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MIN CC 07/23/1991CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "Q" 439 JIMINUTES OF THE HUNTSLLE CITY CHAMBERS, LOCATED AT V11212 AVENUE M INI THEE CITYG OFE HUNTTSVILLE,23COUNTY OFF WALKER,79EXASHATH6:45 Tp MALL COUNCIL 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 William H. Knotts, Jr. Gene Pipes, City Manager Gary Bell Ronald L. Lange Scott Bounds, City Attorney James L. Carter Charles Robinson Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary Ila G. Gaines CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hodges then called the formal session to order at 5:15 P.M. Reverend David Becker of the University Heights Baptist Church presented the invocation. CONSIDER THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JULY 9. 1991 Councilmember Gaines made the motion to approve of the minutes of JULY 9 1991 as prepared and Councilmember Knotts seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously with Councilmembers Barrett and Robinson absent for this vote. CITIZEN INPUT /INQUIRY SESSION Gold Leaf Japanese Bowl donated by Rotary Club - -John Birkner Mr. John Birkner, President, Huntsville Rotary Club, advised the Huntsville Rotary Club has a sister club in Japan, the Osaka -Joto Club, which grew out of an exchange program the Huntsville club had several years ago. He said the Rotarians from Japan visited the Huntsville club on their way back to Japan from attending an international convention, and presented the local club with many gifts, one of which was a gold leaf dish of some value. Mr. Birkner said the members of the Local club could not determine what to do with it and since the City of Huntsville now has a sister city relationship with another city in Japan and has already collected other artifacts related to that new connection, the Huntsville Rotary Club decided to donate the gold leaf bowl to the City of Huntsville to add to their collection. Mayor Hodges received the bowl and asked the City Secretary to place it in the city's display case, noting it is a nice addition to the city's collections. Mr. Jack Robbins to thank city for handicap access around Square and to request sanitation container at Brazos Transit Bus Stop on 10th Street behind The Huntsville Item. Mr. Jack Robbins thanked the Council and the Planning Commission for the handicap ramps that have been installed on the sidewalks in Huntsville. He said on March 17, 1987, he asked the Council to consider planning this project. He said as he walks through town now, he can see it completed. The Council was then asked to provide trash receptacles at the Brazos Transit Bus Stop behind The Huntsville Item office on 10th Street or where appropriate. He said a photo of this littered area appeared on the front page of The Huntsville Item this morning. Mayor Hodges thanked Mr. Robbins for bringing this to the city's attention because anything that will make the City of Huntsville clean and more beautiful is valuable to the City. He asked Mr. Pipes to process this request. ATTENDING CITIZENS Mrs. Lindsey advised the Council that she grew up in Huntsville and is now a San Marcos resident. She said Huntsville is very special to her. She said she and members of her family are very pleased that they could be here this evening to make this presentation. She thanked Q. C. Robbins, Jack Robbins and Tobie Gates, who assisted her family in identifying some of the people who were in the 1925 photograph of the Huntsville Volunteer Fire Department. She then introduced her uncle, Mr. Colin H. Babbitt of Austin, Texas, to tell the ' Council about the family's gift. Mr. Colin H. Babbitt said he and Margaret have been discussing this occasion for several months. He said his family has had some Fire Department photographs in their possession for over 60 years. He said his father, Charles E. Babbitt, was the first Chief of the Huntsville Fire Department and helped organize it, and spent many happy years in the Fire Department. He said they identified the men in the photo and had two of these historical photos framed for presentation to the City: a 1926 photo of Charles E. Babbitt, First Fire Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department, and the 1925 Volunteer Fire Department members. Mrs. Lindsey then CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "O" 440 presented the photographs to the Mayor. Mr. Babbitt said yesterday was his father's birthday and he would have been 101 years old. He felt it is appropriate that this presentation is made this close to his birthday. Mrs. Lindsey introduced her family members: her sister, Diane Bobbitt Ouisenberry, her Daddy's sister and Colin's sister, Charlene Wooten and her husband Harry; Kathleen, Colin's wife; Colin's daughter, Marsha Encore (sp ?); and Colin's son, Jerry Babbitt. Councilmember Knotts said Colin was his scoutmaster. Mr. Babbitt said he remembers that, noting he was a boyscout and a scoutmaster. Mayor Hodges advised the photographs will be displayed in a prominent place in the City Hall. He said the Volunteer Fire Department is very important to the community and that there are now three full time paid firemen and 40 volunteers. He said they have a very close organization and do extensive work in the community. He said the City Council appreciates the Department because the city saves approximately one half million dollars a year because it has a volunteer department rather than a full time department. He said they perform a wonderful service for our community. Mr. Babbitt then presented a booklet containing historic information; microfilm of The Huntsville Item li of 1928 and 1929. He said the collection also contains a copy of a fine article that appeared in the Walker County History book published in 1986. He said he can recall that in 1926, his father had Billy Mallery, a j member of the department and a Chevrolet dealer in Huntsville, order a fire red roadster, which he bought for himself, with gold leaf letters on the doors that read -INFO." He said it was one of the fanciest things he II! had ever seen. He said his brother, Fred, three years his senior, while at his father's restaurant, was asked by his father to get gasoline in the red car and gave Fred $2.00 and said "fill it up and bring back the change," a possibility in those days. He said he wanted Fred to drive it around the Square two or three times jl and to wave to all their friends. So then he asked Fred to drive up College Hill and they did that. He said his father asked them what took them so long and he isn't sure which one of them told the lie, but he said they �'.. were so busy down there at Mallery /Smithers' garage that they had to wait a long time. He said his father knew they were lying. Mayor Hodges noted ". and you probably came back with a half tank of gas." Mr. Bobbitt said they brought back 50 cents change. III Mr. Babbitt said he has a lot of interesting memories about those days. He shared a second memory: , in 1926 -1928, young people didn't have much entertainment - -no television sets - -so when Huntsville got its new official fire pumper, the firemen would have their fire drills and would go around the Courthouse Square and have contests. He said half of the department would get on the truck and get it a certain distance and they would time them as to how long it took them to hook up and get water onto the Courthouse in case there was a need to do that. He said the people in the city became interested in watching the firemen practice and they would call his father to ask where they were going to practice this week so they could be there. He said practice was every week and it was a religious thing with his father. He said his father enjoyed every day he had with the department and he was very glad to see it is continuing as a Volunteer Fire Department, noting his father would be happy to know this. Mayor Hodges said there are now three fire stations in the city. He thanked Mr. Babbitt for the photographs and the historical documents. II Presentation by the Huntsville Youth Baseball Organization. Or. Jody Crawford, President Mr. Crawford advised he met with the Council in April to update them on activities concerning Huntsville youth sports [Huntsville Boys Baseball, Huntsville Girl's softball, and the Huntsville Soccer Association]. He said his organization brought a proposal before the Parks Board, which will be presented to the Council by the Chairman of the Parks Board, Ms. Nancy Tiller. He thanked the Council, on behalf of the youth of Huntsville. He said the youth have excellent facilities and had excellent support from the city this year. He noted they had a great year and season and presently have two teams that will go onto the state tournaments. He said he will be here to answer questions after the presentation of the proposal by Ms. Tiller. Ms. Nancy Tiller, Chairman, Parks Advisory Board, to present proposal. Ms. Tiller said at the last Council meeting, she presented a request to expend the $25,000 which the city had budgeted for park development in FY 1990-91 for development of Bush - Miller Park. Along with that appropriation, she requested an additional 'I $16,000 for FY 1991 -92's budget to complete the project. Since that meeting, the Parks Board has been notified by telephone that it will be receiving a grant administered through the Texas Forest Service for $4,700 for Landscaping at Bush - Miller Park, she noted. She said she is now here to present the remaining budgetary items recommended by the Parks Advisory Board for the Council's consideration for the coming fiscal year. Ms. Tiller advised concerning the Park Development Fund. the Parks Advisory Board recommends an annual budget appropriation of $50,000 for park development. Over the past several years, the Board has been very successful in acquiring land for additional park facilities, she said. The City presently has 12 operating CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "O" 441 parks, she noted, and three under or awaiting development (Eastham- Thomason, Bush - Miller, Etheredge). Ms. Tiller noted however, lack of funds has prevented development of these new sites. She said the recent appropriation for Bush- Miller has allowed the city to go a long way toward reaching its overall goal of providing adequate recreational and open space facilities for the entire city. She said the cost of providing a basic facility at any site, however, requires more than the $25,000 budgeted this year if all work is to be completed within a given budget year and appropriation. An established budget will allow us to develop long- term plans for development of park sites. The Council was advised concerning Kate Barr Ross Park Expansion that the Huntsville Boys Baseball Association (HBBA), Huntsville Girls Softball Association (HGSA) and the Huntsville Youth Soccer Association (HYSA) have brought some proposals before the Board which the Board felt merited recommendation to the Council for funding this fiscal year if possible. Ms. Tiller said the baseball /softball facilities at Ross Park were designed in the early 1970's for an expected 450 players; present usage of the fields is more than double that number. She reported the HBBA, HGSA and HYSA suggest that they need the following facilities to maintain existing activities and to provide for future expansion: ORGANIZATION IDENTIFIED NEEDS HBBA Fields for the younger players (T -ball, M- Pitch); Adequate field for older players (15 -18 year olds) Improved restroom facilities HGSA Fields for the younger players (T -ball, Coach pitch) Improved restroom facilities III HYSA Fields for ages 14 and above lighted for night play She noted to obtain these facilities, these organizations have requested funding by the City for various renovation and expansion activities at Ross Park. The three associations propose to provide partial funding of the projects along with some of the actual work. The associations propose to join with the City to construct a four -plex of T -ball fields as well as an adult lighted soccer field to be located across the road from field 7. Dirt work, etc., would be done by city crews, she noted. Ms. Tiller stated this facility would be a shared facility by all entities. She then presented the proposed costs, as follows: PROPOSED COSTS OF KATE BARR ROSS PARK IMPROVEMENTS ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION OF WORK COST ESTIMATE ______________- __- ____- ________ _____________________________________________________________________________.___ city Dirt Work To be determined Electrical To be determined Lighting $7,500.00 HGSA Lighting $7,500.00 HYSA Backstops $4,500.00 HBBA Fences, grass, light poles, present outfield fence to meet standards for area field preparation, bases, etc. $1,500.00 Total Cost ............................... ............................... $28,000 - $35,000 Funds: HGSA, HYSA. HBBA $20,500 CITY .. .................. ............................... .. $8,000-$15,000 Ms. Tiller reported that HBBA proposed to make alteration to the present major league field to make the field more in line with guidelines for fields played on by that age group. Alternations would include moving the present outfield fence to meet standards for area 5A level schools as well as Dixie Major League standards. This would involve moving the present entrance to the parking lot on the south side of field 4. This also provides the ability to construct safety barriers to control traffic around the facilities for the safety of CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "Q" the visitors to the park. The fence would be 8 feet in height and constructed to City specific Additional cosmetic alteration would be made to make the field presentable for league play; this would removing the cedar trees. She said the proposed cost for these alterations are: ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION OF WORK COST ESTIMATE HBBA Fencing $11,500.00 Lighting $ 4,500.00 Cosmetic alterations S 3,000.00 CITY Electrical, dirt work, sprinkler system, move light poles To be determined Total Cost .................................... ............................... $24,000-$28,000 Source of Funds: HBBA ....................... ............................... $19,000 City ....................... ............................... $5,000-$9,000 The Council was advised, concerning Bond Issue for Future Needs that the Parks Advisory Board, a hearing the needs of the HBBA, HGSA, and HYSA, recommends a joint effort on behalf of the City, the County the private sector to provide funds to serve as a source for matching funds (50:50) for grants from the T Parks and Wildlife Department for the development of a youth baseball field complex, a major League base field, and an adult regulation lighted soccer field. follows: 442 Ms. Tiller said the proposed cost to be in the neighborhood of $3 million with funding suggested Private Sector ..................... $ 500,000.00 City of Huntsville ................. $ 500,000.00 Walker County ...................... $ 500,000.00 State of Texas: (Parks & Recreation Park Fund Grant) ..................... $1,500,000.00 Ms. Tiller said the City's contribution is based upon a bond issue to the people of Huntsville to be set for January, 1992. Walker County's contribution would also be from a bond issue, she said, and both issues would be based upon the park grant approval. In summary, Ms. Tiller said the Parks Advisory Board recommends the following actions by the City Council: 1. Budget $16,000 in FY 1991 -92 for completion of Bush - Miller Park. 2. Appropriate funds in this fiscal year (FY 1990 -91) of a maximum $24,000 to match $39,500 in funds from HBBA, HGSA and HYSA for immediate upgrading of Kate Barr Ross Park. 3. Budget $50,000 in FY 1991 -92 for park development. 4. Place on the next available municipal election a request for approval for the sale of general revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $500,000; the sale to be contingent on three actions: a. Approval of an equal amount of bond funds by the voters of Walker County; b. Donation of an equal amount of land and cash by the private sector; C. Approval by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission of a grant or grants equal to $1,500,000 or the combined amount of local funds described above (City, County and Private Sector). Mayor Hodges expressed his appreciation for the work done to obtain the small grant. He said the timing of this information is wonderful as the Council will begin next week to review budget considerations for 1991- 92. Discussion. CounciLmember Bell asked if the Parks Board is requesting that money be appropriated in FY 1991-92 instead of FY 1990 -91, as noted in item 2 above. Ms. Tiller said proposal No. 2 is for the current year (1990 -91) as they want to begin working on the park now. CounciLmember Bell asked if that money is already allocated. Ms. Tiller said it is not. Mayor Hodges said we will have to see what the reserve funds are on that. Mr. Pipes, City Manager, said it could be allocated out of unallocated reserve at the present time, but CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK 110" 443 since the Council is going into the general fund budget discussions within the next two weeks, he recommend waiting to see what the balance is out of this year and what the needs are for next year so that comparison c be made and then respond to the Parks Board. He said he understands the ideal, but if the work outlined going to be done on the baseball fields before next season, it has to be done now. He said he understan Councilmember Bell's confusion. He said the bond election being proposed needs to be in January of 1992, b the modifications to the baseball fields need to be current year budget for immediate imp Lementat i on. He as he does not know how much money is available in the reserve for future allocation. Ms. Patricia Allen, Direct of Finance, advised there will be at least 824,000, but less than $30,000. Councilmember Bell noted the city's allocation for parks last year was under capital outlay in the amount of approximately 830,000. He asked if the city allocates from last years budget. Mr. Pipes said that was a combination of parks that the Council discussed last week in combining the Thomason allocation and the Bush - Miller allocation to do the first phase of the work and then the Board made a subsequent request tonight to add to that. He said that 830,000+ would end up being 444,000 to 848,000. Councilmember Bell noted ther the Board would like 850,000 for next year or a net increase of about $6,000 over what they would like to have this year. Ms. Tiller said they are hoping that they won't have to come back to the Council as often if they have some money with which to work. She said next year the city will have to install a fence at the Eastham- Thomason park. Mr. Brown said while the fence is not a grant obligation, the city does have an outtrack that the park surrounds that must be fenced at the request of the land donor. Ms. Tiller said the city does not know the cost of this fence at this time. She said there are parks that the Board cannot do anything with because there is no city allocation for improvements or even for maintenance on the city's existing parks. Councilmember Bell noted his appreciation for the Board including the county in their park improvement plans. He said as Dr. Crawford said in an earlier meeting, about half of the children that use the parks live in the County. Mayor Hodges noted 100% of the children that use the Parks are County residents (underscoring ' requested by Councilmember Bell]. Councilmember Knotts asked what fiscal arrangement the city has with HISD on furnishing fields for High School use. Mr. Pipes said the city has had a long standing arrangement wherein the HEAP program uses school facilities every summer for various program activities and the City provides the fields at Ross Park for the high school baseball team. He said this has generally been considered an equal trade -out. He said to say that we have had a specific swap of money, the city has not done that since 1976. Councilmember Knotts said there have been some questions come up about youth baseball not being able to use those fields during high school season and that field stays vacant quite a bit. Mr. Pipes said the one large field is the only one the youth cannot use. He said it would affect the teenage baseball and it would probably have many of the same players playing on the high school team. Mr. Crawford said they can't start that program until the high school is through anyway. Councilmember Green asked a question relative to altering that field to 5A standards, if it would appropriate that HISD pay for part of that. Councilmember Knotts said that is what he had in mind; perhaps t should participate. Councilmember Green said the trade out arrangement is fine, but in terms of incurring s additional expenses to make to 5A quality, he would think it would be something of which HISD should pay s portion. Councilmember Knotts said it would be better anyway if it were delineated what was actually be traded -out and then the increase costs for the facility, so there are no questions. Mr. Pipes said attent can be given to both of those matters. Councilmember Carter noted Ms. Tiller commented that if the Council gave them $50,000 a year they would not have to come to the Council as often. He said he thinks she meant that the Board would not have to ask for money as often, hopefully, they will continue to come to the Council to tell the members what the board is doing with the money. He said if we are talking about spending more money for park improvements [keeping in mind that he has been having rather an ongoing debate with various members of the Parks Board and some members of the City Council as to what a true improvement of a park is] , he would hope that the Council will consider that maybe the city does not need to spend as much money on some of the parks as it has spent in the past, because the city could leave some of these areas in a much more natural state. He said he thinks there is no reason in Bush - Miller Park [and he is not attacking that park because it is going to be a nice park from what he has seen], to spend money as the city has been spending because it could Leave some of the city's parks in a more natural state and save the money in the long run. He said when we talk about improvements, he urged the Council to think in terms of maintaining natural areas, not just in changing natural areas. Ms. Tiller acknowledged his comments. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK °o" 444 CONSIDER ORDINANCE Consider Ordinance No. 91 -14 amending the Personnel Policies of the City, as previously discussed Mr. Gene Pipes, City Manager, presented this ordinance, the caption of which is as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 91 -14 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, AMENDING ITS PERSONNEL RULES; AND MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED THERETO Councilmember Gaines made the motion to adopt ordinance No. 91 -14 and Councilmember Green seconded the motion. Discussion: Councilmember Carter advised since this is the document the Council reviewed in the work session, his objection with a portion of it remains. Councilmember Carter offered a motion to amend the Personnel Rules to revert to the older injury related compensation policy [Section 8. Injury on the Job]. Mayor Hodges noted then this motion is not to change that portion of the Personnel Policies. Councilmember Knotts seconded the motion to allow for discussion. Discussion: Councilmember Carter said he objects to this change simply because the City is reducing some of the compensation for employees. He said he understands the purpose of this change is management /orientation /cost cutting benefits, etc., but it seems to him the city is punishing workers who may be truly injured in order to either tighten up on some controls we might exercise over people who are not injured and yet continue to stay off work, and also for cost cutting and management purposes. He said his orientation is to continue - -it is only about a $15.00 difference -- because he feels the city is going to be penalizing and punishing a truly injured worker for reasons that he does not agree with as having sufficient rationale for doing that. He said he will be glad to elaborate on this if anyone is interested in a clearer explanation. Upon a vote on Councilmember Carter's motion to leave Section 8 unchanged Councilmember Carter was in ' favor of this motion but all other councilmembers voted OPPOSED. The motion, therefore failed by a vote of 1 to 7 [Note Councilmember Barrett is not present for this vote. Discussion: Councilmember Bell advised it is his understanding this was worked out in consultation with representatives of the city employees. Mr. Pipes said that is not correct; it was worked out by the city staff, but it has nothing to do with consultation among the employees. Councilmember Bell said the Council is also setting policies for the employees and he wondered if there is anything in the new policies with which they object. Mr. Pipes said the policy drafts have been circulated among the employees for several months. He said there is no mechanism to negotiate or consult except with the administrative staff. Councilmember Bell rephrased his question to ask if there is anything in this that an employee, or a group of employees, objects to strongly of which he is aware. Mr. Pipes said there has not been direct feedback, but that was the nature of one of the great concerns the staff discussed previously about the salaries and the nonsalaried positions and changes necessary for the capital construction crew, etc., because of the nature of the work of that crew. He said that is where the overtime discussion came from, between the affected employees and the employees of a particular group and the overtime exempt employees and those changes were made as a result of feedback. All were in favor of this motion and it passed unanimously by a vote of 8 to 0 with Councitmember Carter not opposing and Councilmember Barrett not present for this vote Consider an intertocal agreement for redistricting and census support services with Walker County Mr. Pipes presented an Intertocal Agreement for Redistricting and Census Support Services with Walker County. He advised the City and County desire to redraw district boundaries based upon new census data to obtain census data in a form usable for redistricting and other planning functions. He said this agreement provides that the County will agree to pay to the City 81,500 if the City will agree to obtain census data and computer software designed to manipulate such data for redistricting purposes. He said the City will additionally assist the County in the preparation and collection of data, including the preparation of maps, to analyze precinct populations to determine the need for redistricting; assist the County to draw new districts under the guidance of its elected and appointed representatives; and assist the County in the preparation of reports necessary to support any redistricting determined appropriate by the Councit. He said assistance may include the drawing and geo- coding of district boundaries; the redrawing boundaries to reassign census blocks; ' correlating voting district boundaries with a data base composed of data obtained from the U. S. Bureau of Census and the production of summary reports by district of total population, population by race, and voting population (age and prison adjustment). The contract also provides the city will agree to assist the County in preparation of reports based upon such census information when not related to redistricting. Mr. Pipes said Mr. Dale Brown, Director of Planning, has traditionally been the custodian of census records while Mr. Bounds, City Attorney and Ruth DeShaw, City Secretary, have worked with Walker County in the CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "0" 445 past. He said this will simply give the city the vehicle with which to acquire the necessary data ar management ability through a computer software program to be able to generate this information for a props redistricting in conjunction with walker County. CounciLmember Gaines made the motion to approve of thi contract and CounciLmember Bell seconded the motion. ALL were in favor and the motion passed unanimously, Appeals Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented the recommendation by the Board of Adjustments and Appeals. He recognized Mr. Allan Pritchard, Chairman of that Board. Mr. Pipes said the Board recommends adoption of the 1991 Edition of the Southern Building Code. He advised a public meeting of the Board of Adjustments and Appeals was held on June 26, 1991 for the purpose of discussing revising the city's building codes from the 1985 editions to the 1991 editions. Mr. Pipes said the 1991 editions of the Standard Codes are very safety oriented and strict but are more practical for application than the present adopted codes. He said the Board recommends that the city's codes be updated. He then presented the following changes within the Code of Ordinances that the City staff also recommends: Article I. Building Codes Section 6-1 (a) "Standard Building Code, 1991 Edition" (b) "Standard Mechanical Code, 1991 Edition" (c) "Standard Plumbing Code, 1991 Edition" (d) "Standard Gas Code, 1991 Edition" Section 8 -1 "Standard Fire Prevention Code, 1991 Edition" Section 7 -6 "National Electrical Code, 1991 Edition" Councilmember Green asked if the Southern Building Code is the same as the Standard Building Code or are they two separate codes. Mr. Roempke said they are the same. He said they are called the Standard Codes published by the Southern Building Code Congress International. Councilmember Green asked if there is another entity that provides codes. Mr. Bounds said there is the Uniform Building Code. Councilmember Green asked if ' there is a preference, or why has the city chosen one set of codes over the other; obviously they are different. Mr. Bounds said the Southern Building Code is probably most commonly used in Texas because it has a bigger following. He said the City of Houston uses its own version of the Uniform Building Code, but it is about the only city in Texas that uses it as everyone else uses the Southern Building Code. It was noted the City has used these codes since the early 1960's. CounciLmember Knotts said these codes are more or Less a general practice of construction in this area. Mr. Roempke said there are really no major differences. Mayor Hodges asked the City Manager to bring this back in ordinance form for the meeting of August 6, 1991. Mayor Hodges Mr. Pipes said to implement this recommendation, the Council will be required to adopt an ordinance. He said since these codes are such a major portion of the City's regulatory authority, he wanted to present this information for the Council's consideration. He said the city's recent practice is to adopt the updated codes ' about every five years. CounciLmember Lange asked if there is anything major in the codes that will affect the city of Huntsville, the builders, etc. He said the Board relied very heavily on city staff, particularly the Building Inspector, Mike Roempke, and his associate, to determine for the Board any adverse effects of the updated codes. He said it was the considered opinion of the Board that the majority of these things will not have significant impact other than bringing Huntsville in line with other cities of the same size and technical make -up. He said there were no updates that were major enough to cause great concern among the board members. Mr. Pipes said one of the routine criticisms the city receives is in being consistent. He asked Mr. Roempke if he has received feedback from Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Conroe, San Marcos, etc. as to whether they are adopting the updated code. Mr. Roempke said he contacted nine cities in this area of approximately the same size. He said some cities that have presently adopted the 1991 codes are Nacogdoches, Conroe, Round Rock, Rosenberg and Texas City. He said College Station, Lufkin, Bryan, and Brenham are in the process of adopting them. Mr. Pipes said that is the main thing; the builders working in the area are accustomed to having a standard set of codes and if they don't run into separate editions in other towns, it is generally fairly well accepted. CounciLmember Lange asked if any of the contractors or builders in town have reviewed this. He said in his own profession, he has received regulations from Austin after - the -fact, that came unexpectedly and upon which he wishes he could have had some input. He asked if the City has had some contractors review these updates. Mr. Roempke said not in a formal sense, but the city has more or less put out the word to local contractors over the past year that the city will be adopting the 1991 updates. He said some of them have talked to them about it but the city has received no negative feedback. Councilmember Green asked if the Southern Building Code is the same as the Standard Building Code or are they two separate codes. Mr. Roempke said they are the same. He said they are called the Standard Codes published by the Southern Building Code Congress International. Councilmember Green asked if there is another entity that provides