08/11/2014MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS
August 11, 2014
The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday,
August 11, 2014, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufman, Paris, Texas.
Present: Mayor: Matt Frierson
Council Members: Richard Grossnickle; Aaron Jenkins; Billie
Lancaster; Benny Plata; Edwin Pickle; and A.J.
Hashmi
City Staff: John Godwin, City Manager; Kent McIlyar, City
Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene Anderson,
Finance Director; Alan Efrussy, Planning Director;
Shawn Napier, City Engineer; Jerry McDaniel,
Public Works Director; Larry Wright, Fire Chief,
Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director; Bob Hundley,
Police Chief; Priscilla McAnally, Library Director;
and Doug Harris, Utilities Director
Opening Agenda
1. Call meeting to order.
Mayor Frierson called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
2. Invocation.
Reverend James Price gave the invocation.
3. Pledge of Allegiance.
Council Member Jenkins led the pledge.
4. Citizens' Forum.
James Price, 1230 Shiloh — he said that Public Works needs help, asked that Council
Member Lancaster be placed on the sub - committee to study the moratorium for mobile homes,
and to please let the citizens see the PEDC investigative report.
LaVonne White, 4111 8th Street S.E. - referenced National Defense Authorization Act
that says the government can come in and take anything without cause and PANDA which is
against the NDAA.
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August 11, 2014
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Dr. Robert Moseley, 3915 Shannon Drive — he said last time he spoke about Don Wilson
having a conflict on the PEDC but had learned that Mr. Wilson sold Rodgers Wade in 1998, that
he had never received any tax abatement or money from PEDC, and that the Harper family owns
HWH. He also said he would like to see the PEDC executive sessions made more in open
session. Mr. Moseley said Council Members should not have to pay for paperwork.
Louise Moseley, 3915 Shannon Drive — she said Don Wilson had called their home and
she wanted to clarify something. Mrs. Moseley said Don Wilson was not personally involved in
the investigation, but he was too involved because his family members were involved in the
investigation. She also said Don Wilson was not in a position to be making decisions on the
investigation.
Consent Agenda
Mayor Frierson 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 Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion
carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays.
5. Receive reports and /or minutes from the following boards, commissions, and committees:
a. Building & Standards Commission (6 -16 -2014)
b. Historic Preservation Commission (7 -9 -2014)
c. Board of Adjustment (11 -5 -2013 & 7 -1 -2014)
d. PEDC & Airport Advisory Board Subcommittee (6 -5 -2014)
e. Planning & Zoning Commission (7 -7 -2014)
f. Traffic Commission (7 -1 -2014)
6. Approve the bids for chemicals to be used at the Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants.
7. Receive the 2014 tax appraisal roll from the Lamar County Appraisal District.
8. Approve the proposal from McClanahan & Holmes, LLP to conduct the City of Paris
annual financial audit for fiscal years 2013 -14, 2014 -15, and 2015 -16.
9. Approve the Final Plat of Lot 1, Block A, Goodson Addition CB 64 -B, located at 739
Pine Bluff Street.
10. Approve the Final Plat of Lot 1, Block A, Mitchell Addition CB 91, located at 719 N.E.
1 st Street.
11. Axprove the Final Plat of Lot 1, Block A, McBay Addition CB 46, located at 223 N.W.
9 Street.
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August 11, 2014
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12. Approve the Replat of Lot 1, City Block 17, located at 207 Clarksville Street.
Regular Agenda
13. Discuss and approve a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Paris and
First United Methodist Church for a spray park.
Mayor Frierson said that the pastor for First United Methodist Church and the City
Manager had agreed to pass this item to the August 25 City Council meeting.
14. Discuss and act on bidding the next construction phase of the 2013 Capital Improvement
Program.
City Manager John Godwin introduced Nick Batker and Don D'Adam from AECOM.
