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MIN CC 02/05/1991CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "0" 292 MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 5TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1991 IN THE CITY HALL COUNCI CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 6:00 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following members present: W. H. Hodges, Mayor 0. Eugene Barrett City officers present: Gary BeLL James L. Carter Gene Pipes, City Manager Ila G. Gaines William B. Green Scott Bards, City Attorney wiLLiam H. Knotts, Jr. Charles Robinson Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary Ronald L. Lange CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hodges called the formal meeting to order and then recessed the meeting into a work session the conference room to initiate a series of departmental briefings on budget and operations, beginning with Engineering Design Department. The Mayor and Council heard a departmental overview and update presentat by Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director of Engineering Design. FORMAL MEETING RECONVENED Mayor Hodges then reconvened the formal meeting at 7:00 P.M. Father Robert Barras of St. Catholic Church presented the invocation. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 22. 1991 councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the January 22 1991 minutes as oreDered a ' Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Robinson requested correction of the na of his son from Brian to "Bryant." All were in favor of adopting the minutes with this one correction and th motion passed unanimously. beautify home exteriors in the community Mrs. Rex, Chairman, Public Relations Committee, Huntsville Board of Realtors, and a member of th RevitaLization Committee [other members: Theresa Dierschke, Norma Farris and Linda Keeland], advised the Boar has had this revitalization committee in the past and that during the Latter part of 1984 and aLL of 1985, i sponsored a revitalization project to try to beautify and improve the community for the Texas Sesquicentennia Year 1986. She said the project was then dropped; however, this year because of the interest in revitalizatio as shown through the downtown revitalization project, the Board decided to reinstate this project. She the asked the Council for their endorsement. She said the committee wiLL be working in the residential areas o the community and not in the commercial areas as the city is downtown. She said they wiLL ask property owner to revitalize homes and provide the committee with pictures of the homes before the revitalization and afte revitalization so that these can be entered into a contest. She said awards will be made each quarter anl winners will receive a certificate and a sign designating their award will be placed in their yard. She sail that sign will remain in that property owners yard through that quarter and at the end of that quarter, it wit be taken to the next winner's yard for the next quarter. She said at the end of the year, the winners will the luncheon guests of the Board members. She noted the main reason for doing this is to take advantage of th interest in revitalization, as exemplified by the city, and to try to beautify and revitalize the city and th county as homes in the county will be included in this contest. She noted they are only concerned with th exteriors of homes and will not be judging the interiors of the homes. She again asked for the Council' bLessing and endorsement of this project. Mayor Hodges thanked Mrs. Rex for her presentation. He noted he assumes there will be a great amoun of support from this Council. He asked if a resolution would be appropriate. Mrs. Rex said the Board wouL enjoy having a Resolution endorsing their revitalization project. Mayor Hodges asked if any of the Council hal a problem with a resolution being drawn. There being none, Mayor Hodges then asked the City Secretary t prepare a resolution for action at the next formal meeting of the CounciL. Mayor Hodges noted revitaLizatio certainly makes a town nicer and enhances property values, home sales and economic development. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "w" 293 Dr. Crawford said this Association consists of approximately 25 very dedicated board members, 775 players, 1550 parents, 1000 grandparents, 2300 brothers and sisters, and a multitude of aunts, uncles, cousins and dogs. He said because of these numbers, it is clear that his association does have some support in the community. He thanked the Mayor and Council for the ballparks. He also thanked them for the opportunity to work with Mr. Ray Black, Parks and Recreation Superintendent, and Mr. Johnny Poteete, Director of Public Works. He said they have worked well with his Association through the years. He also thanked the City for the electricity and field maintenance for the ballparks. He said by comparison with other communities, Huntsville is very supportive of the Association. He also thanked the Council for backing them in all their requests over the years. Because of this, he said, Huntsville has the reputation of being one of the finest Dixie League programs in the state. He said each year when it comes time for the tournament, HuntsviLLe's name pops right up to the top as being the group that can put it on and one that has fine facilities to do it. Dr. Crawford said, however, it is now time that the City, the County, and the Baseball Association to start looking at some different things. He said this year they will play approximately 1250 ballgames on five fields with over 900 of those games being played on three fields. He said the schedule consists of two games per night on each of these fields; approximately six to ten games on each of these fields on Saturdays. He said Kate Barr Ross Park was built in 1974, and at that time, there were approximately 400 kids involved in the boys - or girls' programs. Today, he said, in just the boys' program alone, there are approximately 800 kids from ages five to 18. He said this does not include the girls, which adds another 250 to 300 people. He said they have very quickly reached the saturation point for utilization of the ballparks and facilities. He said through a cooperative effort between the Huntsville Boys' Baseball Association and Mr. Ray Black, they have been able to keep the fields in excellent condition and have received commendations at the state tournament last year as to how good the fields were. He said that is a major undertaking with the number of games that are played on them. The Council was advised that during this past year, the Huntsville Boys Baseball Association contributed approximately 2500 man hours and over $4,500 to improve the facilities there and that they have made that commitment again this year. He said there is no other organization in their community that puts back more than it takes away from the facilities. He said another problem is the restrooms. He said on a Saturday, they will be playing from 30 to 35 ballgames with 40 fans per bellgame with brothers and sisters, etc. for 1200 to 1350 people utilizing the restroom facilities. He said the restroom facilities are now over - utilized. Dr. Crawford also noted the parking facilities are also not sufficient as people are parking out along Highway 75, which is dangerous in exiting the vehicles and in having children running around the vehicles. Dr. Crawford said the Association feels it is really time to start thinking about new facilities. He said the economic situation does not dictate that, but they have no choice as they must provide for the kids. He said this year the Association will begin a major fund raising effort to put together a new facility. He said their goal is to raise $150,000 by January 1995. He said all he wants is $500,000. He asked the City to make a commitment to begin looking at these projects, noting they will not happen overnight. He said Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director of Design Engineering, has prepared a model of the facilities the Association would like to review, which will cost about $1.2 million. He said he feels it can be done with federal grants, local monies, the support of the City and the Association. Dr. Crawford asked for a commitment from the Council: 1. To instruct the Parks Board to research and initiate grant procedures; and 2. To help the Association work with the County because 46 percent of at players in the program come from the county; and 3. A commitment to help the Association construct a facility that will meet their needs for the kids for the next twenty years, just as Kate Barr Ross has done for the last 20 years; and 4. A commitment to help them support "the event" which will occur in late July to try to raise $90,000 in one night. He said the Association expects the city to be there to support them aLL the way; and 5. A commitment to continue to do the quality job it does as a Council for the citizens; and 6. A commitment for a vision for the future. In summary, Dr. Crawford said there is nothing the people of Huntsville cannot do if they put their minds to it. He thanked the Council again for their past support. He said he is looking forward to the future and that they are going to have a great season. Mayor Hodges thanked Dr. Crawford for his compliments of the Parks and Recreation staff, rating the CounciL also feels they do a good job. He said the Council is also appreciative of the Association's work. Mayor Hodges asked Mr. Pipes about the city's long range plans for the ballparks. Mr. Pipes said the city has talked about some practice facilities or multipurpose fields adjacent to Thomason Park at the former Location of the North Sewer Plant. He said the city has also studied and had a plan developed a couple of years ago for a sixplex baseball /soccer /multipurpose facility across the old Airport Road [now a Park Road] at Kate Barr Ross Park. He said while there have been a number of plans, the money has always been lacking. He said in the plan of a few years ago, one of the key elements was that the HISD Athletic Department join in the cost of the high school baseball field; HISD has been using the big field at Ross Park since 1974. He said the idea was to get the HISD, City, County and the associations involved. He said there has been some interest from the Soccer Association in working together. He said if $90,000 can be raised in one night, and the Soccer Association already has some funds, and the HISD may be thinking about it, perhaps a planning initiative should be developed. He said the city does have plans on the drawing board for facilities quite near what is needed and CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "g" 294 CONSIDER TOURIST COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS Consider appointments to the 1991 Tourism Council as requested by the Chamber of Commerce Mayor Hodges presented the recommendations of the Chamber of Commerce for appointments to a one year term on the Tourist Council, as foLLows: Guy Klingensmith, Vice Chairman some adjustments can be made to those plans as needed. He said It WILL not take a great aeaL of t1W to dust Pam Anisman [newl Stanford Douglas Jim Balzaretti off those plans. Bob Bell Don Kraemer Toni Bruner Mayor Hodges asked if there are any solutions to the short term restroom and parking problems. Mr. Steve Bullard Kent Lucas [new] Brett Conrad [newl Pipes said because of the construction on Highway 75 N, they may have a difficult time this summer with parking. Brad Cook [new] Virginia Moore [new] Sally Craycraft He said the city has paved about as much as it can for parking in the park within reasonable walking distance. Geraldine Dickerson [new] Glen Reader Phyllis Pinegar He said the Service Center parking lot has been available as well. Councilmember Green suggested signage to Dee McFarland indicate that Service Center parking can be used for baseball traffic. Mayor Hodges again thanked Dr. Crawford for his presentation. He asked him to check with Mr. Pipes, City Manager, to coordinate plans. Dr. Crawford encouraged the Council to look at the model that Mr. Isbell has prepared. He said this is very close to what the Association envisions. He said the Association is more than willing to put its monies into a multiuse facility because anything that can be done to benefit kids, whether it be soccer, baseball or basketball is going to make things better. Counci Lmember Knotts asked if it would be better to look at other locations in town. Dr. Crawford said the Association has some ideas and has talked to several different entities about exchanges of land and has talked with two major firms in the timber industry about the possibility of donating some land as they have done in other communities. He said the Land is the least of the problems. CounciLmenber Knotts suggested it may be well to have these ballpark areas scattered around. Dr. Crawford said for their organization, they almost have to be centralized because their commissioners oversee the park and manage the park. He said they have trouble now just having kids down on the Lower field, spreading their numbers out and keeping it organized and under control. He said, however, it would otherwise be desirable to have parks at( over town. Councilmember Knotts suggested another major facility comparable to Ross Park. Dr. Crawford said they can visualize that facility being utilized by the girl's program because they have the sane needs as the boys association. CounciLmember Green said problems would be created for parents if the fields are separated. Councilmember Knotts suggested it might be better for the people to have another major facility in the south part of town and one in the north part of town. CounciLmlember Barrett said if they put different Leagues in different parks, parents may find they must travel all over town to meet the needs of their children. Mayor Hodges asked Dr. Crawford to meet with Mr. Gene Pipes to coordinate these plans. u CONSIDER ELECTION OF MAYOR PRO TEN III ' Councilmember Gaines made the nation to elect Councilmember 0. Eugene Barrett as the Mayor Pro tem and Councilmember Bell seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CONSIDER TOURIST COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS Consider appointments to the 1991 Tourism Council as requested by the Chamber of Commerce Mayor Hodges presented the recommendations of the Chamber of Commerce for appointments to a one year term on the Tourist Council, as foLLows: Guy Klingensmith, Vice Chairman Candy Dixon Pam Anisman [newl Stanford Douglas Jim Balzaretti Val Husley [newl Bob Bell Don Kraemer Toni Bruner Dan Leasure Steve Bullard Kent Lucas [new] Brett Conrad [newl Jane Monday [new] Brad Cook [new] Virginia Moore [new] Sally Craycraft Bette Nelson Uawl Geraldine Dickerson [new] Glen Reader Phyllis Pinegar Gloria Wright Dee McFarland Councilmeaber Gaines made the motion to approve of these appointments and Councilmember Barrett seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion Passed unanimously CONSIDER AMBULANCE PURCHASE Consider Purchase and funding of a replacement _ambulance unit for the Emergency Medical Service through the H.G.A.C. Cooperative Purchase Agreement Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised that the EMS Board approved the purchase of a new ambulance through ' HGAC Cooperative Purchasing at a cost of $6,812.48 over the amount budgeted for its purchase in the HWCEMS FY 90 -91 budget. The Board also voted, since this was over the budgeted amount, that rather than have this money comes from operational funds, that each entity should increase its amount of money needed in their capital expense outlay to HWCEMS. The breakdown of how these funds were described in the current budget is as follows: CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "D" 295 HWCEMS Budget Encumbered funds (by each entity), FY 89 -90 823,000 Amount budgeted FY 90 -91 . . . . . . . 825 -000 Total funds currently available . . . . . . . $48,300 By Entity Encumbered capital funds $ 7,766.67 Budgeted capital funds S 8,333.33 Amount needed to cover overage S 2.270.83 Total amount needed by each entity upon receipt $18,370.83 Mr. Pipes advised the County and Hospital District have already approved their portion of the ambulance expense. He asked the Council's approval for $18,370.83, as outlined above. Councilmember Knotts made the motion to approve this expenditure and Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. Concilmember Barrett, an EMS Board member, advised they are buying all diesel type ambulances, which will have a lot more mileage capability;. however, they have to idle them a lot because it is better for the motor. He said while they cost a little bit more, they will last the city longer. He said the EMS service is one of the better things we have in Huntsville and we really need this replacement ambulance. Councilmenber Carter noted that diesel fuel is one of the worst air polluters that we can use. He said he hopes that the EMS, over time, will reconsider the use of diesel fueled vehicles. After another question concerning the trade -in_ for rtarifiratinn al wara in favor s .k. CONSIDER TRAFFIC CODE ORDINANCES Consider Ordinance No. 91- 1 - -stop sign on Hill Street at Smith Hilt Road Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented this ordinance, the caption of which is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 90 -1 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, AMENDING CHAPTER 12, MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, OF ITS CODE OF ORDINANCES BY PROVIDING A STOP SIGN ON HILL STREET AT SMITH HILL ROAD; PROVIDING A PENALTY OF OP TO 5200 A DAY FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS; MAKING OTHER RELATED FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED THERETO; AID PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF Mayor Hodges noted this is at the request of Councilmesber Robinson. He asked if anyone has any questions about it. Councilmember Robinson said he would just comment that he hopes that in the near future the curb signs will be in -place warning of the S -curve on Smith Hill Road. He said just this weekend another Lady, who was pregnant, drove off this road. He said he reported this incident to the Police Department and talked to Sgt. Lunsford regarding whether the warning signs would help. He said Sgt. Lunsford said the signs would help and it would also be better if the street were outlined with white lines. Mayor Hodges clarified that curb warning signs and the placement of white outlines on the pavement do not require Council action. Mr. Pipes said that is correct and the city will take care of both of these items. Consider Ordinance No. 91- 2 - -stop sign on Pine Valley at Willow Bend Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented this ordinance, the caption of which is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 91 -2 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, AMENDING CHAPTER 12, MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, OF ITS CODE OF ORDINANCES BY PROVIDING A STOP SIGN ON PINE VALLEY AT WILLOW BEND; PROVIDING A PENALTY OF OP TO 2200 A DAY FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS; MAKING OTHER RELATED FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED THERETO; AND PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION AND EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF Consider Ordinance No. 91 -3 - -no Parking zones on the south side of Patrick Street from Trinity Cut -off to 290 feet east of Trinity Cut -off Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented this ordinance, the caption of which is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 91 -3 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, AMENDING CHAPTER 12, MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, OF ITS CODE OF ORDINANCES BY ESTABLISHING NO PARKING 2ORS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PATRICK STREET FROM TRINITY CUT -OFF TO 290 FEET EAST OF TRINITY CUT -OFF; PROVIDING A PENALTY OF UP TO 5200 A DAY FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS; MAKING OTHER RELATED FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED THERETO; AND PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION AID EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. There being no other comments or questions on these ordinances, Mayor Hodges requested their approval. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK Q. 296 CONSIDER QUARTERLY BUDGET REPORTS - BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS AND TAX AND INVESTMENT REPORTS Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented these routine reports, which are reported to the Council quarterly giving them the cumulative totals to -date on the status of the city in the various funds and operations. Mr Pipes said the property tax response this year has been very good and the city is weLL ahead of collections noting the city has collected about 44 percent of its Levies this year as compared to 38 percent last year thi time. He said the sates tax report is also very positive. After a general review and explanation of th reports and questions from the Council for clarification of the information provided, Councilmember Robinso CONSIDER HISTORICAL SURVEY Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented a memo concerning a survey of historic buildings and sites fromh Linda Pease, Arts Commission Coordinator. He said attached to it is a contract with Ausland Architects to do? the work the Council discussed last year in conjunction with the downtown capital projects. He said one of the;l major features of this project was the historical survey that had been discussed for some time. He said them; city had hopes it would get a grant from the Texas Historical Commission to assist with this work over this time'.1 period, however, that has not been forthcoming because there are no federal funds available for the Texas',! Historical Commission to allocate. He said the Historical Commission has pledged some in-kind assistance in''„ personnel to assist with the project. Mr. Pipes said the City had budgeted and planned to spend originally''; 83,500, the Arts Commission, 81,500 and the County, $3,000 for a total of $8,000 in matching funds. He said, the City did receive a letter from the County Judge Frank Robinson indicating that the County's 83,000,;,. originally intended as matching funds for a grant, are being held in abeyance until the city can reapply for!'. the grant. He said the Commissioner's Court has not met nor made a decision in this matter, but he feels they would support this recommendation. Mr. Pipes said the contract for Ausland Architects is for $8,000 and it was expected originally that Walker County has some 925 buildings or sites of a potential architectural or historical significance. He said this contract will do about 800 of that 925, mostly the ones in the city. He said if the county continues to 9. be reluctant to add their money to the project, it could be possibly reduced to 55,000 so the City is hoping to get 500 sites documented and put in the inventory. He said we will gain quite a bit with this, although we may not get the entire city. He said the question is how to proceed; go forward with the money we have from'.' the Arts Commission and city budget to do a portion of the work, or postpone action, as the county suggests, in hopes the federal budget will reinfuse the State Historical Commission with some money to fund this; or try; to get some in -kind assistance from the Texas Commission on the Arts to accomplish the entire project with what money we have. He said the reason for this particular urgency is the photography necessary to take full li advantage of the situation is best done when there are no leaves on the trees. He said we are fast approaching spring and thereby losing the effectiveness of that particular project. Mr. Pipes said Ms. Linda Pease, Arts,,'. Commission Coordinator, and members of the Arts Commission, are here if the Council has any particular!; questions. Mayor Hodges noted then the City Manager is looking for guidance and is not looking for a', recommendation. Mr. Pipes said they would recommend doing the $8,000 worth of work because that is the ideal; however, with $3,000 being somewhat reserved from the County, that creates quite a dilemma. He said the Arts',! Commission did meet last Thursday night. Ms. Betty HerLong said the Commission did not have the opportunity„ to consider this at length, but in just speaking to one another over the telephone, they would like to use somejl of the Arts Commission matching grant money, if possible; some this year and some next year - -as they have sore,; flexibility in the use of the city funds set aside to match the Meadows grant funds. She said the Commission!) would like to proceed with the project if the city can figure out a way for it to do it. Ms. Pease said the '..l grant money being referred to is really city money budgeted in year 11 and year III to match the Meadows 4 Foundation grant. She said the city has budgeted over the three year period, $10,900 for each phase, one was''. intended to be the comprehensive survey and the second year to work toward getting sites on the National Register of Historic Places and Texas Landmarks so that this can begin to be an economic development tool and the final year, the preservation plan and continuation of getting things in the National Register." Councilmember Green asked if the $3,000 is because the County has not funded their portion. Mr. Pipes said the letter from the Judge says the County committed their funds to a grant match project and having no grant to 1. match, they don-t feel the city should proceed and that the city should simply table this and wait until next year to reapply for the grant; this is what the Judge told him over the telephone. Mr. Pipes said there are about 800 buildings in the city that would meet threshold qualifications; 925 is the estimate of historic buildings county -wide. Mr. Pipes said if $8,000 will do an 800 house inventory,', then we might conclude that $5,000 will do 500 of the 800 that are in town. He said the city is not talking', about just houses, but all the buildings and structures and the downtown buildings will be particularly important to get inventoried and documented and the foundation work done for a National Register or Texas Register or Certification. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "0" 297 Mayor Hodges said, in summary, we have two choices: 1. one to go as far as we can with the $5,000, or 2. find another $3,000 and do everything within the city limits and do nothing outside the city Limits. He asked if we elect to do the full funding, where would we get the extra money to transfer it. Councilmember Knotts said he does not recall all of the items the Council discussed spending out of the $100,000 of the matching fads this year; this brick paving project was one that we let on the 18th and that is one that was funded out of that. Mr. Pipes said that is part of it. Mr. Knotts said we also had some other utility work that was taken out of that amount. Mr. Pipes said we have done the streetscape master plan and it will be brought to the Council on the 26th in a joint meeting with the Arts Commission in the Council Chambers for a presentation, but that money has already been spent. Mr. Knotts said we had talked about developing the Spring site out of this money. Mr. Pipes said that is a county commitment, not a city commitment. Mr. Pipes asked Linda Pease for information concerning funding the downtown facility improvements. Linda Pease said the Arts Commission has not discussed where the money will be acquired. She said at the time they met, they were unaware that the county might pull its money out. She said she would be hesitate to say where it should come from. Mayor Hodges asked if there is urgency to do this tonight. Mr. Pipes said the only time urgency is getting the survey work done while the trees, shrubs, bushes are defoliated. Mayor Hodges suggested tabling this item until we have time to review it further. Councilaember Green said this indicates that we are only going to be looking at structures inside the city Limits. He asked if it is a problem if the Texas Historical Commission doesn't send personnel. Ms. Pease said it is not a problem; the original intent was that the city would have $8,000 and that it would ask for matching funds from the Texas Historical Commission. She said with the $16,000, the city and county together would be able to do a comprehensive survey of both city and county, with the estimation that about 800 of the 925 would be found within the city and about 125 more structures would be found within the county [outside the city], based on a specific type formula of the Texas Historical Commission. She said since the city did not get the matching grant, it is back to the $8,000 and for that amount, it could get the city totally and comprehensively done so that from that point on, it would be a matter of trying to get the sites or buildings on the National Register of Historic Places or the Texas Landmark Allocation. She said the other option would ' have been to do just an inventory and not do all of the research. She said they had, from the beginning, worked with a committee made up of the people in the community, people with the Historical Commission, and when the city did not get the grant, the committee met and the feeling was that one thing ought to be done totally, so that we will be ready to go forward in time to get a designated lardmark. She said the committee and the city worked with the local historical commission to agree that the city ought to try to get one thing comprehensively done that would be appropriate and since most of them fell within the city to do that first and then to do the county wide and the remaining historical research that relates to the general area with the second phase. She said this is what the Arts Commission recommends. she said the architects agreed that would be suitable for them and that they would be willing to do that. She said we have not yet received a formal letter from the Texas Historical Commission so that is why we are late. She said they have talked with them on the phone since it is getting to be this late as there are only a few weeks left during which the photography can be done by Ausland Architects. She said the plan was to get approval this evening so the item could go to the County Commissioner's agenda next week and AusLand Architects could be in town the next day. She said it can be delayed, but it was being pushed to try to save time so that everything could be photographed; it would be next December or January before they could photograph if it is not done soon. Councilmember Carter said he would Like to see this project come to fruition. He asked when we found out we diet get the grant. Mrs. Pease said she called a week and one -half ago because the city had not formally heard. She said the Texas Commission advised they had not received federal funds. She said they received a very small amount of funding from the Federal Government this year but they felt that some of the historic sites were becoming so eroded, such as the Cato Nation and some of the other areas in Texas, that they decided to put all funding they received into those kinds of threatened archeological sites and none into comprehensive surveys for Local communities. She said there was considerable work to do to get the committee back together and to talk with the architect and to meet with the local Arts Commission before we could bring it to the Council. Councilmeober Carter said the county is rat going to pay for us to do a survey within the city and this amount of money is to not do anything in the county which is what we would be doing; if they would put up their 83,000, they would be paying for a survey within the city limits of Huntsville. He said we might argue that the City of Huntsville is in the county and they ought to agree and go along with it, but if they asked us to spend $3,000 to do a survey in the county, we might take the same sort of position. Councilmember Carter said he now understands where the county is on this project. Mr. Pipes said the Judge's expressed concern was solely for the fact that it was intended originally as a grant match and there is no grant. Councilmember Carter said but we were going to do the county and the city under this grant match and now we have dropped back to the city. He felt we should table this until we finally understand despite the urgency with the budding vegetation. He then moved to table this item for at Least a week. Mayor Hodges said we either need to fund it to S5-000 tonight or table it to see if we can find another 53.000. Councilmember Knotts said he will second Councilmember Carter's nation. All were in favor and the motion Passed unanimously. Mayor Hodges asked Mr. Pipes to work on this to bring back a recommendation. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOW ..a.. 298 � CITY MANAGER'S REPORT i Consider City officer election date information. as requested Mayor Hodges asked the City Manager what the city's options are if it elected to change its election 'date. Mr. Pipes said it is possible to be done but quite difficult from the standpoint of the Limitations' ! envisioned on the state election law. He said the state election law, as last amended, gave the city the option to change the dates with certain alternatives at that time. He said the city charter set the election date in April and didn't give the city any authority other than through another charter election to change that particular facet of the charter. He said the charter reflects the city's original April election date. ,! History of Election Dates: 1885 -1845 -- unknown Ij 1886 -1970 -- April (1st Saturday) 1' it 1971 -1975 -- October (1st Tuesday) 1976 -- No election held (Justice Department order)', 1977 -- January (3rd Saturday) r 1978 -1987 -- April (1st Saturday) 1987 -- Super Tuesday removed April date, added May (1st Saturday) 1988.1991 -- Council chose January elections Ord Saturday) Mr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, noted in 1975, the state initially adopted the Texas Uniform Election it Code provision concerning uniform election dates. He said the cities could only have its elections on certain;, days and the most common date chosen by municipalities at that time was April. He said there were certain i'�. exceptions made for the City of Houston, but generally most cities were required to go to April elections. He �l said the City adopted an April election date and in a Charter review, the Charter was amended [April 3, 19821" to reflect that change to correlate with what was actually required by state Law. As part of the Super Tuesdayil bill, he said, cities were required to change from the April date to either a date in May, January or August.i'. [The original May date was the third Saturday and the legislature later changed that to the tat Saturday inl. May.] He said the City Council decided then to go to the January date. Mr. Bounds then referred to the Texas '.j Election Code Article 41.005, Sections (b) and (c), as foLLows: "(b) If a Law outside this code requires the general election for officers of a political subdivision to be held on a date other than a uniform election date, the government body of the political subdivision shall set the eLection date to comply with this subchapter. (c) Within two ears after the effective e date of this rode the governing of a political . 9 g body Po subdivision may change, one time only, the date of the general election for the political subdivision's officers from one authorized uniform election date to another if: (1) the new date is not more than 250 days earlier or later than the former date; and (2) the government body changes the date at Least 150 days before the new date or the former date, whichever is earlier." Mr. Bounds then referred to an excerpt from the Texas Municipal Election Law Manual by Mary Kate WaIL [January, 1988): "Uniform election dates. In 1975 the LegisLature prescribed four uniform dates in each year for holding general and special. elections and required that every general or special election be held on one of those dates, with certain enumerated exceptions. E.C.Sec. 41.001. Under the latest amendment of this section (H.B. No. 28, Acts 70th Leg., 2nd C.S., July 1987), effective January 1, 1988, these four dates are: (1) the third Saturday in January; (2) the first Saturday in May; (3) the second Saturday in August; and (4) the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Before 1988 the second uniform date in each calendar year was the first Saturday in April. In September of 1986 that date was changed to the third Saturday in May, in connection with changing the dates of the general and runoff primary elections of political parties in even - numbered years from the first Saturday in May and June to the second Tuesday in March and April (E.C.Sec. 41.007). However, in July of 1987 the Legislature again changed the second uniform date to the first Saturday in May, and provided that a runoff election following an election on that date must be held on the next -to -last or last Saturday in May. H.B. No. 28, 1987, cited above. Section 4 of H.B. No. 28 authorized the governing body of a political subdivision which had held its general election on the first Saturday in April to choose a different uniform date by action taken in accordance with E.C. Sec. 41.005(c) before January 1, 1988, except that the action had to be taken not later than September 10, 1987, if the date chosen was the third Saturday in January in even - numbered years.'- Mr. Bounds said although the City CounciL may not now have the authority to change the election date, it is not clear by the statute whether that is something the electorate could do as a part of the charter amendment process. He said this is something on which he might request an attorney general's opinion, or alternatively, in order to be absolutely safe that our election is on the proper date, to get an amendment to this section to make it clear that a change by either charter amendment seems appropriate and it is authorized; or have the Texas Legislature authorize the governing body to change, once again, the election date under certain parameters. He said the City of Corpus Christi has a speciaL election date. He said cities between I CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK --V 299 27,000 and 30,000 are authorized to change the election date from am date to another, if specific legislative authority becomes a fact, but unless that happens, he did not think the City Council has the ability to change the election date. He said it may be that the voters, by charter amerxfient, can change it. Mayor Hodges asked for a consensus vote as to whether the city is interested in changing the date. • Councilmember Green felt the current date is fine because the alternatives are not good; • Councilmember Bell was strongly in favor of changing the date because he feels the January date is inappropriate and discourages voter participation; • Councilmember Carter felt the city could petition its Legislators to pass a special bill to give Huntsville an election date that would better coincide with the budget process. He suggested asking State Representative Allen Hightower and State Senator Jim Turner to introduce a bill that would get our election date out of the holiday period, but not move it so far into May so that we arid up with budgetary problems. He felt if Corpus Christi was allowed to do that, there is at least a chance Huntsville may be allowed to do that. He felt the end of February or first of March would be a better time. Mr. Bounds said the Corpus Christ election provision said they can have it on a Saturday in April and only in odd numbered years, which eliminates the Super Tuesday conflict, and it probably means they have council terns Longer than two years. He said it will not be possible for Huntsville to have a similar type bill because we have two year terms and need to have elections every year. Councilmember Carter suggested doing some additional research. * CounciLmember Robinson said he preferred the May date; * Councitmenber Lange said having gone through an election recently, he still feels in limbo and would Like additional discussion. He said the election results since 1974 reflect no variance in the number of peopLe that are turning out for the election. He said while he does not particularly care for it in January because it did cut into his holidays, there are good points and bad points to both sides. He said a compromise date might be considered. He said as far as new city councilmmibers becoming familiar with the budget, if we do move the date to May or close to budget time, people that are running for city council are going to have to became familiar with that budget before they are elected, which may mean we will have to begin attending city council meetings and become participants as observers much earlier. * CounciLmember Barrett said he has expressed his opinions several times that the January date is the best of those from which we have to choose, but if we could get an April date, he would find that an ideal time. He said the January date is still better than May or August. He felt we should stay with the January date if we have no new choices. * Counci lnnenber Knotts said he would be in favor of looking at trying to change the date to Nay. * Councilmember Gaines agreed with Councilmember Barrett and felt we should stay with the January date. She felt the voter participation does not have as much to do with the time of the year as it does with the content of the ballot and this was proven in this last election. She said we had 1700 people come out to vote but this was simply because the positions were contested and she didn-t feel the time of the year has that much to do with it. She said she also feels May and August are difficult because a new councilmember is not familiar enough with the council's role. She felt unless another alternate date is made available, she would favor January. * Mayor Hodges asked if we can change to the May uniform date, we will be using the same date with HISD. He noted if we stay as we are, we will conduct elections on the same day at the walker County Hospital District. He said if we got it changed to April, we'd be out there alone. Mayor Hodges said there are advantage and disadvantages to both dates, but if we share election costs with another entity, we realize a savings in money and should get greater voter participation, however, we don't want the city election to influence the outcome of the HISD election or Hospital District election or vise versa. He said he felt there is consensus for Mr. Bounds to check into an April possibility, and if that is not feasible, we'll look at the standard [authorized uniform election] dates and reconsider those. Consider correspondence concerning the Proposed Cagle Recreation Area as requested by CounciLmember Carter Councilmember Carter presented a copy of a draft letter to Mr. Timothy Bigler, District Ranger, Forest Service, in response to the Letter written by former Mayor Jane Monday endorsing the development of the proposed Cagle Recreation Area, noting his letter presents an opposing view. He said if there are any members of council who concur with the content of his letter, he would appreciate knowing that, so that he can include the statement in his letter that "several" Councilmembers disagree with the former Mayors personal position. He said his opposition stems from the fact that, while not opposing the development, he does oppose the area proposed for its construction which is in the area of an endangered species [red cockaded woodpecker]. Mayor Hodges said he didn-t think it is necessary to vote on this item. He said he realizes CounciLmember Carter is responding to a former letter. He said in the future, he would hope that individual councilmembers would feel free to express their personal opinions without using City of Huntsville stationery. Councilmenbers Bell and Knotts noted they concurred with the content of the letter but did not feel they necessarily have to sign it. Concilmember Lange noted he has a degree in Forestry and before he would make a statement concerning an environmentaL impact, he would want to see many documents, i.e., an environmental impact study, statements from the Sierra Club itself, etc. He commended CounciLmember Carter, however, for his thoughts. CounciLmember Carter moved to table this item from form action and Councilmenber Knotts seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider Oakwood Cemetery Association right -of -way swap proposal Mr. Pipes asked that this item be moved up on the agenda because Mr. Charles Smither, Jr. was present to discuss it. The Council was advised of September 28, 1988 information concerning the Cemetery Association's need for expansion, as it affects the City's master plan proposal to connect 10th Street and Ryan Ferry Road. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "g" 300 Hii said the city offered at that time to purchase a smell part of the east end of the tract of property be considered considered for development by the Association at a price of $15,000 for fee simple title to this property. Mr.. Pipes said Mr. Smither, Treasurer, Dakwood Cemetery Association, advised there is great interest on behalf of! his sub - committee in following up on the city's offer of trading part of 9th Street for the needed right -of-we across the rear of the Cemetery property [9th Street from Avenue F to Ryan's Ferry Road (approximately)] ford the area described in the September 28, 1988 letter. �' Mr. Smither advised in his letter to Mr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, dated January 29, 1991, that aa'l a part of this agreement, procedures, and necessary permits, etc., regarding the new cemetery, would be required!, to be agreed to in advance and be a part of the transaction. He noted the Cemetery Association would noth require the short "two year' time frame that was mentioned, but would require a definite date (probably withiril, a five to ten year range) and a definite agreement as to the condition of 9th Street as of the date of it transfer to the Cemetery Association (i.e -, pavement in good condition, utility lines removed, pavement removed 1, and replaced with fill, etc., or some type of option by the Cemetery Association to be decided at a later date),II me He said if there should be so sort of possible problem with the trade, he would suggest that if the outright!! purchase offer is still a possibility, that it be mentioned as an alternative. !' Mayor Hodges apologized for not moving this item up as it is his policy to move items up on the agendas, when there are citizens there to address them. He then asked the Council for their comments. Mr. Pipes said if there are any questions, he will be happy to answer them, but the letter is a standing offer for the Counci h', to consider later perhaps as a real estate matter. Mr. gourds, City Attorney, said it would be appropriate for,.. the Council to reconsider the location of 9th Street and 10th Street on its transportation plan to see if it'' is still agreeable to the offer. Co ncilmenber Green noted we cannot really do anything with regard to the.', cemetery property unless we make a decision with regard to the property which is adjacent to that and that also!', falls into a plan relative to the overall circulation of that area. He said he does not disagree with the ideal', of trading land but he does have some problem with the resulting circulation pattern. Mr. Pipes said 9thii Street, as it intersects Ryan's Ferry Road, has to have an outlet because we have to get to Martin Luther Kingil Boulevard somehow. Councilmember Green said we cannot do that unless we buy the other piece of land. Mr. Pipes)'.. said it does have parallel real estate considerations that need to be addressed. He said he wanted to give the''. Council the opportunity to address Mr. Smither's interest in coming to us at this time; the Council can pursuel'. it later as the city does have to resolve the attendant problems. Mayor Hodges asked then what the procedure''. should be. Mr. Pipes said the city now needs to address the problems in the transportation and the' comprehensive plans in the very near future. Mr. Smither said that would be acceptable to him. Review the status of the rate increase request (Docket No 8702) of Gulf States Utility Comcarn Mr. Pipes advised the Council has been provided a packet of information relating to a final hearing,) concerning the most recent rate case for GSU. He said he has tried in four pages to cut down ten years of activity in the Gulf States matter through various rate cases and events to try to give the Council alj perspective on the whole matter. He said next Wednesday, February 13, 1991, at 9:00 A.M. in Austin, the Public!,, Utility Commission is set to consider the administrative law examiners' findings in the case and hear all', arguments by the company, intervenors, and anyone else, to hopefully conclude Docket No. 8702. He said the :, coalition cities steering committee has requested that any elected official or private citizen that can attend,, the hearing do so to support the examiners conclusions as the oast favorable compromise that my be expected.!; He said there is great concern that the Commission might be favorably influenced to let stand the CorrpanV s!. preemptive implementation of $55 million in rates under bond as unopposed if little or no public reaction isii heard. He said it is recognized and understood that everyone is tired of hearing about this matter and is wornll out by the prolonged tedium of this convoluted case history. He said surely Gulf States will use every matters at its disposal to influence the Commission to award the full rate request, that started out to be 567.5 millionl� and is now recommended by the examiners to be $31.4 million. He said the Commission has shown a tendency in;j the past to ignore examiner's findings and even staff recommendations and just nave with some whim and caprice] in taking action. He pointed out that city officials and citizens alike, always maintain great respect and L, genuine affection for the local office employees and managers of Gulf States Utilities. He said their'•,) professionalism and corporate citizenship have been and remain exemplary in nxmerous areas, such as the Teamil Cities Economic Development initiatives, the downtown utility line relocation and many other examples. He said)) the issue does not call for citizenship; all involved are good citizens and no ill will is harbored toward the company or its employees. He said a strong, healthy utility system is viable to our future economic prosperity.';. He said what is at issue is the same types of corporate problems that have beset many companies in the past' several years and that is huge capital investments merle under one market condition and then the market changes!., and when the utility customer is the one that has to bear the burden to correct those mistakes then certainly those people need to be represented. He said he will be available if there is sufficient interest to provider) transportation to Austin for anyone who can break loose on Wednesday, February 13. He said Mayor Grady Chandler), of New Waverly has already expressed an interest in going with him, but certainly if he is the only one that is able to go, then Mayor Chandler can go by himself and he will attend the Chamber of Commerce and other city '9 duties on that day to which he has already committed. He said this is an important matter, meetings have been held recently and the information is provided, however, there is too much to go into tonight. He asked the Councilmembers to get back with him if they are available to go to Austin Wednesday. :. Review legal opinion of Councilmenbers- spouse service on City Boards or Commissions Mayor Hodges advised the City Attorney, Scott Bounds, has researched an answer to Councilmember Ronll Lange's question concerning the service of his spouse on a city (ward now that he has been elected to thei'.. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "q" 301 Council. The opinion, for the record, is reproduced below: Opinion: Scott Bounds. City Attorney, January 28. 1991 - -Wife of ConciLmember on City Board - - question as to whether the wife of a newly elected councilmember may retain her position on a City board. The position involves no compensation. Section 14.11 of the Huntsville City Charter states, in part that "no person related . to the Mayor, any member of the Council or City Manager, shall be appointed to any office, position, clerkship or other service of the City." The charter provision does not require the forfeiture of any position, rather it works prospectively to prohibit the "appointment" of a relative to a position. This interpretation is consistent with Article 5999a of the Texas Revised Civil Statutes. In fact, the statute was amended in 1987 to provide that no "nepotism law contained in any charter or ordinance of any municipal corporation of this State shall prevent the appointment, voting for, or confirmation of any person who shall have been Continuously employed in any such office, position, clerkship, employment or duty for the following period prior to the election of appointment,as applicable, of the officer or members related to such employee in the prohibited degree . at Least six months if the officer or member is etected . • In other words, the City Charter cannot prohibit the reappointment of a councilmember's spouse to a position held at least six months prior to election of the Counci Lmenber. MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT - -W. H. HODGES Consider appointments to City Council Committees: Personnel and Finance Mayor Hodges then appointed Counci Lmembers Barrett, Bell, Gaines and Knnotts to the Personnel Committee and asked that Councilmebmer Barrett serve as Chairman. He than appointed Councilmembers Green, Carter, Robinson and Lange to the Finance Committee and asked that Counci Lmember Green serve as Chairman. Councilmember February 7, 1991, 10:00 A.M.. Garden Club's Annual Meeting -- Featuring Prominent Speaker on Solid Waste ' Mayor Hodges advised that on Thursday morning at 10:00 A.N. in the Flag Room of First National Bank, the Garden Club will have their annual meeting. He said they are featuring a very prominent speaker in the solid waste field who will talk about solid waste. He encouraged the Council to attend that meeting, noting several city staff members will be there. Cellular One Open House Mayor Hodges advised Cellular One, a new company in town, recently had their open house at their location in the Town West Shopping Center and will bring ten new jobs to the City of Huntsville. He said the city is delighted to have Cellular One as a part of the business community. COUNCIL ACTION Consider request for an automatic tabling policy for any posted agenda item at Councilmesber request - -Dr. Bell Counci lmember Bell recommended this policy to the Council as simply a continuation of the kind of spirit that prevailed here tonight, if something is either misunderstood or if there is a need for further elaboration, he would like for the Council to consent to the policy of a councilmember having the right to slow something down for a seven day period so that more information can be obtained. He said it has been his perception over the last six years that he has been on the council, that there have been times when he has not felt comfortable with the pace and that is why he is proposing this policy action. He said it is a courtesy table policy that has been adopted in the City of Houston and apparently works fairly well. He said he is not suggesting that a councilmember could indefinitely table something, but he is asking for a seven day cooling down consideration period on anything that comes up, irrespective of whether there is a consensus on the part of the rest of the council. Mayor Hodges felt this is a good idea, but felt a gentlemen's agreement or the like may serve that purpose. Councilmember Green asked if it is being suggested that if one member of Council wants to table something, it would automatically be tabled until the next meeting? Councilmember Bell noted that is what he is suggesting. Mayor Hodges said if, in fact, there is an emergency on that matter, the council may not grant the gentleman's agreement. Councilmember Green felt just following the council's adopted rules of order should be sufficient to meet those needs. Mr. Bounds advised the Council has never really adopted a set of meeting ' rules such as Roberts Rules of Order. Counci Lmember Green asked if it is being suggested that the Council not even vote on whether to table a matter and that it would be automatic at the request of one councilmember. Councilmebmer Bell noted this is what he intends in his proposed policy. He said it is a courtesy to each other to have this policy so that any one member has the right to slow something down. Councilmenber Green noted in some cases the re- consideration period could be as long as a 14 day period if the Council is not scheduled to meet for two weeks. Mayor Hodges suggested the Council my wish to try this for awhile and if the City Manager feels 14 days is too long, then we may have to override the table policy. Councilmx'mber Bell said or perhaps a council meeting should be called in seven days. He said he feels it is a very uncomfortable and somewhat unfair procedure if a person comes to a council meeting after having seen the packet for between 24 or 48 hours CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "g" 302 to be expected to vote on something that can be quite complicated. He said it may demand consultation with constituency. Mayor Hodges felt the advance agenda listing should help in that regard. Councilmember Green said if an item is that complicated the Council can always vote to table it rat than have such a thing as an automatic tabling policy. He said if it is pressing enough that it needs to tabled, the Council has the ability to do that now. He said he disagrees with the notion that any one of Council can prolong something even on a whim by just saying he wishes to table it. * Councilsember Gaines agreed with Counci Lmember Green, noting she too is uncomfortable with an automatic tabLing policy. I' * Concilmember Carter said he normally agrees with Councilmuumber Bell and two weeks ago he would have voted!, for this policy, but at present, he did not see as much need for it. He said he now feels that with a new council and a new set of working relationships, he is comfortable that the Council will probably agree to tabling, for the most part, in a gentleperson's agreement format. He said he would be opposed right now to the automatic tabling policy. * Councilmenber Bell said he still feels strongly about adopting the policy because there are times when they, majority of the conci I feels a need to do something and the minority, even one person, may have real problems11 with going ahead quite so quickly. He said he would like to see an informal agreement to do this since we dd', not have formaL agreement. * Councilmember Lange felt this council has good communication and while he has no probLem with CouncilmemberlIl, Bell's suggestion, he did not think it needed to be a formal type policy because if Councilmember Bell werei'�. to stand up and say things are going too fast and too heavy, he felt the current council would see that arid! take that into consideration. He said he does not see the necessity for a formal automatic tabling policy!'' at this time. * Councilmember Barrett said in the seven years he has been on the Council, he has never seen the tine come upi''ll when someone was vehemently against something that the Council didn't give that person that consideration.'! He saw no need for the policy. * Concilmenber Knotts felt, however, that the Council can be considerate generally of other counciLmember-sl�i concerns with the help of Mayor Hodges. He said Mayor Hodges has been of great help in the meeting tonight': in allowing things to go at a slower pace. He said we can try it this way for several months to see how it! works out without an automatic policy to see if everyone agrees. ' * Mayor Hodges said then the Council will continue with the way it has been doing it, noting the consensus seems" to be that the Council needs to vote on things. * Councilmenber Barrett said when the Council did go ahead and vote on things, it was because there was a time -', problem involved, otherwise, he feels the Council has been considerate of each other. Advance Agendas to be Provided Mayor Hodges said the advance (future) agenda items on green paper that was provided is just the firstii one of this type and it can be improved. He asked for the Council's help on suggestions in this regard as'!, perhaps it can be broaden a little more and if there are things the Council would like to see on it, they should) contact the City Manager so that it can be scheduled. Council Meeting Format Change Requested Mayor Hodges said the Council schedules its meetings to begin at 6:45 P.M. for citizen input and then'. :I the formal session starts at 7:00 P.M. He said many times no one is here for citizen input, or maybe there is'!' only one person, so the Council has to wait for ten minutes before it can begin the formal session. He asked)) if the City can schedule the Council Meeting at 6:45 P.M. and have the first agenda item be citizen input and if they are here, the Council will listen to them for 15 minutes and if no one is there, they can begin the; meeting imaediatety. Mr. Bounds said that would be fine. Mayor Hodges asked if this is acceptable to then Council. The Council concurred with this new procedure. it Consider an alternative proposal for ioi nt development of the Founder's Spring site with Walker County Dr Bell;; Courcilmember Bell noted one of the things which prompted his proposal for an autonatic tabling policy;) was the rapidity with which the Council acted on the parking lot on University and 10th Street. He said he did not have prior information on that and it came down rather quickly; that would have been an appropriate timed. for a courtesy table. Subsequently, in the intervening amount of tine, he has had a chance to do some checking(:: with the County and talked to various officials about this parking lot. He said it would seem that it is not;) quite cut in stone as the Council was led to believe it was on the night it voted. He encouraged the Council -'' to give more discussion to this matter. He said he understands the county owns the Lot but that does not: necessarily mean they can do whatever they want with it; secondly, it does not necessarily mean the city needs;'. to participate in heLping them to do whatever they want with it. He said he personally feels that particular ' site is one of the most important historical, cultural, and downtown area in the entire city; it is where the city started•- Pleasant Gray's Spring Site. He said to put in a 20 X 20 green space surrounded by hot asphalt in the middle of the summer is not to do our tourist industry or our historic sensibilities much justice. He said at the very least, he would like for the City Council to recommend to the County that they leave out a- square, starting with the site of the spring, extending to 10th Street and to University Avenue on the west arid!'.. leave at least a much larger green space, a pocket -park if you Like, to accentuate and emphasize that particular'' spring. He said in talking with the county, there are some possibilities here. He said County Judge Frank!' Robinson assures him all the county is interested in is parking spaces. He said since the city leases the!.'