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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN MAY 09 1989 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD MAY 9, 1989 - 1: 15 P.M. BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session, this the 9th day of May, 1989, 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 Michael Brumley Councilman, Ward II Audwin Samuel Mayor Pro-Tem Councilman, Ward III Absent: David W. Moore Councilman, Ward IV Ray A. Riley 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 the second grade class of All Saints Episcopal School. The students were introduced to members of Council, the City Manager and City Attorney. -000- Mayor Meyers announced that Councilman Moore is out of town and will be sworn in as Councilman, Ward IV at a special opportunity upon his return. -000- Ordinance No. 89-27 canvassing the returns of the May 6, 1989 General Election conducted for the purpose of electing four ( 4) Ward Council Members with a total of 5,626 votes cast and electing Lulu L. Smith, 757 votes, Ward I ; Mike Brumley, 1508 votes, defeating Anthony "Tony" Sacker, 558 votes, Ward II; Audwin M. Samuel, 613 votes, Ward III; and David W. Moore, 1,379 votes, Ward IV was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 89-27 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE CANVASSING THE RETURNS OF THE REGULAR CITY ELECTION HELD IN THE CITY OF BEAUMONT ON THE 6TH DAY OF MAY, 1989, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ELECTING FOUR ( 4) WARD COUNCIL MEMBERS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND PROVIDING FOR REPEAL. -111- May 9, 1989 Ordinance No. 89-27 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lee and seconded by Councilman Cokinos. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- The Honorable Larry Gist, Criminal District Judge, administered the Oath of Office to Lulu L. Smith, Ward I Councilman, Michael Brumley, Ward II Councilman, and Audwin Samuel, Ward III Councilman, as elected on May 6, 1989 . Standing with Councilman Brumley were his wife, Georgia, and daughters, Olivia and Lauren. After the ceremony, Mayor Meyers recognized Carolyn Samuel, wife of Councilman Samuel, and introduced her to the audience. Council comments were invited from the newly elected members before engaging in a reception in their honor: COUNCILMAN BRUMLEY: Well, thank you very much. I have truly enjoyed serving the citizens of Beaumont for the last five years, and I deeply, and people say this, but more than I can explain or appreciate is the support that the community has given, but most of all the participation the community' s given. And, my family was with me. . .they've been with me the last five years. They've been with me through campaigns, and they were with me through this one. They've been by my side. They' re a tremendous support not only to me as father and husband, but also as a Council member, and that' s an important thing that I 'm sure these other Council members will tell you is the part that family plays with an elected official. That' s very important to me. And, Linda Scully who has been a tremendous help to me. I could never thank her enough, and she' s a special person. But, most of all, I 'm excited about the City of Beaumont and what' s taken place the last five years. I 'm excited about the opportunity to serve each citizen in Beaumont, not just Ward II , but every citizen in Beaumont. I appreciate everything that the people have done as far as signs of support and the vote that I received this week, and I thank you very much. MAYOR MEYERS: Thank you Mike. Lu . . . COUNCILMAN SMITH: Thank you, Mayor. I would just like to express my thanks to everyone for your support for the past two years and for your confidence in me for two more years. It truly has been exciting and enjoyable working for you, not just my Ward, but the entire city. And, during this past two years, I have seen our economy pick up, and things are turning around and looking much better in our city. That, to me, is very exciting, and I was very happy to be a part of it. I look forward to serving you again for two years, and thank you very much. -112- May 9, 1989 COUNCILMAN SAMUEL: Well, first of all I thank God for the opportunity to serve. I really appreciate all the support that I 've received from all of the citizens. I love Beaumont, and as I 've had the opportunity this past year serving as Mayor Pro Tem, I 've had an opportunity to go across the Country. And, one thing that I 've found and I 've truly felt is that there's no place like Beaumont, I don' t care where I go, even though we have our unique problems, but we have some real fine people here in Beaumont. So, I truly enjoyed it. I appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow. I 've grown quite a bit since I 've been serving on Council. This past year was an extremely trying year for me, but I appreciate all the support of the citizens of the entire city, especially those in Ward III, who' s placed their confidence in me. If there has been opportunities where I have not responded in the manner I should, I just pray that I ' ll be able to move beyond that and better serve the community in the future. Again, I thank you for the opportunity, and I plan to be here. MAYOR MEYERS: Thank you, Audwin. I offer Bob or Andrew opportunity to make any congratulatory remarks. COUNCILMAN LEE: Well, I congratulate all four, the three that are present here. It' s been a pleasure over the past couple of years serving with everyone on Council, and I look forward to a lot of great things in the next, well, I 've got another year remaining in my term, from the four who've been reelected. I certainly welcome the opportunity to serve with them again. MAYOR MEYERS• Andrew . . . COUNCILMAN COKINOS: Thank you, Mayor. I want to congratulate Councilman Smith, Councilman Samuel and Councilman Brumley for their victory, and the citizens of Beaumont have spoken. They like what they see up here at the City Council meetings, and I want to see that the City continues it' s progressive progress and a show of unity. Thank you very much, Mayor. COUNCILMAN SAMUEL: Allow me one more comment, today. MAYOR MEYERS• Why not today? You always do this! I mean, before I said anything, I looked to see what else you had to say! -113- May 9, 1989 COUNCILMAN SAMUEL: Thank you, Maury. You know I tend to get caught up in my thoughts, but as Councilman Brumley stated, I do it time and time again--one of the most significant parts and one the things that' s allowed me to serve is my family. And she always says, it' s gotten to be a habit, you forget me, but I don' t forget my wife and my family because there' s so many times that I feel they could be serving also for the phone calls they receive and the responses that they have to give. Even my daughters are learning how to take phone calls--at five years old. So, I just want to express my appreciation to my family for sticking with me. Mike said it all, without them many times it would be very, very difficult, if not impossible. COUNCILMAN BRUMLEY: Yeah. We had, it took I know three, possibly, we run a very democratic family. Everyone is entitled to one vote. It took three or four votes before it came out that they were ready for an election program. People tend to not realize the support of family to an elected official. MAYOR MEYERS: Before we would break, so that things would be normal, I ' ll take the opportunity to have the last word! . . . I would want to say this to the citizens present and to the citizens of the community, you are blessed with an outstanding City Council. And, what I think makes a Council good or makes them effective for you is not necessarily decisions that you will always agree with. That is not what you want, but what you want is what you have in the people that are represented here. Most of the things they deal with, before the fact--before they become problems, so that they can try to have a community avoid problems on a continuing basis. You may never hear about them. Along with the fact that I, in the time I 've served with this Council, have not at one time seen them take a personal issue with a vote. The critical measure of how a Council works is how well they can accept a loss in their vote as to what they felt was proper. And, this Council has the ability to take a vote, set the issue aside and go on to the next one. And, I think that' s really the measure of somebody serving in public office. Otherwise as so often we do see, the next vote is impacted by the personal issue from the last vote, and then the people who are short-changed are all of us as citizens. And, so I publicly commend this Council for their willingness to deal on their preference, and they do. They make their positions known, and they make their voice heard on how they feel about an issue, but they don' t carry it forward to the next issue, which I think is a compliment to them. -000- The Council meeting resumed after a short reception honoring the newly elected Council members. -000- -114- May 9, 1989 The following Proclamations were issued: "National Hospital Week, " May 7-13, 1989; "Goodwill Industries Week in Beaumont, " May 7-13, 1989 in celebration of their 17th anniversary; "Peace Officers Memorial Day, " May 15, 1989 and "Police Week, " May 14-20, 1989; (The Beaumont Police Women of the Blue have scheduled a candlelight ceremony for Monday, May 15th, 6: 30 p.m. at Riverfront Park in commemoration of law officers losing their lives in 1988. ) "Be Kind to Animals Week, " May 7-13, 1989; and "Nursing Home Week, " May 14-20, 1989. -000- Mayor Meyers acknowledged an article appearing in the Houston Chronicle on April 27, 1989 regarding the efforts of Mrs. Delia Harrington, the flowers she plants along the freeway, and the Delia Harrington Welcome to Beaumont Park and added congratulations and appreciation to her for her concern and pride for our city. -000- Mayor Meyers recognized County Commissioner Norman Troy and Mr. Jim McNicholas, former Mayor and Judge, in attendance at Council. -000- Public comment was invited on the Consent Agenda and Main Agenda Items 2, 3, and 4. Mr. C. L. Sherman, 585 Belvedere Drive, addressed Council requesting a greater differential in charge for outside the city dumping of refuse at the Landfill than for inside the city as stated in Agenda Item No. 3 . -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered: Resolution No. 89-104 authorizing Change Order No. 1 to the Crockett Connector construction contract with APAC-Texas, Inc. to add the sitework necessary for the transition from the existing pavement on cross streets to the new paving of the Connector at $20. 50 per square yard (700 square yards) for an expected cost of $14,350. 00; and Resolution No. 89-105 authorizing a license to encroach agreement with Star Enterprise, formerly Texaco, Inc. , for a groundwater monitoring well on the right-of-way adjacent to 5624 Calder near the intersection of Caldwood for a one-time fee of $500. 00. The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- -115- May 9, 1989 A public hearing was called to consider designation of the Beaumont/Jefferson Enterprise Zone as Reinvestment Zone No. 6. There being no one who wished to address Council, the public hearing was closed. Ordinance No. 89-28 designating the Beaumont/Jefferson Co. Enterprise Zone (created to promote economic development by offering incentives to attract new industry and encourage industrial expansion) as Reinvestment Zone No. 6 in order to grant tax abatement in that zone was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 89-28 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE DESIGNATING A CERTAIN AREA OF THE CITY OF BEAUMONT AS REINVESTMENT ZONE NO. 6, CITY OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS; AND OTHER MATTERS RELATING THERETO. Ordinance No. 89-28 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lee and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance No. 89-29 establishing tipping fees for commercial haulers disposing of refuse at the City' s landfill (disposal of refuse collected inside the city would be $2.85 per cubic yard for compacted waste and $2. 25 per cubic yard for non-compacted waste; disposal of refuse collected outside the city would be $3 . 15 per cubic yard for compacted waste and $2. 50 for non-compacted waste) was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 89-29 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE REPEALING CHAPTER 28, SECTIONS, 28-39(a) AND (b) OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF BEAUMONT AND ESTABLISHING SECTION 28-24. 7, NEW LANDFILL RATES AND REGULATIONS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL; AND PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY. After a lengthy discussion regarding rate differential for inside and outside the city refuse disposal, tire shredding, grease and sand trap waste, effective dates and other related problems, Ordinance No. 89-29 was amended setting the rate at $3 . 40 per cubic yard for compacted refuse and $2. 70 per cubic yard for non-compacted refuse collected outside the city, effective June 15, 1989, and approved on a motion made by Councilman Lee and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- -116- May 9, 1989 Resolution No. 89-106 authorizing an agreement with Bethlehem Steel Corporation for temporary use of a bridge to its shipyards as an access route to the Beaumont Yacht Club Marina and the Fire Training Center while the Brakes Bayou Bridge is closed for repairs was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Councilman Samuel reported a recent visit with constituents of the Helbig Road area and thanked them for taking time to visit and reported many productive ideas were discussed in trying to develop an alternative to deal with the problem of heavy trucks traveling in that area. Councilman Lee stated that while driving to Mid-County, he observed a vehicle filled with trash driving uncovered, allowing debris to be strewn upon the streets and the inability to cite vehicles entering the Landfill uncovered. He encouraged citation of trucks not adhering to the regulation requiring them to be covered and development of a plan for compliance. Mayor Meyers said the ordinance is enforceable if there is a witness who obtains the license number and date and time of day and willing to stand witness and suggested warning notices on site at the Landfill to vehicles entering without a cover. Councilman Samuel noted there is a similar problem with dump trucks traveling throughout the city allowing rocks and other objects to blow from the trucks. -000- Mrs. Maree Calcote, Chairman of the Clean Community Commission, addressed Council in support of a strong enforcement of trucks being covered while hauling trash, stated that her interpretation is that the present ordinance applies only to vehicles traveling in excess of 30-35 miles per hour, announced that the Recycling Task Force will try another program beginning Saturday, May 13th, with Boys ' Haven and Golden Triangle Recycling by providing a trailer at Perlstein Park, 3615 Phelan Boulevard, from 9: 00 a.m. to 2: 00 p.m. on Saturdays to receive glass, paper, aluminum, and plastics. If community support is gained, collection points will be set up throughout the city. Mrs. Jessie Cooper, 446 Georgetown, addressed Council in support of recycling and noted that some cities make money by recycling and commended Council for their interest in recycling. Mr. Henry Dannenbaum, 1567 Wall Street, addressed Council to congratulate the winning candidates of the May 6, 1989 election and expressed appreciation to other Council and Staff members. Mr. C. L. Sherman, 585 Belvedere Drive, addressed Council to thank them for action taken to increase the differential between inside and outside the city disposal of trash and also discussed uncovered vehicles carrying trash. -117- May 9, 1989 Mrs. Esterline Graham, 7975 Helbig Road, addressed Council to thank Councilman Samuel for the meeting between he and residents of Ward III last week. Mrs. Graham read a long, comprehensive list of opinions and ideas including residential and collector streets, objections to Helbig Road used as a collector street for heavy trucks, the nuisance of truck travel and deterioration of streets, a Certificate of Occupancy and the Pine Island Sand Company office building, discharging guns inside the city, evacuation routes, a sewage problem reported by Mrs. Galloway at 8165 Pin Oak, and sewage flowing directly into the ditch at 4515 Gager creating a health condition. Mrs. Billie Leach, 4615 Holst, addressed Council in opposition to dump truck traveling on Helbig Road, appropriateness of Pine Island Sand Company operating, load and speed limit posting and enforcement, and the expense involved in maintaining streets damaged by heavily loaded trucks. Mrs. Marilyn Haack, 4795 Holst, addressed Council in support of other comments already made about truck traffic on Helbig Road and interjected that residents in her subdivision have no other access but Helbig Road. Ms. Celina Tamayo Valdez, 2225 South Street, addressed Council regarding one-year-old Elizabeth Hope Dominguez being struck by a car in the 700 block of Main Street at the parade for Cinco De Mayo, the blocking of streets and security at parades. Ms. Valdez presented a petition expressing concern over the incident with 141 signatures. Mrs. Virginia Martinez, 940 Avenue A, great grandmother of Elizabeth Hope Dominguez, addressed Council regarding her concern for safety measures at civic activities and suggested Police Department protection at "Sunda in the Park, " particularly at the banks of Riverfront Park. y Mayor Meyers told Mrs. Martinez that at each "Sunday in the Park, " there are Firemen patrolling the waterfront to safeguard the young people. -000- There being no further business, the regular City Council meeting was recessed for the City Council Workshop Session. -000- 2, 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 May 9, 1989. Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -118- May 9, 1989