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MIN CC 03/14/19891 1 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 257 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 14TH DAY OF MARCH, 1989 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 a regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday, Mayor William B. Green City Officers Present: 0. Eugene Barrett William L. Hammock Gene Pipes, City Manager Gary Bell Percy Howard, Jr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney James L. Carter William H. Knotts, Jr. Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary Ila G. Gaines FORMAL SESSION Mayor Monday called the formal session open. The invocation was presented by Michael Goodman, Associate Director, Baptist Student Union, Sam Houston State University. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the minutes of February 8 and February 21 1989 and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion Passed unanimously. Attending Citizens Mr. Buddy Widner. Wrecker Association, to discuss the recently amended wrecker "tow truck" ordinance Mr. Widner said the tow truck ordinance is very workable with some minor changes, which he has already discussed with the City Attorney. He said the City Attorney had no problem with any of their suggested changes. He said they are waiting now for some input back from the City of Houston because they have had some problems with their storage facility operations. Mr. Widner then referred to Ordinance Section 4A -3 (c) 2 concerning "the trade name, true name, address, telephone number of the person that will operate the tow truck and be called off the rotation lists." He said there are lots of times when we won't know who is going to operate that truck at that time. In referring to Section 4A -4, concerning booster brakes required, he said, some of the trucks have air brakes. Section 4A -7 (c) 2 concerning "a 24 -hour tow truck service and has not more than two (2) telephone numbers, which numbers are answered twenty four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. The use of an answering service shall be permitted, " - -he said there are a lot of people that don't answer their phones. He said the reason they marked that one is that under "violations," where it says failure to answer calls, they feel that if a man does not answer his call he should not be taken off of the rotation list. He said Mr. Bounds agrees this one can probably be done away with. Section 4A -7 (h) concerning storage of towed vehicles per day - -he said there is not a storage lot in town that charges $5.00 any more as far as he knows as they are basically charging $7.00. He said the city got out of the storage lot business some years ago when the state came up with their regulation and the state has not given them any problem with the $7.00 rate. Mr. Widner said Section (i) concerning one -half the regular towing fee if the vehicle is not towed after the call is answered should include something in there where the tow truck driver has hooked up to the vehicle but he has not left the scene. He said this way it is clear the man has performed part of his service, therefore he should not be asked to give the car back for nothing. In Section (j) where it says "No fee shall be charged for towing any vehicle under direction or authority of a peace officer unless the tow truck driver obtained a completed tow slip," he said many times the officer does not have a tow slip. The City Attorney said the officers can have tow slips in their vehicles. Section 4A -10 (b) concerning pound halls of impounded vehicles- -l'Any police officer may, for lawful purpose, direct that any vehicle shall be taken to automobile impoundment facilities owned or used by the city, such facilities, whether at one or more Locations, are hereinafter referred to as the city pound " - -e said when the city started using the city pound lot they were just going to take stolen cars out there. He said now they are taking other cars that just have stolen merchandise in them. He said some wrecker drivers don't think that is right taking their MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 258 age fee away from them. Mr. Widner noted concerning Section 4A- 14-- "Violations " --Mr. Bounds agreed he take out the provision that if a man does not answer his call he is taken off the rotation list. Mr. Bounds said several of the changes Mr. Widner has made refer to provisions in the ordinance that ere just carried over from the old ordinance and were not changes made in the ordinance in the last eating. Mr. Bounds said some of the recommendations he made should be made and some can be made dministratively. He said he has tried to verify what the Texas Department of Labor and Standard's position s on regulation of storage lot fees. Mr. Bounds said he can bring an ordinance back within the next two eeks that will address the problems pointed out by Mr. Widner. Mr. Widner said they feel the fees are ather low as listed in the ordinance, but if they can get the city to enforce this ordinance and the Labor nd Standard's ordinance through the Police Department then, if they do have to come back and ask for a rate ncrease, it will be the bare minimum. He said they have somewhere between 15 to 20 wreckers that are perating within the City of Huntsville that have no permits whatsoever. He said while some have been icketed, there are still a lot of them that have not been. Those in attendance with Mr. Widner were William Fouse, David Martinez and J. B. Reynolds. Mayor Monday noted Mr. Hoover has requested that his presentation be postponed until a later time. Mrs. Nelson advised her business is an impulse or fast stop type business as people who see the sign op there on impulse, but when the courthouse employees park in the available spaces, that impulse stop n't be made. She said if there were signs that might direct these shoppers to where there might be f- street parking and then have some off street parking somewhere, or if people did not park for hours in e place, it certainly would help the downtown businesses. Ms. Diane King of King's Candy and husband Larry and son Lance were present. Mrs. King said they do ave parking problem downtown and it is very severe now. She said the courthouse employees and other people ill park for several hours. She said her store is also an impulse stop place for an ice cream or coke. he said she would like the Council's assistance. She said since Mrs. Comella [parking control officer] is o longer working, the problem has become worse. She said she would appreciate any consideration the ouncil can give. Ms. Shelly Stover from "Just Shelly's," dittoed the comments of the others. She said they have a oroblem since January when Mrs. Comell8 left. She said it is her understanding everyone is going to try to cork together; the merchants are going to try to work together with the city and the county. She said she inderstands several letters have been sent out to people in the courthouse asking them to try not to park in front of the businesses. She said they were trying to express the fact that if the businesses do not have the customers, they can't pay county and city taxes. She said parking in the available parking spaces from 3:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. by the courthouse employees is the problem. She said last Friday she found five :ounty employees' cars parked in front of her shop and there was no place for anyone else to park. She said it is also difficult to find parking spaces on holidays, especially for the older people who come into town :arty in the morning to purchase their cards, etc. She said customers call her to ask if there is parking before they venture out, but she said by the time they get there, there may not be parking available. She ;aid they have no handicap parking on the south side of the square. Mrs. Nelson said there is no handicap barking on the north side either. Ms. Stover said there is a ramp on one side but it does not say handicap barking. She ask that something be done about that if not on all four sides, at least on two sides. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 259 Doris Collins from the south side of the square had no more to add, but advised they as merchants were willing to do anything they can to help as they are not just here to complain. Bette Nelson said most of the people here who own businesses park off the square and they pay for parking. She said she personally interviewed every shop owner around the square recently. One shop owner said the parking situation has affected his business one- third. She said this is getting serious. She said he has a shop that people have to carry things in to be repaired. She said one is not going to walk two blocks with a heavy sewing machine to get it repaired. She said when they visited with Walker County Judge, Frank Robinson, she learned they have several things in mind, one of which is a recommendation to the City Council. Mrs. Nelson said the merchants would wholeheartedly like to work with the city on this. She thanked the Council for listening to their concerns. Mayor Monday said the county's resolution is in the packet this evening and basically says the County feels the answer is going to be enforcement and they are asking for an enforcement officer. She said she hears the merchants also asking for enforcement. She suggested to the Council that if enforcement is the answer, then it might be appropriate to ask the county to fund half of that enforcement officer and to help them with that. She said she also feels the city needs to pursue a joint private /public venture for paving some space in the downtown area to make more parking available and there have been a couple of tentative inquiries to the City about that possibility. She said she would like to see the city work with the merchants association to ask them to come to the city with some recommendations for how much parking time do they want the city to post. She said there are some unknowns with the museum opening up and the impact that will have on parking. She said when the people cane downtown, the city wants them to shop at all of the stores and to see the museum. She said the question is how long do we "sign" for [parking time Limit], an hour, two hours, etc. She agreed with the handicap parking needs as expressed. She said some of the handicapped have already indicated they will assist with the implementation of handicap parking areas. She said she would also like to suggest that the city ask the county to work with them to recommend the number of reserved parking spaces they need to be designated. Councilmember Barrett noted he knows from experience that parking is the "lifeblood of the business." He said the city needs to get on this and not drag it out, but to implement it as soon as possible. Councilmember Gaines agreed with Councilmember Barrett, noting she appreciates the merchants' spirit of cooperation. Councilmember Knotts noted even with enforcement, there was still some abuse of the parking regulations by the county employees. Mayor Monday noted another recommendation from this group and the county has been to perhaps raise the fee on the parking tickets themselves. Mayor Monday noted additional signage for long term parking would be helpful. Councilmember Bell noted the jurors are given a parking exemption and he did not think that is necessary because there is a city parking lot just down the street. He suggested talking to the judge about this. Councitmember Knotts said he thought the Gibbs Brothers' corner parking lot was designated for the jurors. Mr. Pipes said it has been there, but it is not reserved. The idea was that the District Court Clerk would advise the jurors of its availability for that purpose. He said for a short time there had been a "jury parking" sign up there, but that didn't last very Long. Mayor Monday suggested that a notice be sent out with the jury summons that states where to park and Listing the options for long term parking. Councilmember Knotts said he thinks it all canes down to strict enforcement. Councilmember Gaines felt signage for off - street parking is very important. She said a lot of towns use signs to direct people to parking. She said if people were aware they had an option, they might use it. Mayor Monday noted the city will proceed to work with the merchants and the county to try to get something implemented. CONSIDER A WALKER COUNTY RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE PARKING PROBLEM IN DOWNTOWN This resolution was presented for the council's information. It recommended that the position of a meter person be reinstated and that the parking adjacent to the Courthouse be limited to 30 minutes, and Limited to one hour within a one block perimeter of the Courthouse. No action was taken on it as this time. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 260 CONSIDER SUMMER BASEBALL /SOFTBALL CONTRACTS Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised the formal opening or kick -off of the season is April 8, 1989. said these are the operational contracts for the first year for the Adult Softball Program and identical tracts from prior years for both the Huntsville Boys' Baseball Association and the Huntsville Girls' tball Association for the operation of their facilities. He recommended their approval. Councilmember CONSIDER BID FOR STREET SWEEPER Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented the recommendation of the Purchasing Division to accept the lowest bid meeting specifications in the amount of $74,720 to Industrial Disposal Supply Company without the trade in. He advised funds in the amount of $80,000 were approved for this purchase. He said the justification for keeping the old street sweeper is because the old unit has two rear drive engines and since we have made the dramatic modifications at the landfill, the city is recommending that the rear engine )e taken off the vehicle and salvaged and shop-modified to make a high efficiency pump to pump out that huge trench that we are now acquiring at the landfill in one of the excavation plans. He said this is much Less :ostly than buying the necessary pump equipment to keep up with that volume of water. He said the $3,000 trade -in is but a token by comparison to the much better use that can be had with this motor. Mr. Pipes advised it has been planned to purchase this street sweeper with a certificate of obligation. He then )resented the ordinance, the caption of which is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 89-6 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING ISSUANCE OF A CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, EQUIPMENT ACQUISITION CERTIFICATE OF OBLIGATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $74,720.00; AND CONTAINING OTHER PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT Councilmember Green made the motion to adopt Ordinance NO. 89 -6 as stated above and Councilmember Councilmember Gaines made the motion to approve of the bid award to Industrial Disposal Supply CONSIDER CHIP ROCK Mr. Pipes advised of the staff's recommendation to purchase 500 tons of Grade 5 Chip and 175 tons of ade 4 Chip, respectively (black lava rock), from the sole source, White's Mines Division of the Vulcan terials Company at $30.80 per ton for the #5 Chip and $30.30 per ton for the #4 Chip for a total of D,702 for the material to be delivered to the City's Service Center. It was noted these prices are $ .50 r ton less than last February's order. Mr. Pipes advised these funds are budgeted in the capital street nd. Councilmember Howard made the motion to approve of this bid and Councilmember Barrett seconded the CONSIDER SCULPTURE Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised that the federal government is leasing a part of the property acent to Fire Station No. 2 as part of the Army Reserve Depot. He said the property along Sam Houston nue paralleling the fire station where the old swimming pool was may, in fact be under lease by the MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 261 ederal government. He recommended the Council's approval of the location of this sculpture at that site ending clarification as to whether the federal government actually has jurisdiction or would permit its ocation there. He then presented a model of the sculpture being slated for that site, noting it is a iber /concrete combination abstract of a reclining figure, elbow back, lying in the grass. He said it will ave some coloration /pigmentation on the sides. He said it will be looking across the street to Josey Park. e said the Arts Commission recommends acquisition of this piece from John Stewart and the location at Fire tation No. 2. Councilmember Carter made the motion to approve of the location and Councilmember Howard econded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Monday recommended that a isting of information on all of the artwork in Huntsville be made available at the Chamber of Commerce for eople to pick up, utilize and tour, noting people have inquired as to where the Ahysen mural is located. he hoped this information will be in place soon. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT- -GENE PIPES City Manager, Gene Pipes, advised in 1976, the city commissioned a bicentennial group to work on the activities of the Bicentennial Commission. In that program of work, he said, was the authorship of a istory book for the Walker County and Huntsville area. He said Mrs. D'Anne Crews was the principal author, taking a lot of help from local citizens and historians of note to put together a very fine book. e said for the first several years, it did not appear it would be a resounding success, but eventually all he copies did get placed. He said it was recently discovered there is about $4,000 in proceeds beyond the blication costs that no one expected to exist. He said all of the activities of the bicentennial effort ent to develop Ross Park and there was never any recorded intent or purpose for these funds. He said it as been brought to the city's attention and the question has been raised that there is perhaps a need for In updated edition of the history book. He said the publication costs and work on this particular project ould cost in the range of $4,000. He said there being no limitations whatever, placed by Council or the icentenniaL Commission or any other known group that had any input on that money at the time of the project tself, the staff is comfortable in recommending that the Library Board or the Arts Commission or whatever ppropriate standing vehicle be authorized by Council to supervise the expenditure of that money for a evision of the bicentennial history book. Mr. Pipes recommended the Arts Commission supervise this roject. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the expenditure of these excess $4,000 funds CONSIDER STREET LIGHT POLICY Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented a proposed Street Light Installation Policy, which ormalizes what the city has been doing over a number of years. He said only one point is different in that t is suggested that the city and the requesting citizen share equally in the cost of street light nstallation. He advised currently, the City assumes 100% of this cost, but it should be noted that only arely is there an installation cost involved. He said GSU charges only when a transformer, pole or dditional Lines are requested to make the installation. It was noted a survey of other cities found that ost do request some participation from the requester. Mr. Pipes said while we talk annually about budgeting for street light installation, typically we ave only been authorizing those Lights that can be placed on existing poles and just pick up the operations rid maintenance cost rather than any capital costs. He said from time to time there have been capital cost nstallations for poles, lines, transformers and lights in various areas at the expense of the city. rimariLy, all of this type of work is the responsibility of the developer at the time of development. He aid as the city has annexed areas into town, or as other areas have been developed through other means, hen there are areas of town that fall into the dark category and requests are made by the individuals iving in the area. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 262 Councilmember Green made the motion to approve of this street light installation policy and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Barrett expressed concern about the dark areas near the SHSU football stadium. He asked about a joint policy with Sam Houston if they would furnish the poles so that we can have a joint venture to get some lighting up there. Mr. Pipes said the problem there is that SHSU is the abutting property owner and they would like to maintain the underground utilities, therefore, putting all the electrical lines in and the posts necessary to put street lights where there are no poles presently existing and there is no source of power. This would have to be brought in off of Sycamore or off the stadium complex itself. He said the University's budget and the city's situation just never provided capital for that project. He said there is also a dark area on Bearkat Boulevard on the north end of the stadium. He said there is no place to hang a light there either as there is no standard service wiring in that area that can be tapped for electrical power. He said there are many areas like that, but we have no money budgeted for it. He said the city has been waiting for the economic situation to improve and right now our policy is limited to what poles are available. Councilmember Barrett asked to keep this on high priority. He said we also need sidewalks along the stadium. Mayor Monday referred to "Responsibility" on the first page which says GSU charges only when a transformer, poles or additional lights are required to make the installation, noting if we are going to go to new poles and new locations, then this policy suffices in that the person that requests it would need to provide for that. If in fact, she said, they want to put a light on an existing service and because of the addition of that pole or a need for a transformer because of the type of service, perhaps that is a city responsibility since the light poles are already there. She said she is worried that a resident might want a light on the light pole outside their house and if the city pays it will cost $600 -$700 to hang that, obviously we are going to preclude that person from doing this. She felt there was some gray area here and she wanted to put that on the table. She said she understands the policy says the city will provide the light if the pole is already there, but if it is to be a new pole in a new location, the requester is going to provide it. She said the question is, what if there is already a pole, but in order to get a light off of it, it will require some sort of addition. Councilmember