City Council Meetings

632 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING MINERAL WELLS CITY COUNCIL . I I CITY HALL ANNEX October 3, 2017 - 6:00 pm City Councilmembers present were Mayor Mike Allen, Mayor Pro-Tern Tammy Underwood, Councilmembers Regan Johnson, John Upham, and Doyle Light. Councilmernbers Brian Shoemaker and Jerrel Tomlin were absent. A quorum of City Councilmembers was present. Staff members present were City Manager Lance Howerton, Police Chief Dean Sullivan, Public Works Director Kelly Jones, Fire Chief Mike Pool, Finance Director John Moran, City Clerk Juanita Formby, and City Attorney Mack Reinwand. Mayor Mike Allen called the meeting to order, Pastor 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 Three people had signed to speak, and Mayor Allen recognized each one in turn. David Nicklas of 1636 South FM 4 in Palo Pinto County addressed the City Council regarding Item No. 8 on the agenda regarding the response area for the Mineral Wells Fire/EMS Department. There has been discussion among staff and the County that the City of Mineral Wells is considering discontinuing the practice of responding to emergency calls in the rural parts of the County. Mr. Nicklas is the County Judge for Palo Pinto County. Judge Nicklas said that the Palo Pinto County Emergency Services .District No. 1 (ESD 1) has made some significant strides in that they will have an election to implement a sales and use tax in the rural parts of the County that would affect all of the County with the exception of Mineral Wells, ESD 2, Graford, Strawn, Gordon, and Mingus. Those all have capped out so there would not be a sales tax increase there. This revenue would bring in about $250,000 a year which would hopefully be combined with ESD 2 to create a full time 24 hour a day paid ambulance service, one in the north part of the County and one in the south part of the county. Judge Nicklas said he comes to the City Council tonight to urge them to not take any action on this item until about this time next year, to give the County an opportunity to come up with a service and be able to provide the rural areas of the County with emergency medical services. He Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 10/03/2017 Page 1of5  633 asked the City Council not to abandon their fellow County residents in their greatest time of need. Following his remarks, Judge Nicklas left the meeting. Mr. Brandon Johnson of 2603 N. Highway 281 referred to Item No. 5 on the agenda, approval of the new budget for the Palo Pinto County Municipal Water District, and asked a question about a recent ambulance purchase, and how that fits into the budget. It was explained to Mr. Johnson that the purchase of the ambulance did not come from the Water District's budget. Mr. Howerton explained briefly that the PPCMWD No. 1 owns the water plant and other facilities that provide water to Mineral Wells, and there is a contractual arrangement between the City and Water District whereby the City purchases water from the Water District and operates the water plant and related facilities. The contract gives the City routine responsibility to ratify the Water District budget. Mr. Johnson also asked a question about Item No. 7 on the agenda, regarding the audit of Chapter 59 funds held by the Police Department, and Chief Sullivan responded to his question. Terri Blevins of 2807 N. Murco gave the City Council a "report card" assigning poor grades to them on a number of issues. He talked about "We The People", a new organization formed for the purpose, among other things, of opposing propositions to be considered by voters at the City bond election to be held on November 7, 2017. He described the demographics of the people in the group. He said the City Council must be pandering to special interest groups, though he said he did not know who those groups are, he simply cannot explain otherwise why the City Council does some of the things they do. Following a motion made by Mr. Upham, seconded by Ms. Johnson, the following CONSENT AGENDA was approved by a vote of 5-0: 1. Consider minutes of previous meeting held September 19, 2017. 2. Consider approval of budgeted expenditures over $500. 3. Consider resolution making nominations for the Palo Pinto County Appraisal District 2018-2019 Board of Directors. ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 4. Mr. Moran told the City Council that the Mineral Wells Municipal Court currently has an agreement in place with Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 10/03/2017 Page 2 of 5 634 . Palo Pinto County to house individuals with warrants for Class C infractions. Recently, because of the City's warrant roundup and more aggressive execution of outstanding warrants, overcrowding in the Palo Pinto County jail has become an issue. Access to a jail facility is important if the City wants to continue this aggressive enforcement; the Police Department's small jail is only a very temporary holding facility. The Police Department was able to secure space at the Parker County jail in Weatherford, Texas at a cost of 46/day. Mr. Moran presented an Interlocal Agreement between the City of Mineral Wells and Parker County to formalize this arrangement. The Parker County jail would be used secondarily to the Palo Pinto County jail. Mr. Light moved to approve the Interlocal Agreement as presented, Mr. Upham seconded, and the motion carried 5-0. 