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MIN CC 01/10/1984!INUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 10TH DAY OF JANUARY, 1984 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 At- large, position 4 At- large, position 1 At- large, position 3 Ward 2 At- large, position 2 Ward 3 Ward 1 Ward 4 The meeting was called to order by the Honorable William V. Nash, Mayor. The Council then adjourned to an Executive Session to discuss pending litigation: Embessi Vs. French; J. B. Nelson Vs. City; Singleton Vs. TDHPT; Ortiz Vs. Lightning Construction; and HNB -FNB Vs. Appraisal District. a 7:00 P.M. RECONVENE INTO REGULAR SESSION Invocation The invocation was presented by Reverend Ron Sumter of the First Christian Church. Consider the Minutes of the Previous Meetings Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve the City Council Meeting Minutes of December 13 and 16, 1983 and Councilmember Corley seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Attending Citizens Dr. Mary Frances Park, Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr. Park presented the activities of the Planning Commission for the month of December, 1983 and January, 1984. She presented a summary sheet indicating the actions taken by the Commission in these meetings for the Council's information. Mr. James White, Leaky Pipe of Houston Mr. White presented a film as a way of introducing his irrigation system which he proposes for installation in the Huntsville area, which is a subsurface type irrigation system consisting of a rubber pipe made from used rubber automobile tires which takes the form of a flexible, porous rubber hose. It was noted this product was presented to the Board of Adjustments and Appeals of the City, but that no action by them had been taken. The Council urged Mr. White to seek state certification of his product so that it could be included in the state's plumbing code which is the code adopted by most cities in Texas. The Council felt that with this state certifi- cation, Mr. White should have no problem getting his product approved for use in Texas cities. (Mr. Pipes noted the plumbing code presently requires irrigation pipes to be PVC Schedule 40. He said the Board of Adjustments and Appeals could recommend to the Council that the City changes its codes, or the allowance for this type of irrigation pipe could be acquired from the state plumbing board and included in the state plumbing code.) Mayor Nash asked Mr. White to present this information back to the Board of Adjustments and Appeals and to supply this board with more technical information. He asked the staff to get in touch with the state plumbing board to find out what their objection would be to its use in the plumbing code. Mr. Nash also asked Mr. White to provide the city staff with a list of cities in Texas or elsewhere who are currently using his product. He noted the Council would look forward to some recommendation from the Board of Adjustments and Appeals before it would attempt to make a decision on this matter. A colleague of Mr. White's injected that their product has been approved by the Texas Board of Irrigators out of Austin. Mr. White noted he has not approached the Texas Board of Plumbing Examiners. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT - -GENE PIPES Appointment of Medical Director on City Staff -- Dr. Darrel Wells Mr. Pipes advised the Council that state law requires that the Emergency Medical Service operation be supervised by an M.D. and that he be designated as the Medical Director. Mr. Pipes said Dr. Wells, the Emergency Room Physician in Huntsville Memorial Hospital has consented to accept the responsibility of the Medical Director for the EMS. He noted in order to maximize the insurance protection that is afforded within the city organiza- tion, the City needs to add Dr. Wells to the city staff as Medical Director so that he is fully under the umbrella of the insurance protection of the city's insurance plan. He noted the city's budget will need to be adjusted at the quarterly budget adjustment to reflect this additional personnel allocation. He said the County of Walker will half the expenses of this position, just as they have the expenses of the EMS Service. He noted this was not an envisioned change, but has come about because of state law. Tarpaulin Covering on Trucks - -New State Law The Council was also advised by the City Manager, Gene Pipes, that effective January 1, 1984, a new state law went into effect requiring tarpaulins for all of the city's dump trucks and vehicles of any type carrying 1 materials, not only on state highways and roads, but on any street in the city. He noted this was not a budgeted I item. He said tarpaulins were purchased for city trucks that will be carrying materials of any type (rock, dirt, brush, limbs, anything that is loose). He noted all funds available in minor tools were expended to pur- ■ chase these tarpaulins. He noted the Council will be seeing some fund requests in the quarterly budget transfers . to replenish those minor tools accounts since it is so early in the year for this particular account to be de- pleted. Mr. Pipes noted this law applies to "all trucks," and not only governmental trucks. Lawsuit: FNB & HNB Vs. Appraisal District Regarding Valuation Notice Mr. Pipes apprised the Council of this suit. He noted there will be further information developed on this suit. Elevated Water Storage Tower- -Slide Show The Council then viewed a slide show from day one to present regarding the construction of the two million gallon elevated water storage tower presently being built. PAGE 365 -- BOOK "N" -- CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF JANUARY 10, 1984 i65 1 1 COLD SPELL TICKLER FILE CITY JUDGE'S VISIT JUNIOR CAREERS SOLICITORS the returns of the bond election. Councilmember Brown suggested canvassing the returns on January 21 at 8:00 P.M. The Council agreed to not meet on January 24 and to meet instead on the evening of January 21 at 8:00 P.M. for the purpose of canvassing the election returns. The next formal meeting then would be on January 31, 1984. Councilmember Dowling commended the city staff for getting Huntsville through the cold spell without major problems regarding city services. The City Manager discussed some of the battles fought by the city crews during this time in an effort to keep everything functioning. He noted the exployees of the Public Utilities Division did a fine job to make sure our utilities did not freeze up like they did in some other communities. Councilmember Dowling also commended GSU and Entex for keeping everyone comfortable. Councilmember Dowling expressed his appreciation for having the tickler file regarding items taken under advisement for the past year. Councilmember Dowling reminded the Council that it has been suggested earlier that Municipal Court Judge, Robert DeLong visit the Council Meeting to give the Council an update on the operation of the Municipal Court. He indicated he hoped to see this item on the agenda in the near future. Gene Pipes noted as soon as Judge DeLong's schedule meets with the Council's, he will be a major topic on the Council agenda. Councilmember Dowling noted he has again been contacted by the Junior Careers solicitors and he inquired as to their permit. It was noted the group from Pasadena, Texas, still has not acquired the proper permits, but another locally organized group did acquire solicitor's permits. LANDSCAPING ORDINANCE Councilmember Dowling asked if the Landscaping Ordinance applied to Used Car Lots. Mr. Pipes noted he would check on the status of this. DRIVEWAYS ALONG I -45 Councilmember Dowling noted the driveway to the new Chrysler -Dodge Dealership on the I -45 Feeder Road is right off of the off ramp from the interstate. He felt this could be potentially a four -way intersection. Mr. Bob Morphew, Building Inspector, noted the SDHPT does review and approve those driveways just off the interstate. Councilmember Dowling felt this is a potentially dangerous situation. Couniclmember Brown indicated he felt we should write a letter to the SDHPT asking them to review this particular off ramp, noting it would be safer if it were located 500 yards south of where it is now. Mr. Pipes noted before the Highway Department moves this off ramp, it would probably move to designate one -way traffic on the feeder road. Mayor Nash asked the City Manager to get this letter written to the SDHPT. Mr. Pipes noted he thinks our former City Engineer, David Smith, has written this letter, but he said he would follow up on this. COLD SPELL PROCEDURES Councilmember Monday asked that Boyd Wilder, Director of Public Utilities, make a review of the procedures which occurred during the cold spell with the idea of taking whatever actions are necessary now to alleviate similar problems should this happen again. ELECTION PUBLICITY WORKSESSIONS DATA BASE COMMITTEE Councilmember Monday asked that the proper notification be given the citizens through the news media regarding where they go to vote, the hours of voting, etc. Councilmember Monday asked that work sessions be scheduled on some of the topics mentioned during 1983 and then let the Council prioritize what they would like to have scheduled for 1984. Mayor Nash advised the Council he has asked the Data Base Committee of the Planning Commission to make a report to the Council regarding the status of Huntsville, its growth, its expansion, etc. according to the current indicators. ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted, ut'h DeShaw, City Secretary January 10, 1984