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02/24/2014MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS February 24, 2014 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, February 24, 2014, 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; Larry Wright, Fire Chief, Bob Hundley, Police Chief; Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director; Alan Efrussy, Planning Director; and Doug Harris, Utilities Director Opening Agenda 1. Call meeting to order. Mayor Hashmi called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Gene Anderson gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Grossnickle led the pledge. 4. Citizens' Forum. Rachel Kain, American Cancer Society — she said if bars were not included in the smoke free ordinance, that it would not be comprehensive. Larry Grinstead, 305 -32nd N.E. — he said he agreed with the smoking policy but that personal businesses should be allowed to make their own policies. Tom Harris — he said he was concerned about individual rights. Lisa Lee, 664 -24t` S.E. — she said it should be a business owner's rights to run their business. Regular Council Meeting February 24, 2014 Page 2 John House, 1446 Clarksville Street — he said he was happy to see the interest in revitalization of downtown, but quite a few of the lamp post lights that had been out for several months. Susan Swint, 2510 Stillhouse Road — she said there were unique educational activities at Lake Crook and job opportunities for young people during the summer, if a park was developed. Dr. Robert Moseley, 3915 Shannon Dr. — he said Lake Crook was a big project and thought more information was needed and that it should be put to a vote. Kyle McCarley, 2375 Wildwood Lane — he said Lake Crook was a jewel that had not been used much. He said he saw it as being to Paris as to what White Rock Lake is to Dallas. He said he would like a park with playgrounds and that it be put to a vote. Joanie Moore, 3035 Oak Creek — she said she applauded the Swints for their donation. She also said she and her husband own 65 acres at Lake Crook and in twenty years she had not seen much change. She also said whichever avenue is pursued, that everyone needs to keep in mind whether or not the City has the manpower and funds to do the project. Mrs. Moore favored moving forward with the project citing she was tired of seeing nothing done. Consent Agenda 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 12, specifically he inquired which curbs, driveway approaches and sidewalks were being replaced. Mr. Godwin explained this was an annual bid for replacement of those items throughout the year. Following a brief discussion, a Motion to approve the Consent Agenda was made by Council Member Frierson and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve the minutes from the City Council meeting on January 13, 2014. 6. Receive reports and /or minutes from the following boards, commissions, and committees: a. Airport Advisory Board (11 -21 -2013) b. PEDC (1 -14 -2014; 1 -16 -2014; and 1- 23 -14) 7. Receive January monthly financial report. 8. Receive January drainage ditch maintenance report. 9. Receive dilapidated structure report. 10. Receive police department 2013 racial profiling analysis. Regular Council Meeting February 24, 2014 Page 3 11. 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, 2014. 12. 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, 2014. 13. Approve RESOLUTION NO. 2014 -008: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, REQUESTING THE LAMAR COUNTY SHERIFF OR CONSTABLE TO RE -SELL TAX FORECLOSED PROPERTIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH TEXAS PROPERTY TAX CODE SECTION 34.05; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Regular Agenda 14. Discuss and act on recommendations of the Task Force on the Smoking Ordinance. Mayor Hashmi asked the members of the Task Force to stand so they could be recognized for their hard work. Mayor Hashmi said Amanda Green, chairwoman for the non- smoking group was going to be a few minutes late and asked that John Kruntorad, chairman for the property rights group come forward. Mr. Kruntorad said that the two groups had reached a reasonable conclusion, they had good debate, neither side got everything they wanted, but they felt their compromise was best for the City. He further said the Task Force recommended to Council their amendments to the Ordinance be approved, citing the Task Force understood the final decision rested with the City Council. Mayor Hashmi expressed appreciation to the Task Force for their hard work. He said he thought the second fine of $500.00 was a little excessive. Council Member Drake expressed appreciation to the Task Force, as did Council Member Frierson. Council Member Frierson confirmed the recommendation for restaurants whose sales were more than 50% of alcohol sales would allow smoking. Mayor Hashmi said that was correct and also said the Task Force recommended people wishing to smoke outside non - smoking establishments do so within a 100 feet from the doorway of large stores and ballpark concession stands. He said the recommendations also include an exemption for private clubs and that electronic cigarettes would be allowed. Council Member Grossnickle expressed his appreciation and said he hoped that bars would be included. Council Members Lancaster, Wright and Jenkins also expressed their appreciation to the Task Force. It was a consensus of City Council that staff draft an Ordinance based on the Task Force's recommendation and place it on the agenda for March 10. Regular Council Meeting February 24, 2014 Page 4 15. Presentation from Dr. Swint about Lake Crook Park. Mayor Hashmi said the Swints made a generous donation to the city and that Dr. Swint wanted to make a presentation about some of his ideals. Dr. Swint referenced the parks, open space and recreation plan that was adopted in December 2013. He said there was a public hearing and no one spoke at the public hearing. He said the plan references 3,000 acres of land but that the City only owned 1,500 acres and the information was not correct. Dr. Swint said Lake Crook was the largest lake in the State owned by a city. He also said all of the land should be used as a public park for things such as a petting zoo, floral gardens, cabins and crepe myrtle trails. He further said the Council should rescind the ordinance approved in December and consider a vote. 16. Presentation and discussion of a report from a council committee for development of Cox Field Airport. Council Member Lancaster presented a report on Cox Field and depicted photographs of the history of the airport. She said the airport was built by the army during the war in 1942 and that it was built for training and protective use. She said at one time Central Airlines flew out of Cox Field. Council Member Lancaster said the committee discussed extending the runways, adding hangars, building access roads and referenced the airport master plan dated 2011. She said it was important to market this wonderful asset in order to develop the airport to its fullest potential. Council Member Drake said she wanted to move forward with development of the airport. Council Member Frierson confirmed that members of the Airport Advisory Board, the PEDC Board and a couple of council members served on the committee. Council Member Grossnickle said it was an excellent presentation and suggested they look at ways to fund construction of additional hangars. Council Member Jenkins said the presentation was very interesting. Council Member Wright said he was happy that the committee was pursuing all avenues and that he would like for them to continue with national exposure. Mayor Hashmi said the Airport and Lake Crook were city properties and were not being given away. He said any development would go through due process. In addition, Mayor Hashmi said the U.S. Military had previously used the airport and letters had been written to the U.S. Military inquiring if they had an interest in doing so again. He said good responses had been received, but it was too early to know if this was going to take place. 17. Discuss and act on incentives to encourage and assist downtown property owners and tenants to improve their facilities. A Motion to remove this item from the table was made by Council Member Drake and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. Mayor Hashmi referenced the U.S. Conference of Mayors best practices website and encouraged everyone to explore the site. He said there was a lot of information with regard to what other cities were undertaking and specifically referred to sections on vacant and abandoned properties, grants, and public and private partnerships. Regular Council Meeting February 24, 2014 Page 5 City Manager John Godwin said the City currently had three programs to encourage downtown businesses and property owners to improve their buildings. He said other incentives that could be considered were increasing local grant amounts, Chapter 380 economic development agreements, creation of a TIF, modification of codes, flexibility with zoning regulations, and creation of a neighborhood empowerment zone. Council Member Frierson inquired if there was anything the Downtown Association, Main Street or the Council could do. Mr. Godwin said there needed to be more trees and art downtown. He also said the park that United Methodist was planning to build would be an asset and was an example of public and private partnerships. Council Member Frierson said he would like to look at modifying fire codes to attract new business and possibly look at a TIFF or 380 agreements. Mayor Hashmi said they might want to look at forgiving back taxes for those who agreed to rehabilitate the property within a specific timeframe. Mayor Hashmi favored review of the codes, because the process for owners was very expensive when rehabilitating a building. Mayor Hashmi inquired of Chief Wright about the fire code. Chief Wright said he did not propose changing the fire codes, but there was flexibility to work with property owners. Council Member Wright relayed he had spoken to some of the downtown owners who told him they could not get enough rent and that tax relief might help with the downtown area. Council Member Lancaster said she would like to give owners or potential owners time to bring buildings into code. Council Member Grossnickle said Mr. Godwin had some good ideals, but that it was up to the property owners to develop and he was not sure if the City had a lot of money to give for incentives. Council Member Drake said she liked number seven on the list, which was to expedite review of development and building plans and designating a staff person to walk them through the process from start to finish. Mayor Hashmi suggested that a meeting be scheduled with the bankers to discuss the possibility of loans for downtown business owners similar to the home savings program. Council Member Frierson inquired as to what they could do at that time, such as number 11 which was creation of a neighborhood empowerment zone. Council Member Wright favored a joint meeting with downtown owners. Mayor Hashmi said the Chamber wanted to meet with the City Council next Monday and they could discuss the incentives at that time. A Motion to move forward with numbers 4 and 11 listed above and table the remainder of the incentives was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Wright. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 18. Receive and discuss annual report and plans for the Emergency Medical Services. EMS Director Kent Klinkerman announced that the Northeast Texas Emergency Management & Healthcare Conference scheduled for February 25 and 26 at the Love Civic Center. Mr. Klinkerman gave his annual report to City Council, which included staffing levels, number of calls, equipment and ambulance life cycles, requirement of ongoing education and licenses for paramedics, transporting of critical care patients, and transports between hospitals. In addition, he explained their community outreach, such as Fill the Boot and Kids Safe Saturday. He said it was difficult to attract and retain qualified people, because of compensation. Dr. Sharon Malone, Paris EMS Medical Director gave an outline detailing how emergency medical services had significantly changed in the last five years and stated excellent service was Regular Council Meeting February 24, 2014 Page 6 provided by EMS. Mayor Hashmi said Paris EMS was an excellent department and inquired if Mr. Klinkerman needed a deputy director, because he was responsible for two departments. Mr. Klinkerman answered in the affirmative and said if the deputy was a full -time position that person could be responsible for training as well. Council Member Drake asked about other priorities for EMS. Mr. Klinkerman stated compensation and the north side station. Council Members Frierson, Grossnickle, Lancaster, Jenkins, and Wright expanded on the excellent job done by the EMS Department. 19. Convene into Executive Session 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 7:35 p.m. 20. Reconvene into open session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in Executive Session. Mayor Hashmi reconvened City Council into open session at 7:51 p.m. 21. Consider and approve future events for City Council and /or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004 -081. Mr. Godwin said the Chamber of wanted to meet with City Council on Monday, March 3 at 5:30 to discuss various retail incentives and it was a consensus to do so. Mayor Hashmi also said the Task Force on the smoking ordinance would meet Monday, March 3 at 5:00 p.m. 22. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Frierson and was seconded by Mayor Hashmi. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. ICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK