City Council Meetings

540 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING MINERAL WELLS CITY COUNCIL CITY HALL ANNEX April 18, 2017 - 6:00 pm City Councilmembers present were Mayor Pro Tern John Upham, Councilmembers Clif Wright, Brian Reagan, Jerrel Tomlin, Tammy Underwood, and Wayne Johnson. Mayor Mike Allen was absent. A quorum of City Councilmembers was present Staff members present were City Manager Lance Howerton, Police Chief Dean Sullivan, Finance Director John Moran, Public Works Director Kelly Jones, Fire Chief Mike Pool, City Clerk Juanita Formby, and City Attorney Mack Reinwand. Mayor Pro-Tern Upham called the meeting to order, Pastor Nathan Buchanan of First Baptist Church of Mineral Wells gave the invocation, and the Pledges of Allegiance to the U.S. and Texas were recited. CITIZEN COMMENT No one had signed to speak Following a motion made by Mr. Reagan, seconded by Mr. Johnson, the following CONSENT AGENDA was approved by a 6-0 vote: 1. Consider minutes of previous meetings held April 4, 2017. 2. Consider approval of budgeted expenditures over $500. 3. Consider approval of Financial Report for the month ended December 2016. 4. Consider authorizing Crawford Roofing Application for Payment in the amount of $112,296.65. ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 5. Mayor Pro-Tern Upham opened a public hearing at 6:02 pm regarding a request for a change of zoning designation for property located at 3406 Highway 180 West in Mineral Wells, from Commerical (C ) to Single Family (SF-9). Mr. Howerton said that the Commercial zoning that fronts the highway bisects this residential property located a bit north of the highway, and the applicants, Clent and Carolyn Hogg, Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 04/18/2017 Page 1of5  541 are asking that the entire residential parcel be rezoned to single family, to facilitate sale of the property. The Planning and Zoning Commission had met on April 3, 2017 to consider this matter and now recommends that the zoning be granted as requested. No one was present to speak, and the public hearing was closed at 6:04 pm. Mr. Reagan moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to pass and approve an ordinance changing the zoning classification on certain property known as TR 21-3 and a portion of TR 21, Abst. 376, Windfill Pierce Survey to Single Family Residential (9000 SF. Lot) ( SF-9) ; amending the Zoning District Map accordingly; providing for a penalty not to exceed $2,000 for each violation; providing this ordinance be cumulative; and providing for severability, governmental immunity, injunctions, publication, and an effective date. Motion carried 6-0. 6. Mayor Pro-Tern Upham opened a public hearing at 6:05 pm regarding a request from Debbie Brillhart to close a portion of SE 2nd Avenue between S.E. 18th Street and S.E. 19th Street in Mineral Wells. There is a six-inch sewer line in this undeveloped street, and it is recommended that the City retain an easement for access to that. Mr. Howerton said that the Planning and Zoning Commission had considered this item at its meeting held on April 3, 2017 and now recommended that the street closure be granted. No one was present to speak, and the public hearing was closed at 6:07 pm. Mr. Reagan moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to pass and approve an ordinance of the City of Mineral Wells, Texas abandoning and vacating S.E. 2nd Avenue from S.E. 18th Street to the north property line of 215 S.E. 19th Street, and as more particularly described and depicted in Exhibit "A"; retaining drainage and utility easements thereon; authorizing the execution of a quitclaim deed; providing an effective date. Motion carried 6-0. 7. Mayor Pro-Tern Upham opened a public hearing at 6:07 pm regarding a request from Harold and Jo Ogle to close a portion of an alley, about a block in length, which runs south from S.W. 4th Street between S.W. 12th Avenue and S.W. 13th Avenue. Mr. Howerton said that the Planning and Zoning Commission had considered this matter at its meeting held on April 3, 2017 and now recommends that the alley be closed as requested. No one was present to speak, and the public hearing was closed at 6:09 pm. Mr. Reagan moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to pass and approve an ordinance of the City of Mineral Wells, Texas abandoning and vacating a Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 04/18/2017 Page 2 of 5 542 certain undeveloped alley right of way located between Lots 4 and 5 and Lots 14-16, Block 8, of the Edgewood Addition and as more particularly described and depicted in Exhibit "An; authorizing the execution of a quitclaim deed; and providing an effective date. Motion carried 6-0. 8. Mr. Howerton said that in FY 2016-2017, the City Council approved $10,000 to support the BOUNCE! program, a program whereby youth from various places, as well as locally, came to the community to repair homes for needy homeowners. Mr. Howerton said that BOUNCE! will not be active in Mineral Wells this coming summer, and PULSE Ministries has requested that the funding allocated for BOUNCE! be reallocated to them for the same type of program. Ms. Rose Jordan of PULSE Ministries was present and answered several questions about their new program. Following the discussion Mr. Reagan moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to reallocate the $10,000 from BOUNCE! to PULSE Ministries. Motion carried 6-0. 9. Mr. Howerton reported that Cool City Electronics, a tenant at the Downing Maintenance Hangar, recently ceased operations, but will continue to occupy the space through the end of 2017 while they liquidate . . Mr. Howerton presented Amendment No. 1 to the lease agreement between Cool City Electronics and the City of Mineral Wells for the leased premises, through December 31, 2017 for $1,000 per month. Cool City was in arrears on their lease payments, but has now paid $7,000 to offset that and have agreed to make the City whole as their assets are liquidated. Following discussion, Mr. Reagan moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to adopt a resolution authorizing execution of Amendment No. 1 to the lease agreement between the City of Mineral Wells and Cool City Electronics, Inc. Motion carried 6-0. 10. Mr. Howerton said that the Airport Advisory Board had recently reviewed a request for a ground lease at the Airport with Jamie Steward for the purpose of constructing an 80' X 50' hangar, and now recommend that the Council approve the lease. Mr. Howerton said the lease contemplates lease of about 4,000 square feet of property at a rate of $560 a year. The lessee will have one year to construct the hangar, or the lease may be terminated. The lease is for 20 years with two five year options. Following the discussion, Mr. Wright moved and Mrs. Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 04/18/2017 Page 3 of 5  543 Underwood seconded to adopt a resolution authorizing execution of the ground lease as described and recommended by the Airport Board, Mr. Reagan voted nay, and the motion carried 5-1. 11. At 6:25 pm, Mayor Pro-Tern Upham called an Executive Session (closed meeting) in accordance with Texas Government Code, Chapter 551.072, Subchapter D, for the purpose of deliberation regarding the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property. 12. The Mineral Wells City Council reconvened into open session at 7:11 pm. No action was taken. 13. Mr. Howerton said that over the past several weeks a City Council subcommittee has been examining the possibility of purchasing the former Bank of America building, located at 100 S.E. 6th Avenue, to be used as a municipal facility. A contract has been prepared which would allow the City to continue to examine the feasibility of the purchase and renovation of the building until August 31, 2017. The contact contemplates a purchase price of $1.l million with a $15,000 refundable earnest money deposit required. If the City makes a final decision to purchase the building, a nonrefundable option fee of $25,000 will attach, and the purchase price will increase accordingly. Following the discussion, Mr. Wright moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to adopt a resolution authorizing execution of purchase contract for the subject property, Mr. Reagan voted nay, and the motion carried 5-1. 14. Mr. Howerton said that in anticipation of the purchase of the former Bank of America building for use as a City Hall/Police Depart~ent, and the proposed construction of a new Fire/EMS facility, the City Council Bond Committee solicited RFQs from architecture firms to perform the assessment and design. Ten architecture firms had responded to the Request for Qualifications, and upon the Committee's recommendation, the City Council had accepted a proposal from Brown, Reynolds, Watford Architects (BRW), to perform the feasibility study for municipal facilities. Mr. Howerton presented a Letter Agreement from BRW identifying the scope of services as well as the cost of the work involved, a cost not to exceed $48,000. Mr. Howerton said staff had reviewed the Letter Agreement .a nd now recommends Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 04/18/2017 Page 4 of S 544 its acceptance by the City Council. Mr. Wright moved to adopt a resolution authorizing execution of Letter Agreement with Brown Reynolds Watford Architects for Feasibility Study for Municipal Facilities, Mrs. Underwood seconded, and the motion carried 6-0. 15. Mr. Moran presented an Engagement Letter from George Morgan and Sneed, PC, Certified Public Accountants, to perform auditing services for the fiscal year ending Sept_ember 30, 2017. GMS has been the City's independent auditors since 2010. Mr. Reagan took exception to the agreement, expressing displeasure with GMS and their accounting of the City Council's water rate decisions during and following the drought of 2016. Mrs. Underwood observed that it was not the auditor's function to agree with the City Council or defend their actions, but merely to report the fiscal reality. Mr. Reagan said that there was a lot of distrust among the citizenry and he felt that the City should retain the services of a different auditing firm. There was discussion among the Council and staff about the time available to do this. Mr. Moran and Mr. Howerton both said that GMS has done a good job for the City and are completely unbiased in their auditing, but if the Council would like to see the audit performed by another firm there is time to do an RFP ahead of the next audit season. Mrs. Underwood said that if a change in auditors would ally some of the distrust out in the community, she had no quarrel with that. It was determined that staff would prepare a solicitation for another auditing firm. No further action was taken. 16 . There was no further and the meeting was adjourned at approx imately Upham, Mayor Pro Tern l Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 04/18/2017 Page 5 of 5