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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN MAY 16 1989 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD MAY 16, 1989 - 1: 15 P.M. BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 16th day of May, 1989, with the following present: HONORABLE: Maurice Meyers Mayor Bob Lee, Jr. Councilman-At-Large Andrew P. Cokinos Councilman-At-Large Lulu L. Smith Councilman, Ward I Michael Brumley Councilman, Ward II Audwin Samuel Mayor Pro Tem and Councilman, Ward III Absent: David W. Moore Councilman, Ward IV Ray A. Riley City Manager Lane Nichols City Attorney Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -000- The Invocation was given by the Reverend L. C. Treadway, pastor of New Life Tabernacle. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Lee. -000- Mayor Meyers welcomed Hank De Zwart of the Netherlands - Holland, to our area and the City of Beaumont. Mr. De Zwart, a guest of Jimmy Hubbard, a City employee with the Building Maintenance Division, and his parents, Fred & Vera Hubbard, was presented an "Honorary Citizen" card and a poster depicting the July 4th celebration on Riverfront Park. Mr. De Zwart and Jimmy' s father became friends through their conversations via CB (citizen band) radios. -000- Mrs. Maree Calcote, chairman of the Clean Community Commission, introduced Mr. Glenn Milam, president of Beautify Beaumont, a sub- committee of the Clean Community Commission. Mr. Milam introduced members of Beautify Beaumont present at today' s session and mentioned some of the group' s accomplishments: landscaping of the Pearl-Orleans Connector (approximately $9,500) , 20 oak trees planted on Riverfront and Zaharias Parks (approximately $2,000) ; Benckenstein Plaza at Broadway and Willow (approximately $10,000) ; plantings on Willow Street at Fannin by Beautify Beaumont, Junior League and BUILD; landscaping, planting of trees and an irrigation system for the Energy Museum with the help of Lil and Buster Klein ( $6,500) , Helen and Lee Griffin ( $1,500) , McDermont Foundation ( $1,000) , -119- May 16, 1989 Mr. Milam introduced Mrs. George Brown and family who wish to donate $38, 300 for the landscaping of the Calder/Phelan Plaza near Interstate 10. Mr. Milam said the landscaping would include trees that would flower all year long and thousands of bricks. He further told Council that it was the family' s wish that the area be named "George Brown Plaza" as a memorial to Mr. Brown. This project would require the City' s permission to proceed and removal or relocation of a power pole by Gulf States Utilities Company. The Mayor and City Councilmembers enthusiastically endorsed the project and expressed appreciation to the Brown family for their generosity. -000- MAYOR MEYERS• We have three proclamations to present and I would like to make a personal comment first, if I may. I think the measure of leadership is the ability someone has to establish consistency and I think there are certain positions that are so visible that they are examined through a spy glass and I think time just establishes a record and measuring that record is . . . I think we have opportunity to measure that record as someone performs on a daily basis in a community such as ours. And, I am delighted today to take opportunity to recognize one of our own who is retiring and stepping down from that kind of position where he has been willing to be the visible party. He' s been willing to step out and face challenges that to most would not be palatable at all because we have moved through some very meaningful and significant challenges and I think that' s the true measure of that man is his ability to step forward and be accountable for those challenges and what goes with them. So. . . " (Whereas) Dr. O. C. 'Mike' Taylor, Superintendent of Schools for the Beaumont School District, began his professional career in education twenty-nine ( 29) years ago and has served in Beaumont for the past thirteen ( 13 ) years; and, " (Whereas) Mike Taylor distinguished himself in Southeast Texas by successfully merging two school districts; building the BISD Career Center and Planetarium with no bond issue; implementing several innovative programs new to Southeast Texas; operating with the lowest tax rate in Jefferson County, except for one budget balanced school district; and increasing employee' s salaries yearly despite mandates and decreased state funds; and, " (Whereas) not one to always keep the waters calm (and I had to get that in there, Mike) , Mike has consistently demonstrated his leadership, concern and compassion for our student' s education by stressing that educational success depends on inquiring students, knowledgeable and capable faculty, and the resources to support the interchange; and, -120- May 16, 1989 MAYOR MEYERS continued with the proclamation for Dr. Taylor: "(Whereas) a native of Itasca, Texas (which I had the privilege of learning when we went