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MIN CC 08/28/1990MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 28, 1990 BOOK ..Q.. 180 INUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 28TH DAY OF AUGUST, 1990 IN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL HAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 5:30 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: ane Monday 0. Eugene Barrett City officers present: ary Bell James L. Carter Gene Pipes, City Manager Is G. Gaines William B. Green Scott Bounds, City Attorney iLLiam L. Hammock Percy Howard, Jr. Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary : William H. Knotts, Jr. FORMAL MEETING Mayor Monday called the formal meeting to order. Councilmember and Mayor pro tem Howard presented invocation. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Councilmember Barrett made the motion to accept the minutes of August 21, 1990 and Counci Lmember rd seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Gaines noted the "seconded" in the motion on page should be changed to "made" in order for the sentence to read correctly. With this change, all were in �r of the motion to approve the minutes and the motion passed unanimously. ' CONSIDER SISTER CITY PROGRAM Mr. Cich presented a memorandum which summarized his comments from Last week. He presented the required to implement this program, as he discussed with Mr. Ed Smith. Mr. Cich's memo is presented Background: On August 21, the City Council received a proposal for consideration to establish a Sister City program between Huntsville and Niiharu Village, Japan. The proposal was outlined in a letter dated June 25, 1990, from the Mayor of Niiharu Village, Kazuo Suzuki, to Mayor Monday, which was written in response to Mayor Monday's letter dated May 9, 1990. The proposal includes: 1. An annual exchange of about four junior high school students during summer vacation. 2. Visits by delegations from each city (schedule to be determined). 3. Cultural exchanges (e.g., arts and crafts). 4. Information exchanges on the history and characteristics of each city (e.g., videos, publications). 5. Economic exchanges between the chambers of commerce, or other business_ organizations (e.g., agriculture, tourism). The Niiharu Village Council and Board of Education both unanimously voted to express "their strong desire to establish a Sister City program with the City of Huntsville." Niiharu Village has also established an endowment fund to fund the program. Mayor Suzuki has requested a response to their proposal, and he is interested in any suggestions or additional proposals. He has also expressed interest in visiting Huntsville later this year. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 28, 1990 BOOK "D" 181 Options for Action: The City of Huntsville has three options in response to Niiharu Village proposals: 1. Accept the proposal as outlined in Mayor Suzuki's letter. 2. Accept the proposal with recommendations for revisions. 3. Reject the proposal. If the City Council decides to accept Niiharu Village's proposal, the following actions are suggested to implement the Sister City program: 1. Formally endorse the Sister City program. 2. Establish a Sister City steering committee. The membership may include individuals, and representatives of community organizations (e.g., Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Corporation, Tourist Council, Huntsville I.S.D., etc.) ' [Mr. Cich advised he and Col. Ed Smith have already committed themselves to this project. He noted Margi Carey, although not a city resident, is also interested in this program and is a tremendous resource. Mr. Cich noted his wife Marjaana has experience with the sister city program, but because of her personal and employment commitments, cannot serve on the committee. He said, however, she could serve as a resource person and is anxious to help in a supportive role. He said after last week's meeting, he has had a conversation with Mr. Floyd Moore, who advised because of his travel commitments it may be difficult for him to actually serve as a resource, but he is offering to fund one of the entertainment expenses if the Japanese delegation were to visit here; so there is a financial commitment there. He said Dale Dixon, Superintendent of HISD, expressed a very strong interest in the school being involved in the student exchange portion of this, even though, as proposed, it would not be during the school year.] The steering committee should be responsible for coordinating the Sister City program, fund raising to meet the budget needs for Sister City activities, and providing periodic activity reports to the City Council. 3. Assign a City staff member to assist in coordinating activities with the Sister City steering committee. Responsibilities may include correspondence, meeting notices, etc. 4. Advise Mayor Suzuki of the City Council's action, and extend an invitation for him to visit Huntsville to formally establish the Sister City program. Summary: As a result of Col. Ed Smith's efforts and in response to Mayor Monday's letter, Niiharu village has made a strong commitment to establish a Sister City relationship with Huntsville. Sister City programs have proven successful in both Large and small communities. A Sister City relationship with Niiharu Village may provide benefits to our community through education, culturaL and economic exchanges. For the Sister City program to succeed, it will require strong support from the City Council and the community. Due to the strong commitment of Niiharu Village, it is important that the City Council decide whether or not the City of Huntsville intends to proceed with steps to establish a Sister City program, and advise Mayor Suzuki accordingly. Mr. Cich said