MIN CC 06/16/1992CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 16, 1992
BOOK "R" 66
- - I FS OF En fE I.
9F3i3NE,- 1992fIS- iHE-ClTf•
HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS,
WALKER, TEXAS AT 5:15 P.M.
LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF
'
The Council met in a regular session with the following members
present:
- W. H. Hodges, Mayor
Officers:
James L Carter
William H. Knotts, Jr.
Gene Pipes, City Manager
Ila G. Gaines
Ronald L Lange
Scott Bounds, City Attorney
William B. Green
Dan S. Davis
Melba Byers, City Secretary
Gary Bell
Charles Robinson
CITIZENS INPUTlINQUIRY
Crissy Vicknair. I will begin by saying that I am not going to bore you with a lot of facts regarding the life cycle of
mosquitoes, but I am going to remind you about the dangers and diseases that they do spread to people and animals. Certain
kinds of mosquitoes carry the germs that cause serious diseases like encephalitis, dengue, malaria and yellow fever. The Coles
mosquitoes, common to Texas, does transmit SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus), but is more commonly known as the vector for
dengue and filariasis. Therefore, it is in the interest of public health that mosquito control begin as early as possible. As I"
understand city policy, at one time the City was spraying the streets, but at the request of certain people in our community, the
spraying stopped. I don't know exactly what kind of chemicals were being used at that time, and after a lot of effort on my part
and on the part of other city officials that I contacted, no one else seemed to know either. However, since that time, there have
been new chemicals developed that are considered selective and environmentally safe. If we are to regain control of the mosquito
population, an integrated approach is needed. By that, I mean eliminating mosquito producing habitats, controlling the mosquito
larva by chemical means of a predatory fish and chemical control of adult mosquitoes. Since the mosquito population we seem
to have an abundance of is the Culex Q, and it prefers water with high organic contact, the logical first step is to keep the
museum's pond free of aquatic vegetation and the banks free from emergent vegetation. Additionally, mosquito fish have been '
introduced successfully into garden ponds and have been effective in controlling larva. Larvicidal chemicals such as Flit Mosquito
Lrvacide Oil have low toxicity and have been used in lily and fish ponds. P.O. compounds or Organic Phosphorus pesticides soon
after application combine with water and break down into compounds that do not contaminate the environment. Finally, regarding
fogging, ultra low volume spraying is now the current method used. Less than two quarts per acre of malathion is effective and
has been approved by the EPA. I am certainly concerned about our environment as are our residential environmentalists. I,
however, have done the research into the environmentally safe ways of handling the problem that most definitely needs to be
addressed. By realizing the relatively mild and short winter that we have had and the large amounts of rain that we have received,
it is more than obvious that the incredible amount of mosquitoes that does not only come out at dusk, but waits patiently for you
as you leave for work every morning, and meets you at the door if you return for lunch. I come before the Council asking you
to please reinstated the policy of mosquito abatement
Mayor Hodges thanked her for her report and stated it was his understanding that we have not sprayed within the last
five or six years. City Manager Pipes stated this dates back to 1979. Mayor Hodges stated, I don't think we have the equipment
anymore. City Manager Pipes stated, we sold the equipment in 1930. Mayor dodges asked if any members of Council had any
comments or questions. Councilmember Knolls stated, I would like to see the policy reinstated. Councilmember Bell asked, could
we ask the City Staff to take a look at what the cost and environmental impact would be, then a- decision made as to whether or
not it is a desirable program? Councilmember Bell also stated, we have had an unusually wet year and it seems we have unusual
mosquito problems. I am getting calls from citizens as well. Mayor Hodges requested Ms. Vicknair share her information with
City Manager Pipes so he can look at it. Ms. Vicknair stated she had a petition with almost one hundred names collected in two
days in favor of spraying. Mayor Hodges requested she give the petition to the City Secretary.
Mayor Hodges recessed until 5:30, the scheduled time for Regular Session, since no other citizens were present for
addressing Council.
