Minutes - 10/02/2012 MINUTES FROM THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 2ND DAY OF OCTOBER 2012, IN THE
CITY HALL, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 5:00
PM.
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COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Mac Woodward, James Fitch, Lydia Montgomery, Don H. Johnson, Keith D. Olson, Joe Emmett, Tish
Humphrey,Ronald Allen,Clyde Loll
COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT: None
OFFICERS PRESENT:Chuck Pinto Interim City Manager Leonard Schneider City Attorney Lee Woodward City Secretary
WORKSHOP SESSION [5:00 PM]—Deputy City Secretary Kristin Edwards will present the results of the 2012
Citizen Survey.
The Council watched a presentation and discussed the results of the survey. As in years past,some of the major issues are
providing a safe community; providing services in an efficient manner; keeping citizens informed about city business;
maintaining a qualified workforce of employees; and planning for future needs of residents. In addressing essential
services, the City received Excellent ratings for public safety, solid waste, and the library, and Good for thirteen additional
areas. For the open-ended question, "What do you think is the most important issue facing Huntsville?"the most-used
terms in order were growth, Huntsville, tax, water,jobs, economic development,and traffic.
REGULAR SESSION [6:OOPM]
1. CALL TO ORDER—Mayor Woodward called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
2. INVOCATION AND PLEDGES — Anthony Ormsbee of SAAFE House led the invocation. Keke Anderson of Alpha
Omega Academy led the pledges.
The Mayor presented SAAFE House staff with a proclamation for Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Carol Reed showed a short video of a manhole rehabilitation.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT
a. Related to any City business not on the agenda—2 minutes per speaker
b. Related to any matter on the agenda—5 minutes per speaker
Ramiro Jaime,Attorney General of the SHSU Student Government, presented himself to the Council.
4. CONSENT AGENDA
a. Approve the minutes of the City Council Regular Session held on September 18, 2012 and the Special
Sessions on September 24 and 25,2012.[Lee Woodward, City Secretary]
b. Adopt Ordinance 2012-42 relating to speed zones on Interstate 45 East Frontage Road within the areas of
the City of Huntsville with speeds in excess of thirty (30) miles per hour, 2nd reading. [Aron Kulhavy,
Director of Public Works]
c. Adopt Ordinance 2012-43 relating to speed zones on Interstate 45 West Frontage Road within the areas of
the City of Huntsville with speeds in excess of thirty (30) miles per hour, 2nd reading. [Aron Kulhavy,
Director of Public Works]
Councilmember Johnson moved to approve the Consent Agenda and was seconded by Councilmember
Montgomery. The motion passed unanimously.
5. STATUTORY AGENDA
a. Presentation, discussion, and possible action to approve Ordinance 2013-01 denying CenterPoint Energy
rate increase application,15t reading. [Leonard Schneider,City Attorney]
Leonard Schneider, City Attorney, recalled the City had been advised by the Lawton Law Firm to deny the rate
increase so that it would be heard by the Public Utilities Commission.
b. Presentation, discussion, and possible action to approve Ordinance 2013-02, amending the fee schedule
for FY12-13. [Winston Duke, Finance Director]
Councilmember Montgomery made a motion to approve Ordinance 2013-02 and was seconded by Councilmember
Olson.
Councilmember Montgomery noted the increases in the schedule and Mr. Pinto noted the addition of the fee for
Zumba classes.
The motion passed unanimously.
c. Presentation, discussion, and possible action for authorization to proceed and development and offer of
an early retirement incentive package. [Chuck Pinto, interim City Manager, Missy Davidson, Interim
Personnel Director]
Councilmember Fitch moved to approve the offer and the motion was seconded by Councilmember Loll Mr. Pinto
said this was the first of several potential budget cuts, noting it might be possible to start staff reductions and retain
employees through such. He said Texas Municipal Retirement System allowed for retirement at age sixty with five
years of service and the City also provided retiree health insurance for those whose years of service_plus_age
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who retired by December 31,2012:
- Employees who had eighty points could retire and receive an additional three months of salary
- Employees who had 75-80 points could retire and receive retiree health insurance
- Employees who were sixty years of age and had five years of service could retire and receive retiree health
insurance
Mr. Pinto noted interested employees would identify themselves by October 15, commit by November 1 if they
chose to take it, and retire by December 31,2012.
