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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN JUL 25 1978 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD JULY 25, 1978 BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont , Texas, met in regular session this the 25th day of July, 1978, with the following present : HONORABLE: Maurice Meyers Mayor Tom Combs, Jr. Councilman, Ward I Vi McGinnis Councilwoman, Ward II Calvin Williams Councilman, Ward III Leroy Evans Councilman, Ward IV Ray Riley City Manager Lane Nichols Assistant City Attorney Myrtle Corgey City Clerk -000- The Invocation was given by Reverend Billy R. Stanley, Lamar Pentecostal Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Maurice Meyers . -000- Mayor Meyers issued the following Proclamation -- "Texas Clipper Day, " Saturday, August 5, 1978. (TS Texas Clipper A & M Ship) -000- Resolution 78-247 authorizing the award of bid to Graybar Electric Company, in amount of $1, 659. 01 , for electrical material for Parks and Recreation Department (Magnolia Park) , approved on a motion by Councilwoman McGinnis; seconded by Councilman Combs . Question: Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 78-248 authorizing the execution of a contract with Greer Construction Company for construction of streets and water and sewer utilities for Phase II of the Community Development Block Grant , in amount of $666,404. 40, approved on a motion made by Councilwoman McGinnis; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question : Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 78-249 authorizing acceptance of the bid received from Big Three Industries, Inc. , in amount of $1 , 122. 87, for furnishing one Heli-arc welding machine for use at the Beaumont Transit Sys- tem Facility, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Combs; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -109- July 25, 1978 Resolution 78-250 authorizing acceptance of bid received from Chemical Products Company, in amount of $10,612. 16, for equip- ment for the Municipal Office Building, Civic Center Project No. 70-74-011 , and authorizing payment for same, made on motion by Councilwoman McGinnis; seconded by Councilman Combs . Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 78-251 authorizing acceptance of bid received from Clifford of Vermont , Inc. , in amount of $1 , 086. 50, for furnishing 5300 feet of traffic signal cable, made on a motion by Councilwoman McGinnis and seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 78-252 authorizing acceptance of bids received from East Texas Service Corp. , in amount of $14, 520. 00, for meter setters; Golden Triangle Pipe & Water Supplies, in amount of $2, 953. 00, for various sized brass nipples and Western Pipe & Supply, in amount of $2, 408. 50, for brass couplings, ells and bushings, made on a motion by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Combs. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 78-253, authorizing acceptance of bid received from Golden Triangle Pipe and Water Supplies, in amount of $47 , 501 . 00, for annual contract for PVC gravity sewer pipe and fittings, for the Water Department , approved on a motion made by Councilman Combs and seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 78-254, authorizing acceptance of the bid received from Groth Equipment Corporation, in amount of $1,534 . 00, for one com- bustible gas monitoring system for use at the Water Reclamation Division, was approved on a motion by Councilwoman McGinnis and seconded by Councilman Evans . Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 78-255, authorizing acceptance of bids received from Keown Supply Company and Uvalde Rock Asphalt Company for annual contracts for various types of seal coat aggregates and limestone base materials was approved on motion by Councilman Combs; seconded by Councilwoman McGinnis. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance No. 78-80, declaring a moratorium on the issuance of building permits for any other than for uses allowed in an R-1 Zone, in an area bounded by I-10, Corley, Washington Blvd. , and Eleventh Street , was adopted on a motion by Councilman Williams and seconded by Councilwoman McGinnis. Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -110- July 25, 1978 On a motion made by Councilwoman McGinnis; seconded by Councilman Williams, a resolution authorizing the City Manager to make appli- cation to the Governor ' s Office, Criminal Justice Division, for a grant for a "Juvenile Specialist for Status Offenders, " was tabled for one week. Question: Ayes : Councilwoman McGinnis Councilman Williams Councilman Combs Nayes : Councilman Evans -000- Resolution 78-256, authorizing execution and acceptance of Grant Assistance with UMTA to reimburse eligible transit operating ex- penses for fiscal year 1977 was approved on a motion made by Councilwoman McGinnis; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 78-257, authorizing execution of an agreement with Wilbur Smith & Associates, Consulting Engineers, for a parking feasibility study, in amount not to exceed $18, 000, was approved on a motion by Councilman Combs; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 78-258, authorizing the execution of an agreement with the Beaumont Independent School District to consolidate function of assessing and collection of all real and personal property taxes within the city limits of Beaumont and the Beaumont Indepen- dent School District , beginning October 1, 1978, was approved on a motion by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilwoman McGinnis. Question: Ayes : Councilwoman McGinnis Councilman Evans Councilman Combs Councilman Williams abstained. -000- Resolution 78-259, authorizing the execution of an agreement with Bonner Associates, Consultants in Acoustics, in amount not to ex- ceed $2,600. 