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MIN CC 03/12/1991CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "G" 325 ;MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 12TH DAY OF MARCH, 1991 IN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 6:45 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: . W. H. Hodges, Mayor William B. Green City officers present: 0. Eugene Barrett William H. Knotts, Jr. Gene Pipes, City Manager Gary Bell Ronald L. Lange Scott Bounds, City Attorney '.James L. Carter Charles Robinson Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary Its G. Gaines FORMAL SESSION Mayor Hodges then called the formal session to order. Reverend Ben Gardner of Grace Baptist Church, presented the invocation. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the minutes of the meetina of February 26 1991 and Counci Lmember Robinson seconded the motion. After some discussion for clarification, all were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT - -GENE PIPES Consider a proposed settlement offer and options in the Gulf States Utilities Rate Case. Docket No. 8702 City Manager, Gene Pipes, provided the Council with relevant information to again consider the matter of the settlement offer that was extended, provided by Gulf States Utilities, and recommended by the Counsel for the Coalition of Cities, Mr. Don Butler, at the February 19 meeting. He said he attended a hearing at the ' Public Utility Commission Last Thursday in Austin and some questions were raised at that time, he believed by the City of Somerville, concerning the need for additional time to interpose objections to the proposed settlement. He said they were sent into an adjoining room to discuss how to proceed. The consensus at that discussion, he said, was for them to allow seven days from last Thursday to this Thursday to file any motions or briefs related to the objections or any reservations anyone had concerning the proposed settlement offer and an additional period of time to the 18th could be allowed for anyone to respond to anything that was filed in that first period. And finally, he reported, the Commission would reconsider the proposed settlement offer in "their meeting of March 20. He said they understood that the Commission is agenda was crowded on March 20, but the Commission graciously decided to agree to that particular time frame scenario. In the ensuing discussions, he noted, first with the administrative law judges that considered the case somewhat earlier and had made a finding and recommendation to the Commission, and then subsequently with the Commission itself, several factors were discussed. He said what was most strongly presented was the exhortation by Commission Chairman Weeks that all of the dissenting parties reconsider the settlement offer, strongly urging that be done so that if at all possible, the concurrence could be reached so that the number of appeals that might otherwise be forthcoming would be limited and a greater consensus reached in which to go forward on behalf of the Commission. A little - :discussion was granted or given to the possibility of the Commission simply deciding the case, he said. Absent the settlement offer, there appears to be quite an atmosphere at the Commission at the present time, Pipes .reported, that the proper vehicle for the Commission to follow is consensus settlement; consensus being as near unanimous as one can possibly get. He said the previous action taken by City Council, in which it declined the settlement offer and simply asked the Commission to render a decision, is not presently what is at issue. Mr. Pipes said ultimately the Commission will make a decision, but at the present time, it is encouraging the settlement to be reconsidered. He said he has provided, instead of the page and a half summary the Council had on the 19th, the 32 plus page document detailed settlement and the additional elements, the findings of fact, conclusions of law and an order for the Commission to consider, should they favorably approve this settlement offer. Mr. Pipes advised he and City Attorney Bounds have attended several meetings. He said Mr. Clements, ' an attorney and general counsel for Gulf States Utilities, is here tonight. He said the city and GSU will .answer whatever questions it can, collectively or separately. The guidance of Council is very important at this point, Pipes noted, because of its previous position. He said it did not concur with the settlement offer and basically disassociated itself from the coalition of cities at that time to allow them to go forward as a unanimous group. He noted also that what used to be 21 cities is now somewhere in the area of 12 to slightly more than that have formally concurred in the settlement offer; apparently that is unsettling to the Commission as a ratio /number of some sort. Mr. Pipes said with this background, he will now be happy to respond to any .questions. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK a0" 326 Mayor Hodges than introduced Mr. Dennis Singletary, Manager of the Gulf States Utilities office in Huntsville, and asked him to introduce his guests. Mr. Singletary than introduced Mr. John Conley, Vice President, Western Division; Mr. Don Clements, GSU's attorney; and Mr. Barry Howe of GSU's rate department; . noting they will be happy to answer any questions the Council may have. Mayor Hodges advised he has a couple of comments before opening up the discussion for the Council. He noted, if he understands everything correctly, the City of Huntsville has for the Lest eight or ten years, passed this rate making authority on to the Public Utility Commission, because it was created by the State of Texas and it is their job to be responsible to the consumer and the producer, and theoretically, it has more expertise than the cities. He noted they have the staff, the analysis, and the people who can read all the volumes of rate information, which is supposed to be their job and that is the reason Huntsville has, automatically, for the last eight or ten years, passed that on to them. He said he personally feels that it is very essential for GSU, in this instance, to be a successful company, regardless as to whether it is Gulf States, the gas company or the telephone company. Mayor Hodges said the Huntsville area has enjoyed good electrical service ever since he has Lived here. He felt that if they are not successful, they won't be able to attract additional stockholders, pay dividends, reinvest in equipment, or do the proper maintenance, and when maintenance slips, people get laid off and then maintenance problems develop and the good service we've had in the past diminishes. Mayor Hodges felt that the ultimate authority should be with the Public Utility Commission. He noted as former City Councilmember Jerry Dowling used to say: "sometimes you have to rise above principle." He said perhaps he should recommend that the city join with the others cities and approve the rate increase. He said he will ask for a vote on it in a few minutes. He asked the Council if they had any questions for GSU. Mr. Pipes noted the coalition of cities had rejected GSU's proposal and an alternative was offered. He reported the coalition of cities has reconsidered their action and have now approved it. He said the number available the other day is that out of the original 21 cities, some 12 had approved, others were considering , or had it pending, but hadn't formally acted on it. He said he does not know what the current status is or the position the various cities have taken. He said he does know that Huntsville has declined, Somerville has declined, and beyond that he did not know specifically who has voted for it or has not approved it. Mr. Butler could not give that list to the Commission members last Thursday, he said. Mayor Hodges felt the City should approve the GSU proposal under protest. For this reason, Mayor Hodges felt it is essential for the City to write a strong Letter to the Governor with copies to Huntsville's state representatives, and the Public Utility Commission, stating the city's position, why the city approved it under protest and why it thinks it is the PUC's responsibility to set the rates as chartered by the State of Texas. Councilmember Bell questioned why the city would want to approve this rate request under protest when, in fact, it could just simply disagree, noting he does not understand the distinction. Mayor Hodges said he feels that because this has been going on for over two years, it is essential to resolve it. He said he feels if the city continues with this position, the Public Utility Commission will be right back at the next City Council meeting talking about the same thing, because he feels they are not going to make a decision. Councilmember Green asked if the Mayor is saying the PUC is really giving up its responsibilities at this point and is returning the matter to the cities even though this is its job. Mayor Hodges said he feels they are asking the cities to be the arbitrator. Councilmember Green said he has problems with that because he does not want the city to give up its original jurisdiction because it is imperative that it have at least a voice in the outcome of these cases. He said at this point, he is reluctant to make a judgement, noting even if the city had the expertise to make the decision, the City does not have the knowledge or the facts. He said he does not feel comfortable passing it under any conditions without more facts or comparison data on which to make a sound judgement, because we don't know what we are comparing; what the rate of return is that GSU expects on its equity? He said he is not sure that the capital investment ratio is a critical point, but certainly the rate design and how GSU determined this, and how this compares with other rate designs, is a critical question. Mayor Hodges felt unsure that the city will ever have the staff or expertise to make these , determinations. Councilmember Green agreed. Mayor Hodges noted then this is the reason the city has always depended on the PUC. Councilmember Green said the City has simply passed it on to the PUC, an authority created to settle these cases. Mayor Hodges surmised, however, the PUC is apparently very reluctant to do it. Councilmember Green then suggested, white the city did not have the authority to disband the PUC, he felt it would be appropriate to pass some sort of motion and that the City go on record