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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/19/2020 MINBEAU�M.ONT T E X A S MINUTES OF THE CITY OF BEAUMONT COUNCIL MEETING W.L. Pate, Jr., Mayor Pro Tem BECKY AMES, MAYOR Randy Feldschau., At -Large Taylor Neild, Ward I CITY COUNCIL MEETING Michael D. Getz, Ward If Audwin Samuel, Ward III MAY 19, 2020 Robin Mouton, Ward IV Tyrone E. Cooper, City Attorney Kyle Hayes, City Manager Tina Broussard, City Clerk The City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in a. regular session in strict compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 551 on May 19, 2020, at the City Hall Council Chambers, 801 Main Street, Beaumont, Texas, at 1:30 p.m. to consider the following: OPENING Invocation Pledge of Allegiance Roll Call Presentation and Recognition Public Comment: Persons may speak on scheduled agenda items 1 & 2/Consent Agenda * Consent Agenda Mayor Ames called the council meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. Father Tony Clark of St. Mark's Episcopal Church gave the invocation. Mayor Ames led the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was made by Tina Broussard, City Clerk. Present .at the meeting were Mayor Ames, Mayor Pro Tem Pate, Councilmembers Neild, Getz, Feldschau, Mouton and Samuel. Also present were Kyle Hayes, City Manager; Tyrone Cooper, .City Attorney; Tina Broussard, City Clerk. Proclamations, Presentation, Recognitions "National Maritime Day" - May 22, 2020 - Proclamation read by Councilmember Samuel; accepted by Ivan Mobley, Executive Director of the Seafarer's Center of Beaumont "Emergency Medical Services Week" — May 17-23, 2020 — Proclamation ready by Mayor Ames; accepted by Max Nguyen, Manager of Beaumont Emergency Management Services Public Comment: Persons may speak on scheduled agenda items 1 & 2/Consent Agenda None CONSENT AGENDA Approval of minutes — May 12, 2020 * Confirmation of committee appointments — None Minutes — May 19, 2020 A) .Approve a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with Whitley Penn, LLP to perform auditing services for FY 2020 — Resolution 20-100 B) Authorize the City Manager to execute an Interlocal Agreement with the South East Texas Regional Planning Commission for regional emergency notification registration — Resolution 20-101 Councilmember Getz moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Feldschau seconded the motion. AYES: MAYOR AMES, MAYOR PRO TEM PATE, COUNCILMEMBERS NEILD, GETZ, FELDSCHAU, SAMUEL AND MOUTON NAYS: NONE MOTION PASSED GENERAL BUSINESS 1. Consider a resolution approving a contract with McCreary, Veselka, Bragg and Allen (MVBA) for collection services. This Item Tabled for One Week Among other court -related functions, the Municipal Court Division of the Finance Department processes payments of fines, processes overdue notices of outstanding fines, establishes payments plans, and processes warrants issued for non-payment of outstanding fines. An overdue account goes into warrant status at 30 days past due and is turned over to a collection agency at 60 days past due. A statutory collection fee of 30% is attached to the amount past due and is paid by the defendant upon payment of the past due fine. Requests for Proposal were sent to seventeen (17) vendors. The City received seven responses. The responses were evaluated by City staff and the best score was received MVBA. MVBA will charge the statutory amount of 30%. The contract is for one year with two one-year options to renew. The City currently has a contract with MVBA to provide these services. Funds will come from the statutory collection fee paid by the defendant. Approval of the resolution. Councilmember Getz moved to TABLE THIS ITEM FOR ONE WEEK. Mayor Pro Tem Pate seconded the motion. AYES: MAYOR AMES, MAYOR PRO TEM PATE, COUNCILMEMBERS NEILD, GETZ, FELDSCHAU, SAMUEL AND MOUTON NAYS: - NONE MOTION PASSED Minutes — May 19, 2020 2. Consider a resolution approving a contract with Municipal Services Bureau (MSB) for collection services. The City of Beaumont's Central Collections Division of the Finance Department is responsible for central cashier services, billing, and collection services. The division is responsible for billing .EMS