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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN NOV 18 1980 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD NOVEMBER 18 , 1980 BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont , Texas , met in regular session this the 18th day of November , 1980 , with the following present : HONORABLE : Maurice Meyers Mayor Tom Combs , Jr . Councilman , Ward I Evelyn M. Lord Councilman , Ward II Calvin Williams Councilman , Ward III Wayne Turner Councilman , Ward IV Ray Riley City Manager R. E . Platt Asst . City Manager George Phair Asst . City Attorney Myrtle Corgey City Clerk -000- The Invocation was given by Mr . R. E. Platt , Asst . City Manager. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Combs . -000- Mayor Meyers read the following from a letter received from Mr . Rolland B. Handley, Regional Director of the United States Department of Interior Heri- tage Conservation and Recreation Service , South Central Region : "We are very much aware that the City of Beaumont is committed to the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program and that local success stories are largely the result of energy and commitment of the local planners and that quite often these efforts do go unnoticed. " To acknowledge the outstanding job which Norman Whitaker of our Planning Department has done , a Regional Certificate of Recognition for his efforts in developing an outstanding Preliminary Action Plan has been sent . The following certificate was presented: "The South Central Regional Office of the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service in Albuquerque , New Mex- ico, acknowledges Norman Whitaker as an SCRO Ambassador in recognition of outstanding recreation planning efforts . " -000- MAYOR MEYERS : It was in September 5th of 1979 that an effort began known as PEP which stands for Planning Economic Progress . It was a joining together of business and labor to try effectively to provide a forum that could bring both of these important segments of our region together to work and better understand each other and to turn around the years and years of mistrust and the bad image that was reflected on our region throughout the country. Tomorrow is a very significant day for this PEP group and, so , with us today, we have Mr. Jim Yarborough , President of American Valve and Hydrant , and Mr . Jack Kennedy , Business Manager of the Sabine Area. Building and Construction Trades Council of the AFL-CIO. Both of these gentlemen since September 5 , 1979 , 1 would say have spent more time working on the PEP effort to try to make this a better place for all of us to live , work and raise our families than they have in their own job-paying endeavors because PEP is , of course, a volunteer effort that business and labor have come together to work on . And, Jim, if you would , I would appreciate your coming to the microphone for a moment and sharing a little bit about tomorrow with the folks and then, Jackie, likewise. -208- November 18 , 1980 MR. JIM YARBOROUGH: Thank you , Mayor and members of the City Council . First , let me thank you for supporting the efforts of PEP. The Mayor spent many hours himself with the Committee as our advisor and on several occasions I asked him if the Council was happy with our efforts. His answer always was "absolutely. " So , we thank you - not only for your confidence , but for the financial help during our first year. I am happy to report to you that progress is being made . The Committee has been successful in a number of cases where disputes arose between business and labor . We 've acted as a third party , always supporting what was right . Sometimes labor was right and sometimes management was right ; but , perhaps, the greatest accomplishment has been to establish lines of communication, Friendships have developed between labor leaders and businessmen that did not exist before PEP. This allows us to tackle the problem areas before they result in Picket lines and strikes . Admittedly , we have not solved all the problems , but we have a plan . We learned in the very beginning that the greatest barrier to progress was in a single issue -- the "no compromise" attitude of special interest groups - in the unbending arro- gance of a few who thrive on telling people what can ' t be done. But , our approach has been what can be done. With that approach, we 've been able to set aside conflict in favor of cooperation, to agree on common goals , and to work in unison in reaching them. Cynical , narrow self-in- terest has been replaced with a determined unified approach by former ad- versaries who are working together for the community ' s well-being. This afternoon , I am happy to announce to you that tomorrow, at 9 :30 a.m. , we will jointly sponsor a Productivity Conference at the Civic Center . Four hundred (400) people will attend with outstanding speakers from business and labor . This is progress when businessmen and labor leaders can sit down and plan a meeting to discuss ways to increase productivity and lower costs , which, in turn , reduces inflation . If we are successful , we will attain our original goal . It is a long range goal by promoting the over- all economic and prosperity of the area with new industries , more jobs , a higher standard of living, and improved quality of life for all our resi- dents . For our Conference tomorrow, we have assembled an impressive list of speak- ers , From the labor unions , we have Harry Hubbard, President of the Texas AFL-CIO, and Robert Georgine , who is the president of the Building and Con - struction Trades Department from Washington , And, from the business sector, we have Dr. C. Jackson Grayson , Jr . , Chairman of the Board of the American Productivity Center, and Charles Brown , who is Director of the Construction Division for all of duPont , worldwide. The Mayor has purchased tickets for each of you and we look forward to seeing you at that Conference. MAYOR MEYERS : Thank you very much , 'Jim. Jack . . . . . . ? MR. JACK KENNEDY: Thank you a lot , Mayor and Council . I would like to echo Jim' s sentiments that we have been through a lot of problems in the last year and have solved a lot . I can remember back when we started with Gulf States and worked out many situations with them where they might improve their situation and get their facility built . We worked with the Gulf Refinery - we worked with Texaco , and some of the commercial problems in the area - Toys R Us that has been built in Beaumont . We got that opened three days ahead of sche- dule . We are looking forward to working with the National Productivity Center next year . We are going to have stewards ; we are going to have fore- men ; and we are going to work with the National Productivity Center next year in bringing new industry and improving our livelihood in the area. Also, while I am here, I would like to thank Lamar College . Lamar has put a slide presentation together for us . They have worked many , many hours on this presentation. I ' ll be glad to see it tomorrow for the first time. We are looking forward to the future of Beaumont , Orange , and Port Arthur as we expand to bring many, many new jobs to the area. -209- November 18 , 1980 MR. KENNEDY continued: I have PEP decals and I ' ll give each one of you one of these and you will be seeing these decals in the future. You ' ll see them on hardhats , bum- per stickers . I would like to thank the Council and the Mayor for helping us in the past year and look forward to many , many good more years together . Thank you. MAYOR MEYERS : Thank you very much, Jack. One of the most important things now from the standpoint of PEP as a committee that has worked privately and quietly - because if PEP was successful , you never saw the picket signs go up or the signs that may have been up that morning came down - and the only time that you might know of some activity that wasn ' t successful is if they were on strike . So , a lot of people don ' t really know at this point if PEP is a breakfast cereal or a candy bar . But , the job now of education is very important and the presentation that is going to be shown tomorrow for the first time will be taken to union halls and companies for supervisory per- sonnel , rank and file people in the union halls , to make them understand how important it is that PEP have an opportunity to deal with the problems early . Because , after a while , just like when two friends have an argu- ment , a few months later they can hardly remember what caused it . And, we find that to be the same case here . So , we would ask, Jackie , if you've got any more, give -them around to anybody who would care to . . . Of course , the thrust of this is that we will hope that our entire Golden Triangle Region will have PEP and that , in my judgment , this effort for which they have worked so hard along with the rest of the members of business and la- bor on the committee , in my judgment , will ultimately be the singular most important effort to bring about the results for economic development and growth in our region that have been predicted and the evidence now is start- ing to surface where people in other communities are not saying bad things about our region as a place to do business , but they ' re speaking of the cooperation they have gotten from both labor and management when they were here . And, again , Jim and Jack, for your leadership , on behalf of Council , we thank you. I think in the months and years ahead, the work that you have put in will come back one hundred-fold. So, thank you for being here and we look forward to being at the conference tomorrow with you both. -000- Mayor Meyers issued the following proclamations : "Family Week in Beaumont" November 23-29, 1980 and "Family Violence Center Week in Beaumont" - Nov- ember 16-23 , 1980 . -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered „ The Minutes of the regular City Council session held November 4, 1980 ; Resolution 80-398 granting ITT Terryphone Corporation two Special-Use Per- mits (one for the installation of wire across Mariposa to serve Munro Dry Cleaning Company and one for the installation of wire crossing Calder and Center with communications cable to serve Myron Gray Chrysler Center; Resolution . 80-399 authorizing_Lng renewal of a one-year lease with Xerox Corp . for a Xerox 3400 with Collator at an average monthly rate of $470 . 00, not to exceed $5600. 00, to be used in the Executive Offices ; Resolution 80-400 authorizing the City Manager to file and execute an ap- plication with the Urban Mass Transportation Administration to obtain funds for the Beaumont Municipal Transit Paratransit Project (mini-buses) ; Resolution 80-401 granting a 10 x 1141 utility easement to Gulf States Util- ities Company to provide underground electrical service to Fire Station #1 ; -210- November 18 , 1980 Resolution 80-402 accepting the bid of Boise Cascade Building Materials Center for lumber and other materials for use at the Water Treatment Plant at a cost of $1 ,449. 82 ; Resolution 80-403 accepting the bid of Savin Corporation for furnishing a reconditioned copier for use in the Street Division at a cost of $1 , 967 . 751 Resolution 80-404 authorizing purchase of two automatic water samplers from Instrumentation Specialty Company ( ISCO) for use by the Water Recla- mation Division at a cost of $2 , 882 . 00; Resolution 80-405 accepting the bid of Wickes Lumber Company for furnish- ing 15 , 000 feet of 3/4" plastic water pipe for use in the Water Utilities Department at a cost of $1 , 935. 00; Resolution 80-406 authorizing purchases of two Alison Automatic Transmis- sions for truck repairs (one at $1 , 287 . 00 plus freight charges for Sani- tation and one at $1 , 232 .40 plus freight charges for Fleed Maintenance) from Kinsel, Ford, Inc . ; Resolution 80-407 accepting the bid of Gulf Coast Business Forms for fur- nishing 40 , 000 traffic citations for the Police Department at a cost of $1 , 990 .40 ; Resolution 80-408 authorizing purchase of parking meter parts from Jerry Dreher , distributor for Duncan Meter Parts , at a cost of $4 , 611 . 00 ; . Resolution 80-409 accepting the bid of Sutherland Lumber Company for fur- nishing roofing material for the Central Park Community Center at a cost of $4 , 199 . 67 ; and Resolution 80-410 accepting the bid of Moore-Cottrell Subscription Agencies Inc . for furnishing various periodical subscriptions for use in the Public Libraries at a cost of $5 , 095 . 00 . The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lord and seconded by Councilman Turner . Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 80-411 authorizing the Legal Department to institute condemna- tion proceedings cc acquire Parcel #1 (EPA Project ) of the Buford-Carroll Project (720-186-475) for the construction of a Sanitary Sewer Lift Sta- tion ( 1417 ' tract on the north side of Buford near Lieiper at an estimated cost of $705. 00) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Combs and seconded by Councilman Turner . question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 80-412 authorizing contracts with Lawyer ' s Title Company for the title work and M. L. Lefler , Jr. for -the appraisal work of 11 parcels for additional right-of-way needed for the Lindbergh Drive (TIP project ) ; with Neches Title Company for title work and Jack C. Aulbaugh for the ap- praisal work of 15 parcels needed for the Sarah Street project ; and with Jefferson Title Company for the title work and Ms . Billy J . Collins for the appraisal work of 9 parcels needed for the Census Tract 23 projects was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lord and seconded by Council- man Turner. Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 80-413 authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with the Beaumont Housing Authority for the use of $15 , 000 in 1980 Community Development Block Grant Funds for the operation of a nutrition program was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lord and seconded by Council- man Williams . Question : Ayes : Mayor Meyers Nayes : Councilman Combs Councilman Lord Councilman Williams Councilman Turner -211- November 18 , 1980 Resolution 80-414 authorizing purchase of a structure located on Lot 9 , Block 16 , Arlington Addition to be moved to 3695 Goliad Street at a cost of $4 , 500. 00 from Beaumont Fast Food Franchise Partnership I was approved on a, motion made by Councilman Williams and seconded by Councilman Combs . Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None --000- Resolution 80-415 authorizing the sale of Parcel #1 (Lots 13 , 14 , & 15 , Block 3 , LaSalle Addition) to Larry Spradley , Trustee , for $12 , 155. 00 ; Parcel #2 (Lots 17 & 18 , Block 3 , LaSalle Addition) for $6 , 351 . 77 and Parcel #3 (Lots 21 & 22 , Block 3 , LaSalle Addition) for $4 , 525 . 77 and Lots I and 2 , Block "K" , T. H. Langham Estate for $34 ,251 . 77 to Lars O. Roedahl was approved on a motion made by Councilman Williams and seconded by Councilman Lord. Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- A resolution authorizing supplemental agreements to assessment paving contracts for Westchester Addition and Elinor Street Projects for addi- tional study was deferred for action . -000- Resolution 80-416 appointing Opal Comeau , Melvin Elkins and Agnes Stewart to serve the Clean Community Commission for two-year terms and Elizabeth Johnson . (3-year term) , Helen Kuhn (2-year terms) and Charles Upham (1-year) to serve the Senior Citizens Advisory Commission was approved on a motion made by Councilman Combs and seconded by Councilman Williams . Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 80-417 authorizing final payment of $24 , 535 . 00 to Aluma-Wall Construction for the installation of a 12" line from the Water Treatment Plant on Grand to run sludge to the Sewer Treatment Plant was approved on a motion made by Councilman Combs and seconded by Councilman Turner. Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Resoluiton 80-418 accepting the bid of Texaco , Inc. for furnishing road oil materials for the Street Department was approved on a motion made by Councilman Turner and seconded by Councilman Lord. Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 80-419 authorizing execution of an agreement with H. H. Sanders and Sons , Inc . for materials and labor to re-roof Fire Station#10 at a cost of $8 , 554. 00 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lord and seconded by Councilman Combs . Question: Ayes : All Nayes : None -000- Resolution 80-420 accepting the bid of Keown Supply Company, Inc . for fur- nishing cement-stabilized sand for the Street &- Water Departments was ap- proved on a motion made by Councilman Combs and seconded by Councilman Turner. Question : Ayes : All Nayes : None -C)00- -212- November 18 , 1980 Mrs . Pat Henderson , 970 Saxe , addressed Council to complain about poor drainage in her area and to present a petition containing 24 pages of signatures and which reads : "We , the undersigned, do hereby petition any and all responsible parties to immediately rectify the problem of poor drainage in the area, within the following boundaries : North - Washington Boulevard; East - University Drive ; South - Cardinal Drive ; West - Avenue A; with special attention to the intersection of Park and Saxe Streets . We feel the repeated loss of personal and real property in this area warrants the expression of our dissatisfaction with the lack of proper drainage facilities . " Mr . Joe Penna, 6360 Pansy, and Mr. Bruce Vincent , 3205 Kenneth, addressed Council to complain about Liberty TV Cable . -000- There being no further business , the meeting was recessed before continu- ing with the City Council Workshop Session . Myrtle Corgey City Clerk -213- November 18 , 1980