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09.09.13 MINUTESMINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS September 9, 2013 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 9, 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; Shawn Napier, City Engineer; Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director; Dale Maberry, Assistant Fire Chief; Bob Hundley, Police Chief; Doug Harris, Utilities Director; Alan Efrussy, Planning Director; Priscilla McAnally, Library Director; and Tom Hunt, Municipal Court Judge Opening Agenda 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Hashmi called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Reverend Price gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Grossnickle led the pledge. 4. a. Citizens' Forum. No one spoke during citizens' forum. b. Proclamation recognizing September 11th as Patriot Day. After reading the proclamation, Mayor Hashmi presented it to Mr. Mackey. Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2013 Page 2 Consent Agenda Mayor Hashmi inquired of Council Members if they wished to pull any items from the Consent Agenda for discussion. There being none, a Motion to approve the Consent Agenda was made by Council Member Frierson and seconded by Council Member Drake. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve the minutes from the City Council meetings on March 11, 2013 (corrected); August 20, 2013 (special); August 26, 2013 (regular); and August 27, 2013 (special). 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards, commissions, and committees: a. Paris Public Library Advisory Board (7 -17 -2013) b. Historic Preservation Commission (8 -14 -2013) c. Main Street Advisory Board (7 -16 -2013) 7. Re- appoint Thomas E. Hunt III as Municipal Court Judge and Don Biard as Associate Municipal Court Judge for the City of Paris. 8. Approve a letter to Union Pacific Railroad for the purpose of acquiring right -of -way or a recreational trail easement for the Trail de Paris extension. Regular Agenda 9. Presentation by PEDC Board Chair Rebecca Clifford on Request for Attorney General Opinion, PEDC expenditures and oversight for PEDC. PEDC Board Chair Rebecca Clifford said that taxpayer's money must be wisely spent and there were serious issues being addressed by Board. Mrs. Clifford also said that everyone wanted Paris to grow, prosper and for its citizens to benefit from the well - paying jobs that arise from true economic development. She stated that she had spent many hours researching, reviewing corporate bylaws and minutes of past meetings, as well as reviewing past financial data. Mrs. Clifford said what she learned was there had been a complete lack of fiscal oversight of the PEDC for years; that the PEDC no longer focused on its stated goals of economic development through the encouragement and promotion of primary jobs; and that many PEDC expenditures appeared to have nothing to do with industrial economic development. Mrs. Clifford said she had questioned incubator funding, benefits and expenses paid to members of Team Paris, direct and indirect benefits paid to several consultants, promotion and advertising expenses, website maintenance, and current policies and procedures. Mrs. Clifford said she asked questions and gathered facts in order to participate in meaningful discussions and make informed decisions. She emphasized that she had promised the City Council that she would take her board position seriously. Mrs. Clifford told the City Council that major changes were in the process of being made at the PEDC, by way of instituting proper business and accounting practices. Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2013 Page 3 Next, Mrs. Clifford told the City Council that the PEDC Board voted not to request an attorney general opinion with regard to the incubator funding, because the incubator was no longer in the PEDC budget. She said she was pleased that the funding of the incubator had been resolved and that it would be a viable resource for Paris' local small businesses. Mrs. Clifford said she agreed that the City needed a Team Paris, because the best people to sell Paris to visitors interested in doing business in Paris were those who work, live and do business in Paris themselves. She said that they needed to ensure all people who are interested and qualified for a role in Team Paris be given a fair chance to participate. Mrs. Clifford said it was appropriate for PEDC to offer to pay the reasonable expenses of the volunteers, and the Board would address policies that define reasonable expenses and initiate policies for the recruitment of volunteers for Team Paris. Mrs. Clifford reported that PEDC Director Steve Gilbert previously identified seven Type A economic development corporation that he considered to be peers and those cities were Brownwood, Denison, Greenville, Marshall, Mt. Pleasant, Sherman and Sulphur Springs. Mrs. Clifford said she gathered data from the State Comptroller's Office for comparison and the chart she depicted reflected that in fiscal year 2012, PEDC spent more than any of those peers for personnel, administration, and marketing in both absolute dollar amount, as well as a percentage of income. She said PEDC spent approximately $900,000 or 74% of their current year's income on these categories. She also said that no other peer city spent more than 27% in these categories. Mrs. Clifford expressed that in her opinion these expenditures were excessive, and that travel and entertainment were clearly a significant portion of those expenditures. Mrs. Clifford expressed concern about PEDC paying for legal fees for incubator clients and the amount of money spent on promotion. She said PEDC must accurately track expenses. Mrs. Clifford said best practices for tracking of expenditures was to call things exactly what they were, such as travel, entertainment, conferences and advertising. In closing, Mrs. Clifford said hopefully, the PEDC Board and staff would soon be able to again focus on their mission, which was to promote, assist and enhance economic development through the creation of primary jobs for the betterment of the citizens of Paris, Texas. 10. Presentation by William Strathern on Paris Economic Development Corporation's expenses, budget, financial oversight and policies. Council Member Grossnickle said they had heard a lot about PEDC and questioned if this presentation was necessary. He also said he would prefer to table this presentation, because it was a PEDC issue. Mayor Hashmi said Mr. Strathern had requested to be on the agenda, as had Mr. Cecil. Referencing the presentation by Mr. Hayes, Mayor Hashmi said he had not prevented anyone from giving a presentation to City Council. A Motion to table this item indefinitely was made by Council Member Frierson and seconded by Council Member Grossnickle. Motion failed, 2 ayes — 4 nays, with Council Member Drake abstaining from the vote. Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2013 Page 4 William Strathern said he filed a public information request with the City of Paris, after reading a Dallas newspaper article casting doubt on Economic Development Corporations and their monitoring of company compliance agreements. He said that Mr. Gilbert claimed that 1,750 jobs were saved and 600 new jobs were created, which was a gross exaggeration. Mr. Strathern further said the US Census showed no growth from 1990 thru 2000 and 2010. In addition, Mr. Strathern said in 2010 the total number of industrial jobs was 2,816 and in 2013 that number was 2,944, citing his personal investigation and the PEDC web -site. Mr. Strathern explained that PEDC was established by a vote of the citizens on May 1, 1993 when the following proposition was approved, "The adoption of an additional Sales and Use Tax within the City of Paris, Texas, at a rate of one -fourth of one percent to be used for the benefit of a corporation to carry out industrial development programs consistent with the purposes and duties set out in the Development Corporation Act of 1979." Mr. Strathern said vendor invoices combined with credit card expenses reflected uncontrolled and unexplained expenditures. He also said after reviewing the data, he had more questions which led to a second public information request. Mr. Strathern questioned the expenses for Lamar County Days. He also said he found expenses that were paid for by credit card did not generate an expense form, so there was no explanation for the money spent. He also questioned if compliance progress was adequate. Mr. Strathern said his preliminary findings were that the voters' wishes had been ignored, there was a pattern of misinformation, a pattern of waste, a pattern of abuse and there was no oversight by PEDC Board of Directors. In closing, Mr. Strathern recommended that the data be validated, that PEDC focus on primary jobs, that the PEDC Board be required to stop all unnecessary expenditures for 90 days or until the Charter was reviewed and necessary changes were made; and that the PEDC Board update policies and procedures to provide oversight that would force adherence to sound business practices. Council Member Frierson stated that the Sara Lee facility closed and the PEDC was instrumental in bringing the plant back to life. He also said that Mr. Gilbert had accomplished some positive things for Paris. Council Member Grossnickle said there had been personal attacks against Mr. Gilbert, which may not have been warranted and that he thought Mr. Gilbert was trying to do the best he could to keep the current companies in Paris. Council Member Drake said they could not change the past, but needed to move forward with the PEDC Board's recommendations. She also said the taxpayers' money should be spent wisely and in the manner which it was intended. Council Member Drake said they needed to make Paris a place where businesses wanted to locate and a place where they wanted to bring their families. She said they needed to learn from their past and let the current Board set up new policies to insure this doesn't happen again. Council Member Lancaster said there had been some things that they probably did not want to hear, but needed to hear. Council Member Drake said it was a good time to get PEDC back on track, focus on getting jobs into the community, and presenting a clear, honest picture for the citizens. Council Member Jenkins expressed appreciation to Mrs. Clifford, Mr. Strathem, the PEDC and City Council. He said everyone must make sure they do their jobs and do the best for Paris. Council Member Wright said the discussions and presentations had been helpful in solving the problems and that he had the utmost faith in the Board. He also said if Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2013 Page 5 they could overcome their mistakes and not repeat them, that it would all be worthwhile. Mayor Hashmi said he was confident that the PEDC Board would do a fine job. 11. Discuss and possible act on RESOLUTION NO. 2013 -033: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE RED RIVER REGION INCUBATOR, INC. A Motion to bring this item from the table was made by Council Member Wright and seconded by Council Member Drake. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. As discussed at a previous meeting, City Attorney Kent McIlyar explained that the R3bi Board had reduced their request for funding assistance from the City of Paris from $89,000 to $30,000. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 12. Convene into Executive Session as follows: • 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: Ranger Abbott vs. the City of Paris. • Pursuant to Section 551.074 of the Texas Government Code, to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee as follows: annual evaluation of the city manager. Mayor Hashmi convened City Council into Executive Session at 6:53 p.m. 13. Reconvene into Open Session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in Executive Session. Mayor Hashmi reconvened City Council into open session at 7:46 p.m. 14. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004 -081. None were referenced. Regular Council Meeting September 9, 2013 Page 6 15. Adj ournment. 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 7:50 p.m. NICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK