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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN APR 29 1975 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD APRIL 29 , 1975 BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 29th day of April, 1975, with the following present: Honorable: Vi McGinnis Act. Mayor Pro Tem Don S. Cash Councilman, Ward I Calvin Williams Councilman, Ward III Leroy Evans Councilman, Ward IV Absent: Ken Ritter Mayor Appointed Officials: Kenneth Wall City Attorney Myrtle Corgey City Clerk Staff: Howard McDaniel Asst. City Manager -000® The Invocation was given by Rev. James B. Thompson, Calvary Baptist Church© The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Evans. -000- Acting Mayor Pro Fenn issued the following proclamations: (1) "Hearing and Speech Month in Beaumont"-May, 1975; (2) "Optimists ' Respect for Law Week in Beaumont"-May 1-7 , 1975; (3) "School Volunteer Recognition Week in Beau- mont"-May 5-9, 1975; (4) "Tripod Week in Beaumont"-April 28-May 3 , 1975; (5) "Life Insurance Weeks in Beaumont"-Weeks May 5 and May 12; (6) American Cancer Society' s "Babe Zaharias Sports Week in Beaumont"-May 5-10; (7) "National Radio Month in Beaumont"-May, 1975; (8) "Elk' s National Youth Week in Beaumont"-May 1-7 , 1975; (9) "Goodwill Week In Beaumont"-May 4-10 , 1975 , and (10) "Charlton-Pollard Stage Band Week in Beaumont"-April 29-May 6 , 19750 -000- The Minutes of the regular City Council session held April 22 , 1975 approved on a motion made by Councilman Cash and seconded by Councilman Evans, Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000® Resolution 75-161 authorizing the award of one informal bid for furnishing a Blue Print Duplicating Machine to Bruning Corporation, in the amount of $1, 139 . 00, for the Water Department, was approved on a motion by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Cash. Question- Ayes: Ali Nayes: None -000- Resolution 75-162 authorizing the award of bids to Jack' s Tire Service for furnishing an annual contract for new farm and truck tires ($384064 for farm tires, $38, 802098 truck & heavy equipment) and a 90-day contract to White Tire Supply for new passenger and steel frame tires ($12,405 . 36 passenger car tires, $3, 990000 steel frame tires) , and an annual contract for recap- ping and Section Repairs to Jack@s Tire Service, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes : All Nayes : None -000® -68- April 29, 1975 Resolution 75-163, authorizing the award of bids for furnishing limestone ($5. 49/Ton, Aggregate 2-B ($8.25/Ton) , Hot Mix-Cold Lay ($15.00/Ton) , Reef Oyster Shell ($7. 00/Ton) , and sand shell mix ($6.65/Ton) to Keown Supply, and liquid asphalts to Gulf States Asphalt for the period of May 13, 1975 through August. 12, 1975, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Evans. (The two bids received on cold mix were rejected. ) Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -00o- Resolution 75-164 , authorizing the award of bids to Allied Chemical Corp. for furnishing aluminum sulfate for the Water Department, on a 90-day con- tract, for period July 1, 1975 through September 30, 1975, in the amount of was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cash; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 75-165, authorizing the award of bids to Thompson-Hayward Chemi- cal Company for furnishing sodium silicofluoride for the Water Department ($298. 00/Ton) , for annual period June 1, 1975 through May 31, 1976, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Williams and seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 75-166, authorizing the award of bids for furnishing liquid chlo- rine for the Water Department to Thompson-Hayward Chemical Company ($240.00 per ton) , for annual period May 1, 1975 through April 30, 1976, approved on a motion made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 75-167, authorizing the award of bid for furnishing one mobile display/demonstrator trailer for the Crime Prevention Unit (CJC Grant) of the Police Department, to Wells-Cargo, Inc. , in the amount of $3,175.00 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cash; seconded by Councilman Evans,. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 75-168, authorizing the award of bids for furnishing uniforms for field departments ($24,392. 26) , for the Fire Department ($10,465000) and for the Police Department ($15,365050) , to Factory Sales, was approved on motion made by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance 75-32, abandoning a general utility easement lying in the south 101 of Lots 1-7, Block 15, Averill Addition was considered. ORDINANCE NO. 75-32 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE VACATING AND ABAN- DONING A 10 FOOT (10 ' ) WIDE BY 350 FOOT (350 ® ) LONG GENERAL UTILITY EASEMENT OUT OF LOTS 1-7, BLOCK 15, AVERILL ADDITION TO THE CITY OF BEAUMONT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS, AS DESCRIBED HEREIN. Ordinance adopted on a motion by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Williams. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -69- April 29, 1975 (Asst. City Manager Howard McDaniel asked that Item No. 11, appointing Rene Bates Auctioneers for the City auction to be held June 28, 1975, be held; no action taken at this meeting. ) _000- Resolution 75-169, authorizing a pipeline crossing license to Gulf State Pipe Line Company, to construct three 8" pipelines within one 30" diameter casing across the City of Beaumont' s Weiss Canal in two locations, one in Jasper County and one in Orange County, for a total of $268. 00, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cash; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question-. Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 75-170, granting an easement to Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. , for the relocation of underground cable on Water Treatment Plant property at Pine Street Interchange, said easement being 2 ' wide adjacent to existing right of way line of Pine Street and extending from North Frontage Road northward 601 along Pine Street, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 75-171, authorizing a 6-month extension of the injury leave to J. D. Richards (Patrolman Grade I) , (without pay) , beginning April 29 , 1975 , approved on a motion made by Councilman Cash; seconded by Councilman Evans® Question: Ayes: Councilman Cash Councilman Evans Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis Abstained: Councilman Williams -000- Resolution 75-172, authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with Dickson, Dickson, and Bullock, for the development of a master plan for Fair Park facilities, not to exceed $4 ,000. 00, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- Reverend Andrew Radke, 730 Langham, Evangeline Temple, addressed Council to request Council action concerning appointment of a Citizen' s Investigation Committee (Police Review Board) , -000® The meeting was recessed. -000- The meeting reconvened for a Dilapidated Structure Hearing. -70- April 29, 1975 DILAPIDATED STRUCTURE HEARING Those present for the Dilapidated Structure Hearing were: Honorable: Vi McGinnis Acting Mayor Pro Tem Don S. Cash Councilman, Ward I Calvin Williams Councilman, Ward III Leiicy Evans Councilman, Ward IV Howard McDaniel Asst. City Manager Myrtle Corgey City Clerk Lane Nichols Asst. City Attorney Leonard Hardy Dir. Environ. Control Jerry Creekmore Asst, Fire Marshal Jim Thompson Admin. Asst. to Mgr. C. L. Overman Traffic Safety Cbord© -000® 1865 HEBERT STREET ® In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr® Hardy stated this structure has 25 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and he recommended it be condemned by Council and ordered demolished. Mrs. Alberta Harmon, owner, addressed Council to request that she be allowed 60 days to have structure torn down and lot cleared® A motion to condemn this structure and allow 60 days for demolition and clear- ing was made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes - All Nayes: None -000- 1262 BLANCHETTE STREET - In answer to questions asked by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated that this structure has been burned -® approximately 25% burned. He stated there are 36 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance, but that the structure was structurally sound® He said the owner contacted him to say he would get a remodeling permit to begin rebuilding. Mr® Hardy recommended the structure be condemned and owner given 30 days to get the permit to start remodeling. Such a motion was made by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Williams. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000® 1020 BONHAM STREET (REAR) ® In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated there were 46 7 I-o—lations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and it was 75% deteriorated. He recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished by the City. Such a motion was made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -000® 1460 BURT STREET - in answer to questions by Mr® Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated that this structure has 31 violationsof the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished by the City® Such motion was made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- 2970 DELAWARE STREET - In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr, Jerry Creekmore, stated the structure was in violation of the Fire Code and was a fire hazard because it is open and easily accessible to children and transients. -71- April 29, 1975 2970 DELAWARE STREET =NT'D, ) In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated this structure had been partially burned and has 19 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordi- nance and recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished. Such a motion was made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes. All Nayes: None -000® 1006 EVALON - In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated this structure has 23 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and that it is more than 50% deteriorated. He recommended that it be condemned and ordered demolished. Such a motion was made by Councilman Cash and seconded by Councilman Williams. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- 500 FORSYTHE & NECHES ® In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated there are 39 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and that the structure was more than 50% deteriorated and recommended that it be condemned and ordered demolished by City. Mr. Hardy said owners had contacted him and agreed that the structure should be demolished® Such a motion was made by Councilman Cash; Seconded by Councilman Williams. Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- 3500 MAID. ROAD ® In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated that the structure has 32 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and that someone, without a City permit, is demolishing the structure. He recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished by the City. Such a motion was made by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Cash® Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- 4050 MAID. ROAD ® In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated there are 19 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and recom- mended it be condemned and ordered demolished by the City. Such a motion was made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Evans© Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- 1845 MAY STREET ® In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated there are 29 'violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and that it had been partially burned., He said that someone has started demolishing the -121tructure without a City permit. He recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished. Such a motion was made by Councilman Williams and seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- 80455 MITCHELL ROAD ® In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated this structure is more than 50% deteriorated and has 13 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance,, He recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished. Such a motion was made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question! Ayes : All Nayes : None -000® 2 April 29, 1975 945 ORANGE (FRONT & REAR) - In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated the front structure has 30 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ord.i- nance and is more than 60% deteriorated. In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated the rear structure has 21 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance. He recommended that both structures be condemned and ordered demolished by the City. Such a motion was made by Councilman Cash; seconded by Councilman Williams. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- 3335 RIVERS ® In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated that this structure is more than 50% deteriorated and has 12 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished by the City. Such a motion was made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Evans-, Question: Ayes- All Nayes: None -000- 3390 ROLAND ROAD ® in answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated this structure has 21 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished by the City. Such a motion was made by Councilman Cash; seconded by Councilman Williams. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- 1500 SABINE PASS @ BUFORD - In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated this structure has 20 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and that Mr. Burrell, Trustee with American National Bank, agreed that the structure should be demolished-, Mr. Hardy recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished by the City. A motion for such was made by Councilman Cash; seconded by Councilman Williams. Question: Ayes . All Nayes : None -000- 7650 TRAM ROAD - In answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated this structure was being demolished and has 41 violations to the Dangerous Struc- ture Ordinance and recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished by the City. A motion for such was made by Councilman Evans; seconded by Council- man Williams. Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000® 3740 USAN STREET - in answer to questions by Mr. Nichols, Mr. Hardy stated that this structure had about 20% damage by fire, but it was structurally sound; there has been no response to notices by the owners to the City. Mr. Hardy said there are 15 violations to the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and recommended it be condemned and ordered demolished. A motion for such was made by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Williams. Question: Ayes ., All Nayes: None -000- Councilman Cash asked Staff, when a building is structurally sound, owners be encouraged to rebuild and remarket. -73® April 29, 1975 Councilman Evans asked If the City could send potential buyers to the owners of dilapidated structures for rehabilitation of these structures for rent property, etc,, The Legal Department indicated it would be possible if the potential buyers are known by the City- -000- Councilman Williams asked Mr. Hardy if he had discussed the possibility of developing an Aesthetics Ordinance with the Planning Department to correct such zoning violations as junk yards in residential areas, etc. Mr. Hardy indicated he had not. Mro McDaniel said information should have been sent to Council from his office concerning the pros and cons of attempting to undertake such an ordinance. Council indicated they had not received this information® Mr. McDaniel said it would be provided. Mr. Nichols stated he had received a memo from the City Attorney in reference to what extent aesthetics can be regulated under existing State law, but said