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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN JAN 23 1990 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD JANUARY 23, 1990, 1:15 P.M. BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 23rd day of January, 1990, with the following present: HONORABLE: 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 Absent: Maurice Meyers Mayor Ray A. Riley City Manager Tyrone Cooper Asst. City Attorney Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -000- The Invocation was given by the Reverend Dan Dark, pastor of Westwood Bible Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Samuel. -000- One Proclamation was issued: "Miss Texas Senior America Week, " January 22-17, 1990. -000- Mayor Pro Tem Lee informed the Council audience that Mayor Meyers is in Washington, D.C. -000- Mayor Pro Tem Lee asked Ms. Claudia Eisenmann to make a statement about a very special organization in which she is involved and has been proclaimed and recognized as a superior organization. MS. CLAUDIA EISENMANN: Thank you very much. I appreciate that, Councilman Lee. Minact, Inc. is the company that I represent, and we are new to Beaumont, Texas, and actually, new to the State of Texas. We have got our first contract -24- January 23 , 1990 awards here in Beaumont in cooperation with the Private Industry Council and also the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission. We're very proud to be the 1989 recipients of the Department of Labor's "Minority Contractor of the Year. " It's a very prestigious award, and we feel very, very fortunate to have it. We received the award because we have had superior excellence in Department of Labor contracts over the past twelve years. We're happy to be in Beaumont, happy to be Texas, and I want to take up just a few minutes of your time this afternoon and tell you a little bit about the kind of programs that we have brought here to Beaumont to try to serve the individuals in Beaumont. First thing I want to mention is that we are funded through the Job Training Partnership Act that is a pool of Federal monies that trickles down to the State and Local Governments to provide services for individuals who need employment and training assistance on local levels. And, what that simply means as it all boils down is that it's your tax dollars helping your residents here in Beaumont, Texas. It's not money going off to China or Asia or any of these other places. It's money that helps your own folks. We have two programs currently located in Beaumont. We have one program which is a Youth Transition Center. The concept of this program is a program that was also recognized by the Department of Labor as being a very superior transitional-type program for young Americans. It serves 16 to 21-year-olds who are unemployed and out of school and have specific kinds of barriers to employment. Those barriers could be, perhaps, they're a single parent, maybe they have a need for basic skills-- education--they need remedial assistance, they have low-employability skills, they could be dropouts, they could be youth offenders, and the list could certainly go on and on and on. But the point is just this, that we take them into our program if they're eligible in terms of having a low income, and we spend time with them, giving them approximately 80 to 90 hours of training in pre-employment and work maturity skills; also, basic education remedial skills, do a lot of assessment with them in terms of trying to assess: Number 11 what are these individual 's abilities, and Number 2 , where do their interests lie? We put those two things together and form an employability development plan that takes them all the way through their training, and then, subsequently, out into job placement. The idea is to take these folks off of what sometimes may have been a situation where they're third or fourth generation welfare recipients and get them to where they're paying money back into the tax system. The other program that we have is an adult program, serves 22, ages 22 and over on out to whatever age. The program is an Occupational Specifics Skill Training Program for cashiers and clerical-type people that would work in retail establishments. It's approximately 120 hours of training and involves the same kind of components. We do have a basic education component for work literacy skills. We also have pre- employment training and work maturity skills. All that is coupled in with occupation specifics skills that would involve things such as customer relations skills, cash register, programming, and operations, how you utilize the new scanner equipment, and that kind of thing. And, of course, the ultimate goal in all of Minact' s programs would to be to get these individuals placed. So, we have a very, very strong emphasis on placement. We try to place as many of our graduates from the programs -25- January 23, 1990 as possible, and so far we think it's going to be a very, very successful program. That cashier program is one that is new to Beaumont and new to us, in terms of we've had the concept quite a long time, but this has been our first opportunity to put that program together and see it utilized. We've had an excellent response so far. I want to take this opportunity to invite each and everyone of you, both the Councilmembers and also the citizens that are here today. . .to come to our grand opening and our open house which will be this Thursday at 4: 30 p.m. We're going to have a Chamber ribbon cutting and following with a reception. I 'm very pleased to say that we going to have several corporate representatives here, Number 1 will be our President and Company Founder, Mr. Booker T. Jones, who is just a fascinating gentleman, and he'll be on hand to celebrate along with our company Division Head and also Vice President of Marketing and Development. So, please come out. We want you to see how your tax money is helping your citizens here in Beaumont. Thank you very much. MAYOR PRO TEM LEE: Thank you, and we appreciate you bringing Minact to Beaumont, and I see from my notes that you have just recently moved here