MIN CC 07/09/1991CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "Q" 428
MINUTES OF THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THE 9TH DAY OF JULY, 1991 IN THE CITY HALL COUI
CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS AT 5:15 P.M.
The Council met in a regular session with the following members present:
W. H. Hodges, Mayor William B. Green City officers present:
0. Eugene Barrett Ronald L. Lange Gene Pipes, City Manager
Gary Bell Charles Robinson Scott Bounds, City Attorney
James L. Carter Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary
Ila G. Gaines
Member absent: William H. Knotts, Jr.
CONVENE IN FORMAL SESSION
Mayor Hodges called the meeting to order. Pastor Donald Kasper of Faith Lutheran Church presented
invocation.
CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Robinson seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion Passed unanimousty. Note: Counci
Knotts is absent.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
discuss the Acker Vs. City lawsuit
The Mayor and Council entered this Executive Session at 5:23 P.M. and concluded the session at 5:45 P.M. '
No other items were discussed and no formal action was taken in that session.
RECONVENE FORMAL MEETING
Mayor Hodges then reconvened the format session at 5:45 P.M.
CITIZEN INPUT /INQUIRY SESSION
Dr. Robert Pierce. President, Texas Prison Museum, to request funds
Dr. Pierce said the Texas Prison Museum has been a success story in the City of Huntsville and Walker
County in terms of the numbers of people attending the museum. He said they hope it will be a permanent tourist
attraction in Texas. He said of the two non state - supported museums and historical groups in Huntsville, the
Texas Prison Museum is the only museum that has to pay rent amd their expenditures are quite high as a result.
He said the Museum has received monies from the Hotel -Motel Occupancy Taxes through the City and Chamber of
Commerce, as have the other two museums. He said that funding period /support is over. He said he is here to
thank the Council for the past support and to call to their attention that because the Texas Prison Museum's
expenses are so high, he is requesting the Council's consideration of continuing support, possibly at the same
Level, for the future. He said the rent is on a sliding rent scale and the slide is going the other way; as
the business picks up on the Square, so does the rent. He said they had 10,000 visitors their first year and
had between 12,000 and 14,000 visitors last year, 70 percent of which were from out -of -town. In addition to
rent, he said, they pay an electric bill. He said their income last week, which was a good week, was $457.00
and their electric bill was $405.00. He said their rent and electric bills are fairly high. He said they have
$2,500 in their account to carry them through those months when tourism business is the lowest, which is
December, January and February, and that money will see them through those months when attendance is down. He
said they have no monies available for exhibit preparation and those are done much like when they started, on
a shoestring with volunteer help and the talent of people who will contribute. He said that is why the Museum
is successful in operating today is through community support and volunteers.
Dr. Pierce asked for consideration for possible assistance, from whatever fund or source of revenue, '
to assist them in promoting economic welfare of this area, noting they consider tourism to be a part of that
economy. He said their books are open for anyone's perusal. He said they are not extravagant in their
expenditures and that they are for basic needs. He said if city support is removed, they may have to cut back
on hours or tighten up and reconsider as they will not be,able to continue to operate at the same level.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "0" 429
Street signalization synchronization grant
Mrs. Wright said there is a Transportation Division within the Chamber and Mr. Jerry Nemec is the
Chairman of that committee. She said at a recent meeting, Mr. Doug Burns, a retired Traffic Engineer with over
40 years of experience, and now a resident of Elkins Lake, was appointed to chair a subcommittee to study the
traffic congestion problem on 10th and 11th Streets. He said Mr. Burns has identified a grant program that is
administered by the State Highway Department to provide funds for traffic signal improvements in the amount of
81,225,000.00 to be allocated to cities under 50,000 population. She said the deadline for the application is
July 26, she said this is why she is presenting this to the Council tonight because if there are monies
available, she would like for the Council to be aware of them. She said she has discussed this with Mr. Pipes.
she asked Mr. Burns to suggest some possibilities for the City and to tell the Council about the application.
She said he has offered to work with the City staff and the Chambers Transportation Council and the SDHPT staff
to prepare the application for the City Council's consideration for the July 23 meeting. She said they will
be under no obligation nor wilt it cost anything to apply. She then introduced Mr. Doug Burns.
Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented an outline of the proposal. Mr. Burns said this program has
been out for some time but the SDHPT had not informed the cities of this money. He said he found out about it
through his friends in the field. He said it is a Traffic Light Synchronization (TLS) Program, sponsored by
the EPA section of the Federal Government, to reduce the pollution and wasted gas of waiting vehicles at
intersections. He said the City certainly qualifies for that. He said the program is a 75/25 participation.
he said at first he tried to get the SDHPT to do this, but found out the Federal Government will not allow the
State Department to do this and it has to be a city. He said the city has to apply and to participate on a 25
percent basis and the 75 percent is paid by the federal government. He said he chose the 11th Street
signalization system from Avenue F to I -45, with the idea that those signals would be interconnected
electronically arid synchronized so that we could get a progression of traffic and reduce the delays in waiting
' and reduce the gas consumption, plus make it safer. He said the program, as he has outlined it, is about a
820,000 program with the city's participation being 85,000. He said it is a program for which the city must
apply and those cities chosen in the lottery will be notified in October. He said there is some time to
consider doing this, but the program requires that the application be in Austin before the 26th of July, ant
it has to be routed through the District office in Bryan. He said this means the Council will have to do
something in a hurry, or Let this money pass by.
Mr. Burns said the state has informed them they are probably going to assume maintenance of these
signals on September I and they have no money in their maintenance fund. He said we are going to live with what
we have unless we do something immediately. He said he talked to Carlos, the engineer in Austin, and he advised
the state could not do this and that the city would have to apply. He also said Carlos said the state would
look very favorably on an application of this type because it would mean first of all that the city would
participate, and secondly, the federal government would pay the money to correct all the problems on 11th Street
and then the state would assure maintenance of the signals, all corrected, which would be an incentive for the
state to approve this application. He said Carlos encouraged him very much to try to convince the city to
consider this. He said no money is needed now. He said he has worked with a consulting firm out of Houston,
Traffic Engineers, Inc., and they have agreed to do the application at no charge with the idea that the Council
may look upon them favorably when it decides to appoint a consultant. He said this program must be done with
a consultant as the federal Government will not allow a city to do it themselves. He said this is to prevent
them from spending the money where it is not going to be doing any good. Mr. Burns encouraged the Council to
tentatively give him the go -ahead to work on the application. He said if the Council finds in October, when
it is awarded the contract, that it does not want to do it, it can withdraw without obligation then with no
obligation to the consultant or himself. He said he is volunteering his services and time to represent the City
as an inspector and engineer on the project at no charge.
Councilmember Carter asked if the consultant -s fee is in addition to the 85,000 city participation.
Mr. Burns said the city would not pay the consultant as his services are already included in the $20,000 project
and the city is only obligated for 25 percent of that. Councilmember Carter asked what was meant by the
statement that the consultant will do this in hopes of being looked upon favorably by the city; would it be for
a later project? Mr. Burns said the city must appoint the consultant for this project even though the Federal
Government will pay for it. He said the city's total cost would be 85,000. He noted however, the 820,000 total
project is an estimate and that could vary somewhat up or down. Councilmembers Green and Carter wanted to move
to support the project. Mr. Pipes said since it is not on the agenda, it will be brought back for formal
approval on July 23 if it is the general consensus of the Council to do so. He said the city can get the
engineering consultants to prepare the necessary documents to be brought back for formal approval.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "O" 430
Counci lmember Barrett asked how long synchronization wit L last. Mr. Burns said usually there are other programs
that follow it perhaps two to three years Later as the Federal Government will want to know how well the city
is doing. He said the way it works now, the city will count all of the traffic and all of the conditions
[speeds] now before the project is done and than they require the consultant to prepare a report and county the
traffic and speeds after the improvement job has been done and then they write a report. He said the Federat
Government will probably come back in four or five years to say it wiLL give the city some more money, but they
want to see how these programs work. He said the city wilL then have another chance. Councilmember Barrett
said the lack of synchronization on 11th Street has been a concern of his for some time. Mr. Pipes said the
city synchronized the signals on Sam Houston Avenue two years ago under this same program. Mr. Burns said he
realizes the 11th Street synchronization probLems, but with the state taking over the maintenance of the signals
soon, time is of the essence now. Mr. Pipes said the state has been talking about taking over the maintenance
for about six years, but the city has been maintaining the controls for years. Mayor Hodges asked that this
be an agenda item for the July 23rd agenda.
ATTENDING CITIZENS
Mr. Don Brindlev. H.A.D.A.P. to make a request for funding assistance - 49.600
Mr. Don Brindley asked for financial assistance for the Huntsville Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program. He
said this organization provides outpatient substance abuse counseling service for citizens in the Walker County
area and has been providing this service in an organized manner for four years. He said they have set up
programming for various groups to meet at the Center. He said the statistics on the census show that
approximately 60 percent or greater of its clients are termed indigent, which means they are unable to
compensate them for these services. He said currently, the program is handling a case Load of 60 individuals
from the community each week, who come to the Center for services, be it individual counseling and /or group
counseling. He said one of the needs of the Center is programming for females. He said they have programming
for male groups, mixed groups, and Spanish groups. He said in talking with the counselors and female clients,
he feels the organization needs to estabLish some therapeutic groups for "females only" so they can participate
in a manner that is confidential in nature by reason of some of the issues that arise that need to be separated
out from the regular groups. He said this is a process they have finally arrived at and they are in the process
of being more definitive in their groups, breaking out people and being able to work more closely with their
identifiable issues, such as a Spanish group, which was just begun in November of 1990 on the weekends to
provide Spanish - speaking people with a substance abuse program in the community.
Mr. Brindley said the female groups they are entertaining are in groups of 30 clients that they would
place into this program for one year. He said all of their programming is for treatment and recovery in
approximately 12 months. He said it has been found the Longer people are kept in the program, the better their
results are from the standpoint of their staying out of trouble and not relapsing or at least having assistance
when they do relapse. He said the program he is recommending is a 52 week program - -an addiction program for
females- -for a total of 132 hours per client over a 12 month period. He said a breakdown of the numbers is that
for a 30 female case Load it will cost approximately $9,600 a year to fund that particular program. He said
he is caning to the City to ask that it consider funding that amount for them. He said approximately eight
years ago, HADAP received approximately $10,000 and this was cut down to $5,000 in subsequent years and then
a decision was made to eliminate this budget entirely. He said he is now asking that they become partners again
in providing some financiaL help for the center, located at 115 Highway 75 North next to the Christian Clothing
Center and the Lively House. He said this is a program that serves the community well; there are a number of
minorities that have come through this program that are now in school because of this program and who are
wanting to become certified as alcohol and drug abuse counselors. He said this community needs counselors from
many walks that understand the make -up of this community who can contribute and give back to the community some
of the things they have received at the Center.
Mr. Brindtey said this Center is a program supported by the Walker County Hospital District and the
United Way, the Probation Department through a specialized program it has for them; Champion international, and
Church groups. He said they get very little support from their clients because most of them are unemployed
and /or have no means of paying for services rendered. He again requested that the Council become a partner with '
them in providing services for those members of the community that need help for substance abuse.
Mayor Hodges thanked Mr. Brindley for his presentation. He then announced that he is on the Board of
Directors of HADAP, so when it comes time to vote on this, he will not vote, but he wiLL participate in the
budget discussions at that time.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "g" 431
Councilmember Robinson asked if there are any governmental funds /programs available on the federal or
state level. Mr. Srindley said HADAP receives no federal or state funding whatsoever. He said there are
programs available for which they write grant requests, but they have never been awarded grant funds. He said
they used to have one years ago (1986 -- $12,000 grant from the State Commission), but it expired and was never
renewed for some reason. He said when they reapplied, they were not granted the money. He said it is a very
competitive thing when one tries to get the State Commission to fund programming, because everyone is asking
for programming assistance. Unfortunately, he said, the dollars go to the Larger communities - -a fact of funding
in the state. Councilmember Carter noted Mr. Srindley said he serves about 80 clients now and he has presented
some description of the programs. He said if the City did want to budget some funds, what are the numbers
concerning results or data to show the success rate; what is happening to these people ultimately after they
spend a year in this program? what is the relapse rate? Mr. Brindley said the relapse rate is high. He said
they run about 40 percent recovery which is about par for an outpatient program. He said they keep people much
Longer; most programs don't keep them past 90 days. He said they found out the longer they stay in touch with
them, they are going to go through relapse, relapse is a reality of the disease. He said the longer they stay
with them, the more assistance they can give them when they do relapse. Councilmember Carter said he would
much rather spend money on programs to educate and help people recover than to spend it on the police later
after they get into trouble. He said he favors this kind of program, but when the Council does budgeting, he
would like for Mr. Brindley to give the Council whatever hard figures he has about the success rate, that would
be helpful in deciding to spend the money.
f Councilmember Green asked Mr. Brindley if the $9,600 is for a part of the 1992 program. Mr. Brindley
said this programming is not now offered and if they do not get this funding, they will not have a "for- females-
only" program. Mr. Brindley said they counsel females now, but they are mixed in with the males. He said since
the issues concerning females are quite different, they want to establish a femaLe-only program; it is very
difficult to do a mixed group when we get into specific issues that deal with our sexuality. Councilmember
' Lange asked if Mr. Brindley's organization has requested funds from the County. Mr. Brindley said the County
provides them with free rent and utilities for three group room and two offices, up from one each in previous
years. He said the Probation Department allows them to access part of their new facility to do the Spanish
Group there on Saturday. He said they want to run a program Monday through Saturday and all the counseling
hours are generally done in the evening and on Saturday and it is considered a sound outpatient program.
Mayor Hodges advised the Council wi Lt be entering budget discussions soon and this request can be made
a part of those discussions. Mr. Brindley said he will provide statistics on relapse and success rates.
Mr nave rich President chamber of commerce. to Present undated information on hotel occupancy tax revenue
and a proposed marketing study
Mr. Cich said he last appeared before the Council on April 20, 1991 at which time the Council was
advised there would be some funding requirements for their marketing program. He said the big concern at that
time was the trends in the hotel -motel tax collections when they had just experienced six months of very bad
collections versus last year. He said in checking with the hotel industry around the state and nationally, the
Persian Gulf had quite a bit to do with that. He said they also had same change overs in franchises with the
local hotels. Potentially, he said, they are looking at a $10- 15,000 deficit for the year. He said they
delayed coming back to the Council until the collections stabilized or the trend reversed. He said he is now
pleased to report the figures are looking better. He said the deficit they projected is similar to what they
were looking at in April, anticipating they would match last year's collections and over the last three months,
that has occurred. He said they are looking ahead for three months and those projections are based on last year
for the last quarter so there is still fluctuation potential. Mr. Cich said the bottom Line is with the nine
months of activity and the projections, he projects an uncommitted reserve balance as of October 1, 1991 at
$29,646.82, which also includes the commitment to the Samuet Houston Cultural Museum, a contract not yet
executed. He said Mr. Bounds reports a draft of that contract is ready. The money to support that museum is
set aside and in the accounting.
Mr. Cich then presented the detail of regular monthly hotel -motel collections to-date, which shows a
' net available for allocation of $24,931.41, which does not include the commitment to the Black History Museum,
which has not yet been allocated [awaiting execution of the contract], and it also does not account for the
funds in the tourism fund balance that is in the chamber's account now and considered part of the reserve. He
said the bottom line is there is about $25,500 cash on hand accounted for in the reserve now.
The Council was then advised the Chamber is requesting preliminary approval of an allocation of $20,000
from the reserve fund to set some parameters for developing a budget to negotiate with the firm of Baxter &
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "G" 432
Korge and to come back to the Council in August along with a budget proposal for their next year's operating
budget, which has to tie into this area closely. He said with this preliminary approval to negotiate with
Baxter & Korge, he can come back with some specifics on how the money is going to be spent. He said his visits
to the Council are to keep them abreast of the situation and to get the Council's input as this is very critical
to the city, the chamber and the community.
Mr. Cich said the program has been under development for over a year and he feels it is now time to move
forward. He said the research phase to develop a base for developing a marketing plan and to provide a
direction so the marketing dollars can be targeted wisely and the marketing plan development itself, based on
the research, to develop the theme, the identity for the community, with input from citizens and businesses
throughout the community to prepare to approach the media in the airwaves to get the marketing plan kicked off
in early 1992. He said they plan for a two to three year program to take advantage of the opportunities coming
up. He said he discussed the qualifications of Baxter & Korge in the April 30 meeting. He said highlighted
the advantages of their reputation and their familiarity with Huntsville, their flexibility, their recognition,
budget constraints and willingness to work with local resources and the Chamber's cooperative relationship with
City Council, their improved communications, financial accountability with the new auditing procedures, and
recognition of the need for follow through and implementation. He said there was some concern that the study
would gather dust when it was done and that it wouldn't be implemented properly. He said the Chamber has a
responsibility to the city and the community to make sure it follows through.
Mr. Cich said they Learned some lessons from the 1987 Fantus Study; while it was an excellent study,
has a lot of value, and the Chamber is still using it today, the mistake made there was that the budget to do
the study consumed so much of the overall budget that there were no funds remaining to really follow through
with aLL of the recommendations. He said the Lesson is that the follow through is the priority here. He said
the Chamber also recognizes that it does not want to oversell the program to raise expectations and that it
needs to be realistic about what it hopes to accomplish. He said community support is needed to buy into the '
program and to participate in all stages -- research and implementation -- cooperative marketing to get the best
bang for the dollar to supplement the hotel -motel tax dollars and to take advantage of the opportunities. Mr.
Cich said everyone is familiar with the city's attractions, i.e., the history museums, Texas Prison Museum,
and the special events, i.e., the 1993 bicentennial and the possibility of having the Special Olympics here.
He asked for the City Council's support of the preliminary approval of the funds from the carry - forward and to
work with them over the next 30 days or so to fine tune it. He said there will be another month's collection
activity, so those projections can be pinned down more accurately. He said if there are any issues or concerns,
he would like to know about them.
Mayor Hodges noted Mr. Cich feels the reserve balance on October 1 will be right at $30,000 and he is
asking for authorization to spend $20,000 which would only leave $10,000 in that reserve fund. He asked what
is the history of that reserve fund. Mr. Pipes said due to the decrease in hotel -motel tax collections in
recent times, this fund has been drawn down somewhat, but he feels the city can perform under the contract
guaranteeing monthly payments with a $10,000 reserve. He said the city has enough experience at this point to
detect very early any rest jeopardy in the fund level. He said the city does not want to get itself in a bind
and have to do away with the program of tourism promotion in Huntsville by a shortfall and spending all of the
reserve, but since the last several months took so much stronger, things seem to be going in the right direction
and a $10,000 reserve should be sufficient to meet obligations.
Councilmember Carter asked what the funding guarantee is on the contract. Councilmember Carter asked
if we have committed $90,000 a year and if the funds fall short, say $80,000 or $70,000, then the remainder has
to be made up out of the city Midget. Mr. Pipes said the remainder is made up out of that reserve.
CounciLmember Carter asked what if that reserve is gone. Mr. Pipes said there is an escape clause.
Councilmember Carter asked where the reserve fund comes from. Mr. Pipes said it comes from hotel -motel taxes
set aside from prior years. Councilmember Carter said he is pleased with what the Chamber has done over the last
several years. He said the paint is that the Council is not in any jeopardy of having to spend city budget
money to take care of any shortfalls in terms of Tourism. Mayor Hodges said that would have to be funded from '
hotel -motel occupancy tax collections and none would come from the general fund if that falls short.
Councilmember Carter said his only serious, long standing bone of contention is the lack of support for
permanent attractions, which include the Prison Museum and Gibbs Powell House. He said even general policies
of the Chamber are detrimental to the community that would stop any development policies that would not make
Huntsville an attractive destination for people; i.e., Cavenders Boot City, noting he can't believe anyone would
want to come to Huntsville to see that development. At any rate, he said, he would like to see, and it didn't
happen last time because some money was taken out of the tourism reserve budget to help these permanent
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "G" 433
i attractions. He said if we don't have something for people to do when they arrive here, or some reason to come,
!, then they are not going to Came. He said he still has some trouble with the Chamber's tourism budgets and their
approach to tourism in that they are not, in his judgement, supporting those permanent attractions. He asked
the Chamber to give some thought to that and to find some way to get the money to them, such as in terms of rent
for the Texas Prison Museum in Light of the fact they do have a fairly high visitor volume.
Councilmember Bell asked if Mr. Cich is asking for approval this evening and if that can be given with
the way it is listed on the agenda. Mr. Pipes said it could be acted upon, but Mr. Cich is actually asking for
just a consensus for direction. Mr. Cich said he is asking that the Council set the parameters so the Chamber
can have some direction with which to work over the next 30 days before they come back to ask for the
appropriation of funds. Councilmenber Bell said he has a little concern about how much the Council is drawing
down from the reserve, especially in light of the need of support for the permanent attractions. He said he
would like to propose that the Council give the Chamber preliminary approval to explore the professional
marketing consultant, the marketing and tourist strategy, and he would like to propose that it fall within the
guidelines of $15,000 to $20,000. He said he is not prepared at this point to go with the full $20,000 as he
can see some encumbrances that the Council may have to face. He asked if the range could be limited between
$15,000 and $20,000. Mr. Cich said he can work with that and they may have more information to give them a
better base on which to make a decision next month. Counci Lmember Bell said, in support of the proposal, that
we have for the first time, someone proposing that we develop an identify for the city, a logo for the city,
and to do some serious objective studying about what brings tourists to Huntsville. He felt this is a very
worthwhile thing to do. Mayor Hodges said he feels there is a consensus on this and he asked Mr. Cich to
proceed based on that consensus.
Parks Advisory Board Ms. Nancy Tiller Chairperson, to present a development plan and funding request for Bush -
Miller Park
Ms. TiLLer said the Parks Advisory Board has been working on development plans for the Bush - MiLLer Park,
a gift of land given by Mrs. Josephine Bush, that has a budget this year of $12,500 for start -up development.
she said at the June 6 meeting of the Parks Advisory Board, they approved a final site plan and development
program. She said the anticipated construction cost is $43,275. She said the Parks Advisory Board recommends
this be funded in the following manner. There is currently approximately $27,000 budgeted for the facilities
for both Bush - Miller and Eastham- Thomason Parks. The Parks Advisory Board is recommending that these funds be
reallocated to only Bush - MiLLer Park. She said the remaining $16,275 would need to be funded in FY 1991 -92.
This will allow the total development of the park at one time, she said.
Councilmember Carter asked how wide the crushed granite trails would be, how much rock and surface area
will be covered. He said just as power lines take up a lot of Land space, he was concerned as to how much land
space would be consumed with these trails. Mr. Dale Brown, City Planner, said there are some 3100 linear feet
of land taken up by the trails. Councilmember Carter asked about the total acreage in the park. Mr. Brown said
it has 3.6 acres. Mr. Isbell said some 12,000 square feet or one - quarter of an acre will be used by the trails.
Mr. Pipes said that is about 5% of the total space in the park. Mr. Pipes said the trails will facilitate the
people using the park and it will not be area taken out of the park. Councilmember Carter noted the city will �!
be removing vegetation to put rock down. Mr. Pipes said the trails have been designed to go around every tree !
and bush. Councitmember Carter said he is concerned about grass and greenery and while it may be low lying, !I
it is still vegetation. He noted however, the crush granite is at least better than concrete because it will
Let water through. Councilmember Carter asked that since only $5,000 is being spent for plants and landscaping, �!
what kinds of plants and landscaping are envisioned. Ms. Tiller said two plans were done as a graduate program
at Sam Houston State University and the Board took both plans and modified them to come up with one simpler
plan. She said they are recommending very basic, healthy East Texas shrubbery and flowers. Councilmember !.
Carter asked if those would be like the ones removed. Ms. Tiller said she is not aware of what was there before
as she didn't think there was any organized planting there. She said Mr. Dale Brown has just returned from
delivering a grant application for $6,700 to the Texas Forestry Association to plant bushes and trees, the
outcome of which will be known in October. She said the city-s matching funds will be the funds planned for
' the sprinkler system. Councilmember Carter suggested spending more money on plants and landscaping than on
crushed granite trails.
Mayor Hodges said the Council needs to do two things: approve the transfer of funds from the Thomason
Park and to develop a decision package for next years general fund budget to complete the budget for the Bush -
Miller Park. Councilmember Green asked if the crushed granite trails will be similar to the trails built in
Forest Hills. Mr. Pipes said these are crushed granite whereas the Forest Hills trails had super rock which
had no suitable running surface. Councilmember Green said it also somewhat disappears. Mr. Pipes said the
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "0" 434
crushed granite pathways are similar to those found at the Mercer Arboretum in Houston and they have been there
for quite some time, noting they absorb moisture. Councilmember Green asked if the granite will form a
substantive base for walking. Ms. Tiller said it will. Councilmember Green asked if it will just sink into
the ground. Ms. Tiller said from what she understands under natural environmental conditions, this becomes like
concrete but just doesn't Look like it. CounciLmelmber Green noted then it becomes permanent walking surface
". and won't be unstable. Councilmember Lange asked and Ms. Titter confirmed that it is a proven substance for
walkway purposes.
Mayor Hodges said if the Council wants to approve this, the transfer and decision package for next year ',i
!. need to be approved in one motion. Councilmember Bell made the motion to transfer $27,000 from the budget for
both the Eastham Thomason Park and the Bush - Miller Park to the Bush- Miller park exclusively and that a decision
!'. package be developed for budget discussion this Year in the amount of $16.275 to supplement that amount in order
'! to accomplish the total construction costs for the Bush- Miller Park in 1991 -92 and Councilmember Barrett
seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Robinson asked how the Eastham- Thomason park will be funded.
Mayor Hodges said that will have to be funded in a future budget. Ms. Tiller said the Parks Advisory Board will
'.! be bringing back a recommendation on that park. Upon a vote on the nation, all were in favor and the motion
Passed unanimously. Note: CounciLmember Knotts is absent.
CONSIDER CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
Consider recommendations of the Charter Review Committee
Mayor Hodges introduced Mr. Charles Davis, Chairman of the Charter Review Committee, and its members,
Mr. Dan Davis (present) and Mr. Robert McCann (absent), with Scott Bounds, City Attorney, serving as an ex-
officio advisory member. Mr. Charles Davis presented the preliminary report which amends Sections 2.01,
Extension of Boundaries; Section 3.01, General Powers; Section 4.01, Number, Selection and Term of Office;
Section 4.07, Meetings of the Council; Section 6.01, General Election; Section 13.03, Ordinance Granting
Franchise; Section 14.06, Notice of Claim; Section 14.09, Personal Interest in City Contracts; Section 14.10,
Nepotism; Section 14.14, Limitations on Contracts; and Section 14.23, Amendment. Mr. Davis said they also
recommend setting a public hearing so that the public will have an opportunity to comment. After the hearing,
the Committee will submit a final report of their recommendations for the Council's consideration for placement
on the January, 1992 election ballot. Mayor Hodges noted a Charter Review Committee is to be appointed every
five years. He said some of these items of change are simply housekeeping item and some are changes. He asked
if there are any questions.
Councilmember Bell asked what the logic is in changing from two required meetings a month to one. Mr.
Davis said the change was to require one, but the Council can have as many as it wants. He said his feeling
was that several people requested that it be dropped to one and that it didn't hurt anything to drop to one
because if there were no items for discussion, the Council would not have to have two meetings. Mayor Hodges
said he requested this change because in the past, the City Manager has had occasions when he had to struggle
to get a meeting together and as Mr. Davis pointed out, this change will require one, but we can have as many
as necessary. Councilmember Carter said he would find it hard to believe the Council would have to struggle I'
to find something to talk about when we have a $16,000,000 budget in a city with 27,000 people. He said he has
never found it difficult to find something to talk about. He said what has happened already is that we have
fallen back to two meetings a month as it is. He said he understands the Mayor's philosophy and orientation
is toward fewer meetings and shorter meetings and briefer discussions, etc., but that is not his orientation
nor his philosophy of government. Councilmember Carter said he is with Councilmember Bell in thinking the
Council ought to have the requirement in the Charter of at Least two meetings per month. He felt that is the
only way the Council can serve the citizens and that is what they are elected to do to be down here, overseeing,
supervising, hearing, etc. He said he didn't think the Council will have trouble finding things to talk about.
Mayor Hodges said the City can schedule all the meetings necessary. Counci Lmember Carter said if we have the !.
requirement of one meeting a month, he is afraid that what will happen is what has happened now, that we will
fall back to one meeting a month and there won't really be any incentive or impetus /momentum to have more. Mr.
Davis said there are provisions in the Charter how the Council can call the "special meetings." Councilmember
Carter said he wants two "regular" meetings a month; he said he thinks the Council should meet every week as
there is business going on in the city and the Council should be aware of it every week. He said it is a
difference of philosophy.
Mr. Davis said the recommendation is not to tell the Council it can only have one, but that they are
only required to have one. Councilmember Carter said he feels the Charter should require the Council to have
two meetings. Mr. Davis said he understands but disagrees. Mayor Hodges said the Council will have the
opportunity to vote on it later.. Mr. Davis said this is just a preliminary report of the recommendations for
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "Q" 435
the Council Is review and comment and will serve as the basis for a public hearing if that is the desire of the
Council.
Councitmember Green said he has a problem understanding what the nepotism rule is and is still not clear
on it. He said he thinks the City Attorney has some cLarif ication that will help. Mr. Bounds, City Attorney,
said it is suggested a hearing date for the Charter be held in August on this preliminary report. He said the
Council and the public can make suggestions to it and address other concerns and the committee can address all
those concerns at the time of the hearing. He said the Council can see from the recommendations that there is
no attempt at a comprehensive revision or change of the direction of the city; the changes are minimum in
nature. He said Councitmember Green had asked for clarification on the nepotism rule. He said the Nepotism
provision of the Charter (page 181 is, in part, any time one talks about Lines of affinity and consanguinity,
one can get confused and this is based on an old state statute that exist prior to the Charter. He said there
was not an attempt by the Committee to change the basic rules of nepotism which was that it would be
impermissible for the Mayor and Council or the City Manager to appoint people related to them to an office.
He said state law has since provided that if, in certain situations, a person may be reappointed to a position
they already had before that nepotism relationship existed and the committee did make a recommendation that we
basically incorporate that requirement of state law into this provision. He said Councilmember Green has
suggested that perhaps the nepotism rule could be modified to be less restrictive than it is in the current
Charter and that is not to apply to an office, position, or clerkship, unless there was some salary or monetary
compensation involved with the office. He said that is certainly something the committee may want to consider
and it would be appropriate for the public hearing. He said he does not recall that this was discussed in the
meetings he attended. He said this would be consistent with state law. He said the city could basically Limit
the amount of restrictions it has in its nepotism provision, but that was not part of state Law.
Mayor Hodges commended the Charter Review Committee for a job well done.
CONSIDER LIBRARY BOARD REQUEST
Consider a request by the Huntsville Public Library Board to pursue in principle the concept of interlibrary
Loan system and a grant program for financing with the City Manager as authorized signatory
Mr. Pipes presented a status report by the Library Board on a proposal to create an interlibrary loan
system by a grant vehicle available to link the libraries- collections together to be able to identify with high
efficiency the various books in the collection accessible to the public and be able to direct people to the
various libraries for maximum utilization and avoid some duplication of copies in each and every library. A
number of cities have already done this, he said, and the Library Board and the HISD group, and City of
Huntsville, and even some church libraries have been involved in discussions thus far and they are looking for
approval in concept of the proposal to pursue such an operation and authorization of the City Manager to be the
signatory on the grant application and on other special actions necessary prior to bringing it back for the
Council's approval should a grant or other funds be forthcoming. Councitmember Lange made the motion to proceed
with the proposal and Councitmember Gaines seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed
unanimously. Note: Councitmember Knotts is absent.