with its concerns and to also recommend to the Governor that the PUC be disbanded because it is simply not performing. Mayor Hodges agreed CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "Q" 327 noting either disband it or require it to perform as chartered. Councilmember Green said there is no reason for people to pay for the PUC through taxes to do a job that it simply passes back to the cities saying it doesn't want to do it. Councilmember Bell noted he does not understand why the majority of the rates in the past have gone to the residential customer while the rates for the business and industrial users have been decreasing. Mayor Hodges asked Mr. Singletary who would like to address this question. Mr. Don Clements, General Counsel for GSU, advised he feels City Attorney Bounds and City Manager Pipes have probably addressed this to some extent, but stated the rate design chosen by the examiners was one recommended by a number of parties that would impose an even greater burden on residential rate payers. He said part of what is in the post- settlement is a modification of the examiner's proposed rate design, which does mat put as much of a rate increase on the residential rate payers. He said this is one of the benefits to the settlement as opposed to the decision that might have been rendered by the examiners. Mr. Clements said, for example, if one were to take the corrected examiner's recommendation, and assume that there might be some other modifications and suggest that the Commission could come up with a $22 million increase rather than a S30 million increase, using the rate design that was selected by the examiners in the case, one's residential rates would be higher at $22 million than even at the $30 million. The Council was advised that GSU has recommended, in this as well as the previous rate case, a different rate design which was rejected in both cases by the examiners, which would have spread revenues much differently so that residential increases would have been much lower. The Commission has now, once on its own, and for the second time to the examiners, he said, rejected that approach. Cenci Lmember Bell asked, however, if the request that was rejected involved a much higher rate increase overall, an $80 million increase rather than a $30 million increase, and that this is why it was rejected. Mr. Clements said it did involve a higher increase but the rate design theory would have been the same. Councilmember Carter noted it wasn't rejected because of the rate design, it was rejected because of the i. ' increase. Mr. Clements disagreed, rating the rate design is handled by the Commission as almost a separate portion of the case. The rate design theory that was proposed by the Company in the last case, and the rate design theory that was proposed by the company in this case, he said, were rejected on a theoretical basis. He said the Commission has instructed the staff, in making its decisions, to move "toward cost -of- service for '.. each class," so that classes of service that were out of sync with what it was costing to serve those classes, were getting higher increases. He said this was the result and the reason residential rate payers were getting a higher increase under its scenario. Councilmember Bell asked if Mr. Clements is saying it is more expensive to serve residential customers than business customers. Mr. Clements said that is correct in the sense that, historically, there has been more '..' of a burden placed on the commercial than the industrial and things have gotten out of sync. He said it is not necessarily that one is always more expensive than another and in every way, but they have been carried for a period of time so they have gotten out of sync to where the residential rate payers were not paying, if one 5. analyzed it on a pure cost -of- service basis, the amount that it wou Ld cost to serve that class. Some classes were paying more and some other classes were paying Less, he said, and now, the other point that was raised was that the other classes were not getting an increase. That is really not correct, he said, because if one looks at what the rates were before the bonded rates were put into effect, every class is getting an increase with one exception, and that is an exception which is important to Huntsville, and that is street lighting; street Lighting is not getting an increase at all under the proposed settlement. But every class, is in fact, getting' an increase over the rates that were in effect December 1, for instance, and the residential rates are going'' up by a greater percentage, he noted, but the other classes, with the exception of street lighting, are also !I. getting an increase. Councilmember Bell asked why this document says that % percent of the rate increase is being borne by residential customers. Mr. Clements said he didn't know why because he didn't believe it is that high. Mr. Pipes said this was the original examiner's report and Mr. Clements agreed. Mr. Pipes said as Mr. Clements I' pointed out a little while ago, the original examiners report, even the adjusted and recalculated calculation ' on that finding, was that the rate design was % percent to residential. In the settlement, he said, it is ''.. about 64 percent Mr. Clements said that is the number with which he is more familiar, noting the point is that under this settlement, even though it seems like a substantial amount going to residential rate payers, it is !'.. significantly Less, 30 percent or so, percentage -wise than what the examiners were recommending. He said there was, in that case, virtually no increase in any other place. CounciLaenber Bell said then Mr. Clements is saying that GSU is going to "kick Huntsville, but it is going to kick her less hard, so be grateful for the softer kick." Mr. Clements said GSU is not going to kick CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "G" 328 Huntsville, but has recommended a much different rate design, which, at whatever rate level, would have put a significantly smeller increase on residential. He said there are different factions working in a rate case. At the very first meeting the Commission asked GSU to attend, Mr. Clements said, there were three primary factors which came out of that meeting: 1) a revenue figure, $30 million; and 2) a two year moratorium, which: can only be imposed under a settlement agreement - -it can't be imposed by the Commission or any other regulatory authority; and 3) that there would be a restraint placed on the rate design proposed by the examiners- -the restraint was, and it was not selected by GSU but rather by the other parties in that room, that there would . be a 1.5 times cap on the difference between what the residential class received and any other class received. What happens is that when that is applied to the revenues, it results in about a $19 million increase, but than was a result of negotiations and it was the result of an attempt by the people in that room to come to an agreement among competing forces in the industrial and the residential to moderate the rate design proposed by the examiners, and that is why it went from 96 percent to 64 percent. CounciLmemmber Green asked if the rate design is based on expected revenues rather than really a price. Mr. Clements advised it is based on "expected revenues and the cost - to- serve." He said some of the Commission members have a favorite phrase, which is to "direct everything towards cost -to- serve," If everything was ore- to-one, that is your cost -to- serve, he said, noting some are at 80 percent, soave' are at 120 and the PUC is focusing on that. Councilmember Green said his question really relates to growth rate and usage, noting, if there is an increase in growth rate, in Houston or the GSU service area, how would that affect the price? Mr. Clements said the unit price stays essentially the same, but the revenues obviously grow; they may go up or they may go down. Counci Lmemmber Green asked if the price will adjust to keep a revenue cap? Mr. Clements said not the unit price. Mr. Pipes agreed, noting companion to this is a series of tariffs that set the unit price for that period, and subject to a subsequent appeal by some parties to reduce them or to adjust them, they remain fixed. Mr. Clements agreed. Mayor Hodges asked how much the residential rate increase would cost the average homeowner. Mr. Pipes ' said it goes up from B4 percent to about 86 -87 percent. Counci Lmember Green asked if this concerned the bonded rates. Mr. Pipes said the bonded rates are around 84 percent right now and they could go up to 86 percent. Mr. Clements said $86.39 is the dollars he has. Counci lmember Green asked if that is the average. Mr. Clements said this is on 1,000 kilowatts. Co ncilmember Green asked about whether GSU has some sort of graduated decline. Mr. Clements said there is a graduated decline for service in the winter months that picks up over 1,000 kilowatts hours. In the summer months, he said, everything is at the same rate. Mr. Pipes said in the summer months, the demand increases. Mr. Clements rated there is also going to be, for the first 12 months these rates are in effect [whatever rates go into effect], a fuel refund which will cut the increase by about $2.35. Councilmember Carter said he does not think any one of the Councilmembers is capable of sitting and debating or discussing most of this technical data with GSU. He said he agrees with Councilmember Green that partly for those reasons, the City should simply reject the settlement since none of them is going to be able to completely understand what it is buying. Secondly, he said, a number of pieces of data are missing in the settlement; it is acknowledged by the lawyers that these things will be filled in later, but he does not know why the City would have a settlement of this nature. Third, he really dislikes Listening from one side; it would have been better tonight if the Council had someone to express the opposite point of view or a different perspective. Fourth, he said he disagrees with what the Mayor said earlier about GSU being either a good neighbor to the community in a particular number of ways or being a good electrical service. He said he thinks we are in this situation, to sane extent, because GSU made some mistakes and that residential customers are being asked, along with other customers of GSU, to remedy some of those mistakes, including mainly the River Bend Power Nuclear Plant, and that is why GSU is before the PUC as it is now, and that is why the rate increases, to some extent at Least, are increasing. He said he does not have much sympathy in that sense for GSU. He said since we carat handle the technical matters because the city does not know what the settlement is, since it does not have another point of view or sane expert who can help it out in that way, and since he can name a number of reasons why GSU hasn't been a good corporate neighbor in Huntsville, he will certainly vote against agreeing to the settlement. He said he hopes that other members of the Council will also. He said he appreciates GSU's attendance, however. Mr. Clements thanked the Council. Counci lmmenber Bell noted one of the things that has always bedeviled these negotiations is the disparity ' between Louisiana rates and Texas rates. He said it is his understanding that Louisiana rates have now caught Lip with Texas rates based upon the Louisiana PUC decision, but it is also his understanding that once Louisiana has caught up, Texas is about to leap frog ahead again and that this rate increase will push Texas ahead of the Louisiana rates. Mr. Clements said this depends on how one measure it, noting if one Looks at what total revenues are in system -wide revenues for Texas and Louisiana, the Louisiana rates are going to remain a little CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK 'W" 329 bit ahead Chigher] of Texas He sold there is a different philosophy in Louisiana, although there has been what some people, and I am sure some of the Council's irdustrial friends would call some subsidization of residential rate payers in Texas, there has been a bigger differential in Louisiana where residential rate iI payers have paid considerably less than what the industrial rate payers are going to pay. Mr. Clements said for the last year in Texas, the overall cost on a tents - per - kilowatt -hour average basis for all services across the system, was 5.72 cents, whereas in Louisiana, it was 5.90 cents; it is a little bit higher in Louisiana. iI Mr. Clements noted with the overall system average in Texas, the increase in Texas would be 5.98 cents per kilowatt hours. In Louisiana, with the $16 million increase that was granted two weeks ago, he said, roughly, the overall system increase or cost is 6.02 cents; again, Louisiana stays slightly ahead. He said he does not !. want anyone to suggest that GSU has been misleading the Council, because they have to look at it on a system- wide basis, alL classes of service. Of course, he said, the Council should be interested in what all classes are paying; they have some commercial businesses and industrial customers in the city. But, obviously, one of the key points is residential and in the residential area, the rates in Louisiana, will still be a little bit ti Lower, he said, however, they will be mitigated somewhat by the fuel refund which will apply in Texas, for which it there is no current fuel refund in Louisiana. But, on a system basis, he said, rates in Louisiana will stay a little bit higher. Mr. Clements said it is possible, because of the way fuel is handled from month to month, that one can Look at a given month and one will have gone a little higher and the other a Little bit lower •, because the two states measure that differently. Ultimately, he said, one is supposed to pay only for the fuel one uses, but it is reviewed over a different time frame. Councilmember Bell said this is kind of intriguing and he appreciated that response. He asked if it is true that in Louisiana, the River Bend expenses have not been allowed up to this point, whereas in Texas, rate payers have been paying part of the cost for River Bend over the Last several years. In other words, he said, Louisiana will never have to pay what it has not paid on River Bend, but Texas has an accumulating payment toward River Bend that will continue. Mr. Clements said this is correct. He said he thinks he understands what ' Councilmember Belt is concerned about and feels that it relates to the fact that in Texas there was an accumulation of what is called "construction- work -in- progress" that was paid while the plant was being constructed. He said that is not generally recognized in Louisiana and there was none, as far as he knows, on River Bend unless maybe there was a very small amount. He said he thinks, however, if one looks at it this way, things have sort of evened out. Over the last four years, he said, he believes there have been $174 million, if he has his numbers right, of increases in Louisiana, while there has been $70 million in Texas; Louisiana is starting to catch up. He estimated in 1986 there was in Texas, and not in Louisiana, a S65 million or $85 million rate reduction. He said when one takes those factors into consideration, things have sort of evened out. Whether one can say, or whether one can take a team of accountants and go back in and say absolutely that every bit of quid that was ever collected in Texas has now been recovered in Louisiana, he said, he didn't know, but he can say there have been $174 million worth of increases granted in Louisiana, while only S70 million granted in Texas. So, there has been a leveling of things, he said, and there has also been an increase, and over the last couple of years, it has been an increase in Louisiana rates over Texas, system -wide. CounciLmember Barrett asked Mr. Clements if he is taking into consideration that the taxes on the GSU plant go to the State of Louisiana or the towns there and not to Texas. Mr. Clements said there are obviously plants in Texas as well as in Louisiana and there is an allocation of cost between Texas and Louisiana by the company, as an accounting measure. Counci Lmember Barrett said he means the nuclear plant, rating GSU does not have a nuclear plant in Texas. Mr. Clements agreed, but the nuclear plant, as well as the other plants on its system, is treated as serving both Texas and Louisiana, and the costs associated are allocated to both states. Councilmember Barrett asked if GSLPs Louisiana expenses are much more than what it has in Texas. Mr. Clements said a little bit more of its service is in Louisiana right now too. He said if one looks at things on the cost -to -serve basis, one finds that because of the density of the Baton Rouge area and the Lake Charles area and the fact that there is not much service in between, the cost -to -serve on a unit basis is really a little bit higher in Texas because, although it covers a similar geographic area, there is service throughout rather than having that big area where the swamp is between Baton Rouge and Lake Charles; there is a focusing of the service over there. ' Councilmember Barrett said while he does not have stock in Gulf States, he would Like to cone to GSU -s defense. He stated a number of years ago, if one remembers the history of this, Washington D. C. did demand that GSU not use fuel and forced it into the nuclear business when it probably didn't want to get into it in the first place. Mr. Clements said this was one of the first things he worked on when he joined Gulf States. Councilmember Barrett rated in GSU -s defense, that it is not all GSU -s fault that it got into the nuclear business, because that was forced upon it by Washington. Mr. Clements said that is certainly one view and one that he can support. Councilmember Barrett said that is the history that he understands and he just wanted CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 to mention it. : `. S= "gn 330 Counci Lmember Bell said it is true that Washington did force GSU into alternative fuels to the oil prices the country was experiencing in the 1970's. He said the other thing that he think speaks in GSLPs favor is that they were trying to keep up with projected increasing electrical demands on the Texas and Louisiana area and built accordingly. He said he thinks one of the things that troubles him is the willingness on the part of GSU to simply swallow, without a murmur, so far as he could tell, these huge cost overruns. He said he doesn't remember the exact figures that River Bend was proposed to cost -- something like $2 million - -and it ended up costing $6.4 million. He said those are "cost overruns that are just staggering, and of course, the company had absolutely no compunction about agreeing to them, because it would simply pass them along to the customer." He said this strikes him as being "corporate irresponsibility." Councilmember Barrett said a Lot of that is governmental regulation with which they had to comply. Councilmember Bell agreed some of it may have been, but some of it may have occurred because GSU was, perhaps, Less careful. Mayor Hodges asked if such of this cost overrun was because of the Three Mile Island accident, as it is his understanding there was an enormous, mandated cost placed on GSU as a result of that accident and he did not know whether this resulted in a much better plant. Mr. Clements said if he has the opportunity, and if GSU had the opportunity in this case before the Commission, it would have presented about a 40 volume report which it prepared that analyzed exactly that point and which came to the conclusion that more than 80 percent of the cost increases were the cost of regulatory changes. He said that is something that simply has not been presented because of the court battles that have gone on over the last couple of years in the case, but GSU has been prepared for more than two years to present exactly that story. Councilmenber Carter asked for the name of the author of that analysis. Mr. Clements advised the author of that analysis is a gentleman named Sandy Sandlin who has done analyses on numerous plants and has a history of involvement in the nuclear industry. Councilmember Carter asked if GSU paid for the analysis. Mr. Clements said the Company did pay for it as it pays for everyone's intervention in their rate cases; GSU pays for everyone's analysis, even the opposing one. Councilmember Carter noted he usually gets what he pays for. Councilmenber Barrett felt the Council can talk about this aLL night long. He said the Council appreciates the presentation by GSU. He then made the motion to keep the "status quo," noting he feels badly that the Council even has to talk about this without more knowledge about it. He felt the PUC is not doing its job and that if Huntsville could go on record by letting the Governor and people know that they shouldn't rely on the cities to do detailed studies of GSU rate requests. He said no one likes an increase, so, he felt the Council should vote to keep "status quo." Mayor Hodges asked if the correct language has been used in this nation. Mr. Pipes said it should be to "reject the settlement offer," which is where the Council was on the 19th. Councilmenber Barrett agreed noting his motion is lust to stay as the Council was on the 19th. Councilmenber Carter seconded the motion. Discussion: Mayor Hodges asked if it is part of this nation to write a letter to the Governor and interested parties. Councilmember Barrett said it is a part of his motion. Councilmember Green stated that while he is going to vote in favor of the motion, he wouldn't be surprised if Huntsville received a higher residential rate increase as a result of this. He said he feels the Council needs to recognize this. Upon a vote of this motion, all were in favor and it passed unanimously. Mr. Randy Ellisor. Manager, TCA Cable TV, to Present the annual franchise payment Mr. Randy Ellisor introduced his guests, his chief technician, Mr. Mark Schmidt, and the head of the Texas Division for TCA, Mr. Nathan Geick. Mr. Ellisor said TCA Huntsville Cable TV continues to be an integral part of the business community, with one eye on business and one eye on community sensitivity and involvement. He said they appreciate the opportunity the Council gives them to be a part of this community. He said they try to give back not only as employers but as members of the community. He then presented a franchise check in the amount of $52,976.12 which represents the applicable gross receipts revenue, 4 percent, for the year 1990. He said this represents a 1.8 percent increase from 1989 revenues. He said hopefully, with a good year, TCA will be able to maintain this amount with a small increase as well. Consider renewal of an agreement with Sam Houston State University for use of Cable Channel 7 Dr. Robert Eubanks, Chair, Division of Public Communication, Sam Houston State University, presented his letter of March 12, 1991 outlining the 600 hours of television programming, aired on Cable Channel 7, for 1990, as follows: CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK a0a 331 Sports - -SHSU and Huntsville High School athletic events, Little League, softball, etc.... 18% Mews / Public Infonaation-- Huntsville Today, News 7, Headliners, City Council, Commissioner's Court, and School Board Meetings .......................... 26% Cultural -- concerts, recitals, special performances ......................... .............. 9% Children -- programming aimed at kindergarten to teenage viewers .......................... 13% Public Affairs -- interviews, United Way Telethon, teleconferences (National interconnect for drug telethon, world hunger day telethon; a series dealing with rape prevention and alcohol abuse; seminars for the Photography and Physics Departments[ ...... ............................... 10% Self - improvement- -how to programs, cooking, crafts, gardening, etc . ..................... 24% Dr. Eubanks said they have attempted to cover the community as thoroughly as possible and to serve every community effort for improvement. He said in addition to this programming, they have also helped in video and audio productions on a number of community projects that were not aired on Cable 7, but were of historical interest to the City or of a benefit to some organized group of citizens within the city. He said the students who have managed the Cable Channel have tried to include on the Channel 7 Bulletin Board, every announcement from Legitimate sources that have been presented for display. He said they are willing to work with the city in every way possible in order to accomplish their mutual goals. Dr. Eubanks said Charnel 7 does have limited funds for equipment and production. He said upkeep on the present equipment is costly as is travel when they do go out -of -town to events such as bal Lgames. He said students volunteer their time, and in many instances, pay partially for their food costs on location shoots. He said more than 400 students are involved in the program each semester with more than 500 individuals contributing their support (time and talent) during the year. He said he strongly believes that Channel 7 is ' providing service to the city and he would appreciate its support through the continuation of the annual agreement. Mayor Hodges thanked Dr. Eubanks for his presentation and opened the discussion. Counci[ member Lange said he appreciates Dr. Eubanks and his department and the intergovernmental cooperation this represents. He said while he likes everything he sees on the March 12, 1991 memo from Dr. Eubanks, he did raise a flag that the city is paying for a news service and wondered if this is right that the governmental entity is paying for a news service. Also, Counci Lmmwamber Lange said he hopes that the faculty advisor, and ail faculty concerned with the radio and to Levision program, supervises closely, not taking away their freedom of press, etc., that there is squat coverage given to the entire community of Huntsville, and "it is not focused directly at or the majority is right there at the University since the entire community is paying for this service of Channel 7.'- Dr. Eubanks said they try to be as unbiased as possible. He said when there is anything dealing with government, etc. on Charnel 7 and on KSHU -FM, those two units are entirely different from the newspaper, which is supported by advertising. He said KSHU -FM and Cable Channel 7 are not supported by advertising by commercial or any other types of funds, except for state and University funds. He said the $12,000 Cable Channel 7 receives from the City probably represents about one or two percent of their total cost of operation. He said he feels they are in -line in that regard. He said in regard to news coverage, he felt Cable Channel 7 is in Line for that because if one looks at all of its public radio and television stations, they have news and they are supported by tax dollars through the federal government as well as the state government and in many instances, the local government. He said their news coverage is as objective and unbiased as it can be. He said they are a training ground for students and while sometimes he does not agree with all of the programming, and the quality at times is not what they would like for it to be, they are giving more students the opportunity. As the result of that, they are rated as one of the top three programs at the undergraduate level in the nation in that area. He said there is a great deal to be said for the type of experience they give the students. Councilmember Gaines said she has had an opportunity to be on Channel 7 on numerous occasions in connection with the United Way Telethon and the Folk Festival and also vocati met education. She said she has always found them to be a really super group and doing an excellent job in trying to put on those programs. She said she certainly appreciates the effort they have put forth, particularly on the Folk Festival, as they have been very kind to work with that and she thinks they are doing an excellent job. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "0" 332 Councilmeaber Barrett said during Freshman orientation, he had the pleasure to met Steve Smith, a Houston area news anchor, who thought enough of Sam Houston's program to send his son here. Councilmember Barrett also extended his commendations. Consider concerns about Cable Channel 7 and SHSU Mr. Fotorny then read into the minutes the following memorandum: "On the eve of the renewal of the City's agreement with Sam Houston State University to use Channel 7 on our cable system, I think we should take the time to thank Dr. Eubanks, his staff in the RTF Dept. and the University in general, for the job they have done in bringing our community closer together, via cable television. of course, this would not have been possible without the support, both financially and technically, of Texas Telecable, Inc. "Whether it was a Christmas caroling program, Little League game or a summer softball tournament, we have been able to see our young singers and players give their all on television. In addition, Dr. Eubanks has told me that they have provided coverage of HISD Board meetings, Walker County Commissioners Court and the Huntsville City Council that totals over 150 hours Last year. "With that said, my recommendations for the future should not be construed as criticism of current efforts. 1 simply propose that in the next five years, we strive to make Channel 7, HuntsviLLe's version of Channel 15 (KAMU, Texas ABM) or Channel 8 (KUHT, U of H). The Cable Communications Act of 1984, Section 611 (47 USC 531), allows for a public, educational and governmental channel on cable systems. In some cities, this channel is operated as a true "public access" channel. This opens the door for anyone demanding air time. In Houston and Austin this means that groups Like the American Nazis or topless aerobics end up in your living room. By the wisdom of previous City administrations, this broadcasting responsibility was put in the hands of SHSU. By "giving" the use of the channel to the University, the City avoids the inevitable confrontation with groups , pushing the bounds of good taste. For this and other reasons, I believe the City is wise not to take over direct operation of Channel 7. However; because we allow SHSU to use Channel 7, does not mean that we must give up our rights as a community to influence the content, quality or production value of their programming. "My proposal is that the City provide some guidelines to the RTF Department. These might include the following: "1. A 'broadcast quality' standard be developed and maintained. If a program is not broadcast quality, it does not air. The FCC, SCTE (Society of Cable Television Engineers) and similar groups publish such standards. "2. The RTF Dept. provide a plan of community events to be broadcast one week in advance to The Huntsville Item. Mike Robinson, the Managing Editor of the Item has told me they will publish such listings in a special "View of Huntsville" cot". "3. The Huntsville /Walker County Chamber of Commerce be allowed a certain number of hours of programming year. In conjunction, the Huntsville Tourism Council will interface with the RTF Dept., to assist in producing programming of events such as the Walker County Fair and the Folk Festival. "4. Regular and special meetings of the following groups be regularly televised, (live, if and when possible): Huntsville City Council, Walker County Commissioners Court, Walker County Hospital District Board, HISD School Board. "5. The RTF Dept. interface With our local law enforcement agencies to produce Crimestoppers - style, video recreations of local unsolved crimes. In some small cities where this has been tried, it is the third most watched channel and accounts for a reduction in unsolved crimes. "6 The RTF Dept. take advantage of the wealth of technical support available from Texas Telecable, Inc. to insure the highest quality signal possible gets to the cable system to be broadcast. Mr. Nathan Geick of TCA, has assured me that Randy Ellisor and his staff stand ready to provide what assistance they can, when called upon. "While SHSU indeed has an educational responsibility to its RTF students to use their broadcast Labs as teaching tools, the community should not be exposed to student programming for the sake of just getting it on the air or simply to fill the program slot. Programming that airs no Channel 7 should have high production value, CITY COUNCIL NEE7ING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "g" 333 original content (not simply read from wire services or the local newspaper) and exhibit the quality that is ". expected in -real world' television. With these kinds of guidelines to work with, the University will be more `!. able to utilize the journalistic opportunities our community offers in the curriculum and training of future Dan Rathers. "In conclusion, I want to see Channel 7 join the ranks of other cities- community generated, university operated television stations in professionalism and content." Mayor Hodges thanked Mr. Fotorny for his report and asked if the Council had any questions or comments. Councilmember Carter advised this program is intended to be a student oriented practice/ Laboratory. He asked if Mr. Fotorny simply says he would prefer that those programs, even if they are filmed, are not broadcast out into the community; are you arguing that this would not stop any type of activity on the part of students and that they could still go ahead with their programs but we just wouldn-t see them in our homes? Mr. Fotorny said at first he feels this is probably the way this would be interpreted, but in the long run, over the five year period, he would like to see that entities such as the Huntsville City Council, the Walker County Chamber of Commerce, the Tourism Council, actually function as a company seeking production services, that those students over there act as if they were in the real world working for a television generating company and that the production and direction, as far as what is specified for a current job or a task to be done, is specified by an outside agency, and act as course curricula for RTF students that a certain amount of programming is built into their schedule throughout the year, that in advance, the Chamber of Commerce sets aside "X" number of hours preceding say the Fair on the Square, that the Folk Festival have a certain amount of time before the Folk Festival comes and that a certain amount of time is set aside for coverage of the Folk Festival, that the Tourism Council, for instance, provide a liaison person to help position cameras, to help with logistics with getting equipment back and forth and that they assist the RTF Department in the parts of the production; they are not truly the mechanics of the production. He said all of this in light of ending up with something like many other cities our size have where we have a University the size of Sam Houston literally, that student type work, there is other programming available, there are higher level students that don-t get their hands on that end of the equipment, that their production at their first or second year may not be seen on cable television. He said he understands how it has been in the past and he started this off by saying that he thinks the effort has been superb with what they have had to work with. He said it might be within line at some point in time that the city request maybe additional funding for this channel from the Cable Company. He said this is done in a lot of cities. He said Cable companies support to a great extent and some cities have built and have had built whole television stations. He said he is just saying any support that TCA might feel they can give would be great along these lines. He said he Understands Channel 7 has been working on a tight shoestring, but now, for the first time, there is an excellent facility there, the studios are there; they used to have to work in buildings that had leaky roofs, bad electrical systems, etc., but he felt that has all been remedied. Councilmember Barrett said every time he has been on a program on Channel 7 it has been very professional. He said he feels with the ability that Sam Houston has, it cannot be compared with the University of Houston and Texas A&M as far as the amount of money they have to spend on their program:. Mr. Fotorny said they started off one time with just what we have. Councilmember Barrett said he feels we are starting out that way and they will get there when the population gets to that extent, but felt they are doing a good job. Councilaember Green said his initial reaction to marry of these suggestions is that they seem to be very good. He felt that perhaps he is hearing one side of the story. Mayor Hodges noted we have had a contract with the University for some three years, as clarified by Dr. Eubanks. Mr. Bounds, City Attorney, said the University has been very accommodating on any problems. He said the performance of the contract has reaained basically the same for the last three years and they have been very accommodating, made suggestions, and have generated historical videos and other things. He said a lot of the suggestions Mr. Fotorny is making are things he would expect Channel 7 could incorporate without any modifications to the contract. Councilmember Knotts spoke to Dr. Eubanks to say he feels the time that Mr. Fotorny is referring to ' would be allotted if requested for tourism, etc. Dr. Eubanks said it would and as they have always said, if anyone would like to produce something, they will put it on the channel as long as it does not violate obscenity Law, etc. Councilmember Barrett then made the motion to renew the agreement with the University for the use of Cable Channel 7 as Proposed by Dr. Eubanks and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. Discussion: Co ncilmember Carter said these are good goals and are those that he would find it hard to believe that Sam Houston State University would not want to implement ultimately. Mr. Fotorny said what he is trying to express CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "w" 334 and make clear is that this is a community asset, being taken care of well he grants by Sam Houston, but there is some exploitation available here for the betterment of the community that wont hurt anyone else. Dr. Eubanks advised that on a unit such as Texas ANNYS Channel 15 or Chanel 8 in Houston, we are Looking at an investment of approximately a minimum of 41.5 million to $3 million in equipment for what is called an FCC' broadcast quality signal for a channel that runs full time. He said we are also Looking at a great number of staff people that would have to be there on a full time basis in order to comply with FCC regulations as wail as getting their own job done. He said this is something that is quite a ways off because they do not operate as a national public broadcasting system station. He said even their FM station has a minim budget, to get their FM station on national public radio, the Federal Government requires $125,000 plus five full time employees who do nothing but dedicate their time to the radio station. He said there is a lot of difference in a Channel 15 and a Channel 8 and what Channel 7 is able to do. Mayor Hodges then asked for a vote on the motion. All were in favor and the motion Passed unanimously. CONSIDER AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS Consider the final pay estimate and thane order no 5 on the Huntsville Municipal airport Phase VII improvements. as funded with an F.A.A. avant Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised the City will complete, with the Council's concurrence this evening, Phase VII of the airport improvement projects that have been going on for some time. He than introduced Mr. John E. Pledger, III, P. E. with Pledger Kennedy Rogers Kalokomey Consulting Engineers of Rosenberg. Mr. Pipes said while this project has been going on, some major changes have been taking place in the arena of grants affecting the Huntsville Municipal Airport. He said Huntsville has been the recipient of a number of grants over the years from the FAA. He said a new program of consolidation of effort has been undertaken in Austin in which the FAA has basically farmed out their responsibility for partitioning the available monies for airport improvements to the general aviation airports to the newly formed Texas Department of Aviation (IDA). He presented a brief overview, noting a lot of the contacts the city had developed regarding the funding of the airport are nP longer in place because FAA has withdrawn from Houston, Fort North and has subsequently been replaced by this Texas Department of Aviation. He said Huntsville will need to cultivate that and formuLate a new approach to the funding system by taking one of three steps: 1) a letter of interest, recapping the projects in the master plan that it is interested in pursuing; 2) following that with a letter of intent which than commits the city strongly; and 3) getting into the funding cycle by the Texas Department of Aviation. Mr. Pipes said out of the general aviation airports in this area, Huntsville is at least in the top ten and maybe in the top ten in the state, and yet there are a lot of things Huntsville could still improve. He said the Council now needs to approve the final change order and certifications for the reconciliation of the project that is currently Phase VII of our airport. Mr. John Pledger advised the airport work has been going on for about the last twenty years in its present Location and format. He said seven phases of improvements have been done at the airport with each phase costing about $500,000, which means some $3 to $5 million of combined funds have been spent on the airport, consisting of 90 percent federal funds and 10 percent local funds. He said this should give the Council an idea of the magnitude of the investment the city has at the airport, noting it is important. He said since this has been going on since the mid- 1970's, it is not a one -time project, but one that is ongoing and one of which the Council has the right to be proud. He said he recognizes some of the Councilmembers who were with him in Austin when Huntsville was presented with the "Outstanding General Aviation Facility in the State of Texas" award a couple of years ago. He said that may seem unimportant to those who live in the big city, but for general aviation facilities, that is quite an honor. He said the Federal Aviation Administration and the City of Huntsville have shared a mutual and on -going respect, in FAA in funding Huntsville -s projects, and the City in spending the money they have made available. Mr. Pledger said he is here to reconcile this project. He said the Council has in their packets all of the documents it would customarily see to reconcile a project, including the final pay estimate, the reconciliation change order, all the various certificates and affidavits that are necessary to complete the project. Essentially, he said, they awarded an original contract in the amount of $413,096.89, had approved change orders one through four which came to the Council previously, and now this change order no 5 in reconciliation, brings all of the estimated quantities to their final quantity amounts. He said the total amount approved in change orders one through four is 528,516.50. Change Order No. 5, in reconciliation, is $19,276.35. He said therefore, the final contract amount is 5460,889.74. He said there are 66 items included about which he will be glad to answer any questions. He said the final contract smart is below the original tentative allocation that was outlined in the city-s grant agreement. He said all of these documents, pending the Council's approval, wilL be forwarded with a draw request to FAA. He said included in the work that was done are the following items: CITY COIINCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK agg 335 1. Entrance road constructed, approximately 2,000 feet long; 2. Taxiway lights installed for the parallel taxiway; 3. Runway and identifier lights installed, which are strobes that can be seen from Highway 75 at night [they are great, high intensity strobe lights]; 4. Mondirectional beacon relocated, which is a navigational aide that pilots use to fly into the airport; 5. Some 750 feet of corporate taxiway built; and 6. Site and drainage improvements made throughout the site. He noted he will be happy to answer any questions the Council may have about this number. City Manager, Gene Pipes, said if there are no questions, the Council needs to approve the final change order No. 5 in reconciliation of the cost in the total amount of 5460,869.74, subject to FAA approval. Councilmember Barrett I'I made the motion to approve of Change Order No. 5 reconciling the FAA Project in the amount of $460.889.74. subject to FAA approval, and Councilmenber Gaines seconded the motion. At were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.�� Mr. Pledger encouraged each of the Councilmembers to read the infonmati on he supplied to them on the "Aviation Facilities Development Program" from the Texas Department of Aviation. He said they are now essentially the administrator of all of the funds that the City has received during the last 20 years. He said if the city intends to continue the progress at the airport and to maintain this ongoing relationship with the state, it is critical that the city learn the new funding procedure because this is how it is going to be done now. He said it is a good program and it is still the same money, it is just administered by the state now. Counci Lmember Barrett asked if any of these funds would be allotted through H -GAC. Mr. Pledger said they are I� not; noting this is a non- reliever airport. He said all of the funds available will come down through the TDA. He said air carrier airports now have the option to go to head -tax charges. He there will be some funds being putted back out of air carrier funding and going back into general aviation, so he is anticipating nothing but more availability of the types of funds that it spent on Huntsvilte-s airport to be available during the next five or ten years. He encouraged the Council to position itself in line for these funds. Councilmember Barrett noted then grant applications are to be made to the Texas Department of Aviation. Mr. Pledger said that is correct and all of the City-s communications need to go through them now. Mayor Hodges thanked Mr. Pledger for this presentation. Consider bids on Droject 86 -02 -02 McLeod Drive six inch water Line Proiect to Doughtie Plumbing in the amount of $25,107.00 to be Paid from C.I.P. funds Mayor Hodges presented information from Mr. Glenn E. Isbell, Director of Engineering Design, advising that three bids were opened on February 27, 1991 for the McLeod Drive six inch water line project. Mayor Hodges asked the Council for their considerati on of Mr. Isbell's recommendation to award the bid to the Low bidder, Doughtie Plumbing, in the amount of $25,107.00. Councilme ber Knotts made the motion to approve of this low bid as presented and Councilmember Robinson seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion Dassed unanimous) Consider amendment to grant contract with the Texas Department of Commerce as required Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented information from City Planner, Dale Brown, advising that the city has received an amendment to its contract with the Texas Department of Commerce, Texas Community Development Program (Contract No. 708201), which deletes section 22E requiring the city to obtain a permit from the Texas Water Commission prior to expending funds for construction of sanitary sewer facilities. Mr. Brown advised this amenchent is being made to all similar contracts, but will have no rest effect on Huntsville because the city has already met the provision and is under construction. Mr. Brown recommended that this contract amendment be approved as written. Councilmember Barrett made the nation to approve of this contract amendment as Presented and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. All were in favor and the nation Passed unanimously. Consider a request to name the new airport road in memory of A. G. (Andy) Anderson Mayor Hodges presented the petition dated February 1, 1991, advising that Mr. Anderson was the chief pilot for the Texas Department of Corrections for 20 years, a flight instructor, and a designated flight examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration. The petition contained 42 signatures. He suggested referring this matter to the Planning Commission. Councilmember Barrett noted he wished to go on record to state that Mr. Anderson was a personal friend of his, a fine man, and a good pilot and he feels this request should be very much considered to be put in place. Councilmember Lange also asked to go on record as being in concurrence with CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "O" 336 Councilmember Barrett. Counclimember Bell asked if the Council could establish standards whereby it names buildings or public streets, projects acquired with public money, etc., so that it does have some guidelines. He said he would like to see the Planning Commission establish those guidelines. Mr. Pipes said the city does not have such a guide Line in place now. He said the petition came from a group of people associated with the airport and obviously there is a sentiment there because of that. He said generally the developer who develops the project will new the streets unless that conflicts with something and that recommendation is just accepted with plat approval. He said the city simply does not have his happen very often, but naming streets is handled generally as criteria rather than a process and we simply haven't developed criteria. Mayor Hodges asked that this recommendation be passed on to the Planning Commission. Mr. Pipes said he wilL be happy to do so. Councilmember Green noted at this point this road has no name. Mr. Pipes said it is called airport road, noting C it is actually Airport Road No. 2 because there is another one on the other side of the airport. Mayor Hodges asked if Airport Road No. 1 is closed. Mr. Pipes said it is closed now. Mr. Pipes said we may even need to name Park Road; it was originally named airport road, but it dead -ends Ino outlet] at the and of the park. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT- -GENE PIPES Consider an appointment to the Houston Area Library System-Lay Representative for an alternate Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented a memorandum from City Librarian, Judy Hunter, advising that in the appointment . of representatives to the Houston Area Library System, the Council is asked each year to appoint a lay representative and an alternate lay representative to vote on funding allocations affecting the programs of service the Library receives through the Houston Area Library System IHALSI. She noted when the current lay representative and alternate were appointed last summer, no provision for an alternative appointment was included should neither of these persons be able to attend meetings. Ms. Hunter stated for the first time in recent years, such a situation exists in regard to the upcoming March 14 HALS System Meeting. She noted, state regulations require that alternative appointment clauses be formally approved by the Counci L. The City Council was then asked to approve of the following clause which would provide for the Library Board President to either attend the HALS System meeting or to appoint a representative: "In the event that neither the appointed Lay Representative nor Alternate Lay Representative can attend a meeting of the Houston Area Library System, such that the Library will have no voting authority, the President of the Library Board is hereby authorized to attend or appoint a representative to attend and to vote on behalf of the library." Councilmember Carter made the motion to approve of this clause presented above and Counci[memmber Lange seconded the motion. ALL were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Trade Expo -- Chamber of Commerce Mr. Pipes presented a amp of the tooth spaces set for the Chamber of Commerce's annuaL Trade Expo to be held at the Walker County Fairgrounds on Thursday night. He rated the City Will have a tooth, No. 37. He encouraged the Council to come by as the Mayor and several departmental directors Will be tending the tooth. Mayor Hodges encouraged the CounciL to come and to deposit their tickets which will entitle them to the drawing for the door prize. Consider a proposed settlement offer and options in the Gulf States Utilities Rate Case. Docket No 8702 Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised the city has had a formal request by the City of Somerville in regard to Attorney Jim Bouts representing that city before the PUC as their attorney in the PUC Docket No. 8702 and its related cases. He said Mr. Boyle, Who practices in Austin has been contacted by the City of Somerville, but is very concerned that there not be a conflict so he has asked for a specific waiver from the City of Huntsville, since it is a client of his in the 7195 Docket that is still pending, which is the River Bend ' matter. He said unless there is some objection by the Council to having the waiver granted to the City of Somerville and Mr. Boyle so he can represent them in the current rate case No. 8702, this procedure will take place. Mr. Bounds, City Attorney, advised he would like a motion from the Council on this. He said he has prepared a letter for Mayor Hodges to sign, where, if someone has represented multiple parties, they can't continue to represent some of those parties or other parties adverse to those, without the prior consent of the prior parties they represented. He said he has prepared a brief letter simply stating to Mr. Boyle that it is Huntsville's understanding that he has been contacted by the City of Somerville to represent that city and that CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK agg 337 the City of Huntsville has reviewed his relationship to it as its attorney of record in prior PUC docket and C� its related appeals including the presently pending petition by GSU to the U. S. Supreme Court, that we have reviewed these matters and the City Council gives its consent to Jim Boyle to represent the City of Somerville �I and other municipal entities in Docket No. 8702. He said this just says that for the purpose of this one rate case, and although there may be some conflict of interest, that the city gives its consent for him to represent those entities. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the content of this letter as Prepared by '! the City Attorney and Councilmenber Lance seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion Passed Vacation Schedules Needed Mayor Hodges asked the Council to provide the City Manager with their summer vacation schedules so that he can do some summer meeting planning. He said he will do his best to work as many people into as many meetings as possible. Preliminary Agenda Mayor Hodges referred to the preliminary agenda for Tuesday, March 26, and noted because of a conflict for many of them, he would like to change the meeting date to Thursday, March 28 at 5:30 P.M. COUNCIL ACTION Councilmember Bell. Chair of Founders' Spring Subcommittee, to update the status Councilmenber Bell advised that the Council has met in executive session to talk about various real estate possibilities to help them deal with the County Commissioners in an attempt to produce Founders' Park that will surround the Founder's Spring. He said those matters are still in negotiation so there is not much to report at this point. He said, however, that the Commissioners have expressed a position that the area around Founder's Spring should be, in their judgement, mostly a parking lot to accommodate employees of the Courthouse. He said he would like to encourage the County Commissioners and County Judge to give some serious thought to simply donating some of that land to the City of Huntsville or to the Walker County Historical Commission or to some other entity so that they can make an appropriate and attractive park in an area that he feels most people wilt concede is the single most important historical and aesthetic area in the city. He encouraged them, with perhaps some pressure from their constituents, to simply give over some of the space to a Founder's Park development. Copy of Borough of Hanover Street Tree Program Brochure Councilmember Carter advised he has provided them with a copy of a brochure from the Borough of Hanover, a small town in Ohio. He said the brochure outlines tree policies and has some interesting information for the Council. He said under "New Tree Planting," the brochure says "The Tree Commission encourages homeowners to plant new trees in the plot between the sidewalk and curb after filling out a permit and getting approval by the Tree Commission . . ." He said his point is that sometimes he raises issues before the Council during which he feels others look at him as if he is the only person in the world who has ever thought about that or that there is something wrong with him. He said he wants to show by way of this evidence in their hands that there are a number of cities who take a different approach to either the protection, planning, maintenance and the treatment of trees. He said this city actually encourages the planting of trees between the sidewalk and the curb. He said there is also a pamphlet that conveys recommendations from their utility company on how to maintain trees under the utility lines. He said, of course, they get the right kind of tree also, but they do not remove trees. He said their encouragement is on maintenance. He said having said this, he would like to offer, for discussion and hopefully for a vote at some point, some amendment to the way the city handles trees in the city which is derived from the discussions of the Council last week concerning Martin Luther King Boulevard. He said this ideas comes from Councilmember Barrett and from some other things that he came into :. contact with in reading some materials over the last week. He said one of the problems is that the city is not providing any economic value to the trees it is cutting down. He said for example, the city is not calculating in, as a cost, the energy cost to those homes when the city removes those trees on Martin Luther King Drive. He said if the city had to go beck and plant an eight inch cedar tree, he would imagine it would cost the City $10,000 or $15,000 to locate a tree there. He said if the city calculates the value of that tree in terns of what it would cost the city to put that tree there, and add that as part of the total cost of the project, the city will find the project cost, in terms of sidewalks and streets, would calculate out differently and the trees might be worth saving. He said what he would like to do is something not done in gross national product CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "g" 336 measures, [that's also a failure of UP measures] , and that is when one depletes a natural resource, it should be factored in as a cost. He said he would like for the Council to consider that from now on, when the city removes an eight inch cedar tree, that it has to replace that cedar tree, and it does not have to be in that spot. He said he understands that sometimes the city may remove them from a sidewalk area from under a Line or over a utility easement, but that the city is required to replace the equal basal area of that tree. He said it would mean that if the city removes an eight inch cedar tree somewhere, it would have to put back an eight inch cedar tree somewhere or eight, one inch cedar trees. He said when the city calculates the cost of a project, that is calculated into the cost of a project so the city gets the rest costs of the project. He asked that the tree policy be amended to require that trees removed from the city be replaced in squat basal area of the same type of tree somewhere else in the city limits, if that tree has to be removed for utility reasons. Mayor Hodges asked the City Manager if he would like to put that on the agenda. Councilmebmer Carter said he would like that on the agenda at some point. He said he does not want to force the council to rush through this, and he doesn't want them to accept it on faith, but he wants them to think about it. He said the problem is the City is not attaching any economic value to those trees that the city is removing and in his judgement, they have an economic value and this is one way to force the city to be conscious of that value. Mayor Hodges asked that the tree policy be reviewed in a work session. He asked Councilmember Carter if there is an urgency on this. CounciLmember Carter said there is none other than we continue to cut trees down every week. Mayor Hodges asked if it would be okay with him if we get this dome within the next six to eight weeks. Councilmember Carter said that will be okay with him - -the sooner the better- -but he still didn't want to rush the Council. Mayor Hodges asked that the Council review the tree policy in light of Concilmenber Carter's recommendations. Councilmember Carter said this would not require a change to the tree policy, but would be an amencksent to it and that is all he is asking. Bearkat Boulevard Tree Removal oast Prison Cemetery Councilmember Carter than referred to the Council to Bearkat Boulevard. He said it has become very frustrating to him in that he does not understand, when the city clears a sewer easement [and he has been told over and over again that the city is going to clear them 20 feet], why it clears easements 50 to 60 feet wide. He said he knows someone has done some logging and it looks like someone has at least done some kind of tree harvesting. He said it is incredible to him. He said the city has crossed two strew, ample drainage areas, and has just destroyed the forest that was there. He said he does not understand and he wants to know if the city's policy on easements is still to clear them 20 feet. He asked why in the world the city is going way beyond what he thinks is necessary for the clearance for these easements. He said he is very serious about this and encouraged all Councilmembers to go to look for themselves and decide if they really want the City of Huntsville to be performing in this way in terms of the natural vegetation. He said the Council does not need to accept this on his faith either, but he felt they should go to see it and that they will share his feelings. He said it is Looks to him like it is excessive clearing. City Manager Gene Pipes asked Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director of Engineering Design, if this is contract work. Mr. Isbell said it is contracted out. Mr. Pipes said this is contracted out for the Rustic Pines Sewer Lift Station and is a combination of a force main easement and a gravity easement. He said he didn't know if that had to be wider than 20 feet for some reason. Mr. Isbell said when the city acquired the easements, it acquired temporary working easements to go along with those which are normally in the range of 40 to 50 foot widths. He said when the contractor gets into the big depths, it takes that much roam with the equipment and backhoe to turn the bucket and stack the dirt and haul the pipe. Concilmember Carter said he would like to watch some of these projects some time because he can't believe it takes that much space to lay a line. He again encouraged the Council to look at this on their own. Excessive Speed on Sam Houston Avenue beginning at Lake Road northward Councilmember Robinson asked for police patrol of the area of Sam Houston Avenue from the red light at Lake Road to the China House Restaurant, noting there are occasions of motorists using excessive speed on that downhill slope. Mayor Hodges asked Police Chief Hank Eckhardt to take a look at this. East side of Martin Luther King from 6th - 10th Streets -- concentration of drug activity Councilmember Robinson also advised that between 6th and 10th streets on Martin Luther King Boulevard, there is an excess concentration of drugs. He said while MLK Boulevard itself "looks ha Lf -way clean, most of the drugs are camouflaged right now, but on the east side, the drug activity is really open back to the Martin Luther King, Neighborhood Center itself." He said one complainant, involved in a funeral procession, advised him "that the .hearse had to Literally stop for five minutes to get these addicts off the street" from making CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "G" 339 their transactions. He asked that there be some up -tempo patrol in this area to get this under control. He said it looks like they have left the actual street of Martin Luther King Boulevard and just moved over a half block into those neighborhoods. Dilapidated Billboard on Highway 75 North being removed Councilmeaber Lange noted he has observed that someone is beginning to remove the dilapidated biLLboard on Highway 75N that he cal Led to the city's attention at a previous meeting. He said he appreciates the effort. Gibbs CulturaL Activity Center Update - -ILa Gaines Counci lmember Gaines advised as Chair of this camittee, she selected Counci Laembers Lange and Bell to serve with her. She reminded the Council that several months ago when the proposition was presented to theI'S Council about Mrs. Farris giving the city the land on 7th Street, at which time the city was to pay the 585,000 and she was to reimburse the city in increments, it was the city's vote at that time that the city proceed with this cultural center. She said by accepting this, the city had indicated that this was its desire to do so. She said the committee had a meeting with Tam Randle of Gibbs Brothers, the City Manager, Gene Pipes and City Attorney Scott Bounds wherein Mr. Randle advised the city would have around $250,000 available for the construction of a civic /cultural center. She said this would be coning from the 585,000 that Mrs. Farris would be reimbursing the City over a period of time and about $149,000 of payment on the city's 1 19th interest in the Gibbs Ranch, which was given to the City in the deed from W. S. Gibbs in his will. She said there is also about $20,000 available in a fund which has to do with the W. S. Gibbs Trust Fwd, which was the cultural committee that has been set up. She said there is actually about 524,000 in that fund but it is estimated about $4,000 would go for legal fees, etc- She said that Leaves the city with a starting point of about $254,000 that could be applied to this cultural center. She said the committee feels the feasibility study that was done in 1981 is a good place to start. She noted it is ten years old and some of the information contained therein is no Longer applicable and there is additi met information that needs to be put in there. She said the committee feels the Council should look at this from the standpoint of de- emphasizing the "convention center" part of it and emphasizing the "civic an cultural part" of this concept. She said they feet this would be the better way to go in view of the fact that information concerning the experience of other cities, who have gone into convention center projects, reveals that the convention center is not a feasible thing to do. She said the feeling is that in order to go into a convention center, it is necessary that we have a major hotel in 'I conjunction with it, and the committee feels Huntsville does not met that criterion. Councilmember Gaines said in terms of the civic and cultural center, the committee feels Huntsville should start out with something of a smaller nature that could be enlarged. She said there has been some interest expressed by various groups, and according to Mr. Randle, some have came to him talking about the needs and the fact that this community has changed since this 1981 study was done. She said there are needs now that we did not have then and perhaps some of the needs we had in 1981 no longer exist. She said the consensus of this committee is that we have an opportunity to have the 1981 feasibility study updated so the Committee will have a working tool to determine what needs to be doe in this area. She said when this is completed, the Committee can then do a study and approval of a design concept because the type of building is going to be a primary concern. She said the committee will need a lot of input from the community as to what type of building •j is really needed, would be acceptable, and would be used. Then, she said a time Line will be set for hiring the architect, approval of the design plans, and approval of the financing, Letting the contract for completion ! of construction. She said the committee is thinking about a three to five year time line. She said it seems' to be a point of concern to Mrs. Farris that the city give her some idea as to what time frame the city ;I envisions so that she can construct her gift to the city through the repaying of the monies the city paid her for the land. She said it is the committee's consensus that a recommendation on a direction to the staff is '! needed from the Council in order that the committee might solicit a proposal for the updating of the 1981 convention center feasibility study, so that this can be the tool the committee can use to put together the plan for the civic and cultural center. Councilmembers BeIL and Lange agreed that this is essentially the status of the committees work to-date. Councilmember Barrett asked if it is feasible to have a community center type situation along with the cultural center. Councilmeober Gaines said this is basically what they are talking about; a multipurpose building that can be enlarged- She said the study will give them a feel for the need in the community because those needs have changed in ten years. She said the 1981 study is a very good study and all of the clubs and organizations were contacted as to how much they would use such a building, if they would use It, and if they would be willing to pay for it. Counci laeaber Barrett said he has been contacted many times about the need for CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 12, 1991 BOOK "4" 340 a place for the community to have functions. He said the Goree Unit facility has become expensive to reserve. He said the city just does not have a facility for people to use for community events. He encouraged the committee to work that in along with the cultural aspects of this project as this would be a great asset to the community. Councilmember Gaines said there will be a very large library conference at the University soon and it was brought to her attention that there is no place on campus that has adequate facility accommodate a Luncheon type program with a speaker for that large crowd; as a result it is being done in shifts and the speaker will repeat the speech two times. Councilmember Barrett asked if a kitchen type facility will be included. Councilmember Gaines said most of the recommendations in the 1981 feasibility study are in the form of a "kitchen as a catering facility" as opposed to a "kitchen per se.• She said it is very expensive to put in a standard kitchen, noting that was one of the most expensive things her church did at the Family Life Center, which includes a full kitchen with cafeteria serving facilities. She said she envisions a catering type kitchen in the new civic / culturaL center. Mayor Hodges asked Councilmember Gaines if she would Like for the city staff to solicit proposals to update the 1981 cultural center feasibility study. She said that is what the committee would like to have now and she would Like the Council to make a motion to that effect or give a consensus that this be done, as appropriate. Mayor Hodges asked who did the 1981 study. Councilmenber Gaines said it was done by Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam. Mr. Pipes said there are any amber of other consultants available and they will see which one can do an inexpensive review and update; --inexpensive" being an operative term. Councilme ber Lange felt the staff should first give the authors of the 1981 report an opportunity to update their report as that would perhaps be the most inexpensive procedure. City Attorney Bounds suggested if there is a similar facility that someone particularly likes, the staff can investigate who designed it and it can contact them. Recycling- -Town & Country Cleaners -- hangers Mayor Hodges called the Council's attention to the letter from Town & Country Cleaners advising they are recycling coat hangers. He said we have been talking about recycling for a long time and now one of our local businesses has decided to do something about it. He felt they should be complimented for this effort. ADJOURNMENT Res ly submitted, Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary March 12, 1991