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Minutes - 08/01/2017 st MINUTES FROM THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING HELD ON THE 1 DAY OF AUGUST 2017, IN THE CITY HALL, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M, IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS, AT 6:00 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following: COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Andy Brauninger, Tish Humphrey, Ronald Allen, Joe P. Rodriquez, Clyde D. Loll, Tyler McCaffety, Paul Davidhizar COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT: Joe Emmett, Keith D. Olson OFFICERS PRESENT: Matt Benoit, City Manager; Leonard Schneider, City Attorney; Lee Woodward, City Secretary 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 U.S. Flag Texas Flag: Honor the Texas Flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state, under God, one, and indivisible. Councilmember Davidhizar gave an invocation and Girl Scout Brownies Ellie Hartness. Paxtyn West, Lucy Morgan, Viviana Lillard, and Sierra Gedelian led the pledges. 3. 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 July 18, 2017. \[Lee Woodward, City Secretary\] b. Authorize the City Manager to submit an application to the Office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division for the Rifle-Resistant Body Armor Grant Program for $9,500.00. \[Dr. Sherry McKibben, Director of Neighborhood Resources\] Councilmember Loll moved to approve the consent agenda; the motion was seconded by Councilmember Davidhizar. The motion was adopted, 7-0. 4. STATUTORY AGENDA a. Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to consider authorizing the City Manager to award the construction contract for the Robinson Creek Basin Sanitary Sewer Project – Project No. 17-10-03, second reading. \[Y.S. “Ram” Ramachandra, City Engineer\] Councilmember McCaffety moved authorize the City Manager to award the construction contract to 5-T Utilities, Inc. for the construction of the Robinson Creek Basin Sanitary Sewer Project - Project No. 17-10-03, in the amount of $1,477,173.94. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Rodriquez. The motion was adopted, 7-0. b. Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to consider approval of First Financial Bank as the City’s depository bank and authorize the City Manager to sign the contract for banking services with First Financial Bank. \[Steve Ritter – Finance Director\] Councilmember Humphrey moved to approve First Financial Bank as the City’s depository bank and authorize the City Manager to sign the contract for banking services with First Financial Bank. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Davidhizar. The motion was adopted, 7-0, 5. CITY COUNCIL/CITY MANAGER/CITY ATTORNEY a. Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to consider approval of announcing the City Council’s intention to adopt a maximum property tax rate of $0.3809 per $100 valuation for the City’s 2017–2018 Fiscal Year (Tax Year 2017), roll call vote. \[Steve Ritter, Finance Director\] Councilmember Loll moved to approve announcing the City Council’s intention to adopt a maximum property tax rate of $0.3809 per $100 valuation for the City’s 2017–2018 Fiscal Year (Tax Year 2017). The motion was seconded by Councilmember Humphrey. Councilmember Allen moved to amend by striking $0.3809 and inserting $0.3666 and instructing the City Manager and staff to adjust the budget to this number. The motion to amend was lost for lack of a second. The motion was adopted, 6-1, Councilmember Allen voting against the motion. b. Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to consider Mayor’s nominations for board and committee service. \[Mayor Brauninger\] Mayor Brauninger moved his nominations (below), which were unanimously adopted, 7-0. Arts Commission Cemetery Advisory Board Una Grace Nash - reappointment Kay King Mitchell – reappointment Daiquiri Beebe – initial appointment Main Street Advisory Board Doris Collins – initial appointment Public Library Board Michelle Hebert – initial appointment Huntsville Housing Authority Dr. Ross Lovell - reappointment Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Ashley Taylor – reappointment Jamey Hill – initial appointment Fernando Chavez – reappointment Nelson Amaya – initial appointment Michelle Bright - reappointment City of Huntsville, Texas Veterans Affairs Advisory Zoning Board of Adjustments Board Matt Hannes - reappointment Mark Robinson – reappointment c. Presentation, public comment, discussion, and possible action to consider adopting Ordinance 2017-41 calling the November 7, 2017, general election for the purpose of electing an at-large Mayor and four (4) Ward Councilmembers, single reading required. \[Lee Woodward, City Secretary\] Councilmember Davidhizar moved to call the November 7, 2017, general election for the purpose of electing an at-large Mayor and four Ward Councilmembers. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Rodriquez. The motion was adopted, 7-0, 6. 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 Tuesday, July 25, 2017. 7. MEDIA INQUIRIES RELATED TO MATTERS ON THE AGENDA There were no media inquiries. 8. ITEMS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST (Hear announcements concerning items of community interest from the Mayor, Councilmembers, and City staff, for which no action will be discussed or taken.) Mayor Brauninger announced: - Filing has opened for the November 7 general election. The position of Mayor at-large and the four Ward Councilmember seats will be on the ballot. Filing continues until August 21 at 5 p.m., in the office of the City Secretary. A candidate’s package and more information is available on the City’s election page on the website, or call 936-291-5403. - Please don’t wait to make sure you are registered to vote in Walker County for the November elections. Call the Walker County Voter Registrar’s office at 936-436-4959 or visit VoteTexas.gov. - There was a rumor that someone placed a parking sign for the Mayor in the City Hall parking lot, which has been removed (Happy Birthday, Mayor Brauninger!). HISD Minute! (Councilmember Rodriquez) - Best wishes to Dr. Gregory Rodriguez, who has been the Deputy Superintendent at HISD since 2015. He is moving to Carlsbad Municipal School District in New Mexico. His duties at HISD will be shared among other administrators and the Deputy Superintendent position eliminated. Thank you and best of luck, Dr. Rodriguez! CoH Clean Minute! (Councilmember Humphrey) – Thanks for helping keep Home Sweet Huntsville clean and safe by being thoughtful about plastic water bottles. They’re wonderfully convenient, but I’m trying to go back to water in a glass as much as possible. Please take a look at www.BanTheBottle.net for some interesting notes like these: – Only 1 in 5 plastic bottles get recycled. – Bottled water costs over 1,000 times more than tap water. – 17 million barrels of oil are used annually to produce plastic bottles. Here in Huntsville, we are blessed to have a public water system that has been rated Superior since 1983, the highest possible rating in Texas. If you haven’t tried it lately, you should! If you’d like to install a filter on your tap or use a filtered pitcher in your fridge, go for it. Let’s be sure to recycle all the plastic bottles we can, and pour from the tap when possible. 9. 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 litigation Randolph v. City of Huntsville. \[City Attorney Leonard Schneider\] b. City Council will meet in Executive Session pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.071 - consultation between governmental body and its attorney to seek advice of attorney about a matter in which the duty of the attorney to the governmental body under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Texas clearly conflicts with the Open Meetings Act, regarding complaint against Councilmember Allen. \[Leonard Schneider, City Attorney\] The Council adjourned to Executive Session at 6:44 p.m. Councilmember Allen left the meeting as the Council adjourned into Executive Session. 10. RECONVENE The Council reconvened at 7:36 p.m. No action was taken, 11. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Brauninger adjourned the meeting without objection at 7:36 p.m. Lee Woodward, City Secretary