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MIN CC 05/03/1988MINUTES OF MAY 3, 1988 CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 74 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 3RD DAY OF MAY, 1988 IN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE AND COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 6:00 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday, Mayor 0. Eugene Barrett City Officers present: Gary Bell James L. Carter Gene Pipes, City Manager Ila G. Gaines William B. Green Scott Bounds, City Attorney William L. Hammock Percy Howard, Jr. Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary William H. Knotts, Jr. PROCLAMATIONS SIGNED Mayor Monday signed two proclamations prior to the meeting: "National Nursing Home Week," May 8 -14, 1988 and "National Roofing Week," May 7-15, 1988. FORMAL MEETING Recess to Executive Session Mayor Monday called the formal session to order and then recessed into an Executive Session to consider the following pending litigation: Kathy Johnson Vs. City of Huntsville; Max Justice Vs. City of Huntsville; Acker Vs. City of Huntsville, et. al.; and a real estate acquisition easement for FM 247 water line. No formal action was taken in the executive session. FORMAL MEETING RE- CONVENED Mayor Monday reconvened the formal session. Reverend Marvin Jiles of St. James United Methodist Church presented the invocation. Reverend Jiles advised this would be his last visit to City Hall as he is moving to the Houston area to serve in a church there. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF APRIL 19, 1988 Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the minutes of April 19 1988 and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Carter advised in the discussion of the elephant on the SHSU campus recently, he did not describe it as a "large, black" elephant. The City Secretary was instructed to delete those descriptive words from his comment. With this amendment to the minutes, all were in favor and the motion Passed unanimously. Special Recognitions: Huntsville Boys' and Girls' Varsity Basketball Teams of Huntsville High School Mayor Monday then recognized each member of the Boys' Varsity Basketball team for being District 15 -5A runner-up and Bi- District Champions with a record of 23 -10; and the Girls' Varsity Basketball team for being District 15-5A Champions and Bi-District Finalists with a record of 22-7. Each member, coach, manager, statistician, received a certificate of commendation. Consider a grant by Educational Filmstrips to color the sidewalks on Avenue 0 from 19th Street north to 17th Street and on 17th Street from Avenue 0 to Avenue N. Mr. Pipes advised in previous council meetings, the council discussed the policy regarding the coloration of sidewalks. He said Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director of Design Engineering, has determined an additional cost of an average of 97 cents per cubic yard will be required to color the concrete. He said a similar estimate was provided last week by Mr. George H. Russell, CEO, Educational Filmstrips, with the only 1 MINUTES OF MAY 3, 1988 CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 75 difference being that Mr. Isbell's original proposal was to color dye the concrete at the plant throughout, as a batch. That recommendation was achieved after visiting with representatives of the two local concrete plants, and averaging the costs. He said Mr. Russell's information provided was from the subcontractor to the general contractor who is doing the city's work at the present time. He said it would be applicable to the projects described above, but it would not hold true as far as general policy from contractor to contractor, and from time to time, as each one would have a separate labor cost. He said the process Mr. Russell is urging us to consider is an overcast of the dye material at the time the concrete is funneled in, before it starts to set up and dyes into the surface some depth, perhaps a quarter or half inch. He said it is a surface application and is not colored throughout. Mr. Pipes said said the only recommendation the staff would have, as far as coloration, (if that is the Council's desire) is that it be batched at the plant throughout. He said for the Council's information, Builder's Supply of Huntsville recommends an application rate of 25 pounds per cubic yard of five sack concrete mix and the cost of the material is about $1.00 per pound, thereby increasing the cost of the concrete $25.00 a cubic yard. A four foot wide, four inch thick sidewalk then would take approximately one cubic yard per 20 linear feet. He said the additional costs per linear foot of a four foot wide sidewalk would be $1.25 per linear foot from that particular company. He said Circle R Ready Mix recommended an application rate of 11 pounds per cubic yard at a cost of 51.27 per pound for five sack mix and that would produce an additional cost of $14.00 per cubic yard for the concrete for a four foot wide sidewalk; this would produce an additional cost of 70 cents per linear foot. He said if we take the high and low and strike the average, then the average cost would be 98 cents per linear foot, depending upon whether we are using 11 pounds of color or 25 pounds of color, and whether the cost per pound is $1.00 per cubic pound or $1.27 per cubic pound. He said these are the variables. He said the staff's recommendation would be against the proposal to put a sealcoat on the sidewalk because while it may assist in retaining the color, it may make the sidewalk slick because the sealer actually is a coating over the top and it will wear off, but even the short time it will take to wear off in normal foot traffic could present a risk. He said a normal broom finish on concrete is intentionally abrasive so there will not be any slippage. He said as far as the coloration, this is the staff's consideration of the subject. Mayor Monday asked the Council for their comments or questions. Councilmember Knotts made the motion that all the walks the city is replacing for the City of Huntsville and any future walks the city would have that are made out of concrete would be gray and the only color exception would be to carry on the color pattern the city has now on the downtown square. if we go to the brick or a natural stone Councilmember Hammock seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Carter noted he is still sorry the city is not willing to consider coloring the sidewalks in some selected areas. He said other cities have distinctive things around park areas and throughout cities and it seems to him the idea presented, whatever the color might be or what the tie -in may be, that for the city to tie Sam Houston Park, the festival area, the campus and the downtown area together in sort of a walkway for pedestrians is a good idea and something the City should be proud to do. He said this sort of thing is what sets cities apart. He argued against the motion as he felt the cost is minimal and as long as we are talking about these types of public areas and building a unit that it would be appropriate; noting he would like to see the downtown and the University campus tied together in the same way, as this would be an attractive thing for the city. Councilmember Gaines said she does agree somewhat with Councilmember Carter, as she is not opposed to colored sidewalks, but she feels we need to do some planning before we even start making any differences in our sidewalks. She said it is not a matter of not wanting to change or wanting to stick with the same thing. She said she would like for the City to have, at some point in time, an historical district and she would like for the city to plan towards that. She said she feels we need to make plans along this area and have a specific designation of the historical areas, have it researched, and planned. She said she is uncomfortable going into something without having a definite plan in the way we are moving. She said the city does need to think about moving in that direction, since we are talking about trying to enhance tourism MINUTES OF MAY 3, 1988 CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 76 in Huntsville. She said she is all for that because the more we can do to help that, to promote it, is certainly a plus, but she does think we need to do some planning before we make any definite decisions as to what we are going to do in these areas so that we don't have a hodge podge. Councilmember Bell strongly agreed with Councilmember Gaines but he prefers to call it an historic zone; but whatever the terminology, he felt we do need to work out an historic district before we start altering sidewalks and any other accouterments of the area in accordance with a specific plan. He said he is concerned about the impact upon homeowners and landowners in the area. He said he has received phone calls this week and there were some unhappy expressions about the red sidewalks. He said he would be perfectly willing to vote for red sidewalks as he has no particular problem with that concept, but he wants to make sure there is a proviso that landowners, whose land it would cross, (although it is on our easement) agree with red before the city actually imposes it upon them. Councilmember Green said he happens to like red sidewalks because he thinks they look very nice and he has seen them in a lot of cities, but the material he is most familiar with has either been brick or paver or some brick look - alike. He said he really doesn't know what he thinks about a sidewalk made out of just concrete that is made with red material. He said he didn't know that he is against it, but it is really one of those things he does not know very much about. He said for a long time he thought the sidewalks on 19th Street were really brick because they looked like brick and he thinks this is very attractive. He said he didn't know what it would look like if it were another type of material. He said he would like to speak against the motion because he feels the motion the Council passed last week does provide the Council some flexibility and allows the Council to say gray unless they otherwise specify something else. He said he would hate to lock the Council into a deal where the Council has to pass a new ordinance each time to allow for any variation. He said he feels the Council has some flexibility now. He said he would like for the Council to do some additional work before the Council decides how it is going to do the sidewalks. He is not sure the City wants just the plain type sidewalk or whether the Council wants to require that if it is something other than gray that it be a brick look -alike or paver or something like that. He said he is reluctant at this point to make a decision simply because it isn't something he feels he has a great deal of expertise in and he would like to examine types of material, the way we want it to Look and the areas in which we want this to occur. He said these are the three things that he believes all fit together: type of material, the color and the area. He said he would like to do that rather than pass on this motion. Councilmember Barrett said he also feels strongly, as Councilmember Gaines does, about promoting anything the City can do to enhance the city historically and bring in tourists. He said as Mr. Russell stated, he got the Sam Houston Park pea- graveled instead of a plain sidewalk. He said he feels the city should do more study to see if some areas may need the pea-gravel rather than the red sidewalks. He said he is not a specialist along those lines, but feels we do need to do more study about this and come back with a flexible plan that won't tie us in to any one colored sidewalk. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised the Council of the time lines involved with the construction of the existing sidewalk project and noted by the end of this week and by early next week, the city's contractor will be in a position to replace those sidewalks between 17th and 19th Street. He said further discussions on a plan or an overall sidewalk policy are fine but the time line is short. Councilmember Carter stated the opportunity on these blocks is now and if we don't move to do something about those blocks, we are not going to want to go back and tear concrete out and put red in, that is for certain. He said we need to make the decision. He said in addressing Councilmember Bell's concerns about imposing something on the citizens there, that he personally likes the art we have around town, but there are some citizens who feel imposed upon by the art the city has funded to put up in the city and there are a number of other things the city does in various ways about which the citizens feel imposed, and we don't particularly ask their complete and wholehearted endorsement. He said he didn't know if we should be unduly concerned about a public easement, but if we were talking about a citizen's own personal driveway and C 1 MINUTES OF MAY 3, 1988 CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 77 personal sidewalk, we might be more concerned. He said his point is not that the city should ride roughshod over any citizen or that the city should impose anything on any citizen, but it is the nature of government that we have a tendency to do things, even when there are some citizens that object. He said if we ever wait for unanimous agreement, we are never going to take any action, and he hopes everyone understands that. Mayor Monday repeated the motion on the floor: "That all sidewalks in the city that are concrete will be gray." Councilmember Knotts, who made the motion, clarified that the council should not exclude natural stone; noting the University has most of its walks in exposed aggregate, either rainbow or the brown pea- gravel and we have the pavers on the square, so he would not want to exclude those two because the city would want to match one of those colors in those areas where we are doing some work. He said the motion is that all sidewalks made of concrete would be gray. He said the concrete in exposed areas is very minimal and the aggregate gives the natural color, not the concrete. Councilmember Bell noted then Councilmember Knotts would not object if we cookie - cuttered the sidewalks so that we have that brick look -alike effect. Councilmember Knotts said he would not object to that. Councilmember Gaines noted this is the same motion we had last week. Councilmember Barrett asked why are we changing it if it is the same one we had last week. Councilmember Knotts said he thought it was clear that if we went to some material other than concrete, that it would require the approval of the Council. He said that is not the impression he got this week. Councilmember Gaines said but that is what the motion said (last week). Councilmember Green agreed that is what we passed last week. Councilmember Knotts said he feels this way too but then why are we arguing about red concrete sidewalks tonight if that was the motion. Councilmember Carter said his understanding of the policy is that we could have red sidewalks or green or blue sidewalks, if the property owners agree and if the City Council agrees. Councilmember Knotts said his motion would be that all sidewalks in city easement, poured of concrete, would be gray. Councilmember Carter said he wants clarification of what we passed last week because he understands that we could have any color sidewalk as l' Long as we had the agreement of the property owners. City Secretary Ruth DeShaw, was asked to re -read the motion made on April 19, 1988. The motion is as follows: "Councilmember Green made the motion that, for purposes of concrete, that it be gray on the sidewalks, and that any variation of that material require city council approval." This motion passed by a vote of 8 to 1 with Councilmember Carter opposed. Councilmember Knotts noted the variation, he assumes, is brick or stone or material of that nature. Mayor Monday said the motion made tonight would rule out any color of concrete as she understands it and that is the difference in the motions. Councilmember Knotts said his motion would be that all sidewalks poured out of concrete would be gray. Councilmember Carter made a counter motion to allow the red coloring of the sidewalks in the city's easements, IF prior approval can be obtained from the abutting property owners. There was no second to this motion and the motion therefore failed for a lack of a second. Mayor Monday asked if there was another proposal anyone would like to make. Councilmember Barrett asked Councilmember Bill Green to re -state his motion of last week for clarification. Councilmember Green said that motion has already passed and we don't need to redo that again. Councilmember Green said the reason he did not second the motion just now is that he believes it was a part of the intention last