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MIN CC 01/19/1982PAGE 185 - -BOOK N-- JANUARY 19, 1982 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 19TH DAY OF JANUARY, A.D., 1982 IN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 7:00 P.M. The Council met in regular session with the following members present: William V. Nash, Mayor Murray A. Brown Larry Corley. Jerry L. Dowling Bill Hodges Delora King Goree McGlothen Members absent: E. Larry Dickens Jane Monday The meeting was called to order by the Honorable William V. Nash, Mayor. The invocation was presented by the Reverend Thomas Holcomb of the First United Methodist Church. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Mayor Nash presented the minutes of the previous meeting of January 12, 1982 for the Council's considera- tion. Councilmember Corley made the motion to accept the minutes as presented and Councilmember McGlothen seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. ROBERT E. DE LONG JR. MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE Official Introduction and Administration of the Oath of Office to Judge De Long City Secretary, Ruth DeShaw, then administered the Oath of Office to the newly appointed Municipal Court Judge, Mr. Robert E. De Long, Jr. MAYOR'S REPORT Nomination of Mr. Valree Patrick to serve on the Housing Authority Board Mayor Nash then presented his nomination of Mr. Valree Patrick to serve out the unexpired term of Col. Ed Smith on the Huntsville Housing Authority Board. Councilmember King made the motion to accept the Mayor's appointment and Councilmember Dowling seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Commendation to City Staff Members Mayor Nash commended the city staff members for their efforts in organizing traffic assistance during the city's icey and snowy weather last week. He commended the City Manager for the extra hours he spent and the Utilities Department for keeping the city's water running during the freezing temperatures. He commended the Police and Fire Departments for their contributions during this time. He then read a letter from the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation, Resident Engineer's Office, Mr. Jerry Nemec, Resident Engineer which commended the city for their cooperative efforts with the SDHPT during the recent ice storm. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised citizens to wash the undercarriages of their vehicles so as to remove any salt accumula- tions from their vehicles as the City did use salt on tha streets to assist motorists in the icey conditions. ATTENDING CITIZENS Mr. George Phillips, Vice President of Mobile Home Industries and Mr. Bill Nail, Sign Builder The Council was presented with information of a sign ordinance violation at 420 Phelps Drive (Highway 190 -- Mobile Home Brokers). A memo from David Smith, City Engineer, noted the on- premise sign is in violation of City Ordinance No. 81 -40, Section 7 (e), "Height Limitation." The memo stated the sign is 28 feet high, which is 8 feet above the maximum allowable height of 20 feet. It relayed that no permit was obtained for erection of this sign and that on December 28, 1981, a "Courtesy Warning" citation was issued to the manager of the business informing him that the sign must be brought into compliance with the law within 10 days or a "real" citation would be issued and he would be subject to prosecution. Mr. Phillips noted upon checking in early summer, he learned there was no sign ordinance. He noted the the local sign builder did not get a permit. He noted the city's sign ordinance was passed on July 1, 1981 and it was about this same time that the sign was built. He noted no permit was needed before the sign was built, but right after it was built, a permit was required. He noted because of the Coburn building to the west of his property, the sign is as tall as it is, in addition to the curve of the hill and the merchandise on his property. He passed out pictures of his sign. Councilmember King asked if the city had a sign ordinance prior to noted the City has always had a permit procedure for putting up a sign. thing to do is to refer this matter back to the staff and let them come next week, considering the various points brought out, He noted the clause in them and this may apply here. July 1, 1981. Mr. Pipes, the City Manager Mayor Nash felt the most appropriate to the Council with a recommendation by City's ordinances have a "grandfather" ORDINANCES Ordinance No. 82 -2 -- Consider calling an election to select at -large councilmembers and consideration of various Charter Amendments The caption of the ordinance under consideration is as follows: &t.%) OWL 100 1.111 LUUIV. 1. I'UIYUI LJ-- ur.IVUmIYI IJ, Iuu, AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, ORDERING A MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON THE 3RD DAY OF APRIL, 1982, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ELECTING FOUR COUNCIL- MEN FROM THE RESPECTIVE AT -LARGE POSITIONS ONE, TWO, THREE, AND FOUR, AND FOR THE FURTHER PURPOSE OF VOTING ON FIFTEEN PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CITY CHARTER OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS; PROVIDING FOR ELECTION OFFICERS; DESIGNATING THE PLACES AND MANNER OF HOLDING SAID ELECTION; AND PROVIDING FOR THE POSTING AND PUBLICATION OF NOTICE. Mayor Nash requested that the Council review the Charter Amendments as revised late this afternoon before taking action on the ordinance. Councilmember Dowling made the motion to adopt the Charter Amendments, most recently drafted late this afternoon and Councilmember Hodges seconded the motion. Discussion Mayor Nash noted Councilmember Monday's preference to delete the words ". . . he is not prepared, . II from Amendment One, Section 4.09, paragraph 2. Councilmember Brown made the motion to delete those words and Councilmember Dowling seconded the motion. All were in favor and Amendment One's amendment passed unanimously. Councilmember King expressed her opposition to placing Amendment Two on the ballot, however, no motions were made to delete it. (Amendment Two requires the Mayor to vote.) Councilmember Dowling made the motion to delete the words " . and no member shall be less than 21 years olds' from Amendment Five, Section 4.02, first paragraph and Councilmember King seconded the motion. Council - members Brown, Corley, Hodges, McGlothen and Mayor Nash voted against this motion and Councilmembers Dowling and King voted for the amendment. The amendment therefore failed to pass. Councilmember King made the motion to delete the last six lines of Section 4.14, first paragraph, Amendment Six, which reads: "Every ordinance shall be introduced in written or printed form, and, upon passage, shall take effect at the time indicated therein. Except as otherwise provided in this charter, it shall not be necessary to the validity of any ordinance that it shall be considered at more than one session of the City Council." The motion did not receive a second and therefore died on the floor. Therefore, these two sentences will remain in the Section, however, Councilmember Dowling requested that the City Attorney revise the state- ment 11. . that it shall be 'considered' at more than one sessions' to read ". . . that it shall be 'passed' at more than one session." The friendly amendment received no opposition. Councilmember Brown made the motion to delete the words ss. . . for five days or more . . from Section 4.13, first paragraph, Amendment Eight. Councilmember Corley seconded the motion. Councilmembers Brown, Corley and King voted in favor of this amendment, however, Councilmembers Dowling, Hodges, McGlothen and Mayor Nash voted against the motion. The motion, therefore, failed to carry. City Attorney, Scott Bounds suggested amending Amendment Eight, Section 4.13, second paragraph to add the words ss. . . or by personal service . . (regarding giving notice to suspended employee about the hearing). Councilmember Dowling made the motion to add these words and Councilmember Hodges seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Councilmember Brown made the motion to add the word ". . working . " to Amendment Eight, Section 4.13 first paragraph, to define further the five days as being working days and Councilmember Hodges seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Nash then called for a vote on the original motion to adopt the Charter Amendments as amended above. Councilmembers Brown, Corley, Dowling, Hodges, Mc lothen and Mayor Nash voted for the motion; however, Council- member King voted opposed to the motion, noting she is opposed to one of the amendments contained therein. The motion, however, passed to accept the fifteen amendments presented. Councilmember Brown then made the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 82 -2 which officially calls the election and Councilmember Dowling seconded the motion. Councilmembers Brown, Corley, Dowling, Hodges, McGlothen and Mayor Nash voted in favor of the motion; however, Councilmember King voted opposed to the motion, again noting she objects to one of the amendments contained therein. The motion, however, passes, although the ordinance will require a second reading before it can become final. The second reading is scheduled for January 27, 1982. PENDING ITEMS Dr. Thomas C. Cole's Building Setback Problem Gene Pipes, City Manager, recommended to the Council that they authorize the City to sell to Dr. Cole, at fair market value, a small strip of land adjacent to 12th Street sufficient to preclude his encroachment within the setback line. Councilmember Hodges made the motion to allow the City Administration to offer for sale to Dr. Cole this small strip of property at a fair market value and Councilmember McGlothen seconded the motion. Councilmember Brown offered an amendment to the motion that it be subject to the city utilities not being in this area. Councilmembers Hodges and McGlothen accepted the amendment. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Council Rules Summary Mayor Nash then presented to the Council a copy of Council Rules for the conduct of the Council Meetings. He noted he was not requesting any action on the rules at this time but suggested they be followed fora trial period and that they be subject to changes in the coming weeks as the trial period may dictate. Architectural and Economic Revitalization of Downtown Business District Study Mayor.Nash then presented for consideration an agreement with Texas A &M University to conduct a study of the architectural and economic revitalization of our downtown business district. He noted the study would be funded jointly by the City, businessmen and private contributions. Mr. Nash noted action on this agreement is needed as soon as possible because Texas A &M's school term has already begun. Mayor Nash noted too that as discussed in the Council's worksession of last week, it is the Council's desire to ascertain from officials at Sam Houston State University their interest in performing this study. Dr. James R. DeShaw, Director of Faculty Research and Grants, was present to represent the University and to answer any questions the Council may have. He indicated to the Council that Sam Houston would be happy to review the project as it may apply to the expertise of its faculty members but noted the time limitation of three days did not allow the University much time for this bvaluation. Mayor Nash requested that Sam Houston provide their response in time for Council's consideration in their next formal meeting of January 26, 1982. Mayor Nash noted the contract amount of the Texas A &M Proposal is $15,317. He noted Councilmember Monday has advised that the Chamber of Commerce Tourist Division may have $4,000 available for this program and that • the Gibbs Brothers have indicated they will make a donation to the project. He noted there are other downtown merchants who would want to contribute also. He noted the maximum commitment of the City would be $15,317 and this amount would be reduced by the amount of the gifts received for the project. He anticipated the City's contribution would not exceed $6,000 or $7,000 or perhaps less than that. It was then noted $11,500 should remain of the originally set aside $27,000 for the feasibility study for the Cultural Activities Center as the bill for that study was $15,500. The city's funding for this project then, could be taken from these Revenue Sharing funds. (In the contract the City has with the Chamber of Commerce, it provides that the full 4% hotel -motel tax revenues will be funded to the Tourist Council for its projects provided that it funds from those monies, the normal funding for the Huntsville Arts Commission, in the amount of some $27,000. The Council agreed at that time they would use up to $27,000 Revenue Sharing monies for the feasibility study -- $27,000 - $15,500 = $11,500.) Mr. Nash noted, however, that those funds were not actually set aside so they would only be available then as carry - forward funds, according to City Manager, Gene Pipes. Councilmember Brown made the motion to table action on this contract until next week and Councilmember King seconded the motion. All were in favor and the .motion passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT 1 1 1 1 aw, City Secretary January 19, 1982