EVERMAN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING

EVERMAN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 6:30 PM 213 North Race Street Everman, TX 76140 MINUTES 1. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Mayor called meeting to order at 6:32pm. 2. INVOCATION 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. CONSENT AGENDA A. Minutes February 7, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Minutes February 21, 2023 Regular Council Meeting Minutes Motion made by Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Seconded by Place 6 Davila. Voting Yea: Place 1 Sanders, Place 2 Renfro, Place 3 Allen, Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Place 5 Sellers, Place 6 Davila, Mayor Richardson Motion Carried B. Financials February 2023 Motion made by Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Seconded by Place 6 Davila. Voting Yea: Place 1 Sanders, Place 2 Renfro, Place 3 Allen, Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Place 5 Sellers, Place 6 Davila, Mayor Richardson Motion Carried 5. PRESENTATIONS A. Citizen Commendations - Mayor Ray Richardson Mayor presented all the Commendations and read them out to the citizens present at this meeting. He also thanked them for all they did that day to keep the children safe and reinsured everyone that the city is doing all they can to keep this type of stuff out of the City of Everman. B. Swearing In Ceremony - Everman Police Department Craig Spencer sworn in Officer Bobby Pender and introduced him to the council and the citizens present at this meeting.  C. Swearing In Ceremony - Everman Fire Department Landon Whatley swore in four Fire Fighters that have completed their probation period and they are as follows; Otis Thomas, Scott Rice, Carson Denny, and Kevin McCall. 6. CITIZEN’S COMMENTS At this time the citizens were notified that if they wanted to speak they would need to fill out a Speaker Registration form and to make sure Mindi Parks, City Secretary receives this form for the discussion item on the Johnson Park shooting incident. We do have Danny Longoria that will speak at this time that is not listed on the agenda. Danny Longoria approached Mayor and Council and stated that he is here to speak on two organizations. Harvest House served 140 families here in Everman last year and more in the surrounding communities. They would like to improve services in this area by providing a location to connect with families. They would like to have a preferable location in Everman or Tarrant County to also allow openings for more funding for Harvest House. Danny stated that Harvest House serves one third of Tarrant County but there is no address for them to offer services or additional funding for food, or financial assistance for those in need. Danny stated that Harvest House wants to help prevent homelessness with the cost of living increasing so much and helping ensure families don't loose their house or utilities. Harvest House wants to help the City of Everman citizens improve their lives with these helpful resources that would be available to them with this location. This is the Harvest House out of Burleson stated Danny. The next organization is Next Step. June 24th, the Supreme decided to affirm life and save babies from abortion in our state. This organization is also out of Burleson, and Danny stated after talking to Eddie and Rob they would like to get a location for these organizations. Danny passed out some handouts to council and staff with the information on these organizations. Danny stated that this would be no cost to the City of Everman and they would love the city to provide a room or help find one for them to help the citizens of the City of Everman especially young kids, young pregnant teens or adults that may need the help and with nutritional food. Danny Longoria finished by adding that he hopes they can partner together. 7. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Potential relocation for all public meetings Craig stated that we are running out of office space. We would like to improve the office space for Code, Permits, and for Public Works and Water Department. There is a Corporal and Code Enforcement Officer sharing an office at the Police Department. The Public Works and Water Department Building is dilapidating with the complaint of mold smell in the building. There has been funds already expended to try to help that situation and Craig stated at this time it was evaluated that no more funds should be spent on this building due to the conditions still needing attention and being too much to keep putting money into it without having to demolish it all together. We would like to make it easier for citizens also when they do come in City Hall to get to the right Department. Donna Wilkerson is the Permits department and she is all the way down the hall at City Hall and is not easily accessible to our citizens that need to pull permits or discuss something with her. With that being said, Craig stated that one thing they have talked about to improve the office space with a couple of extra offices. He would like to make the recommendation to hold our Public Meetings here at our Civic Center. This would include all of our Public Meetings here at the Civic Center and converting the Council Chambers at City Hall to several cubicle style office space for permits, code, and city services. This would able them to come to City Hall and if they don't have any services with water or court they can turn to the right and have access to other city services and there would also be a little seating area for them to have to wait. The expense for this would be minimal stated  Craig. This would not require a huge expenditure for a new building, this would only require some office furniture to make this happen. This is the proposal that Craig is bringing to council for them to consider and discuss. Mayor stated his only concern is the Audits are held in the Chambers and is there a game plan for them? Craig stated they would probably have to be set up in a suite here at the Civic Center for them to have. Council Member Mackey asked if the Executive Sessions would be held in a conference room here at Civic as well and Craig stated yes, and that tonight's Executive Session will be held in there as well. Craig also stated that Court is also held in the Civic Center now as well so they do not use the Chambers for anything. Public Works sets that all up for Edna the court clerk and her as well. Craig stated that he is looking for a general consensus on this to move forward and if so he will have some numbers for this conversion as well at the next meeting. Council is all in general consensus to move forward with this project. B. 2023 Water & Sanitary Sewer Rates Craig stated as promised he did the survey and our current water rates are still in line with the averages. The only change we have experienced is that the Northern Trinity Well Services have gone up 3 cents per thousand gallons. So, our recommendation to council is that we propose 6 cents increase on the base rate and 3 cents increase for sewer rate for a total of a 9 cent increase per month and will cost $1.18 per year. This is a very minimal increase for our citizens and offset the increase form Trinity Year total revenue is $2500 with this increase. Susan stated that this is better than a huge increase like the past. Council is in consensus with this decision. Craig will bring this to the next meeting for their approval. Johnnie- can ARPA funds be used? Craig stated yes, but the water system is designed to pay for itself and self sustained and Craig recommends to stay clear of that for this reason. These minor adjustments will help not impact our citizens negatively. C. Street Repairs - Potential Acquisition of a Hot Mix Trailer and Machine Roller Craig stated that the biggest complaints are the streets and they have been an issue in our City. One of the hardest things for our public works to address the conditions of the streets because they don't have the appropriate machinery to do so. They are having to use cold mix asphalt, place it in the ground and we do not have any roller of any type to pack this asphalt on the street and therefore it is not getting a good seal. The very next rain comes and washes out any pothole repair they have just did and this becomes a repetitive issue and we are sinking dollars into this repetitive issue. Craig stated that talking with the Director of Public Works, we believe that we could acquire an asphalt trailer and a Hand Machine Roller that will satisfy the needs of the streets sizes and our repairs for less than $40,000. Craig's recommendation is to go out and get official prices and bring it back to council, and allocate Street Improvement tax funds towards the purchase of that equipment so that our guys can repair the streets the right way. Council Member Mackey asked if we have anyone trained to do that? Craig stated that we do actually have someone on staff in Public Works who is certified in asphalt and can handle all that stuff. Craig also stated that this year we did not allocate any funds out of the Street Improvement Tax Fund and there is roughly about $250,000 sitting in that fund today. Craig also stated that addressing roads with this fund that has sewer or water lines issues would be a waste of those funds and one road would take that whole fund and more. With the use of the funds towards the machinery they can actually do some right work on the potholes in the city and help these streets in need right now. Craig also stated that the next Bond the city will have to go out for will be a Street Improvement Tax Bond to get these streets repaired. Council Member Allen asked where all this equipment will be stored since we do not have anywhere for it? Craig stated that the trailer can be stored outside but the roller will have to be stored in the Public Works garage. Craig also stated that a storage building is in our CIP Plan so eventually we will have to have that. Craig is just asking for consensus from council to get the numbers back to them at the next meeting. Council is all in consensus to move forward with getting that information. D. Trinity Metro "Zip-Zone" Ride Share Services Craig stated that this was originally approved with a grant. The grant is no longer. Craig got an email that the ILA is coming up for renewal. Craig also stated that he has asked them to give him a report showing how many have used this in the City of Everman. He received this report and this report had addresses that do not reside in the City of Everman, one being Stallion Point Apartments. This cost is $150,000 to $175,000 a year and this is a lot to pay when it is not servicing only our citizens. Craig is making the recommendation to have councils permission to keep asking for the numbers for our residents and have them come do a presentation to council and if they can come up with a plan for just our citizens tax dollars to be used for our citizens then we can look into it. Craig stated that there are other pressing issues more important to address than using tax dollars to fund something for citizens not in our city and there is not a need at this time for our citizens to utilize this service. Mayor Richardson said that he would get in contact with Tarrant County and see if there is grant money for this and Council Member Mackey added that they need to see actual addresses on this report. The ILA is up in June. Craig stated that it is actually $167,000 a year for this service. Craig stated that the grant money is up and Metro and Tarrant County are the ones that have already applied for the grant and did not get it so there will me no grants for this. The way it stands today we will have to allocate those funds for this service. There is no other discussion on this and this will come back before council at a future meeting. E. Garage