there was no report at this time. -000- There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. -o0o® I, Myrtle Corgey, 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 and the Dilapidated Structure Hearing held April 29, 19750 Myrtle Corgey, City Clerk -74- April 29, 1975 e "Y , >4 , PUBLIC HEARING CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS HELD APRIL 29, 1975 BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in special session to discuss a UMTA Operating Assistance Grant this the 29th day of April, 1975 , with the following present: HONORABLE: Don Cash Councilman, Ward I Vi McGinnis Councilwoman, Ward II Acting Mayor Pro Tem Calvin Williams Councilman, Ward III Leroy Evans Councilman, Ward IV Absent: Ken Ritter Mayor Myrtle Corgey City Clerk Howard McDaniel Asst. City Manager Lane Nichols Asst® City Attorney Eddie Whitnell Dir. Traffic & Transportation -000- The meeting was called to order and Acting Mayor Pro Tem, Councilwoman McGinnis, recognized Mr® Eddie Whitnell, Director of Traffic and Trans- portation Department® Mr. Whitnell: "The purpose of this public hearing is to explain the application that we have been authorized by the Council to file with UMTA for operating assistance. The purpose of the project is to maintain the current level of operation of the Beaumont Transit Sys- tem through operating assistance provided under the 1964 UMTA law as amended in 19740 It does provide for operating subsidies for cities . This application is only for operating subsidy as covered in Section 5 of the Act, and not for capital improvements. The period to be considered in the application is the beginning of the Act period, which is November 26 , 1974 - running through the end of our fiscal year, September 30 , 1975 . There will be no adverse affect to any of the employees as a result of this application. The application amount is $209,620000, one-half of which we hope to receive from the Federal Government in the amount of $104 ,810. 00 . This application does not affect the way we are operating. The capital improvement plan we presently have through the CAP Bond Issue and the previous capital grant from UMTA will be unchanged® The status of that capi- tal improvement presently is that we do have a signed contract in the mail from A.M. General to us and we should be receiving buses in late January or early February, 1976 . We received a call from UMTA yesterday and they have tentatively approved our contract with with the architect and hopefully we will receive a letter in the next week or so -- at which time we will bring the contract back -75- April 29, 1975 to the Council. At that time, we will probably bring the architect's contract, the contract with the appraiser for the purchase of the land, and one for the consulting engineers to do the survey and topo- graphic work of the site. Those three constitute the package neces- sary to move forward with the building and maintenance facility. When those elements are working, we will proceed into the next phase which would be the route changes - getting that information ready to submit to you and the location of the bus stops and shelters® That is the status of the Beaumont Transit System and, if we could, I 'd like to open it up to anyone who would like to speak to the application. " Councilman Williams: "Eddie, on route changes, how do you propose to get the necessary input that would be necessary in order to re- commend to the Council' the ''changes that you are going to propose?" Mr. Whitnell: "Normally, there are certain routes - due to their revenue flow - that are obviously serving the area that they need to be serving. - There are other changes you make in a system, like going through the route to be sure that you cover an area in such a way as to minimize the driving time. This is done by putting in as many right turns as possible. We schedule the way a bus turns down streets to minimize the time it takes . In doing this, you try to take that time holding a set headway and carry that bus through an area that has a potential ridership and, this is nor- mally the way it is done. There is one other method where you can- vass an area -- knock on doors and ask people if they would ride the bus. Use what is called subscription service to see if people will sign up in advance to ride a bus. There are two cities that do this to some extent presently -- Dallas and San Antonio. When they have a request for transit extension, they canvass that area to see if they have enough people who really want to ride it, not simply saying they would ride it, but seeing if they would sign up and buy tickets in advance. If they have enough people to do this, they establish it, " Councilman Williams: "Do you propose to give consideration to those who requested it of their own volition in a certain area . . . you said revenue, drive time, and canvass of an area . . . that doesn't preclude any particular group or community requesting service on its own?" Mr. Whitnell: "We' ll just have to try to determine what the effect of putting that bus out there would be. We can ascertain what the cost per mile would be on any route fairly accurately but what we cannot determine accurately is the projected riders. Of course, this is the question, and, in most cities , you try to determine as ac- curately as you can what the ridership will be through a canvass or whatever methods are available -- then you put the route in service for a trial period to measure the ridership. That is the only con- crete way to find out. " -76- April 29 , 1975 Councilman Williams: "But, now, is not the purpose of the subsidy act to help cities to maybe give this service that was not able, based on the revenue derived from certain routes? In other words, the subsidy that we anticipate will give more latitude in giving this service to areas that perhaps under ordinary circumstances and from our regular budget and the revenues derived from the buses cannot give. The subsidy, to some degree, would enable you to give that type of service, would it not?" Mr. Whitnell: "That is true. I think there are two things -- one is to expand service to try to give a better system in an area so that it is a true alternative to the automobile. This is one of the national goals. And, second, there has been a national trend to reduce service because of the staggering operating deficits. We project our deficit at $240,000. 00 in round figures and it is a far cry from the $25,000. 00 investment we had when we purchased the sys- tem. Every city has exactly the same problem. San Antonio which is the most lucrative system in Texas is looking at over a million dollar deficit in their second year of being in the red. They were making money two years ago -- now they are talking about something over a million dollars this fiscal year. Inflation has really hit the transit industry. " Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis: "You are saying then that the sub- sidy has relatively few strings attached Mr. Whitnell: "The only string, per se, that is attached is something that the Council has already asked us to review and that is providing the Senior Citizens reduced fares and we are in the process of doing that. I 've got administAtive procedure worked out with the cost figures to bring to you. The only item left hanging right now is the determination of handicapped. It is a very broad term and I have asked for assistance from the Beaumont Academy of Medicine. They will be meeting the 10th of May and I 've asked guidance and as- sistance from them to determine a way to measure handicapped in a certification program and to issue an identification card to them. " Councilman Cash: "Well, Eddie, aren't these people going to be pro- vided pickup service at their doors by another program that is being funded?" Mr. Whitnell: "That depends on whether they are a recipient of one of the agencies filing. The agencies were coordinated through one central agency but I was never able to get a handle on exactly who they are going to be covering. I don't have those statistics with me, but there is a very large number of handicapped people in the area -- handicapped meaning minor handicapped who are holding full time jobs. Handicapped is a very wide ranging word and the UMTA Act does require that we provide a half-fare system for handicapped and elderly in off peaks. And, we will be providing both off peak as well as full time service which was , I think, a request of yours, Don, and we will look at trying to provide this. " -77- April 29 , 1975 Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis: "Chances are, if the other systems pick up the badly handicapped group of people, then we wouldn't have to . . . they wouldn®t be using our transportation, but we need to pro- vide some service in the future. " Councilman Evans : "Well, I don't think there is any question that they are not going to be able to handle handicapped -- what have they got, one bus for the City?" Mr. Whitnell: "There are several buses with different agencies . I think that the difference will be, with the exception of a couple like Land Manor which is a different segment of 'handicapped' , the remain- ing ones are addressing themselves primarily to the non-ambulatory individuals. Of course, we are not equipped for this service at the present time. We have hand rails and this type of thing to help with the elderly getting on and off the bus . We cannot handle wheel chairs® We do not have lifts on the 25 buses that are coming in next February." Councilman Evans : "We should ask for somebody from the audience Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis: "Anyone else here have any comments or questions regarding the grant application?" Councilman Cash: "I 'd like to make this comment. I think the Coun- cil understands that I am not for deficit spending in any sense, but, in turn, I feel that we have a responsibility to those that are in true need of the service of this nature and I think the citizens of Beaumont are willing to pick up the tab for this; but, I think that in some sense we are subsidizing people who could pay their employees a larger wage and actually pay a cost of this. This is the part that I object to® I just don't think it is right for the citizens to have to pick up the tab there for those who are not really meeting their responsibility in the area of wages -- low income people. " Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis : "When you said that, the other day in workshop, I thought the subsidy was over . . . the figure you gave to- day was $104 ,000?" Mr. Whitnell: "Yes Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis : "I had $120,000 or something in mind. Did that change or . . . ?" Mr. Whitnell : "The figure I gave you was based on the $240 ,000 total. The law did not go into effect until November 26th, which was after the beginning of our budget year. When you run your request for grants, to match your total fiscal year - in this case, we can only go back to the date the law was signed. Next year, it will be for a full twelve month period -- that is the difference. our allocation that we are eligible for is just under $200 ,000, but we are not getting close to that at this point. " Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis : "Do you have any idea when these funds will be available?" -7g® April 29, 1975 Mr. Whitnell: "I can't even give you an educated guess. We did submit the application last Friday. These Public Hearing minutes and the A95 review by the South East Texas Regional Planning Com- mission will be submitted next week. We have been in contact with Washington, Austin and Fort Worth and have submitted everything that they have asked for thus far, so I don't see any problem with the funds coming forward. " Acting Mayor Pro Tem McG.J.nnis.: "Are there any other questions or discussion?"" Gerald Buckley: "Some last minute thoughts have occurred to me. I am Gerald Buckley. With mass transit becoming the thing of the future, I was thinking, as Councilman Williams asked questions about routing of these buses, that possibly we should have a citi- zens ® committee or something of this nature set up to promote ad- vertisement so people would use the transit service. This would mean taking surveys and actually promoting this at Parkdale Mall and popular places where people go. Gasoline keeps getting higher every day. I don' t see why there should be a deficit that the citi- zens have to pay whenever this service is looked upon as a necessity. And, I believe if this thing were promoted, as well as possibly pro- moting a resolution by the Council and through my association with the Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee -- I am sure you could pick up support there -- through our State Representatives and State Senators to possibly urge our legislators to give some sort of discount on gasoline or municipality state tax reduction for mass transit in our cities. Certainly, this is something that warrants a feasibility study to see if there are some discount legislation that we could ask our representatives to submit to Congress for en- actment. Our government, from the Federal level on down, is en- couraging this and I think it is a lot like a capital improvements program or any other program -- you get out of it whatever you put into it. Any issue, if you take it lightly and don't indoctrinate the people or get their attention to is and get them inspired over it, will result in our paying a deficit. Mass Transit is something that we do need, especially for the elderly and indigent people, unemployed People, in this time of inflation and the rising cost of fuel, the economy . . . Certainly, I think that the new breed of young people coming up today would look at it with open eyes and, if the City had to spend several thousand dollars on a program try- ing to educate the people with the benefits, they would gather from it . . . Mass Transit . . . We have an awful lot of college kids , high- school kids, and with the move of H.E.W. into the busing of students and all, there is a possibility that we could increase more ridership. I think that a discount to the students - college as well as highschool students - would encourage them to use our Mass Transit System. Cer- tainly, I believe if the City would get behind a program and promote it, it could be a money making proposition and a tremendous asset to the citizenry of Beaumont and, again, as a member of the Democratic Executive Committee, I would like to say that we, I am sure, would be willing to work with yaIll and try to work up a resolution to our State Representatives for some incentive for cities to promote mass transit or maybe some reduction in State taxes on mass transit gasoline costs. " -79- Aprii 29, 1975 Councilman Evans: "We don't pay State taxes, do we?" Nero Whitnell: "Just on diesel® There is a bill pending at the pre- sent time to reduce the State tax we are paying; we are not paying the federal tax at the present time. It is very likely that bill will be passed for transit systems. " Acting Mayor Pro Tem Mc�nnis: "I think T.M.L. ®® the Texas Muni- cipal League -- is lobbyTF-g for that bill. " Councilman Cash: "Eddie, it is my understanding that when we entered into this program, especially with contracts out, that some of these things that Gerald (Buckley) is speaking of were going to be checked o`t,Y t o " Mr. Whitnell: "Yes, sir, We are in fact trying to develop such a P.R. Program, but at the present time our product is not very market- able. . . " Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis : "Are you referring to our 20 year old buses"" Mr® Whitnell: "Yes . . . Our buses are not air-conditioned and just worn out. I do not feel that now is the right time for me to come to the Council with a P.R. Program® if we should try to go out and try to sell it, and get someone on that bus for the first time since 20 years ago ® they' ll say " It hasn®t changed a bit. ' and they' ll never get on it again. So, I think we need to wait until we have a quality product to sell, to some degree competitive to the automo- bile. Right now, I can't say that ours is competitive because it is not necessarily comfortable -® the seats are to close together and, unfortunately, we do not clean them as often as we would like. All of this relates to manpower costs, but, hopefully, in the new facility, we can automate some of these functions om large vacuum cleaners for the inside cleaning and automated bus washers . So, we can keep the equipment in first class shape, while still trying to keep our manpower at virtually the same state as now. " Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis : °°I think several of us ®n the Coun® crl have been interested in having a citizen®s advisory committee prior to the time we receive our buses to begin this input of better routing and better usage of the buses. Some of the ideas Mr, Buckley brought out could like come from a committee like that and be aware of a lot of the problems we are not aware of right now. I think that is UMTA® s recommendation too . . . 11 Mr. Whitnell: "That' s right© This would be very helpful to us . As you know, the Airport Advisory Committee has been extremely helpful to me in working with FAA and trying to get the Airport improvements, I would look forward to this, only asking that it be representative of the entire community. " ®80- April 29 , 1975 Councilman Evans: "All Of our committee members we 've had repzesen- ting the people of Beaumont have really turned out well. We 've only had good experiences and I am sure we would have the same thing - so I would certainly with Mr. Buckley. I 've always thought that with advertisement we have quite a bit built on when we get our new buses. I certainly agree that we don't need to advertise until February - but, I think we have promotion potential on our buses that we can use to take advantage of , particularly with display signs and this sort of thing - and, probably, this would get us started into the advertisement that might even help our product Mr. Whitnell : "We will be beginning another study that I will be bringing to the City Council, probably in the next sixty days -- the certification study with UMTA. We are working out the details with John Wasser of the South East Texas Regional Planning Commission and in that study will be many of the things that you are referring to today. We are only certified temporarily right now. The original study was started in 1972 and was finished last year when it was finally printed. To be certified so that we can file this applica- tion, we have filed a tentative re-certification report with UMTA. The report that will be done will address itself to an on-board study and trying to find out there the potential ridership will be . . . a modified 0 & D type survey, probably through telephone com- munication. " Councilman Cash: "Eddie, no attempt has been made to route between shopping centers yet, have there?" Mr. Whitnell: "No, however, in the plan that we submitted with the grant, we showed what we called a 'Shopper' s Special ' along Eleventh Street and Eastex Freeway which basically would run the Parkdale Mall area to qibson' s - Giant Food area. That would cross or interface with several of our other lines so that people could come from any part of town to that area and use the 'Shopper' s Special ' to go shop- ping or t6 work. We have had several requests both from employees as well as management of Parkdale Mall for consideration of transit routing out there. Our problem now is one of equipment -- we don't have the equipment to put out there. " Acting Mayor Pro Tem McGinnis : "Is there any further discussion? . . . . .The meeting is adjourned. " _000- I, Myrtle Corgey, City Clerk of the City of Beaumont, Texas, certify that the above is a true copy of the minutes of the special session of City Council held April 29, 1975 . Myrtle Corgey City Clerk _81- April 29 , 1975 B I D O P E N I N G S CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 2 : 00 P.M. -- APRIL 29, 1975 Those present for Bid Openings were: Myrtle Corgey City Clerk Lane Nichols Asst. City Attorney Jim Thompson Admin. Asst. to Manager Kristine Britt Secy. to Purch. Agent -000- In response to an advertisement previously published, the following bids for furnishing 3" , 6" , 8" , and 12' cast iron and/or asbestos cement pipe for the Water Distribution Department were received: CAST IRON ASBESTOS CEMENT A.C. PIPE PIPE ADAPTERS Norvell-Wilder $ NO BID $ $ Mabry Foundry NO BID 120,960 . 00 300. 00 ALT. 62,265.00 32,217 . 50 89 . 90 Johns-Manville NO BID 128 ,870. 00 448 . 00 ALT. 32 ,217 .50 112. 00 United States Pipe 201, 990. 00 NO BID NO BID ALT. 201, 990. 00 East Texas Service Corp. NO BID 128,440. 00 448 . 00 ALT. NO BID 32 ,110. 00 112.00 James B. Clow & Sons 240,995. 00 NO BID NO BID ALT. 64 ,241.25 Universal Munic. Supplies NO BID 128,870 .00 446. 20 ALT. NO BID 32,217 . 50 111.55 Utility Supply Co. 236, 695. 00 120, 960. 00 300. 00 ALT. 56,173 . 75 32 ,217 .50 89. 90 Jones Supply Co. NO BID Western Pipe & Supply 344 ,240. 00 128 ,870. 00 448 . 00 ALT. 70, 393 . 75 32,217 . 50 112 . 00 Coastal Pipe & Supply 118,660 . 00 415.00 ALT. 31,307 . 50 437 .00 The bids were referred to the City Manager and Staff for study and future recommendation to the City Council. -000® Meeting adjourned. -000- I, Myrtle Corgey, City Clerk of the City of Beaumont, Texas, certify that the above is a true copy of the Bid Openings held April 29, 1975. Myrtle Corgey, City Clerk April 29, 1975