.: CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "G" 303 parking lot across from the city hall, �:, pa ng y Judge Robinson could be perfectly happy to trade out some parking spaces there for parking spaces that would be eliminated if the county didn't asphalt 365 degrees around the Spring Site. He said this is one possibility. Another possibility raised was trading out straight across, his parking Lot for the city's Leased parking lot, which we may need to discuss in Executive session. He said there are better things to do than the plan that was presented several weeks ago with reference to that particular lot. He asked the Council to discuss it and to consider adopting a plan that is not quite so insensitive to that particular site. Mayor Hodges said he visited with Jerry Nemec, the County's consuLting engineer, Last Thursday, and they walked down to Look at this area. He said Mr. Nemec felt the County would be very agreeable to eliminating 12 parking spaces envisioned on the east side which would add approximately three times the amount of green space. He said if those 12 can be eliminated, the county would not have to build that culvert so they could park over it and they would slope it and Landscape it and save a Lot of money. He asked if that would be acceptable to the Council. Councilmember Bell said that is entirely possible, however he would Like to see the plans. Councilmember Gaines indicated her support for working with the county on revising the plan for this area, noting there are other alternatives. Councilmember Bell noted Judge Robinson has been most helpful. Councilmember Carter asked if it would be appropriate to make a motion to reconsider the vote the Council made earlier or the plan it agreed to earlier in this regard. He said when he voted for this he was led to believe there were no other choices and now he learns there are other alternatives. Councilmember Knotts said the Council agreed to participate by laying the asphalt in paving that parking Lot as it was on the plans and perhaps the Council needs to stipulate in some way that the city would Like some more time. City Attorney Scott Bowls felt the agenda item tonight was specific and generally broad to allow the Council to take some action on this tonight. Councilmember Bell said he would Like to move that the city negotiate with the county and rescind the city's earlier motion to pave the Lot. Councilmember Gaines said she feels the city will still assist with the paving and even if we change the configuration of the parking Lot, the city is still pledging that paving cooperation. Counci Lmember Bell said as Long as we do have a gentleperson's agreement that we are not going to pave as much as we originally intended, he had no problem with not rescinding the earlier motion. Mr. Pipes said it is too wet to pave anything right now. Mayor Hodges said the city just won't show up to pave it until ' we get it worked out. He said he didn't feel this requires a motion, but felt we do need to get the negotiations underway. CounciLaeaber Lange said the night before he was sworn in as a Councilmember, he received his first phone call concerning this particular piece of information, and it was misinformation. He said a lot of people in the community and people who should be in the know thought that the city itself was responsible for that park. He said during his campaign he emphasized the word "communication" and as we have seen here tonight, communication channels through the county can be good and should be good and the Council needs to emphasize that, instead of going off and waving a flag, pointing fingers at people and having people point fingers at us, etc.; we need to start talking to the county, the hospital district, the school district, etc. Councilmember Carter asked if the Council should vote to reconsider the plan since we are talking about 12 less parking spaces. He said he has been in contact with some of the County Commissioners and they are all open to some other alternatives to produce even more park space there and take care of their parking problems. He said there may be real estate matters involved in this discussion so it perhaps should not be discussed publicly. He asked if the Council could vote to reconsider "in total" the council's previous authorization, rather than just one or two options. Mr. Bounds said the whole item can be placed on the next agenda and it can be discussed broadly. Whether or not any particular item is executive session material, he would have to Look at the matter before he could make that determination. Councilmember Knotts said there needs to be a joint discussion with the county on this matter because we won't gain much just discussing it among ourselves. Counci Lmember BeIL suggested an ad hoc committee to discuss these matters with the judge and/or members of the Commissioners Court. Mayor Hodges asked if he would like to be on it. Councilmember Bell said he will be on it. Mayor Hodges then appointed him to serve on an ad hoc committee and anyone who would like to serve with him was welcomed to do so. He asked that they work through Mr. Pipes to coordinate the discussions. Councilmember Bell agreed to do this. Discussion: Councilmember Green asked if we are voting to just reconsider this at a future time or are we voting to rescind. Counci Lmember Carter said he intends that the Council will rescind its previous action. He clarified his motion to say he is moving to rescind and reconsider, but if Councilmember Green has another option, he will consider that. Mr. Bowls said the motion to reconsider will be taken as a motion to rescind; ' technically a motion to reconsider is a motion to bring back up an item that has already been decided. Mayor Hodges said he would be more comfortable if the Council did not vote on anything and simply let the ad hoc committee sit down with the county and talk about it. He said if we send the signal out that the city has rejected everything that it has done, it sends the wrong message. He said he feels the city needs to be cooperative. Councilmember Carter felt that was a good idea and then withdrew his motion and CounciLmember Knotts agreed to its withdrawal. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 5, 1991 BOOK "g" 304 Telephone Roster of Council Councilmember Bell noted he has several phone number changes to be incorporated on the newly published Listing of the elected and appointed officials names and addresses. City Secretary Ruth DeShaw asked that aLL changes be sent to her for incorporation on a corrected list. Request for audience participation in debates at Council Meet i nos Coucilmember Carter suggested the Council discuss the idea of allowing members of the audience t participate in a debate when they have something to offer in consideration of an issue. He said the Counci Lets members of the Arts Commission do that, and although the subject was on the agenda and they have am official position with the city, the Council has only allowed audience participation periodically in discretionary way. He said there are some cities Uladisonville for onel where there is some problem, as Or Green advised, that such an activity could become uncontrollable. He said he would still like for the Counci to consider at some point the possibility that people do have something to offer at the moment the discussio is taking place instead at the beginning of the Council Meeting. He asked the Council to be thinking about the and at some point he would like for it to be discussed. Aesthetic beauty of the city and money Beauty: Coucilmember Lange asked the city to take a look at Highway 75 North, which is a was becausei', . of the construction work, but there is also a billboard along this highway between 11th Street and 10th Street" that is in shambles and should be removed. He asked the city to see if it can facilitate its removal. Money: Councilmeaber Lange said over the last six months in the construction of Highway 75 North, the!, city has observed its tree ordinance and spent presumably a considerable amount of money to bore under trees!' along Highway 75 North. He said in the Last couple of weeks, the SOHPT's contractor came into the same area','. and pushed down those trees under which the city bored to save. He said he sees this as a waste of money and" he would like for someone to look into this and let him know how much money the city wasted and what could have! been done to avoid this situation. Mayor Hodges asked Councilmember Lange to visit with Mr- Pipes later for a response to this question. Councilmenber Knotts commented he too would be interested to Learn if this really:'.. did happened. Represented City at H -GAC Meeting on January 26 Councilmenber Barrett advised he represented the City at the H -GAC meeting on January 26. He said now.'. that the city is over 25,000 population, it can have representation on the H -GAC Board. He said he was thei.'. city's board member at the annual meeting at the Westin Galleria. He said County Commissioner Joe Malak wasi elected Vice President of that organization. He said on February 14, he will go down for an orientation. Personnel Committee Meeting Councilmember Barrett then asked for a short and quick meeting of the Personnel Committee immediately', after the meeting. EXECUTIVE SESSION The Council then recessed to an Executive Session acquisition matters on properties on 7th Street, 12th Street, South Sam Houston Avenue. No formal action was anticipated. ADJOURNMENT to consider an update on pending real estatelf 10th Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard and!! I I I Mayor Hodges then adjourned the formal session of the Council. No formal action was necessary as a!�,. result of the Executive Session. PERSONNEL COMMITTEE MEETING Councilmember Barrett met with Councilmembers Bell, Gaines and Knotts briefly in a Personnel Committee Meeting. / /// t lly u/ � ut eShau, CFebruary 5, 1991