MIN CC 11/17/1987MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 17, 1987 COUNCIL MEETING
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MINUTES Of THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 17TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1987 IN THE HUNTSVILLE
CITY HALL COUNCIL 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
James L. Carter
Ila G. Gaines
William B. Green
Percy Howard, Jr.
William H. Knotts, Jr.
Member absent: William L. Hammock
City Officers Present:
Gene Pipes, City Manager
Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary
Scott Bounds, City Attorney
FORMAL MEETING
Mayor Jane Monday called the meeting to order.
CONSIDER ORDINANCE
Consider Ordinance No. 87 -38 concerning claim and delivery -- certificates of obligation to John Henry
Niederhofer. Jr. at 7.3 percent interest for four years in the principal amount of $53.000 for the
Sanitation Department. as planed in the FY 1986 -87 budget.
Gene Pipes, City Reneger, advised the staff ordered the dump truck_ for the Sanitation Department
last spring because of the length of time for delivery. He presented the low bid of John Henry
Niederhofer, Jr. in the amount of 7.3 percent, as captioned above, noting that four other bids were
received, ranging from 8.6 to 11.75 percent. He then recommended the award of this bid to Mr.
Niederhofer. He then presented this ordinance, the caption of which is as follows:
ORDINANCE NO. 87 -38
AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, EQUIPMENT
ACQUISITION CERTIFICATE OF OBLIGATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $53,000; AND CONTAINING
OTHER PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT.
Councilmember Barrett made the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 87 -38 and Councilmember Howard seconded the
motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unaninously.
EMERGENCY ITEM
Consider authorization to award contract for repair of the City's warehouse located at the Service Center
on Highway 75 North. which was damaged by the recent storm. (NATURE OF EMERGENCY: To prevent damage to
the city's inventory being stored within the warehouse.)
Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised the Council that the severe storm that visited Huntsville
approximately 7:10 A.M. on Monday, November 16, 1987, brought with it a tornado that heavily damaged the
City's warehouse. He said preliminary estimates of the damage to the building were suggested at $10,000,
however, he feels certain that when all damage is finally realized, this cost will be well in excess of
that amount. Mr. Pipes noted the damaged building was one of the most structurally strong buildings, in
terms of steel skeleton and design. He said it took a direct hit by the tornado on the southwest corner.
MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 17, 1987 COUNCIL MEETING
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He noted several fiberglas manhole covers were sucked up and deposited several hundred feet away on the
back end of the property heading toward the Wynne Unit. He said it hit high enough on the building that
it did not pick up anything else.
Mr. Pipes requested a $2,000 authorization for C ill Construction Company (Mr. Doug Sanders) to
put a $2,000 temporary roof on the warehouse portion of the facility. He said the inventory in the
warehouse had been covered up as much as possible during the storm, but if we were to receive another
severe rain during the next six weeks or two months (construction time), we could suffer additional damage
to 1/3 of this building, which is completely finished out with sheetrock, office space, records, storage,
etc. He advised the insurance estimator from GAB Insurance Services, Inc. of Conroe reviewed the site
yesterday and today and met with several interested contractors on site. He said the solution is to
authorize the $2,000 expenditure for the weatherproofing, as much as possible, of this area while we get a
structural engineer (Mr. Larry Lassiter, who has worked with us in the pest) to came in to evaluate the
damage and prescribe, by a written set of specifications, what actually needs to be repaired. He said it
is very difficult to take bids on a public project like this when no one really knows the full extent of
the damage until we take away all of the damaged parts. He said there are some good size structural
pieces that are twisted, bent and probably cannot be made to function in the building. He said the
building is insured with a 52,500 deductible, but all other reasonable repair costs will be the
responsibility of the insurance company. He said this temporary top on the warehouse portion will get the
city back into the safe zone from further damage occurring in the meantime.
He said the city has also lost total electrical power in this building because the tornado hit on
the side of the building where the primary feed came in (this is the part torn away). He said it is
extremely risky to restore power there until the electrician works through the whole thing. He said the
city will probably contract for that work separately. He said this feed may be moved to a beck corner or
somewhere else on the building so we can work through it and have power to the building while the rest of
— the repair work is being done. —
Councilmember Green made the motion to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with C
& B Construction Company in the amount of 52.000 to put a temporary cover over the damaged building. which
is a reimbursable expense from the insurance company and Councilmenber Barrett seconded the motion. All
were in favor of the motion and it passed unanimously.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
Calendar -- Mr. Pipes presented a calendar for the next several months showing council meetings and
other city related activities, and the dates of his planned vacation time, for their information.
Monthly Sales Tax Report -- Mr. Pipes advised the November figures are in at 5202,607.60, which is up
(approximately 17,800) from the previous six years' November figures and these figures reflect Septenber
sales. He noted November figures reflect a quarterly tax payment for some of the smaller sales tax
customers. He said this represents a substantial increase for the calendar year, but we are still 2%
behind. He said these figures would still not reflect the new, broadened state sales taxes that went into
effect October 1. He noted the taxes will be over a broader base, therefore, there will be more revenue
coming to the city.
City's Annual Picnic Costs -- Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised last year's picnic cost $2,298.80 and
this year, we spent 52,358.00, which is slightly higher because of changes made in the food, etc. He said
this year we had 1814 in longevity service awards. He said there were at least 300 people in attendance.
Respectfully s . fitted,
Adjournment — u 'e w
City Secretary
November 17, 1987