City Council Meetings

,576 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING MINERAL WELLS CITY COUNCIL CITY HALL ANNEX July 18, 2017 - 6:00 pm City Councilmembers present were Mayor Mike Allen, Mayor Pro-Tern Tammy Underwood, Councilmembers Regan Johnson, John Upham, Jerrel Tomlin, and Doyle Light. Councilman Brian Shoemaker 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, and City Clerk Juanita Formby. The City Attorney was not present. Mayor Mike Allen called the meeting to order, Kirk Horton of Well of Life Church of Mineral Wells gave the invocation, and the Pledges of Allegiance to the U.S. and Texas were recited. CITIZEN COMMENT Mayor Allen recognized Rhonda Wilkinson of 1201 S.E. 4th Avenue, who had signed to speak. Ms. Wilkinson said she had recently retired to Mineral Wells, and up to now has not been active, but she intends to become so; that she loves Mineral Wells and hopes to see it become a vibrant, prosperous community. She addressed the City Council's stated plan to seek a bond election for the repurposing of the former Bank of America building for use as a City Hall, and also mentioned a recent TCEQ water quality violation experienced by the City. She said that if a bond election was held, she would like to see separate propositions listed on the ballot, rather than a single proposition for a specific amount of money without much indication as how the money would be spent, as she had seen before on school district ballots. Mr. Howerton assured her that school districts can and do have all-encompassing bond propositions as she described, but it is illegal for cities to do so; therefore, any propositions on a City of Mineral Wells bond ballot would be separate according to the purpose the money would be used, and voters could vote for or against each one as they see fit. Ms. Wilkinson said that she had heard in the community that if a citizen spoke critically of the City Council that their dogs and horses would be poisoned, and the Police Department would harass them. Councilmembers Upham and Underwood told her that those comments were complete and utter nonsense, and there was absolutely no truth to them. Mr. Upham invited anyone who made Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 07/18/2017 Page 1of5  577 those accusations to call or email him, he would be happy to discuss. Mrs. Underwood suggested that if any person was experiencing such events, then they should relate the facts, not gossip and innuendo. Mrs. Underwood said that whenever the City Council discussed the possibility of raising more revenue to move the town forward, they received a public outcry against any increase in taxes. Ms. Wilkinson told the Council that the City needs more jobs and businesses to occupy the vacant buildings. Councilmember Johnson encouraged Ms. Wilkinson to look into the Envision Mineral Wells project that would be a good way for her to become involved in a productive way. Ryan Roach, the Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, was present, and said he would take as much time as Ms. Wilkinson would like to discuss Envision Mineral Wells. Mayor Allen recognized Ms. Ashley Mast of 1905 S.E. 14th Avenue, who had signed to speak. Ms. Mast felt that were was inadequate transparency in City government. She would like to see presentations of how the City Council hopes to use any bond revenue, and told the City Council that they should provide the citizenry assurance that the money would be used wisely. She said talk of the proposal to repurpose the bank building has caused a lot of controversy and confusion. She was advised by the City Council that a detailed presentation was given by the architects as a previous meeting, and further presentations would be given throughout the community ahead of any bond election. At this point Mr. Howerton explained in some detail the history of City Council discussions regarding a hoped-for bond issue, beginning in 2014. When the City's debt was due to be retired in 2016, a citizen committee was appointed by the City Council (two citizens were named by each Councilmember), and this committee met several times, compiling a pamphlet of possible capital improvement projects across all City departments. In March of 2017, a City Council subcommittee reviewed the citizen committee's proposals, and developed a recommendation that several of the projects become the subject of a bond election, to include a six year street improvement program, improvements to Parks and Recreation facilities, as well as the Bank of America/City Hall project. All of these meetings and discussions were open to the public. Now, the City Council is at a point in the process where they are narrowing the scope of projects, and are poised to order a bond election for November 2017; though the discussions and information has always been l before the public, more detailed presentations are in the offing when the final decision is made as to what should be on any bond Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 07/18/2017 Page 2 of 5 .578 election ballot. Mr. Howerton assured the two ladies who spoke and others present that his door is open, and that he is willing to talk to them in detail about any possible bond proposal, or any other issue they might wish to discuss. Mr. Howerton and City Councilmembers said that there has never been, nor would there ever be, any type of retaliation against citizens for speaking out to the City Council. Following a motion made by Mr. Upham, seconded by Ms. Johnson, the following CONSENT AGENDA was approved by a 6-0 vote: 1. Consider minutes of previous meetings held July 5, 2017. 2. Consider approval of budgeted expenditures over $500. 3. Consider authorizing Crawford Roofing's Application for Payment in the amount of $180,818.25. ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 4. Mr. Howerton reminded the City Council that on June 20, 2017 they had approved plans and specifications and authorized staff to receive bids for the repair of drainage problems at the Genesys Aerosystems Hangar at the Airport. Only one bid was received, that from B&L Construction of Hico, Texas, in the amount of $60,105. This sole bid was significantly higher than staff had hoped. Mr. Howerton said that competitive bids for small jobs are extremely difficult, as larger contractors won't bid them, and smaller shops oftentimes do not carry insurance that is required to work for a municipality. It seemed unlikely that rebidding the job would have any better results, so staff negotiated with B&L for a change order, in that City crews would do part of the work in-house (certain sidewalk and pavement removal/repair) . The sole bidder agreed to this, which would reduce any resulting contract by $11,810.00. In view of the circumstances, staff recommended to the City Council that they accept the bid from B&L Construction in the amount of $60,105, in anticipation of the change order to reduce the contract by $11,810. Mr. Light so moved, Mr. Upham seconded, Mrs. Underwood (an employee of Genesys) abstained from the vote, and the motion carried 5-0-1. 5. Mr. Kelly Jones addressed the Council, saying that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) conducted inspections of the Lake Mineral Wells Dam Spillway in 2011 Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 07/18/2017 Page 3 of 5  579 and 2016, both times citing numerous deficiencies. Many were alleviated by City personnel by grading, adding dirt and rock and cleaning/clearing the slope. However, more work remains to be done that is outside City crews' capability. It is recommended by TCEQ that gaps and voids on the lower spillway should be addressed. The City's retained engineer, Schrickel, Rollins and Associates, is preparing plans and specifications to bid this work; funds for which are budgeted in the Facility Maintenance Department budget. Mr. Jones recommended that the bid be properly advertised with a bid opening date of August 8, 2017, with a possible award to be made by the City Council at its meeting to be held on August 15, 2017. Mr. Upham so moved, Mr. Tomlin seconded, and the motion carried 6-0. 6. Mr. Moran recalled that the City Council has previously selected O'Brien Engineering to provide engineering services for the installation of three backup generators for various lift stations in the wastewater collection system. This project is the subject of a FEMA Hazard Mitigation grant application. Provided the grant is funded, the project will include software that will allow for the remote monitoring and operation of the lift stations, a new technology for the City. The fee for O'Brien's services, not to exceed $13,300 will be applied to the City's match requirement for the grant. Mr. Moran presented contract documents with O'Brien Engineering. Mr. Upham moved and Mr. Light seconded approval of the contract as presented, and the motion carried 6-0. 7. Mr. Howerton said that at the previous meeting, a consensus of the City Council was to call a bond election for November 2017, to place a proposition before the voters to purchase the former Bank of America building at 100 S.E. 6th Avenue in Mineral Wells, and to repurpose the building to house City Hall administration departments. The City Council consensus at that time was to also place other propositions on any November ballot; and in response to that, staff provided information to the City Council regarding a street repair program and improvements to City parks. Mr. Howerton asked the City Council to continue this discussion at this time, and advise staff as to which particular projects they would like to see on the November ballot. There ensued a lengthy and informal discussion among Councilmembers, with each weighing in on their thoughts and hopes for a future bond issue. Hoped-for Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 07/18/2017 Page 4 of 5 580 issues discussed included a multi-year street improvement program; the construction of a recreation field complex for softball and little league fields; improvements to City parks; and the acquisition and repurposing of the bank building. A final decision was not made. Mayor Allen suggested that Councilmembers John Upham and Doyle Light meet and return to the City Council with a slate of projects to be further considered. 8. There was no further business, and the meeting was adjourned at 7:40 pm. Mike Allen, Mayor Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 07/18/2017 Page 5 of 5