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02/15/1999-CC-Minutes-RegularMINUTES. CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 15, 1999 PRESENT: Mayor Tommy Kincaid, Councilman McNeill, Councilwoman Madden, Councilman James, Councilman Ervin, Councilman Jenkins OTHERS PRESENT: City Administrator Jack Smith, City Secretary Rose Chavez, Administrative Assistant Samantha Renz, Police Chief Benny Erwin, Water/Wastewater Superintendent Eddie Branham, John Henderson, Tommy Belcher, Bob Hagemann, Woodrow Barton, Mary Bucklew, John Bucklew, Shelly Ruland, Billye Hollingsworth, Sheri Reynolds, Esmeralda Wilkerson, Candace Lloyd, Jimmy Evans, Ralph Amyx, Jeff McNeill, Ken Cornell, Khosrow Sadeghian 1. Mayor Called Meeting to Order and Councilwoman Madden led the Invocation, Mayor led the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. a) Approve Minutes: February 1, 1999 January 23, 1999 - Planning Meeting January 28, 1999 - Special Called b) Disbursements: 1. Final Payment - Dickerson Construction. Councilman Jenkins moved to approve all items on the Consent Agenda. Councilman James seconded. Motion Carried unanimously. 3. Citizen's Input. Woodrow Barton, 807 N. lOt'', indicated there was an intolerable condition in Sanger, he indicated the citizens who buy electricity from Sanger Electric carry more of a burden than the citizens who buy electricity from Co -Serve. He indicated the solution would be to raise Co -Serve's franchise fee, or to sell the City's electric assets generating a 40% profit. He addressed the Mobile Home parks and indicated one park has 215 spaces with 178 or 179 residences and the average value of those homes are $3200.00, that generates $16.00 of city taxes and with the land generates approximately $20.00 a year in city taxes per year per resident. That part burdens the city considerably. He indicated any City Council member that is buying from Co -Serve should abstain from all voting on any matters before the city including electric rates, expenditures, budget items, etc. Because he believes they have a conflict of interest, and if they have to abstain he suggests they resign. 4. Consider and Possible Action on Ordinance #02-06-99 -Amending Ordinance #Ol-Ol-99 -Sanitation Rates. Mr. Smith explained that this Ordinance includes the franchise fee that was not included in the last ordinance pertaining to commercial sanitation rates. Councilman Jenkins moved to adopt Ordinance #02-06-99 as presented. Councilman McNeill seconded. Motion Carried 4 to 1. Councilman Ervin voted No. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. Ol-Ol-999 AMENDING CHAPTER 6, SECTION 6.314, ARTICLE 18.102 SOLID WASTE COLLECTION FEES - COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, IN THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF SANGER, DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS, TO PROVIDE FOR A SCHEDULE OF SOLID WASTE COLLECTION RATES; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 5. Consider and Possible Action on IESI Payment. Councilman McNeill moved to pay the bill for IESI. Councilman James seconded. Motion Carried 4 to 1. Councilman Ervin voted No. 6. Discuss and Consider Action on Mariam's Mobile Home Park -Meter Reading. Khosrow Sadeghian, P.O. Box 2451 Coppell, TX, indicated he has a lot of respect for the City and the Council, he has been doing business in Sanger for the last eight years. He read in the paper that City Council had voted not to read his water meters individually, when he first bought the park he read his own meters, and averaged about a $300.00 a month loss, at that time he had spoken with the City Manager. He indicated he had received a letter from Mayor Armstrong indicating the City would read all the meters and collect the money. He asked the City to keep reading the meters, and indicated he would pay the bill if someone did not pay the last month before they left. Mr. Sadeghian indicated he felt he should have been notified that this was on the Agenda previously so he could have been at the meeting to explain his situation. Mr. Sadeghian indicated the city had an easement through his property, and sometimes the sewer comes out , he thought it was fixed, but wanted to make sure. Mayor indicated it had been fixed. He addressed another problem concerning the inspections on the mobile homes in his park, he indicated since 1992 he brought mobile homes to the park, and asked the city to inspect them, and then the electricity was turned on. He indicated about a year ago he was told they were done wrong and would have to be re -done, if they were done right the first time he would not have to spend the money to go through and redo them. He indicate he was going to spend $15,000.00 or more and wanted to see if the Council felt they should share in the expense that would not be if the city had not approved it the first time Mayor addressed the issue of reading his meters, and indicated the city is faced with budget problems, and this is one way the city is faced with a cost, and they feel they can eliminate