week that the city have agreement of all the landowners for approval of the method to be used on the sidewalk and if there is approval among the landowners, then he would be willing to go along with that although he still has a bit of a problem in knowing what it is going to look like. He said he understands the time line and that concerns him but he hates to be rushed into a judgment about something Like this, about which he does not feel comfortable, given his limited knowledge. Councilmember Knotts said he hates to continue to be a naysayer, but 25 pounds of red coloring per cubic yard of concrete is not going to give us the red color that we would expect a finished sidewalk to have. . He said it will tint it but it will not color it. Councilmember Green said whatever we decide upon we'll be stuck with, whether it is red, orange or gray. Gene Pipes, City Manager, said the brick patterning of the sidewalks has met with objection from certain elements of our community, namely the skateboard set, as it makes it rough for them. It was noted there is an ordinance prohibiting skating on the sidewalks. MINUTES OF MAY 3, 1988 CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P° 78 After this discussion, the motion on the floor was not voted upon because the Council felt it had already made a smiliar motion last week. Mayor Monday then advised the Council it has an offer on the table in the amount of $1,248.00 to add color to the sidewalks currently under consideration and the Council needs to accept or reject that offer. Councilmember Knotts made the motion to reject the grant from Educational Filmstrips in the amount of $1,248 and Councilmember Hammock seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Carter said he is sorry to see that we are possibly going to reject this grant and that we would be loosing an opportunity to truly do something that will set that area apart. He said it is not a major feature of the city and it is not like we are going to change the whole configuration of the town for positive or negative, but it is an opportunity that we are losing here to do something else. He said we are even talking about painting some of the buildings downtown to enhance them in a way that we are talking about coloring these sidewalks. He said it does not make any sense to him that we would lose the opportunity to do this. He said he is sorry to learn this is the direction we are moving, but he hopes all of them will consider that we will live for 30 -40 years with what we are making a decision about here. Councilmember Green asked when a driveway is crossed whether the sidewalk would be red and the driveway gray. Mr. Pipes said yes. Councilmember Green asked if that is a problem. Mr. Pipes noted it would depend upon whose driveway it is. Councilmember Green said if the property owner is willing to accept this, he is willing to accept this, otherwise he is not willing to do it. Councilmember Barrett agreed that the property owners need to be talked with so they can have some input on this because they have to live there every day. Mayor Monday noted then the motion before the Council at this time is to reject the offer. Councilmember Bell said he likes the red that has a brick simulation, but that is not what is being proposed. Also, he would like to have some kind of Master Plan as to where this is appropriate and where it is not. He said he didn't think these particular areas are especially appropriate for red sidewalks. He said he feels there are other areas in Huntsville that are, including 19th Street and maybe going down University Avenue and he would have been more persuaded there, but on 17th Street, he is profoundly unpersuaded and on Avenue 0 he is ambivalent to say the least. Councilmember Howard felt a study or plan of the whole area in and around the University is in order. He said he sees this as an opportunity for an individual citizen to join in with us, but at the same time the city may create a situation that we are not doing it for the city. He said there is a lot of undue confusion as a result. He said we need to start right now and replan and retook at the whole area and see just what we can do that would not offend anyone or create a problem for anyone. Mayor Monday asked for a vote on the motion to reject the offer. All were in favor except Councilmember Carter who voted opposed. The motion therefore passed by a vote of eight to one Consider Taxicab Permit Consider a request for a taxicab business to be operated within the City by Helen Ann Huffstickler Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented a written request for approval of a new taxicab permit for the City for Mrs. Helen Ann Huffstickler. He noted Section 16 -30 of the Huntsville Code of Ordinances provides that the City Council shall approve or disapprove of new permits. He advised the Council's decision can be influenced by the number of existing cabs in the city and the needs that currently exist for an additional company. He said it is a matter of subjective judgment as to whether there are too many or too few cabs already operating in the city. He said he has no knowledge of any over - abundance of taxicabs at this time. Councilmember Green made the motion to approve of this new taxicab permit and Councilmember Hammock seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. 1 F---� MINUTES OF MAY 3, 1988 CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 79 Consider Agreement Consider an agreement for Huntsville Theater Festival (Summer HEAP) in the amount of $8,565, as budgeted and recommended by the Arts Commission and staff Mayor Monday then presented this item for the Council's consideration. Mr. Pipes noted this is our standard annual contract for the Huntsville Theatre Festival between the City and the Drama Department of SHSU for the summer of 1988 in the amount of 58,565.00. The contract provides for three summer classes of creative dramatics, including a class for children ages 6 to 8, one class for children ages 9 to 12 at the SHSU'S Theatre Center, and a one month long class for children ages 8 to 12 conducted in the Martin Luther King Neighborhood Center. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of this contract as provided and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Consider an ordinance authorizing a final offer for a utility easement for the FM 247 water line Mr. Gene Pipes then presented a proposed ordinance, the caption of which is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 88 -8 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO MAKE AN OFFER FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE UP TO $1,400.00 TO THE OWNERS, OR OTHER PARTIES IN INTEREST FOR THE ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN INTERESTS IN A TRACT DESCRIBED HEREIN REQUIRED FOR RELOCATION OF A WATER LINE; REQUIRING THAT SUCH OFFER BE ACCEPTED WITHIN TEN (10) DAYS; DIRECTING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO INSTITUTE CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS IN THE EVENT SUCH OFFER IS REFUSED; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. Mr. Pipes advised this offer of up to $1,400 would include services up to that value to the parties of interest for a right -of -way concerning the FM 247 water line north of FM 2821. He advised it is the staff's recommendation that this ordinance be approved in order to move the project forward. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of Ordinance No. 88 -8 and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion Councilmember Barrett stated he would like to give the City Attorney Scott Bounds the power to negotiate this easement in the best interest of the City of Huntsville. Councilmember Howard accepted this addition to the motion. Councilmember Knotts abstained from the voting due to a conflict of interest (an affidavit was placed on file). The motion Passed by an affirmative vote of the remaining eight members of council Drainage Problem Outlined Mr. Pipes, City Manager, then referred the Council to a map of FM 1374 in the area of the entrances to Spring Lake and the Pine Shadows Subdivisions, noting the city limit line is just beyond this on the south side of town. He then discussed the drainage area, as outlined in green on the map, indicating there is a very small area of runoff that straddles FM 1374 on the west and east side concentrates just off of an area off of Raven Hill Street in the Pine Shadows Subdivision. He also produced a series of pictures that depict a rain that is not particularly memorable, in terms of runoff and velocity or total number of inches on May 17, 1986- -not a landmark rain, showing the water that collects from a rather average rainfall. He said there is no drainage easement and the owner of that lot has advertised for fill materials to be deposited to bring that lot up to sufficient elevation so that he may be able to build on it. In order to do this, he said, the water must be diverted somewhere else. He said as this lot is filled and built up, it is going to push the water over onto one of the other adjacent property owners that already exists. He advised in addition to this, we have a private sewer line easement from several houses fronting on FM 1374 that access the city's sewer main in Raven Hill Street adjacent to that lot. For this reason, he MINUTES OF MAY 3, 1988 CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 80 said, it would be the staff's recommendation that we pursue a purchase of that property from the lot owner at the present time. He said normally these matters would be handled in executive session because there would be some concern about the value of the property, etc., but the property owner has been fully involved for some time now in discussing the problem with the city and it is no great surprise or concern as far as managing the real estate purchase without the cost being changed, etc. He said the staff feels comfortable talking about this particular property acquisition matter without discussing it in executive session. He said he believes the council is unaware of the situation as it exists today. Mr. Pipes said he did not know the acquisition value of this lot is although the city does know a range. He said the city is not pursuing it at that point, but simply making the council aware of the situation and asking tonight that the Council give some indication as to what additional information it may need in order to reach a decision at next week's meeting or some future date when negotiations can be completed. Councilmember Knotts asked if the city purchased the lot, would it open channel it. Mr. Pipes said the city would channelize the area and put the water in a smaller area, but it would also perhaps construct something similar to a retention pond in that area. He said it would run out in the gutter line and let out at a point where it doesn't cover the whole street at one time. He said Raven Hill Street was washed out by the amount of water at one time, but then the pavement surface was not real good, so what washed away was a very thin overlay over a base that didn't stay. He suggested going from there around to a receiving stream on the far south end of that subdivision would cost an estimated $60,000 to capture the water on this site and pipe it around the curbed and guttered street. Councilmember Knotts asked how much of that area would be drained into that structure. Mr. Pipes said it drains everything that runs down Raven Hill, but there are no other rain structures in the entire subdivision as it was laid out for streets to function as the capture system. Mr. Pipes said this is the only area that has a water problem during rains now. Mr. Isbell, Director of Design Engineering, said it is just that street around the corner to the creek that is of concern here. Mr. Knotts felt the city should look at the possibility of adding a storm drain there to see what it would cost. Mr. Pipes said a storm drain system for that one section would be far in excess of the acquisition price of the lot. Mr. Pipes suggested letting some of the water retain on that lot and channelize it and let it out gradually, rather than just let it burst over the curb and run down the street. Mr. Knotts felt the city needed to look at a more permanent solution along with the purchase of the lot. Mr. Pipes said the problem is more than drainage as it involves a private utility line crossing the lot that serves four houses and it is not a public sewer line and not a public easement. Councilmember Carter said we are talking about drainage here and we have talked about doing lots of drainage work. He asked why this particular project would come up as such a priority versus so many other drainage projects. He said one lot he knows of is being eaten away by a drainage problem and that city resident would be just as interested in having their drainage problem solved as well as this one. Mr. Pipes said this current situation is one of someone diverting water onto someone else and the only regulatory position the city has, in order to stop the fill, is to purchase the lot. Councilmember Carter asked if there was a city ordinance that says when we change the drainage of one piece of property that they must take into account what that change in drainage does to another piece of property. Mr. Pipes said all water that enters and exits a property must remain the same. Councilmember Carter said so whoever is going to do this work cannot do the work without considering what it is going to do to another piece of property. He said if this is not the case, we need to change our city ordinances. Mr. Pipes said the individual owns the property and it is a platted lot and he can make a buildable section out of it by fill and as long as the fill is select material and is not hazardous, toxic, etc., he can channel the water between him and his adjacent property owner unless there is a civil action. Councilmember Knotts noted, however, this person cannot dump storm drainage over onto the next lot, but as long as he holds it on his lot, it is permitted. Mr. Pipes said he is not. Mr. Bounds, City Attorney, said the city has adopted the excavation code and it requires an approved drainage plan. Mr. Pipes said the water coming in is not coming from the property owner, but is coming from above him and in fact crosses his neighbor's lot before it gets to him. He said the question is where is it going to go. 1 7 MINUTES OF MAY 3, 1988 CITY COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P° 81 Councilmember Barrett asked that this matter be referred to an executive session so that more facts can be had on the matter. Mr. Pipes agreed to bring it back to executive session. Councilmember Carter said before leaving this topic, if we are going to take drainage up city -wide, he did not see doing it with a piecemeal approach. He said he is not sure we should even look at this specific problem, but we should took at drainage in the city as a whole and set priority. Councilmember Bell said this area is practically in his back yard and noted the city lost an entire street because of the water problem coming out of that particular piece of property. He said if the city is going to jeopardize a rather substantial capital investment put into Raven Hill Street and felt it demanded rather immediate attention. He said two years ago that street had been turned into dirt because of the water problem and he did not want to see it happen again white we discuss drainage in general. Councitmember Hammock didn't see the city buying that one lot and digging a hole to catch some water until we know how much water we can catch and how we can control it and what the expenses are. He said there is not much need in considering this until that information is available. Councilmember Carter said he would not be opposed to looking at this problem, based on Councilmember Bell's comment, but what is the origin of this problem and what can be done at the origin - -where does the problem begin and what can be done there. Councilmember Knotts felt the lot is part of the problem and not necessarily a part of the solution. Councilmember Bell asked that this matter be Looked into in a tittle more depth. Mayor Pro tem Howard asked the staff to look at this and to bring it back for review. Government Finance Officers Association Notice- -D i st i nauished Budaet Presentation Award Approved Mr. Pipes advised the City has just received word that the City's budget for FY 1987 -88 has been approved for the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award by the officers of the Government Finance Officers Association. The plaque will be added to the others on the wall in the Chambers. The Council commended Patricia Allen, Director of Finance. ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted, Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary May 3, 1988