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MIN CC 08/24/1993CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 24, 1993 BOOK "R" 223 R MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 24TH DAY OF AUGUST, 1993 IN THE CITY I� HALL CONFERENCE ROOM, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, !� TEXAS AT 5:15 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: W. H. Hodges, Mayor Officers: Dan S. Davis Harold L. Norton Gene Pipes, City Manager William B. Green JoAnn Matthews Scott Bounds, City Attorney Ronald L. Lange Ila G. Gaines Danna Welter, City Secretary Dave Luning ABSENT: Jim Carter CITIZEN INPUT/INQUIRY Sherry Lane. Ms. Lane stated that Council should seriously consider allowing funds from the budget to secure a qualified individual and City participation in social programs for the youth of Huntsville. She felt that the majority of the residents would welcome the assistance needed to initiate a plan needed to regain the control of certain areas. Mayor Hodges stated that this item would be addressed during the budget discussions. REGULAR SESSION - CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hodges called the meeting to order. INVOCATION Invocation by Chaplain Perry Barnes, Church of Christ. CONSIDER MINUTES OF AUGUST 17, 1993 Councilmember Matthews made the motion to approve the minutes of August 17, 1993, and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. NOTE: Councilmember Carter was absent. CONSIDER RESOLUTION 93 -12 HONORING THE HUNTSVILLE DIXIE BOYS BASEBALL ASSOCIATION'S MINOR LEAGUE AMERICAN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM FOR 1993 Councilmember Gaines made the motion to approve Resolution 93 -12 honoring the 1993 Huntsville American Dixie League All -Stars for winning the Dixie League State Championship, and Councilmember Green seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Hodges presented each member of the team with a Resolution with the signature of the Mayor and the seal of the j City. Members of the team included Joel Cole, Chris Casey, Ben Sousa, Jacob Lewis, Scott Murphy, Maurice Hagans, Jordan Griffin, Billy Dean Smith, Richard Bunn, Cody McKinley, Nicholas Beaty, Cole Hardy and Derek Colley. The team was assisted r: by Pat Murphy, Manager; Ralph Beaty and Dave Lewis, Coaches. ATTENDING CITIZEN Mary Jones. Ms. Jones stated that she was a concerned citizen and taxpayer of Huntsville and was concerned about the area around Gospel Hill. She is working to clean the area up and asking the City's help in this. She stated that the bushes, trees, and weeds are grown up, the ditches are down, the houses are down and the streets are bad. She presented City Council with I. photographs of the area and asked for their help. Mr. Pipes stated that the utility and paving work is scheduled for next year on Sowell Drive. He stated that there are a number of houses in the area that are in disrepair and need attention. He stated that the City would be willing to work on a clean up effort and would stay in contact with Ms. Jones. ' CONSIDER BIDS ON THE SOLID WASTE TRANSFER STATION PROJECT John Wright, S.C.S., stated that two bids were received for the transfer station project. The low bid was received from Reddy Engineers in the amount of $689,482.00 (completion by March 7). It is the opinion of S.C.S. and City staff that the bid estimate is excessive (original estimate $553,000). Meetings /conversations have been held with Reddy Engineers in an attempt to adjust their bid estimate. Negotiations were unsuccessful and have been cut off. Recommendation by City staff to Council is to CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 24, 1993 BOOK "R" 224 not enter into a contract at this time pending further evaluation of Reddy Engineer's estimate and other alternatives available. The bids will stand until accepted or rejected. It is recommended that City staff be authorized to design and construct a temporary transfer facility (30' by 40' concrete I pad with push wall) to use to load its transfer vehicles until a more permanent facility can be constructed. The cost would be j approximately $15,000420,000. j transfer facility, and Councilmember Norton seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimouslv. CONSIDER BIDS ON THE CLOSURE OF THE LANDFILL FACILITY Mr. Wright stated that four bids were received on the landfill closure project. The low bid was in the amount of $364,131.98 by Grisham Construction. Staff is recommending awarding this bid to Grisham Construction to begin closure on the landfill site as expeditiously as possible. CONSIDER AUTHORIZING BIDS FOR AN OIL AND GAS LEASE Mr. Schindler stated that staff was requesting Council's approval to advertise forbids for an oil and gas lease on 37 acres that the City owns in the John Ingersoll Survey. The City has received a letter from a broker interested in leasing the land (1/6 royalty). the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER A STATUS UPDATE ON TELECABLE REGULATIONS Mr. Nathan Gyke, TCA, stated that there will be programming changes effective September I as the result of recentll legislation. The federal government will control the rates for basic service if the cities decide they do not want to certify and go ' through the process of doing it. Due to the new regulations, Huntsville Cable may lose three stations - Channel 11 -KHOU, Channel 13 -KTRK, and FOX -26. These three channels are requesting fees for Huntsville Cable to carry their channel. Negotiations are'.I ongoing with these stations. Mr. Gyke stated that there will be a 26 channel basic service. The rates for service will fluctuate slightly depending on the number of outlets. Due to the new regulations, Huntsville Cable will no longer charge per outlet. Citizens with one outlet will pay more for cable service, whereas citizens with four outlets: will pay less for service. The cable rate currently for one outlet is $12.60 and will increase to $1.3.49 (depending on the final!. regulations). 30 -35% of the cable customers' rates will increase slightly and about 65% will see a slight decrease. Huntsville Cable may have to begin charging for service calls. Mayor Hodges thanked Mr. Gyke for keeping Council informed and introduced Johnnie Blalock, the local manager Huntsville Cable. CONSIDER ACCEPTANCE OF GRANT FOR AN ORGANIZED GANG UNIT IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WITH A LOCAL MATCH AMOUNT OF $5,886 (80% STATE, 20% CITY) Chief Eckhardt stated that the City has received the organized gang grant that was applied for earlier in the year. T will be the second year of the grant, Councilmember Gaines asked if the City could pull out of the program at any time or if the City was obligated to cm into the next several years when state funding would decrease. Chief Eckhardt stated that the City could withdraw at any Councilmember Matthews asked the Chief to provide an update on the status of the program. unanimously. ', I CITY COUNCILMEMBER ACTION Finance Committee. Councilmember Green stated that the City has in place an Investment Policy that restricts the amount op! investment the City can make in one institution. The committee is in the process of revising the policy, but in the interim there is approximately $1,000,000 available for reinvestment and the Finance Committee would like authorization from Council [o invest�l these funds in Texpool. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 24, 1993 BOOK 'R" 225 Councilmember Green made the motion to override the Investment Policy and authorize the Director of Finance to invest additional funds in Texpool, and Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously, Avenue M and 7th Street. Councilmember Green stated that this is a difficult intersection during the school year. Mr. Pipes stated that the City had previously requested the Highway Department to make that intersection a four way stop, but would contact them again. Highway 75 and Pleasant. Councilmember Luning stated that from reading the memo on this intersection it appears to be a serious problem. Mr. Pipes stated that the City is taking steps to correct the guard rail site limitation. 12th Street Parkins. Councilmember Green stated that not all the citizens listed in the letter from Mr. Standefer regarding parking on 12th Street in support of it are actually in favor of the changes. Mayor Hodges stated that he had also received a call from one citizen. MEDIA INQUIRIES Janet Dial, Huntsville Item, asked if the City will look at the feasibility of constructing the transfer station itself at the same !. time negotiations we taking place with the low bidder. Mayor Hodges stated yes. ADJOURNMENT Council recessed into a Work Session on the 1993 Budget - Water, Sewer and Sanitation Funds. ' Danna Welter, City Secretary