some of that cost, the Council felt it was only fair to read both mobile home parks the same. Councilman McNeill abstained from discussion because he owns property adjacent to him. City Secretary indicate din a prior meeting they had voted to read his master meter, but they did not indicated a time frame, in the letter she had written to Mr. Sadeghian she advised him he had until February 15, 1999 to make arrangements with his tenants. Councilman Jenkins indicated there has been some problems in billing businesses and the city is going back and correcting all the errors, and making sure all business' are being billed the same. He indicated he did not have a problem giving him more time if he needed it. Councilman Ervin indicated he thought it would be okay to give him thirty days. Mr. Sadeghian indicated he needed approximately three months to train a person and to get with Eddie to show them how and where the meters are. Councilwoman Madden asked if he was requesting ninety days. He indicated three months would give him plenty of time. Discussion. Councilman Ervin suggested the Water Superintendent pull the master meter and check to make sure everything was working properly. Discussion. Councilman Ervin moved to give him till May 15, 1999. Councilman Jenkins seconded. Motion Carried. Councilman McNeill abstained. Councilman Jenkins indicated the Electric Superintendent to get with Mr. Smith and Mr. Sadeghian concerning the problem he is having with re -doing his mobile homes. 7. Discuss and Possible Action on Conflict With City Police Department -Jimmy Evans. Jimmy Evans, 208 Hillcrest, addressed a problem with the police, he indicated they did not pull through his parking lot and check on his employees as often as he would like. They pass by on the road, but it would only take a few seconds for them to pull through his parking lot. Discussed situation with the man who robbed his store. Mr. Evans indicated the man walked, and he has the potential of shooting someone, he had spoken with the District attorney's office, and was under the impression that Sanger had made a deal. Mayor indicated he had read the report and found no fault, Sanger did not make a deal, he felt Mr. Evans should talk to the District Attorney again. Discussion. Councilman Jenkins asked the Police Chief if it was a problem for the officers to drive through his parking lot. Benny Erwin indicated he has been short on officers, however he has hired a new officer and they are being patrolled. Discussion. Benny Erwin indicated if Mr. Evans would come to his office in the morning he would go over the police report with him Councilman Jenkins asked Police Chief to instruct his officers not to block the drives of any businesses. 8. Consider and Possible Action on Ordinance #02-03-99 and Ordinance #02-04-99 Amending Water and Sewer Rates to Include Multi Unit Billing. Mr. Smith indicated he had called the surrounding cities, and most do not charge for multi -units, Pilot Point and Lewisville do charge. Discussion. Discussed changing the word from "unit" to "occupant" in the ordinances. Councilman McNeill indicated there were five buildings in town all being billed the same as Mr. Bucklews. Mr. Bucklew indicated he knew of some buildings not being billed like his, and he wanted the billing to be level. Discussion on rates. Mayor indicated they are trying to make it all the same, but they have to fix the problems as they find them. Mayor proceeded to read captions: Ordinance 02-03-99 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BANGER, DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS, THAT CHAPTER 11, ARTICLE 23.00 WATER SERVICE RATES OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, OF THE CITY OF SANGER, TEXAS, IS HEREBY AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS. Ordinance 02-04-99 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BANGER, DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS, THAT CHAPTER 11, ARTICLE 24.00 SEWER SERVICE RATES OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, OF THE CITY OF SANGER, TEXAS, IS HEREBY AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS: Mayor read one of the ordinances changing "unit" to "occupants" Discussion. City Secretary addressed the original water rate ordinance and that per unit was per household. Discussion. Councilman James indicated he thought they should consider changing the way they do things, not just keep it the same because it's the way it's been done in the past. He indicated maybe the city could consider charging more of a minimum for a building with multiple occupants in the future. Councilman McNeill read the ordinance changing "unit" to "tenant". (c) Multi -unit Commercial Structures: Where commercial tenants are served by a single water meter, the total water usage will be divided by the number of tenants, the bill calculated from the per tenant usage derived there from shall be multiplied by the number of tenants to determine the amount due. Discussion. Councilman McNeill moved to adopt Ordinance #02-03-99 and #02-04-99 to conform to the last reading of the ordinance. Councilman James seconded. Motion Carried unanimously. 