up to secure the Energy Museum and I might mention as an aside as we were visiting with Eddie Childs trying to figure out all the things we could say to convince him to send that beautiful collection here, little did we realize that in our midst were two members of the Itasca Hall of Fame - Eddie Childs and Mike Taylor. And, so, there was a perfect combination and they continued to talk about Itasca; but I think it probably in a very significant way helped us win that victory. ) and educated in Texas Weslayan College and University of North Texas, Mike is leaving Beaumont to return to the North Texas area where he and his wife, Pat (who is here with us today) , will enjoy the benefits of his retirement; and, " (Whereas) we recognize and appreciate his indomitable spirit, his willingness to step out in spite of possible public opposition, his civic pride and his professionalism in his chosen field. "NOW, THEREFORE, I , Maurice Meyers, Mayor of the City of Beaumont, do hereby recognize "DR. O. C. 'MIKE' TAYLOR" and commend him for exemplary performance, wish him well in his retirement, and continued improvement of his golf game (which I think has to high on his list) . "IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Beaumont to be affixed. s/s Maurice Meyers, Mayor dated May 16, 1989" And, I guess I 've waited thirteen years to say, "Mike, you come up here. " It' s not often you get to tell Mike to do anything. Mike, we are very pleased to present this proclamation to you. It comes with a sense of appreciation for your efforts for this community and the fact that anything you've ever done I think you've done in your heart because you felt it was the right thing to do. On behalf of Council and the citizens and the students who have moved through this thirteen-year period, we are pleased to say thank you for your efforts on behalf of our City and we wish you and Pat . . . Pat, won' t you come up and join Mike, please? DR. O. C. "Mike" TAYLOR: She looks a lot better than I do. MAYOR MEYERS: I knew you'd say that. That' s another thing that he has repeated at least 8,000 times since their marriage but it' s absolutely true. He says she looks a lot better than I do. But, we'd like you to shake hands with all of Council and then please make some comments today if you would. -121- May 16, 1989 DR. TAYLOR: Mayor, I assume I get to comment. To the Honorable Mayor Meyers and the honorable members of the City Council, to staff members and to my good friend and probably the most capable City Manager in the Country, Ray Riley, and to guests and a lot of my good people that showed up today. Needless to say, I am truly honored as well as appreciative of this. This is very nice. Hopefully, I can get this framed and look at it for many years. Let me . . . I 'm not going to make a speech. I 've been doing that. If I had known this retirement was this much fun, I might have done it two or three times. I 've been getting nice gifts and a lot of nice things being said and a lot of tacky things . . . My administrative staff roasted me last week at the Holiday Inn and did an excellent job of it. The only unfortunate thing is that most of the things they said were true. But, let me . . . Oh, too, I 'm really impressed with the agenda here. I wish we were this smart down at the School District to get a short agenda like this. Ours look more like a Sears and Roebuck catalogue and I 'm also impressed with nice . . . nobody here throwing anything or calling . . .or raising attention to some things that should be done in the City like they do at the school but that' s the nature of our business and after twenty-four and a half (24-1/2) years as Superintendent of Schools, I 've seen all of it, the good, bad, indifferent and I 'd be telling a story if I said I really enjoyed every facet of it. I 've probably enjoyed my thirteen years here in this very fine City, probably most of all. Seeing the ups and downs of the economy and I think the thing that impresses me most is the aggressive leadership that our Mayor and City Council has taken and especially with the leadership of Ray now that I 'm going to be real disappointed if Beaumont doesn' t really move back into the area of the early 180 ' s when everything was going great. . .the late 1701s, early 1801s, and, I 'd really be disappointed because I will be back. As most of you know, I ' ll be doing some consulting work, whatever that is, for the District, so I 'm not really leaving the community entirely. I ' ll be around. And, with that, I 'd have to say something nice about the committee (Beautify Beaumont) and the Brown family for this very generous contribution - that' s tremendous for the City. I . . . my heart swells with pride when I come by and see the new Energy Museum. It' s beautiful and if you get everything in there that Eddie had in it in Fort Worth, it' s got to be a show place in the Country, so, with that, I thank you and I know you've got other things