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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN JUl 05 1988 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD JULY 5, 1988 - 1: 15 P.M. BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 5th day of July, 1988, with the following present: HONORABLE: Maurice Meyers Mayor Bob Lee, Jr. Councilman At Large Andrew P. Cokinos Councilman At Large Lulu L. Smith Councilman, Ward I Mike Brumley Councilman, Ward II Audwin Samuel Mayor Pro-Tem Councilman, Ward III Absent: David W. Moore Councilman, Ward IV Albert E. Haines City Manager Lane Nichols City Attorney Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -000- The Invocation was given by the Reverend Rayfield Walker, West Tabernacle Baptist Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Smith. -000- Mayor Meyers requested that Ms. Kathy Clark, representative of the Beaumont Symphony Orchestra, address Council regarding the Symphony' s afloat a barge at the 4th of July "River Blast. " Mayor Meyers noted this was probably the largest audience for which the Symphony has played and an opportunity for citizens to become aware of the Symphony. MS. KATHY CLARK: Not to diminish a good report, I was so excited about the performance last night, went home to call my mother and share the good news. My phone was ringing before I could call my mother, and it was my daughter who' s in Boston, and I said, Oh, Camille, our concert was great! We had between 15 and 20,000 people there. She said, well, I just attended the Boston Pops, and they between, ah over 250, 000 people there! So, I was kinda brought down quickly. MAYOR MEYERS- On a pro-rata basis, that' s a very poor showing for them! MS. CLARK: I should• have mentioned that. But, however, I bring thanks from the Beaumont Symphony Society to the City of Beaumont for asking the orchestra to participate in the July 4th celebration. This was a great opportunity for us to get in touch with so many of the citizens in this -176- July 5, 1988 area, and we welcome the idea of collaborating with the city in a joint venture. I hope this is only the beginning of a union between us giving our community a project of value and pride. While this first effort was not without flaws, we felt very good about the feedback we've received. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the City staff we work with, not only for this concert, but for all of our performances. John Gorman, fully realizing the problems to be dealt with, was a great source for solutions for us. In our opinion, the City could not get a better person for the job of Technical Director than Mark Arrington. And, the crews that worked with us were outstanding, as they always are. We are very grateful for these people, not just on the 4th, but for all of our performances. And, may I say thank you to each of the City Council members for the hard work you have done in promoting the assets that we have in our community. And, I hope that we can continue to work together in promoting and sharing them. Thank you very much. MAYOR MEYERS• Thank you, •Kathy, and we thank you for taking time to come down and give us that message. It was a beautiful evening, and we' ll convey directly to everybody with the Symphony our feelings, but we thank you for taking time today. -000- Mayor Meyers announced the Mrs. Delia Harrington will be presented the O. P. Schnabel Award on Wednesday, July 6, 1988, at Galveston for her many arduous efforts in keeping Beaumont a clean and attractive community. Mrs. Harrington was selected from among applicants throughout the entire State of Texas. The O. P. Schnabel Award is the most prestigious award given by Keep Texas Beautiful, Inc. The award was named after a gentleman in San Antonio who initiated the Pushbroom Squad for keeping the streets clean following one of the city' s parades. Mrs. Harrington expressed her appreciation and thanks and said she sees art in everything, including picking up trash! -000- President Jim Stokes of the Chamber of Commerce called upon Councilman Lulu Smith, Ms. Sherry Kysiak, and Mr. Ken Ruddy to give a progress report on the Economic Development Council and passed out copies of the draft of the 1988 Economic Development Plan to Council. Councilman Smith announced a meeting at the Career Center, 7th and North Streets, Thursday, July 14, beginning at 6: 30 p.m. with a coffee and the meeting beginning at 7: 00 p.m. with owners and managers of small businesses in the Old Town Section of Beaumont, facilitators from the Chamber of Commerce and resource people from the community such as attorneys, bankers, architects, and City staff to discuss assets and problems and to set priorities, develop goals and implementation. Ms. Kysiak reported on the National Plastic Exposition conducted at McCormick Place in Chicago June 20-24th. Beaumont was the only city representing itself at the exposition out of 940 exhibits. During the four-day exposition 646 good contacts