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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN NOV 15 1988 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD NOVEMBER 15, 1988 - 1:15 P.M. BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas met in regular session this the 15th day of November, 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 David W. Moore Councilman, Ward IV Albert E. Haines City Manager Lane Nichols City Attorney Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk ( *Councilman Lee arrived at 1: 25 p.m. ) -000- The Invocation was given by Councilman Moore. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Brumley. -000- Mayor Meyers and Council acknowledged and welcomed Mr. J. C. Leggett, 1849 Washington, in attendance at Council after a severe illness. (Councilman Brumley left the Council Chambers at 1:20 p.m. ) -000- Mayor Meyers complimented City Attorney Lane Nichols for being elected as First Vice-President of the Texas City Attorneys ' Association. -000- Mayor Meyers acknowledged Dr. O. C. "Mike" Taylor as a representative of the Beaumont Independent School District in attendance and announced that the City of Beaumont is one of three cities in Texas (Plano and Sweetwater) invited to participate in the largest youth exchange program between the United States and the Soviet Union called the People to People Friendship ' 89 Caravan as a result of the President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev Summits. On November 18-19, 1988, Mayor Meyers and Dr. Taylor will be in Washington, D.C. with the largest group of Soviet municipal leaders ever to visit the United States. Upon his return to -295- November 15, 1988 Beaumont, Dr. Taylor will chair a panel to develop criteria for the program and selection of students to participate in the student exchange. Small and medium size cities throughout the United States were chosen to visit Soviet cities of comparable size in an effort to broaden the base in both countries of the numbers of people meeting one another and widening the circle of understanding. More than 1,500 high school students will spend three weeks learning, experiencing and sharing the opening of a new era in international relations. The Friendship Caravan is being administered by the High School Student Ambassador Program of People to People International in conjunction with the International Youth Travel Bureau of the Soviet Union. On November 28, prior to the Friendship Caravan meetings, Secretary of State George Shultz will receive the Mayors for a State Department briefing. Mr. Yuriy V. Dubinin, Ambassador to the United States, will host a reception for participants at the Soviet Embassy. An invitation will be extended to Russian students to visit American cities the following summer, and hopefully, Beaumont will be one of those cities. Mayor Meyers presented official People to People posters to Superintendent Mike Taylor and City Manager Al Haines for public review. -000- Three Proclamations were issued: "Great American Smokeout Day, " Thursday, November 17, 1988; "Family Week, " November 13-19, 1988; and Beaumont, Texas Arts Week," November 13-19, 1988. -000- Citizen comment was invited on Agenda Items A through C. No one wished to address these issues. -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered: Approval of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held November 8, 1988; Resolution No. 88-248 appointing Christopher Cook to the Clean Community Commission for a term ending September 30, 1989; Resolution No. 88-249 accepting street and utility improvements in Bellechase Addition, Section II, Phase II including extensions of Littlewood Drive eastward for a distance of approximately 256 feet to and including a cul-de-sac and Avenue Bellechase northward for approximately 188 feet to Littlewood Drive and water and sanitary sewer lines serving Lots 52 through 57 of Block 2; and Resolution No. 88-250 accepting the $15,256.76 bid of Century Papers for the annual purchase of computer paper by various City departments. The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Moore. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -296- November 15, 1988 (Councilman Samuel left the Council Chambers at 1: 40 p.m. during discussion of Resolution 88-251. ) Resolution No. 88-251 authorizing a contract with Doty Construction Co. of Vidor in the amount of $54, 804 for construction of the Comstock Relief Ditch Project which would consist of construction of a ditch to divert the storm water load from the Comstock Road Ditch southward to an outfall maintained by the state for channeling water from the Eastex drainage system to the Neches River to relieve the problem created by a bottleneck where the Comstock Ditch flows into a 60-inch storm sewer was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- After a lengthy discussion regarding assurance of delivery, possible use of local distributors, collection of sales tax from an out of state vendor, the O.P.I .S. bidding procedure, and verification methods used for checking quantity and quality of order, Resolution No. 88-252 authorizing a contract for furnishing automotive fuels to Metallgessellschaft Corporation (M.G. Corp. ) for a one year period with an option to renew for an additional six months at a total markup of $4,365. 10 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: Mayor Meyers Nayes: Councilman Councilman Lee Cokinos Councilman Smith Councilman Moore -000- Ordinance No. 88-93 accepting the 1988 Certified Tax Roll as submitted by the Office of the Jefferson County Tax Assessor Collector, a tax rate in the amount of fifty-four cents ( $ . 54) per each one hundred dollars ( $100) of value for the tax year 1988, showing a net total assessed valuation of $2,736,778,860 with a total levy of $14,778,604. 03 was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 88-93 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE TAX ROLL FOR THE CITY OF BEAUMONT; PROVIDING FOR LEVYING, ASSESSING AND COLLECTING OF AD VALOREM TAXES FOR THE TAX YEAR 1988; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND PROVIDING FOR REPEAL. Ordinance No. 88-93 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- - Public Hearing was called to consider fifty-five ( 55) below-listed structures found to be in violation of the City of Beaumont' s Dangerous Structure Ordinance, Article III , Section 14-50: -297- November 15, 1988 1157 NORTH - Beneficial Mutual Savings Bank - c/o LIC, owner ( 16 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1141 NORTH - Oscar Vega c/o Georgia Ragan, owner ( 16 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1264 CENTER - John L. & Nancy Davis, owner ( 15 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 1428 OAKLAND - Mabel Lockley, owner ( 16 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1899 HARRISON - Floyce Gibson, owner ( 17 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 2289 BROADWAY - G. G. Lavinhousez, owner ( 11 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 1037 GLADYS - Elmo R. Willard, III, owner ( 14 violations) staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 1076 GLADYS - Uneeda Copes c/o Jessie Guil, owner ( 18 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1078 GLADYS - Uneeda Copes c/o Jessie Guil, owner ( 16 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1557 GLADYS - Dan W. Sims, owner ( 15 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 1750 GLADYS - Lawrence Giles Et Ux c/o Ronald Giles, owner ( 10 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 1760 GLADYS (REAR) - Earl Daigre, owner ( 18 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1310 LOUISIANA - Dr. Edward D. Pernetter and Dr. Sydney M. Pernetter, owners ( 18 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1310 LOUISIANA (REAR) - Dr. Edward D. Pernetter and Dr. Sydney M. Pernetter, owners ( 6 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1350 LOUISIANA - Harry Goode, owner ( 16 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 1365 LOUISIANA - Patrinella Harris, Estate c/o Uneeda Copes, owner ( 15 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 1475-77 LOUISIANA - Julie Fregia & Martha Seimien, owners ( 17 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 1481 LOUISIANA - William H. Taft, owner ( 16 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 2935 ASTOR - Dickson Investment Co. c/o William S. Dickson, ( 15 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 2945 ASTOR - Dickson Investment Co. c/o William S. Dickson, owner ( 12 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 2965 ASTOR - Dickson Investment Co. c/o William S. Dickson, owner ( 13 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 2985 ASTOR - Dickson Investment Co. c/o William S. Dickson, owner ( 12 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 2995 ASTOR - Dickson Investment Co. c/o William S. Dickson, owner (7 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 740 JACKSON - Isaac Parker, owner ( 24 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 747 STANTON - George L. Scully, owner ( 15 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 757 STANTON - Virginia Lipe, owner ( 18 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 805 STANTON - Lawrence Holmes, owner ( 16 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 2375 MORRISON - United Savings Association c/o Pat New, owner, ( 15 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1550 TAGORE - Oscar St. Julian, owner ( 19 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 460 THREADNEEDLE - Walter Snider, owner ( 17 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 460 THREADNEEDLE (REAR) - Walter Snider, owner ( 17 violations) staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 625 ANCHOR - Edna Mae Marshall, owner ( 17 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 673 ANCHOR - Edna Mae Marshall, owner ( 14 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 677 ANCHOR - Edna Mae Marshall, owner ( 12 -298- November 15, 1988 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1399 CABLE - Mollie Bean, owner ( 14 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1542 CABLE - C. E. & Annie B. Davis, owners ( 17 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1950 CABLE - C. E. Davis Et Ux, owner ( 17 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 2462 PINE - D. F. Sanders, owner ( 20 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 3040 PINE - Cleveland Cook, owner ( 18 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 430 FLETCHER (REAR) - Lynn & Rachal Savoy, owners ( 17 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 3060 CASE - Mickey Phelan, owner ( 7 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 3225 GRAND - Willie Mae Wilson, owner ( 15 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 3540 WEST - D. S. Change, owner ( 16 violations) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 3540 WEST (GARAGE APARTMENT) - D. S. Chance, owner ( 25 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 3605 JOHNSTOWN - Frank Weathington, owner ( 20 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 3650 ST. HELENA - Sam Bellard, owner ( 19 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 2250 TOLEDO - W. L. Pate, owner ( 16 violation) , staff recommendation to raze or repair within 30 days; 2250 TOLEDO (GARAGE) - W. L. Pate, owner ( 6 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 2110 HAYES LANE - Joe Aplon, owner ( 20 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 2385 MONROE - Sara Daigle Estate c/o A. Daigle, owner ( 21 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 1835 RIVERCREST (GARAGE) - J. B. Morrison, owner ( 6 violations) , raze or repair within 30 days; 4196 KENNETH - G. N. Lowrey Estate, owner ( 16 violations) , raze or repair within 30 days; 4245 CONGRESS - Sandra Firmin, owner ( 13 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; 4210 BOB - Sanders, Jerry and Anthain LeBlanc, owners ( 18 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days; and 3603 WAVERLY - Gilliam Dalton Estate, Maydell Narcesse Jones, owner ( 17 violations) , staff recommendation to raze within 30 days. The seven (7 ) structures listed below have been condemned by City Council and the owners ordered to either raze or repair them within specified time frames. Reinspection of these structures have revealed non-compliance with the Council' s order. The Public Safety/Code Enforcement Division is requesting authorization from the City Council to demolish these structures in accordance with the Dangerous Structure Ordinance and charge the property owners with the cost of the demolitions: 2417-19 BROADWAY, 2378 GOLIAD, 2530 BURGUNDY, 5250 SUNSET, 795 ELGIE, 2912 MAGNOLIA, AND 3590 JOHNSTOWN. No one wished to address Council regarding these structures; the Public Hearing was closed. Ordinance No. 88-94 declaring certain dilapidated structures to be public nuisances and ordering their repair or removal by their owners and authorizing the Public Safety/Code Enforcement Division to cause to be removed certain other structures whose owners have failed to comply with previously issued condemnation orders was considered: -299- November 15, 1988 ORDINANCE NO. 88-94 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE FINDING CERTAIN STRUCTURES TO BE PUBLIC NUISANCES AND ORDERING THEIR REPAIR OR DEMOLITION; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY. Ordinance No. 88-94 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Councilman Smith complimented a marvelous finale for the "Sunday in the Park" program. Councilman Moore also complimented the "Sunday in the Park" program as a great display of community service and questioned the weed abatement program regarding the possibility of other taxing entities sharing maintenance costs incurred before foreclosure or sale of the property. Councilman Cokinos asked Code Enforcement Supervisor Nick Toparcean to keep him apprised of the status of the problem on Buffalo Street, congratulated Mayor Meyers and Councilman Lee on a very successful Ethnic Festival, "Sunday in the Park, " and parade and complimented City employees for expedient clean up of the grounds. Councilman Lee echoed his appreciation for a very successful weekend, congratulated Community Facility personnel for a good job, and credited success for many of these ventures to the many volunteers who give of their time, especially to Marilyn Adams for coordinating the parade. Over 100, 000 people have attended "Sunday in the Park" during the past three seasons and is a program receiving recognition throughout the State and being copied in many areas. Mayor Meyers thanked Council for their good sportsmanship in being participants in "Sunday in the Park. " Mayor Meyers particularly thanked Marilyn Adams for spearheading the parade, Beverly Hatcher for her efforts in coordinating the Ethnic Heritage Festival, and John Gorman and Claudie Hawkins for their special assistance as representatives from the Community Facilities Department. Announcement was made that the events of the weekend are on tape and will be broadcast at some later date on Channel 31. -000- Mrs. Delia Harrington, 815 Willow Street, addressed Council to compliment the weekend activities, to complain about being transferred to various City departments for trash pickup, and to request trash pickup at the corners of Grand and Harrison, Willow and Harrison, and Hazel and Grand. Mr. Henry Dannenbaum, 1567 Wall Street, addressed Council regarding donations to McBride Halfway House for Thanksgiving dinner, to congratulate Chief Shelton and express appreciation for the parade. -300- November 15, 1988 (Councilman Brumley returned to the Council Chambers at 2: 52 p.m. ) Mr. Forrest "Ted" Posey, 3695 Edmonds, addressed Council to pay tribute to people he considers unsung heroes: Mr. Jimmy P. Cokinos and Fireman Rex Hoffpauir Father Sinclair, Associate Pastor at St. Anne Catholic Church, addressed Council to announce the second annual "Crop Walk Against Hunger, " Sunday November 20, 1988 beginning at 2:00 p.m. at City Hall. Dr. C. B. Farris, 1839 Roberts, addressed Council regarding commodities distributed at Fair Park and at churches. The commodity program at Fair Park is administered by Jefferson County using only a City facility. -000- There being no further business, the regular City Council session was recessed to conduct the 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 November 15, 1988. Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -301- November 15, 1988 EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15 , 1988 Requested by Councilman Cokinos CITY MANAGER HAINES : The next item, C 2, is a recommendation for acceptance of the low bid of Metallgesellschaft Corp. , known as M.G. Corp. ,_ for furnishing gasoline and diesel fuel for city automobiles and equipment. The contract would be for a period of 12 months with an option to extend its provisions for an additional 6 months . Bids were stated in terms of fixed dollar markups above the weekly average prices for this area published by the oil Price information Service reports . The M.G. Corp. bid quoted markups of $0. 0009 per gallon for transport loads of regular and unleaded gasoline, $0. 0039 a gallon for transport loads of diesel fuel and $0. 0245 a gallon for tankwagon loads for the three fuels . Bidding was based on an estimated annual usage of 125, 000 gallons of regular gasoline, 195, 000 gallons of unleaded gasoline and 285 , 600 gallons of diesel fuel . About 80 percent of the fuel used by the city is purchased in transport loads of 5,000 gallons or more . The price paid by the City would include the O. P. I . S. published average plus the vendor' s markup plus a $0 . 15 a gallon tax. Based on the annual usage, the cost of the vendor' s markup under the bid recommended for acceptance would be $4 ,365 .10 compared to $6,890. 60 under the next lowest bid. We' d recommend approval. MAYOR MEYERS: Thank you. Does Council have any questions? COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Yes , Mayor, I have a question. Has the staff ascertained the delivery capacity of the M.G. Corp? CITY MANAGER: I ' d ask Mrs . Dunkerley to respond to that. Betty . . . MRS. DUNKERLEY: As a part of evaluating this bid, we did contact three entities that currently use them as their suppliers to check on their service . We contacted the Spring Branch Independent School District, the City of Houston and Metro of Houston. The City of Houston currently buys about 30 . 0 million gallons of gasoline from their a year. Metro in the - 735. 0 to 40. 0 million gallons- a year. Spring Branch buys smaller loads . All of those entities reported that they had excellent service . In fact, one of the . . . M.G. Corp had used one of the local distributors and said even . . . for some of the service and said even that service was enhanced by being associated with M.G. Corp. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: That's good in Houston, but I am talking about ascertaining delivery here in Beaumont. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15 , 1988 Page 2 MRS. DUNKERLEY: In the contract, the contract requires that they deliver the fuel 24 hours after it' s ordered and we will monitor that. If they cannot provide it, then we have the normal recourse in our contracting. It' s our understanding that they either will supply from their large Houston facility or will contract with some local distributors in supplying either Mobil or Texaco gas . COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Well , this what concerns me, Mrs . Dunkerley, that they've already attempted to contact private carriers here in Beaumont to . . . for the tankwagons and also the transport, so, I 'm very concerned about the fact that they're not able to find anybody since they' ve contacted several carriers here in Beaumont. This kind of bothers me whether or not they' ll be able to live up to this contract. In fact, . . . . . . MRS. DUNKERLEY: They've assured us they will be able to and we've checked with other cities that have done business with them and have found no problem. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: I know but they've already attempted to contact someone to fulfill this bid here and they' re not able to do it. So, I 'm very concerned about that, whether or not there' ll be delivery because they can' t get anybody . . . a private carrier cannot serve as a common carrier and this is what they are attempting to do here in Beaumont. MRS . DUNKERLEY: well, it' s our understanding that they will comply with this contract. They did say they would try to locate a hometown carrier just because we are interested in that, but they have the capabilities of supplying this from their Houston location as far as we know. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Have we got any safeguards on that in case they fail to deliver to the Fire Department or the Landfill or whatever? MRS. DUNKERLEY: If they don' t deliver, we would have the normal recourse that we have in any contract. we can go to the next bidder and have them perform. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15 , 1988 Page 3 COUNCILMAN COKINOS : Are you aware of the fact that they' ve been trying to contact somebody. ? MRS. DUNKERLEY: Sure, they told us that they would when they started off, that they would try to contact and locate a local distributor and that' s . . . they would supply from Houston if they were not able to do so. And, they are able to do that or try to do that at a lower cost than the local distributors bid themselves . COUNCILMAN COKINOS: well, it' s my understanding that they are willing to give $0.35 for a tankwagon a gallon and $0 .82 for transport so there' s not much of a margin there, which is fine with me as long as they make a delivery, as long as your department is aware of the information that I have received. MRS . DUNKERLEY: Well, we' ll certainly monitor that and if there' s any problem, we' ll be coming back to you with another award request. COUNCILMAN COKINOS : Okay. My second question is this . Sales tax. Here' s a concern out of Bel Air, Maryland that' s got this contract. what safeguards have we got that the State of Texas will get this $0. 15 a gallon sales tax on the gasoline? MRS . DUNKERLEY: Yes, that' s you, Lane (Nichols) , I suppose. CITY ATTORNEY NICHOLS : I don' t know anything about safeguards to do the Comptroller' s job, Councilman, but the . . . I assume wherever they purchase the gas, from Texaco or from Mobil , if that' s who they are going to purchase it from, they will be required to pay the tax at that time. Of course, the City doesn't have to pay any sales tax. COUNCILMAN COKINOS : Yes, I know that. well, will there be a routine audit by the State Comptroller' s Office as to the 15 . . . someone contacting Bel Air, Maryland, to see that this sales tax is paid? EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15 , 1988 Page 4 CITY ATTORNEY: Not by us. COUNCILMAN COKINOS : I 'm not bothered with it as long as it' s in the State of Texas, they are going to get it, but here we are awarding the contract to Bel Air, Maryland. MRS. DUNKERLEY: They do have a very large distributing center in Houston. There home office or corporate office is in Maryland but they do have a very large distributing center in Houston and I would assume that Comptroller Bob Bullock will monitor that as he does any other State sales tax payments . COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Well, I certainly want to see that they remit their $0 . 15 a gallon to the State of Texas and would you also monitor it for me also or whatever courses that needs to be taken? MRS. DUNKERLEY: I can contact his office and . . . Bob Bullock' s office to see what sort of audit procedures they have for this type of transaction. I' d be glad to do that. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Thank you very much. MRS. DUNKERLEY: Okay. MAYOR MEYERS: What other questions are there? You've raised a couple of points, Betty, that I would want to mention that really I think we might take note of, not relative to this, but probably in every situation. We had a vendor before who wanted out, if I recall, because it turned out anyway, it doesn' t make any difference. If in fact we fail to get delivery from them or anyone else, I think you are kidding yourself if you think you will turn to the next bidder and expect really that they have any obligation at all to comply with that price that they bid. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15 , 1988 Page 5 CITY MANAGER: We' ll do an emergency order, Mayor. We won' t run our trucks short on gasoline and we will take legal recourse against them . . against the contract . MAYOR MEYERS: okay, that' s my second question. What is the legal recourse. We' re saying 24 hours and again, it' s not as much this as a point in general . On some items we have penalties and we can enforce them but CITY ATTORNEY: In the instance of a purchase like this, if we have a breach of a term of the contract . . . MAYOR MEYERS: In other words, they said 24 hours from the time of order they' ll make delivery and maybe that happens once and there' s no big deal, but if it happens . . . . . . CITY ATTORNEY: We have the option to purchase the gas at any location that we can get it and to charge the difference in the price between the bid price and the contract price . COUNCILMAN COKINOS : Mayor, can we make that part of the resolution? An amendment to the resolution? Delivery . . . MAYOR MEYERS: Well, I think he stated it is . . it is . . . CITY ATTORNEY: It' s not new and it' s something that we've done on a regular basis in purchasing because as the Mayor indicated, it' s not the first time we've had a breach of a purchase contract. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15, 1988 Page 6 COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Could they come back to us and say well we didn' t know about the 24 hours? This is the reason I'm asking to make it part of the resolution. ` MRS . DUNKERLEY: It' s part of the specifications. MAYOR MEYERS: It' s part of the specifications . COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Okay. Thank you very much, Mrs . Dunkerley. MAYOR MEYERS: And, one other thing, the O.P. I . S. This, as I understand it, is an average price that all the vendors start from and then the bids are actually what amount above that they will charge . How long have they done that? CITY ATTORNEY: I think we've been doing it since the Arab Oil Embargo and we couldn' t get fixed price for gasoline. MRS. DUNKERLEY: We've done it as long as I 've been here. They don' t like to fix a price . . . MAYOR MEYERS: I understand that but the bid has always been just the price above the O.P.I .S. or did we use to take a bid that would be MR. JOHN LABRIE, Fleet Manager: This is our third year using that price index. MAYOR MEYERS : Okay, and . . . and it used to be just a price and that would include the total, because we are looking here of course, we look at $4 ,365 .10 or $6 ,890. We are basically talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars that . . . and this is just the difference above okay EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15, 1988 Page 7 MRS . DUNKERLEY: The difference above and Mr. Labrie at Fleet gets the prices on a weekly basis, this O.P.I. S. prices , and then he verifies the invoices when they come that they are actually charging us the correct total price. MAYOR MEYERS: Has this saved us money? CITY MANAGER: I don' t know if it' s saved us money. It ' s at least kept us honest, if you will, in terms of the pricing of the fuel that comes through. So, there' s . . . MAYOR MEYERS: Otherwise, though, if they a price, what are you saying? They wouldn' t obliged to hold to it all year? MR. LABRIE : Prior to using the O.P. I .S. , each time we wanted to order fuel, we would call five or six vendors and get the price for that day. MAYOR MEYERS: So, no one would give you a bid that would be . . . MR. LABRIE: We had no contract. MAYOR MEYERS: Thank you. COUNCILMAN COKINOS : One more . . . one more question. Is there does . . . Mr. Labrie, does Fleet Maintenance have any safeguards and checks as to blended gasoline? How do you check whether or not they got the right amount or the gasoline is blended? MR. LABRIE: On big loads, on the transport loads, we get a refinery loading document and by law what goes into that truck, that load must be dropped at one location, which is the City of Beaumont. Now, on the smaller loads, there is a possibility of getting a blend but in our specifications, we have the right to have an independent lab test the gas at any time and if we find something wrong with it, then that company has to make adjustments or we could take action as to what we want to do. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15, 1988 Page 8 COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Well, there' s been cases, I 'm not saying in the City of Beaumont, but in other cities where they blend this with other types of alcohol which . . . which blends in with the gasoline and I was just wondering if there was a way that you can prevent that? MR. LABRIE: Yes , on the large loads, which is 80 percent of the fuel, Councilman, we get directly from the refineries, so there is no case of blending . . . no possibility of blending unless the refinery . . unless Mobil Oil Company blends it; but on the smaller load where it comes from the independent guy, he would have a chance to do it . But, we've got provision whereby we periodically test the gas at random. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: You don' t test it every time they come in. MR. LABRIE : No. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Do you weigh it? MR. LABRIE : No, sir. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Why not? MR. LABRIE : I don' t know the value of weighing it. This is the first I've heard about weighing. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: There' s a . . . there' s a place of business here that will do it for the City . . . do it for free for the City if you . . . if you . . . it it needs to be, where they can make sure that the City is getting every gallon of gasoline that they are buying. MR. LABRIE: I' ll check into weighing it. I 'm not familiar with the merits of it. We measure gasoline upon delivery to see that we are getting what we are being billed for. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15, 1988 Page 9 UNIDENTIFIED GENTLEMAN: I represent M.G. and if you have any questions , I ' ll be happy to answer them. MAYOR MEYERS: Okay. We would probably direct them to Mrs . Dunkerley. Does anyone have any questions that they would like to have Betty have provided by M.G. ? Thank you. Are there any other questions? Any other thoughts, comments? I think it' s been verified that Council ' s continual desire to provide business locally if it' s at all possible and that formula has been examined to see if were close enough and it' s not but I restate that Council has a continual desire to see if we can justify circumstances like this . Thank you, Betty. I appreciate your checking that . COUNCILMAN COKINOS: When this was first brought up in October, I notice that Tri Con was a low bidder on Tankwagons and another concern out of Georgia? Mansfield was the low bidder. Now, why is it that this is not possible on this bid? To split it? MRS. DUNKERLEY: One of the reasons we rebid was to get an all or none award. The specifications originally were not clear and some of the bidders only bid a tankload or a transport load so we rebid it in order to be fair to everyone and so on this particular bid a third vendor came in with the overall low bid. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Well, Tri Con was low bidder the first time. This is what I'm asking. MRS . DUNKERLEY: They were only low bidder on the tankwagons which is the 20 percent thing and the firm from Georgia was low bidder on the transport load. The using department wanted an all-or-none bid and those particular specs were not clear that this was an all-or-none bid because some of the vendors only bid one or the other so . . . In order to be fair and to make them clear, we rebid the entire thing. COUNCILMAN COKINOS: And, there' s no way we can give . . . Tri Con of Beaumont part of the business. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15 , 1988 Page 10 MRS . DUNKERLEY: Tri Con . . . The Tri Con bid this time was . . . they bid again but they were not either the first or the second low bidders . COUNCILMAN LEE : Let me ask a question. You mentioned that we had through the assistance of the Finance Department devised a formula, Mayor, or at least a relationship . . . MAYOR MEYERS: Not a formula. I think we had a percentage . . . . . . COUNCILMAN LEE: Right. What was that number, more or less? MRS . DUNKERLEY: Oh . . . MAYOR MEYERS: Two percent . . . COUNCILMAN LEE : Two percent . . . MRS. DUNKERLEY: It was . . backing out the cost of goods sold and then taking a percent and then multiplying . . . using the multiplier effect. COUNCILMAN LEE: well, if my calculations are correct, we 've got about a . . if you use the entire dollar amount based on the estimate, using the transport load costs, about . 56 percent differential between the two bids, if I'm doing my calculations correctly and are you saying that .56 percent is not within that 2 percent range or are you talking about just the difference in the savings. MRS . DUNKERLEY: I It does not generate a sales tax big enough to cover the difference because you have to take . . . back out your cost of goods sold and then take a percent of that that would . . that sales tax would be applied to and then roll that and it didn' t come out in our calculations . COUNCILMAN LEE: I see. Okay. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD NOVEMBER 15, 1988 Page 11 MAYOR MEYERS: Thank you. We really don' t have any opportunity for discussion unless there' s something relative to this that you want to inject. M.G. REPRESENTATIVE : I just wanted to state that it wasn' t offered in the bid but had it been offered, we would have guaranteed a firm fixed price. We have no problems doing that. M.G. Corp. would be glad to provide you financials . We did in excess of $7 .0 billion in sales last year. MAYOR MEYERS: Thank you. Are there any other questions? Any thing else you need to add, Al? Okay. Is there a motion? END OF EXCERPT: Motion to approve the resolution was made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes : Mayor Meyers Nayes : Councilman Councilman Lee Cokinos Councilman Smith Councilman Moore