RrGULAR SESSION - CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Hodges called the regular session to order. Invocation by Councilmember Gaines. '
CONSIDER MINUTES OF JUNE 9, 1992
Councilmember Gaines made a motion to approve the minutes of June 9 1992 and Councilmember Carter seconded
the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed nnadnously. NOTE: Councilmember Knotts was complimentary of the
more detailed minutes stating it is a lot easier to go back to. Councilmember Bell noted that the wording for Judge DeLong's
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 16, 1992 BOOK "R" 67
report should -have been sf5te oTl ttie cou— fT—nor—SLa e repo —rr — CoFrecYon no n carter ton m e e e o tcia pnn t 9 01
minutes for the bound book. The motion and correction passed unanimously.
ATPENDING CITIZENS
None in attendance.
SOLID WASTE FEASIBILITY STUDY
Mayor Hodges stated, we. have a number of guests in attendance involved with this project I would like for City
Manager Pipes to introduce this portion of the meeting and give us a broad overview of why we are considering this proposal and
then Glenn Isbell, Director of Engineering, introduce guests and give Council an overview of the proposal itself.
City Manager Pipes stated every town, city, government agency, and private concern across the country is dealing with
the matter of appropriate disposal methods of solid waste. This is an age old problem and something that mankind has been
dealing with a long time and the heretofore proven method has always been the "out of sight, out of mind" landfilling approach.
Certainly, landfills are much better than the old burning dump. But, in the final analysis, the landfills have their own problems.
Tile alternatives to solid waste disposal are perhaps limitless to some extent, but at the same time, they are very limited to exactly
what technology is available at the current time when you are facing the decision. All of us, this Council, the citizens of this
community, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division and all other State agencies, are facing a similar
dilemma. Under Subtitle "D" of the Environmental Rules and Regulations, those operating in September of 1993 have to go into
a long term plan of migration of the materials and monitoring that has to be in place at that time in order to continue to operate.
So, we are facing considerable cost expenditures in terms of continuation of a what heretofore has been the cheapest disposal
method possible. We don't expect that there are any magic answers to the problem of solid waste. We realistically expect, in fact,
the problem we have in landfilling will be exchanged for problems of some otter disposal method that may be considered an
alternative. But, to provide the facts and go over the facts for us to consider, we are proposing to jointly go into a contract with
T.D.CJ. -I.D. A consultant firm will develop all the facts necessary to render an informed decision sometime within the coming
year, as to our future in consolidating disposal. Mayor Hodges asked, basically, we are talking about funding. City Manager Pipes
stated, at the present time, we are basing the cost of this feasibility study on what our current volume is. The City has an 80%
' ratio to 20% T'.D.C.3. Obviously, prison units are very much like small cities, and in the future with an increase in prisons, it could
very well end up in a 50 -50 cost share in terms of some operation facilities. The purpose of this study is an 80 % -20% study and
comes out of the Sanitation Reserve for future allocations for capital improvements and certainly this will be the first step in a
long term capital improvement for alternative disposal problems.
Mayor Hodges then asked Glenn Isbell to come forward, make introductions and then give us a overview of the scope
of the work and then we'll open for discussion.
Glenn Isbell stated, I am pleased with the progress that we have made at this time. He then introduced the T.D.C.J: I.D.
personnel in attendance: Tom Fordyce, Bill McCray and Charles Morgan. I have worked very closely with Tom Fordyce and
Charles Morgan in preparing these documents, interviewing and taking IdFPs and selection of SCS as a result to do the study.
Let me introduce the gentlemen from SCS, John Wright, Carl Martin, Larry Lowry and John Savage. You have before you a
contract, the scope of services and a fee schedule attached on the back. There are a few changes in tine contract you have before
you, but they are very minor. I would reiterate that there are no utility answers for solid waste. The approach has been taken
by both the City and T.D.C. that we are looking for a solution and we realize that any solution that is decided upon will have a
set of problems. It's how manageable those problems are in relation to the current operations, future liabilities and those type
things. The consultants that staff is requesting to be hired are to gather the facts, present the facts to both the City and T.D.CJ.
so that decisions can be made by the governing bodies of the direction that we need to go in with solid waste. With that, let me
ask John Wright to come to the podium. He will give you a brief synopsis of his firm's qualifications and of the scope of services
and then we will all be here for questions and answers.