9. Consider and Possible Action on Making the Code Enforcement Officer Position a Full Time Position. Mr. Smith indicated having Bob Hagemann in a Part -Time position is unfair to builders and to Bob, and Bob is willing to work Full -Time. Discussion. Discussed benefit package, salary, and when he would begin working Full -Time. Councilman Jenkins indicated they should act on the item, and let the City Administrator work out the time with him. Councilman Jenkins moved to hire Bob Hagemann Full Councilman Ervin seconded. Motion Carried unanimously. 10. Consider and Possible Action on Creating a Position and Job Description for City Engineer. Mr. Smith indicated he had spoke with Travis at Hunter Associates, and the person they hired is an assistant engineer, they read the job description we had for an engineer and they thought it would do everything we needed. Councilman James moved to give the City Administrator the authority to pursue the job description, create a position and interview applicants but be under no obligation to hire at this time. Councilman Ervin seconded. Motion Carried unanimously. 11. Consider and Possible Action on Removal of Old Water Tower. Mr. Smith indicated they only received one bid. Councilman Ervin asked how they were going to pay for it. Mayor asked if any of the steel was of any value to the city. Department Heads indicated it was not. Discussion. Mayor indicated contingency. Councilman Jenkins asked if there was a time frame. Discussion. Councilman James moved to accept the bid from municipal Tank &Tower Services in the amount of $16,450.00 to dismantle and remove the old water tower, with the time not to exceed sixty days. Councilman Ervin seconded. Motion Carried unanimously. 12. Consider and Possible Action on Ordinance #02-05-99 -TMRS -Authorizing of Restricted Prior Service Credit. City Secretary addressed this item, she indicated this would give credit value to a person coming from another city or going to another city, it gives them the credit for the time they worked so they can get vested faster. Councilman James indicated the town was misspelled. Councilman Ervin moved to approve Ordinance #02-05-99 -TMRS -Authorizing of Restricted Prior Service Credit. Councilman Jenkins seconded. Mayor read caption: AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING AND ALLOWING, UNDER THE ACT GOVERNING THE TEXAS MUNICIPAL RETIREMENT SYSTEM, RESTRICTED PRIOR SERVICE CREDIT TO EMPLOYEES WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE SYSTEM FOR SERVICE PREVIOUSLY PERFORMED FOR VARIOUS OTHER PUBLIC ENTITIES FOR WHICH THEY HAVE NOT RECEIVED CREDITED SERVICE; AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE FOR THE ORDINANCE. Motion Carried unanimously. 13. Consider and Possible Action on Employment Contract -City Administrator. Councilman Ervin indicated Councilman McNeill had done a good job on the contract, but he did not see a need for a contract. Mayor indicated it would protect the City Administrator. Councilman Ervin moved to reject the contract. Motion died for lack of second. Councilman James moved to accept the contract as presented. Councilwoman Madden seconded. Councilman Ervin asked if the City Attorney had looked at this contract and approved it. Councilman James made an amendment to his motion to accept the contract after approval of the City Attorney verifying that it's okay. Councilwoman Madden seconded the amendment. Motion Carried 4 to 1. Councilman Ervin voted No. 14. Any Other Such Matters. a)Mayor addressed the memo from Mr. Smith concerning Nucor, and indicated he was proud Sanger was still in the running. Mr. Smith indicated the representatives would be in Sanger Wednesday at 12:00. Discussed type of business, and amount of jobs. b)Mr. Smith addressed a memo from the Electric Superintendent concerning lowering minimum bill on electric. c)Mr. Smith indicated there was a memo from the Water/Wastewater Superintendent showing the meter sizes and the costs. d)Mr. Smith indicated he had given them a memo concerning the Streets/Parks Superintendent. John Henderson has been doing the job, through no fault of his own, he was not taught all of the job, initially they should give him a raise, and he will be the superviser, not the superintendent, as he learns the job they will keep him going up. He indicated they should give John a $250.00 a month raise. e)Councilman James indicated he noticed the new church was closer than normal to the street, and was told they were granted a variance. He also noticed it was an all metal building, and was told the permit came into affect before they passed the Metal Building Ordinance. He asked if there was any way they could make them put a different type of face on the building so there wouldn't be a huge metal building on the main street through town. Mr. Smith indicated it was his understanding when they have the money they will brick the building. Discussion. 15. Meeting Adjourned.