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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN AUG 01 1989 REGULAR MEETING CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD AUGUST 1, 1989 - 1 : 15 P.M. BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 1st day of August, 1989, with the following present: HONORABLE: Bob Lee, Jr. Mayor Pro Tem Councilman At Large Andrew P. Cokinos Councilman At Large Lulu L. Smith Councilman, Ward I Michael Brumley Councilman, Ward II David W. Moore Councilman, Ward IV Absent: Maurice Meyers Mayor Audwin Samuel Councilman, Ward III Ray A. Riley City Manager Lane Nichols City Attorney Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -000- The Invocation was given by the Very Reverend Kenneth Howard, Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Smith. -000- Mr. Jerry Rainey requested an opportunity to recognize four gentlemen who, he said, might fall in the rank of "unsung heroes" in performing their daily acts of providing humane care. MR. RAINEY• . . . I had the opportunity to personally witness excellence in performance of duty and humane care in action in our city. On July 3rd, my neighbor Tom Case suffered a heart attack late in the afternoon, shortly after he had finished mowing his yard and entered his home for dinner. The Fire Department and E.M.S. was notified. Immediately, and I mean just within, it seemed like a very short period of time, I would say four to five minutes, the fire truck arrived. Brice St. Aubin and Ted Hillin were there immediately with the Fire Department, began rendering aid and immediately thereafter, the E.M.S. unit with Rob Robinson and Paramedic Rodney Miller arrived, and I 've never seen anything quite as fluid and efficient as these four men were in their performance and duty. They went to work, administered the proper aid, they comforted the victim and hysterical wife, and literally saved this 57-year-old man' s life, literally! I can relate -203- August 1, 1989 T to this because of having served a number of years with the U. S. Army' s Green Beret with a basic specialty of medicine. . .It didn' t end there though, after stabilizing the patient and getting him into the ambulance and down to St. Elizabeth' s Hospital, these medics continued to work, and again on the table when Mr. Case suffered another severe heart attack, rendered the proper administration and saved this man' s life for the second time. Never forgetting the wife . . .after the act to reassure her, to comfort her, and of course, my wife and myself, who accompanied them to the hospital. So, I think it only befitting that Council recognize these gentlemen and their performance of duty, and as I stated in my letter to Chief Shelton, and to their supervisor, and to the Mayor, Mayor Meyers, that if there were in our city a code of some type of system that we could award medals to people like this, then certainly these gentlemen are most deserving of such an honor. To me, it' s just an honor to stand here and relate to you the wonderful pride and efficiency in which these men serve us everyday, and I thank you very much (to Council) , and thank you very much, Gentlemen. MAYOR PRO TEM LEE: Thank you very much, Jerry. And, Ted and Brice and Rob and Rodney, I would imagine that you would just say "we were just doing our job, " but I think you will see from the comments that Jerry has made, the citizens out there truly do appreciate your efforts. . .we do feel very good and very proud to have folks like you out there dealing with very difficult situations. COUNCILMAN SMITH: I think that some of you may not remember. . .many years ago when we didn' t have this service in Beaumont, and this was a sorely needed service, and it was very difficult to get the private ambulances to come out after twelve o'clock, and some wouldn' t come out after 6 : 00 p.m. in the evening. And, we do have a wonderful E.M.S. service that I am very proud of, and we' re very proud of you because the citizens of Beaumont are much better served: COUNCILMAN MOORE: I simply like to add, being the liaison to the E.M.S. Commission, we' re extremely proud of all you gentlemen and ladies that work in that department. On numerous occasions, I 've had opportunity to stop when they were in action and watch them perform their duties, and as Jerry pointed out, they' re extremely professional and efficient. And, not only have they done a good job just responding to the situations we have in the city, Dr. Smith brought up a good point, there were years ago we didn' t have the service, and since the City has taken over the responsibility, and it is subsidized to a large extent by the City, thorough efficiency and response of that department has increased tremendously. And, the private carriers work on this Board with us, and all that is added together to give us a strong service that I think all the citizens are proud of. . . -204- August 1, 1989 COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Thank you, Councilman Lee. This is another example of how important E.M.S. and the Firefighters are to the city of