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MIN CC 07/19/1988MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 19, 1988 BOOK "P" 117 b • II CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVE NU COUNCIL M INN EE CITY OFEHUNTTSVILLE19COUNTY OF WALKER,�TEXAS ATH6:OOTP.M. COUNCIL n I 1 1 The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday, Mayor 0. Eugene Barrett Gary Bell James L. Carter Ila G. Gaines William B. Green Percy Howard, Jr. William H. Knotts, Jr. Member absent William L. Hammock City Officers Gene Pipes, City Manager Scott Bounds, City Attorney Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary FORMAL SESSION CONVENED -- RECESS TO EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Monday called the formal session to order at 6:00 P.M. and then recessed into executive session to consider pending or contemplated litigation concerning Acker Vs. City et. al. and City Vs. Everett Wilson. After a review of these matters with the City Attorney, Scott Bounds, no formal action was taken. The Council completed the Executive Session at 7:10 P.M. and reconvened the formal session. FORMAL SESSION RECONVENED Mayor Monday called the formal session to order. Reverend Katherin Pigg of the Wesley Foundation presented the invocation. CITIZEN INPUT Mr. Raymond Daily, District Director, Dixie Boys Baseball League, advised Huntsville will host the state tournament (13 -14 year old boys) this weekend, July 23, 1988, noting the last one held here was 10 years ago. He said the Huntsville Inn is the host motel and is booked for the event and had to turn away 27 room requests. He estimated approximately $40,000 to $60,000 would be spent in this community over the weekend because of the tournament being held here. He invited the Council to attend the opening ceremonies on Saturday morning at 11:00 A.M. at the Kate Barr Ross Memorial Park baseball complex and invited Mayor Jane Monday to be present to throw out the "first" ball. He noted Huntsville will play at 8:00 P.M. Saturday. Mayor Monday agreed to assist in this way and encouraged the Councilmembers at attend as well. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve the minutes of July 12 1988 as Prepared and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. ATTENDING CITIZENS Dr. Dale Casper, Director, Newton Grisham Library and Mrs Jasper Sanford Head of Collection Services SHSU, to Present Juneteenth Greetings from foreian governments as collected by Dr. Frank Marotti Dr. Casper and Mrs. Sanford appeared on behalf of Dr. Frank Marotti, specialist in Latin American History, who communicated with nations in the Caribbean asking for information about their Juneteenth celebrations. Included in the information he received were some "Greetings" and "Messages" from various prime ministers, addressed to the people of Huntsville, as Huntsville celebrated its Juneteenth. Dr. Casper felt the best place for these letters is at City Hall. He said Mrs. Sanford was instrumental in providing MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 19, 1988 BOOK "P" 118 b Dr. Marcotti with background information into the local Juneteenth Celebration, which he then shared with the prime ministers of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas; Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies; St. Kitts and Nevis, West Indies; as well as Jamaica. He then presented the documents to Mayor Monday for the city's archives. Mayor Monday advised she has written thank you letters in appreciation for these thoughtful greetings. CONSIDER WATER LINE BID Consider bid for supplies for an eight inch water line on Avenue M to the low bidder, Rohan Company, in the amount of $28.772.91 to be paid from capital improvement project utility funds Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised this bid is for the purchase of water supplies for the installation of an eight inch water line on Avenue M to be funded from capital improvement project funds. He recommended accepting the low bidder, Rohan Company. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve this bid and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER ORDINANCE 'Consider Ordinance authorizing suit against Everett Wilson Mr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, presented an ordinance authorizing the filing of a suit against Everett Wilson and others, for subdividing property without compliance with applicable city ordinances. He noted authorization is requested to file an action under the Texas Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act, Chapter 212 of the Texas Local Government Code, under the City's home rule authority, or under such other state law as may be appropriate to determine the rights, status, and or legal relations of the city and Everett Wilson, Citicorp Homeowners Services, Inc., Frank Stivers and Lamar Savings or the real owners of a 1.18 acre tract of land known as the Everett Wilson tract, located in the 3700 block of Possum Walk Road (F.M. 1374) in the city and demanding enforcement of the city's subdivision ordinances, damages or fines for violation of city ordinances and such other relief as is appropriate. The caption of this ordinance is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 88 -12 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING A DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION AND ACTION FOR DAMAGES AGAINST THE OWNERS OF CERTAIN PROPERTY NOW KNOWN AS THE 1.18 ACRE EVERETT WILSON TRACT ON F.M. 1374 AND MAKING OTHER PROVISIONS AND FINDINGS RELATED THERETO Councilmember Knotts made the motion to approve of this ordinance as presented and Councilmember Bell CONSIDER RETIREMENT PROGRAM STUDY COMMITTEE Review the City Employee Retirement Program status and consider appointment of a study committee to make Mr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, advised that in 1979, the City instituted a new retirement system, noting at that time, the city had an annuity life contract with Southwestern Life Insurance Company. He said the city converted to a Section 401a Retirement Plan, which was administered by Kansas City Life. He said the original contract provided that Kansas City Life would be responsible for administration of that retirement plan for a period of ten years. He said if the city withdrew during that period there would be certain penalties attached. Subsequent to that time, he said, Kansas City Life withdrew administration services which are now being provided by a firm out of Houston. He said few cities in the state have a 401a 1 1 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 19, 1988 BOOK "P" 119 b Plan as most cities use the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS). Because of this, he said, the city has some problems finding persons able to administer some of the day to day problems of a 401a plan. In January 1, 1989, he advised, the city may start withdrawing funds from the Kansas City Life Program without penalties and put those funds under another administrator. He said in order to make such an important decision and to plan for it, he recommended ended appointing a city employee / councilmember committee to evaluate the city's options with regard to staying with Kansas City Life, or another provider, such as ICMA (which has established a nonprofit corporation to administer 401a plans) or to took at some other retirement plan such TMRS. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the appointment of this council /employee committee to review the options as recommended by the City Attorney and Councilmember Carter seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER 125K CAFETERIA PLAN Consider Ordinance authorizing a 125K Cafeteria Plan (deferred compensation) for city employees Mr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, presented a flexible benefit cafeteria plan, which is in accordance with Title I of the Employer Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). He said a 125K plan is a mechanism IRS has approved by which an employee can choose among various benefits in order to reduce his taxable compensation. He said the city offers to employees three choices in this plan: 1.) an employee can continue to receive his present cash income; 2.) the employee can agree to reduce his salary and have the city pay dependent medical and dental insurance coverage, or 3.) the employee can agree to reduce his salary and have the city pay group life insurance with benefits up to 550,000. He said by having the city pay for those things, rather than the employee, the employee avoids paying income tax on that much salary. He said there is no appreciable administration cost to the city. He said there are other benefits that could be made a part of this plan that the city has chosen not to include. After some discussion for clarification concerning the administration and record keeping requirements of such a plan, Councilmember Carter made the motion to approve of the 125K cafeteria plan and Councilmember Bell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT- -GENE PIPES Budget Presentation and Manaaement Letter set for July 26 Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised the Council will received their 1988 -89 proposed budget next week along with his budget transmittal letter, which will outline the budget and bring attention to the highlights. Consider Roof Repairs Consider authorization to seek bids for the emergency roof repair of the Martin Luther King Neiahborhood Center (Emancipation Park Building) on Avenue F in the estimated amount of $13,000 Mr. Pipes advised part of the roof decking is rotting around the roof - mounted air conditioning units, creating an unsafe condition in that some of the decking was recently found on the floor on the inside of the building. He requested authorization to go out for formal bids and for an estimated $13,000 to $15,000 to fund these repairs. He said the staff has been planning to re -roof this building for the past MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 19, 1988 BOOK "P" 120 b everal years, but this work had always been set aside because of the tight budget. He said funds will aye to come from the unallocated fund reserve in the general fund which has a balance of $18,000. He said he building has been locked until these repairs can be made. Mr. Pipes said they plan to bid this roof in wo ways: 360 composition (20 year life) shingles, or metallic (life time) roofing. Councilmember Barrett MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT--JANE MONDAY Mayor Monday reported the grant workshop held on Monday went very well and much was learned about writing and the opportunities available. She said it became apparent it may be advantageous for us to a central grant writing committee for Walker County. COUNCIL ACTION Councilmember Knotts asked the City Manager to inspect the street work areas to be sure they are properly barricaded and meet our insurance requirements during the construction period. Councilmember Knotts asked the City Manager to check into obtaining a flashing warning signal light lat the Avenue S and east frontage road of I -45 (Smither Overpass), similar to that installed at the schools. RECESS TO WORK SESSION The Council then recessed to conduct its work session concerning the Council's annexation policy, the statutory requirements for annexation and consideration of the annexation schedule. ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted, r Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary July 19, 1988