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MIN CC 01/31/1989L�J 1 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 31, 1989 BOOK "P" 235 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 31, 1989 HELD IN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 6:30 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday, Mayor City Officers Present 0. Eugene Barrett Gary Bell Gene Pipes, City Manager James L. Carter Ila G. Gaines Scott Bounds, City Attorney William B. Green Percy Howard, Jr. Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary William H. Knotts, Jr. Member absent: William L. Hammock ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- -- ---- --- ------ ----- --- - - - - -- FORMAL SESSION Mayor Monday called the formal session to order. Councilmember and Mayor Pro tem Percy Howard, Jr presented the invocation. CONSIDER AUDIT PRESENTATION Audit Committee, Dr. Bill Green, Chairman Mayor Monday then asked Chairman Green to introduce the audit report. Chairman Bill Green present Mr. Ken Davis, the city's external auditor, who presented the audit report along with four letters. Mr Davis said as a result of the audit, he feels the financial statements presented in the report fairly stet the financial condition of the city as of September 30, 1988 and the results of its operations up to th year then ended. Mr. Davis then referred to the audit companion letters which reflect the city's complianc with various laws and regulations and audited through various tests of transactions. He said hi examination did not find any incidences of noncompliance and nothing came to his attention that would lea him to believe there were any incidences of noncompliance in areas he did not previously test. The seco Letter deals with internal controls, he said, and he found no areas of material weaknesses there. He sai the city has a very good internal control system. The third letter, he said, is frequently called the "management letter," and it usually reflects areas that need attention; however, this particular letter speaks to the very strong, viable internal control system that the city has in place. He said in thoroughly testing it, he found the system well documented and working and something of which the city can be proud. He said the City was awarded the certificates of achievements for excellence in financial reporting, which attest to the city's financial reporting procedures. He said for that award, the actual audit report is subjected to 17 different categories that are reviewed by others and found to be acceptable. Mr. Davis then advised he is pleased with the computerization of the municipal court operations. He said the city needs to computerize their warehouse operations as well and is close to accomplishing that now. He said in his 1986 -87 report, he reported an incidence concerning pledged securities in which a designated financial institution had pledged a security against the city's funds which did not meet the high criteria established. He said there were none of those incidences this year as during the year the financial institution adequately safeguarded those funds. In referring to the introductory letter, he said there is a good summary of the year's activities which provides good information and comparisons and analysis of the basic financial statements. In closing, Mr. Davis thanked everyone for their cooperation, especially Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager and Ms. Patricia Allen, Director of Finance and their staff and Ms. Brenda LeNorman who did the typing for the report. Councilmember Green advised the audit committee met prior to beginning the audit to insure the auditor would look at the things they wanted to look at in addition to the routine items. He said the committee has since met and has gone over all of the letters and talked extensively about the audit and now wishes to recommend to the Council that this audit report be accepted. He also expressed his appreciation to Ms. Allen for the fine management letter the city has received on this audit. Councilmember Green then made the motion to accent the audit report for FY 1987 -88 and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 31, 1989 BOOK "P" 236 CONSIDER RESOLUTION I' Mayor Monday then presented a Resolution No. 89.i F7 L_ 1 1 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 31, 1989 BOOK "P" 237 material. He said the city had made a couple of proposals prior to this one to TDC for site selection and for the Supercollider proposal and that data are made available which included a lot of demographic information and basic support information, which was provided to the EDC and Chamber group working on the proposal at the request of the Baker - Hughes real estate group, which was interested in marketing their facility. Mr. Pipes said someone from the Chamber of Commerce actually made the delivery and the city had no role in that whatsoever. Mayor Monday noted also that SHSU was very supportive and she worked with Dr. Bowers that morning to arrange for the SHSU material to be included. She said under his authorization the city managed to reserve Austin Hall and had ARA (food services) standing by to be on call for the possibility of entertaining the Atari representatives from lunch to dinner; this standby went on for several days awaiting the possibility. Councilmember Bell asked if Atari ever set foot in Huntsville. The Mayor, Mr. Pipes and Mr. Roy Williams all indicated they did not as far as they knew. Councilmember Bell said one rumor said Atari did come and they were treated most shabbily. Councilmember Bell asked the City Attorney if there were ever any signed preliminary agreements that would indicate the Brown Oil Tools building was high on the list. Mr. Bounds said there were no signed contracts. He said he did not attempt to contact Atari concerning such matters. Mr. Bounds said it is fairly obvious from the newspaper articles that the sites primarily being considered were in the Houston area and in fact, it was rumored that executives already bought property and homes in the Kellywood Subdivision in Houston which was a primary site, but he understands they have not chosen the final site. Councilmember Bell noted he felt the rumors needed to be addressed and was now satisfied that they have been. Councilmember Knotts asked if there was any particular reason why some on the council did not know that we were even involved in this Atari proposal. He said in response to some of the rumors told to him, he said the City of Huntsville had nothing to do with it. Now, he said, he finds he was wrong in stating that. Mayor Monday said the whole matter was to have been brought to the Council had there been any contact and noted this was simply a preliminary request to which no answer was received. Councilmember Knotts felt that the Council could help squelch many of the rumors if they only knew what was going on at the time. Councilmember Carter said he is embarrassed about not knowing anything about this either as a member of the City Council. He said he now understands the only involvement of the city in this is a letter from the Mayor and the information in the presentation was just an encouragement. Mayor Monday advised the proposal is available for his review. She said it was simply an invitation to come to Huntsville and consider us as a possible site. City Manager, Gene Pipes, said the information the city provided did indicate the city had provided sewer service to the site being discussed and that it was done through a capital cost recovery system through the Brown Oil Tools, Baker-Hughes group as they developed that site. He said it also stated the city could potentially offer water service if needed under the same procedure. He said those considerations and fire protection, etc. were already public knowledge and readily available policy commitments we had made as well as the fact that it was not geographically within the corporate limits of the City of Huntsville and therefore not subject to city taxes as a property tax matter. He said this is about as far as the entire scope of the presentation could go on behalf of the city in the first place. He said there was a very short notice of the meeting that the Mayor and Mr. Brown and himself attended. Mayor Monday noted she received a call the night before and asked to be there at 8:00 A.M. in the morning. Mr. Pipes said it was a matter of showing up and being able to respond on our feet, but having the other proposals already done and having the basic services that the city could offer already either in place or optional under policies understood by the City Council was helpful. Councilmember Barrett said what the Council is saying is that in the future if we have any industry interested in Huntsville or outside the city limits that the Council ought to be able to know about it so they can contribute anything they could. Councilmember Carter noted it was mentioned the site being 'proposed was outside the city limits and we have had lots of debate about annexation. He said you would probably say there is nothing in the letter of encouragement for them to come that would indicate that they might not be annexed if they located here. Mr. Pipes said there was no mention of that as he can recall. Councilmember Bell asked if there was anything the city could have done to have expedited Atari. Mr. Roy CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 31, 1989 BOOK "P" 238 illiams said while one could always do more, he felt they did all that was appropriate and all that was sked for was provided. He said other communities have done a whole lot more and have received no better esults in dealing with Atari. He said he felt they took advantage of every opportunity and did everything hey could. Mayor Monday complimented the Chamber for getting that proposal together in one day's time, oting it was delivered at 6:00 P.M. on the day the task force first met to work on it. Councilmember Green said he heard a rumor that Atari was already actively involved in negotiations n property in Houston and they were using Huntsville's proposal as leverage and that they had no intention ver of coming here. Because the talks had broken down to some extent on property in Houston, they put untsville out as something they were going to come look at but there was really no intention to come here t all and they were strictly using us as leverage. Mayor Monday thanked Mr. Roy Williams for being in ttendance for this discussion. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT - -GENE PIPES Mr. Gene Pipes noted this request was made by Councilmember Gene Barrett to determine whether any articular aspects of the community's regulatory mechanisms were burdensome restrictions to the extent that he concept that building was taking place outside the city and not within could be addressed. He said he as written a one page charge to the Planning Commission. He asked the Council to review this charge for iscussion at another time. For the record, the charge appears below: To determine which policies, regulations, codes or procedures, if any, may contribute to the concept hat building, growth and development are taking place outside the City rather than within the corporate imits. Make available sufficient copies of each code, policy, or procedure, for a through review by board members, staff, interested citizens and tradesmen. Publish and publicize a comprehensive meeting schedule and calendar to provide ample notice to members and the public alike for maximum participation. Encourage experts and tradesmen in each field to review the regulations affecting their specialty and provide input on specific sections of each code with justifications for recommended changes to be considered. Attempt to schedule meetings at times most convenient to the members, tradesmen and any city council members (with special interest) so as not to interfere with the regular business day (provide sandwiches if necessary). Post all meetings for full encouragement of the public to attend and provide input. Conclude each review with a written report reflecting the concurrent opinions and recommendations of the reviewing board. Hold such meetings and discussions as may be necessary to exhaust the concerns and satisfy the board members that their review is complete. Each board or commission should appoint a spokesman to deliver the review report on each document to the City Council for the purpose of responding to any question that may be raised. Mr. Pipes said obviously there have to be some rules. He said there are specific sections of the ules that have been the most frequently criticized, noting they say the Southern Standard Building Codes re alright, but there are some parts that just do not apply to Huntsville. He said this is fine, but let's eview the Southern Standard Building Code and identify those sections that don't apply to Huntsville, but n terms of making those recommended changes or consideration for changes, we must explain the justification r 1 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 31, 1989 BOOK "P" 239 as to why is it applicable to Conroe, Lufkin, Tyler, etc. where the Code is in force and why it does not apply in Huntsville. Mr. Pipes recommended that there be an attempt to schedule all meetings at times convenient to the members of the Boards and Commissions, to the tradesmen involved, the experts, who are most closely affected by these regulatory instruments and to any city councilmembers who have a specific interest. Mr. Pipes said the schedule will be published in the public media so that all concerned will have the opportunity to have notice. Councilmember Barrett asked that the schedule for the discussion of each specific area be advertised in the media so that those interested in certain aspects of the codes will know when that will be discussed. Mr. Pipes said another option would be concurrent Saturdays, devoting a whole day with time slots for the various codes and simply meet all day Saturday and try to compress it into a non- standard business day. Mayor Monday said it is envisioned that both the Planning Commission and the Board of Adjustments and Appeals will be present. Mr. Pipes said he is open for additional suggestions to the charge Listed above. Mayor Monday asked the Manager to contact the chairmen of the boards themselves to let them review this charge and make their recommendations. Councilmember Barrett said 90 percent of the problems he hears about building is that there is no building or that we can't build in the city and have to build outside the city. He said the Planning Commission is not very busy right now. He said while he does not know the problem, he wants to find out if there is anything we can improve to make our city more viable. He said the council should do it now because we need to grow and not just annex to grow. He said he wants to get the regulations to where people can afford to build and grow. Mayor Monday said the only areas to be addressed will be those requested to be addressed so that we may be looking at two things or more than two. Councilmember Knotts suggested that the city not set the agenda, but that it be set by those who respond so that they can build their own agenda as to what is to be discussed. Mayor Monday noted we will take a week to look at this and respond to the City Manager. Consider a draft commendation of recycling businesses in Huntsville Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented a draft of a commendation authored by Councilmember Carter and edited by himself, which would recognize and appreciate T. J. Burdett & Sons Recycling Center, whose business recycles reusable materials in Huntsville. Councilmember Carter advised he attended the TML Convention in Dallas last year and one of the primary topics of discussion was recycling and solid waste. He said recently a great deal of popular literature materials have come out on recycling. He felt sooner or Later cities and individuals are going to have to do something about solid waste. He said in this city we already have some difficulty with solid waste, particularly with land filling. He said this seems to be a first step and it wont cost us anything. He said it is aimed at nothing more than to encourage, not only T. J. Burdett to continue in the recycling business, but perhaps to encourage others to enter the business of recycling and to bring to the attention of the general public that there is a recycling business in Huntsville that is located next to the landfill. He said perhaps we can cut down on the waste stream and even conserve some valuable natural resources by returning some of these items to the manufacturing process. He presented a plastic two liter beverage bottle from the State of Iowa that carries a 5 cent Iowa return statement on it. He said while we cannot do this in Texas yet, if we look around we will see that other people are way ahead of us in terms of recycling and solid waste management. Councilmember Carter then offered the commendation to the Council as a motion and that Mr. T. J. Burdett of T. J. Burdett & Sons Recycling Center be called in to receive it or any other businesses in the city so that they can be commended for that activity and let the citizens of the city know this is taking place in hopes they will make use of this. With the Councils consensus, Mr. Pipes felt the most appropriate form for this resolution to take would be that of a Mayoral Proclamation. Councilmember Carter noted he has no objection to having it as a proclamation. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 31, 1989 BOOK "P" 240 Councilmember Green said he has a problem with identifying any particular entrepreneur and singling im out as someone uniquely different from any other entrepreneur in the city. He said while Mr. Burdett is fine man and he knows him, he is in this business for a profit just like the other folks are in business or a profit and they all provide service to the city in some capacity that may be in some ways unique. He aid we could do a proclamation for individual doctors, dentists, stationery shops, etc. because they all rovide service. He said he has no problem with saying how wonderful it is to recycle, but he does have a roblem with identifying any particular business and giving a proclamation to it. He said he will vote aainst this motion. Councilmember Gaines said she agrees with Councilmember Green because she feels that the statement n the resolution about being "fearless to open his doors" to provide this service could be said about all he businesses in town. She said while she appreciates Mr. Burdett's business, she felt if he needs to dvertise his business, he can use the newspaper and the other media will be happy to get his name out here. She said that is the way other businesses have to advertise and they pay for