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MIN CC 09/27/1988MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 27, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 166 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL HELD ON THE 27TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1988 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 regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday, Mayor 0. Eugene Barrett Gary Bell James L. Carter lla G. Gaines William B. Green William L. Hammock Percy Howard, Jr. William H. Knotts, Jr. FORMAL SESSION City Officers Present Gene Pipes, City Manager Scott Bounds, City Attorney Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary Mayor Monday called the formal session to order. Mr. Dick Kastner, interim pastor, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and Pastor at the Wynne Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections, presented the invocation. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 6 AND SEPTEMBER 20, 1988 Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve the minutes of September 6 and September 20 1988 meetings and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion Passed unanimously. CONSIDER HUNTSVILLE CABLE TELEVISION RATE INCREASE Consider a request by Messers. Nathan Geick and Randy Rogers Huntsville Cable Television to increase rates for service attributable to cost increases received over the Past several Years Mr. Randy Rogers, Manager of Huntsville Cable Television, advised the Council his company plans to raise the rates it charges for their limited basic cable, which consists of the 24 unscrambled channels that may be received with a cable -ready set. He said this is the lowest priced tier his company has available. He said this means an increase from the current $9.95 per month to $10.45, which represents a five percent increase, to be effective November 1, 1988. The reason for the rate increase, he said, is because of the escalation of their satellite program fees and their copywrite fees. Mayor Monday asked Mr. Rogers for some examples of how their costs have increased. Mr. Rogers said his company has allowed for inflation over the last several years in the range of three to five percent per year; programming fees for satellite channels (ESPN, Cable News Network, U.S.A. Network, Weather Channel) on limited basic cable have increased, with ESPN increasing from five cents per subscriber to 38 cents per subscriber. He noted ESPN increased its rates because it now has the NFL and other quality programs it did not have previously. He said in 1985, the satellite fees, at a time when the company's rates were $9.50, rather than $9.95, were 65 cents per subscriber. He said in 1989 their costs will be $1.46, which is approximately a 200 percent increase in programming costs in three and one -half years. He said the copywrite board charges have increased, which are those fees the company pays to pick up the local channels and independent channels (i.e., Houston) Councilmember Green said while these costs have increased, the Cable Company has also acquired the right to begin doing advertising on some channels and he asked if that revenue does not help pay for the increased costs. Mr. Rogers noted the advertising revenues make up less than one percent of their gross revenues, as the revenues are very small. He said a subscriber pays $9.95, and their costs for programming costs alone, excluding payroll, plant, equipment, is $1.46 per each individual subscriber. He said the advertising revenues may offset 10 to 15 percent of the increased costs. Mayor Monday noted Huntsville Cable Television can, by contract, increase its rates by five percent annually and is not required to request approval of this Council. She advised, however, they are advising the City out of courtesy so as to make the Council aware of the reasons for the requested increase. She commended the company for its efficient handling of complaints and the service it is providing on a much 1 MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 27, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "p" 167 higher level while expanding its service area. Mr. Rogers said they do plan to build into the Majestic Forest area and the Boettcher Mill area this year. Councilmember Barrett commended Mr. Rogers on the improvements and services over the last few years, noting break -downs are repaired quickly. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of this rate increase and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER RESOLUTIONS Consider Resolution No 88-9 endorsing the city's participation in the TEAM Cities Economic Development Program sponsored by Gulf States Utilities as Presented by Mr. Joel Jeffcote, outgoing Huntsville Manager Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented this Resolution, the caption of which is as follows: RESOLUTION NO. 88-9 A RESOLUTION OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL ENDORSING AND SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT MARKETING PROGRAM AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER AND EMPLOYEES TO COOPERATE IN THE COMMUNITY SELF-ANALYSIS. Mayor Monday then introduced Mr. Joel Jeffcote, noting the City will be losing him to Louisiana soon. She commended him for his community spirit and assistance on economic development, noting he is an outstanding leader in this area and across the state. Because of his community spirit, she said, he is helping Huntsville get on the CAM Program before he leaves. She expressed her appreciation. Mr. Jeffcote, Local Manager of Gulf States Utilities, advised approximately one month ago, he met with the Economic Development Council and city officials to discuss a new and innovative program being sponsored by Gulf States Utilities for municipalities it serves in Texas and Louisiana. He said the program is known as the TEAM City Program and allows GSU to work with the cities it serves to form a partnership to encourage economic development in those areas. He said it is a "win -win" situation for the cities and GSU. He introduced Mr. Paul Senkel, Economic Development Agent from Conroe, who will be working with the City in implementing this program. He said the program is comprised of seven steps: 1. A community assessment is done. He noted Huntsville will be able to enter into a "fast track" simply because most of this work has already been done by the Chamber, the City, the County and the recent Fantus study. He said they will look at collecting information and data on a minimum of 20 major categories in the community infrastructure and there is a scoring system that has been established for each of these areas. Committees will be composed made up of community leaders, residents of the city, to gather all of this information, he stated. 2. Data analysis and review to set objectives and goals. He noted short and long range goals will be set. 3. Select and train a marketing team. He said this is one of the most important aspects of this entire program. Interested members of the community will be selected to be a part of the marketing team to market Huntsville, especially industrial clients who would want to come or relocate to the city. He said GSU will train these people by using GSU's business development specialists, such as Paul, and also people of various state agencies who are also interested in economic development of cities this size. 4. Prospect Simulation and Marketina Team Critique. He said they will recommend someone from outside this area, possibly an employee of another utility company or state agency to act as an industrial prospect, unbeknownst to the the Marketing Team as they will think he is an actual prospect and they will attempt to market this community to that person. Once that is done, the effort will be MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 27, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 168 critiqued and they will get back with them to work with them as far as improvements to the marketing plan they have put together and how they have performed. Designation of the City of Huntsville as a Team City. He said this wilt be done in a council setting with a lot of news exposure for the City. Marketing Proiects. He said Team Cities' selected building sites, buildings and industrial parks will be featured in nationwide GSU advertising. He then distributed samples of national publications. He said in addition, selected sites, buildings and industrial parks wilt be listed in a national - international site -net computer listing and will be used by relocation experts and economic development specialists across the nation. Also, he said, periodic reports will be made to TEAM cities on prospects visiting the area, the projects of other TEAM cities and what they are doing, new business and expansions in the GSU service area, bid resource center projects, GSU business development group missions, and related information. Design and Production of a Community Brochure. He then passed out an example of a 1984 era brochure on Huntsville, noting the information is now out -of -date, stating it was developed as an example of what can be done in -house to create a brochure. Mr. Jeffcote said GSU will also be offering a Marketing Assistance Program on community-planned irect mail advertising and wilt be putting together mailing lists and assisting in mailings to various idustries, based on various standard industrial codes /zip codes that industries use. Finally, he said, very two years GSU will do a recertification of the TEAM cities and foltow -up on everything that has been one to recertify the city as far as what they are doing in economic development. In conclusion, Mr. :ffcote said this wilt be a TEAM effort and it will require the city's assistance and support and work by ie personnel of the city, school district, county, Chamber of Commerce and everyone in the community. Mayor Monday thanked Mr. Jeffcote for this presentation, noting it is a very fine example of ic-private cooperation for economic development. Councilmember Howard then made the motion to approve Mr. Jeffcote then announced the Center for Government Contracts at the Woodlands is working with the ille-Walker County Chamber of Commerce. He said it was announced today that Dawson Mobile Homes has J a $90,000 government contract to supply mobile home for border patrol stations in cities in Texas. Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, then presented this Resolution, the caption of which is as follows: RESOLUTION NO. 88 -10 RESOLUTION OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, SUPPORTING PROPOSITION 1 TO INSURE DEDICATED FEDERAL HIGHWAY FUNDS RECEIVED BY TEXAS ARE SPENT ONLY FOR THEIR INTENDED PURPOSE OF IMPROVING OUR HIGHWAYS, AND CALLING ON ALL TEXANS TO JOIN US AND EVERY STATEWIDE ELECTED TEXAS OFFICIAL IN APPROVING PROPOSITION 1, THE GOOD ROADS AMENDMENT Pipes advised there will be a constitutional amendment on the November ballot involving the protection f the monies derived from users fees to the benefit of the state highway system. Presently, he said, the :ate pays for projects by fronting the costs of reconstruction or new construction and is then reimbursed i the federal government to the state's general fund. He said there was been active consideration in the 1 L7 MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 27, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 169 pest, because of the tight money situation, of redistributing some of those state highway department funds to other costs of state government. He said because the payments have been made back to the state's general fund, there is no provision of state government for any payment to a special fund. He said highway projects would not have been done if the funds were not in the state highway special account. He said it is a quirk in the state's accounting administration. He said the Good Roads Association is a collection of individuals and business and special interests who are concerned with the performance of the Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation and they serve as a lobbying group, or a special interest group within themselves. He said the City and County have been the recipient of a number of projects and awards by the state highway department in the Last couple of years, not the least of which is the bridge over the upper end of Lake Livingston from the Smither Farm Road to Kittrell cut -off area, an area that has been geographically isolated from its parent county since 1860. He said those types of funds will not be available if there are raids on them as the federal government pays the money back to the State of Texas that has been advanced for construction of the state and federal highway system. He said it is in the best interest of the City of Huntsville and Walker County and those to be served that this council consider approving this resolution endorsing the Goods Roads Association's recommendation to vote "FOR" Proposition 1, the Good Roads Amendment on November 8, 1988. Councilmember Knotts made the motion to approve of Resolution No 88 -10 and CounciLmember Howard seconded the motion. ALL were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT - -GENE PIPES Consider approval of the FAA contract for a grant in the amount of $548,000 for airport improvements Mr. Pipes advised they have received official written notification as well as verbal notification Last week from Congressman Charles Wilson's office and from the Houston FAA office that Huntsville is the recipient of a $548,000 grant from FAA to improve the Huntsville airport. He said it will include construction of a taxiway, relocation of the non - directional beacons, installation of medium intensity Lighting along the runway and taxiways. He said 46.9 acres of land the city acquired in the early 1980's on the north end as a clear zone will be its in -kind 10 percent matching. He said the major item in these improvements is a new entrance road off of Highway 75 North for the specific and exclusive use of the airport alone, separate from Ross Park, which will eliminate the danger of children running across the road and parked cars encumbering the road. He then presented the ordinance authorizing the acceptance of this grant, the caption of which is as follows: 17 ORDINANCE NO. 88 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY'S AIRPORT, AND MAKING OTHER PROVISIONS AND FINDINGS RELATED THERETO CounciLmember Gaines made the motion to approve of Ordinance No 88-16 and CounciLmember Knotts seconded the motion. Mayor Monday extended her congratulations to Mr. Dale Brown, City Planner, for his efforts and those of others in preparing the grant application. ALL were in favor of the motion on the floor and it passed unanimously. Highway 19 Association Meetina Mr. Gene Pipes advised the September 28 meeting in Athens of this association has been rescheduled to Tuesday, October 18. He invited and encouraged the Council to attend the meeting with him. He advised at the November 29 meeting in Austin, there will be a presentation to the State Highway Commission concerning funding for the "Sam Houston Highway, from Huntsville to Chicago. MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 27, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 170 MAYOR'S REPORT - -JANE MONDAY Mayor Monday then presented the names of Joe Sandal, Pete Allbritton and Marsha Phillips for ntment to the Planning Commission for another three year term. Councilmember Barrett made the motion Mayor Monday then presented the names of Herb Muecke as Commissioner, and Lynn Kelly, LuEllen Gibbs, Peterson and Ellen Goad as advisors for reappointment to the Huntsville Arts Commission. Mayor Monday then asked the Council to consider a plan for a focus on service for FY 1988 -89. She oted October 1 commences a new year and we might want to take a look at a focus on the customer and that he city make the new year one of service. She presented a questionnaire card, prepared by the City's uilding Inspection Department, which asks questions of the customer as to how the department is doing as ar as serving their needs. She felt this is a direct way to get input back from the citizen. She felt the ame type of concern for service should be displayed in every other area so that when people come to us we ill project the image of being focused on service and the customer. She felt it is an appropriate way to o into a new year. The Council concurred with the idea. She said the Council may want to took at ways to ecognize or award those employees through the year who excel in this program of service. She said she ould hope that next year, the city will have accomplished its goal in enhancing its service areas so that t will project that it is a friendly and warm place to do business. Councilmember Barrett said he would ope that the city staff will not only give people rules and regulations, but will review their needs and ry to help them solve any problems at the time they are there, noting it leads to a lot less frustration. Mayor Monday advised of the 1988 Boards and Commissions Reception to be held at the First National nk Flag Room from 5:30 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. She invited the local news media to attend also. She said is is a very special opportunity to recognize all of the volunteers that assist the city. Mayor Monday noted in recognition of the outstanding job the city employees have done this past ear, the Mayor and City Council invite all of the city employees to have breakfast with them at the Service enter on Wednesday morning, October 5, with the City Council flipping pancakes from 6:30 A.M. until 8:00 .M. She invited the news media to be the city's guests at this special breakfast recognition as the Council ertainly appreciates their contributions also. Councilmember Bell quipped he thought the media were going o do the dishes! Mayor Monday noted this is but a small token of the Council's appreciation for an utstanding job. She cautioned the Council not to forget their spatulas! Mayor Monday advised she was invited to be a guest at this meeting by Dianne Lowe, local Manager for thwestern Bell Telephone Company. She noted the Lower Colorado River Authority covers a wide range. She d most of the towns that attended this meeting were small towns of 2,500, 3,500 or less. She said the C MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 27, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 171 City of Huntsville is in between these size cities and those of our larger neighbors, and yet it has some of the same problems of each size city. She said she picked up a lot of good ideas and will be sharing those with the Council. She noted there is a video called "Home Grown Industries," that she would like to purchase for the City. She said the seminar presenter was out of the national office of the Association of Towns and Townships. COUNCIL ACTION Jack Spence Sewer Extension Question Councilmember Knotts advised that last week Mr. Jack Spence mentioned the city's sewer line runs in front of his property but the city would not let him tie onto the sewer line. He told Mr. Spence he would check on that situation. Mr. Knotts said the situation is that there was never a request made to tie onto the sewer by Mr. Spence, but everything is there for him to tie onto it. He then advised Mr. Spence of this information. He said he thinks perhaps he has now almost convinced Mr. Spence to be pro- annexation. Councilmember Knotts said Mr. Spence was pleased he followed up on his request. Councitmember Knotts said the real problem appears to be money, and not the principle or philosophy at that time on the sewer extension policy. Councilmember Gaines noted this is our first example of "friendly service." Fair on the Square Councilmember Ila Gaines invited everyone to the Fair on the Square on Saturday. She said the East (Texas folk Festival will have a booth there and it is already promoting the 1989 Festival. Huntsville Item's New Reporter Mayor Monday advised the Council that Eileen Emerson, formerly the reporter with KKNX Radio Station, is now a reporter with the Huntsville Item and will be covering events at City Hall. RECESS TO EXECUTIVE SESSION Executive Session The Council then entered an executive session, posted to be held after the formal session, to consider acquisition of real estate, to -wit: right -of -way easement for 10th Street. FORMAL MEETING RECONVENED Consider action on 10th Street Right-of-Way Acquisition Mayor Monday reconvened the formal session at 8:20 P.M. so that the Council could take formal action on the acquisition of real estate for 10th Street right -of -way. Mayor Monday then entertained a motion to authorize Scott Bounds, City Attorney, to make an offer on the property for fee title for tracts I and II, not to exceed $15,000 and to file a notice of condemnation on the property. Councilmember Knotts made the motion to approve of this authorization and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Monday then noted Mr. Bounds is authorized to carry out these instructions. ADJOURNMENT Respectfully Submitted, 7A Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary September 27, 1988