Mr. D'Adam reviewed the chronology of Contract B, citing they received only one bid and that
City Council rejected that bid on July 28 at AECOM's recommendation. Mr. D'Adam informed
Council of the following three options: 1) continue the current path and re -bid Contract B; 2)
divide Contract B into two smaller projects; and 3) combine Contract B with other contracts
creating a larger project. Mr. D'Adam recommended option two, because it would be less of an
impact to the residents in the community and would provide for more dollars to flow to the local
contractors. Council Member Hashmi questioned the completion dates. Mr. D'Adam said the
smaller contracts had an estimated completion of December 2017, with larger contracts having as
estimated completion of December 2016. Council Member Hashmi said he favored the larger
contract, because prices were continuing to increase. He also said that local contractors could
benefit from a larger project, because they could partner with a large contractor. Mr. D'Adam
said there would be a slightly larger percentage going to an outside contractor if they selected a
larger project, as well as it would require more city employees. Mayor Frierson asked Mr.
D'Adam how confident he was about changing the size of the contract. Mr. D'Adam said
AECOM was hearing form the market that the contractors and suppliers were recommending
smaller contract. Council Member Hashmi said part of the reason AECOM was selected was
they were partnering with Hayter and HWH and were going to be able to complete the projects
faster than the other companies. Council Member Hashmi said he did not think they should
change directions at this point. He said they bid it once and it did not work out. He
recommended a larger project be bid and if it was too expensive, they could reject the bids.
Council Member Pickle said he thought they should listen to AECOM and favored a smaller
contract because of the market and keeping more money in the community. Council Member
Grossnickle suggested taking the recommendation of AECOM. Mayor Frierson said he agreed
with Council Member Hashmi's thoughts about the costs, but expressed concern about two or
three months going by and there was no bid. Council Member Plata said if they could finish the
project a year earlier that would save a lot of money. Mr. D'Adam said for them to re -bid
Contract B it would take a couple of months but would take six months to bid a larger packet.
City Council continued their discussion including bidding Contracts A, B and C, the amount of
time to get packets ready for bid, and smaller contracts in the amount of $4,000,000. Mayor
Frierson asked Mr. Godwin for his opinion. Mr. Godwin said there were both good and bad for
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bidding smaller and larger jobs, but ultimately his thought was to go with the engineer's
recommendation. Council Member Plata said he preferred to go with one big project but that
might not be feasible at this time. Mr. Godwin said they could split Contract B into two parts.
Council Member Plata inquired if Contract B1 did not work could they come back with a
combination of B,C and D. Mr. D'Adam said yes.
A Motion to bid Contract B 1 now and then package B2, C and D was made by Council
Member Pickle and seconded by Council Member Plata. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays, with
Council Member Hashmi abstaining from the vote.
15. Discuss and provide direction to staff on Valley of the Caddo Museum building requests.
City Council heard from Dr. Bandel about the proposed changes to the building in order
to accommodate the museum. Specifically, he told the Council their plan was to convert the
men's restroom into a multi - purpose room and convert the store room into a men's restroom. Dr.
Bandel said the current fixtures were modern and not historical. Council Member Pickle
confirmed with Dr. Bandel that PEDC staff and people meeting with the PEDC would still have
access to the bathrooms. Council Member Hashmi confirmed with Dr. Bandel that nothing of
historical significance would be changed or removed. Council Member Lancaster expressed
concern about the cooling and heating not working in the men's restroom and that they could not
leave the door open. Don McCaskell said they would check the vent. Council Member
Lancaster said she wanted an answer about the men's restroom. Jimmy Don assured her that he
would check the unit and if it was not working, that he would fix it.
A Motion to approve the building requests with the stipulation that nothing of historical
importance would be altered, and that Council Member Lancaster would supervise the changes
was made by Council Member Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Plata. Motion carried,
7 ayes — 0 nays.
16. Receive presentation, discuss and act on the city budget for road repairs.
Council Member Hashmi gave a presentation regarding the condition of the streets
throughout the City, citing there were needed repairs in all of the Districts but the greatest needs
were in Districts 1, 2, and 3. He said in May of last year residents approved a 45 million dollar
bond package to replace and extend water and sewer lines, and to make repairs to streets and
infrastructure that was necessitated by the construction. He said the City earmarked 13 projects
and the work had begun. Council Member Hashmi reviewed briefly the 172.5 miles of roadways
maintained by the City, stating that 156.1 miles were of asphalt, 11 miles were of concrete and
the remainder was of other types of material. He said many of the worst streets were dead end
streets with only a block or two long and questioned if it was worth it to the public to redo those
streets. He suggested they look at streets in better condition but were traveled a lot more.
Council Member Hashmi said KSA rated the streets with a priority rating and none of the streets
were covered by the bond project. He further said KSA estimated that these twenty two streets
would cost almost 12.2 million dollars. Council Member Hashmi said this fiscal year budget had
$460,000 allocated for street repair. He said he was going to make a motion that in addition to
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August 11, 2014
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the $460,000 for road repairs for all Districts, that $180,000 be spent from the general fund, with
$60,000 being spent for each of Districts 1, 2, and 3 in this fiscal year and the remainder over the
next fiscal year. Council Member Hashmi said the current year reserves were $9,597,032.00
which was higher than the standards they require. He also said the streets were in bad shape, the
work had to be started and Districts 1, 2, 3 and were in dire need. Council Member Hashmi said
if the motion passes, that he thought Council Members should take photos of the streets in their
Districts to see what was most important. He said there were places where Council Members
may feel differently than KSA. He said he thought they should leave it to city engineers with
regard to the materials to be used.
A Motion to take $180,000 out of reserves to spend for street repairs, with $60,000 being
allocated for each of Districts, 1, 2, and 3 was made by Council Member Hashmi and seconded
by Council Member Lancaster.
Council Member Plata asked Street Superintendent Rufus Hill about chip seal. Mr. Hill
said they do chip seal, and that it lasts three to five years. Mayor Frierson asked how much
could be done for $60,000 and Mr. Godwin said not a huge amount but maybe one street in a
neighborhood. Council Member Grossnickle said he would like a little more time to think about
this, because they were just getting into the budget. Council Member Hashmi said Mr. Godwin
had already done the budget. Council Member Grossnickle said there were other items to be
considered, such as pay raises and bathrooms at the fairgrounds.
Mayor Frierson called for a vote. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 1 nay, with Council Member
Pickle casting the dissenting vote and Council Member Grossnickle abstaining from the vote.
17. Receive presentation, discuss and provide direction to staff on the FY 2014 -2015 budget
for the City of Paris.
City Manager John Godwin discussed with City Council fire engine replacements, land
for an EMS Station, the Optimist Ball Field utilities, a trash truck replacement fee, utilities
maintenance employees, wastewater treatment engineering, capital utility need, employee raises
and placing a cap on longevity pay.
18. Convene into Executive Session pursuant to:
(A) Section 551.074 of the Texas Government Code (1) to deliberate the appointment,
employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public
officer or employee; or (2) to hear a complaint or charge against an officer or
employee, as follows: Police Chief.
(B) Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code, consultation with attorney to receive
legal advice regarding PIA and Defenbaugh & Associates forensic investigation
report.
Mayor Frierson convened City Council in executive session at 7:48 p.m.
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August 11, 2014
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19. Reconvene into Open Session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in
Executive Session.
Mayor Frierson reconvened City Council into open session at 8:13 p.m. and said there
was no action to be taken.
20. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to
Resolution No. 2004 -081.
Mr. Godwin said TxDOT had hired a contractor to work on the railroad tracks on Church
Street and the contractor caused some damage to the City's water, sewer and storm sewer lines
and that the Council might need to have a special meeting next week.
21. Adjournment.
There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member
Pickle and was seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The
meeting was adjourned at 8:14 p.m.
MATT FRIERSON, MAYOR
d.1, coa,
6ANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK