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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN NOV 23 1982 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD NOVEMBER 23 , 1982 BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont , Texas , met in regular session this the 23rd day of November , 1982 , with the following present : HONORABLE : William E. Neild Mayor Bill Cox Councilman , Ward I Evelyn M. Lord Councilman , Ward II Joseph D. Deshotel Councilman , Ward III Wayne Turner Councilman , Ward IV Ray Riley City Manager Hugh Earnest Asst . City Manager Kenneth Wall City Attorney -000- The Invocation was given by the Very Reverend Michael Baker , Assistant Rector of St . Mark' s Episcopal Church. Mayor Neild asked that former Mayor Pro Tem and Councilman , Winthrop W. Leach, who died today, be remembered in the prayers. (Mr . Leach served 1960-1964. ) The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Neild. -000- The following proclamations were issued : "Home Care Week in Beaumont" November 28 - December 4, 1982 and "Christmas Seal Month in Beaumont" December, 1982 . Mayor Neild introduced Mrs . Ellen Reinstra and Mrs. Judy Linsley, co- authors of the book "History of Beaumont" . Unn Jakobsen of Denmark' s Faeroe Islands, an Exchange Student living in Beaumont with the Sroka family , was made an Honorary Citizen of Beaumont . -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered: Approval of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held November 16, 1982 ; Resolution 82-436 accepting recently completed water and sewer improvements in Wescalder Place Condominiums (Lot 17 , Block 2 , Wescalder Fig Acres) ; Resolution 82-437 appointing Hilda Lopez to the CDBG Citizens Advisory Committee for the remainder of the term of Phyllis Bjerke through May 31 , 1983 )- Resolution 82-438 appointing Bruce Drury as chairman and Ed Moore as vice chairman of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee; Resolution 82-439 authorizing purchase of a riding lawnmower with bagger attachment for the Miller Library grounds from Rayon ' s , Inc. in the amount of $1 , 392 . 00; Resolution 82-440 authorizing the City Manager to execute contracts with the Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation relative to tran- sit grants ; Resolution 82-441 granting a 50-foot drainage easement to Jefferson County Drainage District 6 along the western boundary of Municipal Airport pro- perty and along Willow Marsh Bayou; Resolution 82-442 authorizing the lease/purchase of a Series 3, Model 10 IBM copier for the Police Department from IBM in the amount of $19,230. 00; and -213- November 23 , 1982 Resolution 82-443 authorizing signatures on bank accounts for prior lien bond reserve and interest and sinking funds (any two - Ray Riley, Myrtle Corgey and Robert J. Nachlinger) . The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lord and seconded by Councilman Cox . Question : Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- Ordinance No. 82-130 changing the zoning from GC-MD , R-3 and RM-H to RS and RM-H for property in the area covered by Section VI of the Highland Avenue/South Park Rezoning Study was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 82-130 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 30 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS, AND IN PARTICULAR THE BOUNDARIES OF THE ZONING DISTRICTS AS INDICATED UPON THE ZONING MAP OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS, BY CHANGING PROPERTY PRESENTLY ZONED GC-MD (GENERAL COMMERCIAL-MULTIPLE DWELLING) DISTRICT; R-3 (MODIFIED TWO-FAMILY AND MULTIPLE DWELLING) DISTRICT AND RM-H (RESIDENTIAL MULTIPLE DWELLING-HIGH DENSITY) DISTRICT TO RS (RESIDENTIAL SINGLE FAMILY) DISTRICT AND RM-H (RESIDENTIAL MUL- TIPLE DWELLING-HIGH DENSITY) DISTRICT FOR PROPERTY DESCRIBED AS THE HIGHLAND AVENUE/SOUTH PARK REZON- ING STUDY, SECTION VI , BEAUMONT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS ; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL AND PROVIDING A PENALTY. The ordinance was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cox and seconded by Councilman Turner. Question : Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- An ordinance changing the zoning from RS to GC-MD for 1. 326 acres on the east side of Dowlen Road about 415 feet south of Calder was considered : AN ORDINANCE ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 30 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS, AND IN PARTICULAR THE BOUNDARIES OF THE ZONING MAP OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS, BY CHANGING PROPERTY PRESENTLY ZONED RS (RESIDENTIAL SINGLE FAMILY) DISTRICT TO GC-MD (GENERAL COMMERCIAL-MULTIPLE DWELLING) DISTRICT FOR PROPERTY DESCRIBED AS LOTS 27-32 , BLOCK 1 , THURLOW COURTS ADDITION, BEAUMONT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS , PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL AND PROVIDING A PENALTY. Adoption of the ordinance was denied on a motion made by Councilman Turner and seconded by Councilman Deshotel . Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Ordinance No. 82-131 changing the zoning from AR and RM-H to RS for 70 acres on the east side of Keith Road about 3500 feet south of Highway 105 was considered : ORDINANCE NO. 82-131 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 30 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS, AND IN PARTICULAR THE BOUNDARIES OF THE ZONING DIS- TRICTS AS INDICATED UPON THE ZONING MAP OF BEAU- MONT, TEXAS , BY CHANGING PROPERTY DESCRIBED AS -214- November 23 , 1982 70 ACRES OUT OF THE DANIEL EASELEY SURVEY, BEAU- MONT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS, AND PRESENTLY ZONED AR (AGRICULTURAL - RESIDENTIAL) DISTRICT AND RM-H (RESIDENTIAL MULTIPLE DWELLING - HIGH DENSITY) DISTRICT TO RS (RESIDENTIAL SINGLE FAMILY) DISTRICT BEAUMONT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS ; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL; AND PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY. The ordinance was approved on a motion made by Councilman Deshotel and seconded by Councilman Lord. Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- PUBLIC HEARING TAX INCREMENT FINANCING REINVESTMENT ZONE DOWNTOWN BEAUMONT CITY MANAGER RAY RILEY: The next item is a public hearing to consider the creation of the Tax In- crement Financing Reinvestment Zone in downtown Beaumont . The Council has met in Workshop and has considered the establishment of the District in the Central Business District of downtown Beaumont . There is only one modification from the plan which was originally discussed and it ' s very slight in nature and it is in an effort to make the boundaries more con- sistent with public right-of-way and eliminate just a small conflict in what would be the west . . . immediate west tip there at that part about Liberty and Janes Street on the right-of-way. It was cut to conform with Neches and then to Crockett - that piece of property on what would be the west side or the southeast part of the paper - but would have cut through one piece of property, right in the middle of it , and, in order to elimi- nate any potential conflict , that part of the property has been eliminated in its entirety. It is essentially the Oil City Brass Company, so that will be moved so that it will stay on the right-of-way as it moves in a southerly direction down Janes Street cutting to conform with the Neches Street right- of-way and then turning again to the southwest along Crockett . So, it will be on the rights-of-way and will eliminate the conflict of cutting a piece of property in half . The remainder of it remains exactly the same as was proposed. The action is to . . . in other words , the next action in order to be able to proceed with the creation of the District , the appoint- ment of the Board, and establishing a plan for the redevelopment , it will require a public hearing and then an adoption of a resolution authorizing proceeding. MAYOR NEILD: All right . Then , in that case, I will call for the public hearing for the consideration of creation of Tax Increment Financing Reinvestment Zone in downtown Beaumont and any of those who would like to come and speak in con- nection with the District , either for or against , would please come to the podium and give us your name and address. ROBERT LeJUNE : Mr. Mayor, my name is Bob LeJune. I am one of the trustees for the Beaumont Independent School District . I am not speaking for or against the issues. I have some questions. I wasn ' t privileged to be at the meeting the other day because I was in California Naval Reserve Duty and I apologize for not being able to be here. One of the questions that ' s come up in my mind and has been asked me and I don 't have an answer for it is taxes on new con- struction within the Zoning District - within the District that ' s going to be zoned - how will new construction be taxes? At what level? -215- November 23 , 1982 CITY MANAGER : At exactly the same levy. The tax levy remains the same level for all the appraised property within the District . There' s no difference in any new construction versus existing property. MR. LeJUNE : So it would be taxed at its market value but the rate would be at the . . . CITY MANAGER: At the appraised value . . . at the appraised value. MR. LeJUNE : What about future expansions of the boundaries of this area? Once you 've set the boundaries as you have in your proposal today, are these boundaries going to remain for any set period of time? CITY MANAGER: In order to amend or modify the boundaries, it would require subsequent action - both a public hearing and some other action by the City Council in order to amend those boundaries in any way. Is that correct? CITY ATTORNEY KENNETH WALL: There 's no provision in the Act for the amendment of the boundaries so these may be , once it ' s adopted , they may be fixed. MR. LeJUNE : That would protect one of the problems we have. Another one is since most of our financial institutions are located within this District , the tax rate is set I would assume on the real estate property values and not necessarily on the value of the deposits in those institutions , is that right? I know that we have one law suit pending that would require the banks to also , you know, pay the school district back if . . . CITY ATTORNEY: This only applies to the real estate , Bob, not the bank deposits and not the personal property, that ' s right . MR. LeJUNE : Has a tax rate been set in this proposal or is that . . . ? CITY MANAGER: The tax rate is established by each of the individual taxing entities. In other words , the tax levy does not have anything to do with the Tax Incre- ment District at all . In other words , each individual body maintains its own tax levy. The only thing that is done is that the establishm: nt of the base level is established . . . in other words , at the time the District is created , the appraised value of that property real estate and improvements , not personal property , is established; but the School Board , the City, any other taxing agency may modify its tax levy at . . . . . . would have no change on the District . -216- November 23 , 1982 MR. LeJUNE : It would be frozen at that property value at the time? CITY MANAGER : The base is established at that time but the taxes are not frozen. In other words , if the School Board were to adopt another levy, say a higher levy, the increase levy would be applied against the same base in effect increase the taxes to the School Board off of that base appraised value. DIR. LeJUNE : It would be very unlikely that we would increase our taxes because we are already at the ceiling so that ' s the reason that we are very concerned about this. We don ' t have anywhere else to go with our taxes. Thank you. MAYOR NEILD : Bob, I think so that you will also be aware that any, and correct me , Ray, if I am incorrect , but of course any construction within the Increment Tax District will either do one or two things ; either cause the bonds to retire at a quicker time period or if there are any funds in excess of the amount of monies that are required to retire the bonds on schedule, they can be disbursed on a pro rata basis to the various taxing entities in election which we have to make when we get to that point . COUNCILMAN LORD : I want to make sure that I understand it . The word "frozen" has always confused me a little bit and I realize we are not supposed to use that but if something new is built within that Tax Increment area, it ' s taxed at the regular tax rate by all the taxing entitied but that money that is newly there, that would go towards retiring the bonds, is that correct? CITY MANAGER: Yes , that is the Increment . That 's correct . COUNCILMAN LORD : It would not go to the taxing entity. MR. LeJUNE : We would not , as a school district , feel the benefits of that new con- struction until after the bonds were retired, then we would start taxing at our regular tax rate . . . . . . CITY MANAGER : Unless . . . unless the Council .were to determine that the proceeds . in other words , that the Increment were large enough to allow distribution of portions of it . MR. LeJUNE: . . . that ' s also a possibility? CITY MANAGER: Yes. Now there has . . . -217- November 23 , 1982 MR. LeJUNE: I thought you have to use the funds only to retire the bonds , but not necessarily? CITY ATTORNEY: That ' s right to this extent . Until the bonds are paid, the money cannot be distributed to the other taxing authorities unless there _is an agree- ment with them prior to the creation of the Tax Increment Zone. COUNCILMAN LORD: But they can be retired on a time-wise basis if we pay off the bonds before the time originally planned; then we can distribute . . . CITY ATTORNEY: That is correct , right. MR. LeJUNE: But do you still have a choice after it ' s paid off , Ken? Let ' s say in eight years the bonds are completely paid off . Does the City have the choice to share this . . . you know, the difference between the eight years and the fifteen years or must they share the taxes? CITY ATTORNEY: No, it is not required that that be done because future expenditures can be made for public improvements within the Zone either paid by the Tax Increment or by the proceeds of new bonds that may be issued in that period of time. MR. LeJUNE : So, there would be no guarantee, then . CITY ATTORNEY: That ' s correct . MR. LeJUNE: We still wouldn ' t plan on anything in addition before the end of the fif- teen years. . . . . . CITY ATTORNEY: That ' s correct . MR. LeJUNE : or whatever the initial period is. I just want you to understand that I am not objecting to setting up, you know, some commercial districts. I know we need to do something to bring up our tax level and I know that in the long run every taxing entity is going to benefit by whatever new construction we get down here. I am just concerned about the immediate problem now. -218- November 23, 1982 MAYOR NEILD : One of the other items that came before us last week in connection with the proposed new bank and office building on Calder falls outside the District and is some of the type of fallout that you will experience be- cause of revitalization through this method. Harold? HAROLD MALAIN: I am Harold Malain. I live at 2346 Hazel . I 'm here to ask a question and to possibly show my inaptitude. The City Development is in on this , the City of Beaumont and the Cranston Development Company, am I correct? Okay, the value is set on the property. Is it the value that is presently on the property now? Okay. Is Cranston going to come in and buy any pro- perty? CITY MANAGER : I think so. MR. MALAIN: Okay, could the valuation on the property be set at their purchase price versus the appraised price and I am willing to gamble with you and say, hey, if they buy it cheaper than what it ' s on the books for , shame on us. We will lose it . But , if there is a piece of property just for instance that is $50 , 000 on the books now -- Cranston comes in and pays $75 , 000. Could the school district and any other entity get the benefit of the $75, 000? It ' s got to be worth $75 , 000 if they paid that much for it . CITY ATTORNEY: No , the . . . MR. MALAIN: They can ' t do that? CITY ATTORNEY: No, it has to be based on the tax values and those have been determined by the Appraisal District , MAYOR NEILD : You mean the Certified Tax Roll? CITY ATTORNEY: Right . MR. MALAIN: The tax roll , how do we go about getting a tax roll? I mean , what is that based on? Is that based on what? CITY ATTORNEY: Well , those values have been determined for this year by the Jefferson County Appraisal District and the School District should have a tax roll by this time. -219- November 23 , 1982 MR. MALAIN: Yes, sir. But the formula they went through, what was it? Was it market value or something? CITY ATTORNEY: Well , yes, it ' s market value and it ' s subject to other limitations, too. For example, the taxes must be . . . the tax values must be equal and uni- form so that ' s a limiting effect on market value appraisal but it ' s gen- erally market value as they estimate it to be. MR. MALAIN: In other words, if a piece of property is on the books at $75,000 and someone were to be fortunate enough to sell it to Cranston for $125,000, Cranston still gets it taxed at $75, 000 or anyone else? MAYOR NEILD : Well , the bonds are retired at that value. CITY MANAGER: No, sir. That ' s not so. I think you are confusing . . . . . . MR. MALAIN: I 'm not here to be argumentative. I don' t understand. CITY MANAGER: Well , what we are trying to say that there' s two different things as far as the property owners within the District . There 's absolutely no impact on them whatsoever. There ' s no change. There' s no reduction in property values. There' s no reduction in taxes that they pay or anything. It ' s as if . . . it ' s the same as if the District did not exist . The only . . . what occurs, in other words , the tax level , in other words, the appraisal value is established at the present current appraised base value by the Jefferson County Appraisal District . Now, the amount of taxes that the property owner will pay is determined by the. tax levy. Each jurisdiction establishes that on an annual .basis. The property owner will be paying taxes based on that . It will, in this case , however , come to the City. The amount based on the base valuation we ' ll assume to be $40. 0 million established at the first of the year will, be contributed to all of the tax agencies on the same manner it was. In 1983 there would be no differ- ence. . In 1984 , if there were to have been new construction as a result of the improvement of such as the Market Place and at the end of the year the appraised value of the District is not $40. 0 million but increased to $50. 0 million , that increment - . the difference of $10. 0 million be- tween the $40. 0 million and the $50. 0 million -- would be used to offset the cost of paying for the bonds which would be used for the public im- provements. The taxing agency would continue to receive the same degree of taxes. The property owners have paid the same amount of taxes - the only difference is that the increment is used to retire bonds sold to provide for the public improvements. So, any other property or any sale of property or any other transactions which occur internally are the same as if the District weren ' t there. -220- November 23, 1982 MR. MALAIN: What I 'm saying , I know that that extra is going to go to pay off the taxes and we need that done but the School District as such is pretty well strap- ped and if there was some way or if it was just a small amount that property in this District was going to be appreciated in sale for what it is ap- praised at now, I would like to see the School District get the benefit of that and I was just asking a question. That was my question . CITY MANAGER: Well , the whole theory, Sir , of the Tax Increment District is that it can only practically be done in an area which as a potential for decline or unless some reinvestment is done to protect the value of the District and to increase that . . . in other words, the increment itself requires an investment of public funds to make that possible. In the event it does not , there is no increment there because some of the other properties around it deteriorate or decline in value and in effect the School Board would continue, regardless of its levy, to have either stable revenues or decline in revenues in the future. In effect , it is a reinvestment of the increment or the difference of the increase as a result of this pro- moting the redeveloping and,. hopefully, around this District , and we've attempted to create the District in as small a degree as possible , but other redevelopment in the surrounding areas, in other words, will accrue to the District . MR. MALAIN: Thank you. MAYOR NEILD : Thank you, Harold. COUNCILMAN LORD : Ray, isn ' t it also true that the purchase of any property continues to pay the taxes and if they're reassessed and the valuation goes up, they pay increased taxes? CITY MANAGER: Yes. MR. MALAIN: That does not . . . . . . that goes to . . COUNCILMAN LORD : That ' s right . That goes into the . . . . . . MR. LeJUNE : One more question that I had that just popped into my head. Right now, as I understand it , there' s just the one project - the Market Square pro- ject . If in future years another developer would come up, let ' s say three years from now and ask for consideration under the District for financing , could you finance him out of those initial bonds or would you have to go back and get another bond issue for that one? -221- November 23, 1982 CITY MANAGER.: Again , the City is not financing the private development . The City is not putting anything into that . . . . . . MR. LeJUNE: If I mislead you on that , I know that is not what ' s happening . . . . . . CITY MANAGER : the City May only invest the funds . . . or sell bonds for public im- provements such as streets , parking , water , sewer . . . in other words , the . . . . structure of the neighborhood , but may not build buildings or anything else. Currently, there could be a subsequent project within the District , but it would require Council approval . There subsequently is no other project contemplated , but , not to mislead you , there is the potential . There could be. There is not one scheduled currently. And , also, the . . . MR. LeJUNE: My question on that one , Ray , is would you have to come back and ask Council to issue new bonds for that? CITY MANAGER : Yes. Yes , and keep in mind,, too , that even another factor which is more important is that there would have to be development within the District and anticipated increase in that increment to be able to support a bond issue and that would be more critical than just getting the authority to issue the bonds. There has to be the base there for which to pay the bonds. The bonds do not become a general obligation of the City or the School Board or anyone else and they must be financed from the proceeds of the Increment or the taxes paid from the increased growth. So , there ' s two factors. One is the consideration of Council whether or not it is feasi- ble and desirable to promote a subsequent issue; but , secondly, there has to be anticipated development there which would allow the successful sale of the bonds. MAYOR NEILD: All right . MURRAY J . FRANK: Your Donor the Mayor and Members of the Council , ladies and gentlemen : I am Murray J . Frank. I live at 2725 Palestine Street here in the City of Beaumont . I do not come as president of the Board of Education of the BISD but I do come as a private citizen due to the fact that ' I have not had an opportunity to discuss this proposal with my entire board; but I do come as a citizen to request or appeal for unity in this particular project . I did have the opportunity to meet with members of the City Council and the staff of the City of Beaumont and we had a very thorough indoctrination of this proposed Tax Increment Reinvestment for the City of Beaumont . I see the potential of good in this particular project . As we are all aware in the City of Beaumont , the building . . . we do not see any activity of growth within the confine of this particular area; but I do feel if we work together to see this particular Increment department or you might say lo- cale become a reality then we can see some good and you must look at it not on a short range but a long range planning - I would say in increments of five , ten , or fifteen years. I would highly recommend this particular development . I will ask the Council to vote favorably on it and certainly when we go to the citizens to finance the bonds., I would be one to go and speak to the citizens because in this particular area as the Beaumont . . . I am interested personally not only in the Beaumont Independent School Dis- trict , but the City as a whole and certainly you might say approximately three percent of our tax base will be in the confines of this particular -222- November 23, 1982 MR. FRANK continued: District . I also respectfully call to your attention that , as my under- standing from this first meeting I had an opportunity to attend, that your taxes will not go up in three years. And, am I right on that on the taxes? Would you might giving me, Mr. Ray, on the taxes . . . the taxes will be stable or . . . . . . ? CITY MANAGER: No, sir. The tax levy is established on . . in the same manner as in the past by the taxing jurisdictions. The School Board nor the City under any determination of the District has any effect on the levy. Merely the as- sessed valuation within the District is established as of January the lst , I believe. . . whatever it has now been established, in other words, by the Jefferson County Appraisal District so whatever the values are within the District - which is approximately $40. 0 million - then would remain constant ; but your tax levy then determines the amount of taxes to be. paid by the property within the District . MR. FRANK: Thank you so much on that. . Another thing that I 'd like to add, if stores move back, then more taxes will come to help the homeowners and this would help spread to the businesses as well and we will all realize something out of that . I do happen to be a member of the Board of Directors of a Corpor- ation in downtown New Orleans and I 've seen over the last 15 years seen the City of New Orleans whereby the old buildings that were deteriorated and making a sore spot so far as the beauty of the City - those old buildings in the City of New Orleans have been torn down. New skyscrapers are going up. That creates jobs. Also, in the City of Houston , I 'm also affiliated with another company there in Houston . And, I 've noticed in Houston in the downtown area how they are growing and I would just lc, - to see Beau- mont . . . I 've been a member,.you might say a citizen of the City of Beaumont for 56 long years and it really hurts my heart to see the . . . you might say the heart of the City in the condition it is today. Certainly, if we do not take any positive action to eliminate this, then our City will con- tinue to deteriorate. I would like to see new stores come back into the City. Hotels come within our City downtown- area. That means jobs, when every time you establish a business, you are going to have from 10 to 20 --some businesses as high as a 100, maybe a couple of hundred more people that will give additional jobs to -those people and that ' s one of the . and that ' s some of the reasons I am interested in this , to rejuvenate our City . . . the heart of our City. To create those jobs. And, in closing, I ' d just like to say also it would create additional merchandise with our City. It would create activity. Anytime you have activity going on in your City, then it represents progress. I know as a School Board member, we are looking at this. We are hoping . . . we know it ' s a gamble. We know it ' s a lot of risk in it but I do believe . . . I just have confidence in the administration of our -City that they will lead us in the right direction and certainly 'I want to be there giving my moral support , financial support , whatever support is needed, to let this become a .reality. I 'm interested in the BISD. We are interested in giving education - excellency in educa- tion for the 12 , 000 kids within our City and I feel this will serve to en- hance you might say the total operation of the Beaumont Independent School District although it only represents three percent but if these stores begin -to rebuild, the building begin to rebuild, then that three percent might rise to at least ten percent of our tax base in the near future. Thank you very kindly. MAYOR NEILD : Thank you, Mr. Frank. I think your leadership and the connection with that is . . speaks very highly and I want to say to Bob and Harold who were unable to attend the -work session , it really makes me feel good, the level of in- terest in which you all share with us in coming today and having some re- sponse to the questions that you have in your mind. I 'm very pleased with the participation. Is there anyone else that would like to speak in con- nection with the District? -223- November 23 , 1982 DENNIS SEDERHOLM: Mr. Mayor , members of the Council . I 'm Dennis Sederholm, president of the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce. I 'm not going to take a long time today but just say the Central City Development Corporation and the Chamber of Commerce both endorse the Tax Increment District and hope that the Council passes it . There' s not much I can add to Mr . Frank' s comments. I think they are very excellent and providing leadership and I think very true in terms of what the project can and will do for Beaumont . As I was walking into the Coun- cil Chambers today , I noticed the headline on the Beaumont Journal and said "Area Job Picture ' s Grim" and I think we all understand our need to diversify and bring jobs to the economy and this is a major step towards the future growth, not only in the project , but of attracting other types of industry to diversify our economy. We see this as a major linchpin to bring in office-type employers and/or diversification to the economy and feel very stongly that with the success of this project and the Increment Zone being set up we are going to see a rebirth of downtown. MAYOR NEILD : Thank you , Mr. Sederholm. Is there anyone else? If not , does Council have anything? If not , I will declare the public hearing closed. -000- Resolution 82-444 approving form and substance of a resolution to be adopted by the Beaumont Industrial Development Corporation providing for the issu- ance of Industrial Development Bonds to finance a bank project in the 700 Block of Calder was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lord and se- conded by Councilman Turner. Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 82-445 approving form and substance of a resolution to be adopted by the Beaumont Industrial Development Corporation providing for the issu- ance of Industrial Development Bonds to finance a Holiday Inn hotel project at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Walden Road was approved on a mo- tion made by Councilman Cox and seconded by Councilman Turner. Question : Ayes: Councilman Cox Abstained : Mayor Neild Councilman Lord Councilman Deshotel Councilman Turner -000- Resolution 82-446 authorizing execution of a lease contract with the Young Men ' s Business League for the use of Fair Park was approved on a motion made by Councilman Deshotel and seconded by Councilman Lord. Question : Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- Councilman Turner requested that the Planning Commission study and make a recommendation to Council a 30-day moratorium on the issuance of building permits - other than for residential single family construction - during the course of study for rezoning, especially in those areas of R-3 zoning. In addition , he requested that availability of adequate utilities (water and sewer) be considered before issuance of any building permits. Councilman Lord , because of concern expressed to her by a constituent , questioned the availability of Breathylizer equipment for use by Beaumont Police Officers at night . -000- Mr. R. W. English, 940 Lockwood, addressed Council to speak in opposition to issuance of "tax free" Industrial Bonds. Mr. Jack Farley invited Council to the Christmas party scheduled for Boys Haven , 7 : 00 p.m. , December 16th. -224- November 23 , 1982 There being no further business , the meeting was recessed before continu- ing with the City Council Workshop Session. -000- I , Rosemarie Chiappetta, Deputy 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 November 23 , 1982 . Rosemarie Chiappetta Deputy City Clerk -225- November 23 , 1982