City Council Meetings

MINUTES REGULAR MEETING MINERAL WELLS CITY COUNCIL CITY HALL ANNEX August 7, 2018 - 6:00 pm Audio recordings of the City Council meetings are available on the City's website at mineralwellstx.gov City Councilmembers present were Mayor Christopher M. Perricone, Mayor Pro-Tern Tammy Underwood, Councilmembers Brian Shoemaker, Jerrel Tomlin, Beth Watson and Doyle Light. Councilmember Regan Johnson was absent. A quorum of City Councilmembers was present. Staff members present were City Manager Lance Howerton, Finance Director John Moran, Police Chief Dean Sullivan, Fire Chief Mike Pool, Public Works Director Bob Neal, City Clerk Peggy Clifton, and City Attorney Courtney Kuykendall. Mayor Perricone called the meeting to order. Reverend Eric Douglas of the First United Methodist Church of Mineral Wells led the invocation, and the Pledges of Allegiance to the U.S. and Texas flags were recited. CITIZEN COMMENT Two people had signed to speak and Mayor Perricone recognized each in turn. Robert Avants of 201 N.E. 27th Street in Mineral Wells spoke regarding his displeasure in the City Council. Rhonda Wilkinson of 1201 S.E. 4th Avenue in Mineral Wells spoke regarding her displeasure in the City Council. Mayor Perricone made a motion and Mrs. Watson seconded that Item #5 be moved for discussion. Motion carried 6-0. Following a motion made by Mrs. Watson, seconded by Mr. Light, the following CONSENT AGENDA was approved by a vote of 6-0: 1. Consider approval of minutes of meetings held July 17, 2018 and July 31, 2018. 2. Consider approval of budgeted expenditures over $500. 3. Consider approval of Financial Report for the month ended April 2018. 4. Consider approval of Financial Report for the month ended May 2018. ll Page 6. Consider approval of payment to Schrickel, Rollins and Associates in the amount of $31,500 for services performed on Pedestrian and ADA improvement on US 281 (Downtown Streetscape Project). ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 5. Mayor Perricone questioned the change order regarding MH 379 that was before Council. Mr. Howerton introduced Sanford Lahue of Schrickel, Rollins and Associates to respond to the Mayor's concerns. Mr. Lahue stated the City had put chip seal on to preserve the base until the project could be done. If three inches of asphalt are put on it now without removing it, later when it oxidizes, it would start bleeding through the asphalt. Mr. Shoemaker moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to approve the Change Order No. 1 in the amount of $52,080.00, to the contract with Peachtree Construction, LTD. for the MH 379 Paving improvements Project. Motion carried 6-0. 7. Chris Ekrut of NewGen Strategies and Solutions gave a presentation regarding the results of a Water/Wastewater Utility Rate Study. The results of the Study recommend reducing the number of volumetric rate blocks, establishing increasing block rate structure with rates l.15x higher than the previous block, and make all rate adjustments effective October 1, 2018. He discussed rate increases that needed to take place. Some of the increases are shifted toward the higher use customers. This would require changes to the utility billing system. Much discussion was held by Council. No action taken. 8. Mayor Perricone asked for Councils thought on the smoking ordinance. Mayor Perricone and Mr. Tomlin would like to consider discussing changing it while the rest of the Councilmembers present felt that it should be up to the owner of the business as whether or not to allow this. No action taken. 9. Mr. Light stated that at its June 19 meeting, Council authorized Mr. Light to work with staff regarding Certificates of Occupancy and report back to Council. He recommended to Council to make changes to the Insect Screen requirement to say they are recommended instead of required. He recommended an informational brochure that would make the public aware of the Certificate of Occupancy requirements. He also recommended to change the time of 30 days to 60 days for the owner of the property to become compliant after inspection. Mr. Shoemaker moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to approve Mr. Light's recommendations. Motion carried 5-1 with Mayor Perricone voting against. 21 Page 10. Mr. Light asked the Council to create a resolution requesting assistance by the Texas Department of Transportation regarding a truck route and bypass loop study. He also asked Council to support this through comments to the Texas Department of Transportation. No action taken. 11. Mr. Moran asked Council to consider adoption of a resolution designating a grant management/consulting service provider for the Hazard Mitigation Fund Project application preparation and project implementation for warning sirens. Mrs. Watson moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to approve a resolution designating Grant Works as a grant management/consulting service provider for the Hazard Mitigation Fund Project application preparation and project implementation. Motion carried 6-0. 12. Mrs. Clifton stated that with the resignation of Harris Brooks on the Economic Development Task Force that a new member would need to be designated. Mr. Shoemaker moved and Mr. Light seconded to approve Ken Thom as the replacement. Motion carried 5-1 with Mayor Perricone voting against. 13. Mr. Howerton stated that the consensus of the Economic Development Task Force was to appoint two of their members to serve on a committee to review proposals submitted for an Economic Development Consultant. It was also discussed that the Council might want to appoint two of its members to serve on the review committee to make a recommendation to the Task Force as well as the Council. Mr. Shoemaker moved and Mrs. Underwood seconded to appoint Councilmember Tomlin and Mayor Perricone to serve on the review committee along with Raymond Greenwood and Ryan Roach. Motion carried 6-0. 14. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Mayor Perricone announced that City Council would recess into Executive Session on this 7th day of August, 2018 at 8:03 p.m. to discuss the following: In accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 551.001, et seq., the City Council will recess into Executive Session (closed meeting) to discuss the following: § 551.071(2): Consultation with Attorney 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 this chapter re: a. Actions taken by the City Council coming out of executive session on July 17, 2018. 15. The City Council reconvened into Open Session at 8:52 p.m. to consider possible discussion or action on Executive Session items. No action taken. 3I Page 16. There was no further business and the meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m. Christopher M. Perricone, Mayor ATTEST: APPROVED: Oo/~1/;ioJ • -P 41 Page