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MIN CC 03/17/1987• __PAGE. 858 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 17, 1987 BOOK "0" MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 17TH DAY OF MARCH, 1987 IN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 6:45 P.M. The Councl met in regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday, Mayor 0. Eugene Barrett Gary Bell Jerry L. Dowling Ila G. Gaines William B. Green Percy Howard, Jr. Members resigned: Stephen E. Davis (2/23/87) (At- large, Position 3) Dick Wharton (3/3/87) (Ward 1) 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, Mayor. Mayor Monday then recognized a citizen present for citizen input. CITIZEN INPUT AND INQUIRY SESSION Jack C. Robbins, Sr., 2215 Normal Park, 295 -5890 Mr. Robbins asked the Council to consider funding the installation of handicap ramps for handicapped people on all corners around the square opposite from the Courthouse side so that the handicapped people can shop down- town. He asked the Council to study the possibility of cutting the curbs in those locations to ramp them. Mayor Monday thanked Mr. Robbins for his request. She indicated the staff will look at this possibility and the city would get back with him on its findings. FORMAL MEETING Mayor Monday then called the formal session open. She presented the invocator, Pastor Donald Kasper of the Faith Lutheran Church to give the invocation. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the minutes of March 3, 1987 and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. RESOLUTIONS Consider Resolutions 87 -2, 87 -3 and 87 -4 Recognizing High School Boys & Girls Basketball & Mock Trial Teams Mayor Monday asked the high school coaches of the Lady Hornet Basketball Team, the Hornet Basketball Team and the Mock Trial Team to come forward. Mayor Monday noted it is a distinct pleasure for the City Council to have an opportunity to tell some people individually in our community how proud it is'of their accomplishments. She noted these particular teams of Huntsville High School have distinguished themselves throughout the state. Mayor Monday advised the members of the teams present that the Council is very proud of them both individually and collectively for their accomplishment. She stated all of them are representing Huntsville as they go about the state. Mayor Monday then presented the Resolutions which recognize the Lady Hornets Basketball Team for winning the District 15 -5A competition; the Hornet Basketball Team for winning second in District 15 -5A competition, and the Mock Trial Team for winning in the Regional Competition in Bryan. She asked for a motion on the adoption of all three of these resolutions, respectively. Councilmember Dowling made the motion to adopt Resolutions 87 -2, 87 -3 and 87-4 and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. The Mayor and Council then assembled at the podium to make presentations to each member of the various teams and to have a group team picture made. Those present for the presentations are as follows: Girls Basketball Team: Trevor Fountain, Coach; Angie Crosby, Manager, team members: Kim Watkins, LaTanya Irving, Portia Oliphant, Modesto Jenkins, Donna Rogers, Kris Olsta, Felicia McCarty, Dawn Mallory and Donna Franklin. * Boys Basketball Team: Jim McDaniels, Head Coach; Joe Vickers, Assistant Coach; Gary Denson and Joe Gonzales, managers; Team Members: Kirk Williams, Monty Hillard, Kerry Murray, Sam Booker, Todd Robinson, Dexter Williams, Jason Phillips, Mike Aker, Keith Lee and Brad Randleman. Team Member absent: Lawrence Williams. Mock Trial Team: Charlotte Smith, Teacher Sponsor; Don Kraemer, Coach; Janet Eslick and Kara Froelick, attorneys; Trang Pham and Jimmy Baker, alternates; witnesses: Lara Whitley, Stacy Green, Lance King and Brett Kraemer. *Team Members absent: Anita Davison, Nanette Nickens, Ashanta Rolling, Lawana Davis, Roshanda Elder, Sophia Robinson; Managers absent: Wanda Glaze, Tanya Cook, Emily Evans; Assistant Coach Absent: Joanie Seale. CONSIDER BID Consider Bid 87 -22 for a tandem axle dump truck to Moore Henry Motors in the amount of $53,000 for use in the Sanitation Division Landfill Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised on March 11, 1987, bids were opened for the purchase of a tandem axle dump truck to be used at the landfill for the Sanitation Division. He said bids were sent out to two Houston vendors and one local vendor, Moore Henry Motors. Mr. Pipes said Moore'Henry Motors was the only vendor to bid on this dump truck. Other local vendors were contacted, he said, but they said they did not hold the franchise to bid on heavy trucks. Mr. Pipes then presented the staff's recommendation to accept the bid of Moore Henry Motors in the amount of $53,000. The Council was advised that funds are budgeted in the amount of $53,000 in account 24 -24 -6904 and that this dump truck is to be paid for with a certificate of, obligation. Councilmember Bell made the motion to accept bid No. 87 -22 from Moore Henry Motors in the amount of $53,000 for a tandem axle dump truck and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously ,'llauLL) ul' rW1U.L1 1/, 1`J t3/ ,xivk .0" PAGE 859 CONSIDER ORDINANCE Consider Ordinance authorizing issuance of a certificate of obligation in the amount of $53,000 for a sanitation fund dump, truck, as planned in the FY 86 -87 budget. Mayor Monday presented this ordinance for the Council's consideration, as a part of the previous purchase, the caption of which is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 87 -8 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING ISSUANCE OF A CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, EQUIPMENT ACQUISITION CERTIFICATE OF OBLIGATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $53,000.00; AND CONTAINING OTHER PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT. (Four Year C.O.) Councilmember Howard made the motion to approve of Ordinance No. 87 -8 and Councilmember Bell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER BID Consider bid 87 -25, maintenance /service agreement for the city's communication systems to Motorola Communications and Electronics, in the amount of $1,394.95 per month, to be paid from budgeted funds Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised that in the past, the City has left it somewhat to the individual depart- ments to make their own way in terms of maintenance of their radio systems as we had quite a collection of various radio systems in public works, street, sanitation and public works frequency and then the police, fire and EMS and other assorted radio systems within the city's system as a whole. He said, however, with the advent of two service companies here in town, it was felt that compiling and combining all of these radio systems into one system (bid) might prove to be an economical situation. He said last year, the City spent $29,455.84 total in radio maintenance for all the systems, with $12,185 in the Police Department; $6,482 in the Fire Department, $3,000 in Water and Sewer, and $2,447 in EMS,* He said three very competitive bids have been received. He said all of the bids received represent reductions to what we have been paying and what we have budgeted. Mr. Pipes then presented the staff's recommendation to award the bid to the lowest bid meeting specifications to Motorola Communications and Electronics, Inc. in the amount of $1,394.95 per month, which could fluctuate due to the addition or deletion of radio equipment. The other bidders being Eastex Communications at $1,431.15 per month and Mobile 2 -Way Service, Inc. at $1,569.00 per month. Mr. Pipes said each division has budgeted funds in object code 5403 radios and base stations account. Mr. Pipes noted the two higher bidders are both local bidders whereas Motorola is not. Motorola is the parent company or supplier of the two local companies and will subcontract to one of the two for the service that they have bid on lower than the two local vendors can provide. He said that is just the way it is. He said the City expects to save a substantial amount of money under the proposed contract as routine maintenance will cost approximately $17,000 a year, which is a substantial reduction from the $29,455 actually experienced in 1986. Mr. Pipes said if we install one radio in a police car, we'll experience about a $243 average increase. Mr. Pipes advised, however, that Acts of God are not covered in this general maintenance agreement nor does it cover theft or abuse. Councilmember Green made the motion to accept the bid of Motorola, as described above and Councilmember Bell seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Gaines asked if the number of service calls is preset. Mr. Pipes said it is open -end and it is a monthly service contract for each individual radio and there are some 300 units in our total system (including bay stations, radios and pagers). After some further questions for clarification, the vote was taken; all were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER ENTEX INCREASE Consider the pending Entex cost -of- service rate adjustment in view of additional data Mr. Pipes, City Manager, provided additional information germane to the request, as requested by the Council in the previous meeting. Mr. Pipes said he also asked Mr. Luther Jones, Manager, for a history of last year's expenditures locally and modifications to their distribution system in the City of Huntsville, that were parti- cularly affected or related to the city's street program. Mr. Pipes said he is very aware that as the City goes through its system making street repairs that when a street is reconstructed, almost invariably that affects gas lines, phone lines, etc., which have to be moved. He said in the past year, Entex has graciously relocated some $47,016 worth of lines in the streets the City has reconstructed. He said this is not including equipment costs and truck expense as it is simply contract labor for some of the jobs and also the company's labor and materials when they have done it themselves. Mr. Pipes said it is very difficult to explain this to the Council without sounding as somewhat of a cheerleader for Entex, but they have been by far and away the most cooperative local utility company in conjunction with the street and utility work the City has been doing over the last several years. He said those of the Council who were here at the time of the New Addition project will remember that the City completely replumbed that whole subdivision and a substantial amount of money was spent by Entex to relocate every line in the subdivision in conjunction with the work that the city did. Mr. Pipes said that while the cost of service reflects some of these changes in their physical plant, he felt it is important that the Council understand that many of the changes, in fact, something in excess of what would be generated in Huntsville, is being added back to the system in the past year by Entex. He said rather than Huntsville subsidizing the rest of the service area, he felt Huntsville was getting considerable consideration by Entex. Mr. Pipes then asked for questions. He reminded the Council that passage is acquired by no action by the Council, or in fact, they can give their formal approval. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the cost of service rate adjustment of $ .65 per bill or a 1.83% increase in an average residential bill or 2.1 cents per day and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Barrett said he read all the information and now feels that Entex is doing a good job holding down costs and they are trying to go along with the economic times we are having. He said he thinks the increase 1s within reason and that the council should approve it. Councilmember Gaines noted that it appears the primary reason for the increase is because of a loss of some 1,227 customers from the year before. Mayor Monday noted they have cut their expenses and they too have had to deal with insurance problems like we all have. She felt they were managing their company well. Councilmember Bell disagreed with the increase in cost of service, noting the city has had to hold the line on its tax increase and he felt Entex should do the same. Upon a vote of the motion, all were in favor of the motion to approve the increase, EXCEPT Councilmembers Dowling and Bell, who voted NO. The motion, however, passed by a vote of five to two. * Mr. Carl Voskamp, EMS Director, advised the Council that the normal radio maintenance annually is around $850- $900, but that due to relocation and lightning striking their equipment, extra costs were incurred in 1986 which are abnormal. Also, he said, the county will share maintenm:ce costs 6 this contract must be approved by the EMS board.before they can participate in it. G^ PAGE 400 BOOK "0" MINUTES OF MARCH 17, 1987 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Pine Street paving Mr. Pipes advised the Council that several people have called to express concern that Pine Street was not to be paved as a curb and gutter street. Each of them wen concerned about drainage related problems off of Pine Street. Some expressed it was their understanding Pine Street was to be paved as a part of the bond program. Mr. Isbell, Director of Design Engineering, advised it is his understanding the Council's decision not to curb and gutter Pine Street was due to the fact that three residents did not want it curbed and guttered because of the trees in the right -of -way that would have to be cleared. Mr. Isbell noted, however, there are other residents in the area whose primary concern is the drainage off of Pine Street. Mr. Isbell indicated his only concern is that if it is to be curbed and guttered, it should be done at the same time as Cedar Drive is constructed so that the design of the two streets can be coordinated (memo to file dated March 6, 1987 from Glenn E. Isbell). The City Manager, Gene Pipes, asked the Council again for their direction in this matter. Mr. Pipes said there is no guarantee that the curbing and guttering of Pine Street will totally alleviate the drainage problems. Re said the city can do some work to alleviate somewhat the drainage problem when it does the overlaying of the existing streets by doing some ditch work on the went side as well as the other side to intercept some of the water and route it around the yards rather than cross the'. Ultimately, he said, the street is higher than their yards and their yards are consecutively down hill. He said there is no way that either curbing and guttering or the open ditch method is going to completely eliminate the drainage problem that Mrs. Dollar (2715 Cedar Drive) and her neighbors have at the present time. Mr. Pipes said it was planned in the bond issue to curb and gutter Pine Street and this will be the only street in that entire section of town that will not be curbed and guttered. He said it is not disfunctional as it is and certainly the people that live on it tolerate it very well. He said it is simply a matter of checking one more time, as pointed out in Mr. Isbell's memo, with the Council as to their desire. He said the staff has no strong feeling either way, but once the city starts work on Cedar, it really cannot back up. He said if the council decides to do Pine Street, the two really need to be done together. Councilmember Barrett said the city can overlay that street to improve it. Mr. Pipes said the city will do that in lieu of curb and gutter if that is the Council's desire, but it will not significantly change the drainage except for the limited ditch work we can do. Mr. Pipes said what rainfall falls behind the curb line wil go across the back yards whether Pine Street is curbed and guttered or not if it is lower than the street. Council- member Barrett noted 40 pine trees would have to be cut out of Pine Street to do the curb and gutter work. Mr. Pipes agreed, noting this is the main reason the residents of that street have petitioned the Council not to do the work, because all of those pine trees are in the city's right -of -way. Councilmember Green asked if there is not some alternative, noting the residents have expressed a great deal of concern to him about this. He said they were not consulted about the matter and yet they feel they are affected considerably. Councilmember Green said if curbing and guttering of Pine Street will solve even a little of the drainage problem, that would help some. He vas concerned that years from now we may regret not paving it. He said on the other hand, he is concerned for the people who want to save the 40 pine trees on their street; however, the trees are not in their yards either. Glenn Isbell advised the street, as it exists now, 1s not in the right -of -way, but is on the eastern most side of the right -of -way. Councilmember Dowling asked why the city proposes to move the street to where the Pine trees are. Mr. Isbell said if it 1s just overlaid, it won't be moved, but if we are going to spend a con- siderable amount of money to pave, curb and gutter it, it must be in the proper right -of -way to make it right to start with. Councilmember Dowling suggested putting the street to the closest edge so that if it had to be expanded later the city would only have to knock one curb line. Mr. Isbell said the east side drops off fairly steeply and the city would have to lower the street about 12 to 18 inches and to do that we have to match in with the drive -ways on the east side and we almost need that 8 or 9 feet past the curb line to do that. Councilmember Dowling said it occurs to him that the size of the street is serving everyone well at the moment and given the location, expanding it to the full 24 feet is unlikely to make it a major arterial street. Mr. Pipes said that would depend on the commercial development on the north side of 11th Street as that could dictate alot of circular traffic. Mayor Monday said she understands the street department has cleaned out the boxes and ditches in the past and that this has helped considerably right there. She said she would hope that with that kind of activity and the work on the street and ditches that the city can alleviate some of the drainage problem'. Councilmember Gaines questioned whether spending $20,000 on the street and cutting down 40 pine trees would help the drainage problem. Councilmember Green said if we overlay the street, it will make the street even higher than the yards. Mr. Pipes said the city would lay the street back against the hill where the water would stay on the west side and route down to Cedar; all the lots up towards Hickory are uphill,and we'll run the water back against the hill and around down to Cedar and then down the street, hopefully. Councilmember Dowling surmised this is a drainage problem and not a street problem. Mr. Pipes said the best that we can do is clean out the ditches that are there. Councilmember Dowling suggested we deal with it as a drainage problem and throw it in the old hopper with all of the other drainage problems. Mr. Pipes said this one is substantially more localized that most and can be helped some and helped with the overlay that we expect to do on the street as it presently exists at the present time. He said this overlaying will help but it will not solve the drainage problem. City Council orientation date: April 11, 1987, Saturday. Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, noted we will have a minimum of three new council members for the next year. He said the orientation session will be an excellent introduction to them to the operations of city government and serve as an excellent "brush up" for existing councilmembers as to procedural matters, attendance require- ments, reporting requirements for your campaign expenses, etc., the Texas Open Meetings Law and other items that Scott Bounds, City Attorney may cover, in addition to all of the pending lawsuits, that by getting elected to the Council, a councilmember falls heir to. Mr. Pipes said he will give some insights into the budgeting process, our current financial situation, and a factual review of all of our departmental operations so that on the following Tuesday, April 14, the newly elected can jump right into all of these things we deal with on the Council and feel a little more at home. He said if this date conflicts, we could move to an alternate method of relaying this information, such as on a one to one basis with individual staff people. He felt however, that since there will be three new people, it may be better to schedule a Saturday for this. Mr. Pipes said he realizes there are already some calendar conflicts (Great Escape Race and opening of little league ball season). Councilmember Green asked if Mr. Pipes expects to cover the whole day. Mr. Pipes said 1114 will need until mid- afternoon. He said he does not have the agenda prepared as yet, however. He said an agenda will be posted for this meeting. Mr. Pipes said he will also present at that time a recap of the three or four analysis studies that have been done so that those councilmembers coming on who will be asked to make critical decisions on the expenditures of considerable amounts of money will be doing so with an expanded base of knowledge. He said this is the purpose of the orientation meeting. He said it is important that we get this behind us as we have some important meetings coming up in April and May. He asked everyone to check their calendars at this time, pending the outcome of the election, and we'll go from there on the llth. Fire Station No. 2-- Repainting Mr. Pipes asked the Council for their preference on the painting and signing of Fire Station No. 2, noting bide are being taken for this work now. He said they have specified it to be painted white, however, on the side CITY COUNCIL MINUTES MINUTES OF MARCH 17, 1987 1 BOOK "0" PAGE 861 of the building housing the fire trucks, it says Fire Station 2. He said it does not say City of Huntsville. He asked if the Council wished for it to be designated: City of Huntsville, Fire Station No. 2, or some other type designation on the facility, or would they like to leave it up to the staff (Fire Chief and City Manager) to decide. Mr. Pipes suggested white building and green letters. Those of the Council who express an opinion felt it should carry the City of Huntsville (with pine tree) designation along with Fire Station No. 2. MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT Jane Monday One Stop Center -- Submittal Process Mayor Monday advised the Council that Cindy Kellgren, Building Official, and her staff are continuing to refine the One Stop Center and have recently come up with a new submittal procedure to ease the development process. She said it is a tracking system to better define the one -stop shop submittal process, to put estimated time lines on each step and provide for continued communication with the developers so they are aware of the progress of their plans at all times. She said the major focus of this thing is that if there are any problems, the developer is notified at the very beginning instead of the end of the process, so they can be identified and resolved early. She said a copy of that tracking record is filed with one person, so a developer can call at any time to one person to get the status. She congratulated Cindy for her initiative in developing this procedur Councilmember Barrett also expressed his appreciation to Cindy for this new procedure. Recruitment Program- -Sam Houston State University -- Spring Semester Mayor Jane Monday advised the Council she is working with the Recruitment Office of SHSU in an active recruitment program. She asked everyone to mark their calendars for April 25, 1987 as being Spring Festival Day at Sam Houston. She said this particular program is called "Sam's Special Stars." She said a letter went on on Monday from Dr. Bowers and a letter from her as Mayor went out on Wednesday, inviting about 850 students to come to Sam Houston that day. She said the students were chosen based on academic achievement with a minimum score on their SAT of 1,000 and their ACT of 20 and invited them to come as our special guests. She said the whole thrust of the program is to have a coordinated effort in recruiting from both the faculty at Sam Houston from the community of Huntsville. She said we've invited the students and their parents to have lunch with us on that day and to let them know we'd love to have their students go to school here and talk Huntsville to them. When they go home, they will receive a letter from their sponsoring family and from the President. She said the effort will then focus on the Alumni that we recognized last year and ask them to write to one of these families to tell them about their experiences at Sam Houston and also encourage them to come here. She said she is excited about this three - pronged approach. She said she will be calling on the Council to assist with this effort on the 25th. COUNCIL ACTION Avenue I Street Condition at Railroad Crossing Councilmember Bell expressed his concern for the situation at this intersection (Avenue I with the RR track) noting several students have advised him of damages to their automobiles as they traversed this section of Avenue I. He said there is apparently a hole there and he asked that the city at least throw some asphalt in it. Mid -term Budget Session Councilmember Bell asked that a work session be scheduled in advance of the final approval of the mid year budget adjustments next year. He said several things got by him this time because of how speedily it was done. For one thing, he said, he feels it is important that the City of Huntsville sponsor a fireworks display on July 4. He said this was deleted from the budget last year and it was to be included at mid -year but it was not even discussed. He asked if it could be examined now to see if it could be included. Mr. Pipes advised he has visited with Dr. Jerry Etheredge, our official fireworks display volunteer operator, and he advised the same program the City produced last year for $2,500 would cost $2,750 this year. He said on March 24, there will be a special item on the agenda for the Council's consideration to add the fireworks funds to the budget if that is the Council's pleasure. Secondly, Councilmember Bell noted, since we have added several parks to our Parka and Recreation System, during the budget discussions, we talked about adding additional part -time people just to keep the grass mowed. He asked Mr. Pipes to evaluate the status of our parks staffing and whether or not the existing staff is adequate to keep all of the parks in good condition. Mr. Pipes said he would review the matter, but may not have an answe by the 24th of March. EMS Board Meeting Councilmember Gene Barrett advised he has attended his first EMS board meeting and he enjoyed it very much. He said he toured the EMS facility. He said he is very proud of what we have and the good job EMS is doing. RECESS TO WORK SESSION Engineering Analysis Report III -- Water - -Glenn Isbell, P. E. and staff.