Sale Permits & Signs Craig stated that we are working on the Fee Schedule and would like to talk about this. Craig explained the process to council on what the Citizens have to do to obtain the permit. They pay $25 to receive this permit and receive 3 signs and the wooden stake also to place them at our expense and those are the only ones they can use. If they bring the signs back after their garage sale they receive a $15 refund so the ending price for the permit is $10. Craig stated that the headache for our staff with this is that have to maintain these signs and they do get wrote on which means they have to take alcohol to get this stuff off the signs in order for them to be reused and this is a work horse for UB to maintain these signs. Craig stated that he is assuming with the ordinance that they passed they were trying to maintain the cleanliness of the signs and to know who had a permit and who didn't with the use of different signs. In looking at the Fee schedule Craig would like to know if they have an issue doing away with the signs, of course contacting our attorneys to get their input on this but with that dropping the permit fee to $10 and letting them provide their own signs and do away with the whole process of the signs. Council would like to put some teeth in our sign ordinance to help with the leaving of the signs but also council would like to make a grace period on the time they have to pick their signs up after the sale. This can be a five day grace period but we do have to make sure the Police Department is enforcing this as well if they move forward with that. Craig stated that he is working with the City attorney on our sign ordinance and there is some creative ones out there and we can certainly put some teeth into it and not add this work onto the staff as well. Craig would like to know if council is even willing to look into that. There is a lot we can put into this ordinance. We can get creative with this and the City of Becave is one city that has a great ordinance and is recognized by Scenic City for that. Mayor and council are in consensus to move forward with this and come back to council with it at a future meeting. F. Waste Connections Notice of Price Adjustment - 2023 Craig stated that he sent out a staff report with the notice of this adjustment and he has an amendment to that staff report. That report had two adjustments included. The first one was the CPIU, which is the annual increase that we expect and get every year and the contract caps that increase at 6 percent and their request was for 6 percent. Our attorney added that they can request that on their own and they have to inform the city of that 60 days before for that and we have no choose but to do it on the CPIU. The other increase that we have not seen before was just a general price increase due to landfill cost and other increasing so they  were also requesting an additional 6.07 percent for a total of 12 percent increase. Craig included those numbers in the staff report so council could see. At the attorneys recommendation we sent them a rejection letter rejecting that 6.07 percent and Waste Connection has acknowledged that and has apologized for their error in the letter and also recognized they did not have the right to ask for that additional 6.07 percent and since then has withdrawn that and notified us that the only increase we will expect in June on trash is the 6 percent increase. Craig stated that currently the price for trash is $10.66 a month and this increase will put it at $11.24 with a total of 64 cents of an increase in trash. Craig did want to add that our trash rate is remarkably low compared to other cities that we have been looking at here recently and that includes other cities with Waste Connections. A neighboring city next to us is paying $18 a month per resident which is significantly higher than us and Arlington pays $22 and less pick-ups also a week . Craig just wanted to share that information since we are getting only that 6 percent increase. This contract will be up in 2025. They can come to us every year as long as it is no more than 6 percent. Council Member Allen stated when are they going to deal with the issues we have regarding them picking up trash? Craig sated that they have been pretty good on being responsive to staff on any issues that are called in. Johnnie Allen stated that the example of the problem is the trash company picking up part of the trash and then picking up the rest on the following trash day and she is wondering why not pick it up all at one time. Johnnie Allen also stated that they also pick up from one house but may skip the next one and that is ridiculous. Allen stated they do call to complain and they say they will come and pick it up and they never do until the following week. Craig stated that there is a trash log at city hall for complaints and there have not been any not followed through. Allen stated that they are instructed to call Waste Connections to make that complaint and Craig added that yes we do as a city instruct them to do so and if the issue is not resolved they then call city hall back and we contact them to get the issue resolved and we have been pleased this last year with their improvements on responding and communication. There was no more discussion on this item. G. March 13th Johnson Parking shooting incident including discussion related to the safety and security of parks The discussion will start with the registered speakers and City Secretary, Mindi Parks called Keundra Ashley up first. Keundra Ashley approached council and stated that she was there the day of the shooting and so was her 6 year old along with a lot of other 6 year old's and ultimately she would like to know what can we do help provide more safety for these children because her son is traumatized and never been exposed to a shooting like this before and never had to even explain such a thing and she would like to know