John Wright stated, thank you Glenn. Mayor Hodges and members of the City Council, it is a pleasure for myself and
members of my Kansas City staff and also some members from our Virginia staff to be with you this evening. I think there are
a couple of points that I would make to you relative to the qualifications of SCS engineers and why I think your City Staff is
recommending to you that we be hired to perform consultant services on the feasibility study. SCS is a three hundred person plus
firm that has been in business for about twenty -two years. We are founded out of Long Beach, CA and have ten offices around
' the country. One of the unique things about the firm is that all we do is environmental consulting. We don't design airports, we
don't design high -rise buildings, we don't do roads and bridges, we are environmental consultants and deal solely with solid and
hazardous waste management issues. With that in mine, we are not just the study firm. We don't come in and do a feasibility
study like this and then drop out of sight and let some other engineer come in and do the hard design work. SCS is in the
business of not only doing these kinds of feasibility studies, but in doing the design that follows this kind of feasibility study,
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 16, 1992 BOOK "R" 68
... _whetheritfie7artdfills;— n n �t"ifi € #nTegrat8fi "solid waste,_..-
management system it might be. So, when you hire SCS, you ]tire us for the long haul, we hope, and we certainly think that when:'
you are privy to the kind of service that we provide that that's the way things will move. I think a second reason that the firm -.
is being recommended to you is our knowledge of Subtitle "D ", as mentioned by the City Manager. We probably have as deep -
a knowledge of that particular regulation as anybody in the country now. Subtitle "D" has been out since October of last year.
It was out in proposed form for some three and one -half years prior to that to the point where people were beginning to think
we would never see it. We helped EPA write that regulation, for good or bad, and we are now assisting the agency in teaching :.
its own people what that regulation means and how it should be interpreted and implemented. Our people will be in Dallas on
- August 18th and 19th speaking with Region 6 of the EPA and teaching them specifically what that regulation means. The reason
that is important is that one of the two primary focuses in our mind of what this study is all about is, what is the City and T.D.C.J.
going to do with their landfills. Are they going to stay in the landfill business? Do they really want to be there October of next
year, when it becomes much more expensive to operate a landfill? Those regulations are onerous, they are expensive, and if youI:.
are going to stay in the landfill business, you need to be in it for the long haul. You need to understand it is going to cost you
substantially more to use that mode of disposal that, it does now. So, one of the reasons we are on board, I think, or being.',
recommended to you is our knowledge of Subtitle "D" and what impact it will have on you in terms of costs of disposal in a land _
form. Now, don't get me wrong, there will always be landfills. Nothing we say is going to change that. You may not have a
landfill here in the City of Huntsville, there may not be landfills operated by T.D.C.J., but somebody will operate a landfill that
will take a portion of your waste. As has been said previously, there are no magic solutions and anybody that tells you there is,
you'd probably want to think twice. There will always be a residual fraction of the waste stream that nobody knows what to do
with, except put it in the ground, at least at this point and time and for the foreseeable future. So there will be a landfill
somewhere. But, the primary emphasis of this project is, in our mind, to minimize what goes into the land, how much can we pull
out that is recoverable and has revenue to it, is saleable somewhere, how much can we make into a compost and can we use not
only the organic fraction of the waste stream but can be introduce the waste water sludge to that and do what we call co-
composting. We have some reservations about that. There aren't many systems around the country that do that kind of co-
composting operation, but it's certainly feasible and certainly something we will take a look at. A portion of the waste stream
could be made into fuel pellets and burned in incinerators. T.D.C.J. currently has rwo on their sites, which is another prospect
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that we will be looking at. So, it's a rather comprehensive piece of study that will give you some very strong answers about the
direction we think you ought to take, and we will back it up with some pretty hard data for you so you will be in a position to
make decisions. I think with that, I'll open for questions and well see where it goes from there. Thank you.