to do than honor an old worn out school teacher; but, I appreciate it and I wish all of you well. Thank you very much. " -122- May 16, 1989 The following proclamations were issued: "Transit Appreciation Day in Beaumont" - May 17, 1989, and "Adopt a Black Child Month in Beaumont" - May, 1989. -000- Public comment on items of the Consent Agenda and Main Agenda items 2 through 4 were called. No one wished to address Council concerning these agenda items. -000- The following Consent Agenda items was considered: Approval of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held May 9, 1989. The Minutes were approved on a motion made by Councilman Samuel and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- - public hearing was called to consider an application for a mass transit operating assistance grant: CITY MANAGER: The first item for consideration by the Council today is the public hearing concerning an application for the mass transit operating assistance grant which we do annually. If I can, I ' ll take just a few moments to explain the circumstances surrounding the application and prior to the public hearing so comments might be made on the circumstances surrounding the grant. Each year, we make application through the Urban Mass Transportation Administration for an operating grant for our transportation system. Last year, in 1989, approximately $1,453 ,000 was budgeted for expenses for the transportation or the mass transit system that we operate here in Beaumont. Of that, supporting the system, is about $325,000 worth of user fees; then, the difference, fifty ( 500) percent of that operating deficit would be supported by local revenues or general revenues of the City of Beaumont - the other fifty ( 500) percent would be supplied under the terms of this transportation act on a matching basis with the amount that is put in of local dollars. Last year, or this current year, that' s about $565, 000 which would be turned to us by the federal government through the UMTA Act to support the Transit System. -123- May 16, 1989 PUBLIC HEARING on Mass Transit Operating Assistance Grant continued: CITY MANAGER continued: We are making application now for next year' s program in order to be able to comply with the regulations which would allow us to be reimbursed on a quarterly basis rather than being based on an annual basis on the completion of the year. Our preliminary estimate at this time is that we are basing our operating loss at $1,250,000 for the next operating year and we would then apply to the federal government through the Urban Mass Transportation Administration for fifty ( 500) percent subsidy or $625,000. Prior to making that application, we are required to have a public hearing and that is what has been scheduled today and we would then propose the resolution which would authorize the filing of the application at the end of the public hearing. MAYOR MEYERS• Very well, I don' t know if there are any present, but we would declare this public hearing now on the City' s application for a mass transit operating assistance grant open and if anybody would care to make any public comment relative to that subject, the hearing now is open and the opportunity is there. Being none, we would close that public hearing portion . . . END OF EXCERPT. -000- Resolution 89-107 authorizing the filing of an application for an operating assistance grant of up to $625,000 with the Urban Mass Transportation Administration for the transit system under Section 9 of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 as amended ( $1,250,000 net operating loss estimated for fiscal year 1989-90) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Smith. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 89-108 authorizing the purchase of three ( 3 ) paratransit vans for the Beaumont Municipal Transit System to provide special transit service for the physically handicapped on a demand-response basis from Metrotrans Corporation of Griffin, Georgia in an amount of $46, 197 each or a total of $138,591 (80% of cost financed by an UMTA capital grant) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -124- May 16, 1989 Resolution 89-109 authorizing execution of contracts for a year' s requirement of ready mix concrete delivered to job sites at $49. 50 per cubic yard for 5-sack (of cement per cubic yard) mixture, plus or minus $3 . 00 per sack for different cement content mixtures to Cowboy Concrete and Type III High-Early cement mixtures at $52.02 per cubic yard delivered to job sites to American Builders Concrete, Inc. was approved on a motion made by Councilman Brumley and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 89-110 authorizing a contract with BRH Garver, Inc. of Houston for construction of a 60-inch raw water supply pipeline across the Neches River at Lawson' s Crossing and installation of an erosion protection system for the line at an amount of $1,003 ,000 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Samuel and seconded by Councilman Smith. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Councilman Brumley reported interference of traffic on Crockett Street before the railroad tracks on Railroad Avenue by an automobile garage and storage yard with wreckers or other vehicles blocking the street and asked that the problem be investigated and corrected. In addition, Councilman Brumley told those present of the schedule for "Concerts on the Move, " the first performance to be held Thursday, May 18th at Alice Keith Park with music to be provided by the Beaumont Community Band and the Jazz Power Trio. Other concerts scheduled are: Jimmy Simmons on Rogers Park in June, Fresh or Stereo on Magnolia Park in August, a back-to-school outdoor concert by the Central and West Brook High School Bands on Riverfront Park on September 7th and enthusiastically reported that Vince Vance and the Valiants would perform July 13th on Klein Park. Councilman Brumley mentioned that corporate sponsors for this season are Mobil and Dairy Queen and a $2,500 grant from South East Texas Arts Council. Councilman Lee thanked Councilman Brumley and Friends of Sunday in the Park for their help with last Sunday' s activities. He also reminded that there would be no Sunday in the Park activities held Sunday, May 20th. -000- There being no further business, the meeting was recessed before continuing with the City Council Workshop Session. -000- I, Rosemarie Chiappetta, City Clerk of the City of Beaumont, Texas, certify that the above is a true copy of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held May 16, 1989. Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -125- May 16, 1989 PUBLIC HEARING CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS TO CONSIDER MASS TRANSIT OPERATING ASSISTANCE GRANT APPLICATION HELD MAY 16, 1989 THOSE present for the public hearing were: Maurice Meyers Mayor Bob Lee, Jr. Councilman-At-Large Andrew P. Cokinos Councilman-At-Large Lulu L. Smith Councilman, Ward I Mike Brumley Councilman, Ward II Audwin Samuel Mayor Pro Tem and Councilman, Ward III Absent: David W. Moore Councilman, Ward IV Ray A. Riley City Manager Lane Nichols City Attorney Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -000- CITY MANAGER: The first item for consideration by the Council today is the public hearing concerning an application for the mass transit operating assistance grant which we do annually. If I can, I ' ll take just a few moments to explain the circumstances surrounding the application and prior to the public hearing so comments might be made on the circumstances surrounding the grant. Each year, we make application through the Urban Mass Transportation Administration for an operating grant for our transportation system. Last year, in 1989, approximately $1,453,000 was budgeted for expenses for the transportation or the mass transit system that we operate here in Beaumont. Of that, supporting the system is about $325,000 worth of user fees; then, the difference, fifty (500) percent of that operating deficit would be supported by local revenues or general revenues of the City of Beaumont - the other fifty (500) percent would be supplied under the terms of this transportation act on a matching basis with the amount that is put in of local dollars. Last year, or this current year, that' s about $565,000 which would be turned to us by the federal government through the UMTA Act to support the Transit System. We are making application now for next year' s program in order to be able to comply with the regulations which would allow us to be reimbursed on a quarterly basis rather than being based on an annual basis on the completion of the year. Our preliminary estimate at this time is that we are basing our operating loss at $1,250,000 for the next operating year and we would then apply to the federal government through the Urban Mass Transportation Administration for fifty ( 500) percent subsidy or $625,000. Prior to making that application, we are required to have a public hearing and that is what has been scheduled today and we would then propose the resolution which would authorize the filing of the application at the end of the public hearing. W Public Hearing for Transit Operating Assistance Grant Application Page 2 MAYOR MEYERS• Very well, I don' t know if there are any present, but we would declare this public hearing now on the City' s application for a mass transit operating assistance grant open and if anybody would care to make any public comment relative to that subject, the hearing now is open and the opportunity is there. Being none, we would close that public hearing portion . . . -000- I, Rosemarie Chiappetta, City Clerk of the City of Beaumont, Texas, certify that the above is a true copy of the Minutes of the public hearing held to consider an application for an operating assistance grant May 16, 1989 . Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk