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MIN CC 10/02/1990MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "O" 210 i MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 2ND DAY OF OCTOBER, 1990 IN THE CITY HALL COUNCIL I� CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 6:30 P.M. I') The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: Jane Monday 0. Eugene Barrett City officers present: Gary Bell James L. Carter Gene Pipes, City Manager [[a G. Gaines William B. Green Scott Bounds, City Attorney William L. Hammock Percy Howard, Jr. Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary William H. Knotts, Jr. CITIZEN INPUT Mr. Spence corrected some information he gave the Council the Last time he was here. He said he old the Council the license plate cost for a 1985 or older model car was $40.80, but this does not include ie county's charge of $10.00 per vehicle for their road and bridge fund. He said each of the license cost ategories on which he reported should be increased by $10.00. He said the County is in a race with the ity to see which one can spend the most. He said the County's budget is up two million so they are ahead f the city. The Council then received a copy of Mr. Spence's father's 1928 income tax return. He said in 1928, his father started what is now called the FTD and was the daddy of what has evolved into floral telegraph deliveries. He said his father paid himself a salary of $4,300 for a family of four. In 1989, he said, to , have a comparable amount of money, his father would have to pay himself $161,040. He said the tax on that income would have been $44,798; however, in 1928, his father didn't pay a penny in taxes. He said what he has been trying to get across to the Council is what he is calling "creeping taxation." He said the Council's responsibility is not to see how much money it can generate and spend, but how many services it can render for a minimat amount of money. He said this is what is backwards between municipal accounting and real accounting. He said in municipal accounting, one starts out backwards and sets up an account and decides to spend $80,000 for vehicle gas and then it subtracts from that each month when it spends it. He said in the real world, we start out saying do I really need to spend $80,000 for gasoline this year, or what can I do to cut that $80,000 down to $78,000 and then I've saved myself $2,000 or made $2,000 dollars. He said he feels it is his responsibility to this community to try to get this point across to the Council. He said spending the money is easy -- anybody can spend it. He said expenses have a way of increasing to equal income. He said the city has underestimated the general fund $158,000 for this year, which the city has budgeted against what was actually income for 1988 -89. He said it would be nice to see this go into a separate fund, not added in with the slush funds or what the City calls discretionary or unanticipated. He said he believes the citizens who are paying these taxes would be tickled a Lot more to see that $158,000 unspent; which is not quite 40 percent of the downtown facade project, which is $392,000. Mr. Ward read a statement created by students at the University: "S.H.S.U. students and citizens of Huntsville worked on promoting the cause of the World Summit for Children, which was held this past weekend. Over 400 people signed petitions supporting the World Summit for Children. Enclosed are some of the letters received from students in Huntsville Independent School District. we received over 300 Letters from students ranging from 2nd to 12th grades. We ask that this be proof of this community's support of programs to protect children's rights. We also ask the Council to I join our effort to encourage such programs." Monday asked for a copy of this letter which Mr. Ward provided for copying. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "0" 211 Charles Smither, Jr. Mr. Smither referred to the proposed tree policy that the Council is scheduled to discuss Later in the agenda. He said, as a way of a little background about his interest in this, his current main interest concerns the proposed Pine Hill /Montgomery Road sewer linewhich is expected to pass behind his residence on Possum Walk Road. He said this was first proposed /discussed in June of 1990 and he doesn't know what the delay has been in the project since then, but it has been on the drawing board since then and appraisals have now been done on the property. He said at that time, he suggested some alternate routes for that sewer line in the interest in saving, primarily his trees, but also trees on other affected property and the greenery separation between the Pine Shadows Subdivision and the unrestricted property facing Possum Walk Road. He said when he saw the information in the packet, it appeared to be the subject of the Council's discussion, but it did not look like the policy he expected to see. He said he was thinking a policy would be a fairly broad, very comprehensive statement of the city's future involvement and interest in both trees and greenery which would perhaps say what the general idea was, its application if it is not an overall policy, and specific procedures which would be very detailed concerning some of the day -to -day operations. For that reason, he said, he has drafted out some very preliminary thoughts on what he would think a tree policy might look like, what areas it covers, etc. He said his main interest in this is again the proposed 20 foot wide permanent clear easement which is staring at him from his backyard. He said apparently the city's tree policy does not cover that particular type situation. He said all of the prior discussion has been on streets and waterlines over neighborhoods, etc. He said he was looking for some guidance, in writing, as to what the city's policy actually is on installing and planning lines like that. He said it appears that the implication of a first emphasis on environmental concerns does not follow along with the plans as he sees them developing on the Pine Hill /Possum Walk sewer line. ' FORMAL MEETING Mayor Monday then called the formal session to order. Mayor Pro tem and Councilmember Howard presented the invocation. CONSIDER THE MINUTES Mayor Monday presented the minutes of September 18, 1990. She said the minutes reflect a statement made by Councilmember Carter that he was not on the City Council when it decided to expand and widen Highway 75, but actually the Highway 75 widening was in the ten year plan which all of this Council voted on, and it voted when it received the SDHPT allotment of money, and on the decision to include the sidewalks on both sides. She said this statement should be corrected because she believes all of the present councilmembers were on the council when that ten year plan was approved. Councilmember Carter said he stands corrected by the Mayor; however, the minutes do reflect his statement as he made it and therefore, the minutes should not be corrected. Councilmember Green noted the minutes of tonight will reflect that Councilmember Carter's comment of last week was incorrect. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve the minutes as written and Councilmember Howard seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanim us LY CONSIDER BIDS Consider bids on sidewalk construction work on Sam Houston Avenue between Lake Road and Josey Streets Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented a summary of the four bids received for this construction work. He said there is a new concrete finisher contractor now bidding who came in as the low bidder [Concrete Paving & Construction Services, Inc.] He said the city had previously taken quotations from two of the those bidders, whose bids were both in excess of $5,000. He said this made it necessary to formally bid this project. The apparent low bidder was considerably under the $5,000 mark, but the staff felt because it had formally advertised for bids, that the Council did need to review and award this particular bid. He said the staff has checked the insurance and reliability factors as much as it can and is satisfied that Concrete Paving & Construction Services, Inc. is a responsible bidder. He said the Low bid of 84,386.80 is a substantial savings [other bids were: 85,055.00; 85,410.40; and 85,4493 for the one block from Josey Street to Lake Road on Sam Houston Avenue. He then recommended this low bid for the Council's cons iderat ion. Counc i lmember Howard made the motion to approve of the low bid as outlined above and Councilmember Bell seconded the motion. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "0" 212 i Discussion: Councilmember Barrett referred to the bid tabulation sheet, noting the second, third and fourth bidders were aLL very close with unit prices ranging from $200, $250 and 5300 and then Concrete 's Paving & Construction Services, Inc. has a unit price of $55. He said this Looks suspicious to him, because when the city receives bids from three good builders that are that close in price and then someone is that far under it, he would suspect that bid, especially since he has not done any work for the city and has no track record. He said he also does not like the fact that there was an oral bid taken on this and the two companies that bid on it revealed their bid and then the project was advertised by publication in the paper. He said he didn't think it was fair that someone would have to bid orally and then bid the same amount and the other people are able to bid against them. He said he doesn't think this was done fairly and he would Like to see the bids thrown out and rebid or something else done because the home town people were not treated right on this bid. Mr. Pipes said the quotations taken by phone were not disclosed to anyone; it was strictly a staff matter and no one was told what the other companies had bid, which is the city's cannon practice. He said in the rules that are set down by the state, when the quotations are in excess of the $5,000 bid Limit established by the state, then it is necessary for the city to take formal bids on the work. He said the city had to back up, having quotations in excess of $5,000, to go through the formal bid procedures. He said certainly each individual contractor knew what he had bid, but no one else knew what he had bid. He said if they chose to bid what their original quote was, that is certainly understandable, however, it was not an exposed bid situation, nor was it something that was opened in a public forum. Councilmember Barrett asked what the city's estimate was for this job. Mr. Pipes said it was right at $5,000. Counci Lmember Barrett asked why the city didn't publish it to start with if that was the city's estimate, rather than having someone bid orally on it and than advertising it in the paper. ' Counc ilmember Knotts said one of the contractors talked to him about this and said he filled out the same form on the first bid that he did on the second bid, so it wasn't just an oral bid; it was a written bid. He said those two bidders knew what each other bid when those bids were opened and they were within $30 or $40 of each other. He said what he doesn't understand is why the city didn't bring those two bids to the Council when they were bid and why did the staff go out and rebid it. Mr. Pipes said the staff did not go through the formal publication requirements to take sealed bids. CounciLmember Knotts felt the city could have gone through that and still kept those two bids and would not have had to reopen it to the Public. He said he agrees with Councilmember Barrett in that he didn't feel the city had treated Autrey Construction and Grisham Construction fairly on this at all. He said he would Like to see it awarded to the Low bidder of those two. Councilmember Gaines said she was also contacted by one of the gentlemen who said he had forgotten about the $5,000 Limitation provision. She said it should be clearly delineated each time :. that if it is over $5,000 it has to go for publication. She said she feels the city should tell prospective bidders this up- front, because this man said if he had known that it was going to have to be published if it went over $5,000, he could have probably lived with a little Less on this bid and made it under the $5,000, but he did not remember that limitation if, in fact, he had been told. Mr. Pipes said his reaction to that is, in terms of absolute objectivity and fairness, that telling someone what the thresholds are on which to go back to the City Council is something that should not influence their bid one way or another; they should be bidding on the amount for which they can do the job. Counci Lmember Gaines said this may be true, but if that is a condition of the bid, it should be clearly stated. COUnciLmember Knotts asked if she means if they weren't told that if their bid is over $5,000 that it would be thrown out and a formal bid would have to be taken. Councilmember Gaines said yes, this is what she is saying. Councilmember Knotts said there is not enough money involved for a contractor to take it through what is called an unbalanced bid, so they have to bid it the second time. He said they can't ' change their item cost and put a little more money in one place and take some off in some other area and unbalance their bid. He said the other bidder knows exactly what the other bid and it was probably a one or two item bid anyway. Gene Pipes, City Manager said it is clearly delineated on the spread sheet: two items with a four inch sidewalk, cut curb and 4 foot handicap ramp. Councilmember Knotts said this is what the bidders filled out the first time and then the second bid was the same thing. He said the person who MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "0" 213 talked to him said he filled out the same form the second time and had a bid bond on both bids. Councilmember Knotts felt the city should accept the two bids and the low bid of those two should be awarded. Councilmember Barrett said he would second that if it is made into a motion. Mayor Monday asked the City Attorney for the legality of that. Councilmember Green noted that there are a couple of issues. He said maybe the city didn't know for sure whether the bid would be above or below 45,000. He said he didn't think it was inappropriate to have called around to find out and than after finding out that it was above 85,000, then to go for bids. He said if there is any question about whether there was a problem with this, he would suggest the Council throw all of the bids out rather than accept two and start from scratch and then everyone will have the same option. He said he didn't think, at this point, given we have a 84,300 bid, that we can throw that out and then just look at the two who bid the first time. He felt we should throw them all out and then start aLL over and then everyone will be starting with the same playing field. Councilmember Knotts said he made his recommendation because they had two bid lettings, however, he felt the City Attorney should advise them at this point. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, advised by state law the city has to advertise in the newspaper for bids if the amount of the bid exceeds 85,000. He said the first two bids would have been invalid in that they were submitted in excess of $5,000 and in advance of the notice having been published in which the bid specifications would appear. He said all of the bids the Council has now received, because they were presented in solicitation of the formal notice, are valid bids. He said the Council can reject all of the bids for any reason, and he felt this would probably be preferable. He said he saw no valid reason for ' excluding the two bidders simply because they submitted a bid in accordance with the specifications after the informal bids were taken. Councilmember Knotts said this is a am[[ amount of money to be concerned about, but there is a principal here that we need to settle. Mayor Monday rated there is a motion on the floor to accept the low bidder. She asked if those who made that motion wish to withdraw it. CounciLmembers Howard and Bell agreed to withdraw their motion Mayor Monday then asked if there is a motion to reject all bids. Councilmember Green made the motion to reject all bids and readvertise for bids and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion Discussion: Mayor Monday said we may wish to discuss our procedure now on how we include our information because that seems to be another issue. Councilmember Bell asked the City Attorney if we open this up for rebidding, since everyone's bid is on the table, won't this present some problems. Councilmember Knotts said there are not enough items there to deal with so perhaps the city should rebid this with something else. He said he hates to hold up the city's sidewalk program, because he knows Councilmember Bell has been pushing this, but the city needs to get this straight before it proceeds. Mr. Bounds, City Attorney, said there is no legal problem, but certainly they know the amount for which the others can do the work. Councilmember Bell said he wouldn't be surprised if the bids all come in a little below $4,386. Councilmember Knotts said he would be surprised if they didn't come in just like they are here because he feels the others would have the integrity just to leave them like they were. All were in favor of the motion to reject all bids and to rebid this Pro Lect and it passed unanimously. Mayor Monday asked if there was a question now about how the city informs prospective bidders of our procedures. Mr. Knott& clarified the procedure where the city can spend $5,000 without formally advertising and he felt the potential bidders should be aware of that. Councilmember Knotts said it may be a good idea on construction such as this to advertise it anyway as it won't cost that much to do it. He said the city should have had enough backlog on sidewalks that it should know the per square foot price. Mr. Pipes said they knew it was going to be very close to $5,000. Councilmember Green said the real difference is on the ramp cost, not the sidewalk part. City Attorney Bounds said it would be more difficult to advertise every construction job. Mayor Monday asked the staff to come back with a recommendation that if we know things are going to be close to $5.000 that we are sure before we take formal bids that people are informed that "if" it goes over $5.000 we will have to advertise and take formal bids Councilmember Knotts suggested as an alternative that we could include other work with it. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "O" 214 RECOGNITION OF SPECIAL "VOICE OF HUNTSVILLE "-- KOOTER ROBERSON Mr. Pipes, City Manager, introduced the "Voice" of Huntsville, who began his career with KSAM Radio Station when he was a sophomore in High School. He said Mr. Roberson had a number of other short experiences in various locations and with other entities, but since 1970, he has most distinguished himself as the 'Voice of Huntsville, "the "Voice of the Hornets," and the "Voice of the Bearkats." He said as of yesterday, Mr. Roberson has marked 20 years on the air in various forms and fashions. He said he felt it appropriate for the the City Council to extend special greetings to Mr. Roberson because to be in the media business for 20 years, commenting on Hornet and Bearkat football as well as being a "D.J." personality of rare accomplishment, is quite an achievement. The Mayor advised she keeps a scrapbook for her brother, Coach of the Huntsville Hornets, and her family presents his family with a scrapbook every year as a gift. She said Mr. Roberson has been kind enough to share his information on Friday nights for her to use in the scrapbook. She commended him for his ability to keep up with volumes of statistics for each game, which shows a tremendous working effort behind the scenes. The Council then joined the Mayor to present a special certificate of commendation. Mr. Pipes also noted in 1983, Mr. Kooter Roberson was named Lone Star Conference "Sportscaster of the Year." Mayor Monday then recognized his wife, Dorothy, and their son, Jacob. Councilmember Barrett said he felt Mr. Roberson should be named Huntsville's "First Ambassador-- too because every morning he begins his broadcast with "isn't it nice to live in Huntsville," and it makes him feel good to hear that. Mr. Roberson thanked the Mayor and Council for their recognition. CONSIDER DRAINAGE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT Consider a drainage construction project at Ross Park in coniunction with the Hiahwav 75N widening project estimated at $4,314.20, to be oaid from capital drainage oroaram reserve Mr. Pipes advised the contractor for the SDHPT is making rapid progress on this project adjacent to Ross Park, the City's Service Center and the Airport. He said in the process of very preliminary work there, the city discovered that Ross Park, because it is cut into the top of that hill, is not going to drain, and in fact, a dam would be formed by the four or five lane curbed and guttered installation of State Highway 75N. He said to keep the fields from being rather flooded for an extended period of time, the city needs to pipe across there from approximately the center of the four fields to the TDCJ pasture on the south side of H -75N for a cost of $4,314.00; a city cost since it is not part of the highway project. This will alleviate the flooding problem that will exist, he said, as this area has, in fact, been very slow to drain since the inception of the park. He said when those fields were done in 1973, an extra year was added to the construction process because all of the equipment got bogged down on top of the hill and was unable to complete the job until the next year when the season got a little dryer. He said it is clearly indicated that if the fields don't drain properly, we won't be playing ball out there next spring and it is very important to get the job done white the construction is underway. Councilmember Green made the motion to approve of this drainage construction project as outlined above and Councilmember Carter seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER PAVESTONES FOR SIDEWALK Consider the downtown "pavestone" sidewalk construction program phases Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised they had discussed earlier, in the comprehensive plan and other plans for the downtown itself, the overall use of pavestones in the downtown district. He said the staff now needs authorization to proceed, on a couple of projects at least, and then some kind of an indication from the Council as to their desire to continue with the project in terms of putting pavestone down in place of sidewalks as the city proceeds. First, he said, as the Council is familiar, from the Police Station to Avenue M along 11th Street, the city already has the pavestone in- place, but from the Police Station up to the corner of Sam Houston Avenue, adjacent to the new Methodist Church facility, the pavestones have not vet been placed. He said from that corner on north toward 10th Street for about half the block the pavers are similarly not in -place but then the city has them in -place from there on down to 10th Street He said the Logical conclusion is that the Council did intend to go ahead with the project, at least in those two areas, to complete that entire block; however, the Council has not previously authorized this so this would be the Methodist Church Proiect. Sam Houston Avenue and 11th Street for a total of $12,353. i MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOAC "0" 215 In addition to this, he said, the Council discussed, but never formally considered or authorized the entire span of the block between Sam Houston Avenue and University Avenue along the north side of the Square. He said some early concerns were expressed by the architect and the building owners that breaking out the concrete on the north side of the Square might endanger the aging brick work that constitutes the masonry of those exterior walls. He said an evaluation was made by Kim Williams, Architect, Glenn Isbell, Director of Engineering Design, and property owners on the north side of the Square, and a determination was made that a saw cut would need to be made about 18 inches off the base of the buildings for the entire Length of that block and then the concrete posterior [away from the buildings toward the Square] could be removed without jeopardizing the buildings. He said the pavers can than be brought back in and then, where possible, the thresholds, etc. can be made to match up with the overlay of the existing concrete. He said at least there would be a major portion of the north side sidewalk done. He said the estimate of this cost is $19.932. He said again, given the discussion of earlier this evening, these are estimates and are not based on bid prices as the city has not taken bids, but the staff did want the Council to know the general expectations of what the projects would cost and to get the Council's authorization to proceed. Mr. Pipes said the Methodist Church project completion is scheduled for around the Christmas season, and the city wants to have the city's approval to proceed with bidding on that job before the time comes for the city to put in the sidewalks. He said on the north side of the Square, the concern is that, in terms of the mural work that is scheduled or expected to start some time after January 1, 1991, the sidewalks need to be in -place so that drop cloths can be put on them so that chips or roaring of the murals or facades of the buildings won't occur at the time the sawcutting and the pavestone placement takes place because that is much more difficult to assure than is putting the sidewalks down and covering them up and then doing the murals. He said it is the logic of getting the heavy work out of the way before we do the cosmetic work on the facades. Also, he said. on Sam Houston Avenue. opposite the Methodist Church side the sidewalk from the Gibbs Bros. building and the Gibbs parking lot, has a section along that side of the street on the east side of Sam Houston Avenue that would cost 511.082 to build back to the newly paved Parking lot and then from that lot down to the 10th Street corner, which would complete that block of Sam Houston Avenue north on both sides, for a total of 817.429.50. Similarly. he said. on University Avenue on the east side for the entire Length from the 11th Street sidewalk at the old Post Office down to the "Spring site." would be $15.881- and the remainder, on the west side, from about the old jail on down to 10th Street would be $11,957. He said the sun total for the entire north side sidewalks total 877.552.75 estimate He reiterated the city has not bid these sidewalks and will be most happy to bid whatever portion the Council desires to undertake at this time. He said obviously the more work that is planned, scheduled, and bid, the better unit cost the city will receive. He said moving crews in and out, buying pavers, etc. in small quantities will disallow the volume breaks and increase the cost of materials. He said there are some advantages to committing to a Larger scale project, but then also there is the disadvantage of having to generate the money necessary to do it. Mr. Pipes said in regard to the murals on the north side of the Square, the sidewalks are exceedingly critical to the preparation work for doing the trumpe d 'oeil work later in the spring [January /February] and the projects in conjunction with the Methodist Church. He said as a practical matter, turning the corner there at the Gibbs Bros building and going back towards the lot, since they are going to do the facade work, it would be most essential to the artwork, to do the external iron work on the front, replace the verandas [porches] and the 819,000 project on the front side of the Square. He said what will remain then is the rest of the work down 10th Street from the parking lot on the Sam Houston side and all of the work on the University Street side, which could wait for a later date without being as critical. He said all of this is to coordinate the sidewalk work with the artwork and the completion of the Methodist Church project. Mr. Pipes then asked for the Council's authorization to go out for bids to bring back to the Council. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "0" 216 Councilmember Knotts asked if the Council discussed in this detail what it has put down there now. Mr. Pipes said the staff identified for the Council each of the segments that are presently in- place. Mr.' Knotts said he doesn't remember that, but he knows the city let a contract and Robert Autrey bid 540,000 or $50,000, and asked if this contract is finished. Mr. Pipes said it is; everything he originally bid is in -place with the exception of the work on the north side of the Square on the east end by University Avenue, where, when the utility poles come out, he has some work to do. He said what is presented here II tonight does not overlap Mr. Autery's previous work contract which will be complete when the poles come out !'.. and he does the minor patch work. Councj Lmember Knotts said he doesn't remember the City Manager going !'... through the sidewalk projects and itemizing them like this before. Mr. Pipes said he did because they came back and talked about adding that block on 11th Street from University Avenue to Avenue J when the city j.. continued the water Line down in front of Walker County Hardware and the old post office. Councilmember Knotts made the motion that the city do the whole project as outlined above for $77,555.75 and Councilmember Carter seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Bell asked if this $77,555.75 will be applied to the money the city has committed to spend on the downtown project. Mr. Pipes said it could as this work is grant eligible, but it is not presently a factor of the grant match that the Council had discussed and submitted to the Meadows Foundation. He said it certainly could be used in lieu of the $80,000 facility item that had been discussed, if that particular type of project does not develop. He said obviously, the city will also have additional construction work -- overlay pavement work - -on 12th Street from University Avenue to Avenue J and sidewalk and curb work in that area, etc. that could also be used to match, but this work would not be done prior to the grant initiation, so it would be grant eligible, but it is not presently committed or attached to the grant match. Councilmember Bell said this is a big chunk of money and the city has committed itself to $300,000; it would be nice if this could serve as a part of that $300,000. Mr. Pipes said that is at the Council's wish. Councilmember Knotts said he agrees with this. Councilmember Green said it would seem to him that if this is going to be examined as a possibility that it be done prior to the initiation of the project. He said he feels the city should ask if this can be substituted now, and net ask after the fact. Mayor Monday noted we may want to consider doing this in stages as we have three years and that probably means that we'll have three budget years and it may be that some of this work wouldn't be accomplished during that period anyway. She said we may want to look at half of this during this budget year and half the next budget year, instead of doing the whole project now; this would allow money to do streetscape or some of the other things that were on the list that we may also want to do. She said her first inclination might be to do the three sidewalks the city has to do, which is the sidewalk at the Methodist Church, so that it can be completely bricked now rather than half and half. Mr. Pipes said the city's rule on this is that sidewalks taken out by virtue of utility work are charged to water and sewer, so that $12,353 expense would be a utility expense because that is where the water Line went that was replaced on the north side of the Square and Sam Houston Avenue. Councilmember Green asked if utility expenses are eligible for matching in the Meadows grant. Mr. Pipes said the Meadows Foundation does not care where the city's matching work comes from. Mayor Monday continued by saying she assumes the city will want to do the north side of the Square and down 11th because it knows it is going to do the artwork and needs to get that out of the way. At this point, she said, the Council should perhaps look at what it has requested in the first year to see for what that money could be substituted. She said then the Council can decide if it wants to stop there and do some of the other things the first year and then come back in the second stage and accomplish the rest of that paving stone in the second allotment, because it has $100,000 to do each year. She felt it would make sense to do this in a staging process. Councilmember Barrett reminded the Council that the city can save money by buying in bigger lots and having the work done in conjunction with one project. He said this factor also needs to be weighed. Mayor Monday said we may want to see what the difference in price break would be in doing the $12,000, $19,000 and $11,000 as opposed to doing the whole thing $77,555.75. Councilmember Barrett rated there will MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "0" 217 be some inflation too and the prices will be higher. Mayor Monday said we can Look at this and then see what those numbers are. Councilmember Knotts said we have a mural going in on University Avenue on the west side. Mr. Pipes said that sidewalk is already there. Mr. Pipes said this is why he pointed out the one on the Gibbs side [$11,0821 because that will get the city past aLL of the known reconstruction work. Councilmember Knotts said his concern is that we don't do something where we tear up a walk, then have to pour concrete and then have to come back next year to put in the brick. Councilmember Bell said the Council rather wisely set out $75,000 in the budget to do sidewalks to the schools. He said he sees $77,555.75 to put in sidewalks around the Square and asked if this is going to be at the expense of the sidewalks at the schools, and where is this money caning from because if it is from the sidewalk allotment, he would have real problems with that. Mayor Monday said the Council allotted $100,000 for the first year of the Meadows Foundation downtown project out of separate funds and those dollar do not compete with the school area sidewalk allotment of $75,000. Councilmember BeIL noted then these sidewalks are in addition to the school sidewalks. Mayor Monday said that is true and Mr. Pipes agreed. Mr. Pipes said out of the total amount being discussed tonight, the $19,932 and the $11,082 for a total of $31,000 would be a general fund expense, but the $12,353, if we remain consistent with how we have charged it out in the past, would be a water and sewer expense, because the city tore up the sidewalk that was there to replace the water line. He said whether the Council wants to use that as a part of the grant match or whether it wants to charge this to the sidewalk project is up to the Council. He said he has not attempted to identify sources of funds, but just wanted the Council to know that this is what it will cost to continue with the Council's previously expressed desire to do the pavestone sidewalks in downtown. ' Mayor Monday suggested more information may be needed. She suggested the Council come back at the next meeting to review the grant proposal for the first year and then decide if the Council wants this pavestone expense to come out of the grant dollars, and if so, what portion, and then ask for an amendment so that it can send it to the Meadows Foundation to see if it is acceptable; or bring up the budget contingency for general fund and then make a decision as to whether we want it to come out of reserve, or the Meadows Grant Cif it comes out of the Meadows grant we'll have to substitute it for something else and decide what and then write the amendment]. She felt the Council Lacks the funding information here tonight. Councilmember Bell said it is as important where the money is coming from as how we are spending the money. Mayor Monday said we will also have to decide how much we want to do according to available funds. Councilmember Knotts said he would think it would be to the Council's discretion as to how it wants to spend the money and he didn't know how the Meadows Foundation gets into this. Mr. Pipes said the Meadows Foundation does not have anything to do with this. He said none of the sidewalk money nor any of the local match will come from the Meadows Foundation. Mayor Monday said the city has allotted a budget that was approved by the Meadows Foundation and if it changes that budget it would then write an amendment and send it to them. CounciLmember Knotts said this project was sold on the premise that it was so flexible that we could do anything we wanted to with our match. Mayor Monday said that was indicated but we still have to go through procedures. Councilmember Green made the motion to table this discussion until more funding information is brought forth next time and Councilmember Bell seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Monday asked Mr. Pipes to provide that additional information. Concerns for the Handicapped Downtown - -ILa Gaines CounciLmember Gaines interjected this thought here since the Council is discussing sidewalks in the downtown area. She said she had a visit today from a gentleman whose wife is handicapped. She said his concerns and comments are valid for the downtown area. He said the handicapped parking places we have behind the Gibbs Building are wonderful except that one can't get a wheelchair out of there without going down into the street in order to get around to the Square. He said the only place on that side of the Square where one can get a wheelchair up is in front of Adana Furniture store; there is no other place. She said he does appreciates the handicap ramp on the Courthouse Square across from Goolsby's. She said he suggested the city take a good look through the eyes of a handicapped person. She suggested the city take the time to consult with some people who are using those handicapped areas to see what needs to be altered. She said he also commented that in revitalizing the downtown area, a great number of people the city will be MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "g" 218 attracting to that area will be retired people and many of those people are handicapped or have difficulty walking and these things are very important to them. She encouraged the city to consult with someone who knows something about what it is like to visit the Square with someone in a wheelchair. She said this same person has been to the Strand in Galveston with a group of AARP people and complimented that city on the'.:'. things it has done to help the handicapped, many of which were simple, but which showed that someone cared enough to be concerned for the handicapped. She encouraged the city to be more conscious of that need. Mayor Monday felt it my be good to put a committee together to look at ramps and railings needed; noting '.. i. Ms. Jo Shipman helped the city some years ago when handicap areas were being considered, and she helped 'A.. identify handicap parking areas for the city. She suggested contacting her again to get a group together '•' and perhaps do a study for the City. Councilmember Gaines said there are some places on our Square where, '.'. unless one is a strong man, one could not get a wheelchair up onto the sidewalk as there is no way to do it. Mayor Monday referred the matter to Mr. Pipes Councilmember Knotts said there are federal guidelines on this. Councilmember Gaines said we need to look at this from a humanitarian standpoint. Mayor Monday said this is a great idea and asked the City Manager to get this together. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT- -GENE PIPES Consider a recap of the city's 'Tree Policy" as previously discussed preparatory to general distribution Mr. Pipes reviewed the City Council meeting process through which the city's existing tree policy was formulated between March 16 and July 11, 1989. He said the tree policy was spelled out in several Council Meetings during that time. He said the staff has been requested to condense that information into a more concise form for distribution to interested citizens upon request. He said the condensed form presented tonight is not to be represented as a comprehensive statement of the Council's policies as that has already been done by approving them in the council meetings and subsequently the minutes of those , meetings. He said Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director of Design Engineering, has simply tried to encapsulate or simplify /condense to two pages the salient issues so they can be easily read and understood and made available to the general population. He drew the Council's attention specifically to the statement . . . "that this policy referred to street right -of -ways and not utility or drainage easements." He said it was recognized that, as a practical matter, the sewer Lines and drainage easements on -grade would have to be placed in such a manner that the roots would remain out of the sewer system, which was a problem the Council viewed on videotape through the City's TV inspection system, and that in order for construction to lay on- grade, [although the city could minimize the impact on the trees] utility easements were not part and parcel of the tree policy. He said earlier Council's had authorized or required that the City Manager give permission or issue a permit for the removal or destruction of any tree in the street right-of -way. The process by which notice and process of the construction work itself had not been completely defined, he said, so the city endeavored to define it in more detail. Mr. Pipes also pointed out that the Council did discuss and recognize that the determination of whether or not other utility companies, such as Southwestern Bell, Entex, Gulf States, TeLecable, etc. must comply with this policy, as part of their permitting and construction procedures, was never acted upon. He said the city recognizes they have a franchise right to use the right -of -way and that above ground utilities are going to have a different impact than below ground utilities; the City was simply defining the construction practices for the utilities department and the engineer in laying out the city's water lines in the street right -of -ways in established areas and neighborhoods. He said he hopes this is a fair representation. He asked if there are any items the Councilmembers individually feet need to be more clearly stated or changed in any way. He said the Council's approval is needed before the condensed version will be released to the public. City Picnic -- October 13- -Fairgrounds , Mr. Pipes advised the Council of the upcoming city picnic, scheduled to be held at the Walker County Fairgrounds rather than the City's Palm Street water tower site. He said the Fairgrounds is again available since the Auction Barn has moved to their new location. He noted this will eliminate the need to move chairs and tables from the Fairgrounds to the water tower site; quite a task in previous years. He said the annual service awards will be presented and there will be lots of games, fellowship and socializing along MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "Q" 219 with the picnic lunch. He said if the employees and Council prefer the water tower site, the picnic can be scheduled to be moved back there in 1991. Consider appointment of two City Council representatives to serve as a Board Member and as an Alternate to the Houston - Galveston Area Council Mr. Pipes advised the H-GAC needs the city's approved board member and alternate representatives to the H -GAC for the coming year. He said Councilmember and Mayor pro tem Howard has served in a distinguished fashion for a number of years. He said his term of service on the Council will be completed in January. He said this item will be discussed further in the Mayor's portion of the agenda, and will then report the board member and alternate to H -GAC. MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT Consider H -GAC Board Member and Alternate for 1990 -91 Mayor Monday noted it has been a tradition that the senior member of Council serve in this capacity. She said the senior member, after Councilmember Howard leaves, will be Councilmember Barrett. She proposed that Councilmember Barrett be the H -GAC Board Member representative from Huntsville and that Councilmember Carter continue to serve as the alternate. Councilmember Green made the motion to approve of these nominations and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Monday noted that Councilmember Barrett has some big shoes to fill in following the service of Councilmember and Mayor pro tem Howard. Councilmember Barrett noted he is hoping he can do half as well as Councilmember Howard has done for the City. ' Consider award certificate to "Just Kids Day Care Center" for participation in Drug Free Program Mayor Monday noted this presentation had to be done at 5:15 P.M. to accommodate the schedules of Jack Kyle, Chairman of the Walker County Commission on Drug and Alcohol Use /Abuse and County Judge Frank Robinson. She noted the second certificate was issued to "Just Kids Day Care Center" for outstanding contributions to the Community War -on -Drugs and for the promotion of health, public safety, and protection of human life in Walker County, Texas. She said last ApriL, this day -care center produced an outstanding program for drugs and alcohol abuse in teaching children at a very early age. She said the first certificate was awarded to the High School Student Council for the program they held last year with the red ribbon campaign. She said one of the committee's goals within the Commission is to do a lot of these awards throughout this year, representing businesses, individuals, and groups that are joining in the community effort to fight drugs and aLcohot. She said the Council will be seeing a lot of these. She said if the Council has any people they would like to nominate who have conducted outstanding programs, the Commission would certainly like to know about them. Consider appointment to the Parks Advisory Board Mayor Monday presented the name of Mr. Ray Moore, Vice President, AARP; who will be President of AARP in 1991. She advised that Dr. Laverne Warner has resigned from her position with the Board, having served since February of 1986. Mayor Monday felt a representative from AARP is important for input into the parks and recreational areas across the city and will represent that element which is not now directly represented on this board. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of this appointment and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Quilt Form Mayor Monday advised in 1976 the Arts Commission awarded $750 to a group from the Grandperson's Center to construct a quilt, which was done of their memories of Huntsville. She said that quilt has gone ' on to be recognized in the state as one of the finest in the state and it will be included in a book currently being published. She said the quilt will be hung in the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston and the Council will receive invitations to see it hanging there. She said they are alL very proud that as a part of this process, the quilt has had a formal appraisal in the amount of $8,500. Mayor Monday advised the Grandperson's Sesquicentennial Quilt was taken to the Grandperson's Center for a celebration during which each of the ladies who worked on the quilt came forward to tell about her story. She said one MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "0" 220 Lady told about the train backing off the track; there were comments about the prison, Old Main, etc. She !! said she would like to go back and videotape them talking about the quilt. She said the Grandperson's are going to take a van to the George R. Brown Convention Center to see their quilt. She said there is an order form available for those who would Like to order a copy of the book [$29.00 if ordered now; $39.00 if ordered later] in which the Huntsville Sesquicentennial Quilt will appear. She said the book would make a very nice Christmas present. Meeting Concerning Inmate Release Mayor Monday advised she and Councilmember Bell met with Jerry Anglin and J. D. Davis who wanted to !. talk about the problem associated with the release of former inmates at the Walls Unit. She said it was an excellent conversation. She said Mr. Bounds, City Attorney, is going to contact the Railroad Commission to check some of their regulations, policies, and visit with their attorney to get sane ideas of where they stand on a number of issues that were identified today. She said when the city gets an idea of where the Railroad Commission stands an these issues, the City will get back with the people that are involved there and continue these discussions. She said they will keep the Council posted on any progress made. Habitat for Humanity Appeal Mayor Monday advised of an appeal from former President Jimmy Carter to join with the Habitat for Humanity. She said Councilmember Carter is already involved with this and some of the other counciLmembers may be. She said if anyone is interested in this program, she will be happy to share this letter with them. [Note: the Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical Christian Ministry having the mission of providing housing for people in need. Their goal is to repair several houses per year and to build at Least one new habitat house beginning in 1990.1 ' COUNCIL ACTION Fair on the Square Councilmember Gaines reminded everyone of the "Fair on the Square" to be held all day Saturday in downtown Huntsville. Smither Overpass Signalizati on Overdue CounciLmember Bell advised Mr. Pipes that there is still no sign Lization in -place at the Smither I-45 Overpass at Avenue S. Mr. Pipes advised the SDHPT indicated this would be a flashing /caution signal intersection; however, they have managed to get fully actuated signals installed in another location in the meantime, but no work that he can discern has been done at this location. He said he will follow up in the morning to find out the status of this particular request, noting it has been an awfully long time. Intersection of US 75N and FM 2821 Councilmember Bell advised this intersection is an extraordinarily dangerous intersection which was brought to his attention because of an accident his son had there. He asked if this was going to be handled any better when the work on widening Highway 75 North is accomplished. Mr. Pipes said he expects it will be because the turning lanes, etc. will be a great deal more defined. He said he does have a preliminary set ! of construction plans in his office which he will be glad to review with CounciLmember Bell, however, he did not think this intersection will be signalized. He said several city employee accidents have happened at that same intersection. He said it is difficult to judge space, timing, etc. but the additional travel lane should help or it could complicate the matter. He said he will be happy to review the plans with Councilmember Belt and to express his concerns to Allen Pritchard, Resident Engineer with the SDHPT. Councilmember Knotts noted right now it is like a big game of chicken to negotiate that area. Councilmember Bell noted that is what happened and "his chicken lost." I Tree Policy Councilmember Carter said the tree policy Looks good and he saw no problems with it. He said he had several self- proclaimed experts look at it on their own and they didn't find any problems with it either. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "g" 221 He did point out, however, that he would like to see the tree policy apply to the utility companies. He said he didn't know how much sentiment there would be on Council to do that, but that is his personal feeling.. Mr. Pipes said the city can always do that at the Council's pleasure, but this has just never been clarified. Councilmember Carter said he is just offering this as an idea because he doesn't know how the Council feels about this. Solid Waste Proaram on Friday CounciLmember Carter said he is unable to attend a solid waste program on Friday in Conroe, but in Listening to some of the activities at a previous solid waste meeting in Houston, he was reminded of something he meant to bring up for some time, which is that twice a year the city set aside a day for toxic household waste to be collected in a central location, rather than being put into the garbage every day and going into the landfill. He said that idea does not come from him as Lots of other cities are already doing this. He said it seems as if it should be an automatic thing the city ought to do: set aside two days and ask the residents to save up their toxic household wastes and bring their insecticide cans, and other types of toxic materials all at one time. He suggested at least two days a year to begin with, which could be expanded to more days later. Region VI City Manager's Meeting in Conroe on Friday Mr. Pipes said the Region VI City Manager's meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon in Conroe. He said interested mayors and Councilmembers are invited to attend. He said there will be presentations by three large service industries: Browning Ferris, Western Waste, and Waste Management as welt as the Texas ' Department of Health for a general round table discussion on the private sector involvement with the solid waste issues. He said arrangements will be made for Councilmembers who have free time on Friday to attend this all day session. He said Johnny Poteete, Director of Public Works, and Cindy Kellgren, Sanitation Superintendent, will accompany him to this meeting and Mayor Monday will be there for at least part of the day. Vance Hayman -- Former Police Chief - -Dies Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised former Police Chief Vance Hayman died today in a a Local hospital. He said he was Police Chief in the 60's and early 701s, and was succeeded in 1974 by Gail Burch but stayed on for about three years after that in various capacities in Emergency Management, Supervision of the Fire Department, and as the Ambulance Supervisor for some period of time before the EMS organization was formed. He said Chief Hayman gave the city many years of distinguished service and represented a bridge between the old local policing style and the modern policing movement that is somewhat recognizable in the transition from the straw hats and boots to the regular urban police uniforms. He said Vance Hayman's passing is something that should be acknowledged. He said the services have been set for 10:00 A.M. and if anyone is interested in attending as a group, he will be happy to provide transportation. United We Mr. Pipes, City Manager, said he would like to acknowledge the tremendous effort on the part of Ruth DeShaw, who, as a volunteer and as the City's Loaned Executive to the United Way Campaign and fund raiser this year for the city employees group, has raised thus far, 85,601.84 from the city employees group. He said this almost doubles the city's total from last year. He said Ruth is to be commended as this is a ' tremendous effort from all of the employees, but it is harder to stand up there and give the presentations and twist the arms a little bit gently to get the responses in a timely fashion. He said she has done a good job of that. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 2, 1990 BOOK "0" 222 MEDIA INGUIRES Tree Policy Greg Junek, Huntsville Item Reporter, asked if the tree policy that will be released to the public, as presented tonight, is an abbreviated form of the total policy. Mr. Pipes, City Manager, said the total tree policy is a compilation of minutes from several council meetings from last year as well as documents in writing. He said this can be characterized as a Reader's Diaest version of a multi -page actual policy that the Council has formally approved and approved again in terms of approving the minutes. Mr. Junek asked if it will be released to the public in an informational pamphlet format. Mr. Pipes said this is the reason it !' was kept to two pages with the attached tree species list to hand out just as the city does in the Community Development Department, the City Secretary's office, etc. Mr. Junek said then people visiting City Hall can pick up a copy. Mr. Pipes said this is correct. EXECUTIVE SESSION The Council then recessed to an Executive Session, the notice of which was posted at 3:50 P.M. on October 1, 1990. The Council considered a real estate acquisition matter on 7th Street. No formal action was taken. No other items were discussed. ADJOURNMENT pec ly submit ed, th DeShaw, City Secretary ' October , 1 2 990