Mayor Hodges asked John to remain at the podium. Mayor Hodges then stated he would like to at a motion to
approve and a second, then open for discussion. Councilmember Knotts made a motion to approve this contract with a second
by Councilmember Gaines. Mayor Hodges then asked, do we have any questions from Council?
Councilmember Carter stated, I am curious about, first of all, that you participated in writing Subtitle 'D ". What extent
does that handle garbage or solid waste in the stream as a front -end problem rather than a backup problem? In other words, told
what extent will you take a look into our waste stream and deduction as to creation of garbage as well as the treatment of garbage'
once it occurs. I'll just used one example, which probably isn't appropriate to Huntsville, but Prince Edward Island in Canada
- has never allowed anything but glass and aluminum containers to go in the landfill, so they have no plastic problems. So, to what
extent do you deal with that type of solution to the waste stream problem as opposed to hardware and other mechanical solutions
to the problem.
Mr. Wright stated, that's an excellent question, Mr. Carter. Let me say first that Subtitle "D" does not deal with what
you speak about. Subtitle "D" is geared toward the operation, study, design, construction, closure and post closure of sanitary
landfills. That's what it does. It's that part of the Resource Conservation Recovery Act, the Subtitle that deals with landfills.
As far as our charge goes, the RFP asked for a consultant that would come in and look at a material recovery facility/co-
composting facility for tine City of Huntsville. That charge has been expanded during our discussions with the City and with
T.D.C.J. to include looking at the incinerators at two of the T.D.C.J. facilities in terms of whether some portion of the waste can
be used to produce steam which would be utilized on site, This is not a solid waste management plan. That is not what we are
being hired to do. I am not saying that doesn't need to be done, because it does, if it hasn't already been done, and my
understanding is that it hasn't, at least not a current study. I couldn't agree with you more that the best way to attack the solid
'
waste challenge is at the generation point, in the home and in the business. We certainly are in that business as a consulting firm,
but that is not what this project is about- We would be more than happy to help you with it though. Councilmember Carter
stated, I'm sure. Let's encourage T.D.C.J. that they probably have more control over what is going into their waste stream than
the City of Huntsville does, stated Councilmember Carter. Surely they will be looking at the front end of creation of garbage i
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 16, 1992 BOOK "R" 69
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is not part of the scope of services, stated Mr. Wright. We are doing a waste characterization of the waste stream though coming
out of the City's generators and out of T.D.C.J. generators, but only as it affects any facility.
Councilmember Green stated, given the fact that you're doing a study that could result in design of some other facility,
which you are also in the business of doing, does that create a possibility of conflict in terms of what you might recommend could
be something that would create the need for your services? Mr. Wright stated, if we were in the business of building waste energy
facilities, or if we were in the business of working only with material recovery facilities, or one single component of the waste
stream, I might think that there could be a conflict of interest. In this case, we have no ace to grind, no bone to pick in any
specific part of the integrated system. The only point I make to you is that to have somebody come in and do a study for you that
does not understand the technicalities of the design issues may not be in your best interest and there are firms out there that only
do studies. I don't think that we deal with each and every component of the integrated waste management system so we don't
have a conflict of interest in any one particular thing that might happen as a result of this study. Councilmember Green then
asked, for anything you might recommend - -you as an engineer - -is what you are saying? Mr. Wright stated, yes sir, and it would
be competitive I am sure. You are not going to hand it to us.