Barrett noted it has to do with the distance between lights too as some people could not get a light because it was too close to an already existing Light, but it still did not light up that area. Gene Pipes, City Manager, said the distance between the lights is simply what we can economically afford. Mr. Pipes said the city cannot afford to put a light in front of every residence. He said trees often block out the residual light of the existing street lights. He said the distance between the lights is approximately 500 feet, which is standard. He said it is 300 feet on arterial streets, heavy traffic and the boulevard type streets that have the esplanade down the middle. Councilmember Howard said US 190 is a very dark street and the trees do block what light is there. Mr. Pipes said there are no funds budgeted for capital installation now. He said we will have to back up our policy statement with a budget. Mayor Monday asked what the staff is recommending for this policy as far as who pays for the cost of new, additional equipment on an existing pole in order that a light can be placed on it. She said if we decide to adopt this policy, we are also, in fact, setting it up for a budget item as well. Mr. Dale Brown, City Planner, said between $400 -$600 is the average range for new pole installation. He said last year the city spent $45 and put in 12 lights, but if it had to put in a pole and a transformer, GSU charges anywhere from $4004600. Mr. Poteete, Director of Public Works, said the average monthly cost of a light is $15.00 to 17.00. Mr. Poteete said the old dimmer lights of 100 watt mercury vapors are being changed out with the high pressure sodium lights which do give more lumination for the same cost. Mr. Pipes said there is some money available from unallocated reserve should a particular request arise. Dale Brown, City Planner, said for the first time this year, through a decision package approved by Council, there is $4,000 budgeted that is used for street lights. Mr. Pipes said the city has an inventory of all the street lights in the city and do know where there may be long expanses without Lighting. He said there are also some neighborhoods who have two or three lights in a space of 200 feet. He said some of those lights could be spread out rather than add additional lights to the system. Councilmember Green asked if we can limit the number of lights that are placed and is there a mechanism in 1 1 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 263 this policy that would perhaps keep us from fulfilling a request for a light. Mr. Pipes said the first criteria is that the city find the location and determines whether the 500 foot spacing criterion will prevent the light installation. Councilmember Green asked if that is in the policy. Mr. Pipes said it is the benchmark of the policy and it is included. Mayor Monday noted then this will be the recommended policy, and that there is a budget of $4,000 to cover expenditures of this policy. Councilmember Gaines stressed the need to let people know there are guidelines on the placement of street lights and that each and every request will have to meet the specifications. Mr. Pipes noted for new construction, the installation of street lights is totally the responsibility of the developer under the design criteria. Mr. Brown said any new construction must put them in and the standards are the same under the development code. It was noted this is not an optional feature. Councilmember Barrett asked that the city not remove any existing lights on a street unless the people on that street agree to it. Councilmember Bell asked what the policy is if a resident requests lumination of a particular intersection [Boettcher Drive intersection with I -45 frontage road] or an area which is not in front of the resident's property. Mr. Pipes said if the service to the area is some distance away, the city will have compounded costs to pay for an installation and the $4,000 would not last very long. City Planner, Dale Brown, advised the city has a separate contract with the Texas Highway Department, which provides for street lights and who pays for what. He said he thinks The Highway Department puts the light up and the city pays for the utility. Mr. Poteete, Director of Public Works, advised The Highway Department reimburses the city for the expenses depending upon the location. Upon a vote of this motion, all were in favor and the motion Passed unanimously. Consider the Engineering Design Department's internal werations Policy for utility location to facilitate design in environmentally sensitive areas Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented the "environmental" policy of Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director, Engineering Design, whereby the utility construction projects would be basically precleared before the city gets into the design stages. He advised the Council has given clear instructions to be environmentally sensitive. He said the idea is that the city would go out and select a tentative route for a utility line, based on that sensitivity or awareness that the least possible damage be done, no matter which side of the street we are on. He said it is a subjective evaluation as to which tree is more valuable than the next or which side of the street should be disrupted. He said this decision will always fall on someone's shoulders. Realizing that this sensitivity will always exist, Mr. Isbell designed a process by which his staff, in selecting the route, will do the following: 1. Locate waterlines out from under street if at all possible. Consider existing utilities and side of street which will damage the fewest trees in the neighborhood. [Mr. Pipes said it has been suggested perhaps the term "general vegetation" be used rather than "trees" in this sentence, but there is room for debate here, noting trees seemed to be the primary concern originally.] 2. After preliminary route is selected, walk project with Director of Engineering. 3. Stake preliminary route and flag lathes with blue flagging. Any trees that will have to be removed should be flagged with red flagging. 4. Send letters to property owners and wait ten days for response. 5. Director of Engineering to notify City Manager by memorandum of trees to be removed and the reason why as per Development Code 1201.8. 6. Meet with concerned property owners responding from Item #4. 7. Adjust utilities, if feasible, if not proceed. B. Profile line and complete plans. 9. Build waterline. Councilmember Green suggested that the letter that goes out to the residents regarding the proposed project in the area of the resident's property, should set the time during which the resident can call the City Engineer's office and he would suggest between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. He said he would not list the engineer's home Phone on the letter as there is no reason why the resident cannot call during MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 264 e work day. Mayor Monday thanked the staff for this very conscientious effort. She also suggested that e Letter may want to include the reason why this work is being done in the resident's area so that they ll have a good understanding about the project. She also felt it would be a good idea to list the time riod during which residents can call about _the _Project, after which time the project will be proceeding. uncilmember Green suggested inserting a ten day period during which the resident can respond. Mayor nday suggested perhaps the city should also state what the City's "re -plant policy" is in the case where getation or trees have been removed, as to whether the plantings will be put back in the easement. She id if the city is going to negotiate for additional space, that should be in the policy as well so eryone understands that. City Attorney Scott Bounds noted this will be done on a case by case basis, ting if someone lays down a gold driveway, that may not be replaced, whereas, San Augustine grass may be placed. Mr. Pipes said it is a matter of what the Council is willing to pay. He said the city will place sidewalks, but when we get to a particular custom built planter box that is in the street right -of- y and the city has to take it out, it will be most difficult for the city to put that back. He said the ty may allow the resident to put that back in the right -of -way after the water line is in, but the city's pitaL construction crew is not going to be well equipped [to rebuild custom made planter boxes, etc.], but n Augustine grass is reasonable. Mayor Monday said the policy may be that the city will not replace ything in the easement that the city has to take out, but if that is the policy, it needs to be written. . Pipes said where the city will require additional easements to the available right -of -way, that is on a gotiated basis. He said we would be asking the resident to give up five more feet of the front yard or me other consideration. He said there will be an appearance of some inconsistencies when we have to move er an additional five feet and take out someone's 24 inch pine tree and come back two weeks later and the ty has planted an oak tree there, but then do not replace trees taken out of the right -of -way. Councilmember Knotts felt the words "if at all possible" should be deleted from item number 1 Bove. Mr. Pipes defended the use of this phrase, noting when the water line went in on University Avenue ast year, part of it was out from under the street and parts were not because there was just not a place to ut it. Councilmember Carter noted this phrase is not necessarily related to trees, but utility lines nder streets. Mr. Pipes concurred and said if there is no other option, the city will have to get into the rea of the street, but it will be the Last option. Councilmember Carter felt the policy was good for the ost part and is similar to an environmental impact statement process the federal government uses. He said e appreciates the city engineer and staff doing this. He referred then to the sentence in the first aragraph of the policy which states: "It is understood that some trees will of necessity have to be emoved . . ." He said he did not feel the city should prejudge here and the use of "will" should be hanged to "may." In referring to the cover Letter, he suggested changing the word "will" to "may" again here it is used in the sentence that reads: "Trees that will need to be removed during construction . . 1' He then noted regarding the City Manager's statement concerning the "subjective nature of trees," that any cities have indicated "objective cost factors" for trees and so there are economic measures for the alue and worth of trees on property. He said he knows there is an aesthetic value and there is a ubjective judgment, but there is also, in terms of economics according to property values, a measure that e can give to the value of trees. He said it is not just a subjective judgment. He said the removal of a ree will affect someone's property value whether it is in the right-of-way or elsewhere on the property. Councilmember Knotts made the motion to adopt this policy, with the changes incorporated as Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised with the extra one -half cent sales tax backed out of the figures, ire is an 8.89 percent increase for this month, as compared to this month last year. He said for the rent month, the percentage is 15.9 percent in increased revenue collected by sales tax than the same th last year. He said the cumulative total for the year is 8.89 percent. He said the city budgeted a percent increase and we are almost at 9 percent. He noted the economy, by virtue of sales tax indices, tainly seems to be continuing to rebound very nicely. 1 1 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 265 GSU Meeting -- Beaumont Mr. Pipes advised he traveled to Beaumont on Monday to join with several other City Managers to visit with Dr. Lynn Draper, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gulf States Utilities, concerning the rate increase request that is about to be filed by GSU. He said they indicated to Dr. Draper the concern throughout Southeast Texas that any rate increase would have a dampening effect on economic recovery. He said the hope that we had for the last 18 months of creating some sort of review process or mechanism was Leapfrogged by the current pending rate request that is about to be filed in Austin. He said Dr. Draper indicated the company was, in fact, very sensitive to the economic rebound and that for the first time to their knowledge, the company would be taking a very unusual tact in proposing the rate increase, in that while they had cost justified the additional $1.4 billion post 1979 River Bend costs, they would not be asking PUC to factor that into the rate request. He said they would be asking only to factor in operations and maintenance costs and that the rate request would approach some $60 million which is what the PUC had given them last year in the 1988 case that had been going on some 18 months. He said that will indicate an average monthly residential bill increase of about S5 to $6, which is substantially less than the multi -year graded increase they were trying to get passed. He said they are calling this a regional recovery plan." He said their figures indicate that their current rates are in the middle third of the rates charged by all the utilities in Texas. He said with the pending HL &P case, and the pending Central Power and Light case, the current rate structure and the requested rate structure by GSU will put them very near the middle or the median of all the rate structures in the state. He said Dr. Draper also indicated that for the first time, with the recent rate increase granted in Louisiana, that the aggregate, the average rate for all classes of customers (Texas and Louisiana) is now 5.5 cents. He said for the first time [the rates generated in entirely dissimilar rate structures], Louisiana customers are generating the same amount of revenue as the Texas customers. He said with the current rate increase structure request, parity would be maintained and that subsequent rate increases over the next three years could, in fact, be postponed because for the first time since 1984, the consumption of power is up about 4 percent throughout their service region in Southeast Texas. He said if their rate base continues to expand by a rebounding economy, then they will not be seeking future rate increases following this last one. He said all of this is very much subject to interpretation. He said the city managers went to Beaumont to tell Dr. Draper the cities could not take another rate increase and maintain the slight indication of economic vitality as that would be as bad or worse than a tax increase as far as threatening that slight ray of hope. He said they were surprised that this was, in fact, the theme of GSU's rate increase. He said he has not seen the details of the rate increase. He said they were not there as an element of any regulatory authority. He said they did discuss original jurisdiction and indicated a very strong desire and intent to always maintain original jurisdiction in the local communities but to work together and to work with the company to provide a reasonably priced but effective electrical utility for the hope of expanding our economic base. He said this is the sum total of 18 months of work and while we did not get anything out of it, we did probably realize less of a rate increase request than we may have gotten in another form or time. He said the continuing dialogue with GSU should be helpful to the cities regulated by them. Mayor Monday commended Mr. Pipes for his efforts to join with other cities to speak with one voice so directly to GSU. She felt Mr. Pipes definitely had a leadership role in this latest development. MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT- -JANE MONDAY Texas Independent Day--Pioneer Day- -March 2 Mayor Monday noted these days were celebrated. She noted there was an opportunity to visit with family members of Sam Houston at the Luncheon. She commended James Patton, Chairman of the Walker County Historical Commission for his very well orchestrated program. She advised Channel 2 News Anchorman, Mr. Ron Stone, was in Huntsville to interview Mr. San Angulo, Director of the Sam Houston Museum, in an effort to promote the museum. She noted the post office has since received many mailed in donations for the museum. She expressed her appreciation to Mr. Stone for the publicity he gave to the museum and Huntsville. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 266 Mayor Monday thanked the Council and staff for their attendance at the town meeting recently. She aid a number of concerns and opportunities were presented. The city will be pursuing the opportunities and ill look at the concerns. She asked that if any of the Council or staff have input that was received after hat meeting, to share it with her so that collectively they can look for the best way to address those and o evaluate the whole procedure. Council Action Councilmember Hammock expressed his appreciation to the Mayor for the tone she set for the meeting. said it was an excellent start and served to make the meeting very positive. Councilmember Barrett referred to a recycling insert in the council's packet. He asked that Mr. ipes also reprint the article he gave to him earlier, noting it is a good article on recycling. He said e feels the city should look into it as it is the thing of the future. Councilmember Bell commended the Public Utilities Department and Mr. Boyd Wilder, Director of Public tilities, for the admiral way in which a recent sewage problem was handled at the business place of his ife's employer. He noted it is reported the city was as cooperative as it could be and bent over backwards o accomplish a resolution to the problem. He relayed a thank you from the ownership as well as himself for he good cooperative attitude. Councilmember Carter expressed concern for the sate of small animals outside the Wal -Mart store. He aid these animals were not protected from the heat of that day. He noted he is opposed to that type of elling around Easter because these animals will be taken home and abused, killed or eventually abandoned by hildren that really don't have any business having these animals. He asked if there is an ordinance that overs this or if the Council can pass an ordinance that will cover this to stop the selling of these small nimals around holidays. City Attorney Scott Bounds said we do not have an ordinance that would cover this ow, but a sales tax permit is needed. He said other cities do have such ordinances and he will be happy to ring something like that back for Council action. Councilmember Carter encouraged him to do that as he inds this tradition very cruel and unnecessary. He said he hopes the Rita B. Huff Humane Society will heck into this as well and perhaps talk to those who are selling these animals. Mr. Pipes, City Manager, dvised that for some time there have been pet owners selling puppies on weekends at the Wal -Mart parking ot. He said if we write an ordinance about a holiday period, we may end up affecting the puppy sales as ell. Councilmember Carter suggested the puppy sellers will just not be able to sell during that time eriod. He said he is also not fond of the fact that we have puppies being sold there either, but this is of the issue now but rather the barnyard animals that are not going to be kept anyway. Councilmember Carter expressed concern about a 54 inch( ?) drainage culvert, large enough to walk nto, coming down immediately to a 24 inch small square hole. He said his question is what is going to appen when all that water is forced into that smaller pipe. Mr. Pipes noted he also noticed this, but it s on state property and outside the city's jurisdiction. He said there is some concern as he is aware hat the pipe coming out from under Estill dorm is quite Large. He said he will have the city's engineer ontact their physical plant tomorrow to visit about this. Councilmember Carter noted he has seen several listings in Chamber of Commerce publications of Mr. Craven as the Tourism Director and was confused as he thought that was Dee McFarland's position. Mayor ay noted Mr. Craven is the chairman of the volunteer group and is unpaid. She said Ms. McFarland's 1 MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 14, 1989 BOOK "P" 267 position is the paid position. Councilmember Carter said he still has a question about Ms. McFarland's total commitment to tourism because of all the other things she does. He said he appreciates her work, but wonders if we are getting 80% of her time devoted to tourism. Utility Lines Councilmember Carter asked if the City Manager has visited with Gulf States Utilities about underground utilities since he spoke with Dr. Draper. He said they are apparently one of the only companies that will still not easily or comfortably put utility lines underground. He asked if Mr. Pipes has spoken with the new utility manager in Huntsville about this. Mr. Pipes said he made no attempt to discuss the installation policies, underground or overhead, with Mr. Draper. He said such items should be discussed with the local manager. He said he has visited with the local GSU manager, Mr. Dennis Singletary, on a couple of occasions, but has not discussed this issue with him. Councilmember Carter felt perhaps Dr. Draper would be the appropriate person because it is a GSU company policy and the local manager may not have control over it. Recycling Councilmember Carter noted he is interested to see the recycling article Councilmember Barrett spoke of copying for the rest of the Council. He said perhaps we can get a program of recycling started in the city before long. Litter Problem Councilmember Howard advised of a letter he has received from Ms. Roxie Douglas concerning the litter between 11th Street and 10th Street. Mayor Monday noted she and the other councilmembers perhaps also received that letter. She advised she has responded to Ms. Douglas, concern today by writing a letter to her. She noted she agrees that area is a litter problem area. She said she has also received calls from people who are willing to help do something about the image situation concerning clean -up and beautification. She said she will go back to those citizens to ask them if they will be willing to work on some type of volunteer effort, other than a clean -up day once a year; one that will be an ongoing program, such as an "adopt a street program," or an "adopt an area program." She said we may also wish to look at a business beautification program where we can get businesses to become active in the volunteer beautification process. EXECUTIVE SESSION Recess into executive session to review the evaluations of the City Charter officers. ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted, uth DeS aw, City Secretar March 14, 1989