City Council

MINUTES FROM THE HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING HELD ON THE 23rd DAY OF FEBRUARY 2021, IN THE CITY HALL, LOCATED AT 1212 AVENUE M, IN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, COUNTY OF WALKER, TEXAS, AT 6:00 P.M. The Council met in a regular session with the following: COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Daiquiri Beebe (arrived at 5:05 p.m.), Blake Irving (arrived at 5:29 p.m.), Russell Humphrey, Dee Howard Mullins (arrived at 5:33 p.m.), Bert Lyle (arrived at 5:03 p.m.), Joe P. Rodriquez, Andy Brauninger, Pat Graham COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT: Vicki McKenzie OFFICERS PRESENT: Aron Kulhavy, City Manager; Brenda Poe, City Secretary; Leonard Schneider, City Attorney WORKSHOP [5 P.M.] City Council discussed the Transportation Alternative statewide program to provide sidewalks and/or bike lanes in Huntsville and to discuss the vacation buyback policy. MAIN SESSION [6 P.M.] CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Brauninger called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. INVOCATION AND PLEDGES U.S. Flag and Texas Flag: Honor the Texas Flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state, under God, one, and indivisible. Councilmember Graham gave the invocation and Mayor Brauninger led the pledges. PROCLAMATION – Texas Week 1. CONSENT AGENDA Public Comments will be called for by the presiding officer before action is taken on these items. (Approval of Consent Agenda authorizes the City Manager to implement each item in accordance with staff recommendations. An item may be removed from the Consent Agenda and added to the Statutory Agenda for full discussion by request of a member of Council.) a. Approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held February 2, 2021. [Brenda Poe, City Secretary] b. Consider authorizing the City Manager to apply and accept the FY 2021-2022 Victims’ Service Coordinator Grant for $79,394.50, plus $20,348.62 City match and adopting Resolution 2021-07 in support of same. [Kristie Hadnot, Grants Manager] c. Consider authorizing the City Manager to award the complete rebuild of the Robinson Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant aeration basin gearbox, including removal and reinstallation to DXP Supercenter in the amount of $61,485. [Brent Sherrod, P.E., Public Works Director] d. Consider authorizing the City Manager to purchase standard law enforcement equipment for outfitting FY 2021 Police vehicles currently on order from Dana Safety Supply utilizing the Buy Board Cooperative. [Kevin Lunsford, Director of Public Safety] Mayor Brauninger announced that item 1b was pulled from the agenda. Councilmember Graham made a motion to approve the consent agenda of the draft minutes; the motion was seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Rodriquez. The motion was adopted, 8-0. 2. CITY COUNCIL/CITY MANAGER/CITY ATTORNEY a. Consider removing the required 80-hour prerequisite in order to sell back a maximum of 40 hours during the vacation buyback program. [Blake Irving, Councilmember Ward 3] Councilmember Irving made a motion to change the policy to 40-hour prerequisite for all staff, allowing employees to sell back a maximum of 40 hours for the vacation buyback program to ; the motion was  seconded by Councilmember Beebe. The motion failed, 3-5, with Councilmember Graham, Humphrey, Lyle, Mayor Pro Tem Rodriguez and Mayor Brauninger voting against. 3. REQUESTS FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION An opportunity for citizens to be heard on any topic and for the City Council to participate in the discussion. No action will be taken. a. Nicholas Polk would like to discuss Student Government Association at Sam Houston State University inquiring in regards to childhood literacy project and increase student involvement in the community. Did not attend. 4. MEDIA INQUIRIES RELATED TO MATTERS ON THE AGENDA None 5. ITEMS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST (Hear announcements concerning items of community interest from the Mayor, Councilmembers, and City staff, for which no action will be discussed or taken.) Mayor Brauninger thanked the employees of the City who went above and beyond last week. He also thanked Chick-fil-A and Domino’s Pizza for their generous donations to the City of Huntsville employees and #HomeSweetHuntsville during last week’s winter storm. Councilmember Graham spoke about the March 2nd celebration for the annual Texas Independence Day and General Sam Houston’s Birthday hosted by the Walker County Historical Commission, Sam Houston Memorial Museum, City Council, and the City of Huntsville Tourism Department. Councilmember Irving talked about The Solid Waste Department providing the Cleaner, Greener Huntsville free roll offs starting March 1 through March 6 for inside city limit residents only. No electronics, commercial dumping, liquid waste, tires, fluorescent light bulbs or hazardous waste are prohibited for dumping. Councilmember Humphrey spoke about the Prison City Film Festival that features four days of great Independent Films from all over the world accompanied by Filmmakers, Special Guest Speakers, and Live Entertainment beginning Wednesday, Feb 24th through Saturday, Feb 27th . EXECUTIVE SESSION a. City Council will convene in closed session as authorized by Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, Section 551.071 – consultation with legal counsel on a matter in which the duty of the attorney to the governmental body under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Texas clearly conflicts with chapter 551 relating to and for the purpose of attorney-client communications concerning the City of Huntsville New Police Headquarters and Fire Station #2/Fire Administration Building Project b. City Council will convene in closed session as authorized by Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, Section 551.071 – to receive legal advice in regards to the Walker County Hospital Corporation d/b/a Huntsville Memorial Hospital (Bankruptcy No. 19-36300) filed in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. c. City Council will convene in closed session as authorized by Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, Section 551.071 – to receive legal advice on the evaluation, review, and employment of City Charter officers, City Charter provisions on Charter officers, and personnel matters covered by 551.074 of the Texas Government Code. d. City Council will convene in closed session as authorized by Texas Government Code, Chapter 551,  Section 551.074 – personnel matters regarding the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee, concerning City Secretary Brenda Poe. Councilmember Beebe motion to postpone March 2nd meeting. The Mayor made a statement. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Howard Mullins. The motion failed, 3-5, with Councilmember Graham, Humphrey, Lyle, Mayor Pro Tem Rodriguez and Mayor Brauninger voting against. The Council convened into Executive Session at 6:27 p.m. 6. RECONVENE The Council reconvened at 8:50 p.m. Mayor Pro Tem Rodriquez remove Brenda Poe as City Secretary, seconded by Mayor Brauninger. The motion was approved 5-3, with Councilmember Howard Mullins, Beebe, and Irving voting against. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Brauninger adjourned the meeting without objection at 8:51 p.m. Ashley Newsome, Deputy City Secretary ATTEST: CITY OF HUNTSVILLE ________________________________ ________________________________ Ashley Newsome, Deputy City Secretary Andy Brauninger, Mayor