that. She said she is of comfortable with the City Council placing its sanction upon this particular business because if another usiness were to come into town of like nature, it will not speak well for the city if it has encouraged veryone to use Mr. Burdett's business. She said to single out any one business is not appropriate. She aid while she appreciates the zeal of Councilmember Carter and recycling is something we should look at, nd she appreciates Mr. Burdett and the business he is in, she didn't feet the city council should take this articular position. Councilmember Barrett felt all businessmen probably feel this way too. He recommended removing the ame of the particular business and just have it pertain to the recycling effort of people in the city to ry to recycle products for the benefit of us all. Councilmember Carter felt the points expressed are redible and worth considering, but reminded the Council it did single out a radio station recently and onored it with a proclamation for 50 years of service. He said he did not feel this is an unusual activity n the part of public bodies. Councilmember Gaines felt this situation is a little different. ouncilmember Barrett said when the other radio stations are in business 50 years, they will receive a ommendation too. Councilmember Knotts suggested amending the proclamation just to mention the recycling industry in eneral because it appears more people would favor passage of it if that is done. Councilmember Carter oted then this perhaps means that in the future the Council will not single out and commend any other , usiness in town for public service of any kind. Councilmember Gaines felt that commendations are ppropriate when there is no profit involved, such as when a business does something special for the ommunity; however, Mr. Burdett is not a nonprofit organization. Councilmember Bell also suggested ommending the recycling industry in general. Mayor Monday felt this would be appropriate and she asked ouncilmember Carter to revise his document to reflect this approach. Councilmember Carter said he wilt repare the document to remove the name, but he does feel Mr. Burdett is the only one in the area involved n recycling. He said he will raise this issue again when the Council seeks to commend another business. ouncilmember Knotts said there is another recycler in Huntsville. Gene Pipes, City Manager, said there are everal that take aluminum cans in Huntsville, but are perhaps not in business as extensively as Mr. urdett as he does accept a great deal of other material. The majority of the Council then expressed heir preference to write the proclamation in generic terms commending the recycling industry. MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT- -JANE MONDAY Mayor Monday advised at 10:30 A.M. tomorrow, she will accompany Mayor Pro tem Percy Howard, Jr., r. Gene Pipes, City Manager and Mr. Dale Brown, City Planner to Houston where they will make a presentation n support of the city's grant application for $318,000 to provide sewer for three sections of the city. Mayor Monday said she attended a recruitment luncheon with Sam Houston State University last week. L_ LJ CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 31, 1989 BOOK "P" 241 Seven Hills Running Club Mayor Monday said she also spoke to the Seven Hills Running Club recently. Appointment to the Planning Commission Mayor Monday then asked the Council for their approval of Mr. Charles Robinson to fill the unexpired term of Reverend Larry Hall. She said Mr. Robinson is a city resident and works at the Wynne Unit of TDC. Councilmember Howard recommended Mr. Robinson for service on this board, noting he is a community-minded individual. Councilmember Howard made the motion to approve of Mr. Charles Robinson's appointment to the Planning Commission and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. COUNCIL ACTION Council encouraged to participate in code review sessions Councilmember Barrett encouraged those councilmembers who are interested to participate in the review process in an effort to make a real contribution to our city's growth. Reviewing of Four Charter Officers Councilmember Knotts said he has discovered there are no particular job qualifications on record for (those who fill the four charter officer positions, such as level of education and years of experience. He asked the Personnel Committee to look into the feasibility of writing job qualifications for those jobs. He said he was unaware we did not have them now. He felt they should be made a part of our personnel policies. Audit Commendation Councilmember Gaines expressed her appreciation to Patricia Allen, Director of Finance and Mr. Ken Davis, External Auditor, for their very fine efforts on the FY 1987 -88 fiscal year audit. Business Waste Products - -Disposition Councilmember Carter passed on to the Councilmembers information about a company, The Resource Exchange Network for Eliminating Waste (RENEW), established by the 70th Legislature, which is dedicated to promoting the reuse and reclamation of waste materials. He said this company will match businesses who have certain waste products with companies who can handle those waste products and turn them into dollars. He encouraged everyone in Huntsville who is in business that may have some type of waste product to look into this program with the Texas Water Commission. Mayor Monday suggested placing this information with the Chamber of Commerce. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Monday advised the Council will now recess into executive session to consider threatened Litigation concerning a real estate acquisition matter on 10th Street and to review the City Charter officers. FORMAL SESSION RECONVENED Consider offer on real estate As a result of the discussions in the executive session concerning the real estate matter on 10th Street, the council reconvened to take formal action. Councilmember Howard made the motion to authorize the City Attorney, Scott Bounds, to make an offer for fee simple title on property on 10th Street to the rightful owner for $15,000. Councilmember Carter seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion Passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT T idly submi ted, haw, City Secretary January 31, 1989