The motion passed unanimously.
d. Presentation, discussion, and possible action on possible changes to Main Street staff location and
funding. [Kimm Thomas,Director of Tourism and Cultural Arts]
Councilmember Johnson moved to approve the item and Councilmember Montgomery seconded
Kimm Thomas, Director of Tourism and Cultural Arts, said Main Street was necessary to local tourism and bringing
local businesses together for the benefit of the community and economic development. She said she realized the
work_that_would-be_needed to-evaluate-Main-Street programming for-funding by Hotel Occupancy Tax(HOT)and
urged the Council to support the program. Mr. Pinto lauded Mrs.Thomas and her staff for looking for ways to find
alternative funding, noting there were additional state options to work on Economic Development, which could be -
folded in. Mr.Schneider said Mrs.Thomas was very familiar with the requirements for the use of HOT funds and
that he felt comfortable with her working on this reformatting.
The motion passed unanimously_
e. Presentation, discussion, and possible action to approve Amendment #1 for Task Order #4 for the
additional engineering services in the amount of$105,900 for Town Creek Drainage Project HMGP FEMA-.
1971-DR-TX project#DR 1791-120 Phase I Environmental.[Tom Weger, Project Manager]
Councilmember Olson moved to approve item e and was seconded by Councilmember Loll
Tom Weger, Project Manager, said the City had received a request from FEMA to move up the environmental
assessment,for which they had provided $105,000 to the City so the Council could approve the Amendment. He
noted there was an overall delay in the project due to FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers review for six-eighteen
months. Mr.Weger said the City's in-kind contribution was currently in excess and was close to meeting the overall
amount required.
The motion passed unanimously.,
6. MAYOR/CITY COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER REPORT
a. Presentation,discussion,and possible action to approve nominations.[Mayor Woodward]
The Mayor nominated Conrad Liles for reappointment and Kevin Edney for appointment to the Beautification
Advisory Committee. and Councilmember Don Johnson for the Chairperson for the Tax Increment Reinvestment
Zone#1 Board of Directors for the remainder of 2012 and for the 2013 year. The motion passed unanimously.
b. Discussion on the selection of a permanent City Manager,standing item. [Mayor Woodward]
The Mayor noted the Council had met with the consultant and received tiered lists of candidates with preliminary
evaluations, totaling a group of 18, to whom the Council would make further revisions at a Special Session on
October 9.
c. City Manager's Report
1. Updates on City construction, grants,studies,City projects, City purchases,and economic
development.
Mr. Pinto noted the list of potential cuts for the Council to consider in an upcoming workshop, noting it could
result in a balanced budget so that restructuring could be started. Councilmember Humphrey asked about the
Main Street designation and how it would be affected by the potential restructuring. Mr. Pinto said Kim
McAuliffe would also be working with the entire community and had asked her to work with Kimm Thomas to
creatively address the possibilities. Councilmember Loll said he understood it to be progressive, aggressive,
sustainable business growth. Councilmember Olson asked the public to realize that the evaluation of
programs did not mean they were not valued and had resulted in staff plans to offer alternatives.
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7. PUBLIC COMMENT
a. Related to any City business—2 minutes per speaker
There were no additional public comments.
8. MEDIA INQUIRIES RELATED TO MATTERS ON THE AGENDA
There were no media inquiries.
9. ITEMS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST
(Hear announcements concerning items of community interest from the Mayor, Councilmembers,and City staff for
which no action will be discussed or taken.)
The Mayor announced the planting of the Dreyer's orchard of 22 trees will take place on October 12 at Emancipation
Park at 9 am and that Saturday October 6 would be Fair on the Square and the Bearkats game in Reliant Stadium.
10. EXECUTIVE SESSION
a. City Council will convene in closed session as authorized by Texas. Government Code, Chapter 551,
Section 551.071 —consultation with counsel on legal matters, including, but not limited to, Clark vs.City of
Huntsville[Leonard Schneider,City Attorney]
-The Council adjourned into Executive Session at 6:59 pm.
11. RECONVENE
a. Take action, if necessary, on items addressed during Executive Session.
e ouncil reconvened at 7:27 pm.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Respectfully submitted,
Lee Woodward,City Secr ry