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MIN CC 02/10/19871 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON TH&:lOTH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1987 -IN THE CITY HALL COUI.CIL CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 6:45 P.M. The Council met in regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday, Mayor 0. Eugene Barrett Gary Bell Stephen E. Davis Jerry L. Dowling Ila G. Gaines William B. Green Percy Howard, Jr. Member absent: Dick Wharton City Officers Present: Gene Pipes, City Manager Scott Bounds, City Attorney Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary The meeting was called to order by the Honorable Jane Monday. The invocation was presented by Reverend Marvin Giles of St. James United Methodist Church. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Barrett made the motion to adopt the minutes of January 27, 1987 and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. RECOGNITIONS Boy Scout Pack 98 Mayor Monday recognized Pack 98 in attendance at the meeting. Pack Leaders, Kathy Dowling and Ann Isbell were present as well as several members of Pack 98, including sons of the City Councilmembers Dowling, Bell and Davis. CONSIDER BIDS Consider Bid No. 87- 13-- H.V.A.C. equipment -- Service Center expansion project, to Huntsville Air Conditioning for $8,385.00 Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised this equipment will be for the upstairs meeting room of the Service Center. He said this bid is for the purchase and installation of three four ton heating and air conditioning units to be paid from capital projects service center expansion (account No. 06- 00- 68011. He recommended the low bid of Huntsville Air Conditioning for a Trane brand system in the amount of $8,385.00. Councilmember Barret made the motion to approve this bid as outlined above and Councilmember Bell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider Bid No. 87- 14- -Floor covering, Service Center expansion to Carlow Carpets of Huntsville for $4,922.10 Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, noted although this amount is under $5,000 and could be approved by the City Manager without Council approval, since the bid on the Air Conditioner had to be brought before the Council any- way, be just added this one onto the agenda for the Council's consideration as well. He advised this bid is for the purchase and installation of approximately 3,440 square feet of vinyl floor covering and vinyl base molding for the upstairs expansion of the Service Center. He said it will be funded from the capital projects service center expansion account No. 06- 00- 6801.4 He recommended acceptance of the low bid from Carlow Carpets in the amount of $4,922.10. Councilmember Davis made the motion to approve of this bid as outlined above and Council- member Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider Bid No. 87- 15 - -12" eater main supplies to Big State Utilities for $42,812.76 The Council was advised by Gene Pipes, City Manager, that this bid is foi the purchase of water supplies for the installation of a water line. He said this line is part of the 12 inch loop system to cross the inter- state at Boettcher Drive then north approximately to Huntsville Lanes (Bowling Alley). Funding for this project, be advised, will come from the capital improvements project. Mr. Pipes then recommended acceptance of the lowest bid meeting specifications, submitted by Big State Utilities, for $42,812.76. Note: There were a total of ten bidders. Councilmember Howard made the motion to approve of this bid as outlined and Councilmember Dowling seconded the motion. After some discussion for clarification the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER CONTRACT Consider an agreement for services with Sam Houston State University Drama Department for the annual Huntsville Theater Festival in the amount of $10,000, as recommended by the Arts Commission and city staff The Council reviewed the agreement for three summer classes of creative dramatics: the three classes to include one class for children ages 6 to 8, one class for ages 9 to 12 that shall be conducted at the University Theatre Center, and one month -long class for children ages 8 to 12 that shall be conducted at the City's Emanci- pation Park Building (Martin Luther Ring Neighborhood Center) on Avenue F. Mr. Gene Pipes noted SHSU and the City have had this similar agreement for some ten years now. He recommended approval of the contract in the amount of $10,000 to be paid out of the Huntsville Arts Commission budget. Councilmember Howard made the motion to approve this contract as outlined above and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. THE CITY MANAGER'S REPORT- -Gene Pipes Consider a report and proposal for cleaning and television inspection of targeted sever mains in conjunction with the capital research analysis and construction projects. Gene Pipes, City Manager, said the Council recently discussed a $750,000 program of cleaning, televising and repairing various sewer mains in the City's system that are situated under the streets of the City. He said about 45% of our sewer lines are under streets. He said repairs to those lines need to be made in a timely manner so that the street paving program can progress. Mr. Pines said the staff has reviewed the situation to see which of the streets would be subject to street paving interruption because of needed sewer repairs in this next year. He said the four major streets that were outlined for paving this summer are: Avenue M, Avenue 0, University Avenue and Avenue 1. He said Mr. Isbell, Director of Engineering Design, has conducted studies which indicate there are inflow sad infiltration problems under those streets involving those sever lines. He said we looked at gross figures last week of $790,000 for total televising and inspection of the sever lines, but this amount can be reduced by the use of the city's vector truck and crew to clean and flush the lines before their television and therefore reduce some of these costs. He said there are some technical advances that can save us money in certain instances. He said we need to plan and budget for these inspection services so we can maxi- mize the productivity available to us. Mr. Pipes then played a video taped program advertising and introducing a new pipe lining product which can be installed without excavation, called Insituform, by Insituform Gulf South of Metairie, Louisiana. He said a representative of Naylor Municipal Services is also present to answer questions. Samples of the Insituform material before curing and after were available for the Council to see and examine. Mr. Pipes said the purpose of this film presentation is to make the Council aware of this service. _kaid since the City is now aware that it does have inflow /infiltration problems, he feels a significant amount of money can be saved by cleaning and televising the lines to determine where our worse leak locations are and if they are sporadic and spaced far apart and the television indicates there is no general deterioration, then we simply can dig up those isolated locations and fix them through conventional means. patch the street and overlay it. He advised that on the other hand if the sewer pipe is in generally poor condition, then rather than diggin up a two or three block section of Avenue M, this would be a more economical process. Mr. Pipes recommended scheduling this sewer inspection service over a several year period for all the various areas in town. Councilmember Green asked how much this would cost. Mr. Pipes said Mr. Isbell's figure to totally televise and analyze the entire city sewer system (city -wide) would cost something in excess of $700,000 with the contractor cleaning and preparing the lines for inspection. He said the city proposes to save some money here by doing the cleaning with our vector truck. He said the city has about 129 miles of sewer lines. Mr. Pipes proposed that the city plan to do the old infrastructure part of town first, this year. He said Glenn Isbell estimates we can do that for less than 8200,000 if we clean and prepare them ourselves for the contractor to do the televising. Again, he said, the four streets we'd like to do this year are: Avenue 0, University Avenue, Avenue M and Avenue 1. He said these must be done before they can be overlayed. He said the Insituform system would work well for Avenue M as it would be difficult to close it for a couple of weeks. He said we have also experienced difficulties in the past with the sewer mains running through Sam Houston Museum Park. He said we have periodically cleaned and routed those lines out, but the root intrusion because of the heavy forested area through there maps this a constant maintenance headache. He said the Insituform process would be ideal here as there would be no land disruption and roots cannot penetrate this material. He said we may be able to route traffic around in the University Avenue area; however, Avenue 0 could not be closed for any significant amount of time and the Insituform process may work well for Avenue 0 as well. Mr. Pipes said however, until these lines are cleaned and televised, we will not know to what extent the lines are deteriorated. He said the I b I study did show us where a number of leaks are and we can dig those up, but this could open Pandora's Box as the lines could crumble ahead of us as we continue to dig. He said it may be pennywise and pound foolish to dig up a small spot and end up having to dig up two or three blocks chasing the deteriorating sewer line when we could form it like this ( Insituform), and not only capture the original diameter of the pipe but some increased capacity. He said this film did drastically illustrate exactly what infiltration /inflow is so the Council can understand the situation that exists. Mr. Pipes said the staff is critically concerned this year with the four streets mentioned above which are on the street department's priority list for improvement (Avenue 0, Avenue M, Avenue I and University Avenue). He said we'd like to get enough work done this year so that we will not impede the street department's work for next year. Boyd Wilder, Director of Public Utilities, then introduced Mr. Russ Kendrick with Naylor Industrie supplies the video tape. Mi. Kendrick said the cost to clean, televise and install (turnkey) an 8" lin s $4 a foot. Mr. Wilder said that cost is not cheaper than the cost to go in and dig in an easement somewhe d la a sever line. He said where it is cheaper is if it is under an existing street that you are not planning to reconstruct but to simply overlay. He said it is not a cheaper method of laying a newer line, but rather a way to do it without tearing everything up in its path. Mr. Pipes said Normal Park Street south of Safeway is under suspicion of having a sagging sever line, vhich is underm(ning the street. He said before the overlay wor is done on Normal Park, that sever line needs to be televised or we'll have to tear it all up and fix it. He said televising will tell if the line is sagging by the amount of infiltration /inflow -- how much of a bowl the: is or how much of a charge the water has on it. Announcement on Behalf of Councilmember Dick Wharton -- will not seek re- election to Ward One Seat Gene Pipes, City Manager, announced that Councilmember Dick Wharton will not be seeking re- election for his Ward One Council seat for the next term Mr. Pipes said his new employment has caused him to be away from town for extensive periods and he does not expect that to change materially enough in the foreseeable future that he could depend on being of service to the Council on a regular basis. Mr. Pipes said he certainly wishes to express his thanks and also his regrets for having to forego a second term by virtue of the situation of his employment. Mr. Pipes said he will be back for several other council meetings before the end of his term, but he thought it was only appropriate that he make such an announcement because there is only a week left in the sign up time for candidates for Ward One. Mr. Pipes said Dick Wharton has enjoyed his term on council and he will be back to tell you that himself before his term is actually up. MAYOR'S REPORT- -Jane Monday Welcome to American Association of University Women Mayor Monday recognized members of the AAUW who were in attendance at this meeting. She welcomed them to come back at any time. She asked them to stay for refreshments after the meeting. Texas Municipal League Request for Participation in Texas Civil Justice League Mayor Monday presented a letter from the Executive Director of TML soliciting the city's membership in the Texas Civil Justice League as a means of facilitating needed tort reform during the current Legislative Session. Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised the TCJS is more than just a lobby group interested in tort reform. He said there are a number of other issues that this association of cities has been formed to review. However, he said their major thrust at this time is to get some legislative relief from the tort impact system, the higher insurance rates, etc. Mr. Pipes reminded the Council that the City's insurance rates vent up 801 this year so relief, if not reform, is needed. He felt the City would benefit from the actions of the TCJL. He noted some 300 Texas cities have joined the effort to -date. Mayor Monday then looked to the Council for a con- sensus to join with the TCJL. i e Councilmember Dowling felt the'Council need "CO be'tealistic about some of this, noting it is a very con- troversial issue as we might well imagine. He said anything the legislature may or may not do in the way of tort reform will have zero effect on the primary situation of the City of Huntsville as far as being a party to litigation in recent years in federal court. He said so lest anyone get too excited about solving various liti- gation problems in this way against the City, we need to bear in mind that our exposure under tort claims any- way is relatively limited. He said he is a little bit concerned that we don't get sucked into a bigger issue that is in fact sort of a fist fight between insurance companies and trial lawyers so that we don't become an unknowing pawn in that game. Councilmember Dowling summarized his statements by saying: "Look before you leap." Councilmember Barrett felt the City should do what it can to support this League so that it can do its part to get some reforms made. Councilmember Davis said he is • member of the Texas Civil Justice League and he (as an individual medical professional) does support it wholeheartedly; however, he is not sure that as an elected official it is his duty to go on the stand one way or the other because there are two definite sides to this issue and they are both very adament. He said even as a steering member of the TCJL, he is not sure that as a City I could go on record to say this is what the city wants to do even though he likes tort reform. He said he is not sure this is his responsibility as an elected official, but personally, yes. Councilmember Green said he did not like for the city to take a position that supposedly represents all of us but may not represent all of us. Mayor Monday noted then she does not see a consensus on Council, so the City will not join, as a municipality, the Texas Civil Justice League, even though it may be interested in certain aspects of its work. Solid Waste Steering Committee Mayor Monday advised that Walker County has agreed, in their formal meeting recently, that they would join with the City of Huntsville in the Solid Waste Assessment Program and will solicit the assistance and cooperation of New Waverly, Riverside, SHSU and TDC in the solid waste program efforts. She said the next meeting of the steering committee is on February 20, when it is planned to set a time line for action and to report back to the Council soon. Assessment Committee Establishment -- review 1984 Street Bond Issue Mayor Monday announced she envisions appointing a citizen's assessment committee to review the 1984 bond issue and the accomplishments and progress made. She asked the members of Council to assist her in presenting names of individuals to serve on the committee. She said this committee would also look at the planning and implementation of the next bond issue to continue the street improvement program. COUNCIL ACTION Health Advisory Committee of H -GAC Councilmember Barrett advised he has been a member of the Health Advisory Committee of H -GAC for the past three years. He said H -GAC has combined this committee vith another committee. He said he served with Joyce Hilliard from Huntsville on this committee. He said H -GAC has had to economize and this is the reason they have grouped some of their committees together. He said be feels it is a good thing. He said he enjoyed serving on the committee. NEWS MEDIA QUESTIONS KKNX Reporter J. D. Dickenson asked Mr. Pipes if the Insituform pipe method was a proven and acceptable/ tested method of pipe repair. Mr. Pipes said it has been used successfully by other cities in recent years. Mr. Kendrick advised the Insituform method was developed in England in 1971 and came to the U.S. in 1977. He said it has been approximately doubling in dollar volume annually since 1977. Mr. Pipes said the other avail- able pipe repair process is sliplining, which has been around a long time. He said but other than the old dig it up and fix it method, this is the first new method that has come along. Mr. Dickenson asked if it meets the city codes. Mr. Pipes said it would not be a city code type installation but it would meet the city's specifications as far as sewer main constrution or repair. He said at the present time the city has no standards for residential connection because that is four inch diameter material and a PVC line like that would be much less expensive to dig up and fix. Mr. Pipes said an individual homeowner could use the Insituform method, under city inspection. Huntsville Item Reporter, Kathy Fair, asked the City Manager if there had ever been three vacancies on the city council in previous years where the incumbents were not coming back or running for election. Mr. Pipes recalled that there have only been as many as two at a time in the last 13 years, so this would be the greatest number of vacancies (openings) the city has had in recent history. ADJOURNMENT pec ully sub tied j eShaw, City Secretary February 10, 1987 ut