MIN CC 02/28/1984MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 28TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1984 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 meeting was called to order by the Honorable William V. Nash, Mayor. The following members of
Council were in attendance at this regular meeting of the Council:
William V. Nash, Mayor
Murray A. Brown
Larry Corley
Stephen E. Davis
Percy Howard, Jr.
Jane Monday
Bob Tavenner
Members absent . Jerry L. Dowling
Bill Hodges
City Officers
Gene Pipes, City Manager
Scott Bounds, City Attorney
Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary
Robert DeLong, City Judge
The invocation was presented by Mr. Ray Black, Parks and Recreation Superintendent of the City of Huntsville,
on behalf of Calvary Baptist Church.
CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Councilmember Corley made the motion to approve the City Council Meeting Minutes of February 21, 1984 and
Councilmember Monday seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.
ATTENDING CITIZENS
Mr.
Jaws Patton representing the Walker County Historical Commission, to address the Council regarding their
recent request for tax exempt status for the Walker County Museum
Meyor Nash noted Mr. Patton advised the City he would not be able to appear before the Council tonight.
Mr. Nash noted, however, he would use this time to indicate his current recommendation regarding this request.
Mayor Nash noted the Council is very supportive of the museum project and hopes to see it developed fully, and
it is not their intention to be a stumbling block in this effort. He noted the City Council hopes to meet every-
one's wishes in this regard, but to do it in accordance with the state statutes which govern the tax exempt
status while at the same time not set a precedent contrary to the desires of the Council regarding other pro-
perty in the city. After a brief explanation of the existing statutes, Mayor Nash requested the staff to bring
back to the Council for consideration next week, an interlocal agreement for a one year period, between the
City and the Historical Commission, that would provide time for the Commission to receive the Texas Historical
Landmark designation for the Powell house. He noted upon receipt of such landmark designation within that year,
then this Council would enter into or issue an ordinance that would speak to that specific building that receives
that specific landmark designation and make the exemption as provided by the statutes. He asked that this inter -
local agreement, and the ordinance which would be considered at some later date, include within them a rovision
that provides for rreeca t�ure of those taxes that are being exempted, should that property revert back to t
original owner, or to the continue owner, the Ben Powell estate. Mayor Nash noted according to the agreement
between the County of Walker and the Ben Powell Estate, the Ben Powell Estate can recall that property upon a
thirty day notice. He noted because they can do this, they could sell it to some other entity for a profit basis.
He felt it would, therefore, be appropriate to include a recapture agreement in our documents, in anticipation
of this development, so that the taxes that had been exempted would accrue to the City for some appropriate time
-- either the total time, or if that is considered unreasonable, for a period of some two years that would there-
fore not permit a private entity to take advantage of the exemption given, in such a situation as this.
Mayor Nash noted this is just his recommendation and he then invited the comments and suggestions of the
Council. Councilmember Corley noted he concurs with this plan. Councilmember Tavenner noted he would like to
see this item resolved next week. The Council seemed to indicate their general concurrence with this plan of
action. The staff was then so directed to proceed along these lines for the handling of this request.
Mr. Joe Larrison, Manager of Entex, Inc. to present Entex's cost -of- service increase information
Mayor Nash recognized Mr. Larrison and the former Manager of Entex, Mr. Chester Powell. Mr. Larrison
advised the Council that Entex is asking for an increase of 52¢ per month per customer on the minimum bill. He
noted this minimum bill is now $6.70 and with the increase, it would be $7.22 per month. He noted an average
bill for the Huntsville area is 7,000 cubic feet which would cost, at the present rate, $44.33; however, with
the rate increase, after April 1, 1984, it would cost $44.85 - -an increase of .0117 %. He noted because of the
recent decreases in the gas cost adjustment, this would mean, even with the 52¢ increase, a reduction in the
average gas bills of $3.32 based on last year's rate.
Mayor Nash asked Mr. Larrison if people on fixed incomes would get a break in the cost of gas if they used
less, or if their rate structure was so set that one only got a break if he was a heavy user; noting is there
any incentive to use less gas. Mr. Larrison noted most people on fixed incomes, our older Americans, are pretty
hig gas users because they require a warmer home. He noted this is one of the reasons for putting the cost of
service on the minimum bill, because that way the cost increase affects them the least amount. He noted it
costs the customer that uses less gas more, percentagewise. He noted when you're building into a rate, there has
to be some allowable to get your 52¢ per month per customer. He said if this rate increase in meshed into the
higher steps (greater usage), it is going to affect the senior citizens more due to the fact that they are large
consumers of gas. Mr. Larrison noted Entex does not have "time of day" rates but strives to have an adequate
supply of gas to supply all of the people anytime—IFey wanted to use it. Mr. Larrison stated building the
rate increase into the minimum bill is the best solution for the lower income person because lower income people
do use more gas. Councilmember Davis surmised that if the cost is built into the higher cubic feet consumption,
area, the cost would not be 52¢ but a higher schedule because of the fact that some people would be dropped out
of the rate increase if they were low consumption users. Mayor Nash noted these questions need to be asked each
time a rate increase comes before the Council because it is their intention to hold down rates for those on low
or fixed incomes. Councilmember Corley noted this is the Council's approach for all utilities, including
Telecable, the telephone company, etc. He commended Mr. Larrison for the work Entex does in Huntsville. Mayor
Nash thanked Mr. Larrison for the very excellent oral and written presentation regarding this cost of service
increase.
CONSIDER WATER WELL REPAIRS
Consider the repairs needed for water well No. 14 and authorize an expenditure not to exceed $17,400 from
budgeted funds.
Mayor Nash noted the equipment was pulled out of Well 14 several weeks ago and it was found to be in bad
condition and in need of repair. He noted !' .iP recommendation of F. Boyd Wilder, Director of Public
Utilities, to expend the $17,440 required to repair Well No. 14 at this time. Councilmember Monday made the
motion to authorize this expenditure and Councilmember Corley seconded the motion. All were in favor and the
motion passed unanimously.
CONSIDER MID -YEAR BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS
Mayor Nash noted these were discussed in last week's work session. He asked the Council for their con-
sideration of the mid -year budget adjustments, as presented by Mrs. Patricia Allen, Director of Finance, for
the fiscal year 1983 -1984. Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of the budget adjustments, as pre-
sented in the Mid -year Budget Adjustments Report, and Councilmember Corley seconded the motion. All were in
favor and the motion passed unanimously.
MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE, ROBERT DELONG
Hear a presentation by the Honorable Robert DeLong, Judge of the Municipal Court, on the activities of the
court system and recommendations pertaining thereto.
Judge DeLong introduced the City's Municipal Court Associate Judge, Patricia Graham and the Clerk of the
Municipal Court, Kay Morton. Judge DeLong noted the administrative side of the Court will now be under the
supervision of Patricia Allen, which will give the Court increased administrative support and access to the
city computer while at the same time, the judicial functions will remain under his and Mrs. Graham's supervision.
He noted the court is very independent of the city in regard to its judicial functions and this will continue
even with this reorganization. He noted the reorganization will give the Court some representation in the
Director's meetings which will benefit the Municipal Court.
The Council was advised of some new aspects of court procedures which were reviewed by Judge DeLong while
attending the recent Texas Municipal League's Annual Conference in Houston. He noted the session speakers placed
much emphasis on the "appearance of justice," noting that most individuals come into contact with municipal court
more than any other court, and it is for many, their first and only contact with city government. He noted for
this reason, the appearance of justice is extremely vital in conveying to our citizenry that we have an appro-
priately operating court. He felt Huntsville has one of the best municipal courts in existence today.
Judge DeLong discussed problems some cities are having regarding the need to become a court of record
to provide for appeals being on record rather than being a whole new appeal. He noted this is perhaps desirable
if the volume of appeals warrants such a designation; however, he noted in Huntsville, creating a court of
record would not be warranted and would be expensive when considering it is not needed due to the low volume of
appeals in Huntsville -- noting the County Court's follow -up on appeals has been excellent. He noted here
that out of 11,000 cases last year, there were virtually no appeals. He felt this means that the tickets that
are written by the Police Department are fair and just tickets or we would have more appeals. He felt this does
say something about the "appearance of justice" in our system. Judge DeLong noted that since he has been in
office, he has not been called by someone trying to influence his decision on a case. He said your municipal
court is "straigFit." He noted the prosecuting attorney, Scott Bounds, has done a good job and that he has weeded
out some cases that probably shouldn't be there.
In regard to dismissals, Judge DeLong noted his staff has hand audited the files covering some 10,000 tickets
to provide the following numbers regarding dismissals: 1,439 tickets were dismissed - -the bulk of those were for
persons who had been ticketed for no liability insurance," (687) and the dismissal came when these people pro -
duced their card, which state law requires be produced in order to have a ticket dismissed, which indicates they
indeed do have liability insurance. He noted 47% of the dismissals were due to this situation. He noted 10 %,
or 144 tickets were dismissed for no D.L. - -which was later produced and the ticket dismissed. He noted 31% of
the dismissals were for defective equipment (447 cases) tickets which were dismissed when the person produced
proof that the equipment had been repaired - -a policy of the court if the equipment is repaired within 10 days.
He noted the Court is trying to encourage people to fix their cars, not to increase insurance rates or have
people loose their licenses or pay alot of fines for this type of ticket. He noted 7% of the dismissals were
upon the officer's recommendation (106 cases) because the officer changes his mind or decides to give the person
the benefit of the doubt in the case of a "soft" ticket. He noted this does not happen often as the officers
usually do not change their minds. Judge DeLong noted ten cases were released to immigration and 36 cases
were dismissed upon the recommendation of the City Attorney -- usually cases where the law is disputed or it is a
very close case and not prosecutable. He noted only .025% of the tickets were dismissed in this way. He noted
a few other dismissal cases on one or two tickets.
The Council was advised of the "teen court" concept which is a jury chosen from students at a local high
school by the student council or some other way. This jury would then recommend a punishment to the court
for a teen who has been ticketed and the court would then assess the punishment, he said, noting the recommen-
dation from the teen court would be a "non- binding" recommendation. He noted common punishments would be: wash-
ing cars, visits to nursing homes, picking up cigarette butts, mowing grass on city property, etc. He noted
although he was excited about this avenue of procedures regarding teens, upon checking into the volume of tickets
against teens (16 years of age or younger), he found that there would be no need for a teen court in Huntsville
because there were only 78 tickets against this age bracket for the past year, 40 of which did not pay a fine
(dismissed due to defensive driving course, proof of insurance or driver's license); noting this only leaves
38 cases for which we could have a "teen court." He noted 27 of these remaining 38 cases were for expired
motor vehicle inspection stickers which then leaves only about one dozen cases for the year which could not
warrant setting up a teen court. He noted of the 38 cases, only three were for motor vehicle accidents and only
one of those three was a Walker County resident. Judge DeLong wanted the Council to know about "teen courts,"
but at the same time had to recommend that we not institute such in our community because there is no need for
it. He noted if the situation changes here, we can use this system in the future. The Council noted the teen-
agers of our community should be commended for this good experience record in the courts. Councilmember Monday
noted it is time to give them some credit for the good. Judge DeLong agreed with this, noting this refers to
the 16 year olds and younger drivers.
Councilmember Brown asked if the computer would have the capability of categorizing the tickets entered
into the computer and the final disposition on each so that we can get a good handle on all tickets and develop
a data base on which to base future recommendations for changes in our present court system. Patricia Allen,
Director of Finance, indicated the computer does have this capability.
Judge DeLong then reviewed the problems with outstanding warrants. He said in 1983, 85% of the warrants
issued were executed. He noted even with this record, we added to our old warrants by 15 %. He noted his policy
is not to erase an old warrant if there is any possibility of serving it. He commended the Police Department
for the good job they did in 1983 in serving warrants. He recommended to the Council his plan t44 periodically
review all warrants to reclarify that they are still valid (so as not to erroneously arrest some5ne), and then
to set up a 15 day moratorium during which people would be asked to think hard as to whether they may have a
warrant outstanding so that they can have the opportunity to call and ask about it, come down to pay it, before
March 15. He proposed that on March 15, the Police Department have an intensive campaign of serving old warrants
for some period of time. He noted the people will know that their changes of getting apprehended are substantially
greater after the moratorium. He felt this method would be the least disruptive to the citizens involved.
Judge DeLong noted he has visited with Chief Charles Tackett at the University who indicated his support of
this program and that he would follow this procedure so as to assist the City in serving warrants on campus.
Judge DeLong described in detail the procedures from the writing of a traffic ticket to the final issuance of
a warrant for arrest. He noted courts need a program which can be instituted every now and then to concentrate
on serving these back warrants.
Judge DeLong suggested he be required to appear before the Council for a discussion such as this tonight
at least semi - annually. He also suggested that the monthly reports that come to the Council from the Court
include information regarding the number of warrants given to the Police Department for service and the number
served and how many of those are 30, 60 or 90 days overdue. He noted if they are over 90 days, they could go
into this intensive program such as the one suggested for the moratorium in March. He noted this type of
campaign can occur as many times a year as the Council wishes. He asked that the absolute number of all out-
standing warrants should be reported also to the Council so that they can be apprised of what the needs are
regarding the serving of warrants and keep a check on the status monthly.
Councilmember Monday asked when the court records would be computerized. Mrs. Allen, Director of Finance,
noted some 50 percent of the tickets are now on the computer and noted within the next 30 days, all records
should be on computer. Councilmember Monday asked what percentage of the cases in the Court actually go to a
trial. Judge DeLong felt the number would be approximately 150 -200 cases a year, a rather small percentage.
Judge DeLong advised the Council that the Court will begin instituting its new fine for speeding in a
school zone on February 29 at the rate of $100 per offense. This will be the starting fine and the maximum is
$200. Councilmember Monday suggested this Information be conveyed to the school so that it can be included in
the newsletters which eventually fall into the parents' hands. Judge DeLong noted he will telephone the schools
in the morning to relay this information so they can get the word out Councilmember Davis asked the news media
to pass this information along through their stories and newscasts.
Judge DeLong noted one of the good things that comes out of the court is that a number of street signs have
been changed as a result of court cases. He noted if we get a "close case," an officer may recommend dismissal
perhaps due to some of the street signs being a little bit ambiguous. He relayed the case of 17th Street at
Sam Houston Avenue, which was one discussed all day by the court in a jury trial which finally caused the
ticket to be dismissed and a "no right turn on red" sign added at the 17th Street entrance to Sam Houston Avenue.
Mayor Nash commended Judge DeLong for an excellent report.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT - -GENE PIPES
Fire Hydrant Maintenance Status Report
Gene Pipes introduced a memorandum from Boyd Wilder, Director of Public Utilities, which advised the
Council that some 424 fire hydrants had been inventoried and checked with 418 of them painted green and white
and 106 of them repaired leaving only 6 more needing repair (excluding ELMUD and New Addition). It was noted
the Women's Forum donated $300 for the purchase of reflectors to mark fire hydrants, which have all been
placed on the street at the various intersections where the hydrants are located. Mr. Wilder noted 105
reflectors are in place, representing 67 fire hydrants. He noted 420 more are needed to complete the
city's system (excluding ELMUD and New Addition).
City's Drainage System
The City Manager again requested, through the news media, that citizens not rake leaves, etc. into the
street gutter line as this clogs up the street sweeper and the drainage outlets. He noted during the recent
heavy rains, the drainage channels were clogged with these materials and there were some properties which
suffered flood damage as a result. He noted the City is most happy to pick up the extra leaves and shrubbery
debris if it is properly prepared for handling by the Sanitation Department. He encouraged everyone to make
this job easier by complying with this request.
MAYOR'S REPORT -- WILLIAM V. NASH
Invitations
Mayor Nash reminded everyone of the invitation to General Sam Houston's Birthday Celebration at the Oak-
wood Cemetery at 11:00 P.M. on March 2 and the invitation from the Friends of Sam Houston Memorial Museum at
a reception for the family of General Sam and Margaret Lee Houston at 2:00 P.M. on March 2. He noted the
Council is also invited to attend the Texas Department of Safety's dedication ceremony of its new facility
at 1:00 P.M. on Thursday, March 1.
Mayor's Activities
Mr. Nash noted on Sunday he attended the Kappa Alpha Psi's Mr. and Mrs. Senior Citizen Program. Earlier
this evening, he noted he issued two proclamations: March 1 -7, 1984 as National Physical Education and Sport
Week and March 2 as Texas Independence Day.
Board of Adjustments and Appeals Appointment
Mayor Nash noted he recommends the appointment of Charles Schulz to fill the expired term of Mr. Curtis
Skeins, which expired on January 1, 1984. Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of this appointment
and Councilmember Corley seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.
Builder's Task Force Position
Mayor Nash noted there is still one position open on this board for someone who represents the mobile home
or prebuilt housing industry. He noted persons serving on this board should be principals in the industries
they represent. He noted there is no one qualifying under the mobile home or prebuilt housing industry position
presently living in the city limits. He asked the Council's permission to consider someone who is not a city
resident for this position. He noted this is an advisory board only and it does not take action. The Council
concurred that the Mayor should pursue a non -city resident for this position.
COUNCIL ACTION
HGAC Meeting -- Councilmember Brown noted he will be attending the Regional Review Committee Meeting
in Houston Thursday to set criteria for judging proposals.
Sesquicentennial - Mainstreet Meeting -- Councilmember Monday invited everyone to the 6:00 P.M. Meeting on
Thursday at the Chamber of Commerce for an update on the Sesquicentennial and Mainstreet programs and a
presentation of the proposed trolly car.
Ftch Narrhory_Wia rl9 __ Councilmember Monday asked for a review of the high accid-, ra era his ter -
section and a staff recommendation. Respectfully sub
ed, Ruth
City Secretary