compared to some sister city relationships, this one has a lot of advantages: the fact that Col. and Mrs. Ed Smith have already made a couple of trips to Japan, and there has already been a personal relationship established. He said there is a very strong commitment from Niiharu ViLLage and there is no doubt they will try to make this work. He said these programs work in small and large cities and we can find examples where they haven't worked. He said where they haven't worked is where the commmunity has not had the commitment for the commonalties /similarities between the two communities. He said there has to be an interest from both sides and there has to be some similarities. He said there are some potential benefits and there has been some good groundwork laid. He said there have been some individuals in the community who have expressed an interest, including himself and Col. Smith. He said he found in talking to MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 28, 1990 BOOK 'b" 182 ndividuaLs that this is a program in which they are interested, but because it is new for the City and ommunity, they need to know what it involves and how much work it will involve. He said it is a program here we can determine the level of involvement and in that way it is a flexible program. He asked for nput on some of the suggestions he has outlined and what Niiharu Village has suggested. He said student xchanges are not required of a sister city program, however, they are desirable if they can be put ogether. He said it is a good program for the students involved and is a program which is very nthusiastically received. He said this is a program, through his own experience in his wife's involvement n Corpus Christi, where once people get involved, and once even a small delegation goes to visit the other omm unity, the enthusiasm becomes contagious. He said they have kind of a small core group of people that ave been involved up to this point that is willing to help see this through. He said we will have to do ome recruiting and we'LL need a working group from 10 -15 people with some good leadership and direction. e said it is an opportunity and a commitment that should not be taken lightly. It is one where the ommunity needs to get behind it to make it work. He said if we just pass it on paper and if commitments ike that of Col. Smith are not there to see it through, it won't work. He said he feels comfortable in hat the Chamber has not taken an official position as far as saying that the City should go straight into his, because it is something that needs to be tailored; there are city staffing needs; he realizes the city s going through budget now. He said staffing is in short supply as it is at the Chamber, and the city has lot of priorities and this needs to be balanced with the other priorities. He said in his discussion in he chamber board meeting, it was felt that it was not in the realm of the Chamber to tell the city, without nowing all of the city's priorities, that this is something the city should do automatically. He said it eeds to be given some thought. He said on the other hand, the Chamber has expressed strong interest and hey are the was that made the original recommendation for the city to Look at this. He said Dr. Marks has uthorized him to make his commitment to serve on the committee. He said he feels the support is there from he Chamber if and when the city definitely decides. He said because of Niiharu Village's strong commitment ' nd Col. Smith's personal relationship, he feels very strongly that the Council really needs to give them a iessage now whether this is something we are not ready for or whether it is something we would like to ursue. We can work out the details and keep the exchange going, he said. Councilmember Barrett asked if Mr. Cich has ever had service clubs involved with manpower, lancing, and in the giving of time and effort. Mr. Cich said the Lion's Club and other service clubs have an involved and that the Rotary Club has their interact program with another city in Japan. He said it is ally a community effort where it is a multiple; the network is a number of organizations being involved. a City of Corpus Christi had a separate tourist bureau which was involved in helping host events, he id, and when the delegations visited, the chamber was involved to a certain extent. He said it is a [work of a lot of different organizations and individuals and this is really the only way it is going to Counc ilmember Carter asked what Mr. Cich saw as the dollar cost for a year. Mr. Cich said it is a ty council option to include it as a budget item, but the way it is proposed is that the fwd raising be signed to the steering committee so that money is raised from other sources rather than city funding. He id the impact on the city budget would depend on how the city budgets for the staff time that may be quired. He said because of the city's budget situation, this program should have private community irces of fording so that costs to the city are minimal. Councilmenber Howard asked if the city could appoint a committee as suggested. Mr. Cich said this how it is done in some other communities. In some cases there is a committee that reports to the city ' which is realty set up outside of the city structure. Where it works most effectively, as set up in pus Christi and other communities, is where the city acts as the umbrella and the committee falls under with the resources provided by a variety of individuals and organizations. He said being a sister city gram gives it a priority on the official status [city to city status]. He said sometimes if it is set up an independent, it may get lost or it doesn't get the emphasis or the attention. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 28, 1990 BOOK "g" 183 Col. Smith said in some cases they form non- profit corporations and they are called sister -city associations. He said he spoke to Mayor Monday earlier and she mentioned something about appointing a commission and that they could handle their own funds if they were a commission. He said if we set it up as a non - profit corporation, there may be some tax advantages. Mr. Cich said it is his understanding that contributions are made to what is considered a charitable organization through the city and people can write this off as a charitable expense and it still enjoys tax advantages. CounciLmember Gaines said it was mentioned the Japanese delegation suggested coming in October and we were talking about maybe asking them to postpone that until a Later time, such as the spring; she noted we might not be ready for them in the fall. Mr. Cich said they are very flexible and are waiting to hear from us. Councilmember Barrett asked about liabilities as far as the exchange students as he didn't think the city would want to take on any additional liabilities. Col. Smith said this goes on by the 10's of thousands every year. Mr. Cich said this would have to be researched and checked with other organizations to make sure. Col. Smith said the students come with full intentions of home stay and they absolutely want home stay when they get here. Mr. Cich said the delegations, on the other hand, stay in hotels. Col. Smith said the student stays are usually three weeks, whereas the delegation may be here two nights, but we may be able to get them to stay longer. He said Mr. Moore will put on a barbecue for them. He noted they treated he and his wife as if they had just come down off their thrones. He said he felt they could find home stays for the members of the delegation when they come here because they love to stay in American homes. Niiharu Village is pretty much in the boondocks, he said, and they do not see too many strangers or Mayor Monday said she feels there are some real questions and that the Council needs to think about this. She asked, for instance, who would go on the delegation and would their expenses be paid with private or governmental funds? She asked if we would want to stipulate this up -front when we adopt the program so that this is understood? She noted when the Japanese delegation arrives, someone will need to pay for their entertainment. She said she also understands there would be a gift involved. Col. Smith noted they are lavish with their gifts but he would try to discourage that from them while knowing he will be unsuccessful. He said the city does not have to reciprocate with equal gifts. He said it is hard to know what might show up - -a huge stone lantern might show up for one of the parks around here, etc. Col. Smith said he didn't think it had to be settled now as to who is going to pay for travel over there. He said when the situation comes up, if we have to recruit people to go who are willing to pay their own way, that is what we'll have to do. He said if we are successful in our fund raising and can some way help pay a delegation going there, then we would. He said in Houston, the City of Houston has never paid and they are a sister city with a city in Japan; if anybody goes, they pay their own way. He said except the Mayor goes once in a while and she ties that in with trying to recruit Japanese businesses, etc. for the city of Houston and she takes a huge delegation with her -- Chamber of Commerce, and other people. Mayor Monday noted she is thinking about a statement that simply says awe will not use governmental funds," so that there is no misunderstanding. Mr. Cich suggested we try to recruit people, such as Col. Smith, who has already established a relationship -- people that can pay their own way. An official from the city that needs to be involved should be considered for funds from fund raising efforts. This then becomes a situation of "who" is going to go, he said. Mr. Cich said there should be an official representing the city, whether that is a councilmember or a staff person; that can be determined and it depends a lot on schedules, etc. Mr. Cich �I said this is a learning process and we can make as much or as little out of it as we want, but the ' commitment should not be taken lightly. He said there has been a Lot of groundwork laid already - -in some ways, this is a no lose situation. He said we might ask if we commit to doing a sister city program, how do we get out of it. He said the answer is that once these are established, although there is an official sister city relationship - -we pass a resolution and we do some exchange --the way they sometimes fade is just through lack of interest and they just become inactive or dormant. He said the interest just dies away in some sister city programs. And there are several, in communities of all sizes, where it is a very active program and a long term relationship; it can go either way. CounciLmember Gaines said it was mentioned the Japanese delegation suggested coming in October and we were talking about maybe asking them to postpone that until a Later time, such as the spring; she noted we might not be ready for them in the fall. Mr. Cich said they are very flexible and are waiting to hear from us. Councilmember Barrett asked about liabilities as far as the exchange students as he didn't think the city would want to take on any additional liabilities. Col. Smith said this goes on by the 10's of thousands every year. Mr. Cich said this would have to be researched and checked with other organizations to make sure. Col. Smith said the students come with full intentions of home stay and they absolutely want home stay when they get here. Mr. Cich said the delegations, on the other hand, stay in hotels. Col. Smith said the student stays are usually three weeks, whereas the delegation may be here two nights, but we may be able to get them to stay longer. He said Mr. Moore will put on a barbecue for them. He noted they treated he and his wife as if they had just come down off their thrones. He said he felt they could find home stays for the members of the delegation when they come here because they love to stay in American homes. Niiharu Village is pretty much in the boondocks, he said, and they do not see too many strangers or MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 28, 1990 BOOK "0" 184 eigners up there; people with blond hair and blue eyes are absolutely a new experience for those people. said it is a marvelous place and he hoped a Lot of them can go; it is a gorgeous both in the winter and ner time. Councilmember Green said it is awfully difficult when one is not sure about what something is to mi t. He said he thinks this is a great idea. He said while not realizing or knowing the uncertainties what can be in the future, he is reluctant, but nonetheless, he likes the idea and feels it is a good a and is wilting to go along with it just to see how it works as long as there is not a financial mitment that the city has to pay. He said he has never been involved nor seen a program like this rate so he has no negative or positive feeling about it. He said it is an opportunity the city should sider as long as it does not commit the city to any funding. Councitmenber Hammock agreed with this and t the steering committee should be appointed to get this off the ground and to generate the enthusiasm we talking doubt, as long as there is no commitment of tax dollars. Councilmember Barrett felt the student hange program would be a marvelous experience for some of the Huntsville students to be able to go there stay three weeks; a real opportunity. He said he feels positive about this and would like to have CoL. th as Chairman of the steering committee. Mayor Monday asked Col. Smith if he would accept that ointment. Col. Smith declined but would be happy to work with whomever is appointed. He said Margi ey will be co- chairman. Councilmember Barrett asked Col. Smith if he could recommend someone for irman as this will be the key to the whole program working. Col. Smith felt Margi will find someone. ncilmember Green didn't feel the city should recommend anyone at this point because it may be leaving out e possible names. He said he didn't have a problem recommending that they enter into a sister city gram. Councilmember Green made a motion that the City of Huntsville enter into the sister city Program Discussion: Mayor Monday noted one of the things she thinks is unusual about this is that we ' beady have established links, contacts and people that have been there who have a working relationship. he said we also have obvious enthusiasm and this gives the city a real jet start on what might have ccurred, which was to receive the letter in the mail and having someone arrange a relationship. She noted ack King also has a relationship. She felt all of this together probably puts the city in a unique ituation, without the commitment of tax dollars, which is all of their concern; however, once that is liminated, she feels there are Lots of opportunities to be presented to which the community can respond. he said what they are doing is presenting an opportunity to be a part of an international experience. ouncilmember Gaines suggested getting a committee to look into a steering committee. Mayor Monday said she tans to ask Dave Cich to come back next week to recommend members that might serve on a steering committee. he said she also wishes to make a public call for anyone who might like to be a part of this to contact Ed nd Dave because there may be people out there who would welcome this opportunity. She said we wiLL see if e can generate those 10 or 15 people to serve on this committee. Councilmember Barrett noted he likes this dea. Mayor Monday then caLLed for a vote on the motion and it Passed unanimously. Mayor Monday asked Mr. ich to get with Col. Smith to draft an appropriate letter response to Niiharu Village because this needs to e done in the correct manner. She said this letter and the steering committee appointments will be on the genda for consideration next week. CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTAL ITEM: APPROVAL OF DUMP TRUCK C.O. Mr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, advised in November of 1989, the city approved buying a dump truck rom Holland Chevrolet for the water and Sewer Department. He noted it was received on Monday. He ' resented an ordinance which accepts delivery of the dump truck and authorizes delivery of the certificate f obligation. He advised Patricia Allen, Director of Finance, has gone out for bids and the Lou bid on the .0. is Mrs. J. H. Neiderhofer at the interest rate of 7.24 percent to be paid out of street bonds. The option of this ordinance is as follows: MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 28, 1990 BOOK "q" 185 ORDINANCE NO. 90 -18 AN ORDINANCE APPROVING CLAIM AND DELIVERY OF CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION; AND CONTAINING OTHER PROVISIONS RELATED HERETO [849,184; FOUR YEARS] Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of this ordinance and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER EMERGENCY ITEM: TRACTOR REPAIR Consider purchase of a short block for a tractor from case Power 8 Equipment Company in the amount of $7,837 Mr. Johnny Poteete, Director of Public Works, advised a head on a tractor cracked and all the bearings basically welded themselves to the block and the crank shaft spun. He said they have taken phone quotes from three different Case dealers