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MIN CC 08/28/1984MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD'ON THE 28TH DAY OF AUGUST, A.D., 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 Council met in regular session with the following members present: MEMBEPS ABSENT: WILLIAM V. NASH, MAYOR Eugene 0. Barrett Murray A. Brown Stephen E. Davis Bill Hodges Percy Howard, Jr. Jane Monday Jerry Dowling Bob Tavenner City Officers Present: Gene Pipes, City Manager Scott Bounds, City Attorney Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary The Mayor called the meeting to order. The invocation was presented by the Reverend Carl Isaac, Pastor of the Central Missionary Baptist Church on Highway 30 in the Galilee Connnunity. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of the City Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 1984 as prepared and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. RABBIES CONCERN Report;by Dr. John Haenosh, City Medical Officer, on recent meeting by area veternarians concerning rabbles and their recommendations. Dr. Haenosh reported the findings of this meeting by making the following recommendations. 1. Rabbles vacination of all domestic dogs and cats (and annual follow -ups by veternarians). 2. Increase efforts to pick up all stray animals as soon as reported (avoid lag time). 3. Campaign forpublic awareness the rabbies danger especially in live animals (brochure, radio, T.V. Item, etc. 4. Instruction in proper management of suspected rabbies contacts. 5. Contact with county to insure county animal control ordinance pickup of strays, including personnel, vehicle and kennel. 6. Acceptance of cats by city kennels (rabbies in Texas is twice as frequent in cats-as in dogs). He noted the county has no program for animal control and if they had ,the same equipment and personnel as the City, we could adequately handle this program. He noted the local veternarians have agreed to have the first vacina- tion a public one on Saturday, September 8 from 2:00 P.M. until 5:00 P.M. He noted the locality will be of the city's choosing. He noted the cost of the vacination will be $5.00, which r' an at -cost amount. He noted it is recommended that persons will not be turned away if they are unable to pay this amount to have their animal vacin- ated, but the city will have to pick up the cost for these persons. He noted manpower has been donated by the Rita 8 Huff Humane Society members to do the tagging and do the paperwork. Dr. Haenosh noted a leash law for cats was discussed, but no recommendations are made in this regard. He noted the importance, however, that cats also be on a leash. Mayor Nash asked that copies of this report be made available to the news media. He asked the City Manager to establish a location as soon as possible for the vacinations. PUBLIC HEARING Convene a public hearin for a commercial project involving the use of industrial development bonds. Applicant: Normal Park Properties-$ 1,750,000 Mayor Nash then opened the public hearing. He then recognized Mr. Paul Williams of Development Solutions, who is representing Normal Park Properties. Before Mr. Williams presented his information, Mayor Nash asked if anyone present wished to make any comments. Mr. J. D. Dickenson, representing KKNX, asked the Mayor to explain why Huntsville is a blighted and economically depressed area? Mayor Nash noted last August the City enacted a Resolution creating the entire city limits as an area eligible for industrial development bonds and declaring that same area as economically depressed and blighted. He noted it was anticipated at that time that state legislation would be changed to amend the terminology of economically depressed and blighted to "development area." He noted this change in terminology did not occur. He noted the city was given a list of numerous cities and other areas that could make the choice which showed they made the choice to designate the entire area. He noted this is more common in smaller cities than in larger cities, which it is easier to designate a specific area. He noted the city followed the criteria that was rea- sonably established that the blighted part of this designation was not the significant part and it used the method used by its competitive cities for industry in designating the entire area as a blighted area. He noted since the designation did not change from "blighted" to "development" areas, there has been considerable concern on the part of the Council and much discussion. He thought perhaps it is appropriate for the staff to come back to the Council with some further review of it. He noted several members of Council dislike this program. Mayor Nash noted, however, that the program is set up state -wide and nation -wide and not by the cities. He noted all the cities do is choose to do it or not to do it; and if we choose not to do it, we will be giving an unfair advan- tage to every other city who does it. He noted our participation in this is not from a desire or a liking of the bill as it is or the situation as it is, but rather to do what we can in competition with other cities and not create a situation locally that would work to the detriment of our local business people. He said we need to give them the same opportunity that business people in every other city have. He noted he believes most of the Council would be in favor of a change in this law, but this is not the question tonight. Councilmember Hodges agreed with the Mayor's summation. He noted if we do not do it for our community, then we are putting our local business people at an economic disadvantage to cities that do have it to attract new industry to town, citing Brown Oil Tools as an example of a company that was attracted to Huntsville because of this particular program. He noted these bonds are reasonably new in the state of Texas, becoming available in 1979. He noted, however, that nationwide in some 45 -50 states, it has been going on for some 50 years. .Paul Williams -- Update on State and Federal Lenislation Mr. Williams noted a new federal law was signed by the President on July 18 and a new state law went into effect on July 5 of 1984. He noted the industrial revence bond program has no obligation on the city_ eniin, the state or the federal government. He said it is nothing more than a long term commercial loan. He noted cities have to designate the areas eligible for the bonds, and in this case, the county is the unit which is issuing the bonds on behalf of the private developer. He noted the federal legislation has been ct bated for the last one and one -half years and Congress finally enacted legislation which was recommended by the Treasury Department and by the President which poses a number of additional restrictions and requirements on the bond process which have gone into effect immediately, which meet the U. S. Treasury's concern. He noted state legis- lation has been changed and new rules and regulations are out so that it is not necessarily a blighted area any- more. He said there are 92 counties in the state of Texas which have designated their entire county to allow for commercial projects. He said there are 40 cities, including Huntsville, in the state, which have designated their entire city limits to allow for commercial projects and some 86 cities have designated portions of their communities to allow for commercial projects. Mr. Williams noted the new legislation allows one to call the new zone a "development area." He noted the Council's current designation is good for another two years, however, at which time the city may reapply, under the new rules, and then be termed a "development area." He noted there were over a billion and one -half dollars in industrial bonds issued in Texas last year. He said the new federal legislation will allow Texas to issue 2.1 billion dollars in industrial bonds during the next few years, per year. He noted Huntsville has said it wants to encourage commercial projects just like manufacturing projects. He noted it is no longer a federal requirement that it be in a blighted area. He noted most states do not have this additional approval for commercial projects, iust Texas Normal Park Properties Mr. Williams noted then that approval is requested for this commercial