City Council Regular Meeting

Minutes of Regular Meeting The City Council City of Richwood A Regular Meeting of the City Council of City of Richwood was held Monday, August 10, 2015, beginning at 6:00 PM in the Richwood City Hall, 1800 N. Brazosport Blvd. Richwood, Texas. I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Clint Kocurek, Mayor and presiding officer. II. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Glenn Patton, City Manager III. PLEDGES OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge of Allegiance was recited by those in attendance. IV. ROLL CALL OF COUNCIL MEMBERS Roll call showed the following members present: Clint Kocurek, Mayor and presiding officer Paul Raymond, Council, Position #1 Melissa Beaty, Council, Position #2 Sarah Harris, Council, Position #4 Chris Hardison, Council, Position #5 Absent: Jarrod Beaty, Council, Position #3 A quorum was declared. Others present included Glenn Patton, City Manager, Karen B. Schrom, City Secretary, Bryan Corb, Police Chief, Kenny Williams, Public Works Director, Clif Custer, Public Works Foreman, Alan Simon, and Andy Packard with the Facts. V. CONSENT AGENDA On motion by Councilman Harris, seconded by Councilman Raymond, with all members present voting aye, it was duly adopted to approve the consent agenda items. A. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meetings B. Payment of bills VI. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS A. Take record vote on proposed FY 16 Tax Rate Councilman Raymond – Aye Councilman Blanks – Aye Councilman Harris – Aye Councilman Hardison – Aye Councilman Beaty was absent B. Credit Card Convenience Fee Councilman Hardison stated he did not feel it was fair to make the rest of the citizens absorb for the 30% using credit cards. Mayor Kocurek stated credit cards are used to pay for more than just the utility bills, such as permitting fees, court fines, and variance application fees. He feels this is a service we offer our citizens and is concerned we would experience a reduction in the use of the cards. Councilman Harris said it takes a lot less time to handle an online payment and we save on labor if folks use credit cards. Councilman Raymond made the motion to absorb the credit card fee, seconded by Councilman Harris. Councilman Raymond and Harris voted aye and Councilman Blanks and Councilman Hardison voted Nay. Mayor Kocurek voted aye to break the tie. Motion carried. C. Settlement and Release Agreement with Sensus Mr. Custer stated he’d spoken with the representative from Sensus who agreed the new meters in the ground start a new warranty. They are hoping to get either a letter of clarification or wording change in the existing warranty.  On motion by Councilman Raymond, seconded by Councilman Harris, with all members present voting aye, it was duly adopted to proceed with the Settlement and Release Agreement with Sensus with the intent the contract will be amended to include the correct warranty. D. Ordinance No. 324-15A, Amending the Comprehensive Zoning Code On motion by Councilman Hardison, seconded by Councilman Harris, with all members present voting aye, Ordinance No. 324-15A, Amending the Comprehensive Zoning Code was approved as presented. E. Ordinance No. 403 - Four Way stop sign at Warbler Ct/Dove Trail and Audubonwoods Dr. Councilman Blanks asked if the Police Department was able to gather any data. Chief Corb stated they are having problems downloading the data from the machine. They do have a new plug ordered. Councilman Raymond stated he’d visited with many of the residents affected and they support the stop sign but agrees we do need to look at the data. On motion by Councilman Raymond, seconded by Councilman Harris, with all members present voting aye, it was duly adopted to table this item until such time as the data can be downloaded. VII. REPORTS A. Finance Reports Par for the period ending July 31, 2015 is 16% remaining. B. Plans for Lift Station #4 Mr. Custer explained their plan is to rehabilitate Lift Station #4 over a 2 to 3 year period. On the three year plan, they will replace all the piping in the 1st year, restore the integrity of the wet well in the 2nd year and do the electrical upgrade in the 3rd year. The most recent piping and structural estimates are for $44,000 so there is a chance we could finish it in a 2 year period. City staff will bring a plan to the next Council meeting with a breakdown on the costs. It is hoped this would extend the life of that lift station by 10 – 15 years.  C. Municipal Court To date, Municipal Court has handled 1,422 cases and of those 1,250 were citations. Citations include tickets and ordinance offenses. They have issued 414 warrants and 279 have been cleared. The average ticket is for 16.5 miles over the posted limit. Two jury trials have been held this fiscal year and they are planning at least one more before year end. VIII. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT Mr. Patton reported that Chief Corb has recently received his Masters Degree. This is not an easy task and he was able to do this while working full time and raising sons. He commended Chief Corb on a job very well done. IX. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Ordinance 403 – Four Way stop sign at Warbler Ct./Dove Trail and Audubonwoods Dr. X. COMMITTEE REPORTS There were none. XI. COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS & REPORTS There were none. XII. MAYOR’S REPORT BCCA will be hosted at Manvel and will be at Joes Banquet Hall. XIII. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were none. XIV. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 6:37 p.m. APPROVED BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF COUNCIL ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2015. __________________________________ Clint Kocurek, Mayor ATTEST: __________________________________ Karen B. Schrom, City Secretary