Loading...
05 - RECEIVE MINUTES FROM COUNCIL MEETING ON JULY 27, 2015Item No. 5 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS July 27, 2015 The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 27, 2015, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufman, Paris, Texas. Present: Mayor: A.J. Hashmi Council Members: Aaron Jenkins; Billie Lancaster; Benny Plata; Steve Clifford; and Edwin Pickle City Staff: John Godwin, City Manager; Gene Anderson, Finance Director; Kent McIlyar, City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Bob Hundley, Police Chief, Director; Doug Harris, Utilities Director; Jerry McDaniel, Public Works Director; Dale Maberry, Fire Marshal; and Shawn Napier, City Engineer Absent: Council Member: Matt Frierson Opening Agenda Call meeting to order. Mayor Hashmi called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Invocation. Pastor Brad Allridge gave the invocation. 3. Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Lancaster led the pledge. 4. Citizens' Forum. Michael Glatfelter, 1345 S.E. 6d' Street — he said on July 23rd between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. a police officer came to the library, because a complaint had been received about his car. Mr. Glatfelter said the officer did not have a warrant on him and the police was called to do someone else's dirty work. He said if someone did not like his car, they should come to him. Ray Banks, 3450 Robin Road — he referred to item 19 and said the public did not have enough information and asked that the City Council put together a bond package and let the citizens vote on it. In reference to item 20, Mr. Banks said the Paris Warehouse 107 tax Regular Council Meeting July 27, 2015 Page 2 abatement should not be in executive session. He said if they met their obligations they should get the tax abatement and if they did not meet their obligations then they should not get it. James Price, 1230 Shiloh — he said the poor areas of town needed to be cleaned up and then said he understood the Council had not come together to spend funds on these areas and that he would like for the Council to take a tour of the areas. Sister Rosa Lindsey — she emphasized that Mr. Price wanted the Council to take a group tour of the poor areas of the City. 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 Lancaster and seconded by Mayor Hashmi. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 5. Approve minutes from the meeting on July 13, 2015. 6. Receive reports and /or minutes from the following boards, commissions, and committees: a. Main Street Advisory Board (6 -9 -2015) b. Historic Preservation Commission (6 -17 -2015) c. Planning & Zoning Commission (6 -1 -2015) d. Paris Public Library Advisory Board (6 -17 -2015) e. Paris Economic Development Corporation (6 -9 -2015 & 6 -29 -2015) 7. Receive June monthly financial report. 8. Receive June drainage report. 9. Receive demolition report. 10. Receive code enforcement activity report. 11. Receive police statistics. Regular Agenda 12. Discuss and appoint one member to fill a vacancy on the Historic Preservation Commission. Mayor Hashmi inquired the number of vacancies and Mr. Godwin said there were now two, as there was a resignation on Friday. Council Member Pickle said there was two openings Regular Council Meeting July 27, 2015 Page 3 and two applicants and recommended they put both in the vacant positions. Council Member Lancaster said she would like to have an opportunity to increase the number of applicants, because historic was one of her favorite projects. Council Member Plata inquired why others did not apply. Council Member Lancaster said probably others did not realize there would be an opening. Council Member Clifford said he would like to give others an opportunity to apply, as did Council Member Jenkins. Council Member Pickle wanted to know if in the past the Council had taken applications and decided not to take the applicants. City Clerk Janice Ellis said the process had been done several different ways, in that Council had appointed people for a vacancy from the applicants who were not appointing during the June process and they had also instructed staff to advertise when a vacancy occurs. Council Member Lancaster confirmed with Ms. Ellis that applicant Mr. Dux was not one of the original applicants. A Motion to extend the application period for one week was made by Council Member Lancaster and seconded by Council Member Jenkins. Motion carried, 4 ayes — 2 nays, with Council Members Pickle and Plata casting the dissenting votes. 13. Receive update on additional disannexation requests received and discuss procedures. City Attorney Kent McIlyar gave the City Council an update on the disannexation requests from property owners involving Tracts 8 and 12, located northwest of FM 1508 /Airport Road, and stressed the importance of maintaining a land connection between the core of the City and the Cox Field acreage and the Agpro property on the City's eastern city limits line. He said the only application the City had not received was on the Chambliss property and he understood that the property owner was deceased. Mr. McIlyar recommended against disannexing the DeVoss and Mehmeti properties. He said there were three properties that belonged to DeVoss and a strip of that property could possibly be disannexed if the property were to be surveyed and a strip left in the City to maintain the land connection between the City and Cox Field. Council Member Clifford said if the City could legally disannex these properties he would like to proceed with the process. Council Member Lancaster agreed. Council Member Plata said they already knew how he felt. Council Member Pickle wanted to know how this would affect PJC and Mr. McIlyar said he had not heard from Dr. Anglin. Property owner Debbie Hudgens said when they were annexed into the City they were automatically taxed by PJC and she assumed that would stop if they were disannexed. Mayor Hashmi said the City had not provided the services and thought they should disannex the properties with the exception of DeVoss and Mehmeti who could come back to the Council at a later date should they decide to do so. Mr. McIlyar explained the process for disannexing property, which included two public hearings over a 40 -day period, publication in the newspaper and notices to be sent to Lamar County, school districts and railroad companies. Mr. McIlyar explained if the survey was received in time from the Engineering Department, they could begin the process on August 24th with a public hearing and that he could have an ordinance to them September 28th. Ms. Hudgens said her property and the Denison property was to be disannexed June 8th and if that had gone forward they would not be charged for the 2015 taxes. Council Member Pickle inquired if these would be done by October and Mr. McIlyar said they would be if they survey was received in time. Regular Council Meeting July 27, 2015 Page 4 It was a consensus of the majority of the City Council to move forward with the disannexation process for these properties, with the exception of the DeVoss and Mehmeti properties. 14. Discuss and act on the Paris Economic Development Corporation's request for the city attorney's office to provide legal services to the PEDC Board. Mayor Hashmi questioned why approval was needed for the city attorney to represent the PEDC. He said he never made a motion to stop the city attorney from going to the PEDC meetings which is what Council Member Pickle had told him at the PEDC meeting. Council Member Pickle said that was correct, and that he was wrong. Mayor Hashmi questioned why one council member stopped the city attorney. Council Member Pickle said the city attorney had e- mailed the Council asking if anyone had a problem with him going to PEDC. Council Member Pickle said he did have a problem until the Council said it was okay to go back, because it was at the encouragement of the Council that Mr. McIlyar recused himself from representing PEDC. Mayor Hashmi referenced the June minutes stating the recusal was for the time period during the pendency of the Defenbaugh investigation. He also said the city attorney's office should represent PEDC according to their By -laws and the City Charter. Council Member Pickle said what was discussed in Executive Session was that PEDC was not to use the city attorney's office. Following additional discussion, Council Member Pickle said PEDC had offered to reimburse the City for legal services provided by the city attorney's office and asked the opinion of Council. Mayor Hashmi said he saw no reason for the City to charge the PEDC for legal services rendered by the city attorney's office, because PEDC was a part of the City. A Motion for the city attorney's office to provide legal services to the PEDC was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 5 ayes — 1 nay, with Council Member Pickle casting the dissenting vote. 15. Discuss and act on change order number one of Contract 131 with B. Bray Construction increasing the amount by $18,030, for the 2013 Water and Sewer Capital Improvement Program. AECOM Project Manager Matt Abbey said he and Mike Dorman with Hayter Engineering were there to answer any questions. Mr. Godwin explained this change order was the result of a sewer line that must be installed and to extend the timeline mostly because of weather. A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Plata and seconded by Mayor Hashmi. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 16. Discuss and possibly act on information about the contract specifications for TWDB Phase I Water Replacement System and work performed. Regular Council Meeting July 27, 2015 Page 5 Council Member Lancaster said she had not yet received all of the information, but became very interested in the 3rd Street Project when she learned the old line was still there and had not been abandoned. She also said at the Church Street connection they had an old line and a new line going down 3rd NE. Council Member Lancaster explained all fire hydrants were painted the same color and she expressed concern as to how the firefighters would know which one to hook onto should there be a fire. She stated it was going to cost money to take out the old line and was trying to find in the contract if the company was going to come back and take out the old line or if the City would have to do that. Council Member Clifford said he understood the water lines were old and failing and were replaced. He also said according to the contract, the contractor was required to abandon old lines and remove old fire hydrants and a significant number of those had not been removed. Council Member Clifford said he understood some of the valves were located and moved, but that some were not. He also said he understood that the whole purpose was to replace the line and shut this line down, but that he believed the line was still pressurized. Mr. Godwin said there was still a line in use that was pressurized and clarified that abandonment did not mean the line would be dug up. Council Member Clifford said he understood that. Mr. Godwin informed the Council there was another line they were not able to find, and during that time they were going through a difficult time with the contractor and ultimately cut the contract off with that company. He said the money was still available, and Phase III was about to start which would take care of that problem. Council Member Clifford said at this point it was going to cost a lot more money to remove it and the City should have forced contractor to remove it according to the contract. Mr. Godwin said that was a decision that was made by the Council at that time. Council Member Lancaster said she would like to bring this item back upon receiving the rest of the information. Mr. Godwin told the Council staff was still gathering information and would get it to them. A Motion to bring this item back upon receiving any pertinent information was made by Council Member Lancaster and seconded by Council Member Clifford. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 17. Receive presentation on operations plan and budget needs for Utilities Department. Utilities Director Doug Harris presented the City Council with the plan and budget needs for water production, which included rehabilitation of mixed media filters, transfer pump valve replacement and one additional maintenance employee. He noted long -term priorities to be completion of rehab on mixed media filters, expand pumping volume from Pat Mayse intake, and improvements to facility buildings and grounds. With regard to the wastewater treatment, Mr. Harris referred to a new treatment plant conceptual design and replacement of digester aerators. He explained the long -term priorities as completion of engineering and construction of a new treatment plant, installation of an additional 10" influent line from the master lift station and improvements to facility buildings and grounds. Next, Mr. Harris discussed capital budget items for lift stations, which included replacement of valves at Flow EQ Basin and replacement of a 1997 truck. He said the long -term priorities were installation of back -up power at each lift station, installation of screening at the flow equalization basin, and improvements to lift station infrastructure. Mr. Harris answered questions from City Council about the necessity of a new wastewater treatment plant and the costs. Mr. Harris said the maintenance was done in -house Regular Council Meeting July 27, 2015 Page 6 and the employees did an excellent job. Mr. Godwin said the City absolutely needed a new plant, because this one was built in WWII. Council Member Plata questioned the need for a new plant and stated that Paris had not grown in population, nor had there been any new industries come to Paris. Council Member Pickle said regulations had probably changed a lot since that time. 18. Receive presentation on operations plan and budget needs for Public Works. Public Works Director Jerry McDaniel informed City Council that the Trail de Paris Rehabilitation Project was put out to bid and opened July 13, 2015. He said two bids were received and both were over what was originally budgeted. He also said he would bring these bids to Council for rejection on August 10 and staff was in the process of rebidding with specification revision. Mr. McDaniel presented information about road equipment needs and the recycling program. Next, he brought the plan forward on parks as related to the Recreation and Open Space Master Plan 2013 -2023. Mr. McDaniel also presented information about the drainage projects and tennis courts repair. Mayor Hashmi and Council Member Clifford both inquired about the clean -up of 41" S.E. Street and Mr. McDaniel said it was included in drainage projects to clean it, but that the amount did not include for it to be concreted or covered. Mayor Hashmi and Council Member Clifford expressed concerns about this ditch. Council Member Plata said they needed to think about covering the ditch, because it might cause more problems. Prior to moving to the next item, a Motion to move item 22 up was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 22. Consider and approve future events for City Council and/or City Staff pursuant to Resolution No. 2004 -081. Mayor Hashmi said Reverend Price and Sister Rosa Lindsey had requested that Council take a tour of certain City areas and asked if anyone objected to doing so. No objections were made. Mayor Hashmi suggested they could take a tour when the weather got a little cooler. 19. Discuss and act on the financing of construction for drainage and parks projects. A Motion to remove this item from the table was made by Council Member Lancaster and seconded by Mayor Hashmi. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. Mayor Hashmi said he placed this item on the agenda and appreciated Mr. Banks input under citizens' forum. Mr. Anderson explained the amount they were discussing was not based on bond maturity, but based on the payment of principal and interest the City had been making on the 2012 issue and that amount had been reduced. He further explained that the City's bond issues were normally 20 years and the City was at a point of paying this one down, and as a result the payment had dropped that much. Council Member Pickle said he was not approving 2 million dollars tonight when he did not know what drainage projects or park projects this would cover. Mayor Hashmi said if Council decided to move forward, that staff would bring those projects back to Council. Mr. Godwin explained that Mr. McDaniel's presentation included the Regular Council Meeting July 27, 2015 Page 7 beginning of those projects. Mr. Godwin also informed the Council that the process included a public hearing and if they approved this tonight, it did not mean certificates of obligation would be sold tomorrow. He said specific documents would have to be prepared and approved by Council. Council Member Pickle and Council Member Plata said they did not want to commit the City to 2.5 million dollars without the Council and the citizens knowing the specific projects. Council Member Clifford said he did not a problem with moving forward. Council Member Plata asked if this money would go toward the ditches. Mr. Godwin clarified it was not for maintenance, but for capital projects and could be used for reconstruction of a ditch. He said staff did not know how far the money would go at this point, but would have specifics at the next meeting. Council Member Plata said before moving forward, he would like to see the projects and he thought the people would too. Council Members Lancaster and Jenkins favored moving forward. Mayor Hashmi said he thought they could move forward with it, because they were not approving a commitment at this point. Mayor Hashmi said they could direct staff to bring back the projects and proceed with an option. Mr. Godwin said for the August l0a' meeting staff could bring back the specific projects and a calendar. A Motion to provide direction to City staff to proceed with the project list and calendar was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Sue Lancaster. Mayor Hashmi inquired of Mr. Godwin if he needed a motion for this. Mr. Godwin said direction was good enough for him. 20. Convene into Executive Session pursuant to Section 551.074 of the Texas Government Code 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 officer injury leave. 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: (a) Ben Glick d/b /a Tri-State Iron & Metal's appeal /claim; (b) Paris Warehouse 107, Inc. Tax Abatement Agreement. Prior to convening into executive session, Mayor Hashmi referenced Mr. Banks' comments in citizens' forum and asked the City Attorney if part of this item could be discussed in open session. Mr. McIlyar said this was a legal claim pending and to discuss any settlement options or how things might move forward should be done in executive session or the other side gets to know your thoughts. Mayor Hashmi convened City Council into executive session at 7:10 p.m. Regular Council Meeting July 27, 2015 Page 8 21. Reconvene into Open Session and possibly take action on those matters discussed in Executive Session. Mayor Hashmi reconvened City Council into open session at 7:39 p.m. and informed the public that the Council discussed three items in executive session. He said they discussed a police officer who sustained an injury while on duty. He asked Council how they wished to proceed. A Motion to extend the officer's injury leave for 6 months with 100% pay was made by Council Member Plata and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. Mayor Hashmi said Council received an update on the Glick claim and there was no action to be taken at this time. Mayor Hashmi said the third item was the Paris Warehouse Tax Abatement Agreement. Mr. McIlyar said this was a 2006 tax abatement agreement that involved construction of a warehouse and seven year tax abatement agreement. He also said compliance by the PEDC had determined that the Paris Warehouse 107 did not meet their employment requirement for every year of the tax abatement agreement and subsequently, demand was made for the years they were not in compliance with the agreement. Mr. McIlyar also said Paris Warehouse 107 had not made payment and settlement discussions had gone nowhere. A Motion to take all legal action necessary to enforce the tax abatement agreement made with Paris Warehouse 107 for collection of all abated taxes, fees and interest was made by Mayor Hashmi and seconded by Council Member Lancaster. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. 23. 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, 6 ayes — 0 nays. The meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p.m. A.J. HASHMI, MAYOR JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK