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MIN CC 11/01/19881 1 MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 1, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 187 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 1ST DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1988 IN THE CITY SERVICE CENTER, LOCATED AT 80 HIGHWAY 75 NORTH, IN HUNTSVILLE, WALKER COUNTY, TEXAS AT 6:30 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. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Monday called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. and then recessed into an Executive Session to discuss the possible acquisition of real estate, to -wit: property on 12th Street. At 6:50 P.M., the executive session was concluded with no action taken. FORMAL MEETING At 7:00 P.M., Mayor Monday called the formal session to order. She asked all those present from the Huntsville Leadership Institute to stand and identify themselves. Reverend Earnest Grover, Jr. of First Baptist Church presented the invocation. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 25, 1988 Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the minutes of October 25 1988 as presented and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER RESOLUTION Consider Resolution No. 88 -12 honoring K.S.A.M. Radio for 50 Years of Public service to the Huntsville community Mayor Monday asked that the agenda be altered so as to allow this presentation early to accommodate the schedule of Mr. George Franz, General Manager. Mayor Monday read the Resolution and presented it to Mr. Franz. Mr. Franz noted his appreciation of the community and his enjoyment in serving this area. He noted this is the community's radio station as they only "hold the license." Councilmember Hammock made the motion to approve of this resolution and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion Passed unanimously. CONSIDER ORDINANCE Consider Ordinance No. 88 -19 calling an election for officers - -Mayor and Ward Councilmembers - -on Saturday January 21. 1989 and making Provisions thereto. Mayor Monday then presented this ordinance, the caption of which is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 88 -19 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, ORDERING A MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON THE 21ST DAY OF JANUARY, 1989, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ELECTING A MAYOR AT- LARGE, AND FOUR COUNCILMEMBERS, ONE FROM EACH OF THE CITY'S FOUR WARDS, ONE, TWO, THREE AND FOUR; PROVIDING FOR ELECTION OFFICERS; DESIGNATING THE PLACES AND MANNER OF HOLDING SAID ELECTION; AND PROVIDING FOR THE POSTING AND PUBLICATION OF NOTICE. City Manager Gene Pipes advised of additions to the ordinance to include the names of Elnora Hudley as Presiding Judge in Pct. 105 and Ethel Wilson as the Alternate Judge in Pct. 105. Additionally, he noted, the name of W. P. McLaughlin should be listed as the Presiding Judge of Pct. 102 rather than B. C. Tubbleville, who has asked to be retired from this post. With these amendments so noted. Councilmember Howard made the motion to approve of Ordinance No. 88 -19 and Councilmember Bell seconded the motion Discussion: Councilmember Carter noted again that according to all of the literature on elections, January is absolutely the worst time of the year to hold an election. He said it forces people to campaign during MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 1, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 188 Christmas and New Year's Holidays and it is bad for weather which also affects turn -out. He said while he knows the City of Huntsville is going to have another January election, he predicts that sooner or later we have to get the state legislature to change this date to give the cities in Texas another option. He felt the city needed to go to a spring election. He noted he opposes calling the election for January. All were CONSIDER JOINT ELECTIONS REQUESTS Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented these requests and noted it should allow all three entities o share expenses and will provide for a convenience to the voters. He stated, however, it will ndoubtedly create some additional work for Mrs. Ruth DeShaw, the Elections Administrator for the City. He dvised if these requests are approved, a contract will be so drawn for approval at a later date. motion. Discussion: Mayor Monday asked that the contract speak to the handling of the administrative duties as well. Councilmember Bell asked if the reason we changed the city's election to January was to get away from joint elections because of the possibility of clouding city issues with school issues when these elections are held jointly. Mayor Monday clarified the city moved its election date to January to better facilitate its calendar and operational procedures. She felt the opportunity to share expenses and provide a convenience to the voters should be considered. Councilmember Bell noted in the sense of efficiency, he will vote for approval, but he still has reservations about the January issue. He said if joint elections are not a major consideration, he would prefer moving back to a spring election. Mr. Pipes said bond elections can be held at any time and do not have to be on one of the uniform election dates. Councilmember Barrett felt January is a good time to have elections or the HISD and Hospital District would not have chosen that date. He reminded the Council, however, that one of the main reasons the city changed from May to January is because the city did not wish to elect new councilmembers in May right before the Council began budgeting, which is the biggest job it does all year. He said the idea was that those new to the council would have some experience before they had to vote upon the expenditure of thousands and thousands of dollars. Councilmember Carter said he is glad there will be joint elections in January, because even though that is the worst time to hold an election, every election increases voter turn -out, so actually there will be more turn -out by having the bond election and the hospital district election at the same time. He said the best thing for the country as a whole would be to have one uniform election date and elect everyone; noting he feels voters can make distinctions between offices and issues. He said he felt the joint elections were a good thing. Upon a vote of the motion on the floor, all were in favor and it passed CONSIDER TAXICAB PERMIT APPLICATION City Secretary, Ruth DeShaw, advised the Council that a request has been received from Margie Allen daughter of Marcus Irving) for a new taxicab permit for "Reliable Cab Company" that she proposes to own and perate. The Council was advised that while Ms. Allen is currently operating under her father's permit for uick Service Taxi, taxicab permits are "nonassignable," so in order to break off and operate under her own ompany name, she must apply for a new taxicab permit. Councilmember Howard made the motion to approve the CONSIDER WATER LINE BID Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised this bid is for the purchase of water supplies for the nstallation of a 12 inch water line on Avenue I from Sam Houston Avenue to 21st Street and over to Avenue J �J f] MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 1, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 189 and then to the Avenue J water tower. He recommended accepting the lowest of six bids, which meets specifications, submitted by Big State Utility Supply, in the amount of $37,935.28, to be funded from the capital improvement project. Councitmember Hammock made the motion to approve of the bid of Big State Utility Supply in the amount of $37.935.28 to be paid with capital improvement project utility funds and Councitmember Knotts seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER SERVICE CENTER EXPANSION PROJECT Consider bids for construction of the final phase of the Service Center Expansion project (garage addition to the warehouse building), review financial analvsis and recommendations as provided Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented the recommendation of Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director of Engineering Design, to award the bid for Phase I1 -- Garage Area of the Service Center expansion - -to Autrey Construction Co., Inc. in the amount of $197,679.47 so that both the panel design and color will match the existing building. He indicated approximately $105,000 of additional funds are needed to fund this bid. He recommended that the additional funds be allocated one third from water and sewer; one third from sanitation; and one third from the general fund. Discussion: Mr. Pipes reviewed the history of the development of the Service Center and the sources of funding for the improvements made there. The Council reviewed the various bids received and the options submitted and the effect the various deductions in scope of the project would have on the city. Mayor Monday asked for the bid which represents the lowest expenditure of dollars to complete the project. Mr. Pipes advised it would be SW Builders for $160,596.90 without design and color match, some $37,082.57 less than the bid being recommended of Autrey Construction where the panels would interlock and the color would match. He said all the options are for 24 gauge metal and the only difference is the way it is stamped (rippled) and the color or it. Mayor Monday said she has a problem with spending any extra money just to get a color or design match. It was noted there is no structural or wind endurance advantage to the interlocking panels and that the only advantage is purely aesthetics as one does not see the seams and screws. Mayor Monday said before a motion is made, we need to understand the financing on this construction project. Mr. Pipes said there is $93,000 available for this project. Mr. Pipes reviewed the different departments that use this facility (utilities, water and sewer, sanitation, public works, parks and recreation, garage (police vehicle repairs). Mr. Pipes said there is no scientific way to decide what the proportional split of the financial costs should be. He said it would be reasonable to take whatever additional funds are needed equally from the three funds' reserves for future allocation: water and sewer, sanitation find and general fund. He said there is $72,171 in the general fund reserve; $75,661 in water and sewer reserve; and $71,064 in reserve funds in the sanitation budget. Mr. Pipes said the city also has a reserve from sales tax revenue that was generated in the nine months last year, after the sales tax went into effect, and the property taxes were subsequently reduced this October. He advised that balance is about $400,000 and the city had set it aside for capital improvements, principally to extend the street work as long as possible. He said taking one third of the general fund money out of that sales tax reserve would be entirely appropriate. He said it would be a one time capital expenditure and not an on -going operations and maintenance expense. He said the capital construction crews work and have equipment repaired in the garage and work out of this facility. He said in addition to that, the city has unallocated capital improvement money in the sanitation and water and sewer departments that could be a source of funds, but he didn't think there is any problem with using the unallocated reserve for future allocation in the utility funds. Mayor Monday suggested acquiring the additional funds needed as follows: one -third each from the capital construction funds of sanitation and water and sewer; and from general fund, use the one -half sales tax reserve, which will not impact the contingency funds at the present time. Mr. Pipes said if the Council goes with SW Builders at $160,596.90 and we have $93,000 available, splitting the additional amount needed between these three funds will mean that $22,532.30 will be the one -third split paid by each of these three funds. MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 1, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 190- Councilmember Green asked why we were going to pay cash for a capital asset. Mr. Pipes said the ity has never issued any debt for this building, because revenue sharing was used before. Patricia Allen, irector of Finance, advised the city has been staying away from debt lately, noting because of the bond ssue, the city is trying to keep its debt flat so the city does not have a fluctuating tax rate. She said f we issue debt, that changes the level of payments over the year and will cause fluctuations in the tax ate in that there will be years when it will go up and years when it wilt go down and it will trigger that dvertising mechanism more often. Mr. Pipes said it will also affect our 1992 issuance of the next $2.5 illion, if the debt service goes up in the meantime significantly in the general fund. Ms. Allen said approximately 2/3 thirds of all building expansion was paid with general fund money nd revenue sharing. She said the Council may wish to consider splitting the difference between just water nd sewer and sanitation as they have only funded a third of the expansion. Mayor Monday asked why we are of funding it by splitting the entire cost, rather than just the additional amount needed, into these three unds. Mr. Pipes said previous council's have considered the service center a general fund activity. ouncilmember Green asked why we don't price out the services, mechanics, etc., on the basis of use for urposes of allocating the ongoing operational costs for the actual use of the facility. Mr. Pipes said hen we do that it comes out 20:20:60, with the latter being general fund because of the inordinate number f police cars. Ms. Allen said to take one segment of the building and to cost it by use, when we have not one that the whole time before, distorts the contributions. Councilmember Green felt, however, that would e the appropriate direction in which to move. Mayor Monday suggested again splitting the entire cost of his project between the three funds. Mayor Monday suggested waiting until next week to determine the inancing, but to go ahead now and award the bid. She said we can either fund the overage with the three unds or perhaps took at the entire project amount from the three funds and how that would impact each of Motion: Councilmember Barrett said the idea here is to get the most for the least amount of money tion. Councilmember Barrett said he just could not justify spending the extra $8,189.10 just to get a for match as long as we are getting a color that will blend in, noting the brown and gold go together. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT - -GENE PIPES Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised of the need to replace the air conditioner compressor units or the air conditioning /heating system at Fire Station No. 2 on Sam Houston Avenue, which have been in peration since 1973. Mr. Pipes then recommended the low bid meeting specifications in the amount of $2,200 rom Service and Repair Company to be paid for with a transfer from the reserve for future allocations in he general fund, which fund balance is approximately $70,000. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised the City Secretary, Ruth DeShaw, serves as a committee member the TML Legislative Committee on Finance and has submitted those finance - related resolutions under sideration by the TML Resolutions Committee for the Council's information. Mr. Pipes asked if anyone had questions or wished to discussed any of them. There being no one who wished to review them, Mr. Pipes ised that Councilmember Percy Howard, Jr. will be the city's voting delegate at the TML Annual Conference he will be casting the city's vote on each of these as well as others to come before the general embly on November 5. 1 1 MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 1, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING BOOK "P" 191 Consider Good Roads Constitutional Amendment He encouraged everyone to vote and to consider voting for proposition number one which is the Good Roads Constitutional Amendment, which will continue the dedicated funds for state highway improvements, maintenance and operations and capital equivalents in the State Highway Department area. He noted the Council and Commissioners have passed similar resolutions in support. Meeting Calendar Mr. Pipes advised the next Council meeting will be on November 15, because of the conflict of the general election on November 8. He said the United Way Telethon will be conducted on Tuesday, November 22 at Channel 7 at the University and most of the Council will be involved in either hosting or answering the telephones for the telethon, so no meeting is scheduled. He then advised on November 28, the Council is invited to Austin for a reception prior to meeting with the Texas Highway Commission on the morning of November 29, where a presentation will be made to encourage funding the Highway 19 project. He said the next meeting after November 15 then will be on December 6 and the final meeting for the year will probably be December 13. Mayor Monday encouraged the Council to arrange to go to Austin to support the Highway 19 proposal. Christmas Photo Date Set The Council inquired as to the date for the annual council photo. It was decided to set that photo session on December 13 due to the absence of one councilmember on the 6th. MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT Designate H.G.A.C. Representative and Delegate Mayor Monday submitted the names of Percy Howard,Jr. to be reappointed as the H -GAC delegate and Dr. James L. Carter to be reappointed as the H-GAC alternate. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of these reappointments and Councilmember Bell seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider authorization for expenditures by the Mayor's Alcohol and Drug Use /Abuse Task Force in the amount of up to $1.000, as donated, for operational expenses, as requested Mr. Gene Pipes presented a request from the chairman of the Mayor's task force on alcohol and drug use /abuse for the council to approve a budget in the amount of $1,000 for postage, office supplies, xeroxing, telephone, gas /travel, gratuities for guest speakers and publications in connection with the work of that task force, with these funds to be paid for by contributions, deposited into and spent out of a city account set up for that purpose. Mr. Pipes said Mr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, advises that all funds spent in the name of this task force should be routed through our standard accounting procedure under the control and supervision of the city's finance director. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of a fund to be set up to receive donations and to allow expenditures of those donations for the purposes of conducting the work of the Task Force and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Public Prayer Meeting on Election Eve Mayor Monday advised the Council of the time change for the public prayer meeting on election eve, noting daylight savings time went into effect since this activity was first planned, so the organizers have changed the time to 6:00 P.M. from 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL ACTION Traffic Problems on M.L.K. Boulevard Councilmember Percy Howard, Jr. advised of the traffic problems caused by parking of vehicles along Martin Luther King Boulevard (Avenue F) especially during school bus hours, which makes it very congested and dangerous. Mr. Pipes advised he will look into tbl_matter. ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted, �_�k-uth`beShaw, Ciy Secretary November 1, 1988