Councilmember Carter then stated, let me go back to the question I was asking. If you design or come up with a
feasibility plan for co- composting or for incineration and then we come up with a plan through your firm or someone else in
reducing waste stream at the from end, are you going to take that into account in the design you are developing now or will we
be locked into any certain amount of waste stream that will be required for the system that you create so that we would not have
the option of reducing front end waste stream? Mr. Wright stated, well, I think you always have the option of reducing the front
end waste stream, but you are right in making the point that if some of the facilities we talked about, an integrated solid waste
management these days are capital intensive, not wasting energy for one is expensive and requires a lot of up front money to put
the facility in. In this particular case, there are incinerators already in place, although they are not operating, but the hardware
and the equipment is, there. A material recovery facility is not an inexpensive venture, but the question is whether you do
separation at curbside or in the home or whether you do it in a centralized facility.
Councilmember Carter at this point stated, I am sorry. I don't want to take your time, but you're not answering the
question I'm asking. Mr. Wright stated, please do. Councilmember Carter stated, I'm saying since you agreed with me earlier
that perhaps controlling the types of products/packaging that might occur in the City, like I mentioned, lack of plastic bottles in
Prince Edward Island city dump not having this garbage to start with. Are you going to design in your system the ability that will
leave us the option of reducing our waste stream by not creating garbage to start with or will we be locked into a certain required
amount of garbage? For example, for incinerators to be cost efficient in creating energy, in particular, they are going to have to
have a certain amount of garbage. I don't want to see the City or T.D.C.J. locked into having to have a certain amount of garbage
in the future when we might want to take another option of packaging requirements or other reductions in garbage stream.
Mr. Wright stated, I understand your question and I wasn't finished yet. I'll try and finish. Your concern is well
founded. You have to realize that this is a feasibility study, it is based on current volumes of waste that are being generated by
the various players in this feasibility study. We will project those waste streams in the future and if, in fact, there is reason to
believe there will be a reduction in the amount of waste that would be available for whatever the process is, rather than an
increase, that will certainly be taken into account. But, on the other hand, somebody is going to have to tell us that. Somebody
is going to have to indicate to us that there are serious programs in place that will in fact reduce some segments of or all of your
waste stream. But, you know it's a $35,000 feasibility study, you are not locked into anything.
Councilmember Knotts stated, is it possible that you could come up with a recommendation that we might priortize our
system into somebody else's disposable solid waste. Mr. Wright answered, certainly. We are coming in kind of free wheeling at
this point without any preconceived notions about what works and what doesn't work. If it appears that you would be better
served to get out of the landfill business because of Subtitle "D" and yet a material recovery facility and a co- compost facility
doesn't make sense because of volumes of waste involved, and maybe Mr. Carter has been successful in getting the amount of
waste reduced to the point to where it doesn't make sense, then it may in fact make sense for you to get the system prioritized
and let somebody come in and take care of your waste for you. I have a question for Glenn. Is the county giving you any
assistance? Glenn Isbell answered, no sir, straight City and T.D.C.J. Councilmember Knotts stated, since a lot of our waste stream
is from the county, I was wondering how this will be handled. City Manager Pipes stated, they don't currently have any revenue
associated with their process. They do have a permitting system and they are tied to our landfill in terms of the designated
disposal site we have in Walker County. At the present time, the City charges disposal costs at the landfill by whatever the
incoming source is, so the county doesn't raise impact revenues, but it is still on the same basis of the rate payers of Huntsville
because we are paying for the disposal cost in our collections, or if you take it to the landfill, you pay for it, in addition. So, it's
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 16, 1992 BOOK "R" 70
zit-ort- thesame- basis -£ou m.—Wmrld-- dmt -evm bu
looked at. Glenn Isbell stated, New Waverly will not be looked at. What comes into our landfill will be considered. Of course,
county waste does come into our landfill through private haulers. We have that segregated out. We know the quantities that
comes from private haulers and that type of thing, and we feel like, at this stage of the game, it would be best not to include that
in the feasibility study. It may be a valid consideration if we were going to a design or build a facility.
City Manager stated, currently, New Waverly is privatized out of Conroe.
Councilmember Lange asked, does your company have a past track record with small cities such as Huntsville and a large
governmental entity like T.D.C., for instance? Have you ever done anything like this before? Mr. Wright stated, it is a little bit
different. We have done many studies for small cities and we have also done a fair amount of work for Criminal Justice
Departments, as a matter of fact, not feasibility studies for material recovery facilities, but landfill gas projects and landfill work
for prison systems in various places in the country but not together. Not the two of them together. Councilmember Lange asked,
do you foresee any problems. Mr. Wright stated, I don't see any problems at all. We have worked through the scope in detail
'- and think both parties are satisfied that their needs are satisfied and I think the relationship that has been established between 'I
the City and T.D.C.J. is commendable. I don't see any problems in working with the two parties.
Councilmember Gaines stated, I just want to say how pleased I am to see this come to pass. For several years now, we
have been looking at this type of problem and we have visited various places and we have done a lot of things, but I never felt
that we had the expertise to really know what was needed, and this coming together as partners is certainly a step forward and
I am pleased to see this. Mr. Wright stated, thank you and I would agree with you.
Mayor Hodges then stated, we have a motion and a second, all in favor say "aye ". Opposed by like sign. The motion -
passed unanimously. At this point, Mayor Hodges, stated, we will take a short recess to sign the documents and reconvene in
about five minutes.
PIIASE I DONVNTOWN MTTALIZATION PARTICIPANTS LUNCHEON
Mayor Hodges reconvened the regular session. Mayor Hodges then proceeded with the request to consider funding for
an appreciation luncheon for the participants in Phase I of the Downtown Revitalization program. The request from the Arts
Commission says that they would like the City to fund a $700 luncheon to be paid for out of the general fund /contingency fund.
I've got a few reservations on that but would open it for discussion.
,
Councilmember Bell made a motion that this request be approved with a second by Councilmember Davis.
Councilmember Lange stated, the idea is a good idea. But, the money coming out of the City coffer is not a good idea.
Our budgetary problems don't need any more taken out of it. If the Arts Commission wants to do something in this respect, I
think those who attend should pay for their own meals and if they would like to invite people from the Meadows Foundation, we
could get people downtown or wherever to pitch in some money for their meals. But a $700 bill out of the City coffer, Ijust don't
agree with at this time.
Councilmember Gaines stated, I kind of agree with Councilmember Lange about this. I think the luncheon is a
wonderful idea, but we recently went to the Lobster Fiesta there were quite a few people there who paid $50.00 per plate...
Certainly we can afford $15.00 for our own meal for this type of thing and have funds available for those guests who come. We
could do it either that way or we might suggest that we split up a third of the money, say $250.00. The Chamber and maybe the
downtown merchants would be willing to share a third of it, especially those have benefuted from this project. Mayor Hodges
then asked, are you making an amendment to the motion? Councilmember Gaines stated, yes, if Councilmember Belt would be
friendly to that. Councilmember Bell stated, if we pay for our own meals, then it would be a source of the money to start the
process going. Councilmember Gaines stated she would be friendly to that. Mayor Hodges asked Councilmember Bell, is that
acceptable to you. Councilmember Bell stated, yes. Mayor Hodges asked Councilmember Davis, is that acceptable to you?
Councilmember Davis stated, yes, but I do think the have guests, who are people invited from out of town and I don't think we
want them to pay for their own meal. Councilmember Gaines stated, no, we are not talking about them paying for their meal.
We are talking about the City paying for the guests and anyone like City Council Members buy their own tickets.
Mayor Hodges stated, we have a motion and a second, and an amendment that is accepted by both Councilmembers
Bell and Davis, so at this point, the funding will be $250.00 maximum which will pay for all out of town guests. Councilmember
Bell asked Linda Pease if this amount would pay for all out of town guests. Linda Pease stated it would definitely pay for all out
of town guests, and you would definitely not pay for property owners who have contributed to the project.
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Conncilmember Knotts stated, if this were totally in the private sector, it would be up to the architect, artists and
contractors to provide all of this because they were the beneficiaries. I think we have paid their expenses down here several times,
had several luncheons with them, so I would think that they would be appreciative enough - -the architects, the artists, the
contractors and the building beneficiaries owners - -that they would probably fund the whole thing.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE
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1992
BOOK "R"
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' Councilmember Gaines stated, yes. I think we should honor the people from the Meadows Foundation. This is the largest grant
that they have ever done and I think it certainly was in our best interest and we should do this.
Councilmember Knolls stated, if our funding is limited to just that, that would be fine. Linda Pease stated, we had grants
from the Texas Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment Fund, as well, and that would take care of that also.
Councilmember Lange asked, do you think we could go to the people in the community for contribution for this? I just have a
problem with a lot of needy things going on in this community and we are going out and spend $10.00 on a fancy dinner. I am
just bothered by it. I would just rather see us go out and get contributions from people that are pleased by this. There are a lot
of people who have benefitted from this, the people downtown. Their buildings have benefitted from the program.
Councilmember Bell stated. In response to Councilmember Lange, from the start, Linda has worked tremendously hard
to coordinate this, get everyone on board and make it work, and now to ask Linda to go out and solicit money from these same
people to hold an appreciation dinner, which I think is an appropriate thing to do, I think would be pushing a little bit too hard.
I think the City certainly has $250.00 to get this thing going.
Mayor Hodges stated, we have a motion and a second, and an amended motion that says the City will provide $250.00
seed money basically for out of town guests, and a second. All in favor of the motion please say "aye ". Opposed by like sign.
Councilmembers Knolls and Lange voted "against'. The motion passed 7 to 2.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
I'
City Manager reminded the Council of the Juneteenth Celebration that is coming up at the end of the week. The parade
is Friday morning at 10:00 A.M. and if you are able to attend please let me or Melba know so we can report back to the
organization that is working on that project. Also, it would be very helpful to myself, Patricia, Melba and everybody else in terms
of scheduling council meetings, civic meetings and budget presentation matters if you can let us know of any vacation plans or '!
times when you will be unavailable on Tuesday nights or in fact Saturdays in August because of scheduling our budget
presentations for this year, especially since early starling of the public school systems this year may be a little more taxing.
Finally, I draw your attention to the report at everyone's spot regarding the sales tax. It is very difficult to be enthusiastic
when we have a real good month, especially on the heels of a rather weak month. But I would point out the overall 5.3% increase
in sales tax revenue seems to indicate a rather steady healthy increase over a year's period of time in the sales tax revenues and
we are encouraged by that fact.
MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT
None.
CITY COUNCILMEMBER ACTION
Councilmember Robinson voiced his appreciation for City Manager Pipes' help in organizing and coordinating the clean
up efforts in one part of the City. Also, he stated be appreciated staff for coming by picking up those garbage bags and disposing
of them. In going through the community and cleaning up, there are a couple of things that bothered me. On Mary Street, in l
particular, there is a what looks like a blowout plug for sewage in the middle of the block. It sticks about a foot or foot arid ail
half above the ground in the ditch. City Manager Pipes stated he thought it was a water line blowout. Councilmember Robinson
stated that seems peculiar sticking up that high out of the ground and should be even with the ground or below it. It is a pipe
within a pipe. Mayor Hodges requested City Manager Pipes to check this out. On Mary Street and on Hill Street, in particular, li
there are some houses, in fact there are three or four that are deserted, falling down, and, in fact, one house collapsed and only
the roof is above ground. You don't see anything but the roof sticking above the ground. Whether or not our inspectors are doing
their job, I can't say, but an inspection is needed. This needs to be looked at.
Councilmember Robinson added, what surprised me about the cleanup project was, a friend of mine that I met about
ten years ago who lives in Houston, read about it, remembered my name, came up from Houston (he arrived about 6:15 A.M.)
and he picked up trash with us.
MEDIA INQUIRIES
None,
ADJOURNMENT
Melba flyers r j�
City Secretary