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MIN CC 11/03/1989f J MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF NOVEMBER 3, 1989 BOOK "P" 533 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 3RD DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1989, IN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 1:00 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday 0. Eugene Barrett City officers present: Gary Bell William B. Green Gene Pipes, City Manager Ila G. Gaines Percy Howard, Jr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney William L. Hammock William H. Knotts, Jr. Member absent: James L. Carter Absent: Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary FORMAL SESSION Mayor Monday called the meeting to order. Councilmember Howard presented the invocation. RECESS TO EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Monday then recessed the Council into an Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter under Section 10 of the Personnel Policies and to discuss the retention of legal counsel germane to the CAUR cities for representation in the GSU rate case appeal. No formal action was taken in the executive session, according to City Attorney, Scott Bounds. FORMAL SESSION RECONVENED The Mayor then reconvened the formal session. Render _a decision on the Personnel Matter Regarding John Waldo Councilmember Barrett made the motion that the City Council adopt a FINAL ORDER listing the "Findings of Fact." the "Conclusions of Law." and the "Order." [The Order states: "The termination of John Waldo as a part -time (volunteer) firefighter is affirmed John Waldo shall have the right to reapply for duties as a firefighter with the City of Huntsville after September 21 1990.111 The motion was seconded by Councilmember Howard. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider retention of legal counsel germane to the CAUR cities for representation in the GSU rate case appeal Councilmember Howard made the motion to approve the retention of specialized legal counsel in conjunction with the CAUR cities for representation in the GSU rate case appeal and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. Discussion: Mayor Monday stated that it should be clear by the contract that the City is not obligated to spend any money for legal expenses except those approved by the Public Utility Commission and reimbursed by Gulf States Utilities. Upon a vote on the motion on the floor, it passed unanimously. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT - -GENE PIPES Calendar for remainder of Year Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised the meeting schedule for the remainder of the year would be as follows: November 14 and 21; December 5 and 12. Mr. Pipes noted that the Council will not meet on December 19 as both the University and the HISD classes will already be adjourned for the holiday period. Mayor Monday reminded the Council of the annual photo which is scheduled to be made on December 5 or 12, noting they should advise of their ability to be present on one of those days so that it can be confirmed with the photographer. COUNCIL ACTION Annual TML Meeting Councilmember Barrett advised that he found the annual meeting of the Texas Municipal League to be very interesting. He encouraged those who were not able to attend this year to consider attending next year. MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF NOVEMBER 3, 1989 BOOK "P" 534 Letter from City Attorney to Owner of Huntsville Item Councilmember Knotts remarked on a letter that the City Attorney, Scott Bounds, wrote to the owner of the Huntsville Item in response to a Huntsville Item editorial. Councilmember Knotts said he was taken aback and embarrassed by the letters written on City of Huntsville letterhead to the the owner of The Huntsville Item concerning the editorial of October 24, 1989. He said when Mr. Pipes informed him in a telephone conversation of the letters, he assumed the letters were sent to the local office of The Huntsville Item and not to the headquarters or home office. He said if the minutes of the Council Meeting of September 5, 1989, accompanying the letters, was to construe that he had made a motion, seconded by Jim Carter, to authorize the City to use any method of cleaning the Bush-Miller Park, that was wrong. He advised his motion was for the City to accept the terms of the lease proposal. He further noted that the editorial and opinions of The Huntsville Item were not a problem of the Council and he does not concur with the letters and does not want his name connected with them. He said if the Mayor and City Manager have a personal problem with The Huntsville Item and Mr. Heiland, they should address it personally and not use the City Council as a forum for redress. City Attorney Scott Bounds indicated to the Council, he did write a letter to the owners of The Huntsville Item addressing an editorial of October 24, 1989 because that editorial, in his opinion, basically indicated that the City Council had violated the Texas Open Meeting Act or that the City Manager, Gene Pipes, had conspired to do something to avoid it, or that he may have acted without legal authority in cleaning or bulldozing the Bush - Miller Park. Under the circumstances that existed, he felt that those accusations of illegal conduct on behalf of the city were inappropriate. He said he addressed that matter as a result of a conversation with the Mayor and Mr. Pipes and he copied the Mayor and Mr. Pipes with the Letter that he sent to the owners of The Huntsville Item. It was noted by some members of the Council that this is a matter that the City Attorney should address, similar to the duties that are under the City Manager's purview, and that this particular matter didn't have to be approved by the City Council because it was the attorney's official duty to respond to this type of concern. Councilmember Bell strongly supported what the City had done on the park and noted that several Local residents had contacted him saying they were pleased to see that the physical danger of the park, represented by the bamboo thicket, was removed. He reminded the Council that the park was covered heavily with bamboo and, in his judgment, one of the few ways to clean it up was with tractors. He said he believes the Council acted appropriately and that the City Manager also acted appropriately. He expressed reservations about the letter that was sent to The Huntsville Item's owner. He asked Mr. Bounds what point the city hoped to accomplish with this letter. Mr. Bounds, City Attorney, advised when the editorial accused the City Council of violating a law, that is a matter of city concern and it should be a concern of the owner of the paper which is making those accusations as well. Councilmember Bell said that he would prefer if there was an accusation made against the manager, that the City ought to reply in a public forum and it ought to reply in the editorial section of the paper through a letter to the editor. He then offered to write that letter. After some discussion of this offer by Councilmember Bell, the Council believed it was not a good idea. City Attorney, Scott Bounds, advised he has received a written response from Mr. Heiland with regard to his letters and he has talked about that correspondence with Mr. Heiland. [See the meeting minutes of November 14, 1989 for more information.] ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted, eShaw, City Secre ary November 3, 1989