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01-26-1988 (City Council) Minutes 387 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 26, 1988 The Wylie City Council met in regular session on Tuesday, January 26 , 1988 at 7 :00 P.M. in the Community Room. A quorum was present and notice of the meeting had been posted in the time and manner required by law. Those present were Mayor Chuck Trimble, Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Donovan, Council Members Calvin Westerhof , Marvin Blakey, John Akin, Chris DiTota, and Kent Crane, City Manager John Pitstick, City Secretary Carolyn Jones, Finance Director James Johnson, Public Works Superintendent Don White, Code Enforcement Officer Roy Faires . Mayor Trimble called the meeting to order and Mayor Pro Tem Donovan gave the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR JANUARY 12TH MEETING: Councilman Akin corrected the minutes to reflect the following statement : Councilman Akin stated that he personally will always be grateful to Rita and Truett Smith for their many years of contributions to the City and to the citizens of Wylie. Especially their donation of the Rita and Truett Smith Library to the City and the citizens of our community. I will never stand by and see this library closed . Councilman DiTota corrected the minutes to reflect his question regarding the alignment of Sanden Blvd. was which alignment would give more frontage road for future development. Motion was made by Councilman DiTota to approve the minutes with the above corrections . Seconded by Councilman Akin. The vote was as follows : Mayor Trimble - in favor, Mayor Pro Tem Donovan - in favor , Councilman Akin - in favor, Councilman Westerhof - in favor, Councilman DiTota - in favor, Councilman Crane - in favor , and Councilman Blakey - in favor . This motion carried with all in favor. APPOINTMENT TO PARK AND RECREATION BOARD TO REPLACE MR. LARRY NICKELL: There has been a recommendation to the Council to appoint Mr . Ron Ferguson to this board. Motion was made by Councilman DiTota to appoint Mr . Ron Ferguson to the Park and Recreation Board, with his term expiring in July, 1988 . Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Donovan. The vote was as follows : Mayor Trimble - in favor, Mayor Pro Tem Donovan - in favor , Councilman Akin - in favor, Councilman Westerhof - in favor, Councilman DiTota - in favor, Councilman Crane - in favor , and Councilman Blakey - in favor. This motion carried with all in favor. 388 CONSENT AGENDA: AUTHORIZATION TO SEEK BIDS ON PLUGGING ABANDONED MUNICIPAL WATER WELL, AWARDING BID FOR ELECTRICAL SERVICE AND WIRING FOR WYLIE NORTEX WATER STORAGE SITE, AND REFUND OF PAYMENT OF DELINQUENT TAXES: City Manager John Pitstick stated that the item awarding the bid for electrical service should be acted on as a separate item. Councilman DiTota wanted to know why if this well was abandon in 1956-57 it was this Council ' s place to deal with it . Councilman Akin said the well was dug in early 1920 ' s and was the water supply for the City. Councilman Akin also stated that there was probably this type of wells all over town. Councilman Akin said this well was 1/2 to 1 mile deep and it was used for temporary back up water supply after the water system from NTMWD was put into force. Motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Donovan to approve the consent agenda for seeking bids for plugging abandoned well and to refund payment of delinquent taxes. Seconded by Councilman DiTota. The vote was as follows : Mayor Trimble - in favor, Mayor Pro Tem Donovan - in favor, Councilman Akin - in favor, Councilman Westerhof - in favor, Councilman DiTota - in favor, Councilman Crane - in favor, and Councilman Blakey - in favor. This motion carried with all in favor. AWARDING BID FOR ELECTRICAL SERVICE AND WIRING FOR WYLIE NORTEX WATER STORAGE SITE AND PUMP STATION: Councilman Crane said it seems like every two or three months this same questions keeps coming up. Finance Director James Johnson said this would hook up the control panels for the pumps. There are two large pumps at this pump station. Councilman Crane asked why Tele-a-communications and this wiring were not done together. Mr . Johnson said this will put this station on line. Councilman Blakey wanted to know if this completes this project. Mr . Johnson said he understands from Mr. Homeyer that this will complete this project. Councilman Crane wanted to know why this has taken so long . Mr. Johnson said we should have sub-contracted this complete project instead of us trying to do the work. Motion was made by Councilman Westerhof to award the bid to Ready Electric, Inc. Seconded by Councilman Crane. The vote was as follows : Mayor Trimble - in favor , Mayor Pro Tem Donovan - in favor, Councilman Akin - in favor, Councilman Westerhof - in favor, Councilman DiTota - in favor, Councilman Crane - in favor, and Councilman Blakey - in favor. This motion carried with all in favor. ORDINANCE AMENDING ORD. #78-20 AS AMENDED BY ORD. #80-1 REGARDING THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE COMMUNITY ANTENNA TELEVISION SYSTEM IN WYLIE: Mr . Ed Musser of Communications Services, Inc. stated that this would give the communications services four (4) more channels for the public and yet would not do away with the educational channels as they can be obtained through Region 10 . I have talked with Mr. Don Whitt and he has sent the Council a 389 _._ letter in regards to this. Motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Donovan to approve the ordinance amending order #78-20 and #80-1 . Seconded by Councilman Blakey. The vote was as follows : Mayor Trimble - in favor, Mayor Pro Tem Donovan - in favor, Councilman Akin - in favor , Councilman Westerhof - in favor, Councilman DiTota - in favor, Councilman Crane - in favor , and Councilman Blakey - in favor . This motion carried with all in favor. ORDINANCE RESETTING THE TAX RATE FOR FISCAL YEAR 1987 : The new tax rate for the fiscal year 1987 is $ .50 per $100 .00 of valuation. This was brought about by the rollback election held on January 16 , 1988 . Motion was made by Councilman Blakey to approve the ordinance setting the tax rate at $.50. Seconded by Councilman Westerhof . The vote was as follows : Mayor Trimble - in favor , Mayor Pro Tem Donovan - in favor, Councilman Akin - in favor, Councilman Westerhof - in favor, Councilman DiTota - in favor , Councilman Crane - in favor, and Councilman Blakey - in favor. This motion carried with all in favor. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CITY MANAGER TO DRAW UP LEASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY AND LIFELINE FOR SPACE IN NEW MUNICIPAL COMPLEX: City Manager John Pitstick said this item is before you at the request of Lifeline. Lifeline is interested in being close to the 9-1-1 and our dispatch. Staff has located an office that is not being used and is adjacent to the dispatch. It also looks as if the JP court will be moving to our new complex as soon as their lease is up at the present location. Mayor Pro Tem Donovan wanted to add a clause in contract that City approves of any walls or changes . Motion was made by Councilman Westerhof to approve the lease agreement. Seconded by Councilman Crane. The vote was as follows: Mayor Trimble - in favor , Mayor Pro Tem Donovan - in favor, Councilman Akin - in favor, Councilman Westerhof - in favor, Councilman DiTota - in favor, Councilman Crane - in favor, and Councilman Blakey - in favor. This motion carried with all in favor . APPROVAL OF LAKE RAY HUBBARD MOBILE HOME PARK SANITARY SEWER FORCE MAIN SYSTEM APPROVAL FOR CONSTRUCTION ONLY: City Manager John Pitstick stated that staff has looked at these plans as well as CH2M Hill and all have approved them. This is for construction only. There were questions asked about the ownership of the property and if all fees had been paid. City Manager John Pitstick said that the fees would be collected prior to construction and that as far as staff new it was still under the same ownership. Motion was made by Councilman Crane to approve the Lake Ray Hubbard Mobile Home Park Sanitary Sewer Force Main System for construction only. Seconded by Councilman Akin. The vote was as follows : Mayor Trimble - in favor, Mayor Pro Tem Donovan - in favor, Councilman Akin - in favor , Councilman Westerhof - in favor, Councilman DiTota - in favor, Councilman Crane - in favor, 390 and Councilman Blakey - in favor . This motion carried with all in favor. ^'"^ City Manager John Pitstick stated that staff has met with the Library Board and they are recommending to City Council to leave a part time position in the library for a least 20 hours and work with volunteers. In funding through Nettles and County, we are required to have a certified librarian and be open for at least 20 hours per week. City Manager John Pitstick also stated that we receive between $8,000 . and $10 ,000 . from Nettles and the County. The last day for our two librarians will be Friday. If Council does not see a problem, when the amended budget comes back it will reflect this. Mayor Pro Tem Donovan wanted an executive session prior to Council making this decision. Councilman Akin said he would like for Council to look at this first prior to closing the library. Councilman Blakey stated that there has been a lot of negative comments and he had rather not close the library. Councilman Akin also stated that the City has had a paid Librarian for some time and with a budget one fifth the size of what this one is now, and it doesn' t make sense to close the library when someone has donated $250,000 . for a library to the City of Wylie, it is a slap in the face to these people. I can show you 10 or 15 jobs to cut instead of closing the library. Councilman Akin also stated that he could show Council where $9,000. was .•.� spent for something that we did not have last year and can do without this year . Councilman DiTota wanted to know if we could keep the library open during the school months, but . close it during the summer months. There is no doubt the library is needed more during school months, I am not suggesting a complete shutdown. We are talking about lay- offs of two librarians now, could we keep them until the month of June. Is this an option. City Manager John Pitstick said the minimum issue right now is in order to keep the funding we have to be open 20 hours per week and there has to be a qualified librarian to over see it. You can shut down for a month or two and not loose the funding , but once you go beyond this you are not going to a full library. Councilman DiTota said he was just looking at giving the full service of the library to the schools and during the summer tapper off. City Manager John Pitstick said staff would be more than happy to do what you want, there is a library board meeting this Thursday night and maybe Council should come and talk with the board. Councilman Crane said he believe the Council should look at the budget prior to making any cuts or decisions . Mayor Pro Tem Donovan said staff has been telling us this is where you cut . Councilman Crane said the public did not elect the staff, the public elect us . City Manager John Pitstick said $250 ,000 . has to be cut now. The decisions need to be --- made, staff has made these recommendations and Council did not give any comments so I went forward with them. Council 391 then requested a work shop for Saturday morning, January 30th at 8 :30 A.M. CITIZENS PARTICIPATION: Mayor Trimble invited anyone wishing to speak to come forward at this time, but to try and keep their comments to within two minutes and to state their name and address for the record. Annette Naish 512 Rustic Place, stated that she had started a library in Albry, Texas. It was a certified library and we were open more than 20 hours a week. Since I have left there, they are giving GED classes and other classes, I will be more than happy to serve as your librarian. Mayor Trimble asked if her certification was still valid. Mrs . Naish said no. Bud Naish 512 Rustic Place stated that in going over the budget do away with the ambulance insurance and should keep the library open. Since the city does not maintain the sewer treatment plant , cut this area, City Manager and City Council Reserve could be cut, the personnel person could be tapped. I do not see any reason to do away with the library. COUNCIL DISCUSSION: Councilman Akin said personally he did not understand the publicity going in the paper and blaming the past for what has happened. I am present and past and had phone calls from other in the past who felt we were blaming them. The pro rata cost of debt service to Wylie was $150 .00 versus Allen' s $1100. and McKinney' s $750 .00 . In the past, the Council was responsible for getting the Park and Community Building and Kirby Park. I feel like these people have made a great contributions to our City in the past. I did not like us telling citizens that they did not know what they were doing when voting for the rollback and I have learned along time ago that you win some and loose some. I lost the airport issue, but in the past we were able to go forward after elections and begin to plan for the future and put the past behind us . There have been former City Managers tell me that they have never seen a City the size of Wylie, operator so efficiently. Councilman Akin also wanted to know about the water leak at high school . Don White said this was on the schools side and they would have to fix it. Mayor Pro Tem Donovan said she has a piece of paper and had it for months. It is from First Southwest Company, the City' s investment bank. I think it is time that this goes out to our citizens. It did to to our past city manager and staff in 1985 . It states if borrowing one million dollars, for the complex, there would be an eight (8) or nine (9) cent tax increase. This was never made public to the Council nor to the citizens. When they voted to approve the 392 bonds for our complex , they were told there would not be a tax increase. I want to look at the budget but I do commend the staff for their work. Councilman DiTota asked about volunteers and library aides, is there any other person to ask for help such as cutting grass in the parks. City Manager John Pitstick said staff would be more than happy to look at the skills and work with anyone wanting to help. Councilman DiTota said based on his comments, we are going to come together here Saturday and if I thought there were thirty people out there with lawn mowers wanting to cut the grass in the parks , then I would be willing to cut the Park Department budget. Councilman Crane thanked staff for the sewer report in the packet . Councilman Crane wanted to know why the Minyard case had not gone to court as yet. City Secretary Carolyn Jones stated that the letter she received from our city attorney stated the judge was going to be out of town and he did not want to use a visiting judge. Councilman Crane wanted to know the problem between the Christian Church and the City over a sewer line. Mr. Homeyer said he was not aware of a problem. Mr . Faires said that the Church was hooked up to the sewer at the time Quail Hollow came in at no charge. The developer of Quail Hollow gave them a tap for the use of their property for the line to come through. Councilman Crane also stated he had had several calls about the tax refund. Mr. Johnson said he spent some time with the tax attorney this week and for those people who have already paid they will receive a refund around the first part of March. Staff should be mailing out new tax statements the first of March with a delinquent date of July 1 . The Texas Property Tax Code says the refund will be made to the home owners of record . Councilman Crane said the traffic sign at the exit of Hartman Elementary stating no left turns. This forces people to turn into lots of traffic and at one time had been removed. Councilman Blakey said he was disappointed by the rollback but since it happened that must be what the citizens wanted and he will do his best to help make it as soft as possible. City Secretary Carolyn Jones gave the Council a copy of the election calendar for the May 7th election and reminded them of the Thursday meeting with the Collin County Public Officials. City Manager John Pitstick reminded the Council of the Feb. 4th Business Appreciation Day and Feb. 1st a joint meeting with the School Board and Council and on Feb. 27th open house for the new city complex from 10 : 00 A.M. until 2 :00 P. 393 M. Also reported that there was a meeting with the TWC people in Duncanville and there are no major problems with the enforcement order. I feel we are in good shape with TWC right now. Sanden should be bring in their crews and equipment this week and begin grade work soon, no formal ground breaking until early March. McDonald' s is coming but the Railroad has held up the final sale of the land. They were shown some alternative sites but they are trying to get the railroad property. Mayor Trimble stated his concern about the rollback, the people did have their say and hope that people will meet and work with us this Saturday. I do not want to close the Library and I hope Rita and Truett understand, but we do have to pay the bills. I asked the citizens to bear with us and give us their support . We do not do this for pay and we want the best for our City. Mayor Trimble recessed the open meeting and convened Council into executive session at 8 :20 P .M. under Article 6252-17 V.A.C.S. , Section 2 paragraph "g" personnel matters - performance evaluation process for required lay-offs in Police Department as result of Rollback Election. Mayor Trimble reconvened the open meeting at 9 :10 P.M. There being no other business, a m on ade to adjourn with all in favor . 77 OA cf', Chuck Trimble, Mayor ATTEST: .. .-.-a; C o yn es i y Secretary