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Home My WebLink AboutMIN JAN 25 1977 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD JANUARY 25 , 1977 BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 25th day of January, 1977, with the following present: HONORABLE Ken Ritter Mayor Don Cash Councilman, Ward I Vi McGinnis Councilwoman, Ward II Calvin Williams Councilman, Ward III Leroy Evans Councilman, Ward IV Howard McDaniel City Manager Kenneth Wall City Attorney -000- The Invocation was given by the Reverend Claude E. Payne, St. Mark' s Episcopal Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Evans. -000- Mayor Ritter issued one proclamation: "Bruce Lietzke Day in Beaumont" January 25, 1977 . -000- The Minutes of the regular City Council session held January 18 , 1977 , were approved on a motion made by Councilwoman McGinnis and seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000-- Resolution 77-17 authorizing the advertising for bids to relocate the sanitary sewer force main in connection with the Civic Center Project, No. 70-74-042-061, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cash and seconded by Councilwoman McGinnis. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 77-18 authorizing the award of bid for furnishing 2 ,000 shoul- der patches at a cost of $1,900. 00 for the Police Department's uniforms to Kaufman Uniform Company was approved on a motion made by Councilwoman McGinnis and seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes : All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 77-19 authorizing the award of bid for furnishing one (1) one- ton stake body truck for the Parks and Recreation Department to Beaumont Motor Company ($7 ,100. 52) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Evans and seconded by Councilwoman McGinnis. Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 77-20 authorizing the rejection of all bids received for the eight cubic-yard dump truck and authorizing the readvertising for bids was approved on a motion made by Councilwoman McGinnis and seconded by Councilman Evans. Question: Ayes : All Nayes : None -��- January 25, 1977 Resolution 77-21 authorizing the American National Bank to pledge addi- tional collateral in the amount of $2,105,000 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cash and seconded by Councilwoman McGinnis. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 77-22 authorizing Change Order No. 1 to the general contract (adding $4 ,100. 00 for concrete casing of the underground tension cables) with Spaw-Glass, Inc. on the Fair Park Arena, CAP 73-74-021, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Evans and seconded by Councilwoman McGinnis. Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 77-23 authorizing the repair of 1971 Gradeall No. 171-G660 by Highland Equipment Company (repairs approximately $1,200. 00 - equipment assigned to Street Department) was approved on a motion made by Council- woman McGinnis and seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes: All Nayes : None -000- Ordinance No. 77-10 amending Chapter 12 of the Code of Ordinances, setting the number of positions in the Police Department (provides for 3rd division) was considered: r ORDINANCE NO. 77-10 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 12, SECTION 12-19 (4) AND 12-19 (5) , BY REDUCING THE NUMBER OF POSITIONS IN GRADE IV AND INCREASING THE NUMBER OF POSITIONS IN GRADE V BY ONE (1) ; AND AMENDING THE FISCAL BUD- GET OF THE CITY OF BEAUMONT FOR THE PERIOD COMMENDING OCTOBER 1, 1976, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1977, BY CHANGING THE NUMBER OF POSITIONS IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT; PRO- VIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND PROVIDING FOR REPEAL. The ordinance was approved on a motion made by Councilwoman McGinnis and seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 77-24 authorizing the settlement of the City of Beaumont V. Fairco Realty Company, Inc. , a condemnation case; and authorizing the advertising for bids to demolish certain structures north of Wall Street for the Pearl-Orleans Crossover Project was approved on a motion made by Councilwoman McGinnis and seconded by Councilman Cash. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Mrs. Georgia Bayard, 1898 Cartwright, read statement questioning many items funded in the budget and also spoke in favor of wage increases for City firemen. Mr. W. W. Lea, 5080 Helbig Road, Apt. 55, addressed Council in opposition to the sale of alcoholic beverages in the Civic Center. Mrs. W. J. (Annie) DeRise, 1275 Fulton, spoke in favor of the Firemen. Mr. Everett Brashear, 1845 E. Lucas, called for unity between the City and Firefighters and also stated he was strictly opposed to the Recall movement. -13- January 25, 1977 Mr. Ernest Bayard, 1898 Cartwright, told Council he had begun the recall petition against Council members because he thought City management and Council could run the City in a more efficient and businesslike manner and said he felt people of Beaumont ought to be more interested in their City government. Mr. Bob Keith, 1315 Audubon, addressed Council in opposition to the recall movements by Messrs. Lea and Bayard and commended Council for its "integ- rity, stability, compassion and sense of progressiveness" . Mr. Maurice Meyers, 1260 Nottingham, addressed Council in opposition to the recall movements. Mr. Leantha J. Redd, 2720 San Antonio, spoke in opposition to the recall movements and cautioned the Firefighters Union not to seek unfair advan- tage of the City. Mr. J. D. Allen, 6170 Garner Road, City Firefighter, addressed Council to ask that consideration be given to increasing salaries of all city em- ployees. Mr. Howard McDaniel, City Manager, read the following statement: "Last December 15 we were confronted with a court order requiring pay raises in the fire department that would cost the city an additional $2,420,232 if added on to the salaries and benefits the department was already receiving. That would amount to 44 cents on the tax rate for one year. Moreover, the raises would be a recurring annual expense, requir- ing $2,420,232 for the year we are in now and another $2 ,420 ,232 for each year in the future plus any additional amount which might be added as a result of renewal of wage negotiations. The money was not available and we had no prospects in sight for raising it. Our only choice was to try to adjust to the order by modifying the department' s operation to reduce the additional cost as much as we could without reducing service below the level required for adequate fire protection. One of the changes we made was the institution of a 40-hour work week to eliminate the requirement of paying overtime for 16 hours that the firemen had been working on straight time prior to the court ruling. Although the judgment is not final the city implemented to 40-hour work week in order to eliminate potential liability of $1 million if judg- ment is upheld. This reduced the additional expense but it also resulted in reduc- ing the manning level of the fire stations from 65 men on duty under the old schedule to 46 on the 40-hour week. The adjustment required by the new schedule was a radical change that was difficult for the firemen and created problems in the performance of their duties. Added to that was the fact that the incidence of fires during De- cember and January was substantially higher than in past years. During the month of December and the period through Jan. 23 , the department had to respond to 137 more calls than in the same period last year. Nevertheless, I am happy to be able to report that even with the reduced manning level the department was able to cope with the increased work load, although in some cases off-duty personnel had to be called in for service. I feel that this is a tribute to the ability and dedication of our firefighting personnel. As city manager, I have always been extremely proud of our fire department and its achievements. I would like to emphasize that as far as I am concerned the changes we have had to make were not a matter of choice but a matter of necessity. I want to express my gratitude to the department for its efforts to main- tain a high standard of fire protection in the face of unusual difficulties. I think it should be pointed out also that the court ordered raises were not based on the usual economic considerations. We have always had more applicants for the department than we have had vacancies. And accord- -14- January 25, 1977 ing to the information we had the salaries and benefits in the past have been considerably higher than the average for the nine cities we ordinarily use for comparisons. This was the case last summer even before the 5 per cent increase that was granted effective with the start of the current budget year Oct. 1. The court' s ruling was based solely on provisions in the collective bargaining law requiring salaries comparable to those in private industry. Our costs will continue to increase each year to the detriment of city ser- vices and other employees who do not have bargaining rights. Although we have been able to reduce the additional cost involved in conforming to the court order we still have to work out some means of financing the additional expenditures that will be required even with the changes. " -000- There being no further business, the meeting was recessed before contin- uing with the Council Workshop session. -000- I, Rosemarie Chiappetta, Deputy 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 25, 1977. Rosemarie Chiappetta Deputy City Clerk -15- January 25, 1977