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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN JULY 03 1989 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD JULY 3 , 1989 - 1: 15 P.M. BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 3rd day of July, 1989, with the following present: HONORABLE: Maurice Meyers Mayor Bob Lee, Jr. Mayor Pro Tem & Councilman-At-Large Andrew P. Cokinos Councilman-At-Large Lulu L. Smith Councilman, Ward I Michael Brumley Councilman, Ward II Audwin Samuel Councilman, Ward III 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 Father. Sinclair Oubre, pastor of St. Anne' s Catholic Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Shawn Wilson, a Boy Scout visiting today' s session working toward a merit badge. -000- Mr. Ken Ruddy, chairman of the Economic Development Council, and Jim Stokes, president of the Chamber of Commerce, made a report of progress to the City Council. MR. KEN RUDDY: Thank you very much. We appreciate the opportunity to visit with ya' ll and to bring you some information about the economic development activities of the Chamber of Commerce, its staff, and volunteer organizations that continues to grow and is very active throughout our area. At the top of the list, I 'd have to comment on Trinity Industries and point out that it is a superb example of the totally cooperative effort that we have in this area and to pay tribute to Mayor Maury Meyers, City Manager Ray Riley, and the entire City staff for the role that they played along with Judge Richard LeBlanc and the County staff, Mark Stiles, State Legislator. (NOTE: City Council action items begin on page 164. ) -154- July 3 , 1989 MR. RUDDY continued: The way in which this whole effort came together and produced the outstanding future result for the City of Beaumont and the surrounding community is as I say a classic example of the way in which economic development should work and the Economic Development Council and the entire Chamber staff wants to pause for a few moments and thank you guys for such a superb job during that period. Previous to that, of course, a Cantex announcement had been good news for the area and in that particular instance the Chamber Staff particularly deserves a great deal of credit for the shepherding role that they played in the fifteen months that the investors had to resolve the 28 to 29 different encumbrances existing on the property that they finally successfully acquired, cleared of a lot of environmental problems, and are going to be initiating a significant industry with addition of about 125 jobs to our local economy with certainly a great deal of potential for future expansion and growth on that same property. The Therapy Hospital people have contracted for their land and are getting ready, we hope, to begin construction plans shortly and they should create again approximately 125 jobs for the immediate area. A little bit closer to us, C & B Robotics, which is related to the Ohmstede Machine Works, has moved up here to town. It is in business with about 11 to 12 employees. At the moment, they are bidding on robotics for the Saturn Corporation, which is the new automobile division General Motors has created. The significance of that is this is one of the first high-tech entries that local industry has had into that overall picture of high technology and certainly is encouraging that we have the type of industry that can enter into that market and make successful bids within that type of business. Polymer Services, as you know, has relocated and, even though they are outside the city limits, expansion is going to be very beneficial to the City. And, during the course of their site selection, they were actively involved with the City staff in trying to get a modification of some zoning requirements and worked out, again, very, very well in which the City staff was very responsive and very, very cooperative with the needs of local businesses about to expand. Triangle Metalurgical, which is a specialized scrap-type of operation is in town and opening up with approximately 16 to 17 jobs. And, on a larger scale basis, we are in contact with two major chemical companies. In both instances, we are on the short list of about 3 potential sites. We have one other major manufacturer that has just come into the arena the last week or so and again we are on the short list because of their previous site selection that we were not aware of but they've made inquiry for a sizeable piece of real estate and a sizeable number of jobs that would follow with their final decision as to where they are going to be located. -155- July 3 , 1989 MR. RUDDY continued: There is still a very significant existing number of expansions and plant growths that are underway and imminent and look very, very promising for the immediate and intermediate future of our entire economy in this area. We are concentrating not just on large and major industries but also on diversification and smaller-type firms and as a result of a long-time follow-up on a truck and bus brake manufacturer from the Clear Lake area, we have hopes that we are going to be talking to them seriously in the immediate future and hopefully have a 20 or 25 employee new type of business move into the area. The Plastics Target Industry Program is progressing very rapidly. There are a couple examples of modest success with this study and with the identification of the types of businesses who buy the raw materials that are