how to help keep everyone safe in this community. Her son does not want to play baseball anymore and sometimes he is scared and they had to do counseling for him and that did help some but he still ask questions. Keundra would like to know again how the city can help them feel more safe out on the fields. Mayor Richardson first started off by saying that he as well was at those fields that night with his grand children and very much emphasis with everyone involved. He grew up on those fields and holds it and the kids in it very dear and near to his heart. Mayor stated that he has reached out to the City of Fort Worth, to the Mayor. Mayor stated that he told her that he wants a meeting with her and her Police Chief. Week later today he has still has had no contact from anyone at her office. Mayor explained that tomorrow he will send another email and he will tell her if she does not respond to his email with a meeting he will contact the media and television station. Mayor stated that this is a common occurrence that is coming from Fort Worth into our city and he has had it. Mayor stated that we will do everything in our power to help keep those fields safe. He stated that his first thought would be to shut down those basketball courts all together. Keundra asked Mayor if that is not possible at all to do? Mayor stated if he had his way we would but he needs three other council members to do that and he don't know if that would happen. Mayor also stated that we can't send Police Department over there and run them off if they are not doing anything. These kids are coming from the Stallion Apartments and you can't categorize them. The apartments are in Fort Worth and the response time for them is twenty-five to thirty minutes and our officer's wind-up having to deal with it. Mayor knows that we did spend a lot for that basketball court but money is not more important than our safety and that is his thoughts on it. Council Member Sanders asked if the court was closed right now? Mayor stated that yes it is closed right now. Keundra stated that even so the court being locked up we still have kids being menaces' around here. Sanders added that we also have the court at Pittman Park that is packed full of kids all the time and it has happened there before. Mayor stated that the city needs to sit and come up with some rules for these courts eternally. Mayor also stated and asked Craig to confirm that unsupervised basketball courts attracts a lot of crime. That concerns the Mayor and he did not know that information. Mayor even looked to the Baseball association in the audience and mentioned maybe them organizing a basketball organization to hold there only and that is just a thought he wanted to put out there. Craig stated that we do have a lot to unpack here on this discussion and we do have more speakers. Mayor stated that everyone has heard his peace so he will let the other speakers come up. City Secretary called up Frank Ramirez. Frank started out by thanking the city for this platform and letting them come up to voice their concerns. He stated that the city has been very beneficial when it comes to the baseball park and helping and Craig has been excellent on communication. Frank stated that their goal is not to come here to say anything bad but they want to provide solutions. What can we do to help provide solutions. Frank also explained that this discussion could go on for hours tonight and the goal is that this will take more than just that but multiple sittings on what we can do to help provide these solutions and he is letting the city know that he is here for that and the baseball association is here for that. He took this role in the association to help make this community a lot better when it comes to the experience that our kids get here in the city. Frank stated that Mayor mentioned the Basketball organization and that is something they do want to do. Frank wanted to highlight that some parents could not make this meeting and he had some bullet point statements he wanted to read off to the council that were shred to him this last week. Frank stated that one parent said " I've lived in Everman my whole life and several of my kids have played baseball here for many years. Why do I feel that this is not a safe place to be at anymore." Another read " My child does not want to leave the house anymore, he thinks something bad is going to happen every time we leave now to go to the park to play baseball." Another parent said " Our kids don't want to play baseball anymore because f the fear and the same thing possibly happening." This was just a few that wanted to be mentioned and shared. Frank stated that they as an association took time last week from their 9 to 5 to see what they could do for these kids and parents to make them feel safe and help with this situation. As an association they also went out and provided counseling for these kids that were really impacted by this shooting. Frank also stated that yes, shootings happen all the time, but when it is 6 and 7 year old's that witness this type of stuff it just hits you a little bit differently. Frank does not have kids of his own but these kids in this organization are very extremely important to him and the parents. Frank stated just like the last parent speaker said, what is it that we can do to help make these kids feel safe and he knows that the city does not have all the answers either but he is sure that is something the city can do and communicate and work that out. Frank also wanted to add that last Spring season they had two fights break out in the basketball court and they had to intervein and thankfully there was no stabbings or shootings at that time. He believes that that does say that the basketball court being unsupervised is definitely attracting this type of crime and mischief. He thinks that is something important for the city to discuss to see what we can do to make that better. Safety is very important to the city and to the association and he wants the city to know they are here to help and this is his role in the baseball association and he has people supporting them because they all believe in this community but at the end of the day how do we make it better and that is why Frank and everyone is here tonight. At this time Frank gave the floor to council for any questions or comments they may have for him. Council Member Davila wanted to add that she is in agreement with the Mayor, and she was there as well and a parent that is coaching now. She also stated that she grew up here in Everman and this incident is very unfortunate and even more so since it was here and we witnessed it and we were there. Council Member Davila stated that we can be exposed to this anywhere, at the Walmart or anywhere. She explained that time is changing and there is a lot of people out there with nothing to do and then what are they going to do, they will find something to do right, well this event has opened up our eyes as well. This is something that will need time to come up with a plan of action and we definitely want our kids to be safe. We also want the baseball association to continue to grow and the kids to know that this is there for them, and we want the growth and we want the parents to feel safe. She also added that this incident has nothing to do with the association and the kids are safe with the Sports association and the people being in that area the night of the incident has made it unsafe. Council Member Davila stated to the members of the baseball association present that they do understand and she will do anything in her power it takes to come up with a plan to help make everyone feel safe. She stated that the city just wants some time to come up with that plan and get something out there that will be safe especially the basketball court. Mayor added that he would like to get with some of the Board Members on the baseball association to have a sit down and see how we can work together to come up with a plan along with the Police level of things and getting with Fort Worth also about this problem. Mayor would love the feed back from the association. Frank agreed that he would love to do that and welcomed the Mayor to the next Board meeting for the association. Frank just wanted to also add that the season just kicked off and we just had 300 people in the park and it is scary to what could happen, and he also mentioned since the incident there has been a patrol car making rounds at the park and it helps and giving parents comfort as we move forward. Council Member Davila took this time to thank the baseball association for all that they do. She stated that they are doing a phenomenal job with the kids and fields and to keep up the great work and she truly appreciates them. Again, she just asked for patients and corporation on getting this plan together so that our children and parents feel safe. At this time City Secretary, Mindi Parks called Santiago Kendal. Santiago stated that he did not come with the intention to get up and speak. He is a coach to a T-ball that are 5 and 6 year old's. His practices are held at 6:30 and his team was there that night and the time of the incident was when they started their practice so half of his team is on the field and half of the rest is arriving. He stated that the field they use was near the shooting and they use the parking lot closes to the basketball court and he feels that's why he feels his team was a little more affected by this incident. So, after the incident happened and when everything was secure to move freely, his team had to pass by all of this. He stated with the 5 and 6 year old's having to walk by this, you can see where their problem is. He understands that there is protocol and things that have to be done but this is what their dealing with when it comes to the kids. This is why he is standing here today, as a parent and a coach. Coaching this team has shown him how much he loves to do this and loves to teach these children and loves being around them. This takes stress away from him from his day to day. He can be a kid and have fun and he loves that. That day of the incident took that away from them and him. They flinch and are very jumpy to everything. For the ones that show it you can see it. He stated that he and the association are working hard to derail that and help them feel safe. Santiago stated that he knows that they are going to work and figure things out for the future and come up with a plan, but he would like some light to be shown on the aftermath of this incident, which is very important to our parents and children. He don't have any ideas himself but he just wants some light shown on that aspect for these 5 and 6 year old's that had a blissful outlook on life that has been tarnished with this incident. But these are our kids and Everman kids and they need to see this out of our city. He also stated to think about the other cities that interlock with our city and we don't want them to fear coming to us. He knows we all see this and we can't plan for this but there is a aftermath that needs to be handled. Mayor announced that was the last speaker that we had. This is now an open session for council and Mayor did stat that he did say his peace. Craig wanted to add to this discussion what the Police Department is doing on their side. Craig stated that obviously our officers responded out to that scene and to give everyone a little bit of insight of what happen on the incident itself. Craig stated about thirty to forty individuals were gathered in the basketball court at the time when a fight had broken out. The fight stopped and on some video 15 seconds later you see a police vehicle pull into that parking lot and drove through. Craig stated in talking to that officer, he did say he felt like something was off but he did not witness the fight or see any reason to run them off. He drove through to show police presence and then drove away and three minutes later the shooting happens. Thanks to the individuals that were recognized tonight that they were paying attention and had self awareness and immediately starting screaming to the kids to get down and run off the field. They recognized the danger of the situation. They saved so money lives just by doing that and he thinks that is incredible. Craig stated that without going to much into the case, this is a juvenile against juvenile incident. The investigators on this case have had no corporation at all from any of the parties involved. Craig stated that this is not uncommon in these types of situations. Craig stated they do feel it was gang related. The parties involved to reside at the Stallion Apartments. This also stems from other parties that live in Stallion apartments and other incidents that have happened there. He just wanted to make clear that these are once again people that do not reside in the city. Craig stated that he asked the assistant chief to do a study on our reporting and pull data that shows how many incidents have occurred in our city that have been of people out of Stallion apartments. The system can't pull reports off that criteria so he hand went through this information and he can tell you that every single violent offense that they have had the last three to five years have not involved Everman residents. They have not been victims nor have they been suspects. The homicide from last week, not Everman residents. he shooting at Dollar General that occurred, the tempted hit that was gang related that occurred were involved in Stallion Point not the City of Everman. Craig stated that he is very proud of Everman crime rate that has dropped over 85 percent in the last five to six years. That is incredible and the biggest thing that our police department faces is the violent incidents coming from outside our city. Craig wanted to make sure that everyone was aware of that and the non corporation that they are receiving also involving this incident. Our investigators are now getting with the DA's office to see know what we can do to continue to push this forward. This is still ongoing and there has been no arrest made on this yet. The city is not giving up no matter how problematic this is turning out to be and he wants to reassure everyone of that. Craig stated that more of these incidents are juveniles that occur. He has had this conversation with Dr. Donaldson at the school. We are seeing this happen more and more. Before the Stallion Apartments Craig said that he has never seen guns brought into our school district. Now, with the Stallion apartments we have robberies across from the high school and these guns are being brought on campus and this is a problem. Craig explained how do we address that problem and the answer is " I don't know." This is not a simple answer to a question. There are many things that we are going to have to address this with. Craig stated that a few people need to be brought to the table on this and pointed out to Matt Sinclair in the audience to be a key player on this. What kind of programs are being offered to the youth here in the area to prevent them from ever getting involved in this kind of activity. hat are doing to help it prevent from even happening. This is going to be more than adding officer's to patrol or adding security cameras at the park, this is not going to detour the incidents from happening. We have to figure out how to demotivate them on being involved with this type of activities and how do we push this activity out. Craig believes that the school district needs to be at this table as well as the city and the association and the manage company of the apartment complex to help come up with a plan of action and the boys and girls club to help come up with these solutions and ideas to get these programs in place for these kids. Craig stated also that talking to the city attorney and in the city Charter the Mayor and city council do have the authority to create committees. This may be something worth considering, and Craig is not saying create this tonight but discuss this and they can set whoever they want to sit on this committee. Mayor and council like that idea. Council Member Sellers mentioned the basketball court again and Craig shared his findings on that and a unsupervised, unmanaged basketball court tends to have high crime rate because of no supervision. Craig stated that he hates the idea of having to get rid of something in our city because of one incident or two. Craig explained that you could discuss all night all the possibilities to help this situation but that's why he brings fourth the committee idea so that it can be discussed with the committee and explore these ideas and bring them to council to propose to council. Council Member Renfro asked if there is anyway to close the basketball court during baseball season. Craig stated that he can say that as of right now Mayor has ordered for the basketball court to be closed until the discussion tonight so council could determine how they want to move forward. Council Member Davila wanted to make the suggestion to have the basketball court closed from 5pm to the close time at night for games and practices. Craig asked Frank to come back up and voice his thought on that and if they were willing to have a key and do that. Frank said absolutely the association will take that on to ensure the safety on the fields. Frank also stated  that he could provide the city with a schedule so they will know what that looks like. Frank stated that they are full Monday through Saturday and Sundays we have some practices. Frank did say that he would like to have them shut down and that is his two sense on this but is willing to help on with that responsibility to help protect the city's investment in the basketball court and he understands that. Davila stated to Craig that a city employee should be the ones closing that at 5pm, and the association could take on that responsibility on the weekends. Mackey asked to consider putting a sign on the court showing the closing times of the court and why. Craig stated that he can sure do that. This is something that we can do for know until we have a better solution. Mayor closed by saying that we are going to create this committee and they will be getting in contact with the school district and all the ones we feel that would need to serve this committee. Mayor also hopes for the meeting with the Fort Worth Mayor so that we can move forward with this committee. Also, talk to our kids and let them know they are safe and also push them to get through this and deal with this aftermath. So the direction is making hours for this basketball court and move forward with this committee and Craig will have this information at a later meeting and also Craig informed council to think about who they want appointed to this committee. The city Attorney did say they have to be resident to be on the committee but there is work arounds to have others appointed on this committee. The council is consensus for Craig to move forward with this. 8. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION A. ORDINANCE #795 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF EVERMAN, TEXAS, CANCELLING THE GENERAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON THE 6TH DAY OF MAY, 2023, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ELECTING CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR PLACES 1, 3 AND 5 ON THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EVERMAN, TEXAS; DECLARING THAT EACH UNOPPOSED CANDIDATE TO BE ELECTED TO OFFICE; REQUIRING POSTING OF THIS ORDINANCE ON ELECTION DAY AT EACH POLLING PLACE; PROVIDING A REPEALING CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Motion made by Place 5 Sellers, Seconded by Place 5 Sellers. Voting Yea: Place 1 Sanders, Place 2 Renfro, Place 3 Allen, Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Place 5 Sellers, Place 6 Davila, Mayor Richardson Motion Carried. B. ORDINANCE #796 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EVERMAN, TEXAS, AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF EVERMAN, TEXAS BY AMENDING SECTION 9.4 “DEFINITIONS AND REGULATIONS” OF ARTICLE 9 “SIGN REGULATIONS” OF APPENDIX B “ZONING ORDINANCE”; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, PROVIDING A REPEALING CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Motion made by Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Seconded by Place 1 Sanders. Voting Yea: Place 1 Sanders, Place 2 Renfro, Place 3 Allen, Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Place 5 Sellers, Place 6 Davila, Mayor Richardson Motion Carried C. RESOLUTION #2023-03-01 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EVERMAN, TEXAS, AWARDING A CONTRACT TO WHIRLIX DESIGNS, INC. FOR THE CLYDE PITTMAN PARK INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED  $114,851.00; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE SAID CONTRACT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Motion made by Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Seconded by Place 6 Davila. Voting Yea: Place 1 Sanders, Place 2 Renfro, Place 4; Mayor Pro-Tem Mackey, Place 5 Sellers, Place 6 Davila, Mayor Richardson Voting Nay: Place 3 Allen Motion Carried 9. EXECUTIVE SESSION A. Section 551.071 - Seek Advice from City Attorney related to properties located adjacent to the Everman city boundaries Mayor convened into Executive Session at 8:28pm and closed Executive Session at 8:53pm. No Action taken. B. Section 551.074 - Personnel Matters: Animal Control Officer 10. CITY MANAGERS REPORT A. Staff Report - Air Conditioners at City Hall Craig stated that he has briefed council on this already about the two air conditioners that have went out at city hall. Public Works did go out for bids but it was not required for that he did get three bids from companies. Those have came back and we will be moving forward with one of them that is totaling less than 25 thousand dollars and he has told them to move on it because city hall is getting hot and this is for both. 2016 was the year the units that are there now were installed and no warranty on it either. There will be the common warranty on these for one or two years and he isn't sure on that. Allen asked if we will have to replace AC's every eight years and Craig stated he hopes to have a brand new city hall by then. Craig will get that warranty information to council. B. Everman Police Department Acquisition of All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and Bicycles Craig just wanted to inform the council that the Police Department was able to acquire four, four wheeler ATV's and two bicycles as well. This was through a donation with the Friends of the Everman Police, and they paid for all the items. These will be utilized at our special events, and talked about using them at the sports field and just increase our presents. We are very excited about it. They are here, we have just sent them off to be wrapped with the graphics and he will make sure to bring them up here for council to see. The ones that we have had prior at our events have been privately owned and not ours. 11. MAYOR’S REPORT Mayor had nothing to report at this time. 12. ADJOURN Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:57pm. I hereby certify that this agenda was posted on the City of Everman bulletin board at or before 5:00 p.m. on Friday March 17, 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 Texas Government Code Sec. 551.127, on a regular, non-emergency basis, members may attend and participate in the meeting remotely by video conference. Should that occur, a quorum of the members, including the presiding officer, will be physically present at the location noted above on this Agenda. 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.