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08/25/2014MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS August 25, 2014 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 25, 2014, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, 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; Shawn Napier, City Engineer; Bob Hundley, Police Chief; Larry Wright; Fire Chief; Kent Klinkerman, EMS Director; Jerry McDaniel, Public Works Director; Doug Harris, Utilities Director; Priscilla McAnally, Library Director; and Tom Hunt, Municipal Judge Opening Agenda Call meeting to order. Mayor Frierson called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Pastor Brad Aldridge gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Lancaster led the pledge. 4. Citizens' Forum. James Price, 1230 Shiloh — he invited everyone to the Veterans Reunion scheduled for September 6 at 5:00 p.m. at the fairgrounds. He also asked for a meeting that allowed citizens to speak about the PEDC investigative report. Chris Dux, 4705 Sunset View — he said he owns the building at 134 First Street SW and wanted to speak about agenda item number 15. He said he understood that the item was about a partnership between the City and property owners along First Street for the relocation of a high voltage power line. He said he was quite sure his building was there prior to the power lines being put in place. He said they could not work on their buildings because his understanding Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 2 was no one could be closer than 15 feet from the high front voltage line. He asked that the City of Paris lean on the Public Utilities Commission to have Oncor correct this problem at the expense of Oncor. Louise Hagood, 556 Fitzhugh — she expressed concern about the disparity of salaries, specifically referencing the police chief had been at the City for thirty years and was making an annual salary of $84,000, but the fire chief had been at the City a little over a year and was making an annual salary of $100,000. Mrs. Hagood said there were code violations on every block; that code enforcement was weak and asked that it be reviewed. Consent Agenda Mayor Frierson inquired of Council Members if they wished to pull any items from the Consent Agenda for discussion. Council Member Lancaster asked that item 8 be pulled for discussion and Council Member Hashmi asked that items 6b, 6d and 9 be pulled for discussion. Council Member Lancaster said this was directed to the City Manager and not the Public Works Director, because he was not at the City when she brought it to Mr. Godwin's attention. She said that over a year ago she addressed with Mr. Godwin the very poorly maintained drainage ditches in her district and other districts, and nothing had been done. Council Member Lancaster said the ice storm made it worse and nothing had been done in those drainage ditches. She also said the City now had a vast residential mosquito problem and there was still no relief for those citizens. Council Member Lancaster said they could not even go in their backyards near dusk, because they were getting eaten alive by mosquitos. She expressed concern about these problems not being addressed. Public Works Director Jerry McDaniel said he understood and that winter months were when they spent their time cleaning the ditches, but this past winter they focused on the ice storm. She said she understood and was not getting on him, but that she brought this to Mr. Godwin's attention over a year ago. Mr. McDaniel said they had a professional right -of -way company coming in to quote prices on helping to get this issue taken care of Council Member Lancaster said she would hate to see the City wind up being responsible for someone getting sick from mosquitoes in the ditches and would hate for citizens to continue to suffer when it has been a lengthy amount of time that she has been trying to get something done. She asked Mr. McDaniel when he would have a plan. He said they had started on one. Council Member Lancaster reported that she had called the health department about spraying and had asked them to specifically address 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th N.W. Streets, because there was a huge maze of drainage ditches in that area clogged with tires and other items, as well as the presence of snakes and rats. Council Member Lancaster said she would like for Mr. McDaniel to address a time period for his plan and inform her. Council Member Hashmi referenced 6b, which was the Paris VC &C and Love Civic Center minutes. He specifically asked what they were referring to when they approved $6,000 for upstairs remodeling and $5,000 for an economic study. Mr. Godwin said he did not know, but could find out. Council Member Pickle said he thought the expense was for the Civic Center upstairs and Council Member Hashmi asked what was upstairs at the Civic Center. Council Member Pickle said it was probably an air conditioner. Council Member Hashmi questioned Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 3 how air conditioning units could be remodeled. He expressed concern that the money was to be spent on remodeling of the upstairs