manufactured by the local petrochemical companies and make them into something else or do something else with them and we are hoping that we' ll continue to develop some progress in attracting them to this area. As you know, the John Gray Institute and SET, Inc. is conducting a joint study of the future of economic development throughout this area and the local Chamber and Economic Development Council are participating in that study extensively in trying to the best of our ability to ensure that the funds are spent in such a way that it gives us a plan that we can implement and utilize for future reference. Our Corporate Communications Program, even though the responsibility has been transferred to SET, Inc. , still continues to function with a lot of people from our Economic Development Council right at the main stream of making it work, and, their corporate visits to Houston, Dallas, New York, and several others are forthcoming at the present time. In addition to that, we have a plant managers conference which is the other half of the Corporate Communications Program that' s in planning at the present time. And, again, we thank you for and we continue to solicit extensive rapport to the two prison efforts that are being conducted in the area right now. I 'd like to ask Jim Stokes to come up and talk about some of the hard working types of effort that he and the rest of staff have been engaged in recently. Thank you very much for this opportunity. MR. JIM STOKES: I just wanted to brief you on some of our marketing activities coming up but before I do I wanted follow on Ken' s comments. As you recall, we made a major effort to align ourselves more closely with the Texas Department of Commerce and, included in that, we invited the Department of Commerce Board to meet here last September, I believe, and more recently, we had a couple of their people here for a visit and tour of the area. I didn' t look up these numbers precisely before I came over -156- July 3 , 1989 MR. STOKES continued: here, but I think in the previous year, we had gotten about two prospects referred to us from the Department of Commerce and a number of these that Ken was mentioning not by company name but in a general way have come from the Department of Commerce and I think in the past couple of months we have had three or four prospects referred to us by them and I don' t know whether it' s a result of one meeting or another meeting or a greater budget on their part, but we are certainly thankful that we are getting this kind of attention from the Department of Commerce. The other thing I wanted to mention, last September, along with Gulf States Utilities, we made a visit to Toronto following up on some prospects of Gulf States there. I wish I could point to a booming success and I can' t, but I can tell you that one of the companies that we visited is in the process of renting some office space here in Beaumont and I think that we will see some modest results from that. Following on that, we did attend another trade show in Toronto, the Plastex Trade Show, and worked . . made about 350 contacts there with that. Earlier, George Perrett had visited Mexico on a trade show down there and we did not have a booth in that trade show, but one of the things he did while he was there at the request of one of the Mexican companies, he gave them a referral to a local company and there was a $2 . 0 million sale of chemicals made off that referral so at least for that company that trip paid off. Other than that, Larry Cohick and I had visited a plastics trade show in Boston and our next trade show that we are planning . . . all of those are in the plastics area, but at the end of October, we will participate in a wood and paper products show in Anaheim, California. (Mr. Stokes passed to Council a set of brochures. ) We have talked to you from time to time about various marketing products and if you will circulate that among you you' ll see our manufacturers ' directory, our community profile, the portfolio itself that those are in and two more recent brochures - one on Beaumont and another one our 504 Financing program. In addition, we should have the long-talked-about office space marketing material available by the end of this month and we are preparing currently another brochure on the Export Assistance Center and four more planned. One on plastic companies, what about this community is attractive for a plastic company. The same kind of brochure for wood and paper products company. We will do one on diversifinancing and then we hope to have one on the Enterprise Zone shortly. So, all these are out in front of us yet but we are beginning to put together a pretty good package of promotional materials and develop a progressive marketing plan to go out and develop prospects at the same time we seem to be getting a better flow of prospects from our economic development allies. Do you all have any questions? -157- July 3 , 1989 COUNCILMAN BRUMLEY: I would be curious as to . . you are talking about a lot of plastics and you mentioned about three different plastics shows. Are they having as many paper and wood products type trade activities as there are plastics? MR. STOKES: In terms of a learning curve in wood and paper products, we are about where we were in plastics a year and a half ago. It appears to us attractive because of all of the businesses already operating in this area but . . and we have a good teacher, Russ Chase will be working with us as we develop our plans for the Anaheim show but we' re really not that knowledgeable about it at this point in time. We hope from this strategic development plan to get some information that will help us target more precisely, not only in the plastic industry but also in the wood and paper products industry because when you say wood and paper products, it covers a huge range of companies and my suspicion is within that big range, there are some special niches for which we are well suited and some others for which we might not be. Some of those businesses are market driven and some of them want to be near the trees. COUNCILMAN BRUMLEY: I guess more and more literature that I 'm reading is . . seems to be funneling environmentally and with incentives toward environmental type programs and projects, be it landfill, be it just the regular land itself on disposable plastics versus biodegradable type product. I 've read some stuff where it seems like there' s going to be more and more incentives out not necessarily move away from plastics but the impacts that plastics are having on landfills and just the environment as a whole that people are beginning to look toward the wood products, so I was just interested if having the same type of emphasis with wood products as they appear to be from what you've said with plastics. MR. STOKES: I ' ll be able to tell you better when we get back from the show, but one of the other points you raised about recycling, in the Fall, we are going to have a Chairman' s Council project to look into the whole business of recycling and see if some of that might be worthwhile investigating in more depth. One of the things that I found out about the plastic industry, there was a trend it seemed for a while to get into biodegradable plastics; but a conversation I had recently, someone was telling me that even when you have a biodegradable plastic, you still end up with tiny pieces of plastic. The plastic doesn' t go anywhere, it just disintegrates into smaller pieces and they seem to be going more now in the direction of recycling what they've already produced and using it again rather than worrying about where to bury it . or how else to dispose of it and in that, there may be business opportunities as well. -158- July 3 , 1989 MAYOR MEYERS• Jim, it might be good if you can get each member of Council this packet. The unemployment figures for our City I think reflect the lowest level since early ' 82. I think the last numbers were right at 7 percent. Do you have some current information relative to apartment occupancy or any of that? MR. STOKES: Apartments are tight. I don' t have any numbers. Just in the last week or so talked with some people in the industry and if you are coming into the City and looking for an apartment or a house to rent, that' s kind of tight right now. I hope that means there ' s an opportunity shortly to build some more. MAYOR MEYERS• The numbers also coming in from the hotels are very solid. MR. STOKES: That' s encouraging. There are a lot, as you know, because you keep up with it, there are just a lot of bright indicators that are coming into print now for the area and I think its a credit to a whole lot of people including yourselves who have worked at this for a long time and now we are getting a little flush of success. MAYOR MEYERS Any other questions today? Charlie, while you are here, would you stand for a second. I had made note on two specific items that I was going to comment on. Those of you looking at the Gulf States building . . as you know, Charles Glass is a vice-president of Gulf States; but the whole side facing the Trinity yard now has "Beaumont Welcomes Trinity" and it' s an outstanding sign. If you haven' t seen it, it doesn' t look like a sign. It almost looks like somebody painted it right on the top of the building and we really commend you for that. I 've had comment already from some of the Trinity folks who are just impressed that you did that and then First City Bank also has had a "Welcome to Beaumont, Trinity Industries" sign and just wanted to mention that while you were here. Looks good. Thank you all for coming very much. Appreciate the report. I hope we can keep getting reports like that. (End of Economic Development presentation. ) -000- -159- July 3 , 1989 MAYOR MEYERS: I want to take a second. I received this (a postcard) this morning and just share it. This is from Gary Teeter who is the supervisor for the first trip of students to Russia and this is from Moscow. And, it states that they "Arrived healthy and together, (they've) been here for three days and leave tomorrow for Leningrad after a visit to Moscow. Much pomp and circumstance; are treated royally, so far. Caviar, smoked fish, borscht. All getting a great education and will have many stories to share when we come home. " I ' ll pass that around if you want to take a look at Moscow. -000- The following proclamation was issued: "Charlton-Pollard Mass Reunion Days in Beaumont" - July 6-11, 1989 . -000- "KEEP TEXAS BEAUTIFUL" awards: MAYOR MEYERS• The last piece I would want to comment on before we begin our meeting was the fact . . . it may be somewhat of a secret but we are extremely proud of the fact that not only did we come down as a finalist in the "Keep Texas Beautiful" awards, but I think as most of you know, we were selected as the winner - number one in the State of Texas in cities from 100 ,000 to 300,000 people and with that went an outstanding award of $125, 000 