were made with owners, presidents or C.E.O. ' s of companies, and a schedule to followup on these contacts is in process beginning next week and to continue over a six to nine-month period. Mr. Ruddy reported -177- July 5, 1988 on other aspects of economic development and said he learned two important factors: 1. Beaumont is a good place to live compared with the rest of the world, and 2. Not enough other people know where Beaumont is. A task, force under the leadership of Mr. C. W. Conn, has been established to tackle the development of an image for the city of Beaumont and the marketing necessary to support that image and spread it broadly across the country. -000- Mayor Meyers called an Executive Session in accordance with Section 2(e) of the Open Meetings Act of the State of Texas to discuss pending or contemplative litigation at the close of today' s Workshop Session. -000- MAYOR MEYERS• . .I see a� gentleman in the back who I want to take a moment and ask to come forward and that' s Tim Hemphill. Tim. About, well, a little less than two years ago, the City of Beaumont saw fit to bring the Convention and Visitors Bureau under its wing, and again, John Gorman heading up that task started to look around the State and Country for a competent leader. Somebody who could be the director of that effort working with a volunteer advisory board of our city, and he reached out and tapped Tim Hemphill who was assistant in Ft. Worth. And, everybody, particularly Bob (Lee) who I ' ll ask as liaison in a moment to make comment, knew we had somebody real good and felt we did, and that' s proven to be the case but it' s proven to be such a good case that they've tapped him on the shoulder, and I guess offered him something he couldn' t turn away. So, we regrettably are losing Tim to ah, what' s the name of that place? MR. TIM HEMPHILL: Starts with a B, just like Beaumont. It' s Bakersfield, California. MAYOR MEYERS: Bakersfield! Thank you very much. Tim is moving to Bakersfield. It' s a wonderful opportunity. For us and the city, it' s a compliment in a true sense because his activities have called attention to his work capability, and he has helped create a lot of activity in Beaumont. People became aware of that and found out who it was and then they took him away. But, I think in so doing he has probably offered a tremendous opportunity for the person now who will come in to head up this effort. And, Tim, I 'm gonna ask Bob Lee who has worked directly as liaison to offer any comments or reflections, and then I 'd like to give you something to take away, if you promise to wear it for the first year you're in Bakersfield. COUNCILMAN LEE: Thanks Mayor. Councilman Brumley and I share the responsibilities and pleasures of being liaisons from Council to Convention and Visitors Bureau, and it has been a pleasure working with you, Tim. Jim Stokes and Ken Ruddy have mentioned the fact that it' s important for Beaumont to have a strong marketing presence throughout the United States, and Tim has carried that role out into the region, and probably throughout the United States very effectively. Tim came in—almost two years ago to a fledgling organization that came under the wing of the City. The -178- July 5, 1988 Advisory Commission or Committee to the Convention and Visitors Bureau was a new group. It had a great deal to learn, and with Tim' s assistance, and of course, John' s leadership, I think that it was beneficial, not only from the standpoint of Tim' s involvement with the city in promoting the city, but also in terms of the Advisory Board in creating the understanding that it needed to have in terms of what it takes to draw conventions here, and what we needed to do to create infra- structural, if you will, improvements in our community. Tim, I just want to say, that it' s been a pleasure working with you. I think that you've left some pretty big shoes to fill. We wish you well, and I will allow my esteemed colleague to move forward from there. COUNCILMAN BRUMLEY: Well, Bob put it as well as it can be put. It will be real tough to fill your shoes, but the thing that I think stands out most with me is that Tim was here a short period of time, and the next thing you knew, he was dealing with an "Elissa" project in a mass of volunteers saying, "I 'm Tim Hemphill, new in town, would you like to volunteer for a big project?" And, so not only was he introducing himself, but he jumped right in the middle and started working right off bat, and I think that he was part of the successes of many, many projects that we've had here in the city. And, we appreciate very much what you've done, and the impact you've had on not only the people you've worked with, but also the impact you've had on the economy of the city and your efforts. We' ll continue to reap your rewards of standards that you've set in convention and tourism. We truly appreciate it very much. MAYOR MEYERS: The turn-around came, I guess about what, three months, Al, after you were here? And, I 'd welcome your thoughts if you'd share them, too. MR. HAINES• Thank you, Mayor. Tim, we're gonna miss you. And, I remember the agony John and I went through in coming to the decision when the appointment was made, and I think we both agreed that you represented a talent that would probably not be with us long, that there were challenges and opportunities out in that big world that would draw you away. We regret that it came as early as it did, but Tim, I think on behalf of both John and myself we have truly delighted in the work that you have done. Hard work, and effectively pioneering in an area that was new to all of us, in a way that we think will essentially have a momentum of its own that' ll be very positive and uplifting to our community. And, I extend you my best wishes as you to go hot, dry Bakersfield, and expensive. I can assure you that Bakersfield is as brown as Beaumont is green having been through there myself, only to stop for gas! So, you've got a lot of work to do in Bakersfield. So, best wishes to you, Tim. MAYOR MEYERS- Thanks, Al. � . . . in this short period of time we don' t really have an obligation to recognize Tim. He ' s done well here, but he is an exceptional individual, and I suspect, that he' ll probably be back here, perhaps not to head up our Bureau, but there are conventions you can send our way! There are a lot of things--we might have an Inner-Country Sister-City exchange! But, if you' ll agree to wear this the first year -179- July 5, 1988 you' re in Bakersfield (a City of Beaumont pin) and make everybody ask you about this, and this can heighten Ken Ruddy' s work as far as making people more aware of where Beaumont is, if you' ll tell them each time. We really wish you and your wife well and your new baby. . . MR. TIM HEMPHILL: Thank you very much. Thank you much. It' s indeed been a pleasure to be in Beaumont for this short period of time, and I 'd like to take this opportunity, I 'm proud to have the opportunity not to come here and hear all these great things, and I appreciate those, but also have the opportunity to thank the entire city of Beaumont, the City staff, the City Council, the Mayor. You all work so well and so hard toward our goals and objectives in regards to developing tourism, but particularly, Councilmen Bob Lee and Mike Brumley. I dare say that there' s not another city in the United States that has a couple of councilmen that works so hard on particular projects as we did on tourism as Councilmen Lee and Brumley did. I appreciate their support throughout the deal as well as the whole support of all City staff and City Council. It was a great pleasure, a great joy for my wife and me to be in Beaumont, and we will miss it, and we' ll think about it often and hope to be back someday soon. So, thank you very much. MAYOR MEYERS- Thank you, Tim, and good luck. -000- Citizen comment was invited on Agenda items A through D. Ms. Doris Price Nealy, 1095 Goliad, Mr. Archie Land, 435 Langham Road, Ms. Rosemary Sanderfer, Executive Director of the Triangle AIDS Network, addressed Council in support of funding the Triangle AIDS Network. Dr. Avila Arcala, director of the Beaumont Health Department, reported statistics regarding AIDS victims in Beaumont, the surrounding area and the nation. Mr. Herman Rogers, 3006 Boliver, addressed Council in support of funding for Neighborhood Housing Service/Revolving Fund and Administration through the Community Development Block Grant. -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered: Approval of the Minutes of the regular City Council sessions held June 21, 1988 and June 28, 1988; and Resolution No. 88-140 authorizing an emergency purchase order to World Wide Welding and Press, Inc. , in an amount not to exceed $13 ,680.09 for repairs to a Caterpillar excavation used at the landfill. The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -180- July 5, 1988 Resolution No. 88-141 approving the $50,000 funding of Public Service Activities under the Community Development Block Grant Budget for the 1987 program year with $13,000 allocated to The Art Studio, $10,450 to Beaumont Nutrition for the Elderly, $12,901. 20 to Family Services Association, and $13 ,648. 80 to the YMCA - Melton Branch was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lee and seconded by Councilman Smith. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 88-142 authorizing approval of the proposed 1988 Community Development Block Grant Statement of Objective and Projected Use of Funds and its filing with the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the amount of $1,773,386.03 (Rehab Loans & Grants, $962,800; Historic Preservation/Revolving Loan Fund, $25,000; Special Activities by Subrecipients/Innovative Housing Development Corp. , $100, 000; Park Improvements, $10, 000; Street Rehabilitation, $146,926; Economic Development Activity/Small Business - RLF, $75,000; Economic Development Activities/Infrastructure Improvements, $100, 000; Planning & Management, $61,000; Community Development Block Grant Administration, $292,660.03 ) was considered. After a discussion, Mayor Meyers made a motion, seconded by Councilman Lee, to reduce the Housing Rehabilitation Loans and Grants of the Community Development Block Grant fund ( 962, 800) by $15,000 to establish a Public Services fund for the Triangle AIDS Network and strongly suggested that the administration costs of the Housing Rehabilitation Loans and Grants fund be reduced from $220,000 to $205,000 to cover funding of the AIDS program. Resolution No. 88-142 was approved as amended by Mayor Meyers and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 88-143 endorsing a legislative policy regarding the Federal Clean Air Act as proposed by the Texas Ozone Task Force including a review of the ozone control procedures and other clean air measures was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Brumley. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 88-144 appointing Joseph Sanders as Senior Assistant City Attorney to fill the position created by the resignation of Paul Higgins at Pay Grade 22, Step 3, at a salary of $38,442 effective July 18, 1988, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Brumley and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Mr. Haines reported to Council that the Work Session item relating to the drainage study is deferred. -181- July 5, 1988 Councilman Brumley reviewed all the special activities at Riverfront Park 4th of July celebration and expressed delight in the number of participants including the citizens who came to the celebration as well as the many people behind the scenes and performing, especially the Symphony, the 16 radio stations simultaneously broadcasting the music, John Gorman, the Convention Facility workers and Brad Daigle. Successes such as this are a special remuneration for all the hard work and planning. Councilman Lee complimented Councilman Brumley for his leadership in planning the "Riverfront Blast" and stated it was a great pleasure to co- host the event with Councilman Cokinos. He pointed out that it was a good private/public partnership in that part of the cost was underwritten and other activities generated income. "Sunday in the Park" next week will be hosted by the City employees and everyone is invited to attend. Councilman Cokinos emphasized the happiness showing on faces of citizens was rewarding at the appropriately named "Riverfront Blast" and thanked Mr. Ric Warchol and Mr. Ben Rogers for meeting the compliance requirements of securing and cleaning the debris from the hotel structure at 800 Pearl Street. In addition to complimenting Councilman Brumley for a grand party for Beaumont citizens at the 4th of July celebration, Councilman Smith acknowledged the need to show special appreciation to the corporate citizens for their generous contribution in making this event such a happy successful community effort. Councilman Samuel added his compliments to Councilman Brumley for a job well done and accepts the challenge of making the next "Concert on the Move" at Magnolia Park a success. Mayor Meyers joined Council with accolades for the weekend celebration and quoted a citizen that said, "I am proud to say that Beaumont' s my home. " He complimented Senator Gramm' s Independence Day speech and the outstanding and stirring rendition of the National Anthem by Lamar Student Christi McLain. -000- Mr. C. L. Sherman, 585 Belvedere, addressed Council regarding Mr. Michael Anthony and Valspar Corporation providing free labor and materials to paint the house of a lady who is raising seven children alone and soliciting others to provide a similar service. Valspar will continue to supply paint to those who will donate time and labor for future projects. Mr. Jackie Cannon, General Manager from Waste Management, addressed Council in opposition for selection of a Manager to bring the Landfill into compliance with the Texas Department of Health. Mr. Henry Dannenbaum, 1567 Wall, addressed Council regarding the 4th of July activities. Mrs. Maree Calcote, 5615 Duff, addressed Council to express appreciation -182- July 5, 1988 for the program of the "Riverfront Blast" that appealed to such a broad span of ages, even the young people, complimented the efforts of Beaumont compared to other cities in keeping the city clean, and reemphasized the Keep Texas Beautiful meeting where Mrs. Harrington will be honored and announced that R U C L N - 2, the mechanical robot mascot of the Clean Community Commission, will also be there to represent Beaumont. 000- There being no further business, the meeting was recessed before continuing with the City Council Workshop Session. -000- I, Rosemarie Chiappetta, City Clerk of the City of Beaumont, Texas, certify that the above is a true copy of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held July 5, 1988. Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -183- July 5, 1988