codes. Mr. Bounds said there is the Uniform Building Code. Councilmember Green asked if ' there is a preference, or why has the city chosen one set of codes over the other; obviously they are different. Mr. Bounds said the Southern Building Code is probably most commonly used in Texas because it has a bigger following. He said the City of Houston uses its own version of the Uniform Building Code, but it is about the only city in Texas that uses it as everyone else uses the Southern Building Code. It was noted the City has used these codes since the early 1960's. CounciLmember Knotts said these codes are more or Less a general practice of construction in this area. Mr. Roempke said there are really no major differences. Mayor Hodges asked the City Manager to bring this back in ordinance form for the meeting of August 6, 1991. Mayor Hodges CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "0" 446 recognized Mr. Allen Pritchard as one of the city's many volunteers who has served on many boards and committees in town. He said he appreciates what he is doing and the work of his committee. Commerce Transportation Committee Mr- Gene Pipes, City Manager, advised the Council had an impromptu presentation at its last meeting by Douglas Byrne, representing the Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee, introduced by Gloria Wright, Chairman of the Chamber Board. He said Mr. Bryne has developed additional information which summarizes) alternatives- He introduced Mr. Bryne and asked him to outline this new information. Mr. Bryne expressed hisj appreciation for Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director of Engineering Design, and his staff, for assisting him in compiling i,,j some figures. Mr. Bryne said he had been told by officials in Austin that in order to get a federal grant for': traffic signalization synchronization, that the city could get only 20 percent of the money for new equipment, and that the deadline was about two days from now. He said the morning after his last presentation to the Council, he was called by Carlos Lopez, an engineer in Austin in charge of this project, to advise that the state has now gone up to 60 percent that can be applied to new equipment and the deadline has been extended to August 16, 1991. Mr. Bryne said previously, all that could be done was to synchronize the signals, but now we can perhaps even replace some of the controllers in the signals. Mr. Bryne presented another proposal in which the city can replace two of the intersection signals [Highway 75 and 11th Street and Normal Park and 11th Street] with state -of- the -art fluctuating equipment and do all of the interconnection originally planned and add some detectors to some of the cross streets of the existing intersections to have them not come in unless there is someone on the cross street. He said much of people's time on 11th Street is wasted with movements of green lights that are moving no one. He said he met with -Mr. Lopez in Austin to discuss the project and advise him of the problems in Huntsville and the problem with the state not allowing additional signals to be installed. He advised Mr. Lopez that pedestrian signals are needed on the Square because people cannot see the lights that are moving because the different movements ' of the lights are separated at Sam Houston. He said if it will help move traffic and Huntsville can prove that to him, they will consider it. Mr. Bryne said this brought in another factor. He then figured the costs to do that is 86,000. He presented four options: 1. Go with the original $20,000 project discussed last week, with the city's share being 85,000; or 2. Go with a $48,000 project, replace two controllers, and do a nice job with the 11th Street system, with the city's share being $12,000. He said the city can have Option 1 project [$20,0007, plus the pedestrian signals, if the city wishes to accept that project; or the city can have Option 2 with pedestrian signals, which makes a figure of about $64,000 with the city's share being $13,500. He said while they do have more time, they need to proceed because there are' a number of things that need to be done. He said with the help of Mr. Isbell, he can get this application completed and Council guidance is now requested. Mr. Brune said he recommends the $48.000 project with the ". addition of the pedestrian signals where the city's share would be $13.500 because the citv may not have a . chance to get matching funds in the future Mayor Hodges asked if there is a staff recommendation. Mr. Pipes said the biggest consideration is how much money is available, noting some $24,000 is available or less than $30,000. He said the money would not be needed for this project until next budget year. He said realistically, he cannot now say that we will have excess dollars available to allocate for traffic signals until the budget discussions are held, which are set to begin Saturday morning, August 3, for general fund discussions and a second work session on the budget will be Tuesday, August 6, 1991. He said Mr. Bryne has the opportunity to proceed with the grant preparation. He suggested applying for the maximum amount and if the city cannot fund it, it can just withdraw and lose the opportunity for matching money. He said it is a calculated risk, but the difference of $5,000 and $13,500 is worth the risk. On the other hand, he said $5,000 is probably just as much of a problem in factoring into the budget elements as $13,500 is, either we have it or we don't have it and it is either a high priority or it isn't. He said the Council has considered before the problems of pedestrian crossing at the Square. He said ' the Council could do it for $6,500 or it can do it for $13,500, but suggested if the city wishes to coordinate the signals on 11th Street, certainly pedestrian crossing at the Square should be a large factor in that consideration. Mayor Hodges noted either way, it is 20% participation. Mr. Pipes said it is 25% with 75% matching; the question is whether the city has the funds to match it. He said he has no problem with encouraging the Council to proceed with the understanding if the city does not have the money, it will withdraw so that the city does not damage its relationship with the SDHPT, if Mr. Lopez agrees that the city can I� withdraw. He recommended doing the $48,000 project with the city's share being $13,500 and to withdraw if the !'. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "V 447 city can't fund it. Mr. Bryne said since the application does not have to be in until August 16, it is his understandi the city may have a better Look at it during early August. He said at that point, the city could withdr without damage, or it could modify it to one of the lesser projects. He said after the 15th, the City wou have to withdraw prior to perhaps the middle of September. He said the city could go with the maximum amou and then take a look just before the applications are due. Councilmember Carter said while he does not want to complicate this project, and if it will, he will set this aside, but it involves traffic movement and pedestrian crossing on 11th Street. He said it has beer a concern of his for several weeks because he has seen some almost accidents occur in two places: 11th Street and Avenue 0 and 11th Street and University Avenue. He said the traffic on one side of that street stops but the green light is still a go on the other side but the pedestrian can't see that. He said he almost ran over someone very recently at that intersection because he thought he had the "go" and the family with childrer didn't know it. He said if we are going to do something with the signals on 11th Street, he thinks that has to be addressed as this is a very dangerous situation. Mr. Pipes said the intersection at Avenue 0 is not a part of the plan at this point and it would have to be additional. Mr. Pipes said Mr. Bryne is referring tc locations for the pedestrian signals at University and Sam Houston Avenue where pedestrians cross 11th Street. Mr. Bryne said they will have a little help on Avenue 0 as he has targeted that intersection as a semi - actuatec so that if there is not a vehicle on that cross street and there is a red light on the cross street and there will be a push button there for the pedestrian to push to stop traffic both ways and only at that cross street. He said all of the green and red Lights there are visible to the pedestrian except coming back from the other way. Mr. Bryne said we could spend 8200,000 and replace everything in town with a master computer -sized ' system, etc. and the city would only pay 25 percent, but somewhere along the line, the city has to say this is as far as it will go. He said he does not know if what he has outlined is as far as the city wants to go, but if a pedestrian signal is added at this intersection, it will probably cost another 8600. Councilmember Carter noted then a self- actuated system at Avenue 0 would stop traffic both ways and should correct the problem he just presented. Mr. Pipes said but on the opposite side, we will not be able to see the signal head because that is not a cross street, it is a driveway and there won't be a signal showing in that direction. Mr. Bryne said to have a signal showing in that direction would probably cost about 8600.00 on which the city's share would be 8150.00. Councilmember Carter said to go ahead with the project, but keep this intersection in mind as it is extremely dangerous and something needs to be done soon. Mr. Bryne said there is an alternative and when they take bids, if there is any money left over, they can use it. Councilmember Robinson noted the project is still an "if" situation. Mr. Bryne said there are hundreds of cities applying for the available grant funds. Councilmember Robinson noted then the city may not receive this grant. Mr. Pipes noted the city won't have a chance at these funds at all if it does not apply. Mr. Bryne said one good strike in the city's favor is that the city is preparing to use federal money to update signals that the SDHPT is going to hopefully assume on September 1. He said by the time this project is done, the state will probably have taken over those signals for maintenance. He said we are really gaining, for the SDHPT, 850,000+ dollars worth of federal money for which they cannot apply. He felt the city's chances of obtaining the grant is good. Mayor Hodges felt the Council should authorize Mr. Bryne to proceed with the grant application in the amount of 864,000 with the city's portion of that being 813,500. Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of the request to submit this grant application for $64,000 with the city's portion of that being $13,500 and Councilmember Lange seconded the motion All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Consider bids for concrete work on Avenue R 19th Street and 20th Street Mr. Pipes, City Manager, presented the bids which showed Spivey Construction to be the low bidder at 885,844.40 out of three very competitive bids. Councilmember Knotts made the motion to approve of the bid of Spivey Construction and Council member Gaines seconded the motion Discussion: Councilmember BeLL asked why the 19th Street sidewalk stops and then starts again between Avenue S and Norm L Park; children will begin to use that sidewalk in three weeks. City Manager Pipes said there was a particular redbud tree that was growing out of the headwall last year and the city was at the point where it needed to remove that tree before it could continue. He said that headwall has since fallen in the creek and the reason the sidewalk stopped at each side of it is because that headwall has to be rebuilt before the sidewalks can be completed. He said the redbud tree will have to be removed. He said this will be done in time for school and that funds for this project are CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "Q" 448 I beady approved. All were in favor of the motion on the floor and it passed unanimously. I onsider a request by Angelina Breaux of the Catholic Student Center to complete the sidewalk on 17th Street etween Avenue M and N j City Manager Pipes presented a request from Ms. Breaux requesting a sidewalk in front of their building ocated at 1310 17th Street between Avenues M and N because of the considerable foot traffic in front of their uilding. Ms. Breaux advised that Mr. Glenn Isbell, Director of Design Engineering, advised her that they are acking 70 feet to complete the entire block. She said the remainder of the section past their building is old ut in good condition. She said it was Mr. Isbell's opinion that only the 70 feet needs to be constructed. he requested that the City build this section and that they are willing to pay their share, which she nderstands to be one -half of the cost of the materials used. Mr. Pipes said this is the first application he an remember under the city's sidewalk participation policy, which has been in -place now for about three years. e recommended the Council's approval. Counci Lmember Knotts made the motion to approve of this sidewalk CITY MANAGER'S REPORT- -GENE PIPES The Council then recessed into executive session. Upon completion of these discussions, the Council no format action on this matter. Mr. Pipes presented the request of Mr. Sorenson, from Boy Scout Troop 1046, who is working on a merit adge, "Citizens in the Community." Mr. Pipes said the requirements to earn this badge are to attend a council acting and then to write a letter suggesting something that will help the city. Mr. Sorenson wrote that there s currently no parking from Pleasant to Roundabout on the left side of the road and suggested this no parking one be extended from Roundabout to Chimney Rock to prevent traffic congestion. Mr. Pipes advised he cannot ecommend this suggestion at this time because he has not experienced nor witnessed any particular problem with he rest of the hill there and all the other residences are on the opposite side of the street. He said while here is probably some parking from time to time, he has not noticed a problem there. He feels there should e a response to Mr. Sorenson on his scout project. He asked if the Council has any particular personal nsights but if not, he will respond by thanking Mr. Sorenson for his interest and civic activities, but the ity sees no need for no parking in that area at the present time. Mayor Hodges noted then this is Mr. Pipes' ecommendation. The Council expressed no opposition to Mr. Pipes' plan of action. insider resolutions for the 1991 TML Annual Conference Mr. Pipes again reminded the Council of the October TML meeting and the need to submit resolutions, Dting there are deadlines for processing those resolutions. He said the city has also received information pout the TML Region 14 meeting in August in which resolutions recommended by Region 14 are to be reviewed afore they can be submitted to the TML in Austin. He requested the Council's consideration of any resolutions ithin the next couple of weeks. Mr. Pipes advised he has received information concerning the reorganization of staff in Austin in which Railroad Commission might be considered as an alternative to the PUC. He said that was the one major policy a that the Council took great umbrage with state government this year. He said he feels it would be ropriate for the Council to discuss perhaps coalescing an agreement on their positions on the effectiveness the PUC, but he certainly didn't expect at the time he posted the agenda that the Sharp consolidation might, fact, have some ripple effect on that. He said he does not know that the Railroad Commission is a bad idea a location for the PUC and he does not know that it is a good idea, but it is an idea of massive impact, ecially where the City has had the experience it has dealing with the PUC in the utility rate regulations which it has been involved over the last several years. He asked the Council to think with some diligence ut any other possible resolutions it might want considered for TML, but especially focus on the PUC's activeness and verbalizing in some way its concerns about the lack of action by the PUC in terms of ablishing rates and coalescing agreement. Councilmember Green said he feels it is great to eliminate the He said he would like to go one step further and remove the Railroad Commission. Mayor Hodges encouraged Council to submit their ideas for resolutions to Mr. Pipes. i J CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "O" 449 Texas Special Olympics Mr. Pipes said Huntsville is still being considered for the location of the Texas Special Olympics and is still in the final four. He said the decision will not be known until at least August 21. Sales Tax Report --Most Recent Mr. Pipes advised the most recent sales tax report indicates the city is up 5.84 percent over this time Last year, cumulatively. Pine Prairie Water System Request for Connection for Emergency Interconnect Mr. Pipes presented the request for emergency interconnect for the Pine Prairie Water System and the city's water supply system at FM 980 and FM 247 intersection. He said he has been wondering for a number of years why, when they go through their periodic shortages, they didn't have an established cross connection so Huntsville could supply water to their system and get them out of difficulty when that occurs. Mayor Hodges asked if we would put a meter there. Mr. Pipes said a meter would be installed there. He said this is not an agenda item for tonight and there are a number of items to be worked out between Mr. Wilder and Mr. Isbell concerning engineering, but obviously, there is a timeliness factor and we will need to bring a formal document back to the Council. He said they require notification as soon as possible if the city decides to reject this proposal as they will have to work out an alternative. He said if the council does not see any particular merit problem, then the city staff will proceed and bring this information back to the Council for formal discussion later. Mayor Hodges asked if this meets with everyone's approval. He said he assumes this will be done at no cost to the City. Mr. Pipes said there may be some engineering costs involved. Councilmember Knotts asked if we do this, would the city have to reimburse them for their line in the event that area is annexed. He felt there should be some type of agreement that if the city does this, it should not have to buy their system. Mayor Hodges said that could be part of the agreement. Mr. Pipes said ' that is a very good point and he will bring that up in their discussions. Councilmember Bell noted, philosophically, as he looked this over he wondered about this question of when the city extends its services out to people who need them, it is providing a lack of incentive to be annexed. He said he still remembers, with a great deal of frustration, the annexation discussions of a few years ago and people coming in to tell that they didn't want to be any part of the city but wanted the city to continue sending them its fire trucks, water, police department, etc., but they didn't want to be part of the city. He said when he saw this, he wondered about compounding a problem. Mayor Hodges said that has always been an issue that people don't want to be a part of the city because they don't want to pay taxes but want a[I the services. He said they want all the benefits such as using the ballpark, the library, the airport, the landfill, etc. He said he suspects whether the city does this or not, they will still not want to be annexed and will not want to pay city taxes. Councilmember Lange said this is something that will really not affect them other than in an emergency �I situation. Mr. Pipes said the individual residents won't know the difference. He said Pine Prairie is a cooperative of intergovernmental arrangement and Pine Prairie does not have a say. The individuals will never know whether it is city water coursing through their pipes or Pine Prairie water. Councilmember Bell disagreed, noting when they turn on their tap they have had some water shortages out there, those residents may want to become a part of the city just to have an assured water supply. Councitmember Knotts felt it should not be made a convenience system for them that they can cut this section off and turn the city water on and supply these people this; he thinks it should be strictly "emergency." Annexation Discussions Requested Councilmember Bell recommended, in a general sense, since this has been a source of frustration for his Last six years on the council, that the city start looking seriously at systematic annexation. He said it is something several of them have talked about and frankly, it is time to "get down and bite the bullet." Mayor Hodges said after the Council gets through the budget session, come October or so, they can again discuss annexation. Councilmember Bell said he will vote for this on the basis that the city quit sending services without the thought of taking them into the city. Mr. Pipes said he will bring this matter back for formal consideration soon. MAYOR'S ACTIVITY REPORT--BILL HODGES Consider two appointments to the Huntsville Library Board Mayor Hodges presented recommendations from the Library Board to appoint Jane Henderson and Mary Jane Coers for positions on the Board to replace Sharon Camfield (1988 -1991) and Carolyn Gaines (1989- 1991). Councilmember Barrett made the motion to approve of these appointments and Councilmember Lange seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "0" 450 !!!!!MAYOR HODGES IS A GRANDFATHER FOR THE SECOND TIME!!!!! * * * * *" Mayor Hodges said he wants this announcement boldly stated in the minutes. He then proudly anno that he is a new grandfather. He said his daughter (Leslie] had a new baby boy, Bryce Andrew Whitmire. He "the mother is doing fine, the baby is doing fine and the Grandmothers are doing sensational "! COUNCIL ACTION Cavender's Boot City Building Councilmember Lange advised two weeks ago, Councilmember Carter initiated a discussion of the Cavender': Boot City Building. He said that building is private property and even though it is not a good tookim building, the City Council has no business telling people how to build buildings, but it does have ordinance: on the books concerning the green space. He said he has spoken to some people in the city and even though on, could say the letter of the law has been followed, that Cavender's has put in some seeds and three little tree, there, it still is an eyesore and it would appear they didn't realty try to landscape under the spirit of th ordinance. Mr. J. D. Schindler, Director of Community Development, advised they did comply with the bar minimums. Mayor Hodges said we do have minimums and we can make them do so much but we can't make them mow it Mr. Schindler said they were issued citations because they reluctantly drug their feet. He said the City gav them a temporary occupancy permit to even do the mini mum and there were a number of days of citations writte on that and the city's staff was quite disappointed in it in that a little more could have been done and the encouraged them to do that. Councilmember Lange asked if the city has collected on those citations. Mr Schindler said he would check on that. H -GAC Meeting Councilmember Barrett said he attended the H -GAC meeting last Tuesday and due to Gene Pipes and Dale Brown's informing him of the waste disposal plan that was supposed to be implemented, he got one plan discarded) ' which put Walker County by itself. He said Walker County needs to be in with Montgomery County. He said he feels he accomplished something there as they are now not even going to think about that plan. He said he appreciates the staff's help. Mayor Hodges noted he appreciates him monitoring these discussions for the City's best interests. Complaints Received for closing 22nd Street over the weekend Councilmember Knotts said he has received complaints about closing 22nd Street over the weekend for the street work. He said while he can't remember the name of a liquid add -mix, there is an add -mix that one can add to the concrete, as used on freeways, that will take traffic the next day. He said it is poured in at the job site. Mr. Isbell said he is familiar with this product but does not know the name. Councilmember Knotts said it is not calcium, it is liquid, but it gets an earlier set on it and it is used on freeways so traffic can be allowed on it the next morning after its application late one afternoon. He said the city could do that or do a half section at a time rather than closing the entire street. Emancipation park Playground Councitmember Robinson said he brought to the CounciL's attention about two or three months ago information on the conditions at the baseball /softball facility at Emancipation Park. He said the city assured him the grass would be cut around the diamond. He said the inside infield looks shorter there. He said the outfield has not been done. Mayor Hodges asked the City Manager to see that this is done. Councilmember Robinson said he has received some disturbing news from a group of ladies about the Martin Ji Luther King Neighborhood Center Building. He said they are upset about continuing what they are doing for the Center. He said they are putting considerable funds and volunteer work into that Center in an effort to improve it. He said they report the Center is still not being monitored as far as upkeep. He said they said something about a refrigerator that was almost thrown away and they were going to buy another refrigerator because they thought it didn't work. He said it turned out to be just a plug that didn't work in the building itself. He said they are still saying the Center is not being checked to see whether or not there are problems. Mayor ' Hodges noted his concern. UgtY Buildings Councilmember Carter said while we can't stop people from building ugly buildings, we can publicly state they are ugly buildings. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "0" 451 Martin Luther King Boulevard sidewalks Counci [member Carter said he has some questions about the sidewalk work on Martin Luther King BouLeva He said these are not hostile questions because he appreciates what the City Engineer did in terms of devis a sidewalk that would be three foot wide. He said in fact he feels it was the city council that was wr, rather than the city staff in this instance. He said he knows the trees have been taken out, but he has s� questions about some of the existing features of that area and what the city is doing there. He said he hoj they can aLL work to correct them. He said he was given the impression, and there was no attempt to mist him, that there were people Living in those two structures and that they were going to plant grass and that one of the reasons this person requested the trees be removed. He said he may need to check the minutes, he did have the impression, because of the language used that night, there were people living in those buildings. He said it doesn't look to him like there have been people living in either one of those buildings for some time. He said he knows there was a statement made that people had difficulty getting up those houses and the city did put steps in one of the tittle retaining walls there so he assumes the c thought someone would want to get up there. He asked who owns those buildings and who was it that made request because they certainly aren't residents of either one of those two buildings. City Manager Gene Pipes said if he will check the minutes, he believes he will find that every refere to any request on those buildings was by the ownership, and in fact, a clarification was made the second t it was discussed, that it was the daughter of the off iciaL owner that had been transferred and that papers w pending in the lawyer's office for power of attorney and authority to act on behalf of the ownership of property. He said the owner was the one making the request, and to his recollection, no inference was ever m that either of the houses were occupied. Count ilmember Carter said it was just some of the language that used. He said he does not think anyone was trying to mislead him and he is not accusing anyone of mislead him, but the language used that night led him to believe for some reason that there were people living the Councilmember Carter said the city built the sidewalk that goes down past the housing project but i stops well before it gets to the school. He said if he had been designing and building the sidewalk himself he might have started at the school and gone up the street and never reached that particular section of trees He asked how the children get from the school to the city's sidewalk, or from the sidewalk to the school wher there is about one - quarter of a mile of grassy area and street where they are not going to have a sidewalk He said it seems this almost negates the whole project unless there is a way to get from the school to th sidewalk. Mr. Pipes said he hopes the Council of last fall remembers that this specific discussion was had a that the concern was that the school board had authority on school property. He said since it was a brand r school and they had, in fact, enacted the policy that instigated the pedestrian use of that area that the HI should take it up from 1st Street and take it to the school, or alternatively, route the people around the di road on 1st Street to the road that the School District acquired behind the school and get them completely aw from Martin Luther King Boulevard because of the heavy traffic and no curb and gutter from 1st Street. Councilmember Carter said he remembers that discussion but one cannot use that back street now becaus it is a fairly deep ditch area and a bridge would have to be built. Mr. Pipes said that is School Distric property and they'll need to build a crossing of the ditch which the city would also have to do if the sidewal were also built adjacent to the roadway. Councilmember Carter noted again these are not hostile questions He said he just wants to be clear about what the City is doing there. Mr. Pipes said the city's design of the particular project was discussed with the Council in detail, which could be considered micromanagement, bu these details were discussed specifically and the Council was asked those questions. Mayor Hodges asked Mr Pipes if he was expecting the HISD to take care of that portion of the way to the school. Mr. Pipes said the is why the city designed it from 1st Street on; it was up to the School District to get children from there t the School. Mayor Hodges asked Mr. Pipes to pass that concern on to the School District. Councilmember Carte said he would be glad if he would because he is not sure what the children are going to do. ' Councitmember Carter said it still disturbs him, nonetheless, that the city removed trees that probe had a value much greater than the two vacant structures. He said he still would say that someone said in t meeting that someone wanted to plant grass, which implied to him someone must be living there. Council mem Barrett said they said the grass would not grow. Councilmember Carter said he hopes the city will take m care and concern. He said he should have gone there to check it. He said if he had known the houses w unoccupied and the houses weren't worth any more than they appear to be worth, he might have fought a lit harder that night and still lost, but he might have fought a little harder to save those trees. Councilmem Carter said he appreciates Mr. Pipes' answer on the School District concern because he does recognize what CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JULY 23, 1991 BOOK "0" 452 is saying and he does recall the road discussion but he does not recall the discussion about the front sidewalk, out he knows Mr. Pipes is correct on that matter. �! Councilmember Bell noted the articles published in The Huntsville Item concerning recycling were read with interest by the people in his residential area. He said they have expressed a very real interest in participating in recycling. He said his wife is even busily washing cat food cans for recycling. He said the time might be appropriate, especially with newspaper coverage, to get into the recycling business. Mayor Hodges said there is more interest in recycling and it is amazing the number of people who volunteer to recycle now. He said there are a number of people who drive to the recycling center to give newsprint, green and white glass, plastic, etc. He agreed it is time to move on with recycling. Councilmember Knotts expressed his concern that the Texas Legislature not have the capability to invade Texpool Funds and borrow from them to solve immediate state budget problems. He said he could almost guarantee if they can do it, they will try. NEWS MEDIA INQUIRIES Mr. Wayne Sorge, reporting for KSAM, asked if the City can state at this time just how many bond issues the citizens may have on the ballot in January. Mayor Hodges said at this time the City is giving consideration to a bond issue for the ballot on the parks and the library. He said, however, he cannot speak for Walker !County. He said it is still too early to know the dollars or the total scope of a potential city bond issue. Mr. Pipes said there are several other initiatives that might surface during budget discussions. ADJOURNMENT ' Respectfully submitted, i th DeShaity Secretary July 23, 1991