from the State for beautification project that we will be putting together with the Highway Department and the Clean Community Commission and some others - something that we can be extremely proud of. In just a few moments I 'm going to introduce some folks who were in Houston for the Keep Texas Beautiful as well as active with our Clean Community Commission. I have a picture . . I don' t know if you've all seen it. It' s a picture of those of us that went over to the awards luncheon. Do you recall what somebody said? Everyone' s asked me. We had the brightest smiles. Somebody had to have said something that was . . . . . . COUNCILMAN MOORE: Yes. They said, "Look and smile into the camera. " MAYOR MEYERS• Was that all it took? Okay. At any rate, I would want to share with you this fine looking award that was presented, "To the City of Beaumont for the Governor' s Community Achievement Award for enhancing the quality of life in the community through planting, improving and preserving an attractive environment. " And, this is heavy. We are going to find a very prominent place that we can put that. -160- July 3 , 1989 MAYOR MEYERS continued: But, beyond that, the State of Texas and the Governor each year present an Award of Excellence that goes to one city in the State of Texas and, again, perhaps this has been a fairly well- kept secret here, but we will attempt now to once again say something in hopes that somebody in the community might have opportunity to read about it. But, this Award of Excellence was presented to the City of Beaumont. Of all cities in the State of Texas, Beaumont was presented the "Keep Texas Beautiful Award of Excellence" . Bob (Councilman Lee) was over there; David (Councilman Moore) and I 'd like to introduce in a few moments those members of the Clean Community Commission, but on behalf of the City Council and all of the thousands of volunteers who have worked so hard since the creation of the Clean Community Commission, and more importantly in the last couple of three years, and Maree Calcote, heading up that effort - this is something that I think is a testimonial to those efforts put forth by so many people through all segments of our community and nobody knew who was going to get this but we accepted it with pride. This picture that was taken shows David and Bob and Clara Boteler in the back, myself and Janet Thomas with the Governor. It was a copy of a picture that was in the Houston Post. This was in the Houston Post on Friday and we were just so pleased that our City would be selected to receive this award. And, I would like to ask Janet if she'd come forward and introduce the other members with here and I would welcome any comments from all of you. Won' t you all come forward? I think it was something that was a moment of pride for all of you. Bring him along. He was there. He' s (Sam Bethea) all of a sudden getting shy. MRS. JANET THOMAS: I 'm Janet Thomas and I 'm a new member of the Clean Community Commission as of November, last year. And, I 've really been enthused about this project. We've had so much fun. Clara Boteler is a member of the Clean Community Commission and she went to the Conference and spoke on law enforcement. . . litter law enforcement and she was the most popular person there because the other cities have not gone into the Police Department and really gotten their support like we have and it' s become a really important thing to show that we are taking a leadership role in this program. Sam Bethea is from Gulf States Utilities. He' s also the Keep Texas Beautiful Chairman for Hardin County and Sam came to the conference. Bruce Drury from Lamar University came to the conference and I think he was supposed to do the speech I had to do but he showed up late and said here I am. I want to be sure and extend the Clean Community Commission' s thanks to all the volunteers. They are just the basis of all our success. -161- July 3 , 1989 MRS. THOMAS continued: Maree Calcote is just the most tireless, most driving person I 've ever seen in my life, but she is the driving force behind this group. Without her, I 'd think we'd all just be scattering in different directions. She' s wonderful and for three years Beaumont has been a finalist for these awards and this is the first year we've actually come out on top and I think that' s a real tribute to Maree and a real tribute to all the people that have been involved. Oh, by the way, I want to thank you, Mayor, for creating this wonderful group. I think it just speaks really highly of our city government that we have the support that we do. MAYOR MEYERS• Thank you, Janet. Clara (Boteler) . . . I would say, by the way, she is something else. Probably the Chief is going to put her on some kind of * * * when the troops are off on other assignments because everybody was coming up wanting to know how they can get her and how they can bring her to their City. PATROLMAN CLARA BOTELER: We did appreciate you being there, Mayor, you and Councilman Moore and Councilman Lee. You know, without ya' ll' s support, no committee ever has a lasting effect and without ya' ll, this committee would never go forward and I think we are keep continuing going forward with your support and, of course, with Maree right there on top of us, she makes sure we keep moving one step ahead. But, we do appreciate everything ya' ll have done for us. Thank you. COUNCILMAN MOORE: One question for you, Clara, before you go away. That footage of the Municipal Court . . . I mean it was so perfect, was that a script written or did that actually happen? PATROLMAN BOTELER: No, that was all impromptu. The young man that did that is one of our little interns that is going through Lamar for his degree and they have to work at the Police Station and he was working in our Community Relations Unit that day and I said, "Kirk, come with me. I need help" and it all just happened. COUNCILMAN MOORE: Well, I ' ll tell you, as I was leaving, people were stopping, saying, "That Judge sure had a good line. " PATROLMAN BOTELER: Judge Davis will appreciate that, too. -162- July 3 , 1989 MR. BRUCE DRURY• Well, I 'd like to thank the Council for all of the help and especially to recognize, as Janet has already done, the work of Maree Calcote. This award involves a number of things. There are five separate categories and Beaumont truly has a very comprehensive "clean community" program. And, I think . . . well, it' s already paid good dividends, $125,000 for beautification; but, Beaumont is now recognized throughout the State. We had a number of comments on our program and I am certain that Jim Stokes can work this award into his package selling Beaumont to industries that might be looking for a place to locate. MR. SAM BETHEA• I 'm always appreciative of any opportunity to pick up trash. Thank you, Gentlemen, for that opportunity. COUNCILMAN LEE: Mayor, if I might just add . . . While Maree does a super job providing leadership as Chairperson for that organization, without the support and leadership from these four as well as a couple of others on the Clean Community Commission, we would not be nearly as productive and we really do appreciate what you do provide to the community and that' s a job well done. MAYOR MEYERS• Thank you. It was 1981 the Clean Community Commission was formed. The first dinner that we had, the menus were on grocery sacks and it was next door in the Civic Center. Our goal was to become the cleanest community in the State of Texas. I remember we commented at the time, that regardless what our economic growth might be and whatever else we did in the City, there would never be anything that would be wrong with having a sign up at each end of the City that would say, "You are now entering the cleanest community in the State of Texas. " I believe that if we cared to put that up now, we can rightfully claim through this Award of Excellence, at least until they give it to somebody else, that we are the cleanest community in Texas and it' s come as a result of a lot of people, a lot of work. There were chairmen before Maree, not in any way to take away, but it' s been a building process. -163- July 3 , 1989 MAYOR MEYERS continued: I would mention that the one day that she' s not here is the day we are talking most about clean-up and that' s Delia Harrington, but she and Lynn Milam, representing the Beautify Beaumont group are also there. Earlier in the morning I was on a panel, symposium that they had, for about 2-1/2 hours on a lot of different issues relative to the environment. I think that was very informative and was pleased to participate in that. But, all in all, we thank you and all this means is that you've got to kick it in another gear. And, you know what happens when everybody' s shooting for the winners. There' s nothing also to stop us from being a repeat winner. I asked that question and they do not exempt us so I guess you have your marching orders. And, thank you all for your help. We really appreciate it very much. (End of Beautify Texas Awards. ) -000- No one wished to addressed City Council during the public comment portion on items of the Consent Agenda and Main Agenda Items 4-7 . -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered: Approval of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held June 20 , 1989; Resolution 89-132 appointing Dr. David C. Powell to the Airport Advisory Committee, term expiring May 31, 1991 and Bob Black to the Historical Landmark Commission, term expiring October 31, 1991; Resolution 89-133 authorizing the purchase of 235 gallons of Roundup Herbicide for the Streets and Drainage and Parks Departments from Wilber-Ellis/Tide Division at an amount of $13 ,204. 65; Resolution 89-134 awarding a contract to Braud Camera Company for furnishing a year ' s requirement of Polaroid Instamatic 600 Twinpac Film at $539. 95 per case; Resolution 89-135 amending Resolutions 89-20 and 89-51 authorizing eminent domain proceedings to acquire three ( 3 ) parcels of right-of-way needed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway/Spur 380 project to include amended metes and bounds descriptions specifically identifying improvements not previously mentioned (Parcel 353 , owned by Heisig Storage and Transfer Company, 59,999 square feet of land on the west side of the Parkway between Fannin and Forsythe Streets and improvements consisting of 2 warehouses, paving and a slab, with a State appraised value of $194,231 for land and improvements; -164- July 3 , 1989 Resolution 89-135 continued: Parcel 405, owned by Walter E. Evans, John C. Evans, Shirley A. Willard and Betty J. Tuma, 3 ,500 square feet of land on the northwest corner of the Parkway and Broadway and improvements consisting of a masonry building and a "Quonset" design warehouse, with a State appraised value of $74,562 for land and improvements; and Parcel 409, owned by the estate of Elise Viterbo Lieberman and Jane Elise Lauterstein, 7,500 square feet of land on the northwest corner of the Parkway and Calder Avenue and improvements consisting of a masonry building and paving, with a State appraised value of $33 ,750) ; and Resolution 89-136 accepting for City maintenance 282 feet of six-inch PVC sanitary sewer line constructed in Lots 1 , 2, 3 and 4, West Highland Addition, a residential subdivision on the northwest corner of Avenue A and West Highland Drive. The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance No. 89-35 changing the zoning from RM-H (Residential Multiple- Family Dwelling-Highest Density) to NC (Neighborhood Commercial) for property described as Lot 7, Block 12, Pinecrest Addition, located at 4850 Steelton (requested by AAA Service Company, air conditioning, refrigeration and heating service and repair, for expansion of the existing business) was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 89-35 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 THE ZONING FROM RM-H (RESIDENTIAL MULTIPLE-FAMILY DWELLING- HIGHEST DENSITY) TO NC (NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL) ON PROPERTY LOCATED AT 4850 STEELTON, BEAUMONT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL AND PROVIDING A PENALTY. The ordinance was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Smith. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- -165- July 3 , 1989 Ordinance No. 89-36 approving a Specific Use Permit to allow expansion of an existing cemetery to be known as Blanchette Cemetery - North (formerly known as Hona Cemetery, requested by W. H. Taft, president of Community Cemeteries, Inc. ) on 1. 85-acre tract of land described as Tract No. 1 and Tract No. 1-A, Tax Roll Plat B-8, J. W. Bullock Survey, Abstract F, lying generally north of Hegele Street east of the end of Potts Street, in an area zoned RM-H (Residential Multiple Family Dwelling - Highest Density) was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 89-36 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE ISSUING A SPECIFIC USE PERMIT TO ALLOW FOR THE EXPANSION OF AN EXISTING CEMETERY ON PROPERTY DESCRIBED AS TRACT NO. 1 AND TRACT NO. 1-A, TAX ROLL PLAT B-8, J. W. BULLOCK SURVEY, ABSTRACT 7, BEAUMONT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS. The ordinance was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance No. 89-37 approving a Specific Use Permit to allow a tract of land at 2920 Toccoa Road at 13the Street to be used temporarily for offices and storage of heavy equipment by the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation and Traylor Brothers Construction Company, prime contractors for reconstruction of Eastex Freeway between Delaware and Interstate 10, in an area zoned GC-MD (General Commercial - Multiple Family Dwelling) was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 89-37 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE ISSUING A SPECIFIC USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE TEMPORARY USE OF ONE- THIRD ACRE OF LAND FOR AN OFFICE AND STORAGE SITE FOR A HEAVY CONSTRUCTION COMPANY ON PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2920 TOCCOA ROAD AT 13TH STREET, BEAUMONT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS. The ordinance was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 89-137 recognizing Main Street on the Neches as a community festival, authorizing City participation, and establishing a budget for festival events (Administration/Operations at $14,000, Promotions at $16 , 000, Formula I Boat Races at $85,000, Ethnic Heritage Festival at $24,000 , Main Street Alive at $14 ,000 and Music Festival at $47,000 for a total budget of $200, 000) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -166- July 3 , 1989 Resolution 89-138 authorizing the filing of an application with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for an Urban Homesteading Program for Beaumont and designating the Beaumont Housing Finance Corporation as the Local Urban Homesteading Agency to administer the program with technical support to be provided by the City' s Housing Assistance Division was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 89-139 accepting the work performed under contract with W. B. Construction Company for construction of the Woodlands Reinforced Concrete Drainage Box Project for a total cost of $161 , 333 . 00 and authorizing final payment to the contractor in the amount of $9,187 . 65 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Samuel and seconded by Councilman Smith. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 89-140 accepting the work performed under contract with John Bankston Construction and Equipment Rental Company for construction of off-site improvements for the Stedman Building Project, approving Change Order No. 2 for adjustments in the contract estimates necessary to reflect the as-built quantities (total contract amount to $263 ,306. 83 ) and authorizing final payment to the contractor in the amount of $58, 393 . 73 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lee and seconded by Councilman Brumley. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- John Gorman, Director of Community Services, reviewed planned events for the July 4th festivities to be held on Riverfront Park. Councilman Cokinos, host of last week' s Sunday in the Park, was complimented by various members of Council for the fun and festivities. Councilman Moore expressed his appreciation for Lamar University' s recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Civil Rights signing. Councilman Moore also expressed gratitude to the American Red Cross for their efforts last week in helping flood victims of the Corley Street area. In addition, Councilman Moore expressed his concerns for residents on Verone Street and Corley because of the recent heavy rains and flooding of homes and requested an update of drainage projects in the Southend of the City. Councilman Moore also reported that there are several parks within the "City where lights are not in operation under the complexes where adults and children play basketball at night and I 'd like to see what it takes to get those repaired along with the guarding for the very expensive light bulbs. " -167- July 3 , 1989 Councilman Cokinos expressed his appreciation for Fire Department personnel and their efforts in the recent tragic flood-related drownings of two teenagers. Councilman Lee reported receipt of a phone call with reference to some "no truck through traffic" signs or enforcement of some signs in the Walden Road/Major Drive area and asked whether the City had made some recent changes in the area. City Manager will check with staff and report at a later date. Councilman Brumley expressed his appreciation for those attending the recent Concerts on the Move held in Rogers Park. He then reminded everyone of the special program planned for July 13th Concerts on the Move will be held in Klein Park. Featured artists Vince Vance and the Valiants and others will perform. Councilman Moore acknowledged the Street Department' s efforts in providing assistance to citizens in the recent flooding in the City. MAYOR MEYERS: "I will just really take a quick second to share with you the pleasure I had at the awards . . . the Jefferson Awards. They are presented in Washington each year by the American Institute for Public Service. They recognize outstanding Americans in different categories. And, on Wednesday, they have a dinner in the Jefferson Room in the State Department. It' s a magnificent experience. The room is tremendous. And they bring people in from all over America who were nominated. I am serving on the Board of Nominators; people through communities around America are nominated. Then they select a few winners in varying categories. One was Paul Nitze who had worked with President Reagan on the 1988 INF Treaty; but, I guess we were talking earlier about the housing. A woman who they call Aunt Bea. She represented 730 women . . families who lived in a low-income project and she has actually been forceful enough to create legislation within Congress allowing these people to all buy their own apartments. But, the most touching without question was Nick Buoniconti . . the former Miami Dolphin' s son Marc received the ' 35 and under' American Public Service Award and his dad was with him, sitting next to him. And, I was just standing just right to the left and this is my interpretation but I believe I would be right. His son started to quiver as he was speaking. I mean, this was in the Supreme Court West Room, introduced by Justice Byron White and, so, this young fellow in the wheel chair was in real prestigious company and, aside from his being paralyzed, he obviously started to get nervous. You could see his Dad' s hand holding his arm as it was quivering and he was staring at him. And I just knew what was going on in his mind. -168- July 3 , 1989 MAYOR MEYERS continued: "This kid had been an outstanding football prospect when he was injured and paralyzed. He has raised I think some $16. 0 million and has created a facility for research on injuries like that where people get paralyzed. And, his father was looking at him and saying that ' if you had been the greatest football in the world, you know, I couldn' t be any more proud of you than I am right now. ' It was a great experience. I am going to try and put something together that would give you all a flavor for the total thing; but more importantly we are going to try to become directly involved in this process of nominating people from our area for public service consideration. Next year, for the first time, the American Institute for Public Service has signed a contract with the Weekly Reader Magazine which goes into 9 million . . . it reaches 9 million elementary students and the contract that they are working with them is next year for children 10 and under to heighten the awareness of volunteerism in America. They will have one winner from each state - youngsters coming to Washington also being selected for public service awards. And, we are going to work to see that our community is involved in this public service connection. The Beaumont Enterprise I believe is involved now in the Jefferson Awards. But, it was an outstanding experience One that I wouldn' t want to miss it and look forward to the next one. " -000- Mr. Tony Sacker, 4635 Elmherst, addressed Council on many subjects: requested a resolution from the City of Beaumont supporting President Bush' s request for legislation concerning desecration of the American flag; Beaumont Chapter of the Red Cross work for flood victims, especially for the 9 homes located on Verone and Steward; complimented the Police and Fire Departments; and complained that a Plant Nursery located at Dowlen and Delaware was storing wooden pallets outside their fenced property. -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 3 , 1989. Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -169- July 3 , 1989