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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FEB 03 1987 C01. 2ED REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD FEBRUARY 3, 1987 - 7:00 P.M. DOUGLAS MEMORIAL CME CHURCH BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 3rd day of February, 1987, with the following present: HONORABLE: David W. Moore Mayor Pro Tem & Councilman, Ward IV Bob Lee, Jr. Councilman At Large Andrew P. Cokinos Councilman At Large Nell Pruitt Weisbach Councilman, Ward I Mike Brumley Councilman, Ward II Audwin Samuel Councilman, Ward III Absent: Maurice Meyers Mayor Albert E. Haines City Manager Lane Nichols City Attorney -000- The Invocation was given by the Reverend Isaac J. Brooks, pastor of Douglas Memorial CME Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Cokinos. -000- MAYOR PRO TEM MOORE read a note from Mayor Maurice Meyers: "I regret that I am unable to be present with you tonight at this third Town Meeting. I am in Akron, Ohio, keeping an appointment with Mr. Robert Mercer, Chairman of the Board of Goodyear, in preparation for our Economic Summit. Please extend my regrets for being unable for being present tonight. My best wishes to Councilmember Audwin Samuel on this meeting held in his ward." And for those of you who may not be aware, the Economic Summit will be February 17th at the Beaumont Civic Center and everyone is encouraged to attend. -000- -38- February 3, 1987 The following Consent Agenda item was considered: Resolution 87-17 authorizing the pledge of $1.5 million in securities held as collateral for City deposits by Texas Commerce Bank of Beaumont. The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- No one wished to address Council on Agenda Items B and C. -000- Resolution 87-18 accepting as completed the work performed under a contract with Teal Conntracting Company for improvements (contract included construction of a retaining wall to protect the embankments against erosion and installation of a 6-inch storm sewer to improve drainage) to the Riverfront Park pedestrian underpass and authorizing final payment in the amount of $14,133.25 to the contractor (contract from $44,422.10 to $60,123.64, including 3 change orders and adjustments to reflect quantities of materials used in Change Order No. 4) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Samuel and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 87-19 scheduling March 3, 1987, as the date for a public hearing on the City's proposed Fiscal Year 1987 Transit Program of Projects (under Section 9 of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964: replacement of eleven 1975 AM General 35-foot transit coaches with/ eleven Advanced Design buses at an estimated cost of $1,655,000 - 80 percent federal grant at $1,324,000 and 20 percent local at $331,000; Spare Pat's estimated at $45,000 - 80 percent federal grant at $36,000 and 20 percent local at $9,000 and Operating Assistance Grant estimated at $1,200,000 with 50 percent federal monies at $600,000 and 50 percent local at $600,000) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lee and seconded by Councilman Brumley. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 87-20 awarding a contract with Dravo Materials Company for furnishing approximately 2,000 tons of slag for a year's requirement for street work at $7.95 per ton for an approximate annual cost of $15,900.00 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Weisbach and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- -39- February 3, 1987 COUNCILMAN LEE: Let me comment on our approval of the completed work at Riverfront Park. As hopefully all of you know, Riverfront Park is the site of "Sunday in the Park" that was held last year and we had thirty-one weeks of very interesting activities all scheduled for young children. And, this entrance, let's call it enhanced entrance to Riverfront Park will certainly improve the appearance of entry into the Park and we are looking forward to the resumption of the "Sunday in the Park" activities the first week in April. And, we would certainly invite all of you out to have a good time and to bring your children to enjoy a beautiful asset that we have in our community on the River and enjoy the activities that are provided by volunteer groups. Everything is free to children and to parents, as a matter of fact, and we look forward resuming that activity in early April. -000- Mayor Pro Tem Moore directed a complaint to the City Code Enforcement Department of an extremely dangerous structure located in the 900 Block of DeVilleneuve at Irving. -000- MAYOR PRO TEM MOORE: At this particular time we would like to deviate slightly from our agenda. At this particular time, we would normally have comments from our citizens. We are still going to give you that opportunity, this being our Town Meeting, but the purpose of the Town Meeting is to give the citizens an opportunity to meet the people who get all the work down behind the scenes. Those are our staff and employees. So, at this time, I would like to ask our City Manager to make the introductions. CITY MANAGER HAINES: Thank you. We are pleased to be with you this evening at this Town Meeting and hopefully as you meet our department heads and other city employees and look at some of the displays we have brought here, you will feel free to ask whatever questions that you may have of them personally if that's appropriate or certainly as well as when you address the Council. I'd like to ask our department heads to just stand as I introduce them to you. First, our Fire Chief Pete Shelton. We have our Director of Finance, Betty Dunkerley, here. Also, our Community Development Director, Sherrell Cockrell; Tom Warner is our Public Works Director; Maurine Gray, our Director of Libraries; We have S. A. Webb, who is our Director of Water Utilities and Maxie Patterson, our Director of Resource Management and Interim Chief of Police. I'd like to also announce, for purposes of information, that the City of Beaumont Day will be at Parkdale Mall this Saturday all day and we would invite you to come and see the displays and the booths that are set up there representing our City. -40- February 3, 1987 CITY MANAGER continued: We have four (4) short presentations we would like to make at this Town Meeting and, if it is appropriate, could we go ahead and do that now? Then, we could turn it back to you. First we have asked Chief Shelton, since this is a particularly major concern at this time, to make a presentation relative to space heaters and other fire prevention matters. I think, Chief, if you will take a few minutes and then I will announce the rest from there. Fire Chief Shelton began his presentation by talking about the dangers in the use of space heaters. He said that there were 15 fire-related fatalities in 1986 and 4 in January, 1987, with those 4 deaths being caused by use of space heaters. He told those present at the Town Meeting that 29 percent of all fire-related deaths are caused by heating equipment. Chief Shelton said that because of the recent deaths, and with the support of the Mayor and City Council, City Manager and tremendous help by the news media, 1,112 homes have been called on by Fire Department personnel and 612 homes actually inspected with several hundred of these found to have serious problems with heating equipment - especially with space heaters. He said these problems have been corrected. In addition, Chief Shelton mentoned the on-going campaign encouraging each home to have at least one smoke detector and the Fire Department installing them in homes for those who cannot afford them. He said the West End Rotary and Gulf States Utilities Company have donated 120 smoke detectors which have been installed in homes. Chief Shelton said the Fire Department will continue to encourage donation of either the smoke detectors or raise funds for the purchase of them so that every home in Beaumont will be protected by smoke detectors. In addition, Chief Shelton mentioned other Fire Department activities: high rise building fire drills, training for the handling of hazardous materials, various training schools held at the Fire Training Grounds, rental of the Fire Training Grounds by Ansul and other commercial fire training schools, the Fire Museum of Texas, Emergency Medical Services (ambulance service), program for unlocking cars for the public, and spoke of the need to add two more stations - one at the entrance of Tyrrell Park and one in the for north end of the City. Ms. Maurine Gray, Director of Libraries, briefly mentioned services offered by the libraries, the reopening of the Audio/Visual division in January, and the many things offered by the libraries in addition to books such as pictures, scultures, sewing patterns, and various other things. She also mentioned the Best Years Center, located on South Fourth Street at Central Park and the many activities that are held there - crafts, games, dance group, etc. , and the opening of the Golden Years Gift Shop at the Beaumont Public Library downtown to display and sell the various craft items made by those attending the Best Years Center. -41- February 3, 1987 Police Sergeant Don Geen addressed the Town Meeting to tell of the various programs - other than routine police work - offered by the Police Department such as the Crimestoppers Program. He told those present that, "there are over 630 Crimestopper programs internationally, including the United States, Canada and Great Britain and, currently, in our population range, the Beaumont Crimestopper Program is ranked 12th amongst those cities in clearances. We are the 5th best Crimestopper Program in Texas and the 2nd best in our population range, ranking only behind Houston, Austin, El Paso and San Angelo. " He said that in the five-year period of the program, over 1,400 felony cases have been cleared, over 600 people have been placed behind bars, recovered over $1,750,000 worth of stolen property and about half of that amount worth of narcotics off the street. Sgt. Geen reminded citizens that this program is sponsored by monies donated by citizens for the rewards offered for the information given for the arrest and conviction of those committing the crimes. In addition, Sgt. Geen told of other programs and activities of the Police Department. He spoke of the Senior Citizens Patrol which involves daily calls to over 200 home-bound citizens and a once-a-week visit to each of those citizens by a patrolman assigned to their area. He spoke of the need for involvement by citizens in programs such as the Neighborhood Watch Program that has proven to be very effective. Mr. Tom Warner, Director of Public Works, addressed the Town Meeting to speak of street and park projects. He mentioned the completion of the construction of the retaining walls and brick facade on the Riverfront Park Pedestrian Underpass and briefly discussed changes in the City's Parks Department. He said that the Parks Department has recently been placed under the Public Works Department and that more emphasis will be placed on the maintenance of city parks - employees will be making complete inventories of every piece of equipment, every problem observed, etc. and that these items will be prioritized and improvements will be made to the Parks on those items. He then spoke of drainage and streets projects and referred to the display items showing these projects. He said that currently in Ward III the Minglewood drainage project is under construction and that for street projects, construction should begin on Concord, Phase I, in May of 1987, and Helbig Road is currently under design and construction should begin on it in June of 1987. -000- Mayor Pro Tem Moore recognized Jefferson County Commissioner Ed Moore in attendance at this evening's meeting. -000- The citizens- comments portion of the Town Meeting was opened. Mrs. Delia Harrington, 815 Willow Street, addressed Council to compliment the beautiful church that the Town Meeting was being held in and to compliment the several other beautiful churhes in the immediate area but to complain about the trash in the area. She told Council she would try to have a meeting with the area ministers for a membership/neighborhood "cleanup party". -42- February 3, 1987 Mr. Tex Johnson, 415 Canal Street, addressed the Council to request that the streets in the area be properly repaired or rehabilitated rather than temporarily patched. In addition, he spoke of poor drainage on Central park and complained that only one water faucet on the Park was working and it was located next to the Community Center. Mr. Johnson also mentioned the blind corner for traffic at the old Human Resources Building located on Pennsylvania (probably at Blanchette) and the need for stop signs or traffic signals. Mr. Henry Ford, 545 E. Gill, addressed Council to complain about buses tearing up the street that citizens in the area had paid to have repaired. Mrs. Mabel Rubit, 1430 Trinidad, complained about poor drainage from the back yards in her area and said she had had water in her home three times and questioned whether the Helbig Road project would relieve the area. Mrs. Joyce Rawls, 430 E. Gill, complained about poor drainage near Vestal, in back yards, ditches deep but filled with trash and asked if someone from the City would talk to the people on Vestal about cleaning the trash from their ditches. Mrs. Ada Thierry, 4065 Hester, spoke about drainage problems because of stopped up ditches on Willie Mae and La Salle Streets. Mr. Wallace Chargois, 3765 Preston, complained about parking and loitering around two cafe/lounges on Hegele between Preston and Nelson and also complained about trash and Sanitation workers throwing empty garbage cans rather than placing them back at the curb. Mrs. Bridget Brown, 1430 Harrison, complained about cats in her neighborhood. Ms. Brown was referred to the Health Department for this problem. Mr. Chris Carter, 4320 Agnes, spoke about poor drainage on LaSalle Street and no mosquito control for the area. Mrs. Shirlene Cook, 2235 Rampart, addressed the Town Meeting to speak about the need for extended hours for operation of the buses - routes started earlier and run later on weekdays, more regular operation on Saturdays and operation of buses be started on Sundays. Mrs. Eulnola J. Woods, 3160 St. James Boulevard, requested 4-way stop signs on Westmoreland, about four (4) blocks from Price Elementary, and sited the several accidents as well as one fatality in the area. In addition, Mrs. Woods complained about excessive speeding, especially by police units, in her area. She also asked that buses begin routes earlier and suggested the time of 5:45 a.m. for those who need to be at work by 7:00 to 7:30 a.m. Mr. Alex Sanders, 3425 Texas, complained about the poor condition of streets and drainage in the north end, Prince Street being too narrow for two cars to pass without one pulling over and stopping, spoke about the need for more recreational areas or parks in the north end, complained about poor or no police patrol in the north end and the need for better communication between the Police Department and citizens, and unsafe conditions for children crossing Magnolia, Cleveland and Concord Streets. -43- February 3, 1987 Mrs. Vernice Monroe, 4825 Cornell, addressed the Town Meeting to speak of the need for better communications between Council and citizens for more awareness of what services are available, things that are proposed or planned, and what departments handle what functions. Mr. E. J. Reeves, 725 Young, said that citizens are interested in what City services are available to citizens and suggested that Department Heads look at the whole City to see if all areas are treated the same for repairs, additions, improvements - whether its police response time, City parks, or streets and spoke to the need for Department Heads to address areas of concern expressed by citizens at past Town Meetings when making presentations at future meetings. Mr. Joseph Jackson, 4240 Corley, spoke about police units using excessive speeds, and specifically mentioned Cardinal Drive, Fannett Road, Fourth Street and Corley. Mr. Franklin Bennett, 1068 Forrest, addressed Council to express his concerns for robberies and muggings happening in neighborhoods when police units are parked on streets for traffic speed control. -000- Each of the Councilmembers present expressed appreciation for the use of the Douglas Memorial CME Church, those present and for citizen participation in the Town Meeting, things happening presently in the City and those planned for the immediate time and in the near and not-too-distant future. -000- There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. -000- I, Rosemarie Chiappetta, Secretary in the City Clerk's Office, certify that the above is a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the regular City Council session and Town Meeting held February 3, 1987. Rosemarie Chiappetta Secretary -44- February 3, 1987