fund drop below the minimum requirement, a Motion to approve the Consent
Agenda was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Council Member Frierson.
Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays.
5. Approve the minutes from the City Council meeting on February 25, 2013
6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards, commissions, and committees:
a. Planning and Zoning Commission (1-7-2013)
b. Building and Standards Commission (1-22-2013)
c. Historic Preservation Commission (2-13-2013)
d. Paris Public Library Advisory Board (1-16-2013)
e. Main Street Advisory Board (1-15-2013)
f. Paris Visitors and Convention Council (11-28-2012)
g. Airport Advisory Board (1-17-2013) ,
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7. Award the high bid for the sale of the former police building located at 811 Bonham
Street.
8. Approve a cash reserve policy for the City of Paris.
9. Approve change order number one with Richard Drake Construction Co., L.P. to
reconstruct certain sidewalks on Bonham Street, Grand Avenue, and 7t�' Street S.W.
10. Accept bids and award contracts for the purchase of roadway materials to the lowest
responsible bidder(s) for the twelve month period beginning April 1, 2013.
11. Accept the bid and award the contract for the replacement of concrete curbs and gutters,
driveway approaches, and reinforced concrete sidewalks to the lowest responsible
bidder(s) for the twelve-month period beginning April 1, 2013.
12. Approve the Final Plat of Lot 1, Block A, Smooth 174-A Addition, located in the 1300
Block of Martin Luther King Drive.
13. Approve the Final Plat of Lot 1, Block A, Liberty National Bank Addition, located in the
400 Block of East Houston Street.
Regular A�enda
14. Public hearing to consider the petition of Kelly Coplin for a change in zoning from a Two
Family Dwelling District (2F) to a Multi-Family Dwelling District No. 2(MF-2) on Lot
5, City Block 254, located in the 2100 Block of E. Polk.
Planning Director Alan Efrussy explained that the applicant had withdrawn his request
for a zoning change after meeting and learning from city staff that he could achieve his
development goals by not rezoning. Mayor Hashmi said there was no action to be taken on this
item.
15. Receive, discuss and provide direction to city staff on an application for disannexation
filed by David and Brenda Denison.
Mayor Hashmi asked Shawn Napier and Alan Efrussy to explain the pros and cons of
disannexation. Mr. Napier said if disannexed, a property owner would pay less in taxes to the
city and to the college, permit fees would not be required, there would be no city regulations or
code enforcement. He said the cons would be a higher cost for water, potential septic system,
zoning rules would not apply which means a neighbor could build anything they wanted to build
and you would have no control, there would be no building inspections which may possibly lead
to substandard structures, and higher insurance rates. With regard to pros, Mr. Efrussy said a
person could do virtually almost anything with regard to the land usage. With regard to cons,
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Mr. Efrussy said the design of the city could be disrupted and chipping away at the city would
leave no zoning control. He also said that adjacent land uses could suffer because of the
incompatible land uses.
City Clerk Janice Ellis said staff had received an application for disannexation and the
basis of the request was lack of city services. Ms. Ellis reported that this was an unimproved
piece of property consisting of 5.025 acres in the Wildwood Estates and that the City provided
fire protection, police protection and trash service. She said the City did not provide sewer and
that water was available from the City through a county water line. Ms. Ellis said to disannex
this piece of property would isolate the property owned by Celeste Wilcox. Mr. Napier added
that the piece of property would not be contiguous to the city limits if the Denison tract was
disannexed. City Attorney Kent McIlyar said he had not seen anyone cut out of the city limits
like this and that if the City disannexes this property, they would be giving up zoning
regulations. He also said to disannex parcels of land not on your boundaries' edge would result
in redesigning your boundary limits. Mr. McIlyar said he did not see any reason to support this
disannexation. Council Member Wright inquired about an Attorney General opinion. Council
Member Grossnickle said when they went through the redistricting process the City was
informed they had to be contiguous. Mayor Hashmi asked the Council how they wished to
proceed. Council Members Frierson and Lancaster said they favored getting an Attorney
General opinion.
Pending receipt of a Texas Attorney General opinion, a Motion to table this item was
made by Council Member Frierson and seconded by Council Member Drake. Motion carried, 7
ayes — 0 nays.
16. Receive, discuss and provide direction to city staff on an application for disannexation
filed by Boyd and Deborah Hudgens.
City Clerk Janice Ellis said staff had received an application for disannexation and the
basis of the request was lack of city services. Ms. Ellis reported that this property consisted of
one acre and a house that the city provided fire protection, police protection and trash service.
She said the City did not provide water or sewer to the property. Ms. Ellis said to disannex this
property would mean that it would be in a land lock situation. Mr. Hudgens said he did not
understand how it could be landlocked from the county. Mr. Napier explained his property was
1,700 feet from the city limits and if disannexed, his property would create a donut hole in the
city limits and that would not be contiguous with the city limits. Mr. Hudgens said they were
paying for services they were not getting. Mr. Godwin explained that they were not getting
water and sewer and that they were not paying water and sewer bills. He further explained that
taxes collected were not spent on water and sewer, because those were separate funds. Mr.
Hudgens said he thought services were to be provided to them within two years of disannexation
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and they were disannexed in 1998. Council Member Grossnickle confirmed with Mr. McIlyar
that the law changed in 1999, in that municipalities did not have to provide water and sewer if
property was disannexed prior to 1999. Council Members Grossnickle and Frierson expressed
concern about shrinking the city limits. Mayor Hashmi asked staff to explore other areas in
which to help the Hudgens. Council Member Wright said they should provide service, reduce
rates or disannex the property. Mr. Godwin said he understood folks were frustrated and wanted
to give Council time to think about this and for staff to assist them with research or whatever else
they may need. Mr. Godwin said he thought they needed to look at this globally. Mr. McIlyar
pointed out that a former Council did not annex these parcels one at a time, but rather by much
larger tracts. He said the annexation law was not set up to be a piece meal process and reiterated
Mr. Godwin with regard to studying this from a global view. Council Member Grossnickle
suggested they table this item.
A Motion to table this item was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council
Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays.
17. Receive, discuss and provide direction to city staff on an application for disannexation
filed by Clint Spencer.
City Clerk Janice Ellis said staff had received an application for disannexation and the
basis of the request was lack of city services. Ms. Ellis reported that this property consisted of
6.25 acres located at the corner of Wildwood Lane and was an unimproved piece of property.
She said the City provided fire protection, police protection and trash service. She said the City
did not provide water or sewer to the property, but that water was available from the City
through a county water line.
Council Member Grossnickle said this property was not a part of the original Wildwood
Lane. Council Member Frierson confirmed it was an unimproved piece of property. Council
Member Grossnickle said it was in an area in which could result in a domino effect thus there
was the potential of losing fourteen or fifteen houses from the city if they continue disannexing
property. Council Member Lancaster suggested they look at this property when they bring the
other two properties back for consideration.
A Motion to table this item was made by Council Member Lancaster and seconded by
Council Mayor Hashmi. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays.
18. Discuss requesting TxDOT funding for construction of hangars at Cox Field Airport.
City Engineer Shawn Napier said that the airport had a list of over twenty people who
wanted to rent hangar space at the airport and the Airport Advisory Board recommended that a
letter of interest be sent to the TxDOT Aviation Division to request grant money. In addition, he
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said the City could request four years' worth of non-primary entitlement money. Mr. Napier also
said under the current program, $150,000 was set aside each year for the airport which would
total $600,000. Mr. Napier explained the City's match would be 10%. Mr. Napier told the
Council the money could be used to fund projects that had been approved in the airport master
plan or to fix problems that existed on the airfield portion of the airport. He noted that the master
plan included construction of a 10-unit T Hangar and extension of a hangar access taxiway.
A Motion to send a request to TxDOT for funding was made by Council Member
Grossnickle and seconded by Council Member Frierson. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays.
19. Discuss and consider entering into an agreement with a new law firm to provide
professional services for the collection of delinquent taxes for the City of Paris.
Mr. Godwin said the city, county, PISD, and PJC had for many years utilized the
professional services of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Simpson. He said they were a very large
firm and felt it was time to make a change. Mr. Godwin recommended Tracy Pounders, who has
a two-attorney firm and felt that they would provide mare personal service to the City of Paris.
It was a consensus of the City Council for the City Attorney to move forward with
entering into an agreement with Tracy Pounders for managing tax delinquency in Paris.