Consider an escrow agreement with the T.D.H.P.T. to repair and reinstall concrete driveways along Highway 75N
as planned.
Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented a copy of an agreement between the city and the TDHPT to replace
existing concrete driveways, add driveway quantities inadvertently omitted on Field Change No. 2 and incidental
items within the limits from Station No. 0 +00 to Station No. 139 +00 on SH75 and the State will, among other
things, provide for the construction of this work within these limits and the City will contribute a fixed
amount of 830,200 in payment for their portion of this work, as outlined in Field Change Request No. 3.
Councitmember Robinson made the motion to approve of this agreement and expenditure and Councilmember Gaines
seconded the motion. ALL were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Note: Councitmember Knotts is
absent.
Consider bids for water line construction proiects to Doughtie Construction in the amount of $107.561.50 from
C.I.P. funds
Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented the three bids received for construction of miscellaneous water
Lines: Avenue J, 8th Street and Fairway, as follows:
Doughtie Plumbing 8107,561.50
Autery Construction 8119,415.10
CCE, Inc. $220,431.00
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "0" 436
He presented the staff's recommendation to accept the bid of Doughtie Plumbing. Councilmember Gaines made the
motion to approve of this bid and expenditure and Counci Lmember Barrett seconded the motion All were in favor
and the motion Passed unanimously. Note: COunci Lmember Knotts is absent.
Consider bids for Phase IV Landfill trench excavation to Rebel Construction in the amount of 8160.263.05 from
Sanitation fords
Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented the five bids received to construct the Sanitary Landfill Trench
87 -1, Phase IV, as follows:
Rebel Construction 8160,263.05
Southern States Equipment 8164,329.45
Grisham Construction $199,848.00
Fuqua Construction $267,846.68
CCE, Inc.[Nacogdoches] $361,622.42
He then presented the staffs recommendation to accept the bid of Rebel Construction in the amount of
$160,263.05. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of this bid and expenditure as recommended and
Councilmember Gaines seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Note:
Councilmember Knotts is absent.
Consider bids for service connections to the H.U.D. sewer main oroiect to McGowan Plumbing in the amount of
84.912.00 and Bruce Plumbing in the amount of $28,3919 to be paid from H.U.D. grant funds
Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised he would like to hold this item over until the next Council
Meeting because they have discovered some state law compliance problems on the trench work related to this
activity.
Consider a contract for disposal services with Hyponex for disposal of vegetation debris at $10.00 per ton
Mr. Pipes, City Manager, advised the city has disposed of vegetative trash over the last couple of years
by trucking it to Conroe. He said the city now has the local Hyponex Company agreeing to take this material
to mulch it into compost for resale. He said this is perhaps the ultimate in recycling. He said the contract
calls for $10.00 per ton disposal costs at Hyponex, which would be the City's cost. He said considering it is
now costing us about 820.00 per ton to dispose of it in the landfill trench, this is recommended for the
Council's consideration. Councilmember Carter made the motion to approve of the disposal contract with Hyponex
at the rate of 810.00 per ton and Councilmember Lange seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion
passed unanimously. Note: Councilmmmember Knotts is absent.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT--GENE PIPES
Consider payment of bond issue expenses to Moody Investors Services in the amount of $5,500 and to Helms
Printing in the amount of 8919
Mr. Pipes presented the expenses incurred in processing the Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds as captioned.
He said there will be a couple more bills caning later, but he is asking for the Council's approval of these
bills now. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve these bills as presented to be paid from Bond
proceeds and Councilmember Robinson seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.
_Consider a budget presentation review and adoption schedule and the preliminary agenda for July 23 meeting
Mr. Pipes presented the budget schedule, as follows:
Tuesday July 30, 1991 Initial presentation and overview
Saturday August 3, 1991 Half -day (morning) review of general and capital improvements funds
Tuesday August 6, 1991 Regular agenda -- Sister City Niiharu Village Student Visit, establish
proposed tax rate, plus Sanitation Fund budget work session.
Tuesday August 13, 1991 Utility Fund and Engineering Fund
Tuesday September 3, 1991 Public Hearing on budget and rates and proposed City Charter amendments
Tuesday September 17, 1991 Adoption of FY 91 -92 budget
Councilmember BeLI asked when the Council will go through the decision package matrix. Mr. Pipes said
the decisions related to each particular fund will be made as that fund is reviewed. He said Water and Sewer
and Sanitation funds and perhaps Design Engineering will not have an impact on the other funds. He said the
decision packages in general fund will be made on Saturday, August 3. Mayor Hodges urged the Council to study
last year's budget as a refresher as we enter this year's budget discussions. He said he feels this will be
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "0" 437
a tough year if we Look at the decreased evaluations. He said the city has done an excellent job of holding
the tax rate. In holding the tax rate, he said, the city has lost 885,000 or 890,000 in revenues over the last
four or five years. The good news is that the city has received more than that in sales tax revenues, he said,
but the Council needs to look very hard at aLL the numbers. He again urged the Council to study last year's
budget carefully.
Mr. Pipes advised the agenda for July 23 is intended to wrap all items pending in order to clear the
Council's agenda for budget discussions. The July 23 agenda includes bids for 19th Street curb and gutter; an
ordinance to adopt the revised personnel rules; a call for a joint public hearing with the Charter Review
Committee to consider proposed amerxinents to the City Charter at the January, 1992 election; an ordinance to
adopt an upgrade of the standard codes to current edition; appointments to the Library Board; a presentation
of historical Fire Department photos by Ms. Margaret Bobbitt Lindsey, daughter of former Volunteer Fire Chief,
Mr. Fred Bobbitt; and the HUD plumbing connections held over from tonight's meeting.
Consider approval of social security rules options
Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented information from Mr. Scott Bounds, City Attorney, concerning social
security rules. Mr. Bounds advised after reviewing the proposed regulations of the IRS regarding social
security and public retirement systems, it is his opinion that the City is now required to provide additional
benefits for certain part -time, temporary and seasonal employees. For any City employee who works in a position
that is not subject to TMRS, the City must either pay social security (6.2 percent of empLoyee's compensation
matched by the City) or provide another retirement plan alternative. Mr. Bounds noted under the proposed rules,
the City's elective Section 457 deferred compensation program will be sufficient so long as the employee
withholds at least 7.5 percent of the employees compensation for the employment period. He then recommended
that each current employee described above, and each new employee hereafter, be given the option, effective July
1, 1991 to either participate in the Section 457 plan or social security. He said he is also proposing
modifications to the City's Personnel Rules to accommodate these changes. Mr. Pipes said the city would not
have to match the 7.5 percent contributed to the deferred compensation plan and the employee can pick it up and
take it with him as a transfer when his term of employment is over. He said this would be the plan of choice.
Work session review of a draft of the Proposed personnel policy revisions that may be considered for formal
adoption
Mr. Pipes advised the Council will discuss the proposed personnel policy revisions in the conference
room. He noted the Mayor may wish to complete the formal portion of the agenda now before recessing to the work
session. He noted no formal action is expected as a result of work session discussions.
MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT --BILL HODGES
Mayor Hodges said he was in Crockett recently and picked up a copy of the Crockett newspaper which
advised the tax rate for the City of Crockett is some 38 cents per $100 of assessed valuation and that the city
is some 835,000 short in paying its June bills. He said that city's officials are talking about tripling or
quadrupling their tax rate to be able to solve their financial problems. He said this is why it is important
for the City Council to be very careful with this year's budget.
CITY COUNCILMEMBER ACTION
Seminar Held in Canada
Councilmember Carter advised he represented the City at a recent community development related seminar
in Canada concerned with finding markets in small communities for products that are already being produced in
other small communities, but instead of doing it one on one like Huntsville is trying to do with Niiharu
Village, Japan, they are going to do it globally. He said Huntsville may be able to tap into that at some
point. He said it sounded very promising. He noted there were a lot of other things and it was a very
worthwhile trip. He thanked the City for allowing him to use 1991 -92 seminar money in this manner. Mayor
Hodges asked Councilmember Carter to share this information with Chamber of Commerce President, Dave Cich.
Councilmember Carter said he is working on that and is also editing a journal at the University and is going
to co- publish a paper on this and he will be sure the Council gets copies of it when the work is completed.
' Loss of MTV from Cable TV
Councilmember Carter asked if the City's cable television viewers were losing MTV. Mr. Pipes said it
is gone. Councilmember Carter said while he is not really a fan of MTV as there are all types of problems with
that type of programming, and he did not mean sexual content or the philosophical content, but rather the short
attention span that it builds into people. He said he feels it was wrong for the Huntsville Cable TV officials
to exercise what he would call a form of censorship, which is what it sounded like to him from the story that
CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 9, 1991 BOOK "w" 438
was written. He said as the regulators, he feels the Council ought to question why and under what circumstances
MTV was dropped. He said he knows there was at Least one letter to the editor expressing some dissatisfaction
and he has had a few citizens complain. He said he would like for the Cable TV people to come in to explain
this, if they have not done that although they may have already explained this to some members of the Council
during his absence. He said he would Like to know their reasons for dropping MTV. Mayor Hodges said by
contract Huntsville Cable TV does have to notify the city and Mr. Pipes was notified. Mr. Pipes confirmed that
he was formally and officially notified. He said it is his understanding the reason was a contract dispute,
not a censorship, in that they failed to reach a contract for renewal with MTV and had to drop it.
Councilmember Barrett said local manager, Rarely Ellisor, advised this decision was made at a higher level and
was not a local decision. CounciLmember Carter felt it is very important that Mr. Randy Ellisor come to the
Council to explain this. He said it is important when it involves public airways and the use of the airways,
and what is shown or not shown. He said he would just as well like to see the playboy channel made available
and feels the city council is exercising a form of censorship by not running it, because he has heard it
expressed that it is not shown because of the content. He said he would like for Mr. Ellisor to explain this
in detail. City Manager Pipes said Mr. ELLisor will come at the City's request and if this is the Council's
wish, he will be happy to arrange it.
Johnson Family Reunion
Councilmember Robinson advised he represented the Mayor and Council at the Johnson Family Reunion
recently. He said they were very cordial people and expressed their thanks for the City's representative being
present. He said there were some 200 family members there. He said they now intend to hold their reunions in
Huntsville in the future as this is the base for the family.
RECESS TO WORK SESSION II
The Mayor then recessed the meeting to the work session for the review of the proposed personnel policy Ij
revisions. The Council did not reconvene in formal session.
ADJOURNMENT j
it
tful00y submitted,
acre ry Ruth DeS 'I
III
July 9, 1991 ,I