00, for performing an analysis of sound problems at the City Coliseum, was approved on a motion by Councilwoman McGinnis and seconded by Councilman Williams. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 78-260, reappointing Robert L. Thomas as Chief Magis- trate and Wendell C. Radford as Associate Magistrate of the Municipal Court , for a two-year term beginning June 29, 1978, was approved on a motion by Councilman Evans; seconded by Councilman Combs. Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 78-261, appointing Bill Matthews to the Airport Advisory Committee for term expiring January 4, 1980, was approved on motion made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilman Evans . Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -111- July 25, 1978 Resolution 78-262, authorizing execution of a contract with the Economic Development Foundation to provide for advertising and promotion of the City to business and industry, effective from October 1, 1977, automatically renewable each year, approved on a motion made by Councilman Williams; seconded by Councilwoman McGinnis. Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 78-263, authorizing Change Order No. 1 to contract with Contract Drapery Company, in amount of $748 . 25, for the Municipal Office Building, Civic Center Project No. 70-74-011 , approved on a motion made by Councilwoman McGinnis; seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- The Mayor closed Regular Session and declared a Public Hearing as required under Section 201 PL 92-500 on the City of Beaumont ' s proposed wastewater system improvements; stating the purposes of this Hearing are to afford individuals the opportunity to be heard on the economic and social effects of the location and design of the proposed wastewater system improvements and to discuss the potential environmental impacts on the project and alternatives to it. The Mayor recognized Mr. Chris Tanner, Project Engineer with Turner, Collie & Braden, in connection with 201 Facilities Plana Mr. Chris Tanner In the 1970s, Congress became aware for the first time there was a serious water pollution crisis and passed the "Clean Water Act" in 1972 -- one of the most comprehensive pieces of Legislation to come out of Congress in recent years. "It attacks all the various pro- blems dealing with water pollution, but specifically it focuses heavily on the cities. " Mr. Tanner stated that throughout the Nation there are a large number of cities who periodically release untreated, or only partially treated, sewage or wastewater to the receiving streams. And, they thought this could be eliminated and the worse offenders stopped. The Act , in order to accomplish this, does two things: First, it sets out some very very tough rules for cities in terms of what is expected in sewerage treatment and then it provides the money to build the facilities needed to comply with the Law. First , in talking about the new rules given -- stringent treatment was discussed. It was brought out at the time that many cities in the United States treat sewerage very little, but this is not the problem along the Gulf Coast . . . "There is good wastewater treatment . " Secondly, according to Mr. Tanner, it is implied in the Law that we are not allowed to bypass raw sewerage during a rainstorm and this is a very serious problem along the Gulf Coast -- in Beaumont parti- cularly. Mr. Tanner explained what bypasses and overflows are. "When it rains the water is suppose to drain off the ground and go into the storm sewer system, but this is not the case in Beaumont . " Mr. Tanner pointed out our system has a lot of leaks and if the rain- water gets into it -- and it does -- it will overwhelm the ability of the sanitary sewer system to do its job that it was designed for and that is to carry sanitary waste. And, eventually, the -112- July 25, 1978 Public Hearing (Contd. ) sanitary system will actually overflow and untreated sewerage will come out the tops of the manholes, or it will go through bypasses. Mr. Tanner explained this is not unusual -- it has been going on for a long long time, but under the new rules, this has to be eliminated and that is why we are here today. Referring to the money, Mr. Tanner brought out that Congress is going to pay, or rather the Environmental Protection Agency, is going to pay 75% of the total cost of the project . . . . $4 . 00 capital cost , the City will pay $1 . 00 and the Federal Government will pay $3 . 00. Mr. Tanner mentioned a construction grant program, that we are into now to get this money to build the facilities. It is a three-stEp program and the public hearing today wraps up the first step which is the planning phase. The next step is to go into the engineering design of the facilities and the final step will be to construct the facilities. In Step I we studied primarily the sewer system. Focus was on a combined sewer which is by far the most serious problem we have here. As mentioned earlier, we have storm sewers and we have sanitary sewers. In older cities such as Beaumont , frequently the two were combined into one large sewer, thus the word com- bined. These are designed so that when it rains it goes right out to the stream. Bypassing isn't just a coincidence, it is something that was designed into the system. "This cannot be allowed any more. " It used to be considered acceptable and now it is recognized as being a serious pollution problem. So, the primary cost in the Grant Program, due to the new Law, is the elimination of the combined sewer areas. Mr. Tanner made references on the map showing where the combined sewer is located and the sanitary sewers to be built to elimi- nate the need to discharge into the combined sewer -- talking about a cost of a little less than $15, 000, 000. ) Another thing was focused upon -- the remainder of the sanitary sewer system and the leaks. An alternative had to be looked for to fix the leaks that we were able to find, or provide sewers downstream large enough to carry the flow to the treatment plant . Either way we would comply with new Federal Laws. Mr. Tanner stated it was least costly to do a little of each and a program had been put together that would do almost $2, 000, 000 worth of repairs to the sanitary sewer system to eliminate the real serious leaks. Then a downstream system would be built and proposed almost $14, 000, 000 worth of interceptors to carry the smaller sewers to the treatment plant . According to Mr. Tanner, we are talking about $4, 000, 000 worth of improvements at the treatment plant mostly to carry a larger volume of flow to the plant than it currently handles . Mr. Tanner pointed out the interceptor system -- which is the area with particular concern -- plans are to build a 10" sewer and en- forcing the sewer in the northwest area -- Stonetown and Lawrence Area down to the large sewer built in the 1971 Capital Improvement Program. Then, up around Helbig Road, flows will be rerouted that currently go toward the East , South and then West . At the Civic Center itself, a large interceptor will be proposed -- to cost about $5, 000, 000. (At this point Mr. Tanner referred to the pieces of green on the map which represent the sanitary sewer interceptors ,that we currently have which are undersized for a short portion and they will pick them up and replace them with the large size pipe, or, in one particular case, there is a line that is in very serious need of repair; does not have the capacity that it should have and this line will be picked up and replaced with same size line but will be reconstructed. This is necessary in order to have the right capacity. ) -113- July 25, 1978 Public Hearing (Cont ' d. ) The line referred to was brought to attention of the engineer a couple weeks ago; it was not in the preliminary engineering estimates. So, according to Mr. Tanner, the total cost for the project is about 38 . 3 million dollars . The last figure shown was 37. 2 million. The significant difference due to the almost mile of line that has to be replaced. Mr. Tanner stated the treatment plant expansion amounts to 3. 6 million dollars; the interceptor sewer 13. 9 million; separation sewer 14. 7 million; sanitary sewer rehabilitation 1 . 7 million; engineering contingencies bring this up to the 38 . 3 million dollars. Since all of this is possible under the Construction Grant Program, the Federal Government will pay a full 75% or 28. 7 million dollars; the City 's share will be 9. 6 million. Mr. Tanner brought out that under the Federal rules, operating costs and debt services, as part of the public hearing, must be explained. Mr. Tanner stated that operation and maintenance is something going on now and there will be very little change in operation and maintenance expenses; it will be about 1 . 9 million dollars annually. "Your debt services will be increased by your obli- gation on the General Revenue Bonds that will probably be your method of financing. " We expect the total to be 3. 6 million dollars annually. It is also broken down monthly, but what really comes into play is what the typical customer ' s change is going to be. Once the bonds are sold, the typical customer change, based on average of about 7 , 000 gallons per month, will be seeing a bill of about $7 . 50. Currently they would see a bill of about $5. 25. This means an increase to the average consumer of about $1 . 75 per month. This would probably begin in January, 1980 --. probably this is when the bonds would be sold. " One thing that needed to be pointed out , according to Mr . Tanner, was the question that came up last time about industries. The City does not have any particular important industrial discharger. The waste they discharge into the sanitary sewer system is not necessarily unique -- it doesn' t create any particular problem; therefore, they are not paying any special portion of this . They will be billed just like a domestic-paying customer. This is important because in a large number of cities, industries can be very significant . Sometimes a single industry can result in over 10% of the flow to a sewage treatment plant . So the Federal Government has asked us to look at that situation very carefully. The result here is that they are not significant . This concluded Mr. Tanner ' s presentation. Councilman Combs Realizing that even while we are talking, costs are going up. On a program that extends over many years like this, can we feel like those figures are going to be anywhere close to accurate with in- flation like it is? Mr. Tanner There are a lot of complicated things that are going to happen once we get into the engineering. The estimate probably will go up due to inflation. It is possible that it will go down. These are preliminary numbers based on our understanding of the general -114- July 25, 1978 Public Hearing (Cont ' d. ) Mr. Tanner (Cont ' d. ) problems in building a sanitary sewer, but as you go into a par- ticular community, or into a particular area, you might run into soil problems are better than anticipated so the cost may go down. I suspect that it will go up. . . typically it goes up about 10% a year. We propose the project to be completed by 1983. Councilman Combs So 107o a year on the unappropriated amount each year. So, some- where around another $10 to 12 million dollars by the end of the project . Mr. Tanner We are talking about , at the most , maybe $4 million dollars a year so for a couple of years it could go up to 8. If the project was significantly delayed, you could see $10 million dolllars. Going as fast as you can you could keep it below 5. Mayor Meyers Who set the timetable? Mr. Tanner You are being forced by the Federal Government to move as fast as possible because what you are doing now is currently against the Law. Legally you will have violated your permit this January, but you have applied for a change in the permit and the Federal Govern- ment, typically will say, "sure we will extend it . " And will for a little bit, but if you were to say suddenly the heck with it , then they would stop extending that deadline and you would become in violation. Councilman Williams Is this based on the per capita of the individual citizen $1 . 75 per citizen for Beaumont? Mr. Tanner Yes, this is based on a hypothetical family and some 40, 000 family customers. It will be higher for some and lower for some. It is just a ballpark figure, but the Federal Government wants that . . . wants some kind of estimate for the Public Hearing because that is where the consumer and citizens are really interested. Any other questions? Thank you. Mayor Meyers I believe Mr. Ed Brady, Engineer with Schaumburg & Polk, will talk on Environmental Assessment of the 201 Plan. Mr. Brady Stated that the proposed construction improvements should have a long term positive affect on the environment and should improve stream quality in the Beaumont planning area. If there are any questions on the environmental assessment I will try to answer them. (Mayor invites others to speak.- No Response - Mayor declared the Public Hearing closed. ) -115- July 25, 1978 Mayor Myers asked for comments from Council . Councilman Evans asked about the water situation in the City and how long the people in Beaumont were going to be able to drink water. City Manager stated that the rules had not yet been adopted, but the proposed rules which had been published in which the City has participated and registered a protest (formal hearings conducted in Washington in July, but yet the rules which would provide for the modifications have not been adopted as of this date. And, further stated, until the rules are adopted, he would recommend that the city should not make plans for the modifications. -000- Mayor asked for citizen comments: Mrs. J. V. Cooper, 446 Georgetown, asked if there would an appro- priate time for her to come back to Council to find out what will happen to our water before it comes to the homes. Mrs. Cooper stated that she would prefer to come back to Council at a later date with a full discussion concerning the flouridation of the water in Beaumont . Mayor Meyers suggested that Mrs . Cooper contact the City Manager who would guide her as to the most appropriate time to return. Vernon S. Darden, 4035 Parish Street , addressed Council concerning the area bounded by Eleventh Street , Washington Blvd. , and Corley; expressed concern over the possible I-1 zoning classification; stated that he had talked with several of the Council already as he feels this would hurt his community, property value, (A petition was filed by citizens in the area who opposed the I-1 zoning classification. ) Mayor Meyers explained that the Moratorium voted on today will ex- tend for a 90-day period and the Planning and Zoning Commission at their next regularly scheduled meeting, will discuss this particular proposal and, from that meeting, a recommendation would be brought to Council . Harold Stewart , President of the American Cancer Society, addressed Council concerning smoking and presented some facts relative to same. Lucille Hazlip, volunteer for American Cancer Society and a member of the State Board of Directors, discussed education of smokers; expressed desire to see an ordinance passed against smoking. Mrs. Delia Harrington, 815 Willow Street , thanked the City for putting up traffic light at Willow and North; asked that road materials not be spilled on the street . Mrs . Sylvia Daniels, 3260 Blossom Drive, expressed opposition to the I-1 zoning classification in area bounded by Corley, 11th, Washington Blvd. , and IH-10. Mrs. Helen Gordon, Route 1, Box 325, Beaumont , spoke regarding the damage to eyes caused by smoking. -000- -116- July 25, 1978 There being no further business, the meeting was recessed before continuing with the City Council Workshop Session. -000- I , Myrtle Corgey, City Clerk of the City of Beaumont , Texas, certify that the above is a true copy of the regular City Council Session held July 25, 1978. Myrtle Corgey, City Clerk It -117- July 25, 1978