Beaumont. They' re a dedicated people, and they' re dedicated to not only their employment and to their department. They' re dedicated to the city of Beaumont, and congratulations Brutus, and Ted, and the E.M.S. Keep up the good work. COUNCILMAN BRUMLEY: When you said that you probably would think you were just doing your job, everyone seemed to nod their head. So, the easiest way to thank you would be to say, thanks for the dedication that you give to your profession. That' s why you' re as good as you are because you' re so strongly dedicated. . . -000- As a representative and member of the Clean Community Commission, Mr. Gene Williams, gave a slide presentation and proposal for a request for funding to begin a "step forward, " he said, in litter containment. The Commission would like to establish a uniform litter container program for the City of Beaumont and requested funding for the first phase of a two phase program. He asked the City to budget for the initial purchase of approximately seventy-five (75 ) containers in the FY 89-90 budget to be reimbursed through contributions solicited by the Clean Community Commission. The containers can be purchased from the Texas Department of Corrections, are of superior galvanized iron construction, are less expensive than comparable containers, and will be placed in the Central Business District as Phase I of the program. Phase II will distribute containers throughout the remainder of the city and the cost will be underwritten by organizations, businesses, and individuals. -000- Mayor Pro Tem Lee announced an Executive Session of the Beaumont City Council, pursuant to Section 2 (e) of the Texas Open Meetings Act of the State of Texas, to discuss pending or contemplated litigation following the Work Session. -000- Agenda Item 5 establishing a Street Maintenance Fund and a Street Maintenance Fee was deferred two weeks to allow a full Council vote and time to gather information on points possible overlooked in previous discussions on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Smith. Question: Ayes: Councilman Nayes: Mayor Pro Tem Cokinos Lee Councilman Smith Councilman Brumley -205- August 1 , 1989 Citizen comment was invited on the Consent Agenda and Main Agenda Items 2, and 4 through 6 . No one wished to address these items. -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered: Approval of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held July 25, 1989 ; Resolution No. 89-153 appointing Dr. Leldon Sweet to the Airport Advisory Commission for a term expiring May 31 , 1991 ; Sgt. Bill Davis and Lynn M. Bencowitz to the Beaumont Advisory Commission for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect with terms expiring June 30, 1991 ; Marilyn Adams and Frederick Adams to the CDBG Advisory Commission with terms expiring May 31, 1991; Bill Kimbrough to the Convention and Tourism Advisory Commission for a term expiring July 31, 1991; Bessie Chisum as Chairman and Guy Goodson as Vice-Chairman of the Historical Landmark Commission; Resolution No. 89-154 authorizing conveyance of the City' s interest of a small tract of land, worth about $250. 00, described as part of Lots 11 and 12 of Block 55 of the Van Wormer Addition to the State of Texas for Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway right-of-way; and Resolution No. 89-155 designating Gary A. Miller, Larry Morris, and Myrtle C. McCall as the official signatories for the City of Beaumont-- Beaumont Transit System. The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Cokinos. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance No. 89-52 authorizing a specific use permit to allow the sale, rental, repair and custom fabrication of pumps, generators and air compressors at 3440 West Cardinal Drive, as requested by Loddie Naymola, president and owner of Service Pump and Equipment Co. , Inc. was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 89-52 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE ISSUING A SPECIFIC USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE SALE, RENTAL, REPAIR AND CUSTOM FABRICATION OF PUMPS, GENERATORS AND AIR COMPRESSORS ON PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3440 WEST CARDINAL DRIVE, BEAUMONT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS. Ordinance No. 89-52 was approved on a motion by Councilman Smith and seconded by Councilman Moore. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -206- August 1, 1989 Resolution No. 89-156 authorizing purchase of two ( 2) diesel-powered crew cab trucks with 4-cubic yard contractor dump body at $30,025. 88 each from Atterbery Truck Sales for use by the Sewer Maintenance Division was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Moore. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance No. 89-53 approving the preliminary statement for the sale on August 22, 1989, of approximately $16,665,000 in Waterworks and Sewer System Revenue Bonds ( $4,000,000 in new bonds to be used for the proposed construction of improvements in the recently annexed area in the south part of town and possibly to serve the proposed correction facility and $12 , 665,000 Refunding Bonds to provide for slight reduction of over-all debt service and release of approximately $2. 1 million in reserve) was considered: ORDINANCE APPROVING NOTICE OF SALE AND PRELIMINARY OFFICIAL STATEMENT AND AUTHORIZING DISTRIBUTION THEREOF Ordinance No. 89-53 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Smith and seconded by Councilman Cokinos. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None Ordinance No. 89-54 directing notice of publication of the date and time of the meeting of City Council when Waterworks and Sewer System Revenue Bonds will be issued was considered: ORDINANCE DIRECTING THE GIVING OF NOTICE OF INTENTION TO ISSUE REVENUE AND REFUNDING BONDS Ordinance No. 89-54 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Brumley and seconded by Councilman Moore. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None. -000- Resolution No. 89-157 authorizing the filing of an application for a $2 . 4 million Title I -- Public Works and Development Facilities Assistance grant from the Economic Development Administration for the Spindletop Waterpark Project was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Smith. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance No. 89-55 amending the current budget to transfer $1. 6 million from the General Fund to the Street Maintenance and Reconstruction Fund was considered: -207- August 1, 1989 ORDINANCE NO. 89-55 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE BUDGET OF THE CITY OF BEAUMONT FOR THE FISCAL PERIOD COMMENCING OCTOBER 1 , 1988 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30 , 1989 BY APPROPRIATING $1. 6 MILLION FROM UNAPPROPRIATED FUNDS IN THE GENERAL FUND TO THE STREET MAINTENANCE AND RECONSTRUCTION FUND; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND PROVIDING FOR REPEAL. Ordinance No. 89-55 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Brumley. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 89-158 authorizing a contract to purchase approximately 2,185 acres of land out of the northern portion of the C. Hildebrandt Survey, Abstract 28 , south of the sewage treatment plant with Harry Holloway at $425 an acre, (agreement calls for a $20,000 deposit to be placed in escrow to be considered as a down payment if purchase is made) , conditional upon it being determined suitable for an artificial wetlands system of waste disposal and approval of the plan by the Environmental Protection Agency, was considered. After questions concerning price of the land, mineral rights, second opinion of the appraisal value Council Cokinos made a motion to defer the resolution until all Councilmembers were present for the deliberation. The motion failed for lack of a second. After further discussion, Resolution No. 89-158 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Brumley and seconded by Councilman Moore. Question: Ayes: Mayor Pro Tem Nayes: Councilman Lee Cokinos Councilman Smith Councilman Brumley Councilman Moore -000- Councilman Brumley invited attendance for an afternoon of fun at "Sunday in the Park, " August 6, 1989 to be sponsored by Friends of Sunday in the Park. Councilman Moore asked Staff to look at possibility of a no-glass container ordinance for City parks as a safety measure; reported a call from a citizen regarding back-up of water on Burgundy Street off Virginia--the water having a bitter after-taste when valves have been released to clear out a line; asked for a cost analysis of Phase II of the Corley Street Drainage Project for this budget period; and requested to meet with Public Works Director Tom Warner. -208- Mayor Pro Tem Lee reported a delightful "Sunday in the Park" last week with Channel 12, Baptist Hospital and Dairy Queen as sponsors. Councilman Smith requested to meet with Public Works Director Tom Warner regarding ditches in the Woodlands area. -000- Mr. Tony Sacker, 4635 Elmherst, addressed Council to ask that they devise a plan whereby citizens could receive a tax deduction for the fee or tax that is being considered for a street maintenance program, discussed a tax versus a user fee, and equity of the charges. Mr. Frank Dover, 1215 Sandwood, addressed Council to suggest that advance notice of Work Session items be published to allow citizens to have full information regarding items of interest. Mr. C. L. Sherman, 585 Belvedere Drive, addressed Council in support of Work Session items being published to allow citizens to be knowledgeable of the items proposed. Mr. Tony Sacker, 4635 Elmherst, addressed Council again to ask if citizens have the privilege to speak during Work Sessions. Councilman Moore said Council would not refuse a citizen the opportunity to speak, but there are occasions when Council is trying to come to a closure when citizens should refrain from discussion. -000- There being no further business, the regular City Council meeting was recessed for 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 August 1, 1989. Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -209- August 1, 1989