EVERMAN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING

EVERMAN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, August 02, 2022 at 6:30 PM 212 North Race Street Everman, TX 76140 MINUTES 1. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Mayor Richardson called meeting to order at 6:30pm. PRESENT Place 1 Linda Sanders Place 3 Johnnie Allen Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Susan Mackey Place 5 Judy Sellers Mayor Ray Richardson ABSENT Place 6 Miriam Davila Others Present: Mindi Parks, City Secretary Craig Spencer, City Manager Susanne Helgesen, Finance Director Landon Whatley, Fire Chief Scott Dabs, Code Enforcement 2. INVOCATION 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. CONSENT AGENDA 5. PRESENTATIONS 6. CITIZEN’S COMMENTS Johnnie Allen asked as a citizens to get an update on the new housing and Craig stated he will do that under City Managers Report. 7. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. FY2023 Employee Benefits - HUB International - Rodney Dryden Rodney approached council and stated that he has been working with the staff on the renewal and our initial number from United Healthcare came out to a 7% increase and we are very excited to get that to a no increase for the city and the first time in a while our employees will have no changes which means no cost increases across the board for health, vision, life,  dental and disability. Rodney stated this is a very consistent Program this year, which he believes will be welcomed by our staff. Rodney will be coming back out soon to go over benefits with the employees and makes sure they understand the programs that they have. Rodney also explained that the City Manager asked him to look at the city's historical and go back a few years and look at it and over the last four years time, we are actually averaging a negative three on our cost over that period so the fact that the city has kept the cost flat and slightly below average of fours years ago is a very nice trend for the city. He is very pleased to deliver this news to the City Council and the staff. Council thanked Rodney for his hard work and in hopes that we can stay the course next year. Council had no questions. B. City Council Governance Policy Update Craig stated that as we were working through the budget, one of the things that came up that is apart of this policy is the training when it relates to a city council member. So, Craig has reworded that and has attached that to the agenda for the council to review. He also explained that after doing that he also looked at the whole entire policy over the weekend to see if there could be any other updates. He has put before council just a draft for their consideration and he is not wanted to go through this tonight. He has kept in mind over time and many discussions with council on the changes that he made in this policy that council would like to see as far as the council governance policy. He also wanted council to know they will find more definition and explanation of processes and this could be a good training document for new council members and board members coming in. He even included a table in the policy that dictates what motions require and so on with motions and seconds and things like that. He did inform council that this policy is in complete deliberation amongst them. They need to review this policy and be ready to come back at the next meeting and discus this and make any changes that they want to see and bring the final document back to them for approval in September. Allen had a question about the Region Eight Dinners. She stated previously we were aloud to go to those and be reimbursed for the cost and mileage if it was out of the way. Her question is that she recently attended three of the Regional Eight Dinners and will she be reimbursed for those? Craig stated that if the Mayor approves that then yes in accordance with the policy as its currently written then yes. Allen stated that previously it did not have to be approved, so it does now? Craig stated that all reimbursements have to be approved and that is a part of the Financial Policy that we have a city. Craig stated that there is no issue of he reimbursements of the Regional Eight Dinners. The current writing in the policy when it comes to attending anything it was very open and put the city on the hook for one attending something thirty two times a year if they wanted to, and that is why we just put the approval with a dollar amount attached to it and that is up to council when they discuss their training budget. This will come back to the next meeting for discussion. C. FY 2023 Budget and Proposed Tax Rate Susanne opened the discussion for anything that the council would like to ask about. Regarding paying a company to mow the grass, would it not be cheaper to pay an employee? Craig stated that when we pay the $40,000 a year it is for multiple employees where our one employee cost over $50,000 a year and benefits which would be as savings to hire that company rather another employee. They would do more than just mowing the grass. Anything that is Public Works related. We also have a need for additional staff in the Public works and freeing up this time and saving money since this also helps not having to hire for those needed positions that are not a need now taking that away from those already employees. Scott Dabbs has already been taking over Code Enforcement. No more questions or concerns from the council. D. Columbine Well-Site - Councilwoman Johnnie Allen Johnnie Allen stated that she has has several questions about the Columbine Well Site and she would like to know exactly what they are doing. She ask because she has seen oil tanker  trucks come over there a couple of times a day and the residents want to know. Craig stated that after they drill they have to pack that well and they bring in oil and things like that to line that hole with that they drill down several thousand feet with and those tankers bring in that oil to line that with. Craig stated that the hole is drilled and its connected and they have been doing testing and may be as today be up and running. He would have to confirm that with Gilbert but it is very near to completion at this point. E. Tennis/Pickleball Court - Councilwoman Johnnie Allen Johnnie would like to have this in Everman and furnished by the city and free to the citizens. She also stated that she does know that a business is putting one in, but she thinks this would be very beneficial to our residents for us to provide this for them. Allen stated that possibly all we would need is a location and she could look into it and get more information if the city would approve it. At this time Mayor Richardson had Richard from Taco Oasis talk about the Pickleball Court he is going to have in the City of Everman. Richard stated that they have had a project in the works for the last year. Richard explained that they discovered Pickleball a view years ago and they really liked it. He stated that this is a game that his nine year old daughter and his sixty year old dad could play together. He started to look at this for his business. He then built a Pickleball Court and it was opened about two months ago. Richards stated that it has been going really well with just one court. This court is also covered in the summer heat. He stated that people are booking it and on a Saturday he would have up to thirty people for one court and they come and eat and have a good family time. Richard explained after seeing this after the first week or so, he got in contact with some developers that he has already known previously and was talking about doing like a strip mall center on Enon and Forest Hill but as soon as Covid hit they backed off. So now, he is talking to them about the Pickleball. He stated that in this DFW area there is at least three businesses that have a dozen pickleball courts already. He has tried to book these courts on the weekends himself and they are always booked and very hard to get and they are charging $40 an hour for one court., so this is not cheap and people are booking it up. There are cheaper courts like the one in Arlington that he goes to which turns out to be about $14 an hour. The one court that Richard has now he is charging $28 an hour. With the plans he has with the developers, they want to build a very big and nice facility for pickleball courts with at least a dozen courts. They are also looking into the possibility to having them in an air conditioning building which is pricy but the goal here Richard stated is to attract, and they have seen where some host tournaments, Professionally televised tournaments. Richard added that they are not that amazing, and we could do better. Richard stated that they have the space for this and with the city's support he can possibly have Professional televised sports in the city. This is a very fast growing sport. He also added that they want to have a discount for citizens for pickleball also, but there is one now just difficult to have online when they book it he explained but he was thinking to keep this to the residents of Everman they could have a coupon code put in the water bill until they get the bigger facility and the software to be able to easily give that code at booking online. He also stated that he would match the price to Arlington prices also, he has no problem with that. Richard also stated that he is not opposed to the city having a court. He just wanted to explain that this court when built would need someone or someone's to be there and check in people and all of that. Richard stated that he would love to make it free to the residents but he does have to pay for staff and development. His goal is to bring in sales tax and people from all over to come to the City of Everman. The council would like to wait and see what his courts do before they think about paying for a court and employees to run a court in the city. 8. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION A. Approve Ordinance #782 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF EVERMAN, TEXAS CALLING AND ORDERING PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 26 OF THE TEXAS LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE AND CHAPTER 201 OF THE TEXAS ELECTION CODE, A SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 8, 2022 TO FILL A VACANCY CREATED BY THE RESIGNATION  OF COUNCILMEMBER PLACE TWO (2); APPROVING A JOINT ELECTION AGREEMENT WITH TARRANT COUNTY; DESIGNATING A POLLING PLACE; PROVIDING FOR ELECTION PROCEDURES AND NOTICE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Motion made by Place 5 Sellers, Seconded by Place 1 Sanders. Voting Yea: Place 1 Sanders, Place 3 Allen, Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Place 5 Sellers, Mayor Richardson Motioned Carried. 9. EXECUTIVE SESSION Did not convene into Executive Session. 10. CITY MANAGERS REPORT Craig will be out the rest of the week this week. He has not received any communication from Fort Worth or anyone associated with the development on the manufacturing housing and Craig is drafting a letter and the next earing is August 10th that letter will go to them since Craig can't attend that meeting in person. He will try to have another staff member go in his place. 381 single family housing development going in across from the post office, this information was given to Craig. Craig also reminded council of next weeks meeting at 6:30pm. 11. MAYOR’S REPORT Mayor did not have anything. 12. ADJOURN Mayor adjourned the meeting at 7:07pm. I hereby certify that this agenda was posted on the City of Everman bulletin board at or before 5:00 p.m. on Friday July 29, 2022. /s/ Mindi Parks City Secretary Citizens may watch city council meetings live on YouTube. A link to the City of Everman YouTube channel is provided on the city website at: www.evermantx.us/government/citycouncil/ Pursuant to Section 551.071, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, Council reserves the right to convene into Executive Session(s) from time to time as deemed necessary during this meeting, to receive advice from its attorney on any posted agenda item, as permitted by Law. Additionally, Council may convene into Executive Session to discuss the following: A. Section 551.071 - Pending or Contemplated Litigation or to Seek Advice of the City Attorney. B. Section 551.072 - Purchase, Sale, Exchange, Lease, or Value of Real Property. C. Section 551.073 - Deliberation Regarding Prospective Gift. D. Section 551.074 - Personnel Matters. E. Section 551.087- Deliberation Regarding Economic Development Negotiations. F. Section 551.089 - Deliberations Regarding Security Devices or Security Audits. Citizens wishing to submit written comments should e-mail the City Secretary at mparks@evermantx.net. Comments that are received at least one-hour prior to the start of the meeting will be provided to all council members. According to the City of Everman Policy on Governance Process, individual citizen comments will be restricted to three (3) minutes unless otherwise determined by a majority vote of the Council. The mayor is responsible to enforce the time limit. Citizens may address City Council either during the Citizen Comments portion of the meeting or during deliberation of a listed agenda item. City Council is only permitted by Law to discuss items that are listed on the agenda. Citizens wishing to make comments should notify the City Secretary as soon as possible. City Hall is wheelchair accessible. Parking spaces for disabled citizens are available. Requests for sign interpretative services must be made 48 hours prior to the meeting. To make arrangements, call 817.293.0525 or TDD 1.800.RELAY TX, 1.800.735.2989.