runs to insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid and individuals (self -pay) and pursuing the collections of the related payments. In addition, the division is responsible for billing and collecting miscellaneous receivables. Customers are billed .at the time of service with subsequent statements sent at 30, 60, and 90 -day intervals. Once the City has exhausted all collection efforts, accounts are sent to the contracted collection agency. Accounts are typically turned over to the collection agency once they are at least 90 days delinquent. Requests for Proposal were sent to seventeen (17) vendors. The City received four responses. The responses were evaluated by City staff and the best score was received by MSB. MSB will charge the City seventeen percent (17%) for their services. The contract is for one year with two one-year options to renew. The City currently has a contract with MSB to provide these services. Funds will come from the General Fund. Approval of the resolution. Councilmember Pate moved to APPROVE A RESOLUTION FOR A PROPOSAL SUBMITTED BY GILA, LLC, D/B/A MUNICIPAL SERVICES BUREAU, OF AUSTIN, TEXAS, FOR A ONE (1 ) YEAR CONTRACT WITH AN OPTION TO RENEW FOR TWO (2) ADDITIONAL ONE (1) YEAR PERIODS, FOR COLLECTION SERVICES OF DELINQUENT CENTRAL COLLECTIONS FEES AND THAT THE CITY MANAGER BE AND HE IS HEREBY AUTHORIZED TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH GILA, LLC, D/B/A MUNICIPAL SERVICES BUREAU, OF AUSTIN, TEXAS. Councilmember Neild seconded the motion. AYES: MAYOR AMES, MAYOR PRO TEM PATE, COUNCILMEMBERS NEILD, GETZ, FELDSCHAU, SAMUEL AND MOUTON NAYS: NONE MOTION PASSED Resolution 20-102 PUBLIC HEARING * Receive comments related to a grant application to receive Federal Transit Administration Operating Assistance funds for the Beaumont Municipal Transit System Public Hearing Open: 1:55 p.m. None Public Hearing Close: 1:55 p.m. Minutes — May 19, 2020 3. Consider a resolution authorizing the City Manager to submit a grant application and execute a contract with the Federal Transit Administration to receive Operating Assistance funds for the Beaumont Municipal Transit System. Beaumont Municipal Transit has prepared a grant application for FY2020 grant funds from the FTA. The grant will help fund the labor, fringe benefits, vehicles, parts and supplies, utilities, insurance, and other miscellaneous expenses needed for the operation and maintenance of the Beaumont Municipal Transit (BMT) System in FY2020. The grant period runs from October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020; however, the grant funds are normally made available towards the end of each fiscal year. The City of Beaumont anticipates receiving approximately $2,213,088 in FY2020 grant funds. It should also be noted that the City has been awarded a supplemental CARES Act allocation of grant funds in the amount of $6,263,891. The City Council will determine how best to utilize these additional funds as more information is made available by the FTA. Funds will come from the Federal Transit Administration. Conduct the Public Hearing and approve the resolution. Mayor Pro Tem Pate moved to APPROVE A RESOLUTION THAT THE CITY MANAGER BE AND HE IS HEREBY AUTHORIZED TO SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION AND EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION (FTA) TO RECEIVE AN OPERATING ASSISTANCE GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,213,088.00 FOR THE BEAUMONT MUNICIPAL TRANSIT SYSTEM. Councilmember Getz seconded the motion. AYES: MAYOR AMES, MAYOR PRO TEM PATE, COUNCILMEMBERS NEILD, GETZ, FELDSCHAU, SAMUEL AND MOUTON NAYS: NONE MOTION PASSED Resolution 20-103 WORK SESSION Review and discuss the rain event on May 14, 2020 Bart Bartkowiak, Public Works Director reviewed and discussed the rain event that occurred on May 14, 2020. The DD6 Rain gauge levels for .the May 14, 2020, rain events were discussed as well as the flooding of the Sparrow Way and Caldwood area, as well as the Bigner and Bennett Rd., area. The city underpasses with lift stations were included in the discussions, it was stated that the city has eight stormwater lift stations citywide, which were. all in operating order prior to the rain event. All except the 11th street underpass flooded during the event. The maintenance activities that occur on a weekly basis include the streets and drainage ditching program, street sweeping, two flush trucks, repairing catch basins, and stormwater lift stations. Monthly inspections include trash cage cleaning and semi-annual vacuuming of sand and silts. Lift station maintenance checks are done every Thursday, all lift stations (storm and sewer) are electronically monitored, all pump levels are checked after major rain events. Minutes — May 19, 2020 Mr. Bartkowiak, also discussed the city drainage projects. He stated that the final copy of the Master Drainage Plan will be delivered to the city in December of this year, there are eighteen (18) proposed projects across the city included in the plan ranging from $1,860,000 to $51,310,000 with a total estimated project cost of all projects totaling $270,750,000. There will be continued work on grant opportunities both for city projects and regional projects in cooperation. with DD6. Mayor Ames read the announcement regarding Executive Session being held at the conclusion of the General Business portion of the meeting. COMMENTS Public Comments (Persons are limited to three minutes) Jeremy Pavlich 8596 Rice Dr. Beaumont TX Thanked Mayor and Council for the work that was done on Chamberlin Dr., also glad to see that it was a local contractors doing the work, also commented on the recent rain event that occurred on May 14, 2020 Rachel Hiser 1415 Wellington Oaks St. Beaumont TX Spoke to Council regarding the heavy rain that occurred on May 14, 2020, provided pictures of her neighborhood with clogged street drains as well as debris in the swamp drains and the lines, stated she found multiple drains with no flow and some open culverts that are more than 50% full of silt, rock and debris Fay Barclay 4380 W. Broadway St. Beaumont TX Spoke to Council regarding the heavy rain that occurred on May 14, 2020 and how flooded her street and area was due to the incident, Council has asked that the citizens be _patient, feels that citizens have been patient, flooding needs to be the Council's number one priority, it's their responsibility and needs to take this flooding issue serious and get it done Terry Roy 9150 Shepherd Beaumont TX Stated that he's spoken to Council on several occasions about this issue, every time there is a heavy rain event he has to wait eleven hours before he can flush his toilet, he's contacted just about everybody sitting in the Council Chambers and still no solution, people always talk about change, change is good, maybe the staff that the city employees that's trying to fix the problem needs to be changed, Council is the one that's made to look bad, he's tired of this and needs some help Albert Darby Jr. 1075 Iris Beaumont TX Commented on the rain event that occurred on May 14, 2020, and the streets that flooded in his neighborhood, has a problem with what's going on, Council needs to do something, a lot of money is being spent with no results, if there was a test the city would have failed Minutes — May 19, 2020 Michael Cooper 4155 W. Cardinal Dr. Beaumont TX Stated that he's the President of the NAACP, spoke to Council regarding the Metropolitan Organization which has been around for forty years and is a coalition of institutions and local faith leaderships that advocate for families here in Beaumont, on Thursday, May 14, 2020, the Texas Supreme Court deciding not to extend the eviction moratorium which ended on Monday, May 18, 2020, he's calling upon the City Council to call upon the Governor, the County Judge and leadership to extend the eviction moratorium, Governor Abbott needs to act quickly to protect vulnerable families in the State of Texas, the County Judge needs to also act quickly regarding Jefferson County to extend evictions until August, 2020 William Wilson Sr. 3366 Del Place Beaumont TX Stated that he is a resident of the Fleetwood addition, thanked Council and all entities for all of their hard work that's currently ongoing to mitigate all the flood threats and risk in this area, as well as their tireless efforts to lead the city with vision and progress, requested that Council look at a properly engineered solution or code so that they have proper drainage on Del Place, stated that with some ongoing preventative maintenance that's sustainable between the City of Beaumont and BNSF, they can have pipes that drain into the ditch that was designed to drain into the DD6 outlet that leads to Hildebrandt Bayou, then the city can mitigate the risk with a minimal cost option than what the long term solution will probably represent, asked that Council gives this their immediate attention because their neighborhood is at risk Vernon Tubbs 3290 Pine St. Beaumont TX Stated that he's representing the Baptist Ministers Union as well as the Metropolitan Organization, he's advocating for the families in the community, on Thursday, May 14, 2020, the Texas Supreme Court deciding not to extend the eviction moratorium which ended Monday, May 18, 2020, called on local leaders to call upon the County Judge as well as the Governor to extend the eviction moratorium, ask that the County Judge along with the County Commissioners, the Mayor and City Council create a coronavirus relief fund at the City and County level to address COVID-19 community needs by applying for funding from the $1.85 billion CARES ACT for state allocation, the households in Jefferson County are facing an unprecedented economic crises, stated that Jefferson County doesn't have a rental assistance program or a coronavirus relief fund, without the eviction moratorium or a coronavirus relief fund or rental assistance program Jefferson County families will be facing evictions starting this week and face additional hardships moving forward, asked thatthe city and county.please apply for the funding.that is so desperately needed Dana Lewis 3335 Del Place Beaumont TX Spoke to Council on behalf of the residents of Del Place, Fleetwood and Proctor St., additions, thanked Council for their service and her opportunity to voice their complaints concerning the consistent flooding in their neighborhood, they realized that on Thursday, May 14, 2020, they experienced flooding in a fifteen minute downpour with water encroaching upon their homes, they engulfed with fear, anxiety and stress due to the insufficient and inept water drainage in their area, commented on the drainage involving BNSF which is a issue between the city and the railroad, made additional comments regarding the Proctor St., area Minutes — May 19, 2020 Addie Allen 9695 Gross Beaumont TX Spoke to Council regarding planes flying all day and all night over the Amelia neighborhood going to and from the Municipal Airport, wanted to know what the City is going to do if a plane goes down in their neighborhood, also spoke to Council regarding a letter she received on Thursday, May 14, 2020, with a bill enclosed for some property that she's maintaining for her aunt, doesn't understand why she's getting a letter for weed abatement when they are supposed to be at home under the stay-at-home order, would like to hear from somebody regarding this, stated that she called the Mayor's office regarding contact tracing, discovered that there are four people that are contact tracers in Beaumont, wanted to know if the city was going to move forward on the tracing or will the city sit back and let things happen Jason Marshburn 1070 Monterrey Beaumont TX Stated to Council to have more evening meetings so that more people can attend, made comments about social media, feels like employees should be able to comment on social media about whatever they would like, everyone that is a public servant should embrace social media instead of trying to deny that it exist Councilmembers/City Manager/City Attorney comments on various matters COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS COUNCILMEMBER GETZ - ANNOUNCED A VIRTUAL MEADOWS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2020 AT 4:30 P.M., ALSO THE DOWLENIWEST NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION WILL HAVE THEIR VIRTUAL MEETING AT 7:00 P.M. ON THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020, STATED THAT THE TYRRELL PARK COMMUNITY CENTER WAS MENTIONED EARLIER BY THE CITY MANAGER, SAW AN EMAIL STATING THAT THERE IS AN ABILITY TO FUND THE BACK PART OF THE BUILDING FOR ABOUT $350,000 AND IF COUNCIL WAITS THE COST WILL INCREASE TO $425,000, WANTED TO KNOW IF A CIVIC GROUP OUT THERE WANTS TO PAY FOR THE BACK PART OF THE COMMUNITY CENTER COULD THAT BE DONE, ALSO ASKED IF THERE'S A TIME FRAME THAT WOULD NEED TO, BE. LOOKED AT TO TRY AND GET THE BACK PART OF THE CENTER DONE GIVEN IN REGARDS TO THE EMAIL THAT SHOWED THE PLANS THAT HAVE BEEN LAID OUT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION FOR THE BUILDING, ALSO ASKED WHAT WOULD BE THE APPROPRIATE WAY TO PRESENT A PETITION TO THE CITY THAT HAS BEEN SIGNED BY CITIZENS TO HAVE A SPEED LIMIT LOWERED FROM 30 MPH TO 25 MPH COUNCILMEMBER NEILD - STATED THAT JUNE 26, 2020, THERE WILL BE A FLY IN AT MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, THANKED THE CITY MANAGER FOR THE EFFORT THAT HAS BEEN PUT INTO THE AIRPORT, ALSO THANKED THE CITY MANAGER FOR THE WORKSESSION ON THE RAIN EVENT THAT OCCURRED ON MAY 14, 2020, RECOMMENDED THAT THE MEETING THEY WILL SETUP WITH Minutes — May 19, 2020 LAN BE A SEPARATE MEETING AND NOT PART OF A REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING COUNCILMEMBER FELDSCHAU - SECONDED WHAT COUNCILMEMBER WILD JUST STATED, WANTED THE CITIZENS TO KNOW THAT ALL OF COUNCIL IS CONCERNED. ABOUT THE FLOODING, IT DOES SEEM OVERWHELMING AT TIMES, THERE'S A LOT OF WORK TO BE DONE AND ALL OF THEM LIVE IN BEAUMONT AND SHARE THE SAME CONCERNS, THEY WILL WORK HARD TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES MAYOR PRO TEM PATE - CONGRATULATED MAX NGUYEN AND THE EMS STAFF, SOMETIMES WE TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED UNTIL WE NEED THEM, APPRECIATES DOUG KANATH WITH DD6 FOR ATTENDING THE MEETING, REMINDED CITIZENS THAT MOST OF THE FUNDS THE CITY GETS DOESN'T COME FROM PROPERTY TAXES BUT FROM SALES TAX, ENCOURAGED CITIZENS TO SHOP LOCALLY BECAUSE IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE, ALSO COMMENTED ON THE ISSUES WITH FLOODING THROUGHOUT THE CITY, ASKED THAT EVERYONE BEAR WITH THEM; THEY ARE TRYING TO DO WHAT IS BEST FOR THE CITIZENS OF BEAUMONT COUNCILMEMBER SAMUEL - STATED THAT THERE ARE TWO CITIZENS THAT WOULD LIKE STAFF TO CONTACT THEM REGARDING FLOODING ON THEIR STREETS, DAISY BOWMEN AT 4365 BERKLEY ST., AND DELLA FREEZE AT 5365 LINDA COUNCILMEMBER MOUTON - THANKED ALL OF THE CITIZENS THAT CAME FORWARD TO VOICE THEIR CONCERNS REGARDING THE RAIN EVENT THAT OCCURRED ON MAY 14, 2020, LISTENED TO SEVERAL CITIZENS MAKE COMMENTS THAT COUNCIL ISN'T DOING ANYTHING REGARDING THE FLOODING AND THAT COUNCIL SHOULD BE ASHAMED BECAUSE THEY CAN'T FLUSH THEIR TOILET WHEN IT RAINS OR THAT THEIR STREETS ARE FLOODING, STATED THAT THE TWO NEIGHBORS OF HERS THAT LIVE ON DEL PLACE CAME FORWARD BECAUSE DURING A NORMAL RAIN THEIR STREET FLOODS, WILL PROVIDE STAFF THE NAMES OF CITIZENS THAT CALLED HER THAT LIVE ON PARK ST., THANKED EMS AND FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR ALL THAT THEY DO CITY ATTORNEY COOPER - NONE CITY MANAGER HAYES - NONE MAYOR AMES - COMMENTED ON THE FLOODING ISSUE THROUGHOUTTHE CITY, IT WAS PRETTY WIDE SPREAD, THE COUNCIL HAS HEARD EVERYONE AND WILL BE LOOKING AT THIS VERY RAPIDLY, HAS CONCERNS REGARDING FUNDING FORA LOT OF THE PROJECTS BECAUSE SHE KNOWS HOW EXPENSIVE THEY ARE BUT THEY WILL HAVE TO WORK THROUGH IT AS A COUNCIL, GAVE A REPORT ON THE COVID-19 TESTING, AS EVERYONE KNOWS Minutes — May 19, 2020 THE COMMUNITY BASE TESTING HAS STARTED, FORTY NINE (49) PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED UP THUS FAR, THERE WERE A LOT OF NO SHOWS, ASKED ALL CITIZENS THAT MAKE APPOINTMENTS AND CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE APPOINTMENT TO PLEASE CALL AND CANCEL BECAUSE THEY HAVE HAD TO TURN PEOPLE AWAY, THE TESTING WILL CONTINUE ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2020 AND THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER THREE DAYS IN JUNE, IF ANYONE WANTS TO SCHEDULE A APPOINTMENT PLEASE CALL 409-550-2536 Open session of meeting recessed at 4:02 p.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION Consider matters related to contemplated or pending litigation in accordance with Section 551.071 of the Government Code: Orleans San Jacinto Bldg. v. City of Beaumont; Cause No. A-103,969 g no §tption taken in Executive Session, Council adjourned. ina Broussard, City Clerk UJMM I Minutes — May 19, 2020