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MIN CC 08/02/1983MINUTES.fF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE+END DAY OF AUGUST 11:8., 1983 iN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL `CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 6:30 P.M. The Council met in regular session with the following members present: William V. Nash, Mayor Murray A. Brown Larry Corley Stephen E. Davis Jerry L. Dowling Bill Hodges Percy Howard, Jr. Jane Monday Bob Tavenner .Executive Session The Council met in executive session to discuss pending legal matters: Nelson Vs. City and Mackey Vs. City and personnel matters. No formal action was taken by the Council in this session. FORMAL MEETING Mayor Nash then called the meeting for the formal agenda open and the invocation was presented by Reverend Gary McCormick of the First Christian Church. CONSIDER THE MiNUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting of July 26, 1983 and Councilmember Corley seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. ATTENDING CITIZEN Ms. D'Anne Crews of the Huntsville Arts Commission Regarding Request for Arts in FY 1983 -1984 Budget Ms. Crews described in brief some of the programs and projects of the Commission planned for the new year. She noted the new budget request reflects the Commission's very best judgement based upon economic as well as aesthetic considerations. She noted costs have increased in the area of royalties and personnel and this year is the first time the Commission recommends an increase since the inception of these activities since 1977. She noted the Commission also recommends setting aside a small sum to be allocated for programs in the arts which may be developed later during the fiscal year. She noted the Commission requests $36,500 for FY 1983 -1984 and noted this is slightly more than the current projected figures for 1% of the hotel -motel tax. She asked the Council's consideration is making available from Revenue Sharing Funds the amount that may be required to meet the $36,500 figure, should the hotel -motel taxes not be available to them at this level. The Mayor noted the Council will review this when it studies the budget. Mr. Pipes noted the tourism budget has been adjusted down- ward due to the trend now evident in the tourism industry and he did not project any dramatic change in this Irituation in the new year. He di4 note, however, that additional motel rooms are being built and this may add the income in this area. He noted it is projected that there will be $90,000 budgeted for tourism and $30,000 geted for arts. He noted too the Revenue Sharing budget is extremely tight and said there is practically othing there to allocate. He said the carry forward this year is the smallest ever. He said, however, that the mid -year adjustments will give us a great deal better picture of our income. PUBLIC HEARING Designation of City Limits of Huntsville as a Blighted Area to Permit Issuance of Industrial Revenue Bonds To Finance Commercial development Mayor Nash noted that the City posted a notice of public hearing and that proper legal notices have been published in the local newspaper in this regard. He then called the public hearing to order. He introduced the subject by stating the last legislature passed a law which comes into effect September 1, 1983 changing the designations to allow that an area can be either designated a "blighted" area or a "development" area. He said the criteria for a blighted area includes a relationship of the unemployed, stating it is not expected that the City would comply with that particular designation of a "blighted" area; therefore, under the new law, Huntsville will come under the definition of a "development" area. He said until September 1, however, we will be using the word "blighted" area until the law takes effect. He then asked if anyone was present who would like to speak to this issue. Paul Williams, Development Solutions, Inc., a Corporate Financial Advisory Firm, Marshall, Texas. Mr. Williams spoke on behalf of a group of local investors who wou'ld like to be the first organized group to try to use this type of financing under this new program. He noted this program was just made available in Texas in 1979. He noted in 1981, it became available for commercial projects in Texas. He noted SB 105 will take effect Septem- ber 1 and will change the program a little more. He requested that the Council designate the city to fall under the requirements of the Texas Industrial Commission to allow industrial revenue bond financing to be used for commercial projects. He said there are 92 counties who have designated their entire county; 20 cities who have designated their entire city; and there are 60 who have designated portions. He said the Texas industrial Commission has stated that any of these designations passed this next month will be grandfathered and will be in effect for a year until the Council has the opportunity to come back and change the designation. Roy Williams, Executive Vice President, Huntsville - Walker County Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Williams noted his concern for the overall economic betterment of this area and reinforced the statements already made. He said if the Council provides this designation so that commercial entities can finance/their facilities through indus- trial revenue bonds, the City will be taking a positive step towards this economic betterment. He noted relative to 18 months ago, our unemployment rate has practically doubled. He said our household effective buying income continues to lag behind the state average by about $5,000, indicating the underemployment that exists here in Huntsville. He noted substandard housing and commercial buildings exist throughout our community, all indicating Cneed for redevelopment and the need to provide incentives to the private sector to remedy these situations. said he believes this action will further foster a climate in this community that is conducive to business to vide some jobs and payrolls which are essentially vital to the people in our community and the governmental entities which rely on these individuals and businesses for their tax base. He noted this action will encourage -development inside the city limits rather than on the fringes, thus adding to the tax base and facilitating the planning process. He noted the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors endorsed the request of the Walker County Industrial Development Corporation, that the City designate the entire City as a blighted area to allow the use of industrial revenue bond financing of commercial projects. There were no further comments from the public, so Mayor Nash then closed the public hearing. He then moved to the Resolution which will make this designation. RESOLUTION NO. 83 -10 A RESOLUTION BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, DESIGNATING THE ENTIRE AREA OF THE CITY AS AN ELIGIBLE BLIGHTED OR ECONOMICALLY_DEPRESSED AREA UNDER THE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ACT OF 1979, AS AMENDED, AND THE RULES AND REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE TEXAS INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION, MAKING FINDINGS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH: AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Councilmember Corley made the motion to approve and adopt Resolution No. 83 -10 and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. Councilmembers Hodges, Tavenner and Monday advised they would be abstaining from voting on this resolution due to a conflict of interest. Councilmember Dowling voted against the Resolution. Councilmember Corley, Howard, Davis, Brown and Mayor Nash voted for the motion. The motion to adopt Resolution No. 83 -10 designating Huntsville as an eligible blighted or economically depressed area passed by a vote of five to one with three abstentions. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT - -Gene Pipes TDC Contract - -EMS Services Gene Pipes advised the Council that progress is still being made on the review of a possible contract with TDC for EMS services through the Huntsville - Walker County EMS. He noted a draft contract will be brought to the Council in September for their review: ELMUD Contract -- Expansion of South Sewer Plant Gene Pipes noted in March of 1983, the South Sewer Plant expansion project was initiated. He noted it will be doubling in capacity because of Huntsville's needs. He said the original contracts we have with ELMUD have become somewhat dated because of the references to capacity and formulas. He said the City is meeting with the ELMUD Board to draft updated contracts for the consideration of the Council and the entire ELMUD Board at some tine in the near future. Shady Lane Water and Sewer Facilities Gene Pipes noted in reference to this item on the agenda, the proposed project for city participation envisioned a sewer line to serve one side of the street of Shady Lane (6 -7 houses) and a two inch loop water line. He noted the problem with water on Shady Lane has historically been the first 200 -300 feet of the line off of Highway 19 which suffers major difficulty. He noted Mr. Wilder, Director of Public Utilities, noted this could be solved by changing this 2 inch water line and oversizing it to a 6 inch and thereby being able to extend water down Shady Lane to provide fire protection at some future time. He noted this is an opportune time to straighten out a long- standing problem. He then provided the Council with an updated memo which noted it will require an increase of city money in the amount of $2,588.90 to oversize this line to a 6 inch size and solve the problem. He noted funds are available in the capital projects (water and sewer) fund. Mayor Nash then moved thisitem up for immediate consideration from its position later on the agenda. Councilmember Brown made the motion to approve this project and the oversizing of the two inch line to a six inch line and to award the low bid to Crawford Construction Company in the amount of 523,033.84 with the City's share in the participation formula for oversizing to be 514,868.07. Councilmember Monday seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. SOILS TESTING Contract with East Texas Testes Laboratories, Inc. for Soils Testing and Evaluation in the HUD - -New Addition Area Mayor Nash presented the staff's recommendation to award a contract to East Texas Testing Laboratories, Inc. in the amount of 54,500 for soils testing and evaluation in the HUD - -New Addition area. Councilmember Corley made the motion to award the bid to this company in this amount and Councilmember Dowling seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. It was noted these funds will come out of grant funds from HUD. IMPROVE ROSENWALL ROAD Consider Proposal from Parker & Park Realty, Developers of Northgate Meadows Subdivision, to Improve Rosenwall Rd: Mayor Nash then presented a proposal from Parker & Park Realty, developers of Northgage Meadows Subdivision, to widen and improve Rosenwall Road through the City to FM 2821 in a joint venture-cost sharing plan, to include 518,000 for rock as the City's share; $6,000 for rock as the developer's cost; with all labor and machinery pro- vided by Walker County Precinct 1 Commissioner, Wayne Hooks. Councilmember Brown made the motion to approve this 518,000 for rock as the City's share and Councilmember Corley seconded the notion. Councilmember Dowling voted opposed to this motion. Councilmembers Monday, Corley, Hodges, Howard, Davis, Tavenner, Brown and Mayor Nash voted in favor of the motion; it therefore passed by a vote of 8 to 1. TELEPHONE CHARGES CONSULTANT Consider a proposal by Amtel Consulting Company of Houston to review the City's telephone charges Mayor Nash then presented this proposal to the Council, noting that this company would be paid on a recovery fee basis. Councilmember Dowling noted that he feels it would be appropriate that when this consultant finds mistakes, etc. that they provide whatever report they file with the City to the Texas Public Utilities Commission. Councilmember Corley made the motion to approve this concept and award the consultant contract to Amtel Consult- ing Company of Houston on a recovery fee basis and Councilmember Monday seconded he motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. COUNCIL AUDIT. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION Councilmember Corley noted he and Councilmembers Brown, Howard and Tavenner net to review two proposals to do the City's audit for the coming year. He noted the Committee recommends awarding the proposal for a three year period, with a set amount for the first year and the cost for the second and third year not to exceed 5% or the national deflation rate. He noted it is the committee's recommendation to a.ard the contract to Breidenthal & Reynolds for three years in the amount of $14,750 for the first year and at a cost for the second and third year as noted above. Councilmember Brown made the motion to approve the Committee's recommendation and Councilmember Monday seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT William V. Nash, Mayor Appointment of City Secretary TO IIMC State Legislative Committee Mayor Nash noted the City Secretary, Ruth DeShaw, has just received notice of her appointment by the IIMC President to the IIMC State Legislative Committee from Region IV, which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, 0 ouisiana and Mississippi, for 1983 -1984. He noted she is requesting the Council's approval of her committee sionment. Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of this committee assignment and Councilmember rley seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion _passed unanimously. Library Board Appointments Mayor Nash then made the following nominations of persons to serve on the Library Board, for the Council's consideration and approval: Mrs. Florence Dodd Mr. Don Baker is rotating off the board Mrs. Elizabeth Anderson Mrs. Marge Rex is rotating off the board He noted these terms commence July 1 and continue for three years, expiring on July 1, 1986. Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of these two new appointments for three year terms and Councilmember Corley seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Huntsville Housing Authority -- Mr. Nash noted he still has one more appointment to make to this board and he will probably have a recommendation by the next meeting for the Council's consideration. He noted Mrs. Winnie Simon is continuing to serve in this position until her replacement can be appointed. Fireworks & Christmas Decorations Councilmember Brown HEAP Annie Ticket Price Councilmember Brown OAP Production of Annie Councilmember Dowling Former Ward 2 Councilmember Councilmember Dowling COUNCIL ACTION Noted in conversations he had recently with members of the community, it was suggested that in order to improve and increase the fireworks display and perhaps fund the christmas decorations needed for Huntsville, that $1.00 could be added to the water bills each month in order to establish a fund for these needs. He also noted something needs to be done with the July 4 traffic problem at the fairgrounds after the fireworks display concludes. He noted he has some idea about this which he plans to share with the Police Chief, David Farrar. expressed his appreciation to Linda Pease for the explanation she provided regarding the increased costs this year for the HEAP production of Annie. reminded those present that the production of Annie would begin on Thursday evening, August 4 and continue through Saturday evening. He encouraged everyone to attend. advised the Council and those interested that his predecessor, Councilman Wayne Daigle (SHSU Women's Softball Coach) is leaving Huntsville to move to Lincoln, Nebraska. He noted he is sure the Council and city staff wish him well as he advances upward and outward in the softball world. ADJOURNMENT TO WORK SESSION The Council then adjourned into a work session as posted. Res.ectfully submitted, uth DeShaw, City Secre ary August 2, 1983 a- .