project, which is a $1, 750,000 project, planned to generate a proposed 24 additional jobs in the community with an additional payroll of $315,000. He noted it is a 40,000 square foot two -story facility to be located an five acres at the corner of Normal Park and 11th Street, northeast corner. Mayor Nash ',clarified that this type of financing is sometimes confused with the incremental tax situation bill, passed by amendment around 1981, that was for the development of blighted areas that called for the taxes not to be increased, if one built in that area, over what they had been before the development, for o period of 15 years. He said this was to help the development of blighted areas by reduction of taxes. He noted since that became an amendment about the same time that the I.D.B.'s legislation, there has been cone confusion between the two. Mr. Williams noted there are no tax breaks whatsoever in the I.D.B. regulations. Mayor Nash then closed the public hearing, noting there was no one to speak for or against the project. He noted a question was raised by Mr. J. D. Dickinson and an explanation was provided by Mr. Paul Williams as well as discussion by Council. CONSIDER RESOLUTION Consider a resolution approving the commercial project to be funded with Industrial Development Bonds. Appli- cant: Normal Park Properties -- 51,750,000. Mayor Mash then presented this Resolution, the caption of which is as follows: RESOLUTION 84 -17 A RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, APPROVING A COMMERCIAL PROJECT IN AN ELIGIBLE BLIGHTED AREA UNDER THE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ACT OF 1979, AS AMENDED, AND THE RULES OR REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE TEXAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION; AND MAKING FINDINGS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. ( Nornal Park Properties, $1,750,000.) Councilmember Hodges made the motion to adopt Resolution 84 -17, approving this project and Councilmember Monday seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Davis noted he will be voting AGAINST this project because his original impression of this procedure was to develop in economically blighted areas. Upon a vote of the motion. Councilmembers Monday, Barrett, Hodges, Mayor Nash, Councilmembers Howard and Brown voted FOR the motion; Councilmember Davis voted AGAINST the motion; Councilmembers Dowling and Tavenner were absent. The motion, however, passed. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ON THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT Dr. Mary Frances Park, Chairman, Planning Commission Mayor Nash acknowledged receipt of the report from the Planning Commission regarding the Central Business District. He asked Dr. Park to review the report with the Council. Dr. Park noted the report was based some- what on a survey made among the businesses in the CBD about 18 months ago. She noted other studies were also considered. Dr;. Park noted certain problems were brought to light relative to aesthetic appeal of our city's CBD, safety, accessibility, convenience, traffic flow, parking, etc. She noted it must be reniembered that if this is a 20 year plan, there will need to be continuous study as problems and considerations will change in the coming years. She noted the recommendations to be presented today will meet the situations as they exist today. She urged those in leadership roles to continue the study of the problems of the CBD. She noted some problems exist because many of our residential streets are having to serve as arterial streets and this floods traffic into the CBD over narrow streets and at intersections which need monitoring. Mayor Nash noted the recommendation to reconstruct Sani Houston Avenue from 11th Street to University Avenue and he asked for a clarification. Dr. Park noted this is Sam Houston Avenue from 11th Street north to behind the old High School's west wing, where the street narrows, and then continue north. Councilmember Brown noted the recommendations were very practical and will allow the city to follow through with most of them. Councilmember Monday agreed, noting that it is important that this plan remain flexible as our downtown undergoes changes. Mayor Nash agreed with the continents already made. He noted the Council will not vote on this plan yet so that everyone will have the opportunity to read it thoroughly and become familiar with all aspects of it. He asked the City Manager to place it back on the agenda in the next couple of weeks for a vote. He asked the Council to discuss at this time the recommendation on page 39, Section 5, item 5.10 wherein it is planned to remove all overhead utility lines in preference for underground installations. He noted in speaking with a utility company representative, it will be very costly to do this. He noted he would like for Mr. Pipes, the City Manager, to visit with representatives of all utility companies, to find out the feasibility of this plan. He asked for this report in twu to three weeks. Mayor Nash then referred to item 5.20 which suggests the City undertake the study of the feasibility of signalizing no left turns" during rush hour traffic at filth and University.Avenue, Mr. Pines noted any studies on state highways are done by the State highway department. Mayor Nash asked that we contact the state highway department to see what can be done with this recommendation. Mayor Nash then referred to item 5.30 recommending plan for alleviating the traffic congestion around the post office, and noted his feeling that we need to move on this problem and not just say we can't do anything about it. Councilmember Hodges noted the possibility that the post office will vacate their present site in preference for some site out and away from all this traffic. Dr. Mary Frances Park urged the city's involvement in whatever site is chosen for the post office. Mayor Nash then referred to item 5.40 regarding on- street loading and unloading. He noted his preference that City Manager Gene Pipes and City Attorney Scott Bounds be the immediate task force to develop a plan for reducing the impact of on- street loading and unloading in the CBD. He noted downtown representatives should be contacted as well as those of the trucking industry (local or head office people) for some direct information. He noted he has asked Mr. Bounds to do some legal research regarding what truckers can and cannot do regarding loading and unloading. It was noted that while it is not listed as a recommendation here, there are several suggestions made in the report of changing no parking areas and having some left turn designations on some streets. Mayor Hash asked the City Manager to pursue a study of this. He asked that they be grouped into areas and get some comments fran the people living in those areas. He noted these are problems now and we need to face them. Councilmember Monday felt a letter should be written to those who worked on this CBD plan to complement them for their work and to let them know how much we appreciate it. Mr. Pipes noted he will be happy to do this. He also noted he has received a good deal of correspondence this past week about the downtown parking situation. Mayor Nash asked Mr. Pipes whether or not we could send some type of questionnaire to the downtown merchants to ask them questions and get their comments on the downtown parking problem. He was interested to know if they like it the way it is, or would prefer no controls. Councilmember Monday noted the downtown merchants do want controls because without it they would have none. Mayor Plash noted he would like to get input frail them as to how to improve the situation as it now exists. Councilmember Monday felt that would be most appropriate. Councilmember Hodges suggested a 30- minute time limit inside the square and 1 hour parking on the outside of the square and then off of the square a 2 hour parking time limit. Councilmember Monday noted 30 minutes may not be enough time for people to get their errands run at the courthouse and the shoppers need more than one hour. Councilmember Monday suggested a statement to be added to jury notices which states that free public parking is available at . . . (city and county lots). She noted if we could get this done, she felt we would not have a problem with jurors getting tickets as most of them will park where they can have unlimited tine. CONSIDER VARIOUS FINANCIAL REPORTS Consider Budget Report for the Month Ended, June 30, 1984 and budget adjustments for Quarter Ended June 30, 1984 The Council reviewed these reports. After some discussion, the Council indicated their approval of sane. Consider Tax Report for Ppril, 1984 Councilmember Brown made the motion to approve of this report and Councilmember Howard seconded the niotion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider Tax Peport for the month of May, 1984 Councilmember Brown made the motion to approve of this report and Councilmember Hodges seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider Tax Report for June, 1984 Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of this report and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider the uncollectable tax accounts list and its status dated August 3, 1984 Mayor Nash noted this list contains the personal property tax accounts that have been thoroughly researched and found to be uncollectable for various reasons. He noted approval is requested to transfer these accounts from active file to inactive file. After some discussion, Councilmember Davis suggested that all mobile homes should have license plates like vehicles do so that we can run yearly checks on them just for identification. Mayor dash felt we should ask TML about this suggestion. Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of the transfer of these accounts from active to inactive and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor 'and the motion passed wnanimously. CONSIDER LEASE AGREEMENT Consider a lease aareenent with Brazos Transit Systems as previously discussed for office space. Mayor Nash then presented an agreement between the City and Brazos Transit Systems for office space in the building used for HEAP activities (old Police Station) for a specific amount of time: August 15, 1984 to April 1, 1985. Mayor Nash noted this contract addresses all potential liabilities of the city and is presented herein for Council's approval. Councilmember Hodges made the motion to adopt this lease agreement and Council- member Monday seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Monday asked if there was a provision within this document for termination. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, noted there is no 30 day notice provision for termination but one could be added. Councilmember Monday asked that this be included in the document and as a friendly amendment to the motion on the floor. Councilmember Hodges accepted the amendment. Councilmember Brown made another friendly amendment to specify that the city would not be providing office furnishings along with the office space. Councilmembers Hodges and Monday accepted this friendly amendment to their motion. Councilmembers Monday, Barrett, Hodges Howard and Brown and Mayor Nash voted FOR the motion and Councilnember Davis voted AGAINST the motion. Councilmembers Dowling and Tavenner were absent. The motion, however, passed. CONSIDER BIDS Consider the H.U.D. - -New Addition Housing Rehabilitation Bids, as recommended by staff Mayor Nash noted four other housing rehabilitation bids were taken by staff. Kathy James, Grant Coordinator for the HUD Housing Rehabilitation New Addition Target Area, noted one bid is being withdrawn by the contractor because of underestimates of costs and work to be done and three other bids are requested to be rejected due to . their being over the 515,000 limitation set by cia Concil. Mayor Nash recommended that the Council approve the withdrawal of bid No. 113 -81/83 from Kevin Wedergren for 515,270. Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve its withdrawal and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. MEET1lib ur Mayor Nash noted the staff requests that this particular item be re -bid and that the other three bids be rejected for exceeding the $15,000 limitation. Mayor Hash then recommended their rejection. Councilmember Brown made the motion to reject bid no. 101 -83 from Kevin Wedergren, bid no. 110 -82/83 from Kevin Wedergren and bid no. 117 -81/83 from K. C. Construction and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor of motion to reject these three bids for $17,820, $19,710 and $17,055, respectively, and it passed unanimously. Mayor Nash noted bid No. 113- 81/83, which is to be rebid, will most likely run over the $15,000 also as it didn't include everything initially. He noted $15,000 is the maximum that should be spent on those houses and he is not in favor of spending more than that. He said if we can't get the work done satisfactorily for 515,000, he noted he would rather use the money on something else. CouncilmeenbersBrown and Monday agreed. Mayor Nash asked staff to look at this bid to see where something could be cut out. He noted we basically just want indoor plumbing and basic needs served. Gene Pipes noted we must at the same time comply with HUD require- ments for the work done. Mayor Nash noted it is then the consensus of Council that staff reconsider this bid so that it will pot exceed 815,000. Councilmember Davis suggested checking back with the tenants to see if they can or will come-up with the difference. He felt that spending $2,800 to get an additional $15,000 df work paid for would be a :-pretty good deal. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT by Gene Pipes TML 72nd Annual Conference and Exhibition Notice Gene Pipes advised the Council of this meeting in Dallas November 1 -3, 1984. He noted those interested in attending should check with Ruth DeShaw for reservations. Walker County Appraisal District Quarterly Jurisdictional Meeting Gene Pipes noted he and Patricia Allen, Director of Finance, County Judge Ralph Davis and Oscar Thorne, Tax Assessor - Collector for Walker County, attended a meeting this afternoon with the Appraisal District officers to review their budget. He noted they revised their budget recently because of some late developments in the teacher retirement program. He said appraisal district personnel are considered employees of the school district and this makes them eligible for teacher retirement. He noted a number of them had been in teacher retirement for a number of years. He noted a recent ruling has disallowed their participation in the teacher retirement system, so several of them have lost their many years of eligibility and the local taxing jurisdic- tions are having to pick up a still larger share to make a retirement system available to those employees. He noted a number of other items were also reviewed which are in their amended budget. He noted it was a very enlightening meeting and he understands a whole lot more about the appraisal district's operation. He said the joint funding operation wherein the school district pays a base amount and then pays 51-52% of the rest of the operating expenses to boot has long been misunderstood. He noted he feels very comfortable about Ws now. He noted they will be acting on their budget next Tuesday, September 4. He noted we are not due to talk about our budget until then, but he did not see any real alternative to what they have built into their budget. He noted we will go over these details next week. County Pequest for Back Taxes originally owed on Brimberry Property (given to city for a park). Mr. Pipes noted it was originally agreed that the back taxes would be forgiven by Walker County, but the HISD finally determined that they wanted to be paid for their back taxes and the County apparently has followed suit following the philosophy that because the city and HISD could not see fit to honor the County's request to forgive taxes on the Gibbs - Powell house for the Walker County Museum, that they ought to be paid for their back taxes on the Brimberry property. He noted this back tax totals $986.27. Mr. Pipes noted he has no reason not to recommend we pay those back taxes, but said there are a number of other financial obligations that Walker County has had to the City in terms of fire calls, and other amounts owing, due and payable. He said when we pay these amounts requested, we certainly ought to renew our request for payment and maintain the current status on all of the funds due and payable to the City. He noted money to pay these taxes would have to come from some unallocated contingency or some reserve, but the city will write that check and it will be making a request of the Walker County Commissioners Court to remit those funds due the city for prior services and other costs. Mayor Nash recommended to Gene Pipes to do as he stated. He noted if it is an appropriate bill, he wants the City to pay it; but he also wants the County to pay their bills. Final Dispostiori- -North Huntsville Sewer Plant- -EPA Audit -- $3,804.11 Gene Pipes noted after ten years of waiting, it still took two years to resolve the EPA Audit of the South Huntsville Sewer Plant. He noted the North Plant was completed in 1982 and the EPA audit is already complete. He noted they started out challenging nearly $100,000 worth of work on this project and we appealed it through several different hearings and procedures. He noted the last discussion we had with the various officials was last spring in Dallas at the EPA office in an appeal on an audit. He noted the final determination indicates that of the $10,396 in question, $5,072.15 has been disallowed by the regional administrator. He noted our 75 percent of that $5,072.15 is $3,804.11, a figure similar to the final disposition of the South Plant audit costs after ten years of arguing about it. He recommended that the City repay the U. S. EPA $3,804.11 of the funds originally issued to the City for the construction of the North Plant and not argue any further. fnunrilmember Monday made the mntinn to authoriie payment of the $3.804.11 in final disposition cost of the FPA audit of the North Plant and enunrilmniber Hodges seconded the motion. Discussion: It was noted a little over $100,000 has been in escrow since 1982 pending the outcome of this audit. The $3,804.11 will come from this escrowed amount. Mr. Pipes noted the remainder will be now available for use, perhaps as a capital improve- ments fund for Water and sewer. Mayer Nash noted he has been advised that a vote upon tl_iid matter is not necessary and that this ran be arromplished with the general consensus of the Council, which the staff has. New Police Chief Schedule for Selection Gene Pipes noted there has been a vacancy for about two weeks now in the Police Chief's position. He said the city is advertising and will continue to do so for the next two weeks to accept resumes and expressions of interest and applications through September 15. He said at that time the application process will be closed, evaluations and interviews will be conducted, and during September 17 -24, the interviews will be conducted on qualified candidates. He noted the last week in September will be used to check backgrounds and references to narrow the list down td the top three or five. He noted those people will be interviewed again, if necessary. He hoped by October 1 a new police chief could be named. Mayor Nash noted the names of applicants will be released to the newsmedia, if requested. Budget Schedule Gene Pipes noted the Charter requires that the budget he adopted by September 27. He noted public hearings must be conducted prior to adoption. He noted the Council will go over the budget again on September 4, the public hearing will be on September 18 and the budget will be adopted on September 25. He noted if adopted unanimously on the 25th, there is no problem; however, if it is rrot adopted, unanimously, we will net again on the 26th or again until the necessary readings are held. He noted thatSeptember will be a tight schedule. He noted the Council can count on meeting every Tuesday. in September. • UUUSI 28, 1984 L UUI� II ,-LaC hM MAYOR'S REPORT New Teacher's Day Proclamation Mayor Nash noted earlier this evening a proclamation was delivered to the Chamber of Commerce at the Hiah School Cafeteria, designating August 28, 1984 as New Teacher's Day," as part of a program and barbeque honoring all new teachers to the Huntsville area, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce for new teachers at H1SD, SHSU and the Windham School System of the Texas Department of Corrections. Mosquito Control Program Study Mayor Nash noted the mosquito problem seems to be accelerating in Huntsville. He asked what type of control program the City had, noting he knew the fogging program no longer existed. Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised that the City's mosquito fogging equipment was sold at auction some two years ago because of non -use and the subsequent deterioration of the equipment. He noted there were a number of objections from certain individuals in the community regarding the fogging program. He noted if a major portion or even a certain area is left out of the fogging program, free zones are given to the mosquitos and they don't recognize boundaries, blocks, etc. He noted Houston has a mosquito control district which is very active and fights mosquitos year around. He said if Huntsville is going to do it effectively, we will have to spray during the larvae formation season and knock them down with aerial spray during peak periods. He noted this program has not been pursued or budgeted because of objections previously expressed. Mayor Nash noted he presumes this is done in other cities under the health department. He asked the City Manager to have our health department check on what other cities are doing regarding new chemicals or processes that might not be so objectionable to those who complained. He noted this could be a basic health problem if left uncontrolled. COUNCIL ACTION Walker County Appraisal District Functions and Operations Councilmember Monday asked the City Manager to advise her on what he has learned about the functions and operations of the Appraisal District. The City Manager noted he.may get into this discussion next Tuesday night in the budget session. It was noted there is a meeting of all jurisdictions of Walker County tomorrow at 10:00 A.M. in the Appraisal Office located at 1819 Sycamore to tour their new building, explain the appraisal district operations, lost mobile homes, finaled accounts, etc. Mayor Nash noted all of the Council are invited to attend this meeting. Mayor Nash noted once a month there is a meeting of this type held during which all representatives of the other taxing entities can meet with the appraisal district. First Day of School -- Traffic Safety Preparedness Councilmember Monday asked the City Manager if we were ready for the first day of school and the traffic control provisions to be instituted. Gene Pipes noted Captain Moorse has been visiting with all of the school principals during the last month to make special arrangements. He noted Boettcher Drive will be closed and designated a one way street for a two hour period from 7:00 A.M. until 10:00 P.M. on Thursday and Friday morning, the first two days of school. He noted the purpose for this is because as the brand new 1st graders and kinder- garteners arrive at that campus, they can be led out in a safe manner. He noted routine patrols of school zones will be conducted. He noted the new flashing signal has been put fato place as requested by Councilmember Barrett. He noted the city will be prohibiting the letting out of children on the street opposite a school and children can only be let out from the school side of the street on the safe side of the car. Mr. Pipes noted the new traffic signal should be in place and functioning at FM 247 and FM 2821. Parking Spaces Reserved on City Street Councilmember Hodges noted he has observed two parking spaces marked off on 10th Street in front of the Samuel Houston Elementary School for the principal and the school secretary. He asked if this could be done. Mr. Pipes noted from a legal standpoint, it is not proper, and anyone who chose to park there could do so as street parking spaces cannot be reserved. He noted however as a courtesy matter, motorists are likely not to park there because of the designation so painted on the curb. 7th Street Flashing Liohts Councilmember Barrett commended the city for their quickness in getting the flashing light on 7th Street. Budget Meeting -- September 4 Gene Pipes, City Manager, urged all members of Council to bring their budgets to the next meeting. ADJOURNMENT ly _ubm eShaw, City Secretary 28, 1 984 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 28TH DAY OF AUGUST, A.D., 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 Council met in regular session with the following members present: MEMBERS ABSENT: WILLIAM V. NASH, MAYOR Eugene 0. Barrett Murray A. Brain Stephen E. Davis Bill Hodges Percy Howard, Jr, Jane Monday Jerry Dowling Bob Tavenner City Officers Present: Gene Pipes, City Manager Scott Bounds, City Attorney Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary The Mayor called the meeting to order. The invocation was presented by the Reverend Carl Isaac, Pastor of the Central Missionary Baptist Church on Highway 30 in the Galilee Community. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of the City Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 1984 a, prepared and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.. RABBIES CONCERN Reportrby Dr. John Haenosh, City Medical Officer, on recent meeting by area veternarians concerning rabbies and their recommendations. Dr. Haenosh reported the findings of this meeting by making the following recommendations. 1'. Rabbies vacination of all domestic dogs and cats (and annual follow -ups by veternarians). 2. Increase efforts to pick up all stray animals as soon as reported (avoid lag time). 3. Campaign forpublic awareness the rabbies danger especially in live animals (brochure, radio, T.V. Item, c.). 4. Instruction in proper management of suspected rabbies contacts. 5. Contact with county to insure county animal control ordinance pickup of strays, including personnel, vehicle and kennel. 6. Acceptance of cats by city kennels (rabbies in Texas is twice as frequent in cats -as in dogs). He noted the county has no program for animal control and if they had,the same equipment and personnel as the Ci ty we could adequately handle this program. He noted the local veternarians have agreed to have the first vacina- tion a public one on Saturday, September 8 from 2:00 P.M. until 5:00 P.M. He noted the locality will be of the city's choosing. He noted the cost of the vacination will be $5.00, which Ss an at -cost amount. He noted it is recommended that persons will not be turned away if they are unable to pay this amount to have their animal vacin- ated, but the city will have to pick up the cost for these persons. He noted manpower has been donated by the Rita B Huff Humane Society members to do the tagging and do the paperwork. Dr. Haenosh noted a leash law for cats was discussed, but no recommendations are made in this regard. He noted the importance, however, that cats also be on a leash. Mayor Nash asked that copies of this report be made available to the news media. He asked the City Manager to establish a location as soon as possible for the vacinations. PUBLIC HEARING Convene a public hearin for a commercial project involving the use of industrial development bonds. Applicant: Normal Park Properties--$1,750,000 Mayor Nash then opened the public hearing. He then recognized Mr. Paul Williams of Development Solutions, who is representing Normal Park Properties. Before Mr. Williams presented his information, Mayor Nash asked if anyone present wished to make any comments. Mr. J. D. Dickenson, representing KKNX, asked the Mayor to explain why Huntsville is a blighted and economically depressed area? Mayor Nash noted last August the City enacted a Resolution creating the entire city limits as an area eligible for industrial development bonds and declaring that same area as economically depressed and blighted. He noted it was anticipated at that time that state legislation would be changed to amend the terminology of economically depressed and blighted to "development area." He noted this change in terminology did not occur. He noted the city was given a list of numerous cities and other areas that could make the choice which showed they made the choice to.designate the entire area. He noted this is more common in smaller cities than in larger cities, which it is easier to designate a specific area. He noted the city followed the criteria that was rea- sonably established that the blighted part of this designation was not the significant part and it used the nietnod used by its competitive cities for industry in designating the entire area as a blighted area. He noted since the designation did not change from "blighted" to "development" areas, there has been considerable concern on the part of the Council and much discussion. He thought perhaps it is appropriate for the staff to come back to the Council with some further review of it. He noted several members of Council dislike this program. Mayor Nash noted, however, that the program is set up state -wide and nation -wide and not by the cities. He noted all the cities do is choose to do it or not to do it; and if we choose not to do it, we will be giving an unfair advan- tage to every other city who does it. He noted our participation in this is not from a desire or a liking of the bill as it is or the situation as it is, but rather to do what we can in competition with other cities and not create a situation locally that would work to the detriment of our local business people. He said we need to give them the same opportunity that business people in every other city have. He noted he believes most of the Council would be in favor of a change in this law, but this is not the question tonight. Councilmember Hodges agreed with the Mayor's summation. He noted if we do not do it for our community, then we are putting our local business people at an economic disadvantage to cities that do have it to attract new industry to town, citing Brown Oil Tools as an example of a company that was attracted to Huntsville because of this particular program. He noted these bonds are reasonably new in the state of Texas, becoming available in 1979. He noted, however, that nationwide in some 45 -50 states, it has been going on for some 50 years. .Paul Williams -- Update on State and Federal Lenislatinn Mr. Williams noted a new federal law was signed by the President on July 18 and a new state law went into effect on July 5 of 1984. He noted the industrial revenue bond program has no obligatiun on the city. count. the state or the federal government. He said it is nothing more than a long term commercial loan. He noted cities have to designate the areas eligible for the bonds, and in this case, the county is the unit which is issuing the bonds on behalf of the private developer. He noted the federal legislation has been ch bated for the last one and one -half years and Congress finally enacted legislation which was recommended by the Treasury Department and by the President which poses a number of additional restrictions and requirements on the bond process which have gone into effect immediately, which meet the U. S. Treasury's concern. He noted state legis- lation has been changed and new rules and regulations are out so that it is not necessarily a blighted area any- more. He said there are 92 counties in the state of Texas which have designated their entire county to allow for commercial projects. He said there are 40 cities, including Huntsville, in the state, which have designated their entire city limits to allow for commercial projects and some 86 cities have designated portions of their communities to allow for commercial projects. Mr. Williams noted the new legislation allows one to call the new zone a "development area." He noted the Council's current designation i5 good for another two years, however, at which time the city may reapply, under the new rules, and then be termed a "development area." He noted there were over a billion and one -half dollars in industrial bonds issued in Texas last year. He said the new federal legislation will allow Texas to issue 2.1 billion dollars in industrial bonds during the next few years, per year. He noted Huntsville has said it wants to encourage commercial projects just like manufacturing projects. He noted it is no longer a federal requirement that it be in a blighted area. He noted most states do not have this additional approval for commercial projects, just Texas Normal Park Properties Mr. Williams noted then that approval is requested for this commercial project, which is a $1, 750,000 project, planned to generate a proposed 24 additional jobs in the community with an additional payroll of 5315,000. He noted it i5 a 40,000 square foot two -story facility to be located on five acres at the corner of Normal Park and 11th Street, northeast corner. Mayor Nash`clarified that this type of financing is sometimes confused with the incremental tax situation bill, passed by'amendment around 1981, that was for the development of blighted areas that called for the taxes not to be increased, if one built in that area, over what they had been before the development, for a period of 15 years. He said this was to help the development of blighted areas by reduction of taxes. He noted since that became an amendment about the same time that the I.D.B.'s legislation, there has been some confusion between the two. Mr. Williams noted there are no tax breaks whatsoever in the I.D.B. regulations. Mayor Nash then closed the public hearing, noting there was no one to speak for or against the project. He noted a question was raised by Mr. J. D. Dickinson and an explanation was provided by Mr. Paul Williams as well as discussion by Council. CONSIDER RESOLUTION Consider a resolution approving the commercial project to be funded with Industrial Development Bonds. Appli- cant: Normal Park Properties -- $1,750,000. Mayor Mash then presented this Resolution, the caption of which is as follows: RESOLUTION 84 -17 A RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CiTY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, APPROVING A COMMERCIAL PROJECT IN AN ELIGIBLE BLIGHTED AREA UNDER THE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ACT OF 1979, AS AMENDED, AND THE RULES OR REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE TEXAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION; AND MAKING FINDINGS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. (Normal Park Properties, $1,750,000.) Councilmember Hodges made the motion to adopt Resolution 84 -17, approving this project and Councilmember Monday seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Davis noted he will be voting AGAINST this project because his original impression of this procedure was to develop in economically blighted areas. Upon a vote of the motion. Councilmembers Monday, Barrett, Hodges, Mayor Nash, Councilmembers Howard and Brown voted FOR the motion; Councilmember Davis voted AGA.INST the motion; Councilmembers Dowling and Tavenner were absent. The motion, however, passed. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ON THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT Dr. Mary Frances Park, Chairman, Planning Commission Mayor Nash acknowledged receipt of the report from the Planning Commission regarding the Central Business District. He asked Dr. Park to review the report with the Council. Dr. Park noted the report was based some- what on a survey made among the businesses in the CBD about 18 months ago. She noted other studies were also considered. Dr; Park noted certain problems were brought to light relative to aesthetic appeal of our city's CBD, safety, accessibility, convenience, traffic flow, parking, etc. She noted it must be remembered that if this is a 20 year plan, there will need to be continuous study as problems and considerations will change in the coining years. She noted the recommendations to be presented today will meet the situations as they exist today. She urged those in leadership roles to continue the study of the problems of the CBD. She noted some problems exist because many of our residential streets are having to serve as arterial streets and this floods traffic into the CBD over narrow streets and at intersections which need monitoring. Mayor Nash noted the recommendation to reconstruct Sam Houston Avenue from 11th Street to University Avenue and he asked for a clarification. Dr. Park noted this is Sam Houston Avenue from llth Street north to behind the old High School's west wing, where the street narrows, and then continue north. Councilmember Brown noted the recommendations were very practical and will allow the city to follow through with most of them. Councilmember Monday agreed, noting that it is important that this plan remain flexible as our downtown undergoes changes. Mayor Nash agreed with the comments already made. He noted the Council will not vote on this plan yet so that everyone will have the opportunity to read it thoroughly and become familiar with all aspects of it. He asked the City Manager to place it back on the agenda in the next couple of weeks for a vote. He asked the Council to discuss at this time the recommendation on page 39, Section 5, item 5.10 wherein it is planned to remove all overhead utility lines in preference for underground installations. He noted in speaking with a utility company representative, it will be very costly to do this. He noted he would like for Mr. Pipes, the City Manager, to visit with representatives of all utility companies, to find out the feasibility of this plan. He asked for this report in two to three wee'.s. Mayor Nash then referred to item 5,20 which suggests the City undertake the study of the feasibility of signalizing "no left turns" during rush hour traffic at lath and University,Avenue, Mr. Pipes noted any studies on state highways are done by the State highway department. Mayor Nash asked that we contact the state highway department to see what can be done with this recommendation. Mayor Nash then referred to item 5.30 recommending plan for alleviating the traffic congestion around post office, and noted his feeling that we need to move on this problem and not just say we can't do anyth about it. Councilmember Hodges noted the possibility that the post office will vacate their present site in preference for some site out and away from all this traffic. Dr. teary Frances Park urged the city's involvement in whatever site is chosen for the post office. Mayor Nash then referred to item 5.40 regarding on- street loading and unloading. He noted his preference that City Manager Gene Pipes and City Attorney Scott Bounds be the immediate task force to develop a plan for reducing the impact of on- street loading and unloading in the CBD. He noted downtown representatives should be contacted as well as those of the trucking industry (local or head office people) for some direct information. He noted he has asked Mr. Bounds to do some legal research regarding what truckers can and cannot do regarding loading and unloading. It was noted that while it is not listed as a reconvnendation here, there are several suggestions made in the report of changing no parking areas and having some left turn designations on some streets. Mayor Nash asked the City Manager to pursue a study of this. He asked that they be grouped into areas and get some comments fran the people living in those areas. He noted these are problems now and we need to face them. Councilmember Monday felt a letter should be written to those who worked on this CBD plan to complement them for their work and to let them know how much we appreciate it. Mr. Pipes noted he will be happy to do this. He also noted he has received a good deal of correspondence this past week about the downtown parking situation. Mayor Nash asked Mr. Pipes whether or not we could send some type of questionnaire to the downtown merchants to ask them questions and get their comments on the downtown parking problem. He was interested to know if they like it the way it is, or would prefer no controls. Councilmember Monday noted the downtown merchants do want controls_ because without it they would have none. Mayor Mash noted he would like to get input fron them as to how to improve the situation as it now exists. Councilmember Monday felt that would be most appropriate. Councilmember Hodges suggested a 30- minute time limit inside the square and 1 hour parking on the outside` of the square and then off of the square a 2 hour parking time limit. Councilmember Monday noted 30 minutes may not be enough time for people to get their errands run at the courthouse and the shoppers need more than one hour. Councilmember Monday suggested a statement to be added to jury notices which states that free public parking is available at . . (city and county lots). She noted if we could get this done, she felt we would not have a problem with jurors getting tickets as most of them will park where they can have unlimited time. CONSIDER VARIOUS FINANCIAL REPORTS Consider Budget Report for the Month Ended, June 30, 1984 and budget adjustments for Quarter Ended June 30, 1934 The Council reviewed these reports. After some discussion, the Council indicated their approval of same. Consider Tax Report for April, 1984 Councilmember Brown made the motion to approve of this report and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider Tax Peport for the month of May, 1984 Councilmember Brown made the motion to approve of this report and Councilmember Hodges seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider Tax Report for June, 1984 Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of this report and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider the uncollectable tax accounts list and its status dated August 3, 1984 Mayor Nash noted this list contains the personal property tax accounts that have been thoroughly researched and found to be uncollectable for various reasons. He noted approval is requested to transfer these accounts from active file to inactive file. After some discussion, Councilmember Davis suggested that all mobile homes should have license plates like vehicles do so that we can run yearly checks on them just for identification. Mayor flash felt we should ask TML about this suggestion. Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve of the transfer of these accounts from active to inactive and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed•wnanimouslj. CONSIDER LEASE AGREEMENT Consider a lease agreement with Brazos Transit Systems as previously discussed for office space. Mayor Nash then presented an agreement between the City and Brazos Transit Systems for office space in the building used for HEAP activities (old Police Station) for a specific amount of tine: August 15, 1984 to April 1, 1985. Mayor Nash noted this contract addresses all potential liabilities of the city and is presented herein for Council's approval. Councilmember Hodges made the motion to adopt this lease agreement and Council- member Monday seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Monday asked if there was a provision within tnis document for termination. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, noted there is no 30 day notice provision for termination but one could be added. Councilmember Monday asked that this be included in the document and as a friendly amendment to the motion on the floor. Councilmember Hodges accepted the amendment. Councilmember Brown made another friendly amendment to specify that the city would not be providing office furnishings along with the office space. Councilmembers Hodges and Monday accepted this friendly amendment to their motion. Councilmembers Monday, Barrett, Hodges, Howard and Brown and Mayor Nash voted FOR the motion and Councilmember Davis voted AGAINST the motion. Councilmembers Dowling and Tavenner were absent. The motion, however, passed. CONSIDER BIDS Consider the H.U.D. - -New Addition Housing Rehabilitation Bids, as reconvended by staff Mayor Nash noted four other housing rehabilitation bids were taken by staff. Kathy James, Grant Coordinator for the HUD Housing Rehabilitation New Addition Target Area, noted one bid is being withdrawn by the contractor because of underestimates of costs and work to be done and three other bids are requested to be rejected due to . their being over the $15,000 limitation set by the Council. Mayor clash recommended that the Council approve the withdrawal of bid No. 113 -81/83 from Kevin Wedergren for $15,270. Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve its withdrawal and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. MEETItu Mayor Nash noted the staff requests that this particular item be re -bid and that the other three bids be rejected for exceeding the $15,000 limitation. Mayor Nash then recommended their rejection. Councilmember Brown made the motion to reject bid no. 101 -83 from Kevin Wedergren, bid no. 110 -82/83 from Kevin Wedergren and bid no. 117 -81/83 from K. C. Construction and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor of motion to reject these three bids for $17,820, $19,710 and $17,055, respectively, and it passed unanimously. Mayor Nash noted bid No. 113- 81/83, which is to be rebid, will most likely run over the $15,000 also as it didn't include everything initially. He noted $15,000 is the maximum that should be spent on those houses and he is not in favor of spending more than that. He said if we can't get the work done satisfactorily for 515,000, he noted he would rather use the money on something else. CouncilmewbersBrown and Monday agreed. Mayor Nash asked staff to look at this bid to see where something could be cut out. He noted we basically just want indoor plumbing and basic needs served. Gene Pipes noted we must at the same time comply with HUD require- ments for the work done. Mayor Nash noted it is then the consensus of Council that staff reconsider this bid so that it will not exceed 515,000. Councilmember Davis suggested checking back with the tenants to see if they can or will core up with the difference. He felt that spending $2,800 to get an additional $15,000 of work paid for would be a eretty good deal. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT by Gene Pipes TML 72nd Annual Conference and Exhibition Notice Gene Pipes advised the Council of this meeting in Dallas November 1 -3, 1984. He noted those interested in attending should check with Ruth DeShaw for reservations. Walker County Appraisal District Quarterly Jurisdictional Meeting Gene Pipes noted he and Patricia Allen, Director of Finance, County Judge Ralph Davis and Oscar Thorne, Tax Assessor - Collector for Walker County, attended a meeting this afternoon with the Appraisal District officers to review their budget. He noted they revised their budget recently because of sane late developments in the teacher retirement program. He said appraisal district personnel are considered employees of the school district and this makes them eligible for teacher retirement. He noted a number of them had been in teacher retirement for a number of years. He noted a recent ruling has disallowed their participation in the teacher retirement system, so several of them have lost their many years of eligibility and the local taxing jurisdic- tions are having to pick up a still larger share to make a retirement system available to those employees. He noted a number of other items were also reviewed which are in their amended budget. He noted it was a very enlightening meeting and he understands a whole lot more about the appraisal district's operation. He said the joint funding operation wherein the school district pays a base amount and then pays 51 -52% of the rest of the operating expenses to boot has long been misunderstood. He noted he feels very comfortable about this now. He noted they will be acting on their budget next Tuesday, September 4. He noted we are not due to talk about our budget until then, but he did not see any real alternative to what they have built into their budget. He noted we will go over these details next week. County Request for Back Taxes originally owed on Brimberry Property (given to city for a park). Mr. Pipes noted it was originally agreed that the back taxes would be forgiven by Walker County, but the HISD finally determined that they wanted to be paid for their back taxes and the Coun,,y apparently has followed suit following the philosophy that because the city and HISD could not see fit to honor the County's request to forgive taxes on the Gibbs - Powell house for the Walker County Museum, that they ought to be paid for their back taxes on the Brimberry property. He noted this back tax totals $986.27. Mr. Pipes noted he has no reason not to recommend we pay those back taxes, but said there are a number of other financial obligations that Walker County has had to the City in terms of fire calls, and other amounts owing, due and payable. He said when we pay these amounts requested, we certainly ought to renew our request for payment and maintain the current status on all of the funds due and payable to the City. He noted money to pay these taxes would have to come from some unallocated contingency or some reserve, but the city will write that check and it will be making a request of the Walker County Commissioners Court to remit those funds due the city for prior services and other costs. Mayor Nash recommended to Gene Pipes to do as he stated. He noted if it is an appropriate bill, he wants the City to pay it; but he also wants the County to pay their bills. Final Dispostion- -North Huntsville Sewer Plant- -EPA Audit -- $3,804.11 Gene Pipes noted after ten years of waiting, it still took two years to resolve the EPA Audit of the South Huntsville Sewer Plant. He noted the North Plant was completed in 1982 and the EPA audit is already complete. He noted they started out challenging nearly $100,000 worth of work on this project and we appealed it through several different hearings and procedures. He noted the last discussion we had with the various officials was last spring in Dallas at the EPA office in an appeal on an audit. He noted the final determination indicates that of the $10,396 in question, 55,072.15 has been disallowed by the regional administrator. He noted our 75 percent of that $5,072.15 is $3,804.11, a figure similar to the final disposition of the South Plant audit costs after ten years of arguing about it. He recommended that the City repay the U. S. EPA $3,804.11 of the funds originally issued to the City for the construction of the North Plant and not argue any further. cnunrilmpmber Monday made the motion to authorize oayment of the $3.804.11 in filal disposition cost of the FPA audit of the Nnrth Plant and Cnunrilmember Hodges seconded the motion.. Discussion: It was noted a little over $100,000 has been in escrow since 1982 pending the outcome of this audit. The $3,804.11 will come from this escrowed amount. Mr. Pipes noted the remainder will be now available for use, perhaps as a capital improve- ments fund for %eater and sewer. Meynr Nash noted he has been advi,,ed that a vote upon this) matter is not necessary and that thic ran he accnmplished with the genera consensus of the Council, which the staff has. New Police Chief Schedule for Selection Gene Pipes noted there has been a vacancy for about two weeks now in the Police Chief's position. He said the city is advertising and will continue to do so for the next two weeks to accept resumes and expressions of interest and applications through September 15. He said at that time the application process will be closed, evaluations and interviews will be conducted, and during September 17 -24, the interviews will be conducted on qualified candidates. He noted the last week in September will be used to check backgrounds and references to narrow the list down td the top three or five. He noted those people will be interviewed again, if necessary. He hoped by October 1 a new police chief could be named. Mayor Nash noted the names of applicants will be released to the newsmedia, if requested. Budoet Schedule Gene Pipes noted the Charter requires that the budget be adopted by September 27. He noted public hearings must be conducted prior to adoption. He noted the Council will go over the budget again on September 4, the public hearing will be on September 18 and the budget will be adopted on September 25. He noted if adopted unanimously on the 25th, there is no problem; however, if it is not adopted,unani;;uusly, we will inert again on the 26th or again until the necessary readings are held. He noted thatSeptenber will be a tight schedule. He noted the Council can count on meeting every Tuesday in September. • i =Ui;U> i 2$, 1984 MAYORS REPORT New Teacher's Day Proclamation Mayor Nash noted earlier this evening a proclamation was delivered to the Chamber of Commerce at the High School Cafeteria, designating August 28, 1984 as "New Teacher's Day," as part of a program and barbecue honoring all new teachers to the Huntsville area, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce for new teachers at HISD, SHSU and the Windham School System of the Texas Department of Corrections. Mosquito Control Program Study Mayor Nash noted the mosquito problem seems to be accelerating in Huntsville. He asked what type of control program the City had, noting he knew the fogging program no longer existed. Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised that the City's mosquito fogging equipment was sold at auction some two years ago because of non -use and the subsequent deterioration of the equipment. He noted there were a number of objections from certain individuals in the community regarding the fogging program. He noted if a major portion or even a certain area is left out of the fogging program, free zones are given to the mosquitos and they don't recognize boundaries, blocks, etc. He noted Houston has a mosquito control district which is very active and fights mosquitos year around. He said if Huntsville is going to do it effectively, we will have to spray during the larvae formation season and knock them down with aerial spray during peak periods. He noted this program has not been pursued or budgeted because of objections previously expressed. Mayor Nash noted he presumes this is done in other cities under the health department. He asked the City Manager to have our health department check on what other cities are doing regarding new chemicals or processes that might not be so objectionable to those who complained. He noted this could be a basic health problem if left uncontrolled. COUNCIL ACTION Walker County Appraisal District Functions and Operations Councilmember Monday asked the City Manager to advise her on what he has learned about the functions and operations of the Appraisal District. The City Manager noted he-may get into this discussion next Tuesday night in the budget session. It was noted there is a meeting of all jurisdictions of Walker County tomorrow at 10:00 A.M. in the Pppraisal Office located at 1819 Sycamore to tour their new building, explain the appraisal district operations, lost mobile homes, finnled accounts, etc. Mayor Nash noted all of the Council are invited to attend this meeting. Mayor Nash noted once a month there is a meeting of this type held during which all representatives of the other taxing entities can meet with the appraisal district. First Day of School -- Traffic Safety Preparedness Councilmember Monday asked the City Manager if we were ready for the first day of school and the traffic control provisions to be instituted. Gene Pipes noted Captain Moorse has been visiting with all of the school principals during the last month to make special arrangements. He noted Boettcher Drive will be closed and designated a one way street for a two hour period from 7:00 A.M. until 10:00 P.M. on Thursday and Friday morning, the first two days of school. He noted the purpose for this is because as the brand new 1st graders and kinder- garteners arrive at that campus, they can be led. out in a safe manner. He noted routine patrols of school zones will be conducted. He noted the new flashing signal has been put into place as requested by Councilnember Barrett. He noted the city will be prohibiting the letting out of children on the street opposite a school and children can only be let out from the school side of the street on the safe side of the car. Mr. Pipes noted the new traffic signal should be in place and functioning at FM 247 and FM 2821. Parking Spaces Reserved on City Street Councilmember Hodges noted he has observed two parking spaces marked off on 10th Street in front of the Samuel Houston Elementary School for the principal and the school secretary. He asked if this could be done. Mr. Pipes noted from a legal standpoint, it is not proper, and anyone who chose to park there could do so as street parking spaces cannot be reserved. He noted however as a courtesy matter, motorists are likely not to park there because of the designation so painted on the curb. 7th Street Flashing Liahts Councilmember Barrett commended the city for their quickness in getting the flashing light on 7th Street. Budget Meeting -- September 4 Gene Pipes, City Manager, urged all members of Council to bring their budgets to the next meeting, ADJOURNMENT y ubmi uth DeShaw, City Secretary August 28, 1984