5. Mr. Moran presented for the Council's consideration the 2017-2018 annual Operations and Maintenance budget for the Palo Pinto County Municipal Water District No. 1. The budget was approved by the Water District's Board of Directors on September 22, 2017. Following a brief discussion, Mr. Upham moved and Ms. Johnson seconded to approve the Water District's budget as presented. Motion carried 5-0. 6. Mr. Moran advised that in 2014, the deposit for City water service was set at a flat rate of $150, and it has remained so since that time. It has long been known that people can become very creative at by-passing the City's requirements to gain water service, though they may still owe an outstanding water bill. For example, if a person owes an outstanding water bill, they may send in a relative or friend to open an account for water service at the same address, avoiding payment of the past due account. Staff oftentimes know or suspect this activity, but have no ordinance to help avoid it. Mr. Moran recommended this ordinance which would permit the City Manager, the Finance Director, or their designee to set a reasonable and prudent deposit rate for water service based on certain circumstances. Mr. Moran said that staff would not anticipate the need to do this often. After a year of satisfactory payment history, the deposit will be refunded to the customer. City Attorney Mack Reinwand said that many cities have a similar provision in their codes. Mrs. Underwood moved to pass and approve an ordinance amending Article II of Chapter 90, Utilities Section, of the Mineral Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 10/03/2017 Page 3 of 5  635 Wells Code of Ordinances by revising cash deposits for residential water and sewer service and adding service requirements; providing for a cumulative repealer and for severability; providing for publication; and providing for an effective date; Mr. Upham seconded, and the motion carried 5-0. 7. Chief Sullivan advised that the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures provides that law enforcement agencies receiving proceeds or property must account for each seizure and/or expenditure in an annual audit, which parallels the fiscal year of the subject municipality. He presented the audit for the Mineral Wells Police Department for fiscal year 2016/2017, wherein no deficiencies were found. The subject audit will be submitted to the Texas Attorney General, as required by statute. Following the presentation, Mr. Upham moved and Ms. Johnson seconded to accept and approve the audit as required by Chapter 59.05(g) (1) of the Texas Criminal Procedures Code regarding the seizure, forfeiture, receipt, and/or specific expenditures of all proceeds and property held by the Mineral Wells Police Department reflected in the audit for FY 2016/2017. Motion carried 5- 0. 8. Fire Chief Michael Pool lead a fairly lengthy and detailed discussion regarding the practice of the City of Mineral Wells Fire/EMS Department responding to emergency calls outside the City limits and its designated service area, and into the far rural areas of Palo Pinto County. Chief Pool presented some figures that indicated the number of calls and hours it required to respond to calls outside of the local designated service area, which has been steadily increasing over time. He said that when this happens, there is little or no coverage for emergencies inside the City. City staff has met with Palo Pinto County officials, as well as Emergency Services District No. 1, in an attempt to resolve this problem. As of this time, neither the County nor the ESD has come forward with a plan to provide emergency medical service in the rural areas of Palo Pinto County. Mayor Allen and several of the City Councilmembers expressed their concern that residents of Mineral Wells might be vulnerable when all the resources are dispatched out into the County. Mayor Allen said that he had met with the ESD and the Palo Pinto County Commissioners Court and told them that Mineral Wells residents must be our priority. Chief Pool said that even if they curtailed responses in the County, that Mineral Wells Fire/EMS would Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 10/03/2017 Page 4 of 5 636 always be available to provide mutual aid in the case of major emergencies requiring the aid of more than one local service. Palo Pinto County had been made aware that this would be discussed this evening, and County Judge Nicklas was present earlier and asked the City Council to delay action, but left before this agenda item came up; no one from the County nor the ESD was present. Chief Pool asked the City Council for their guidance and direction in how to proceed going forward. Following the discussion, Mr. Upham moved that the City of Mineral Wells Fire/EMS Department will discontinue responding to calls outside of its designated service area, and further moved to begin the process of limiting the designated service area to Mineral Wells proper. Mr. Light seconded, and the motion carried 5- 0. 9. There was no further business, and the meeting was adjourned at 7:02 pm. Mi~ Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 10/03/2017 Page 5 of 5