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01/13/2014MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS January 13, 2014 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, January 13, 2014, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, 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; Larry Wright, Fire Chief, Bob Hundley, Police Chief, Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director; Alan Efrussy, Planning Director; and Priscilla McAnally, Library Director Opening Agenda 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Hashmi called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Pastor Brad Aldridge gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Grossnickle led the pledge. 4. Citizens' Forum. Johnny Lee, 2306 Simpson — on behalf of the Texas A &M Commerce Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, he asked that the City Council consider supporting the conference. Dr. McLemore — on behalf of the CDC's recommendation, he strongly recommended that a ban be placed on smoking in private work places, bars and restaurants. Deb Fleming and Socrates students representing Crockett Intermediate School — spoke about the public surveys they conducted and their research on the negative effect of second hand smoke. Regular Council Meeting January 13, 2014 Page 2 Council Member Drake — she said these students worked hard and had been very excited about coming before City Council. Dr. Amanda Green — requested that the City Council direct staff to draft a stronger smoking ordinance. Connie Stouter, on behalf of the Health Department — she invited City Council to attend a city bus workshop January 22 at 2:00 p.m. at Paris Regional Medical Hospital. She also informed them about Lighten Up East Texas, a weight loss program and said they were in the process of signing up those interested. Mayor Hashmi — he said he had very exciting news about the Lake Crook Project. He said that Dr. and Mrs. Swint had made a generous donation in the amount of $100,000 to go toward the rejuvenation of the Lake Crook Park. On behalf of the City Council, the City employees and the residents of the City of Paris, Mayor Hashmi expressed appreciation to the Swints for investing into the community. Dr. Richard Swint, 2510 Stillhouse Road — he introduced his wife, Susan and then explained that Lake Crook Park was a big part of his childhood. Dr. Swint said Lake Crook had flower gardens, a dance floor, lights and picnic areas. He also told the Council that it was built by the people of Paris without government assistance. Dr. Swint cited a quote of Mayor Crook which was "Lake Crook has the great potential to change this City." Dr. Swint said it was with great pleasure to be able to present this donation for restoration of the park. City Council Members expressed their sincere gratitude for such a generous donation. In addition, Mayor Hashmi said he also wanted to make a personal donation in the amount of $10,000 toward the proj ect. 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 Drake and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve the minutes from the City Council meeting on December 16, 2013. 6. Receive reports and /or minutes from the following boards, commissions, and committees: a. Historic Preservation Commission (11 -18 -2013) b. Paris Economic Development Corporation (11 -19 -2013) c. Building and Standards Commission (11 -18 -2013) d. Main Street Advisory Board (11 -19 -2013) Regular Council Meeting January 13, 2014 Page 3 7. Receive November monthly financial report. 8. Approve the Final Plat of Lots 1, 2 & 3, Block A, Hall Addition CB 154, located in the 600 to 1000 Block of West Washington Street. 9. Approve the Final Plat of Lot 1, Block A, House Westside Addition CB 329, located at 4015 Bonham Street. 10. Approve the contract closeout and authorize final payment for the 6t' and 24' Street Rehabilitation Project. 11. Approve ORDINANCE NO. 2014 -001: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, ISSUING A LICENSE TO DEWEY KEITH HALE D /B /A COURTESY CAB COMPANY OF PARIS TO OPERATE A TAXICAB BUSINESS ON THE PUBLIC STREETS OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS; FINDING A PUBLIC NECESSITY AND CONVENIENCE FOR ISSUANCE OF SAID LICENSE; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Regular Agenda 12. Receive presentation from senior staff member of the regulatory agency on Affordable Care Act. Mayor Hashmi introduced Rod Givens, District Director from Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson's Office and expressed his appreciation to Congresswoman Johnson for arranging this presentation. City Council heard presentations from Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director Marjorie Petty, InSphere representative Gina Berry, Community Council Navigator Linda Goodson and Community Council Navigator Gus Venezula. City Council heard about health care reform, specifically those who were denied coverage in the past for a pre- existing coverage would now be covered, penalties for not having insurance, individual mandate, subsidies, and available assistance to consumers with enrollment through the Market Place. 13. Discuss and act on an E -Portal System for the City of Paris. Mayor Hashmi said this was a presentation and not an action item. He said Paris was a great place to live and do business and in his opinion the City needed to take extraordinary steps to get the word out about our wonderful city. As the City progresses in developing the infrastructure, Cox Field Airport and Lake Crook, Mayor Hashmi said the City needs to market itself. He said this new site would not replace the current City web -site, that it was not an economic development web -site, not a Chamber site, but an add -on to existing web - sites. Mayor Hashmi said an E Portal would provide easy access to information that would include ongoing developmental projects, possibilities of investments into the projects, information about the Regular Council Meeting January 13, 2014 Page 4 different abatement programs, a blog site where questions could be posed to the City Manager, Mayor and senior city staff by residents and visitors, access to a concierge for people desiring to visit the City and a list of City owned tax delinquent properties that could be sold online. Mayor Hashmi depicted the web -site, noting that it was not complete, that it did not cost the City anything and if anyone had any suggestions or input to please let him know. 14. Discuss amendments to the sign ordinance and provide direction to city staff. City Engineer Shawn Napier explained the committee comprised of himself, Council Member Drake, Alex Pickering, Kent McIlyar, and Joey Sleeper had met for many months, and had completed their proposed revisions to the sign ordinance. Mr. Napier said that the proposed revisions would be placed on the City website the following day to receive comments from the public and copies would also be placed at the library. It was a consensus of the City Council that staff place this item on the next agenda for action. 15. Discuss and act on converting to paperless agendas. Following a brief discussion, a Motion to convert to paperless agendas and purchase I- Pads was made by Council Member Frierson and seconded by Mayor Hashmi. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Discuss amendments to the tree preservation ordinance and provide direction to city staff. City Manager John Godwin said the tree preservation ordinance was forty -three years old and amendments were needed. It was a consensus of the City Council that the ordinance be updated and brought back to Council. Mr. Godwin asked the Council if they had any feedback to provide it to either him or the city attorney. 17. Discuss incentive to encourage and assist downtown property owners and tenants to improve their facilities. Mr. Godwin explained the three programs in place. Mayor Hashmi said he would like new ideas other than what was in existence, because the current programs had not resulted in many changes for the downtown area. He urged staff to contact other cities to learn what they were doing that was successful. Council Members Drake and Frierson agreed with Mayor Hashmi. Council Member Grossnickle suggested looking to McKinney as a role model, as did Council Member Jenkins. Council Member Wright favored speaking with downtown owners to get their input. Mayor Hashmi asked Mr. Godwin to schedule a meeting with downtown owners for next week and to place this item on the next agenda. 18. Discuss the request from Red River Valley Veterans Memorial to expand their site lease from the City and provide direction to city staff. Regular Council Meeting January 13, 2014 Page 5 Mr. Godwin said the Red River Valley Veterans Memorial Association desired to expand the current site leased from the City by another full acre. Council heard from former Chairman Doug Weiberg and Chairman George Wood, who depicted a slide show of the memorial from the beginning stages and possible additions in the future. Mr. Godwin recommended Council approve this request. It was a consensus of City Council to approve the request and that staff bring back to Council an action item. 19. Discuss Kristy Foster's request to assist with development of a community garden program and provide direction to city staff. Mr. Godwin said he met with Ms. Foster, Charlotte Ertelt, Edna Clegg and Carol King on December 10 to discuss their goals for Seeds of Hope. He explained they had asked the City to allow them to use vacant properties around the City as small garden areas, which in turn food would be given away for free and vacant lots would be improved. Mr. Godwin said this program would be good for the community and recommended approval. It was a consensus of City Council to assist with a community garden program and that staff bring back to Council an action item. 20. Discuss and act on securing additional private contractors to assist with storm cleanup and authorize possible expenditures from undesignated reserves. Mayor Hashmi said he had contacted the Corp of Engineers about assisting with the cleanup and would be contacting the warden of the Bonham prison as well. He asked if getting private contractors would prolong the cleanup due to writing a request for proposals and the bidding process. Mr. Godwin said they could spend less than $50,000 and start tomorrow while in the process of writing proposals and bidding. Mayor Hashmi inquired about temporary help. Mr. Godwin said more people and equipment were needed in order to get this done in a timely manner. He said the City needed to bring in additional people, rent equipment and hire temps. Mr. Godwin also said he would like permission to waive the City's policy for allowing only those residents who could produce a water bill to drop off trash or debris at the drop -off sites and City compost site. In addition, he said he would like to allow any local person acting on behalf of a resident to drop off trailer loads or pickup loads until the end of January. Council Member Drake inquired about the schedule. Mr. Godwin said they started in the middle of town and had been moving east and west, citing part of the problem with cleanup was the staff would clean up a street and within a few days there would be more debris to pick up on that street. Council Member Drake inquired from which account would the funds be taken and Mr. Godwin replied there were unbudgeted reserves that could be used. Council Member Drake asked how that would work with the policy of replenishing reserves. Mr. Godwin said accordingly to policy, the reserves would have to be replenished within eighteen months. Finance Director Gene Anderson said they would need to plan how they were going to replace Regular Council Meeting January 13, 2014 Page 6 reserves within that time frame and stated he would be comfortable with $200,000 to $250,000. Mr. Godwin stated that the City hopes to get money from FEMA. Mayor Hashmi said there should be a liaison for this project and that person should be informing residents of the location and schedule for cleanup of their streets. A Motion to approve spending $250,000 from undesignated reserves for this disaster and to replace the funds pursuant to a plan was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Members Drake and Wright. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. A Motion to move items 22 and 23 up on the agenda was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Drake. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 22. Discuss and act on permit fees during emergencies. Council Member Lancaster cited the City was receiving 100 calls a day because of broken pipes and each time a resident had to call the someone out to turn off the water due a broken pipe, they were being charged $25.00. She said she did not think this was fair to the residents who already had the burden of the ice storm and that these fees should be waived during an emergency. A Motion to suspend the permit fee from the date of the storm until the end of the month was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Mayor Hashmi. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 23. Discuss and act on requirements for private contractors and residents to dump limbs and brush and the location sites. Council Member Drake said this item was not needed, as they had discussed it. 21. Receive and discuss annual report and plans for the Fire Department. Mr. Godwin said the fire chief asked that this item be postponed until their next meeting due to length of this meeting. A Motion to table this item was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 24. 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 Regular Council Meeting January 13, 2014 Page 7 of Texas, clearly conflict with this chapter, as follows: Ali Jo Burress v. Ronnica Blake, Bobby Joe Hundley, Jr. and John Doe, Cause No. 83035 • Pursuant to Section 551.087 of the Texas Government Code, (1) to discuss or deliberate regarding commercial or financial information that the governmental body has received from a business prospect that the governmental body seeks to have locate, stay, or expand in or near the territory of the governmental body and with which the governmental body is conducting economic development negotiations; or (2) to deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect described by Subdivision (1). Mayor Hashmi convened City Council into Executive Session at 7:40 p.m. 25. Reconvene into Open Session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in Executive Session. Mayor Hashmi reconvened City Council into open session at 8:05 p.m. 26. Consider and approve future events for City Council and /or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004 -081. None were referenced. 27. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Frierson and was seconded by Council Member Drak�. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. *ICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK