MIN CC 12/04/1984MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 4TH DAY OF DECEMBER, 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:
William V. Nash, Mayor
0. Eugene Barrett, Pos. 1 at -large
Stephen E. Davis, Pos. 3 at -large
Bill Hodges, Mayor Pro tem, Pos. 2 at -large
Percy Howard, Jr., Ward 3
Jane Monday, Ward 1
Bob Tavenner, Ward 4
Absent:
City Officers present:
Murray A. Brown (resigned as of 11 -29 -84 from Pos. 4 at- large)
Jerry Dowling, Ward 2
Gene Pipes, City Manager
Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary
Scott Bounds, City Attorney
The Council meeting was called to order by the Honorable William V. Nash, Mayor. The Council then recessed
into executive session to discuss legal matters regarding pending litigation: Embessi Vs. French and Ortiz
Vs. Lightning Construction Company.
COUNCIL MEETING RECONVENED
Mayor Nash then reconvened the City Council Meeting and called it to order. Reverend Brian Wallace of
St. Thomas Catholic Church gave the invocation.
CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Councilmember Monday made the motion to approve the minutes of November 27, 1984 as prepared and Council -
member Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.
RECOGNITION
Mayor Nash recognized members of the Boy Scout Troup 114 of Huntsville. He also recognized former City
Councilmember and Mayor Pro tem, Dr. E. Larry Dickens, who was accompanying the boy scouts. Mayor Nash asked
each of the boy scouts to stand to be recognized. Dr. Dickens noted these scouts are sponsored by the Kiwanis
Club and they are working on various merit badges or skill award requirements associated with citizenship which
involves going to a city council meeting, keeping notes, and making a record to report back to the troup on what
was seen and learned here.
CONSIDER GAS COST INCREASE
Consider an Ordinance suspending the rates for services for Entex and establishing a temporary rate structure
Mayor Nash noted this rate increase amounts to $1.02 per month per customer or $12.24 per customer per year.
He recognized Mr. Joe Larrison of Huntsville's Entex office who was present. Mayor Nash advised the Council of
the new information he has received and reviewed regarding the justification for the increase and he is now in a
position to recommend approval of the $1.02 per month per customer rate increase, noting his questions have been
resolved and he now agrees that this increase is reasonable. He noted it will amount to $58,000 additional costs
for the Huntsville area this. year. He indicated no action is necessary from the Council because unless action
is taken to oppose the increase, it will automatically go into effect on December 6, 1984. He advised the City
has been notified that there will perhaps be another increase of some 50t in a cost -of- service increase next
April. Mayor Nash then recommended no opposition the $1.02 increase at this time. The Council indicated it is
their unanimous consensus that no action be taken, based on this new information justifying the increase.
CONSIDER FISH HATCHERY AREA PAVIING
Consider a proposal to share paving expenses on four streets with Walker County Commissioner, Precinct No. 3
by change order addition to the present City paving contract with Gaylord Construction Company
Mayor Nash noted, as discussed last week, Gene Pipes, City Manager, was instructed to work with Precinct 3
Commissioner, Curtis Ellisor, to resolve this request. Mr. Pipes noted the city can add, by change order, up to
25% of the original contract amount, other projects to an existing contractor's work, which would allow the City
the opportunity, if it chose to do so, of adding these streets to Gaylord Construction Company's contract pro-
viding the work can be done for $29,341 or 25% of Gaylord's original contract amount. He noted it would cost
$9,074 to pave Bluebird Lane; $8,600 to pave Redbird; $10,266 for Mockingbird; and $3,463 to pave Badger Lane
for a total of $31,416. He noted if we drop Badger, we can get down to $27,953, but'in addition to those over-
laying costs, it is estimated that the city would have some $3,256 by city crews expended in terms of labor,
materials and equipment to patch the potholes and shore up the weak spots before the overlay can take place;
very much like what was done on all of the bond issue streets prior to the work done by Gaylord under contract.
He said the total then would approach $31,000. He said, Badger. Lane, in this process, including all four streets,
patching, pothole filling, leveling prior to paving would total some $34,672. He noted the only hitch in adding
this work to Gaylord's contract is that it exceeds the 25% limitation for "add ons," or some $5,331 short.
Mayor Nash noted what is being proposed here is the same type of work being done in the capital improvements
program. He noted this is a bonded program, voted upon by the people in an election for specific areas. He
said the city has not, within its regular budget, gone out to upgrade streets. He then expressed his concern
for inserting these streets in competition, or ahead, of the prioritized street work already established for a
long period of time. He was also concerned about putting streets, newly annexed, ahead of areas within the city
that have needed repairs for some longer time. He recommended, as some middle ground, that instead of overlaying
these streets, that perhaps the funds the county has set aside, or has available for street upgrading in this
area, be used by the city in its regular street program of repairing potholes and doing sealcoating. He said
perhaps this method of repair can be done at even a reduced cost or less than half of what this figure would be
otherwise. Mayor Hash noted that it may be convenient to add these costs to an existing contract because the .
contractor is still her, but he also reminded the Council that the City has other overlay projects coming an next
summer of a sufficient size to make this work an attractive addition to one of those contracts.
Councilmember Monday noted she would like a staff evaluation as to the priority of these streets in the
listing, whether it is an immediate concern and needs to be done now or if it can fit in with a future street
improvement contract. Gene Pipes noted the difference in this particular project is the fact that the County
Precinct 3 Commissioner, Mr. Curtis Ellisor, is prepared to split the costs with the City. Mr. Pipes noted if it
were not for this proposal to split costs, these streets would not be given special priority and would be reviewed
and prioritized in the same manner as any other street in the city.
Councilmember Davis suggested the County pave only two streets, those needing it the most, and let the city
prioritize the other two streets within its program. Mayor Nash suggested using city forces to minimize that
cost also. Councilmember Davis felt that $19,000 (county's share) would pave at least two of those streets.
Gene Pipes explained that the $19,000 estimate is one half of the contractor's estimate to pave four streets for
the county and Mr. Ellisor is offering to pay $19,000 if the City will pay the other half. Mr. Ellisor noted,
however, he has not made any commitments in any regard yet. Mayor Nash reiterated his proposal to let the city
crews perform the sealcoat work for the county with the county's $19,000, and this would allow the city to keep
its commitments to the other city residents that were made in the bond issue. Mayor Nash asked Mr. Pipes to get
back with Mr. Ellisor to review this suggestion and other ideas wherein the city can help the county without
spending city dollars, to upgrade the streets, perhaps to a lesser quality than original intended by Mr. Ellisor,
but which would meet the needs in that area. Mr. Ellisor noted he will be happy to meet again with Mr. Pipes
in an effort to cooperatively work on this mutual project.
NEW CABLE COMPANY MANAGER
Huntsville Cable T. V. Company- -New Local Manager
City Manager, Gene Pipes, introduced to the City Council Mr. Randy Rogers, the new local manager of the
Huntsville Cable T. V. Company. He noted Mr. Rogers will assume the position of former manager, Mr. Steve
Crawford. He noted representatives of the new cable company net with him and other staff members and Council-
member Monday to review their plans and to answer questions. He expressed their willingness to work with the
city in every way possible.
RESIGNATION OF COUNCILMEMBER MURRAY A. BROWN
Discuss filling the vacancy on the Council created by the resignation of Dr. Murray A. Brown
Mayor Nash presented the letter of resignation from Councilmember Brown, dated November 29, 198i. He advised
the Council of its responsibility to select a person to fill the unexpired term of 15 months, as required by the
City Charter. After some explanation about procedures, Mayor Nash recommended that the Council ask anyone who is
interested in filling this position to make their wishes known to a member of Council or himself by 5:00 P.M.
next Tuesday. Mayor Nash noted then the Council can have an executive session after the December 11 meeting
during which it will consider the names of those who have indicated an interest. A decision can be made then
as to whether the Council will make a final selection or ask for additional information, etc. He noted he feels
the Council's discussion needs to be limited to those who indicate an interest and would serve as a Councilmember.
He noted, however, this is not a fixed schedule, and the Council should be prepared to meet again on the 18th of
December if need be to make a decision. The council generally concurred with this approach. Mayor Nash asked the
news media to relay this information to the public through their media sources.
CONSIDER ANNUAL TIRE INVENTORY BIDS
Consider Bid No. 85 -5 -- annual tire inventory contract
Mayor Nash presented the recommendations of the staff to accept the lowest bid meeting specifications, as
follows: Goodyear Tire and Rubber for items 1, 3 -27, 29 -33, 35 -45 and 49; and Texas Tire and Muffler for items
28, 34, 46 and 48. Councilmember Hodges made the motion to accept the staff's recommendation as outlined above
and Councilmember Monday seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.
CONSIDER RESIDENTIAL GARBAGE COLLECTION
Consider the options for residential garbage collection in the newly annexed areas
Mayor Nash presented the recommendation of the staff to add a fourth sanitation crew to provide residential
garbage collection in the newly annexed areas as well as those areas currently being contracted out. It was
noted that because of the additional collections imposed by the November 13 annexations, a fourth crew is now
justified to handle all areas annexed since 1980. After some review and discussion, Councilmember Monday made
the motion to approve the addition of a fourth crew and the reassumption of all of the contracted out collections
as recommended by the staff and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion
passed unanimously.
CONSIDER ARTS COMMISSION BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS
Consider a policy request concerning adjustments to the Arts Commission budget at the close of each budget year.
Mayor Nash presented a request from the Arts Commission. Mr. Nash noted the city's budget runs from October
through September, however, the Arts Commission obtains its funds from the Hotel -Motel Occupancy Tax which is
collected over a January - December calendar year basis. He noted they would like the flexibility of adjusting
their budget, at the close of each city - fiscal year, in order to use, in the new fiscal year, any revenues which
have exceeded the 1% projections for the previous fiscal year. Mayor Nash noted they receive 1% of all hotel -
motel tax monies collected but their budget is usually set before those amounts are known. This authorization
would allow them to adjust their budget to include the fourth quarter taxes collected on their behalf, or should
a shortfall occur, to adjust the Commission's budget accordingly. Mayor Nash noted, in short, the Arts Commission
gets 1% of the hotel -motel tax monies and the Tourist Bureau gets the other 3% for a total of 4% and whatever
carry forward or shortage there might be will be made up in the following fiscal year. Councilmember Monday made
the motion to allow the Arts Commission to so adjust their budget and Councilmember Hodges seconded the motion.
Councilmember Tavenner noted he will ABSTAIN from voting on this motion because of his involvement in the Tourist
Bureau. All other members of Council and Mayor Nash voted for the motion and it passed by a vote of 8 with 1
abstention.
HUD -NEW ADDITION GRANT FUNDS UPDATE
Consider a report updating the status of the HUD -New Addition grant funds
Mayor Nash advised the Council that the City is now approximately one -third of the way through the third
year funding of the HUD (New Addition) project grant and that the administrative funds will run out at the end of
December. Mr. Nash said the Council was made aware previously of the funding difficulties when it was asked to
switch money around in order to provide sufficient funds for the roadwork in the HUD project and the administra-
tive portion had to be shorted at that time. He indicated his concern that this project has not been able to
carry its full load. He also suggested taking the money out of'the $77,000 that is there for the four to six
houses set to be renovated; noting we set a $15,000 per home limit and for four homes, this would be $60,000 and
that would give us about $18,000.
Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised that this grant and all of the project should have been complete in early
fall, however, a considerable amount of time was lost last spring in the utilities contract when the Trico
contract took longer than expected. He noted too that in July, we lost about 6 weeks of time while trying to
take appropriate bids. He said these setbacks timewise put our paving contractor into the rainy portion of the
year and the rain has also delayed us somewhat. He presented the summary of the HUD grant funds, budget vs.
expenditures as of November 30, 1984. Dale Brown, Planner, advised the Council that approximately four years
ago when the grant request was made, the City proposed to HUD that in the third grant year, the City would
cover half of the salary of the employees resulting from it as part of our participation. Mr. Brown noted that
to a large extent, the city has not made this monetary participation as yet in an effort to see how long it
could extend the grant, which was made in August of 1981 and should have been complete by August of 1984.
He noted as part of the grant project, the city also had to commit to a certain number of houses to be rehabili-
tated and a certain minimum dollar figure. He noted the $100,000 per year was the minimum HUD would allow the
city to propose for rehabilitation, so the city cannot take money out of this category, as the Mayor suggests.
He noted $73,000 is the remainder of the rehabilitation funds since we have already done a few houses. He noted
the city also has to meet the minimum number of houses to be rehabilitated, which is 24, of which 17 have been
done. The Council then realized that there can be no more moving of funds within the grant structure.
Gene Pipes, City Manager, noted that there are two options: 1) Kathy James was hired under the stipulation
that this is a grant fund situation and if she is unable to complete her work under those funds, Mr. Brown will
have to assume those responsibilities; or 2) fund Kathy James salary for the remainder of this fiscal year,
allow her to complete this project, assist Mr. Brown, and work towards the grant application for the Boettcher's
Mill area; funds to come out of the unallocated reserve of the general fund for January- September, 1985.
Councilmember Monday made the motion to retain the position of grant coordinator Kathy James] and to
fund the remainder of this fiscal year's salary from the unallocated reserve and Councilmember Barrett seconded
the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Dale Brown, Planner, then showed a slide presentation of construction work in the New Addition area.
CONSIDER EMERGENCY GENERATORS
Consider authorizing the electrical engineering work plans, specifications, bidding and supervision for the
installation of the emergency generators at City Hall and the Municipal Justice Center to Maken Industries,
Inc. of Lufkin, Texas in the amount of $6,500, funded from the general fund unallocated reserve.
Mayor Nash presented the proposal from Maken Industries to furnish electrical engineer, Kenneth E.
Needham, P. E., to design necessary electrical system changes to install a 45 KW Natural Gas Emergency
Generator and related equipment at the Huntsville City Hall and an identical generator at the Municipal
Justice Center Building. It was noted the City would furnish drafting and typing as directed by Maken Indus-
tries to form a bid package of drawings and specifications. Mr. Nash noted the cost of this engineering work
would not exceed $3,000 for the City Hall building and $3,500 for the Municipal Justice Center Building. He
questioned the amount of the engineering costs on this project, noting it is approximately 15% of the project
cost. After some discussion, Mr. Pipes indicated he would get more information on how this rate was calculated
and bring this back to the Council next week. Mr. Nash was concerned that we would be spending $6,500 designing
about $7,000 worth of connections since $35,000 or more is the cost of the two generators. He then requested
that this item be tabled until further information or explanation can be presented. Councilmember Hodges made
the motion to table this item and Councilmember Monday seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion
passed unanimously.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
SHSU sewer extension request for football stadium service off of Bowers Boulevard
Mr. Pipes presented a request for a sewer line extension from Dr. Frank Leathers of Sam Houston State
University to service the football stadium being built off of Bowers Boulevard. He said the most accessible
and appropriate access to the sewer line is down on Bearkat Boulevard downhill from the stadium, but a good
distance away from what would be considered a normal service connection. He said in addition to this, it would
require the boring of a 100' wide pavement section. He said under the City's sewer extension policy, SHSU
has requested that we participate in one -half of the cost Phich is estimated to be $9,375]with our share being
a little over $5,000. Mr. Pipes noted it would be a change order to the University's stadium contractor and
he does not have the exact figures yet from Dr. Leathers. He asked if there is sufficient support for this
project so he can formalize it and bring it back next week for action. He noted this sewer crossing of Bearkat
Boulevard would also service an area of some 20 acres, which would otherwise be totally isolated from sewer
service if this project is not done. Mayor Nash asked if this is the most efficient way to do this. Gene
Pipes noted that it is after describing the alternatives.
Mayor Nash asked if we have had any other projects like this with state agencies. It was noted none could
be remembered. He noted there is no reason why SHSU should not be able to participate in this policy like any-
one else, but he registered his hesitancy in that it is almost like Big Brother asking Little Brother for a
little bit of money. It was noted, however, that funds for this project do come from the water and sewer
revenue funds and not from the ad valorem taxes and that SHSU pays into the water and sewer fund like anyone else.
Councilmember Monday noted SHSU does pay their fair share of the water and sewer expenses and she indicated her
approval of this request. The other members of Council likewise indicated their approval. The City Manager
was advised to formalize this request and bring it back for final action by the Council next week to approve it.
Downtown Parking Survey Results
Mr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, indicated the city performed a survey of the downtown parking patterns
in order to get a better grasp on the problems. He noted the survey was conducted from November 14 through
November 20 (five days) wherein three or five times a day the license plate numbers were noted on cars parked in
the monitored (numbered) spaces (314 parking spaces downtown), and these cars were observed as the day progressed.
He noted of the 314 parking spaces surveyed, 5 percent, roughly 17 spaces, were vacant every time they were
surveyed for the entire five day period. [The area where the monitored spaces are includes the area from 10th
Street down to Huntsville National Bank and from TDC over to Avenue M with the monitored spaces being those with
a two hour time limit.] Mr. Bounds noted 9 percent of the spaces were vacant at least every time surveyed for
four days out of the five days. He noted 24 percent, or 75 spaces of the 314 surveyed, were vacant all day
at least one day of the five days. He noted that on any one day at any time during any one survey run there
were approximately 100 vacancies in the 314 parking spaces; only two- thirds of the parking spaces are being
used. He noted as a result of this survey that the parking lot next to Smith Jewelry across from the Court-
house is severely underutilized; simply not used by the public. He suggested eliminating the two hour parking
restrictions from this lot (Gibbs lot) to encourage people to park there and restripe it to increase the number
of parking spaces in that area. He further suggested that at the Western Auto /First Methodist Church area, the
parking spaces are not utilized and we may wish to design an alternate parking time for that area.
Mr. Bounds advised that on the first day of this parking survey, there were 34 cars that were parked in
the downtown area every time it was surveyed. He said of those, three stayed in the same parking spaces and
the other 31 cars moved from parking space to parking space downtown. He noted after five days of not writing
tickets, the number of cars parked downtown increased to 40, 22 of which stayed parked in the same spot all day
long and 18 stayed downtown, but moved from spot to spot. He noted then it is apparent that enforcement does
cause cars to move but it does not cause cars to move away from downtown. Mr. Bounds provided the Council with
a list of license plate numbers and registered owners of those cars that were parked downtown all day for two of
the five days surveyed. Councilmember Monday asked how many of the 22 are county employees. Mr. Bounds noted he
has not yet checked this, but it could be easily determined. Mr. Bounds noted, however, that this does not mean
these individuals were illegally parked, but just that they parked downtown all day for at least two of the
five days surveyed - -these cars moved around, but stayed downtown. Mr. Bounds noted approximately 8 -10 cars
parked at the parole office, basically rotate spaces [between Walker County Hardware and the Parole Office].
He noted there are a few cars in other random areas (Western Auto /House of Furniture) which stay in the same
area. He noted some who parked cars areon the exempt list (J.P.'s). He noted those persons who park around
the courthouse are very cognizant not to park in front of a business.
Mr. Bounds noted that about one -third of the spaces were vacant at any one time when the survey was con-
ducted. He noted on November 14, 125 spaces were vacant one or more times during the day. He noted with jury
parking and having from six to twelve more cars downtown there would be minimal effect on the parking situation.
He noted as a result of this preliminary data, the following recommendations are being made:
1. Temporarily establish one (1) hour parking zone on inside perimeter of Courthouse Square.
2. Temporarily establish two (2) hour parking zone on outside perimeter of Courthouse Square.
3. Temporarily eliminate two (2) hour parking restrictions away from Courthouse Square.
4. Encourage the County to reduce and effectively use designated parking on the west and north sides
of the Square.
5. Encourage the County to use the Gibbs lot for juror and /or other designated parking.
6. Continue gathering and refining survey information.
Councilmember Monday questioned the removal of the two hour parking limit from the parking spaces in
front of certain merchant's stores while four parking spaces over there is a limit. She suggested instead of
this to perhaps leave two or three spots near Western Auto at the two hour parking limit to service that store,
but beyond that, in front of the church, the two hour limit could be eliminated there because actually no one
is being served on a regular basis there. She felt applying this idea to other areas that don't service retail
or high traffic (remove time limit) would be more desirable; noting that the merchants may feel it is discrimina-
tory to remove the limit from the spaces fronting some stores but not all. Mr. Bounds noted that as we make
modifications, we will observe the resulting patterns in an effort to determine the best final solution.
Councilmember Hodges reiterated his earlier preference to limit the inside of the square parking to 45
minutes, an hour and one -half on the outside of the square and two hours every place else. Councilmember Barrett
said this may encourage those who normally park on the inside to park on the outside in front of the stores.
He felt it should be the same on both sides of the street,-say one hour. Councilmember Monday noted the mer-
chants will tell you that one hour is not long enough.for a shopper. Mayor Nash noted the bottom line here is
to try to get those who always park on the inside of the square to park off of the square. Councilmember Monday
urged the city to keep the merchants in mind in making these temporary changes. Mayor Nash indicated his
preference to try the recommendations outlined on a temporary basis. Councilmember Monday noted then the city
owes the merchants the courtesy of notifying them of this plan so that they can advise us if this is not working
or if it is infringing on their business. She felt this project should be delayed until after the Christmas
season. Councilmember Hodges felt that those spaces now under a time limit should remain under a time limit
and not just wiped off; again his preference would be 45 minutes inside, 1 1/2 hours outside, and two hours
everywhere off the square area for the parking time limits. Councilmember Monday suggested leaving the times
as they are, but maybe changing the inside the square time limit to one hour rather than two. She supported
the other recommendations made by Mr. Bounds.
Mayor Nash asked that the city staff make one of their parking charts small and reproduce it for all the
Council and to bring this back next week with specific recommendations. Councilmember Barrett noted his pre-
ference to invite the merchants to the Council meeting to advise the Council on the length of time they feel
would be fair to them and to other people. Mayor Nash asked the City Manager to contact the Downtown Merchants
Association to advise them of this survey and the council's discussions in an effort to get some input from
them.
MAYOR'S REPORT
National Drunk and Drugged Driving Week -- November 11 -17, 1984 -- Mayor Nash noted earlier this evening he
proclaimed this week for the MADD group.(Mothers Against Drunk Driving).
H -GAC Appointment of Councilmember Barrett -- Mayor Nash advised that,H -GAC has accepted our nomination of
Councilmember Barrett to the H -GAC Health Planning Advisory Committee,,established at the request of Governor
Mark White for the purpose of developing this region's health planning priorities for inclusion in the Annual
Texas State Health Plan. He noted Dr. Barrett will be one of .31 committee members serving on the H -GAC Committee
and that he will meet with this group quarterly. He congratulated Councilmember Barrett on this appointment.
COUNCIL ACTION
Police Dispatchers Complimented -- Councilmember Monday passed on a compliment on the efficiency and courtesy
of our Police Dispatchers, especially the one on duty at 4:30 A.M., noting a resident had some difficulty with
burglar alarms going off and noted the dispatchers handled this matter very courteously and professionally.
X -Mas Parade -- Councilmember Monday noted Thursday evening is the Christmas Parade. She asked about the City
Float. The City Manager indicated the vehicle the city planned to use as its base is in the shop and we will
have to forego having a float this year for the first time in about eight or nine years. He noted we'll be
back next year
Paper Moon Project -- Willow Street Paving. -- Councilmember Tavenner asked for a status report. Glenn Isbell said
Willow Street should be ready to bid around January or February and it will be paved from Bowers Boulevard to
Magnolia Street.
EMS Facility Expansion -- Councilmember Davis asked when this project would be bid. Gene Pipes noted it should
be bid in January or February as well.
ADJOURNMENT
December 4, 1984
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