20. Discuss, public hearing and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2013-008: AN ORDINANCE OF
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, READOPTING ARTICLE
III CURFEW REGULATIONS FOR CHILDREN OF CHAPTER 21 OF THE CODE OF
ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, REVISING CERTAIN LAW
ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES APPLICABLE TO THE CURFEW ORDINANCE
AND MAKING OTHER FiND1NGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE
SUBJECT; PROVIDING A REPEALER CLAUSE, SEVERABILITY CLAUSE,
SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Chief Hundley said the curfew ordinance had the desired effect by curbing juvenile
involved criminal activity and asked the City Council to adopt this ordinance.
Mayor Hashmi opened the public hearing and asked that anyone wishing to speak about
this item, to please come forward. With no one speaking, Mayor Hashmi closed the public
hearing.
A Motion to approve this ordinance was made by Council Member Frierson and
seconded by Council Member Drake. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays.
21. Discuss and act on ORDINANCE NO. 2013-009: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY
COLTNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, AMENDING SECTION 31-29,
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DRIVING OVER PUBLIC PLAYGROUND OF CHAPTER 31 TRAFFIC, OF THE
CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS; MAKING OTHER
FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; PROVIDING A
REPEALER CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A SAVINGS CLAUSE, A
PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Chief Hundley explained while investigating a recent complaint regarding a motor
vehicle being operated on the Trail de Paris, they learned there was not an ordinance that
prohibited motor vehicles in city parks and that one was needed.
A Motion to approve this item was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council
Member Drake. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays.
22. Receive and discuss a report on the demolition of dilapidated structures in Paris.
Code Enforcement Supervisor Robert Talley reported that Building and Standards
Commission had placed orders on approximately 174 structures. He said 49 structures were
demolished totaling $133,859.48 which averaged out of to $2,731.83 per structure. Mr. Talley
also said 76 structures were waiting to be demolished, which would cost approximately
$207,690.08. Mayor Hashmi asked staff to explore avenues in which to expedite the process.
23. Discuss and take action on a presentation by the mayor on development of housing in
Paris.
Realtor Jim Bell gave a presentation with regard to the housing market in the City of
Paris and the local and state economy. Mayor Hashmi said the purpose of this discussion was to
try to obtain land in order to make it easier for developers to build homes, in hopes that people
would purchase homes in the City. He said easy access was the PEDC property, but that he was
not a developer and thought they should form a committee of people made up of developers and
realtors to come up with solutions or options to build more residential neighborhoods. City
Council discussed exchanging property located at the Industrial Park and airport, the need for
development in West Paris, the new industries coming to Paris and housing currently available,
loss of business in West Paris due to lack of housing, that growth would benefit everyone, and
the need for more information. Developer Wayne Brown suggested some type of incentives for
builders, developers or new home buyers and expressed concern about the City crossing over
into the private business of development. Mayor Hashmi that the City would have no part in
participating in any kind of development, so there would be no competition between the City and
developers. It was a consensus of the City Council to form a committee and Mayor Hashmi
welcomed Mr. Brown, Mr. Bell and Mr. Ressler to participate in the committee. Mayor Hashmi
said he and one other Council Member would also participate.
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24. Discuss the May 11, 2013 bond election.
Mayor Hashmi reminded everyone that the bond election was May 11 °i
25. Convene into Executive Session pursuant to Section 551.071 of the Texas Government
Code, Consultation with Attorney, to receive legal advice from the City Attorney about
pending or contemplated litigation and/or on matters in which the duty of an attorney to
his client under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of
Texas, clearly conflict with this chapter as follows:
• City of Paris v. 911 Restoration
• City of Greenville v. Syngenta Corp.
Mayor Hashmi convened City Council into executive session at 7:53 p.m.
26. Reconvene into Open Session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in
Executive Session.
Mayor Hashmi reconvened City Council into open session at 8:02 p.m. A Motion to
authorize the City Attorney to enter into the settlement agreement with 911 Restoration was
made by Council Member Frierson and seconded by Council Member Drake. Motion carried, 7
ayes — 0 nays.
27. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to
Resolution No. 2004-081.
Council Member Wright said he would like a report from the City Manager about the
meeting with the District Judge concerning the probation buildings.
28. Adjournment.
There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member
Frierson and was seconded by Council Member Drake. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The
meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK
A.J. HASHMI, MAYOR
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