for a short block. He said he feels it would be cheaper to go this way rather than trying to buy all the parts and doing the repairs in- house. He said if we order this today, we'll still be down for about a week as there is a 10 day delivery time on the engine. He said the city purchased this equipment in 1985 and it is used mainly in the capital street division. He said it was purchased as a supplementary piece of equipment to the 1976 model rubber tired roller. He said this is about an 585,000 piece of equipment. Councilmember Hammock made the motion to approve of this emergency item and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. COUNCIL ACTION Tree Policy Needs Reformatting Councilmember Gaines advised Mr. Charles Smither, Jr. has asked her to request that the city's tree policy, currently outlined in two sets of city council minutes, be redrafted in policy form for ease in giving out to those who might request a copy of the policy. She then formally requested that this be done. Requests from HISD personnel for city traffic control assistance at the schools Councilmember Gaines advised the minutes reflect that Mr. Pipes spoke to Dale Dixon, HISD Superintendent, regarding this matter and it has been approved. She suggested that in the future, requests to the city be in writing. She felt is will be better for the city if the requests from school personnel for traffic control devices be in writing so that there is no confusion. For instance, she said, the city passed an ordinance last week to put no parking on Boettcher Drive across from the Stewart Elementary School. She said now it seems this is not what they wanted and there was some miscommunication within the school district. Mayor Monday said there are some people with divergent opinions about whether this should have been done. Councilmember Gaines reminded the Council that Mr. Dixon prefers that before the city does things like this that the request come from his office. Mayor Monday said the city's position has been that it came from Mr. Dixon. Councilmember Gaines reiterated her recommendation that these requests also need to be in writing as a matter of policy. Councilmember Carter recalled that Councilmember Green made this request some time ago. Mayor Monday noted Mr. Pipes did communicate with Mr. Dixon on this. Councilmember Gaines noted because it was not in writing, there was a miscommunication and now it is a "he said, she said, we said" type situation. TML Region 14 Meeting in Galveston Councilmember Barrett advised he and Councilmember Howard attended the Region 14 Meeting in Galveston last Saturday. He said they had a panel on civil service and one on recycling. He said the City of West University Place [Houston areal has been recycling very successfully since 1976. He said if one can get up to at least 50% of its citizens to participate that this is a break -even point. He said a MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF AUGUST 28, 1990 BOOK "w" 186 presentative from Browning Ferris Industries (BFI) spoke (they have the fancy trucks, containers, etc.) d said there is no way a city can break even. Councilmember Barrett felt however, that we need to nsider the landfill costs that we are saving when we do the recycling and this is the only way we can make is work financially. He said West University Place just uses garbage bags and duty trucks and they don't ve a lot of fancy equipment but it is working for them. Their representative said the city will need to ss an ordinance so there won't be someone in front of the city's garbage truck with a van collecting the uminum before the city can collect it. He said they told of a man who started out with a wagon and ended with a van and he was pulling all the aluminum cans in before the city's recyclers could get there. uncilmenber Barrett said it was a very good meeting and they both really enjoyed it. Councilmember Carter asked that the Council have a discussion about going to curb side pick up of bage because he didn't see any possibility for a recycling program in the city until it has curb side kup. He said to try to recycle without a curb side policy will make the program even more costly than to itinue with what the city is doing. He asked that there be a discussion of the city shifting to curb side k up on the agenda in the near future. He said while he does not not take his garbage out to the curb, the policy is changed, he will take it to the curb. Councilmember Carter noted the city has burned organic material again in the area of Bearkat ilevard. He asked that in a future council meeting that the Council adopt a policy that it allow no ' mits for burning any material within the city limits of Huntsville by anyone and that the City of itsville adopt a policy that the city does not burn any material. He said this also addresses the stion of recycling because uses can be found for this material. He said in the budget there is a piece shredding equipment for $16,000 which would help the city with this. Glenn Isbell, Director of Design iineering, said that this shredder would not handle a tree that large. Councilmember Carter said it would better for the city to cut the logs up and give them away to citizens for use in their fireplaces; while does not favor fireplaces either, he would accept that. He said he would like for the policy to be ready adopt when the discussion comes up, then through collective wisdom, if the Council does not want to apt it, that decision will be made at that time, but if they are ready to adopt it, the policy will be RECESS TO WORK SESSION The Council then recessed back into the work session to continue its review of the 1990 -91 budget. work session meeting was adjourned approximately 9:40 p.m. submitted, Secretary August 28, 1990