from Bowling Green, Kentucky. . .We're glad to have you, and I know that you will find that the people of Beaumont are very friendly and cordial. We do appreciate everything that you're doing, and we look forward to seeing you at the reception. -000- Mayor Pro Tem Lee said that in addition to caring about the way people feel, Beaumont takes great pride in the way the community looks and asked Maree Calcote, Clean Community Commission Chairman, to officiate in distribution of Pride in Beaumont Awards. MRS. CALCOTE• We are very pleased to honor some very, very special people today, and I 'm going to move forward with one because we have some people who have to go back to work. But, one of the most important things that we can have in this community, is to have people put forth their efforts and work within their own neighborhoods to improve that neighborhood. On Gladys Street, the Macedonia Baptist Church and the Reverend Ron Bishop have done a tremendous job over a long period of time in cleaning and working with the City making sure that crack houses were torn down. They've cleaned up areas. The men worked after Christmas and cleaned up an alley that took all the vegetation away from some of these crack houses, and it's made it much safer for the people in that community. So, I would like to ask for the members of the Macedonia Baptist Church and the Reverend Ron Bishop to come forward, please. Now, these people have worked, and we worked down there on one of our clean-ups this Fall, and these lovely ladies cook the best gumbo in town for us. . .Let me read this. It says, "In recognition of appreciation for special achievement -26- January 23, 1990 in neighborhood and community beautification, the Pride in Beaumont Award is presented to Macedonia Baptist Church by the City Council of Beaumont and the Clean Community Commission. " Signed by Maurice Meyers and Maree Calcote on January 23, 1990. . .We want to tell you, each of you, how much we appreciate what you're doing in this community, and we just feel like the work that you're doing is fantastic, and we want you to keep it up. . . We have one that reads for the Reverend R. L. Bishop. Ron has done a tremendous job in showing really what leadership should be in a community, and they continue to work, and we're so very, very pleased. Ron, we thank you for all you've done. Would you like to say something? REVEREND R. L. BISHOP: Yes, I would. I 'd like to first of all thank God for giving us the strength and the courage, and there was so many people who were joined in this, that's David Moore, Audwin Samuel, John Labrie, and, of course, Maree. They were great, and we're so very thankful that we had the chance and opportunity, and we hope that it would kind of spread and people would take more of a pride in their community. Again, we thank you for these awards, and God bless and keep everyone of you. MAYOR PRO TEM LEE: Thank you very much, Reverend Bishop. Councilman Moore and Councilman Samuel added their compliments to both the Reverend Bishop and the parishioners of Macedonia Baptist Church for their unselfishness, hard work, and community spirit in helping to make their neighborhood a safer and better place. They said the Reverend Bishop practices what he preaches, he does not only delegate responsibility, but he participates in the work. MRS. CALCOTE : Now, we're going to move to the West side of Beaumont. The Clean Community Commission has long recognized the importance of recycling as a real answer to our solid waste issues and something that's only going to be mandated nationally, but things we're going to have to do locally. The next person, or the next two persons, that we're going to recognize, are two people who have set about on their own to set up a recycling program in their neighborhood, and I 'd like for Mrs. Lois Heidrick and John Edwards, Mr. John Edwards, to come forward. Mrs. Heidrick and Mr. Edwards once a week go through the neighborhood on Thomas Road and Thomas Park and that area and collect the recyclable materials and take them to the recycling center. This is something that Mrs. Heidrick has done on her own. She's gone about educating her neighbors and the people in that community on the importance of recycling, and we just thought she needed a little recognition for all the good work she does. Lois, we really appreciate you. (presented award) -27- January 23 , 1990 Mr. Edwards, since you have taken a part in this, we want you to have this. (presented an award) Lois, MRS. HEIDRICK• John and I are certainly pleased to have these recognitions of our achievements, but we feel pretty humble as we now have heard about the people of the Macedonia church and the Reverend Bishop. So, what we've done is pretty small potatoes compared to what they're doing, but we have enjoyed doing it. We began this a year ago this month. I wanted to get my neighbors interested in this project, but I didn't really know how we could get our materials out to the recycling place, and then I though of my good friend, John Edwards, and because he's good man, and he has a truck, and so that was the answer. So, from the start, John wanted to do it. He realized that the profits were going to be pretty slim, if negligible, none at all. But, he wanted to do it because he's a good citizen, and he realizes that it's important for all of us to save these things rather than throw them to the City to be put on the dump and cause troubles. So, John and I are very happy to accept these awards. MAYOR PRO TEM LEE: . . .To Mr. Edwards and Mrs. Heidrick, Macedonia Church, and to Reverend Bishop, we do appreciate your extra effort. It's a lot of people doing a lot of things separately, but together that makes a big change in a community, and I think that is what is the hallmark of this community right now and over the past three or four years, and we certainly hope that that trend continues because Beaumont is going to do nothing but go forward if that's the case. So, we thank you all, and thank you Maree, and Delia (Harrington) back there, we thank you for all your efforts as well. -000- Citizen comment was invited on the Consent Agenda and Main Agenda Items 1 through 4. No one wished to address these items. -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered: Approval of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held January 16, 1990; Resolution No. 90-13 appointing Gus Keriotis to the Sister City Commission with a term expiring December 31, 1990; and Resolution No. 90-14 authorizing purchase of Parcel 146, 0. 113 acres of land out of the Hezekiah Williams Survey, from Ralph S. and Dorothy -28- January 23 , 1990 Grantham for the appraised value of $8,907. 00 for the Major Drive (FM 3 64) Project. The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Coumcilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Moore. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance No. 90-4 canvassing the returns of the Special Election held January 20, 1990 for the purpose of voting on the repeal of Ordinance No. 89-58 establishing a Street User Fee (2, 051 votes cast for repeal and 3, 100 against repeal) was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 90-4 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE CANVASSING THE RETURNS OF THE ELECTION HELD IN THE CITY OF BEAUMONT ON THE 20TH DAY OF JANUARY, 1990. Ordinance No. 90-4 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Smith. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Ordinance No. 90-5 establishing speed limits on Phelan Boulevard by reducing the 50-mile-per-hour speed limit to 45-miles-per-hour for the section of Phelan Boulevard from the west city limits to a point 2,800 feet west of the centerline of Major Drive was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 90-5 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 26, SECTION 26-23 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF BEAUMONT TO ESTABLISH MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM SPEEDS IN CERTAIN ZONES; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL AND PROVIDING A PENALTY. Ordinance No. 90-5 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Brumley and seconded by Councilman Cokinos. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 90-15 authorizing a new five-year contract with Ronald Pfleider for operation of the Henry Homberg Municipal Golf Course on Tyrrell Park with changes to include contract payments of 12% of all gross receipts collected by Mr. Pfleider in operation of the course and clubhouse facilities, give the operator the right to construct capital -29- January 23 , 1990 improvements subject to approval by the City Manager and becoming the property of the City, and changing the cancellation clause was approved on a motion made by Councilman Brumley and seconded by Councilman Moore. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 90-16 accepting the work performed under a contract for the Beaumont Information Center and Babe Zaharias Park Improvement Project with three change orders increasing the total contract amount from $135, 300. 00 to $149,450. 30 and authorizing final payment in the amount of $7,472 . 00 to W. B. Construction, Inc. was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Councilman Brumley commented that as visitors enter Beaumont from the East on Interstate 10, it appears that a very patriotic spirit has been planned with the War Memorial at Babe Zaharias Park followed by a few miles with the large United States flag recently erected at Ramada Inn. He complimented the addition of the War Memorial. Councilman Samuel asked that the Engineering Department investigate the feasibility of installing a traffic light at East Gill and Magnolia because of Senior Citizens residing at Magnolia Gardens having difficulty crossing the street at that point and the number of children in that area and requested the status of the red light that is to be placed at Bigner Road at Lucas. Councilman Smith requested the Street Division check the Southeast corner of 6th Street and Calder where the street has been elevated and the drainage disrupted. Councilman Moore thanked Staff for installing a traffic light at Buford and Irving and questioned when Southwestern Bell is going to complete the sidewalk activity they have begun in running cable down Buford Street. -000- Mrs. Jan Dunlap, 1750 Sams Way, addressed Council to express opposition to a group home for the mentally retarded being established in her neighborhood at 1760 Sams Way. Mayor Pro Tem Lee informed Mrs. Dunlap that a meeting is being planned between State officials, providers for the group home, and residents of the proposed neighborhoods where these groups home are to be established, and the residents will be notified of the exact time and date. This will be the appropriate time to express concerns and ask questions. Mr. Michael Hall, 11025 Pine Haven, addressed Council regarding Oaks -30- January 23, 1990 Living Center establishing a group home for the mentally retarded in his neighborhood. Mr. Hall said the General Warranty Deed for Pine Island Bayou Estates has a restriction prohibiting any building other than a family residence to be built on any lot and asked for help in upholding the deed restrictions. Mrs. Virginia Moore, 10880 Pine Haven, also spoke in opposition to the group home being established in Pine Island Bayou Estates and said she is investigating filing a law suit for breach of contract if the deed restrictions are not followed. Mr. Henry Dannenbaum, 1567 Wall, addressed Council to list the various agencies available in Beaumont for people with special needs. Mrs. Jan Dunlap, 1750 Sams Way, addressed Council again to question why existing houses are being bought for the group homes instead of vacant lots where they could be erected. Mayor Pro Tem Lee encouraged Mrs. Dunlap to ask these kind of questions at the upcoming meeting. Mr. Roberto Flores, 2425 Buchanan, addressed Council in support of the mentally retarded having the right to live within the community. -000- There being no further business, the meeting was recessed before continuing with 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 January 23, 1990. Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -31- January 23 , 1990