Board of Mayor & Commissioners

MINUTES OF REGULAR SESSION PIPERTON BOARD OF MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS September 15, 2015, 7:00 P.M. The Piperton Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in regular session on September 15, 2015, at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, with Board members: Vice-Mayor Hugh Davis, Commissioner Mike Binkley, Commissioner Michael Ulczynski and Commissioner Preston Trotter present. Mayor Henry Coats and City Recorder Beverly Holloway were absent. City Manager Steve Steinbach, Finance Director Maria George, City Engineer Harvey Matheny, City Attorney Gerald Lawson, Public Works Director Terry Parker, Building Official Tommie Johnson, Police Chief Phil Hendricks, Fire Chief Reed Bullock were also present, along with Butch Rhea, Carolyn Rhea, Bill & Vicki Hancock, Charlotte Johnson, Gwen Brown, Police Officer Ronnie Graves, Fireman Bret Ford, Glo Parks, John Huffman, Harry Hartwig, Ken Daniels, Steve Houston, Charlie Ferrante, Jessica Famer, Mike Russell, Frank Fitzgerald, Judy Baker, David & Beth Beesinger, Larry Lewis, Judy Carpenter, Phillip & Tracy Goodman, Larry Pugh, Steven Guin, Morris McGuire, Grace Christian, Liz McGuire, et al and others in the audience. Agenda item 1. Call to order, establish quorum Action taken: Vice-Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., and established that a quorum was present. Agenda item 2. Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag Action taken: Terry Parker led in the opening Prayer and Commissioner Ulczynski led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag. Agenda item 3. Any changes to Agenda; Motion to adopt Agenda Action taken: There was no change to the Agenda and Commissioner Binkley moved to adopt the Agenda, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 4. Any changes to the Minutes of the August 10, 2015 Work Session and the Minutes of the Regular Session of August 18, 2015; Motion to adopt the Minutes of the Work Session of 08/10/15 and the Regular Session of August 18, 2015. Action taken: There were no changes to the Minutes of 08/10/15 and the Minutes of 8/18/15, Commissioner Binkley moved to approve the Minutes of 08/10/15 and the Minutes of 8/18/15, seconded by Commissioner Ulczynski. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 5. Review/approval of Financial Reports, Building Inspector’s Report, Fireman’s Report and Police Report Tommie Johnson, Building Official, stated for the month of August issued 17 permits (2 permits issued for new single family dwelling and 1 for commercial), conducted 63 inspections and handled 11 code compliance issues. Chief Reed Bullock stated for the month of August, there were 38 calls, 20 calls in Piperton, still running 55% on medical, fairly routine, year to date calls are 347, as far as our projects for 24 hours shifts we have completed 99% of that. Commissioner Binkley inquired if Rossville is making their own calls now. Chief Bullock stated that sometimes we do assist them especially if we hear they are short-handed or if the call nature is very serious, we are still training with them. 1  Police Chief Phil Hendricks stated during the month of August, there were 90 dispatched calls, 11 incident reports, 3 arrest, and 4 motor vehicles crashes, one officer received 16 hours of training. Steve Steinbach, City Manager, stated we are in the second month of the first fiscal year quarter 2016; cash positions continue to be strong, last month due to winding down the fiscal consolidation of the remaining numbers for fiscal year 2015 we didn’t have the financials and you should be in possession of July and August, the only comparison is the tremendous growth in revenue between the two months, had a strong August with regards to revenues, and is pleased with the early numbers in the new fiscal year. Action taken: Commissioner Binkley moved to approve all reports, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 6. Ordinance No. 258-15, amending the Budget for FY 2015-2016, (first amendment) for the City of Piperton Mr. Steinbach stated in the course of the fiscal year staff will conduct three budget amendments with the first one somewhere around the first quarter to address shortfalls in forecasted revenues or address unanticipated expenditures, the first budget amendment proposed for fiscal year 2016 covers the General Fund, the Sewer Fund and the Water Fund and those are illustrated as exhibits A, B and C, and will go into specifics prior to the public hearing but will point out some of the items on the General Fund, when the Police Department has to defend itself we incur additional legal expenses that are outside of our normal retainer by the City Attorney and that is the purpose for the increase in that line item, have discussed the addition of a new line item for a subdivision construction inspection services, we have created that and are funding that through a variety of means-the developers pay for that services so that our Public Works Department is not burdened, the MAAG Study was budgeted for and staff has proposed an increase for the line item to cover reimbursable expenses, our mapping consultant is providing them with a base map, item #5 there was an unanticipated repair needed at our gas pump facility, items 6 and 7 deal with the electronic citation revenues that were enacted last year and proposed expenditures associate with that, item #8 in recognition of one employee of the Public Works Department who is acquiring his CDL license so we proposed for an increase in his rate of pay, the mini excavator which is budgeted and you will hear tonight the bid was simply misidentified in terms of its account number so that is a house cleaning item, with regard to the Sewer fund, exhibit B, we are simply increasing the forecasted revenues based on a reassessment of collected revenues to date, we had a recent water and sewer forensic analysis done so we can determine where our rates stood with regard to necessary revenue, recover expenditures and so as part of that we are proposing an increase in anticipated revenues with Chickasaw Trails revenue, our partner to the south Marshall County and then the water fund, exhibit C, is related to a TDOT reimbursement for a water line relocation that was conducted 10 years ago that they recently found the bill for so staff negotiated a settlement with them breaking the payments into two fiscal years and so these are account number mischaracterization and are simply addressing that through house cleaning items and that is an overview on first reading of proposed fiscal year 2016 budget amendments. Action taken: Commission Ulczynski moved to adopt Ordinance No. 258-15, amending the Budget for FY 2015-2016 on first reading, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 7. Resolution No. 15-178, repealing Resolution No. 08-75 pertaining to Personnel Policies for Piperton Municipal Employees and adopting a new policy pertaining to the same. Mr. Steinbach stated the City of Piperton employees are currently covered under a personnel policy that was approved as Resolution 08-75 and it has served us well for some time and hopes it will continue to serve us for a couple more months, to give a little context and 2 preface to this specific Resolution, I appointed a Personnel Committee at the first of the year and they have worked diligently in terms of preparing a whole new modern personnel manual draft that covers a host of eventualities with regards to employee conduct, benefits, and we anticipate bringing that to the Board in a couple of months but in the interim when the City approved and budgeted for its 24/7 Fire Department Core staff found ourselves in a quandary with regards to how vacation and sick time was accrued because they are on different shifts than us, so we had to act swiftly to address that and part of this Resolution the primary focus of this Resolution is to incorporate provisions related specifically to the Fire Department into this document, the other changes you’ll see in there are changes that the City Manager incorporated with regards to the holiday schedule, when we anticipate change of the personnel manual as a result of the Fire Department that effects the rank and file 40 hours and we did a couple of house cleaning items but the primary focus of this was to address the Fire Department. Chief Bullock stated with the Fire Department going 24/7 shift, they generally work that 24 hours so if they work Monday, off Tuesday, work Wednesday, off Thursday, work Friday then they are off 4 days, the traditional 8 hours a day/40 hours a week employee gets two weeks for example for vacation but that doesn’t translate over to the 24 hour shift so we effectively changed the hours to make it equal where a fire department employee would get 5 shifts which 5 of those 24 hour shifts is the equivalent of what a 40 hour employee would get for two weeks’ vacation, this makes if fair to everyone, also did that with both vacation pay, the personal time and with the accrual of sick time. Commissioner Trotter inquired how this compares to other fire departments in the area. Chief Bullock stated it is in line with most everyone else. Commissioner Ulczynski inquired so in the personnel manual the normal is 2080 hours, how would the accumulator account for the hours in one of these 24/7 shifts. Chief Bullock stated they are on a 27 day schedule over the course of the year, there are three shifts, that works nine shifts per set, they will do a total of 9 of those 24 hour days and then that is their cycle and it works out over the same course of the year as a 40 hour a week employee does for overall hours Commissioner Ulczynski stated the break point is between after 6 months and less than 5 years is not very clear. Chief Bullock stated you cannot take any vacation until after 6 months that is when you will get it on the Fire Department side. Commissioner Ulczynski stated he doesn’t understand the transition to the 120 hours, at what point do you bump up to 120 hours. Maria George, Finance Director, stated 1 year to 4 years. Action taken: Commissioner Binkley moved to accept Resolution No. 15-178 with all the necessary changes, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 8. Resolution No. 15-177, repealing Resolution no. 08-087 in its entirety and establishing an amended City Deferred Compensation Mr. Steinbach stated the City sponsors a 457 deferred compensation plan which is a voluntary plan, the defined contribution plan allows the employees to invest, currently the City contributes 10% of the employee’s match up to $25.00 a month maximum, the Board as part of the adoption of fiscal year 2016 budget approved a deferred compensation plan whereby the City would match the contributions of each employee up to 1%, this is a start and it needs to be recognized what the Board has already approved in terms of funding this plan. Action taken: Commissioner Ulczynski moved to adopt Resolution No. 15-177 repealing Resolution 08-087 in its entirety and establishing an amended City Deferred Compensation, seconded by Commissioner Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. 3 Agenda item 9. Shaw’s Creek Letter of Credit Reduction Harvey Matheny, City Engineer, stated that we are currently holding a Letter of Credit for the Shaw’s Creek Development Phases 1 & 1A of $200,000.00, they recently came to the City and ask if they could install the final surface asphalt on all streets in the subdivision in Phase 1 & 1A, considering the age of the base asphalt staff agreed that was prudent to do and they have installed that surface asphalt and it has been inspected and it is good shape and staff recommends the reduction of that Letter of Credit from $200,000.00 to $75,000.00 and there are two other requirements of the Development, 1) is the secondary access road out to Raleigh LaGrange and 2) a little small section of walking trails, the stipulation in the contract for the secondary access is when they get to the 48 lots that they will construct that secondary point of access and they are somewhere between 25 and 30 lots today so there is some time to go before that is required, the $75,000.00 would cover that requirement and any other repairs or warranty items. Action taken: Commissioner Binkley moved to approve the reduction of the Letter of Credit for Shaw’s Creek, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 10. Ordinance No. 259-15 (A)-Draft, regulating the discharge of Firearms within the City of Piperton Vice-Mayor Davis stated over the past ten years there has been quite a few discussions relative to discharging of firearms within the City Limits, we are one of the few cities that doesn’t have an ordinance to address it but as the population grows it is something that needs to be addressed. Mr. Steinbach stated as we urbanize we have to address it somehow, would like to thank Commissioner Trotter who has prepared the draft, the Police Chief has also commented and has asked the City Attorney, Gerald Lawson, to be here to assist with the conversation, there are two options before you, option A & option B, essentially what we will be discussing is an option that provides maximum amount of flexibility for private property owners who meet certain criteria that would enable them to discharge firearms excluding high-power rifles on their property with exemptions that are described within that ordinance and option #2 (B) is a more conventional prohibition against the discharge of firearms, with firearms being described as in the document and providing for certain exemptions or exceptions to that ordinance, those being primarily of a common sense practical nature, law enforcement obviously, self-protection, some that are unique to this draft are putting down a dangerous animal, also included a public or private shooting firing range approved by the City of Piperton and of course hunting, in other urbanized areas all have the same prohibition and it is a simple prohibition it effectively bans any and all firearms, bow and arrows, anything that propels or discharges, they don’t address hunting not specifically but in understanding the law the right to hunt is an implied or provided power authority the State, regulated as such, those are the two distinctions. Commissioner Trotter stated the driving force behind coming up with the ordinance is there have been several incidents over the past number of years, the most serious happened just a few weeks ago where someone was possibly target practicing in their back yard with probably a 9mm handgun and the projectile from that handgun ended up piercing the truck door of a truck that was parked in the driveway of a property that is in the Windbrook subdivision, some of the other incidents that have occurred have been hunting related and no matter what we have in place would not have had any impact, but on that particular incident if we would have had an ordinance in place that would have been outlawed, as it is since there is no ordinance in place that activity was not outlawed even though it was probably against the law due to public endangerment but that is very difficult to prosecute and identify who actually did it and what occurred, there are pretty significate differences of opinions among the community about how liberal or restrictive a gun control policies should be so that is why there are two drafts; one draft 4 eliminates the firing of high-powered rifles which can travel two miles or further but it does allow under certain specific circumstances for the firing of other types of firearms in the City and it enumerates when that would be allowed, so that is first draft (A) and that is about as liberal as we can get on gun control policy that allows some use of handguns and the other one is more restrictive and pretty much eliminates all use of firearms except in lawful situations like Mr. Steinbach just mentioned, this is open for discussion by the Board, a couple of things that we wrestled with in putting this together; 1) it has to be enforceable so there have to definitions in there so the Police Department can determine whether or not a particular incident was lawful or unlawful so the language has to be enforceable and on the other end of the spectrum whatever we put in this, we have to be concerned about liability and that is not just liability for the City but that is liability for each one of you because if the City were found liable and was sued for a certain amount of money, the City doesn’t have deep pockets and it will come from the citizens so we do have to be concerned for you and the liability of the gun control policy we approve. Commissioner Binkley stated the first draft is very liberal and allows for a lot of use of handguns and there is a minimum of 10 acres in size but then you go to E on page 2 and you can use it within a 100 yards of the house so you can have 1 acre and do that and feels the 100 yards is not far enough. Gerald Lawson, City Attorney, stated the 100 yards is coming from the State law, you have to be a 100 yards from a residence for hunting purposes, and at Mr. Steinbach’s request to look at both drafts and in addition he provided a copy of the attorney general venue that we rely on since they represent several cities in rural areas, it is a growing thing you will have and having more people come to a rural area and people are used to discharging firearms as well as hunting, it is an issue that comes up several times a year, on hunting the State has basically applied that is the jurisdiction of the State and the State goes through a controls and if you have a general prohibition, you can’t enforce hunting as long as they are following state laws and there is not any reckless discharge of the firearms then that is an exception you can’t enforce, if there are problems to contact TWRA officers and not the City Police department and what you are dealing with here is the discharge of firearms for any other reason primarily in the area of target practice and shooting in the backyard even and it is a decision of the legislative body but a recommendation from a legal standpoint that the stricter, more direct option 2 is a better solution, you will have less grounds for interpretation and with more interpretation and more exceptions you leave yourself more open to potential conflicts, liability and interpretation and that makes it more difficult to enforce an ordinance and it is more difficult for people to abided by it, if you take the other option you do have liability exposure but you will have the benefit of the governmental tort liability act which limits the City’s liability in all issues as along as the City is following those guidelines, in his experience dealing with this that a more stringent interpretation and prohibition probably serves the City’s interest better even though it may be controversial to citizens. Vice-Mayor Davis stated this is not normally open to the public for discussion right now but I would entertain comments and several residents took the opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions. Vice-Mayor Davis stated it is not the Piperton resident that is the issue, it sounds like it is outsiders, is there something we can post at the landing. John Huffman stated that Cities can ban firearms on any City property including buildings and parks, they can carry but they can’t use them in parks, there are some things that can be done that may not address all the concerns. Vice-Mayor Davis stated there are some things that we should do short of resolution that continue to make the community safe within the confines of the city limits, to be continued, this has been most enlightening, somewhere as Piperton grows as leaders in the community there is a responsibility for safety and wellbeing for its residents. 5  Commissioner Trotter stated where we will probably end up on this issue is having some sort of an ordinance that controls guns, protects neighborhoods but allows shooting of guns in open areas in rural areas, we just need to come up with the language to do that. Agenda item 11. Ordinance No. 259-15 (B)-Draft, regulating the discharge of Firearms within the City of Piperton . Read along with Item 10. Agenda item 12. Ordinance No. 260-15 Piperton Private Water Well Regulation-Draft/Discussion Mr. Steinbach stated given the time constrains, I would ask to table item 12 concerning the well discussion, it basically provides an overview whereby the City can control where wells are constructed, the State regulates well. Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to table item 12, Well Ordinance until next month’s meeting, seconded by Commissioner Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 13. Approval of Excavator Bids Terry Parker, Public Works Director, stated he is here to ask for the Board’s acceptance of the bid of a capital item that was approved for this fiscal year 2016 and Thompson Machinery is the selected bid winner. Action taken: Commissioner Trotter moved to approve the recommendation of Mr. Parker on the submitted bids, seconded by Commissioner Binkley. The Motion received all affirmative votes. Agenda item 14. Any other old/new business, questions or matters from the audience 1) Charlotte Johnson suggested time limits in public venues for issues such as tonight. 2) Larry Pugh stated item 12 was tabled, is there any insight as to what that is about. Mr. Steinbach stated this is a business decision and the City maintains a water distribution network, we buy water from Collierville and the City sells it to the residents, when a developer develops a new subdivision they put in new infrastructure and once it is inspected, approved, it becomes the City’s infrastructure, it becomes your infrastructure and there is a cost associated with maintaining that infrastructure so in areas where public water is available it makes sense to have the property owner or resident hook up to that public water supply and the provisions that the City is looking at again are similar to other ordinances dealing with wells, is where are they permitted, what do they do, the City doesn’t regulate those and the State regulates the wells, the City is wanting to provide parameters where they would be permitted and where they would not be permitted, if there is a public water main for example in a street fronting where a property is the City (the tax payers) have a vested interested that the property would tie into that and there are areas of the City that doesn’t have access to public water and in those instances a well is the only solution, but the Commissioners want to recognize instances in which property owners have large lots and they want to irrigate and they should be able to have access to a well if it economically makes sense for them to pay for that well but there needs to be thresholds for that, landscaping- there should be practical basis for allowing or recognizing that well so it is really a business situation where we have had instances where we do have public water supply available and individuals are putting wells on their property which is their right to do so but it impacts the City’s investment of it public infrastructure, in instances where the well is the only opportunity to have a domestic or potable water supply, the City is not suggesting that right be curtailed or taken away, it is just in instances where the City has made investments or approved subdivisions where the developer has invested in infrastructure and the city has to maintain it and the city has to depreciated the 6  infrastructure-it is the cost of the taxpayers, it will not cover existing wells except the City needs to know when a well is being abandoned and there are state regulations with regard to that, the city has a vested public health interest to know where, when and how it is being abandoned. 3) Vickie Hancock stated that remotely reminded her of the garbage pickup ordinance where everyone had to have the garbage service. Agenda item 15. Adjournment Action taken: Commissioner Binkley moved to adjourn, seconded by Commissioner Trotter. The Motion received all affirmative votes and the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Beverly Holloway, City Recorder Approved: _________________________________date:______________________ 7