of the chamber building and that was a private expense. Council Member Hashmi said you could not use tax payer money to remodel a private entity. Mayor Frierson said he did not believe they were referring to the Chamber and they had been doing an analysis of the Civic Center for repairs. Council Member Hashmi asked that this item be pulled until Mr. Godwin could get clarification. Council Member Hashmi inquired if the $5,000 economic study was coming out of hotel /motel tax. Mr. Godwin said he thought it was the money for the study done by Texas A &M Commerce on economic impact of activities in the City, but would get clarification. With regard to item 6d, PEDC minutes of the August 5 meeting, Council Member Hashmi wanted to know why there was no mention of Danny Defenbaugh on the agenda. Shannon Barrentine said she was out of town when that was posted. Council Member Hashmi asked that she inquire into it, because it was a violation of the open meetings act since it was not posted and he attended the meeting. Council Member Hashmi also said Mr. Defenbaugh spoke for over two hours and wanted to know how a non - agenda item could be discussed without being posted. He said the second question he had was which personnel issues were discussed for over 2 '/ hours. He said he understood that there were only two employees. Mrs. Barrentine said she was not at the meeting and Council Member Hashmi asked her to get back with him with answers to his questions. He said there was a problem with the agenda, because those personnel were never listed which was also a violation of the open meetings act. He said he also wanted to know if the person that posted the agenda completed the open meetings training. Council Member Hashmi said the person who posted the agenda was responsible and the attendees were responsible because they attended an illegal meeting. He said when you have an executive session for advice from an attorney; you were limited to the advice and could not discuss the matter among the attendees of the meeting. He said he wanted to find out what advice took 1 '/2 hours of the attorney's time. Council Member Hashmi asked Mrs. Barrentine to please get back with him on these questions and said he would like to take this item out pending clarification. With regard to item 9, Council Member Hashmi said if you review the dilapidated structure reports over multiple council meetings you will see there has been no change or very little change. He specifically referenced instances in which 30 days were given multiple times. He said he would like to pull this agenda item for the next council meeting to get a detailed report. With regard to item 12, Council Member Hashmi confirmed with Finance Director Gene Anderson that there was no fee for participation in the Local Government Investment Cooperative and that the funds were secure. With regard to Item 13, Council Member Hashmi inquired if the $45,000 was an additional expense and Mr. Godwin said no, that is was the City's total costs. With the exception of item 6b, 6d, and 9, 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. Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 4 5. Approve the minutes from the City Council meetings on July 28, 2014; August 11, 2014; and August 18, 2014. 6. Receive reports and/or minutes from the following boards, commissions, and committees: a. Historic Preservation Commission (7 -28 -2014) b. Paris Convention & Visitors Council (5 -29 -2014) c. Main Street Advisory Board (7 -8 -2014) d. Paris Economic Development Corporation (7 -15 -2014; 7 -21 -2014 & 8 -5 -2014) 7. Receive July monthly financial report. 8. Receive July drainage ditch maintenance report. 9. Receive dilapidated structure report. 10. Approve RESOLUTION NO. 2014 -027: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH NORTH LAMAR INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR PROVISION OF SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER SERVICES; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 11. Approve a services agreement between the City of Paris and MuniServices, LLC for hotel tax audit services. 12. Approve participation in the Local Government Investment Cooperative (LOGIC). 13. Approve RESOLUTION NO. 2014 -028: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, APPROVING A PROCLAMATION DECLARING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER AS FAIR HOUSING MONTH; DESIGNATING AUTHORIZED SIGNATORIES FOR THE TEXAS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM; DESIGNATING A FAIR HOUSING /EQUAL OPPORTUNITY /SECTION 504 STANDARDS OFFICER FOR THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS AS REQUIRED BY TEXAS CAPITAL FUND CONTRACT NUMBER 713272; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Regular Agenda 14. Discuss and approve a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Paris and First United Methodist Church for a spray park. Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 5 A Motion to remove this item from the table was made by Council Member Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. Mr. Godwin said City Council previously approved this arrangement, that it was placed in writing and that staff recommended approval. Mr. Godwin also said there would be minimal costs to the City for in -house work and the City would do its part to help raise funds for restrooms. Council Member Hashmi confirmed with the City Manager that the restrooms would belong to the City and that the City and Church would have equal liability. A Motion to approve the agreement was made by Council Member Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 15. Receive request from Richard and Claudia Hunt for assistance with downtown electric power lines, and possibly take action. Mr. Godwin explained that Richard and Claudia Hunt were the owners of a large downtown building located on 1St Street SW and they wanted to fix up the building, but the electrical line was too close and too dangerous. He said there was an opportunity to temporarily move the line and take it out of service so that work could be done on that building. He also said it was a very expensive proposition for a single property owner, and the Hunts were looking for any kind of help the City might be able to offer them. Richard Hunt explained it was impossible for them to work on their building or roof, because according to Oncor there were laws that prohibited them from going within 10 feet of their buildings. He said he hoped the City could do something like the sidewalk program, canopy grants, where the City goes in and matches the funding. Council Member Lancaster inquired about a similar situation of burying utilities on Bonham Street. Mr. Napier said that was the project on Clarksville Street and that was done with grant money. Council Member Hashmi expressed concern that if City Council approved one they would have to approve all requests, but at the same time he wanted to help people who wanted to fix their buildings. Council Member Hashmi said the City should come up with a policy to address these issues. He said he would like to hear from Mr. Dux and instead of an individual contacting Oncor that the City should contact Oncor and request Oncor to fix the problem. Mr. Godwin said he had contacted Oncor and was told no. He said that Oncor's representative David Collier was in the audience and available for questions. Mr. Collier told the Council that the lines were over 50 years old and that the law required a distance of anyone being within 10 feet of the line because of safety issues. He informed Council that it would cost approximately $10,000 for a temporary line. Council Member Hashmi inquired about the cost of underground utilities. Mr. Collier said he did not know the cost. Council Member Grossnickle suggested that Oncor might be willing to partner with Mr. Hunt and Mr. Dux to pay the cost of underground utilities. Mr. Dux said he needed to have access to 100% of his property but because of the rules and regulations of the Public Utilities Commissions, the State of Texas, OSHA, and the Federal Government he was being denied access to his property. Mr. Dux said the Texas Utilities Commission adopted rule- making to establish a classification system for assessment of administrative penalties of utilities on September 21, 2006 and explained the penalties. He proposed that the City contact the Texas Utilities Commission to have Oncor correct the problem. Mr. Godwin said one way to handle these type requests was through a Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 6 grant program like the Big Grant or like what was done with housing loan guarantees. Council Member Hashmi inquired about urgency of Mr. Hunt's project and Mr. Hunt said he found out about the electrical line in May. Council Member Hashmi said if the Texas Commission and the grant did not come through, he wanted to know the City could give them a tax abatement for approval of their building. Mr. Godwin said the City had something in place but could revisit it to modify it. Mr. Godwin asked for direction. Council Member Hashmi asked if Mr. Godwin could bring back to Council a general policy including options. Council Member Pickle asked if Kent could also look at getting with the Texas Utilities Commission, because there had to be something there. Mayor Frierson said both of those were good ideas. Mayor Frierson asked if the City Manager could have something at the next meeting and Mr. Godwin said he would do SO. A Motion to have options brought back to the Council, while at the same time apply to the Texas Public Utilities was made by Council Member Hashmi. Council Member Pickle questioned if a motion was needed and Council Member Grossnickle said they might want to table this while studying it. Mayor Frierson said it was a consensus to provide direction to the City Manager to bring option back to the Council. Council Member Hashmi withdrew his Motion. Mr. Godwin said the City Attorney would visit with the Public Utilities Commission. A Motion to table this item was made by Council Member Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Grossnickle. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Discuss and act on proposed amendments to the Paris Economic Development Corporation Bylaws. PEDC Interim Executive Director explained the proposed amendments, which included changing the physical address of the corporation, joint signatory authority over operating accounts to include Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary /Treasurer and City Finance Director, and that the PEDC may reimburse the City for providing legal services. A Motion to approve the amendments was made by Council Member Pickle and seconded by Council Member Grossnickle. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 17. Consider and act on setting a date and time to meet with and receive a report from the PEDC Board of Directors regarding the recent forensic investigation. Mayor Frierson said PEDC had asked that the Council meet with them to review the investigation findings and provide an opportunity to ask questions. He said the first available week they could meet was the week of September 15. Council Member Hashmi inquired if Mr. Defenbaugh was going to be at the meeting. Mayor Frierson said not to his knowledge. Council Member Pickle said it would depend on the date of the meeting. Council Member Hashmi said if Mr. Defenbaugh was going to be at the meeting so they could have him questions, but if he was not going to be at the meeting there was nothing to gain by meeting. Council Member Pickle said the plan was to invite him. Council Member Hashmi asked if Mr. Defenbaugh was not available would the meeting be cancelled. Mayor Frierson said his opinion was it was a chance Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 7 for the PEDC to state the findings, as well as the recommendations that were listed and also give the Council an update on what they've done. Council Member Hashmi said he thought it would be a beneficial meeting if Mr. Defenbaugh was there. He said he had no objection to meeting if Mr. Defenbaugh was going to be at the meeting to answer questions. Mayor Frierson said to his knowledge an invitation would be extended. Council Member Lancaster wanted to know the location of the meeting and Council Member Pickle said they were not sure yet. City Council discussed dates of September 15 and September 16 for possibly meeting with the PEDC. Council Member Hashmi said if Mr. Defenbaugh was not going to attend the meeting that he did not want to attend and ask for clarification on Mr. Defenbaugh's attendance of the meeting. Mayor Frierson said city staff would be in touch with Mrs. Barrentine to coordinate one of these dates. 18. Discuss and act on forwarding the results of the Defenbaugh investigation of the PEDC as it relates to the performance of the PEDC director to the Texas Attorney General and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts for compliance with the Texas Economic Development Act. Council Member Hashmi said he placed this item on the agenda and then made the following statement, "We have all seen the results of the recent Defenbaugh Investigative Report. The results may not be conclusive due to the lack of ability on part of the investigative firm to issue subpoenas, etc. It certainly does point out some of the short-falls that we have in our policies and procedures. While we as leaders of our community want to correct those flaws, we are also obligated to make efforts to recover those tax payer's funds if misappropriated whether intentionally or unintentionally. Private enterprises may run their businesses however they want, however when it comes to people responsible for tax payer money, they are held to a different standard. Even if policies and procedures are not present there is a certain level of judiciary responsibility that requires you to spend the tax payer dollar appropriately. Based on the report there might have been some transgressions. To clear this issue and to restore the confidence of the people in our city government and to follow the rules of transparency, accountability, equality and justice, everyone is held to the same yard stick of justice that this great country is all about. I would request that the council members join me to forward this matter, as it pertains to the former director of PEDC to the Texas Comptroller's office and to the Texas Attorney General's office to assess whether this matter requires further assessment and /or investigation into the acts of public officials who are responsible for tax dollars." Council Member Lancaster expressed her concern that there were possible wrong doings and that she would like to have an outside entity look at it to determine if there was or was not wrong doings. She said it was certainly an opportunity to clear some people's names and that would be very welcome. She also said she thought they were all too close to this problem, and thought they needed to have someone to stand back, and look at it, and tell them if this was wrong, or was not wrong. Council Member Lancaster encouraged the City Council to send it to the Texas Attorney General's Office. Mayor Frierson said it was the same statement Council went through whenever Mr. Wright and Dr. Hashmi made a motion and a second to find a firm from outside of Lamar Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 8 County to make sure that it was independent. He said he thought that was the objective when the firm was sought out at that time. Council Member Lancaster said she thought they had a responsibility to follow some of the directions that the investigator found and they paid him $50,000 for his opinion and he gave them some things to look at. Mayor Frierson said that was one of the main objectives of a joint meeting. Council Member Pickle said the reports did not mention anything that the executive director did that was illegal. He also said the recommendations mentioned policies, procedures, and things of that nature and there was no identification whatsoever in any of the recommendations of anyone violating the law. Council Member Pickle said he thought if Council would discuss this with the PEDC, they would tell Council that Defenbaugh informed them there was nothing there as far as going after the executive director. Council Member Pickle also said PEDC's attorney Mr. Moore said there was nothing there and the FBI has said there was nothing there. Council Member Lancaster said she disagreed with Council Member Pickle's interpretation. Council Member Pickle asked Council Member Lancaster when they say there is nothing there how she interpreted that. Council Member Lancaster said she did not say that it didn't say there was nothing there. She said the report said it didn't rise to the amount, but there are a lot of witnesses who were not investigated because Mr. Defenbaugh did not have subpoena power. Council Member Lancaster said an outside attorney, such as the Attorney General would have subpoena power, and it would clear the air forever if they have the witnesses speak. Council Member Pickle said he was afraid they would be sort of look at as a conflict of interest if they got in there with the Attorney General. Council Member Lancaster said she was trying to be objective. Council Member Pickle said he thought they would be exposing themselves to a conflict of interest and questioned why not wait until after their joint meeting. Council Member Lancaster said she was not putting any particular timeline on it, but was saying they needed to have someone of the law who was not touched by this investigation tell the Council what they think. Council Member Pickle said that was why they picked Defenbaugh. Council Member Lancaster said Defenbaugh did the investigation, but the Attorney General would say whether or not this was against the law. Council Member Pickle said a former Assistant Attorney General said no violations occurred. Council Member Hashmi stated that he did not use the words criminal or against the law or any of that and that was what Council Member Pickle was saying. Council Member Hashmi reiterated that he did not say any of that; that he did not say it was against the law or not against the law. He said he was only saying to let the Comptroller or the Texas Attorney General, who knows the law completely, to review it to determine if there were transgressions. Council Member Hashmi pointed out that this should be treated the same as when Council Member Pickle pointed out to Jason Rogers that he spent more money on renting a Cadillac compared to what he could have rented. Council Member Pickle said he did not turn something like that over to the Attorney General. Council Member Hashmi inquired of Council Member Pickle whether he brought it to the Council's attention or not and Council Member Pickle answered in the affirmative. Council Member Hashmi said this matter was more than what they could think or see to determine if there was transgression, and if there was no transgression then there was no reason to worry about it. Council Member Pickle questioned if PEDC should make this decision. Council Member Hashmi said it was not a PEDC question, because the Council ordered the Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 9 investigation and had received the report. Council Member Hashmi also said tax payer dollars had been spent and it needed to be determined if the money was spent on things it should not have been spent on, and whether or not they needed to get the money back. He said there were issues raised in the investigative report. Council Member Pickle said none of the recommendations that were made whatsoever involved going after Mr. Gilbert. Council Member Hashmi told Council Member Pickle he could interpret it whichever way he wanted and he would do the same. Council Member Hashmi recommended that Council refer the matter to the Texas Attorney General and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. He said if the Council decides that they do not want to refer it then that was the end of it. Council Member Pickle confirmed with Council Member Hashmi if the Council decided they did not want to forward it to the AG or Comptroller then that was the end of it. Council Member Pickle inquired of Council Member Hashmi what he was going to do next. Council Member Hashmi said he resented the personal comments and questioned what Council Member Pickle meant. Mayor Frierson asked if Council wished to act on this item. Council Member Grossnickle said he would like to make a statement first and said, "You know, some of what Dr. Hashmi says sounds perfectly reasonable but you know the question is, does the Texas AG office have a lot of free time and are they going to want to go into this credit card receipt investigation when it's already been looked at by the FBI and they declined to do it. I don't know honestly if the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is a law enforcement agency which is what you're asking. You're asking that the former director be punished and be made to repay potentially some monies, he's never really been given a chance to document; he didn't do a very good job obviously of documenting many expenses. I think he may have some records that he could bring to bear in his defense if this step were taken. The main thing I look at is that his budget, his expenses were gone over by his board and they approved that. They approved every one of his expenses, chewing gum, energy drink, whatever, and Gene Anderson also looked at those expenses and you know also I guess in a sense approved them and marked that they be paid so at this point I think Mr. Gilbert probably can't be held liable for something that his board and the city authorities have already given their stamp of approval to. So why now ask that yet another agency expend valuable tax dollars to try to get something recovered that really might not be that much. Some of the bigger expenses that stand out were I think legitimate big meetings in Austin where there were a lot of people and it was appropriate perhaps that the board, that Mr. Gilbert paid that tab. Another thing is the board approved his conduct and I think at this point trying to recover monies is pretty unlikely." Council Member Hashmi said Council Member Grossnickle's points were well taken, and he understood what he was saying but it did not matter whether the board approved it or not. First of all, Council Member Hashmi said if something approved by the board was illegal, then it was still illegal. Secondly, he said if you're going to rely on advice of a person who had been been hired by Mr. Gilbert to say it was right or wrong, that he was not sure that opinion had much weight because there was some conflict there. Thirdly, Council Member Hashmi said referring this out would permanently finish the issue and if nothing wrong was found, then there was nothing to be done. Council Member Hashmi said that would mean as a Council, they had done their job, as they talk about transparency and accountability. He said he was not saying that Mr. Gilbert was a criminal. Council Member Grossnickle wanted to know if the investigation involved citizen volunteer board members and how far did the investigation extend. Council Member Hashmi said it did not extend to them and Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 10 that the judiciary responsibility was with the person who spent the money. He also said the audit report prepared by McClanahan and Holmes clearly states that expense accounts were not based on the American Standards of Accounting and there was a problem. Council Member Plata said he found discrepancies in the report and he would prefer to speak with Mr. Defenbaugh before he made up his mind to send it to the Attorney General. He also said if they were not going to meet with Mr. Defenbaugh, then he was going to vote to send it to the Attorney General. Mayor Frierson said the invitation would be extended and asked the Council if they wanted to take action on this item. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Mayor Frierson clarified the motion was to send the information to the Attorney General. Council Member Plata inquired if that would be right away. Council Member Hashmi said he could amend his motion to send it after meeting with Mr. Defenbaugh. Council Member Plata said he would appreciate it. Council Member Hashmi amended his motion. Council Member Pickle said he needed clarification in that if they listen to Defenbaugh and pass a motion to send it to the AG, but Council Member Plata was satisfied after he talks to Defenbaugh and then Council Member Pickle inquired if they weren't trying to approve to send it to the Attorney General's office regardless. Council Member Hashmi said he was not sure what Council Member Pickle meant. Council Member Pickle said the motion was sending it to the AG after they meet with Defenbaugh regardless of how the meeting went. Council Member Hashmi said his motion was to wait until they met with Defenbaugh and then decide. He said he needed a second on his amended motion. Council Member Lancaster seconded the amended motion. Mayor Frierson said were they saying send it based on a contingency when they did not know what the outcome would be. Council Member Hashmi asked if there was something wrong in making a motion based on contingency. City Attorney Kent McIlyar said he could wait until they meet with Defenbaugh and then decide rather than making it contingent. Mr. McIlyar said it was a little bit confusing. Mr. McIlyar asked if Council Member Hashmi wanted to hear from Defenbaugh or did it depend on what Defenbaugh had to say. Council Member Hashmi said it depended on what Defenbaugh told them. Mr. McIlyar said he would wait on the decision until after they hear from Defenbaugh. Council Member Hashmi withdrew his amended motion and made a motion to send the information to the Attorney General's Office and the State Comptroller. Council Member Lancaster seconded the motion. Motion failed, 3 ayes — 4 nays, with Mayor Frierson, Council Member Grossnickle, Council Member Plata and Council Member Pickle casting the dissenting votes. 19. Discuss and possibly act on construction of airport utilities. Mr. Godwin gave an update stating in February the City Council hired an engineering firm Neel- Shaffer to extend water and sewer lines to the airport itself and also to the general area around the airport. In addition, he said they reviewed ways to try to get sewer service to the Margraves Addition. He said there was relative low usage both of water and sewer in that area and because there was so much flow both in a water line and a sewer line it just simply would Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 11 not work. Mr. Godwin said at this point Neel Shafer was working on the design for Phase 1. Council Member Hashmi inquired if it was possible to have a sewer system with a small package plant. Mr. Godwin said yes, at the airport. Council Member Hashmi inquired about service to those residents who requested disannexation and Mr. Godwin said that was a priority, but at this time there was not enough flow due to the number of customers. Council Member Grossnickle said this project was earmarked as costing five million dollars and was to bring prosperity to the airport, but it did not look like that was going to happen until there were more customers at the airport. Council Member Hashmi said if they were only going to serve the ball field and the vet clinic, that it did not seem like the right thing to spend this amount of money. Mr. Godwin explained the long range plan was to serve the whole area including the airport, but they did not know when the airport would develop. Council Member Plata confirmed with Mr. Godwin that the engineering would be done and when the airport began to develop. Mr. Godwin suggested the City continue to get easements from property owners. Council Member Hashmi said he was not sure that package plans had been explored and asked that be explored for the area. Mayor Frierson wanted to know how long it was going to take for the engineering on the design and amount of money had been spent thus far. Mr. Godwin replied a little over $100,000 had been spent and the whole project contract was about $800,000. He said the engineers had completed about 30% of the design and would take another couple of months to complete. Mr. Godwin said they had not been given authorization to proceed with construction plans; and it would be 2015 before they could bid anything out. It was a consensus of the Council not to take any action at this time. 20. Discuss the 2014 -2015 Budget for the City of Paris, and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2014 -029: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, CALLING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 ON THE CITY MANAGER'S PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014 -2015; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. Godwin explained because he was recommending a flat tax rate, there was a requirement of two public hearings and he was proposing those be scheduled for September 8 and September 18, which was item 21. In addition, Mr. Godwin said he was proposing the required public hearing on the proposed budget for September 8. Mr. Godwin said the budget included only one new employee and that was an employee to work on drainage. He also said the budget included the one garbage truck, the utility rate that was deferred in June, some compensation changes in emergency services, and an additional $50.00 for insurance and an eighth step to the pay plan. Council Member Plata said he had a problem when some employees got raises and not all of the employees. Mr. Godwin said in the past they had given lower paid employees a raise and there was a problem doing it that way because the pay scale was flat. Mr. Godwin also said that everybody deserves a raise, but the problem was the City could not afford it without raising taxes. Council Member Lancaster confirmed one new fire truck was in the budget. She asked Chief Wright how many fire trucks were needed and Chief Wright said two. Council Member Lancaster asked Chief Wright if the fire department could respond to two fires at one time and he told her not with full equipment. She asked if there was full assurance if the Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 12 fire department could respond to two fires at one time and Chief Wright told her no. Council Member Hashmi asked about the cost of the fire truck and Chief Wright said it was going to cost approximately$647,000 and payments would be about $77,000 a year. Council Member Hashmi asked why the new fire truck was going to cost nearly twice the cost of the one purchased a couple of years ago. Chief Wright said the one purchased a couple of years ago was on the low end and they were already having maintenance problems. Council Member Plata said he was not good with this budget and asked that they schedule a budget workshop. Mr. Godwin asked Council to look at their calendars so they could schedule a budget work session. Council Member Hashmi confirmed that the City Clerk would coordinate the meeting date. A Motion to schedule the public hearing for September 8 was made by Council Member Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Plata. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. Discuss and act on RESOLUTION NO. 2014-030: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, CALLING TWO PUBLIC HEARINGS TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE CITY'S PROPOSED PROPERTY TAX RATE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014 -2015; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. A Motion to schedule the two public hearings on the proposed property tax rate for September 8 and September 18 was made by Council Member Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. 21. Discuss and take action on a presentation to encourage positive police and public interactions. Council Member Hashmi said during the past two weeks our nation had been focused on the tragic events that occurred in Ferguson, Missouri and sadly, this was not the first time the death of an unarmed teenager had led our nation to examine what led us to this point. He said the City of Paris must use this event to examine ourselves and to make changes to assure that the City of Paris does not end up in this type of a situation. Council Member Hashmi said it was important for young people to know what was going on through a police officer's head when he was in the process of responding to a tense situation and the reverse was also true. He said he would like for the young people to hear from the police officers about what kind of moves causes a police officer to make a stop and what kind of moves can cause the police officer to be apprehensive and consider force. Council Member Hashmi said he would like for a group to be formed composed of community leaders, who were experienced in working with young people including police officers, school resource officers, school principals, and a representative from Paris Junior College. He proposed a public meeting between such a group with young people of the community. He referenced teenagers from the ages of 16 -21, whose insights and suggestions would be valuable. He said he would like to see the group plan for meetings and that the meetings be conducted at places such as parks, baseball fields, etc. Council Member Hashmi said he wanted our community to be a community where there was mutual respect and trust between our young people and law enforcement and possibly become a model community for Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 13 others. He said he had discussed with Chief Hundley to plan to have the first meeting at either the Love Civic Center or Fairgrounds and that Chief Hundley was going to try to coordinate this. Chief Hundley explained local efforts, such as opening the department to the public and the citizen's police academy. He said they were in the process of beginning their seventh academy already. He also said that Reverend Price helped them out with starting the first young citizen's police academy which took place at a local church and they had had 12 -14 participants. Chief Hundley said the second young persons' police academy was held at the police department and they had 35 -40 participants. He told the Council they would be having the national night out coming up in October. Chief Hundley said the police department was very receptive and would do anything they could do to help. 22. Convene into Executive Session pursuant to 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: • Annual performance evaluation of municipal court judge. • Annual performance evaluation of city manager. • Annual performance evaluation of city attorney. Mayor Frierson convened City Council into executive session at 7:51 p.m. 23. Reconvene into open session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in Executive Session. Mayor Frierson convened City Council into open session at 9:33 p.m. Mayor Frierson said City Council conducted the performance evaluations for the three individuals listed on the agenda. He said the Council had a chance to discuss and meet individually with those three gentlemen. He also said everyone was given some recommendations that they could move forward on and continue to improve on their job. 24. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004 -081. Council Member Pickle confirmed with Mr. Godwin that Council would have a workshop meeting next Tuesday. Council Member Pickle asked to revisit item 24 and said there was action on those matters discussed in executive session, the 90 day review. Mayor Frierson said the Council performed the evaluations and it was determined that they would do a 90 day review of the city attorney and that agenda date was to be determined. Regular Council Meeting August 25, 2014 Page 14 25. Adjournment. There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Pickle and was seconded by Council Member Plata. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 9:36 p.m. MATT FRIERSON, MAYOR 04'1v'� U,;"-) NICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK