Minutes - 05/17/2016
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MINUTES FROM THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING HELD ON THE 17 DAY OF MAY 2016, IN THE CITY
HALL, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M, IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS, AT 3:00 P.M.
The Council met in a regular session with the following:
COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Andy Brauninger, Joe Emmett, Lydia Montgomery, Don H. Johnson, Keith Olson, Ronald
Allen, Joe P. Rodriquez, Tish Humphrey
COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT: None
OFFICERS PRESENT: Matt Benoit, City Manager; Leonard Schneider, City Attorney; Lee Woodward, City Secretary
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WORK SESSION \[3:00 P.M.\] The City Council will receive presentations from PGAL on condition assessments of Public
Safety facilities.
(Councilmember Allen did not attend the workshop.) The Council discussed design options for a police department and a fire station.
RECEPTION \[5:15-6:00 P.M.\] – Graduating seniors who are children of City employees will be recognized.
MAIN SESSION \[6:00 P.M.\]
1. CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Brauninger called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
2. INVOCATION AND PLEDGES – Councilmember Humphrey gave an invocation and the Employee Scholarship Fund recipients
led the pledges.
3. PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS
- Employee Scholarship Graduates
- Public Works Week
- Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Week
4. ELECTION MATTERS
a. Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to adopt Ordinance 2016-25 to canvass the returns
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of the Special Election held on the 7 day of May 2016, for the purpose of electing a Councilmember-at-Large
Position 1; roll-call vote. \[Lee Woodward, City Secretary\]
Councilmember Humphrey moved to adopt Ordinance 2016-25 to canvass the returns of the Special Election held on the 7th day
of May 2016, for the purpose of electing a Councilmember-at-Large Position 1 and was seconded by Councilmember Olson. The
motion was adopted unanimously, 8-0.
Early Voting by Precinct
Candidate & 101 102 201 205 206 301 401 Total
Position/Measure
Councilmember-at-Large,
Position 1
John S. Little 10 126 50 136 29 60 27 438
Paul Davidhizar 5 127 73 229 41 20 35 530
Totals 15 253 123 365 70 80 62 968
Early Voting & Election Day Returns
Candidate & Position Early 101 102 201 205 206 301 401 Total
Councilmember-at-Large,
Position 1
John S. Little 438 1 31 4 42 2 11 13 542
Paul Davidhizar 530 0 46 16 91 9 6 13 711
Totals 968 1 77 20 133 11 17 26 1253
Voters Voted
Precinct Registered Voters Ballots Cast Percentage
101 654 16 2.45
102 3437 330 9.60
201 2316 143 6.17
205 2366 498 21.05
206 1046 81 7.74
301 2668 97 3.64
401 2465 88 3.57
Total 14,952 1253 8.38
b. Administer the Oath of Office to the newly-elected City Councilmember. \[Walker County Judge Danny Pierce\]
Walker County Judge Danny Pierce administered the Statement of Elected/Appointed and Official Oath of Office to Paul
Davidhizar and the Mayor presented his Certificate of Election.
5. CONSENT AGENDA
Public Comments will be called for by the presiding officer before action is taken on these items. (Approval of Consent
Agenda authorizes the City Manager to implement each item in accordance with staff recommendations. An item may
be removed from the Consent Agenda and added to the Statutory Agenda for full discussion by request of a member
of Council.)
a. Approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held on May 7, 2016. \[Lee Woodward, City Secretary\]
Councilmember Olson moved to adopt the consent agenda; the motion was seconded by Councilmembers Johnson and
Montgomery. The motion was unanimously adopted, 9-0.
6. EXECUTIVE SESSION
a. City Council will meet in Executive Session pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.071 (consultation
with counsel on legal matters) to receive legal advice on water supply agreements with Tenaska Roan's Prairie,
and to receive legal advice on discussing possible amendments to the Tenaska Frontier water supply contract.
\[Carol Reed, Public Works Director\]
The City Council convened into Executive Session at 6:21 p.m.
7. RECONVENE
Take action, if necessary, on items addressed during Executive Session.
a. Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to authorize the City Manager to enter into five
agreements related to the supply of water and wastewater services to the Tenaska Roan’s Prairie electric power
plant: (1) an Agreement between the City of Huntsville and Tenaska Roan’s Prairie Partners, LLC for the Purchase
and Delivery of Treated Water; (2) a Raw Water Supply Contract between the City of Huntsville, Texas and the
Trinity River Authority of Texas; (3) a Financing and Construction Agreement between the City of Huntsville and
the Trinity River Authority of Texas; (4) a Second Amendment to the Agreement between the City of Huntsville and
Tenaska Frontier Partners, Ltd.; and (5) a Wastewater Disposal Agreement between the City of Huntsville and
Tenaska Roan’s Prairie Partners, LLC. \[Carol Reed, Public Works Director\]
The City Council reconvened at 7:07 p.m. Councilmember Humphrey moved to authorize the City Manager to enter into
five agreements related to the supply of water and wastewater services to the Tenaska Roan’s Prairie electric power plant:
(1) an Agreement between the City of Huntsville and Tenaska Roan’s Prairie Partners, LLC for the Purchase and Delivery
of Treated Water; (2) a Raw Water Supply Contract between the City of Huntsville, Texas and the Trinity River Authority of
Texas; (3) a Financing and Construction Agreement between the City of Huntsville and the Trinity River Authority of Texas;
(4) a Second Amendment to the Agreement between the City of Huntsville and Tenaska Frontier Partners, Ltd.; and (5) a
Wastewater Disposal Agreement between the City of Huntsville and Tenaska Roan’s Prairie Partners, LLC and was
seconded by Councilmember Olson. The motion was adopted, 9-0
8. STATUTORY AGENDA
a. FIRST READING - Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to authorize the City Manager to
sign Addendum #A, in the amount of $1,383,054.20, to the Construction Manager at Risk Agreement with Garney
Construction for Town Creek Drainage Improvement Project, first reading. \[Sherry McKibben, Director of
Neighborhood Resources; Y.S. Ramachandra, City Engineer\]
Councilmember Olson moved to suspend the City Council Rules of Procedure requirement for a second reading in
accordance with its provision in Section 9, and, upon a two-thirds vote of the members of the City Council present and was
seconded by Councilmember Johnson. The motion was adopted unanimously, 9-0.
Councilmember Montgomery moved to authorize the City Manager to sign Addendum A, in the amount of $1,383,054.20,
to the Construction Manager at Risk Agreement with Garney Construction for the Town Creek Drainage Improvement
Project and was seconded by Councilmember Humphrey. The motion was adopted unanimously, 9-0
b. Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to authorize the City Manager to sign an Interlocal
Agreement between the City of Huntsville and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for water service at the
Ellis and Estelle Units. \[Matt Benoit, City Manager; Steve Ritter, Director of Finance\]
Councilmember Johnson moved to delay action on Agenda Item 8b for City Council action until June 21, 2016 to
allow additional negotiations with TDCJ to assure full information exchange between the two entities; the motion
was seconded by Councilmembers Allen and Olson, The motion to postpone was adopted unanimously.
c. Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to award the fiber installation project to Network
Cabling Services, Inc. (NCS) for the installation of conduit and fiber from the City of Huntsville Service Center to
the Solid Waste facility in the amount of $149,912.84. \[Y.S. Ramachandra, City Engineer; Bill Wavra, Interim IT
Director\]
Councilmember Humphrey moved to award the fiber installation project to Network Cabling Services, Inc. (NCS) for the
installation of conduit and fiber from the City of Huntsville Service Center to the Solid Waste facility in the amount of
$149,912.84; the motion was seconded by Councilmember Davidhizar. The motion was adopted unanimously, 9-0.
9. REQUESTS FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
An opportunity for citizens to be heard on any topic and for the City Council to participate in the discussion. No action
will be taken.
No requests were received by noon on May 10, 2016.
10. MEDIA INQUIRIES RELATED TO MATTERS ON THE AGENDA
There were no media inquiries.
11. ITEMS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST
Councilmember Olson shared information on Mance Park Middle School Shelley Petkovsek’s class and their project to do 360
degree filming in Oakwood Cemetery and their fundraiser at www.DonorsChoose.org. Councilmember Humphrey talked about
her great experience over the weekend with the General Sam Houston Folk Festival volunteers. Councilmember Olson urged
everyone to buy raffle tickets to help refresh the Fire Department’s old fire truck.
Mayor Brauninger announced:
- The Huntsville Police Department has established a Safe Exchange Zone at their parking lot, near their main entrance. The
area is under 24-hour surveillance and can be used by members of the public as a safe place to conduct transactions or
child custody handoffs.
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I hope you have seen the new wayfinding signs being installed around the community. City staff, the HOT Board, and the
City Council worked on these over a lengthy period of time to ensure they would be long lasting and useful. They look
great!
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Last week the SHSU Leadership Academy finished its third year. City participants who successfully completed the program
in 2015-2016 are Joseph Wiggs, Director of Parks and Leisure; Lieutenant Jim Barnes, HPD; and Kim Kembro,
Environmental Lab Analyst. We congratulate them!
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Please participate in the Huntsville Public Library’s Summer Reading Program
Councilmember Rodriquez commended Joseph Wiggs for replacement of a new roof on the Cabin on the Square. Mayor
Brauninger relayed his positive experience with Dr. Sherry McKibben for helping one of the new signs in a local right-of-way.
The Mayor also welcomed new Councilmember Paul Davidhizar again.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Brauninger adjourned the meeting at 7:33 p.m.
Lee Woodward, City Secretary