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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN SEP 30 1986 R y REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD SEPTEMBER 30, 1986 - 7:00 P.M. CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 30th day of September, 1986, with the following present: HONORABLE: Maurice Meyers Mayor Bob Lee, Jr. Councilman At Large Andrew P. Cokinos Councilman At Large Nell Pruitt Weisbach Councilman, Ward I Mike Brumley Councilman, Ward II Audwin Samuel Councilman, Ward III David W. Moore Councilman, Ward IV Betty Dunkerley Director of Finance Lane Nichols City Attorney Myrtle Corgey City Clerk -000- The Invocation was given by the Reverend John Griffin, Calvary Baptist Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mr. J. C. Leggett, 1849 Washington Boulevard. -000- Mayor Meyers, in explaining the "Town Meeting" concept to those present and in encouraging citizen participation in the session, mentioned as a note of trivia that according to Chace's Annual Events Almanac September 30th has been designated as the "National Ask a Stupid Question Day" and said that the purpose is to encourage curious to overcome their timidity and ask that stupid question. Two proclamations were issued: "Armed Services Awareness Week in Beaumont" October 5-10, 1986 and "Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day in Beaumont" - October 4, 1986. Gunnery Sgt Eichelberger, Station Commander, U. S. Marines, presented a lithograph etching of the Flag Raising at Iwo Jimo, from the Houston headquarters of the U. S. Marine Recruiting for Southeast Texas to "Mayor Maurice Meyers, September 30, 1986, in sincere appreciation of your official recognition of the past and present members of the United States Marine Corps. Through your effort, many of your community's young people will become aware of the tremendous sacrifice that has been made and is required to maintain the freedom that Americans have become used to. Signed E. R. Timothy, Major, United States Marine Corps, Commanding Officer. " -202- September 30, 1986 Y MAYOR MEYERS: About three months ago, we determined that the employees at the City were doing an outstanding job in trying to overcome some adversity and we determined it would be worthy if we might involve some of our citizens and see what their thoughts would be relative to having a day for the employees of the City. We called together a group of 8 people in the community and asked them if they would cooperate and reach out to the community and help us enlist support of funds that would create an employees' day at Riverfront Park. That group was made up of Mr. Mark Steinhagan, Mr. Ben Hansen, Mr. Joe Bob Kinsel, Sr. , The Reverend R. D. Carrington, Mr. Donald Taft, Mr. Walter Mayer, Jr. , Mr. Al Pollans and Mr. Paul Brown. Some of those people are present. I'd like just first to ask all of that group that's present if they would stand, please. I see Al and Donald, thank you. When it was agreed that they would take on the task, each basically raising $500.00, they then stepped aside for a moment and we contacted and asked three people who immediately responded favorably - that was Mr. Kenny Moncla with Moncla's Catering Service, and Mr. Doug Nelson with Doug Nelson's Little Red Barn Barbecue and Mr. Gus Keriotis, the operator of Carlo's - and we asked them if they would help us in putting together the menu for the day and help us in securing the food for the day for the employees as well as do the cooking and I think all three of them are present. Is Kenny here? Well, Doug Nelson and Gus Keriotis are. Would you both stand? They responded postively and the only hitch was that the City Council and Manager and staff had to be on the serving line to which we agreed. The list of contributors is far too large for me to read them all but they all have received notes of appreciation reflecting the feelings of our employees. Likewise, Councilmembers took on tasks of going out into the community and this is a list of some 90 some odd businesses who provided different gifts and awards and presents for those City employees for the picnic, also on a volunteer basis and it is also a very broad list but I have asked any of those contributors and any of those gift givers, if they had opportunity to come tonight and I would ask if any of those present if they would stand, please. Thank you very much. We suggested that they might attend but we didn't urge it because we knew their schedules were such, but we did want to take opportunity to thank them. This was really an outstanding effort. I think there were some 1,600 employees and their families that had a delightful day. As a matter of fact, I think one of the employees, if I'm not mistaking, who won the grand prize which was four days and three nights in Cancun, Mexico, just happened to have his vacation start yesterday, so, I think you will know where he is today. On behalf of the City Council and the City employees, we want to express to you publicly the deep appreciation; these fellows and the employees that represent their firms worked awfully hard. Mr. Phil . . . Mr. Phillip Klein, who is an officer with Dairy Queen, also was involved and provided at a very reasonable cost ice cream for everyone. Al (to Al Pollans), will you come forward? I'm just going to present this to Al Pollans for all of the cooks, for all of the providers, for all of the donors, and for all of those who worked, a card that the employees have signed that day at the picnic and they've asked us to present to those people tonight that made that day possible because they truly enjoyed it, truly appreciated the fact that citizens that they represent cared enough to do this for them and, Al, on behalf of the employees of the City of Beaumont, they would like you to have that and you can make any comments on behalf of all of the people you represent. -203- September 30, 1986 MR. AL POLLANS: Thank you, Mayor. I'll accept this on behalf of all the citizens who participated in the picnic that day. I was out there and there was an awful lot of fun for all of us, so, Mayor, we had a good time. I just want to say one thing though. I think we owe a debt of gratitude to the Mayor and Council for providing us with an opportunity to show our appreciation for the hard work and efforts of the City employees during this very, very difficult time we have all experienced. So, to all of you we say thank you, too. -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered: Approval of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held September 23, 1986; Resolution 86-302 authorizing the release of $2,419,000.00 in securities by Texas Commerce Bank - Beaumont held as collateral for City deposits ; Resolution 86-303 appointing Ed Dix to the Sesquicentennial Coordinating Committee, term to expire December 31, 1987; Dan Phares to the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Board, term to expire May 31, 1988 and William (Bill) Cook to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission, to fill the unexpired term of Clyde Vincent, term to expire June 30, 1988; Resolution 86-304 accepting additions (new wing which offers health care and services for the indigent) to the Beaumont Community Health Clinic as complete (total $172,575.00 funded through the Community Development Block Grant program) and authorizing final payment in the amount of $1,500.00 to the contractor, Watkins Construction Company; Resolution 86-305 accepting rehabilitation of the Best Years Center as complete (total $93,289.00, including Change Order in the amount of $1 ,442.00, funded through the Community Development Block Grant Program) and authorizing final payment in the amount of $10,627.00 to the contractor, Watkins Construction Company; Resolution 86-306 awarding bids to Lombardo-s Tree Service for the demolition and removal of dangerous structures located at 1224 Center at $490.00, 5220 Helbig Road at $1,398.00, 873-75 Powell at $1,860.00, 402 California at $750.00, 4375 Congress at $750.00, 1795 Milam at $1,545.00 and 2210 Orange (Garage) at $300.00 for a total contract amount of $7,093.00; Resoluiton 86-307 authorizing execution of a six-month conntract with Martin Matthews for the purchase of lubricants - 8,000 gallons of Engine Oil at $2.11 per gallon for a total of $16,880.00, 6,000 quarts of Automatic Transmission Fluid (Dextron II) at $0.67 per quart for a total of $4,020.00 and 6,000 gallons of Hydraulic Oil at $1.88 per gallon for a total of $11,280.00 for a total contract amount of $32,180.00 - to be used in the maintenance of City vehicles; -204- September 30, 1986 Resolution 86-308 authorizing the Legal Department to begin eminent domain proceedings against the owners of three parcels of property - Parcel 90, 8,675 square feet, Lot 11, Block 1 of the Gentz Addition, (State's approved value at $32,500) and Parcel 91, 8,675 square feet, Lot 12, Block 1 of the Gentz Addition, (State's approved value at $32,000) from Douglas Erwin Hill and Parcel 178A, 26,097 square feet, Lots 1, 9, 10 and 11, Block 1 of the Gentz Addition, from Randy Thomas Wenner (State's approved value at $62,000) - required for the M. L. King, Jr. , Parkway/Spur 380 Project; and Resolutions 86-302 through 86-308 (Consent Agenda items A.a through A.g) were approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Weisbach. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None Resolution 86-309 (Consent Agenda item A.h) accepting the donation of property from the YMBL for expansion of Fair Park (three (3) of the Birdwell Tracts) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Lee. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Public Comment was called on Agenda Items B, C, D & E. No one wished to address City Council concerning these items. -000- Resolution 86-310 requesting that the legislature of the State of Texas examine and review the notice requirements which are presently required prior to a decision to either locate or operate a State facility within the city limits of a city and amend such regulations to provide that an additional notice, in writing, be provided to the city government of the city in which such facilities are proposed to be located or located was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 86-311 expressing concern of the City of Beaumont relating to Senate Bill 940 and similar laws which limit city zoning control and requesting that the legislature amend such laws to protect single-family residential neighborhoods from the location, as a matter of right, of land uses such as group homes (with less than six disabled residents) which have an impact on neighborhoods which is greater than traditional single-family uses was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Weisbach. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -205- September 30, 1986 Ordinance No. 86-100 amending the appropriations ordinance for fiscal year 1986-1987 by adding a contingency appropriation in the amount of $10.00 was considered: ORDINANCE NO. 86-100 ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE "ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS ORDINANCE" WHICH ADOPTED A BUDGET FOR THE ENSUING FISCAL PERIOD BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 1986 BY ADDING A CONTINGENT APPRO- PRIATION; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH AND PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY. Councilman Cokinos read from a prepared statement: The Charter of the City of Beaumont, Article VI, Section 28, requires that provision be made for a contingent appropriation in the City's annual budget and in the appropriation ordinance. The contingent appropriation is the only legally constituted reserve which the General Fund has to draw upon in case of unforeseen emergencies. Good judgment and sound business practice require that a reasonable reserve be maintained for emergencies and that the reserve be limited in amount and controlled by law to insure its use for the purpose intended. The contingent appropriation required by the Charter was omitted from the City Manager's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 1987 and from the appropriation ordinance adopting the budget. Therefore, I move that the City Manager and the City Attorney be instructed to prepare amendments to the proposed budget and appropriation ordinance sufficient to establish a reasonable reserve for contingencies as required by Article VI, Section 18, of the Charter of the City of Beaumont. After a discussion concerning the amount of the contingency, Councilman Cokinos made a motion to set the amount of contingency at $500,000 rather than the $10.00 as specified in the ordinance; motion was seconded by Mayor Meyers. Question: Ayes: Councilman Cokinos Nayes: Mayor Meyers Councilman Lee Councilman Weisbach Councilman Brumley Councilman Samuel Councilman Moore Councilman Brumley made a motion to approve the ordinance as prepared and recommended with the contingency set at $10.00; motion was seconded by Councilman Weisbach. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None Councilman Cokinos stated that he was voting on the establishment of the contingency fund and not the amount of money. -000- -206- September 30, 1986 Resolution 86-312 authorizing execution of an agreement with the Houston Area Library System for computerized library services (to be funded with State and Federal funds) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Moore and seconded by Councilman Weisbach. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 86-313 authorizing purchase of a cab/chassis with a brush trailer for the Sanitation Department, replacing Unit #3038, a 1976 International Truck with a 20 cubic yard bed, from J. K. Chevrolet at $46,093.89, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lee and seconded by Councilman Brumley. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution 86-314 authorizing the City Manager to execute an interlocal agreement with Deep East Texas Workers' Compensation Pool for workers' compensation insurance on a fully insured basis was approved on a motion made by Councilman Lee and seconded by Councilman Samuel. Question: Ayes: Mayor Meyers Abstained: Councilman Councilman Lee Brumley Councilman Cokinos Councilman Weisbach Councilman Samuel Councilman Moore -000- Councilman Moore: I just have one comment and it's in regards to the resolution we passed pertaining to the land uses of certain properties. I believe I requested staff follow a letter to all our State Legislators to make sure they are aware of the resolution the City's taking and as well as the same resolution to Austin. I don't know exactly what Austin will send it to but make sure it gets proper attention up there. Councilman Lee: Let me respond to that very briefly. One of the reasons that I wanted to bring this to Council at this time is because there is a meeting of the Texas Municipal League's Statement and Policies Board Thursday. We will be preparing 50 copies of the resolution to take to that group for them to include in their discussion of statements to the Legislature but it certainly does need to be followed up by direct comment from us. Mayor Meyers: Yes, that probably would do well. They will assign those resolutions numbers at the TML meeting and then we should forward to our Legislators the actual numbers assigned by TML so they can track them as well as the TML move. It would only enhance their ability to be successful. Very good. -207- September 30, 1986 i Councilman Lee mentioned Sunday in the Park activities held each week on Riverfront Park from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. , to be hosted on October 5th by Southwestern Bell and urged all to bring their families for the fun and festivities. -000- Councilman Brumley, host for the regular session/Town Meeting held in Ward II, thanked everyone for attending. Councilman Brumley: I would like to make public some great news that the City found out Friday on a project that we've been working on - we being the City of. Beaumont - for quite some time now and that we were advised that the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, there main office is in Flint, Michigan and they are in New York, has granted to the Council on Foundations funding for them to come to the City of Beaumont to provide technical assistance to our fair city and establish a community foundation . . . and it is an opportunity for this city to address needs and concerns that are important to us maybe now, but important to our children later on down the line. I am very enthused about it because the most important thing that I think might be brought out is the fact that there are a group of people outside of Beaumont, that being those trustees of the Mott Foundation and those individuals with the Council of Foundations that see a city in South East Texas that is energetic and that is aggressive in addressing not only the needs of now but addressing the interest of the future of this City and I am real excited about this project, needless to say; but I think I am excited for you the citizens more than I am anything else. -000- Councilman Lee, liaison to the Clean Community Commission, introduced Mrs. Maree Calcote, Chairman and Commission member, Mr. David Ledyard. Mrs. Calcote gave an overview of present programs sponsored by the Clean Community Commission, a 21-member Commission appointed by the City Council to promote the public interest in the general improvement of the environment of the City of Beaumont. She said " we initiate, plan and coordinate programs in all areas relating to the health, sanitation, safety, cleanliness and beautification of the City. " Mrs. Calcote mentioned three programs: the "blue barrels" purchased by the Clean Community Community Commission and painted, place and serviced by the City's Sanitation Department; "Pride in Beaumont" award, presented to four (4) persons per quarter at a regular City Council session, to encourage others to see what some citizens have been able to do; and a new program - Operation Clean Street. It was explained that this is a volunteer program "designed to help keep Beaumont clean at a time when economic circumstances demand it cleanliness. " Mr. Ledyard explained the newly initiated project "Operation Clean Street". He said the project started out by "identifying streets and areas that are highly traveled, that have a high visibility and, for one reason or another, are unslightly because of grass, weeds, trash, old signs and posters put on telephone polls, debris in the gutters, what have you. " -208- September 30, 1986 Mr. Ledyard continued, "What we are trying to do is recruit volunteers, whether it be groups, organizations, pretty much any group or organization you can think of can get involved in this project, and the goal is to provide to manpower and maintenance to keep these areas clean. Now, you all are aware of some of the unslightly areas, streets that we have in our city, but what is sad is often times we take these areas for granted. We travel by them so often that we gradually start to ignore it. We always think it is somebody else's responsibility to go clean up a scene such as you see here. " Slides of downtown Beaumont in need of cleaning - Calder, Orleans, along railroad right- of-way - were shown. He said "Now what Operation Clean Street does is gets organizations, in effect, to adopt a section of street and it is that group's obligation, then, to maintain that section by mowing, pulling weeds, cleaning the gutters, that sort of thing. " Mr. Ledyard also showed "before and after" slides of the Pilot Program, a section of Pine Street, that has been adopted by the Jefferson County Adult Probation Service for the period of 12 months. A "speakers bureau" has been formed to meet with various groups/organizations to explain the program for the enlistment of volunteers for this effort. -000- Tom Warner, Director of Transportation, discussed briefly two of the programs that the Transportation Department is involved in: the first is the reinstitution of the Street Sweeping Program for arterial streets and the Central Business District; the second is the School Crossing Program. Mr. Warner mentioned that Crossing Guards in Ward II would be located at Dowlen at Westgate, Westgate and Peyton, on Major Drive at Amelia Elementary and at Gladys and Belvedere. Mr. Joel Elmore, 6760 Gladys, addressed Council to request that, because of improvements to Gladys and 'the increased number of vehicles that will use the street, consideration be given to placement of a traffic signal on Gladys at Stacewood for the safety of the neighborhood and the area, including Marshall Middle School, Rogers Park, and West Brook High School. Mrs. Patsy Clapper, 615 Howell, questioned whether there were future plans for the widening of Calder in the vicinity of West Brook High School. In response to a question from the floor concerning construction on Fannett Road, Mr. Warner explained that Fannett Road is State Highway 124, and that the State is making shoulder improvements. Mr. Lee Collum, City Engineer, mentioned several projects that the City Engineering Department is involved with: construction along the right-of-way in many areas; drainage projects; establishment of east/west and north/south arterials; construction of College from 11th to 4th and the soon to be let second phase of College from 4th to Downtown; the State participation portion of College - State Highway 90 - construction currently underway; construction of Gladys with a completion target of the end of 1986; the assistance of the Chamber of Commerce Highway Committee for right-of-way acquisition along Major Drive/State Highway 364 from White Road to Gladys for a future State participation project for improvements to Major Drive; and assistance of Mr. Sam Smith in the acquisition of right-of-way for the extension of Delaware from Dowlen to Major Drive. -209- September 30, 1986 Mr. Jess Baker, 2950 W. Lucas, questioned the "curve" design instead of straight-line construction for the proposed extension of Delaware from Dowlen to Major Drive. Mr. Collum responded that this is designed for the east/west one-mile grid for arterials which is very good for planning purposes. Mr. John Ray, 2355 Primrose, addressed Council to complain about the poor condition of Folsom Drive and asked if the City had plans to repair the street. Mr. Collum said that the street needs permanent, costly repairs and the City has no funds for its repair. Mr. S. A. Webb, Director of Water Utilities, gave a status report on the Sanitary Sewer Improvements Program - 18 projects, 16 of which have been completed - funded from a 75/25 percent Environmental Protection Agency $36.0 million grant ($27.0 million in federal funds/$9.0 million in City funds) for elimination of raw sewage discharges from the sewer system into the Neches River and Hillebrandt Bayou during excessive rainfall periods. He said to achieve the goal mandated by the EPA, it was necessary to improve the transportation system, the pumping stations and to enlarge the Sewage Treatment Plant. He said, "in the past four years approximately 46 miles of 12 through 48-inch sanitary sewer have been installed, 12 new lift stations have been constructed to transport the waste water and the Sewage Treatment Plant has been enlarged to a capacity of 120 million gallons per day to be able to accept and treat the storm water as well as sanitary sewer that reaches it. " Mr. Wendell Skinner, 7355 Scotts Drive, laboratory supervisor at Baptist Hospital, questioned the use of flouride in the City water supply. Mr. Norman Whitaker, Director of Planning, explained that the Planning Division does long-range planning for growth and development for the City and administers the zoning and subdivision ordinances and does economic development planning. He said that Ward II is a fairly unique area compared to the rest of the City because thirty years ago most of this Ward was not in the City; it is the area with the most growth in the past twenty years and has had some problems associated with growth, such as traffic and drainage, and will continue to be the area that has the most growth in the City. "To show you the benefit of planning, as it relates to this Ward, you can look outside at Dowlen Road. It is one of the most attractive thoroughfares we have in the City. Take a look at it and compare it to the west part of College Street, west of Interstate 10.`° He said College or Highway 90 developed before the west part of Beaumont had any planning or zoning and it is a classic commercial strip, not very attractive to look, a chaotic traffic pattern and no real room for expansion of existing businesses. He said Dowlen will never become a commercial strip because it is based on a plan where, instead of stripping all the commercial development along the entire length of thoroughfares, there are major concentrations at major intersections, the best places to develop shopping centers. He said Dowlen Road is the most intensely commercialized area in the City with over 2.0 million square feet of commercial floor space fronting on Dowlen Road, concentrated at the intersections of the Eastex Freeway, Phelan Boulevard and a small amount which will continue to grow at Delaware, and in between the major intersections, there are parks, churches, apartment buildings and offices to provide a better living environment, keeps traffic manageable and keeps property values high. -210 September 30, 1986 v � Ms. Sherrell Cockrell, Director of Housing and Neighborhood Conservation, told that the divisions under this department include Code Enforcement, Housing Rehabilitation programs and the administration of the Community Development Block Grant program. "Any community that wants orderly growth and improvement must adopt and administer controls. Those controls are to provide safety and welfare for the citizens within their community. There are minimum standards to provide that safety and' welfare to the citizens and that's the reason and the responsibility of our Code Division which includes our Building Inspection Codes, Minimum Housing Standards and the enforcement of our Dangerous Structures Ordinance. . . . In addition, our Division also works closely with various other social service agencies and non-for-profit corporations. and we also have an advisory commission, Beaumont Advisory Commission for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. " Sergeant Don Geen, Police Department, explained several programs of the Police Department: Senior Citizens Patrol is a program with a volunteer calling a list of senior citizens each day, Monday through Friday, to make sure they are all right and, in addition. to this, once a week officers are assigned one of those senior citizens to go out and meet that person that lives in their district or beat so the senior citizen will know the officer and can tell him his problems and his needs in his neighborhood. He said a senior citizens- oriented crime prevention package, supplied by the American Association of Retired Persons, has been purchased that is designed to help the senior citizen and the people of our community to make their home a safer place to live. "I hope, if you know somebody that you are worried about, somebody that you know that might need to be a participant of this senior citizens patrol that you will give the police department a call and we will be glad to put them on our list. " In addition, Sgt. Geen talked about two programs that need citizen participation to make them effective. They are "Crimestoppers" and "Neighborhood Watch". He mentioned drug awareness programs that are taken to schools, career development programs and Halloween Safety Tips program and many other programs offered by the police department in addition to the primary law enforcement functions. Ms. Beverly Hatcher, 1125 Norwood, asked if the police "drug" dog was ever used in the schools unannounced to check for the presence of drugs. Sgt. Geen said that the dog was used only on invitation by the School District. Mrs. Betty Dunkerley, Director of Finance, mentioned various functions handled by the Department of Finance: the treasury function or the collection, deposit, management, investment and expenditure of funds; accounting or record keeping function, payroll, purchasing, financial reporting, and budget; management information department or data processing and internal auditing. Mr. W. R. Smith, 3060 Blossom, questioned if the City has a sufficient "check and balance" system to prevent losses such as the ESM loss. Mrs. Dunkerley explained measures used by the City to safeguard financial activities. Mr. Lane Nichols, City Attorney, discussed the City's move toward self- insurance in the area of liability and the development of the new Risk Management Department. -211- September 30, 1986 Mr. C. L. Sherman, 585 Belvedere, questioned the staffing level of the Risk Management Department and asked for job titles. Mr. John Ray, 2355 Primrose, reported that the Athletic Complex on Langham and College is in need of major repairs and mentioned loose boards of the bleachers at the ball diamonds. Ms. Maurine Gray, Director of the Library and Parks and Recreation Department, spoke of the reopening of the Audio/Visual area of the Library and mentioned various type of items that are available through the public library. In addition, Ms. Gray mentioned that a "photographic archives" is being developed to be housed at the Tyrrell Historical Library and said that the library wishes to borrow old photographs for reproduction and display for a pictorial history of Beaumont and the area. Ms. Gray also briefly discussed a "Holiday Crafts" workshop, sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department, to be held on Wednesdays at Central Park. C. A. "Pete" Shelton, Chief of the Fire Department, reviewed several programs and activities of the Fire Department: fire station relocation study determined that two new stations are needed because of the tremendous amount of growth: one on Old Voth Road at Chinn Road and the second on Walden Road at Interstate 10; Hazardous Material Team and a hazardous material vehicle, fully equipped to handle "all types of spills, leaks, and emergencies that can exist"; the Fire Training facility, in the first 9 months of 1986, has trained 4,100 students, revenue has been produced in the amount of $77,000. We've had 139 schools and that probably transcribes into about 50,000 training hours. " The Police Academy and Fire Academy, through Lamar University, are now housed at the Fire Training Center. Chief Shelton mentioned a participation program with Southwestern Bell furnishing early warning smoke detectors for low income families, screening of applicants to be conducted by the American Red Cross and installation of the devices by the Fire Department. Emergency Medical Services, Civil Defense, emergency management activities, and activities such as Sunday in the Park at Riverfront Park and Formula One Boat Races were briefly reviewed. Mr. Wendell Skinner, 7355 Scotts, asked if Citizen's Band Channel 9 was still monitored by the Fire Department. Chief Shelton responded that the monitoring of Channel 9 had been discontinued because of the decrease in popularity of CBs and the need for additional monitoring of other areas. Mr. John Ray, 2355 Primrose, complimented the Fire Department's efficiency in having available on the trucks complete fire alarm diagrams of churches and commercial buildings, etc. , in their districts. A member of the Board of Directors of the Beaumont Restaurant Association invited all to attend the Taste of the Triangle - with 53 food booths and 19 specialty drink booths - to be held in the Beaumont Civic Center. -000- There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. -212- September 30, 1986 I, Myrtle Corgey, City Clerk of the City of Beaumont, Texas, certify that the above is a true copy of the Minutes of the regular City Council/Town Meeting session held September 30, 1986. Myrtle Corgey City Clerk -213- September 30, 1986 EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD SEPTEMBER 30, 1986 MRS. BETTY DUNKERLEY, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE: We have one additional item that has been brought forward as an emergency item for this particular Council . . . for Council action this evening. This is a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute an interlocal agreement with the Deep East Texas Workers' Compensation Pool in order to secure Workers' Compensation for the City beginning at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow morning. Under State law, the City is required to provide protection for employees for job-related illnesses or injuries. At the present time, the City of Beaumont is a member of the Texas Municipal League Pool which provide workers' compensation benefits to the City on a cash flow basis. The cash flow method means that the City pays for all claims incurred plus a service charge to TML for the administration of the program. At the present time, at least this evening, the City would pay the first $125,000 on a Workers' Compensation claim and through insurance, reinsurance provided by TML, TML would pick up the excess amount over and above the $125,000 limit. We were notified last Thursday that TML has been unable to secure reinsurance for us or for any of their . . . MAYOR MAURICE MEYERS: TML is the Texas Municipal League, representative of the cities in the State of Texas. MRS. DUNKERLEY: Yes, thank you. Beginning at 12:01 tomorrow morning, the City would not have this excess coverage for catastrophic losses above $125,000. The Insurance Advisory Committee, composed of three local insurance professionals, met yesterday afternoon to assess this problem and they recommended that the City not assume the risk of going without this insurance and this protection and that the City secure coverage on a fully- insured basis while other options were pursued. An analysis was made with this committee of the options that were immediately available to us for this fully-insured basis. We had three options. One was to continue with the Texas Municipal League at, I am just going to quote you a percentage of a standard rate, at 20 percent off the standard rate. We could go to the Estate Signed Risk Pool at 12 percent off of the standard rate or we could go with a group called Deep East Texas Workers' Compensation Pool at 25 percent off the standard rate. The last option, the Deep East Texas Workers' Compensation Pool, offered the greatest discount and the Insurance Advisory Committee recommended that the City secure some coverage through this pool effective at 12:01 tomorrow morning. Deep East Texas Workers Compensation Pool is a governmental cooperative whose members include cities, counties, hospital districts, school districts and other special districts of this type. There will be no penalty from our withdrawal from this fund within the first 90 days of participation and, thereafter, there will be no penalty but we will have to give them 30 days notice. This will allow us some time to get our insurance staff on board and to explore what other alternatives we might have. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD SEPTEMBER 30, 1986 Page 2 MRS. DUNKERLEY continued: It is recommended then to the Council that a resolution be adopted authorizing the City to secure workers' compensation insurance on a fully insured basis from Deep East Texas Workers' Compensation Pool. The resolution will authorize the City Manager to execute an interlocal agreement with Deep East Texas Workers' Compensation Insurance Pool. If you have any questions, we have several people that perhaps can help you with the answers including our City Attorney and one of the personnel department staff that has worked with the Workers' Compensation insurance for some time. COUNCILMAN DAVID W. MOORE: Are we very familiar with the Deep East Texas Workers' Compensation? MRS. DUNKERLEY: Well, we really have not had time to work with them very much, Councilman Moore, but we have done some exploring as far as their background but I think what this particular plan will do is allow us to have some coverage while we secure the type of insurance that we want. We don't, at this time, anticipate staying in a fully-insured program for any extended period of time but would look for a program that is more appropriate for our size city. COUNCILMAN MOORE: This would fall under our risk management program? MRS. DUNKERLEY: Yes, this would fall under our risk management program and, as soon as that person is on board and our other folks that are going to be managing this program, then, that study will get under way. The Insurance Advisory Committee felt like this was the best coverage we could get at the lowest price at this time. I would like . . the Manager asked me to call to your attention that the bids that we received Thursday from TML were slightly higher, were higher than what we had budgeted based on their original estimates so we will be looking in ways to certainly decrease the cost of this coverage as we are analyzing what's best for us to do. MAYOR MEYERS: Lane, can you add anything to this? MR. LANE NICHOLS, CITY ATTORNEY: I think given the time limit we had, Mayor, our options were few and this is certainly the best of the three that we had between Thursday and yesterday afternoon. Other than that, the fund has been in business for about 14 years and we believe . . . EXCERPT FROM REGULAR CITY COUNCIL SESSION HELD SEPTEMBER 30, 1986 Page 3 MAYOR MEYERS: _ Who do they handle around here? MR. NICHOLS: There biggest city is the city of Jasper. They handle Jefferson County Appraisal District . . . MAYOR MEYERS: They do handle the Appraisal District? MR. NICHOLS: Yes. MRS. DUNKERLEY: I think the city of Lufkin, too. MR. NICHOLS: The city of Lufkin. I guess Lufkin would be bigger than Jasper. MAYOR MEYERS: Have we spoken to the TML since their notification? MR. NICHOLS: Well, we formally notified them, we told them that an action will be taken this evening and that we will Federal Express them the final decision of the City in the morning and will notify them by phone also. MAYOR MEYERS: Did they offer any explanation for the delinquent notification on their part? MR. NICHOLS: The letter indicated they were working long and hard to try and get this reinsurance and wanted to spend as much time as they could doing it. That's a lame excuse in my opinion. Our service based on liability last year and comp this year has been not too acceptable. MAYOR MEYERS: I know the Insurance Committee met all morning .. a long time. MR. NICHOLS: Yes. EXCERPT FROM REGULAR .,LTY COUNCIL SESSION HELD SEPTEMBER 30, 1986 Page 4 MRS. DUNKERLEY: Yes, they gave it a lot of their time and attention and they have worked hard on this project. MAYOR MEYERS: And, what are the options for cancellation? MRS. DUNKERLEY: Well, the Deep East Texas Pool told us this morning that we could cancel without notice for the first 90 days and then, thereafter, I think we have to give them 30 days notice. There's no penalty on our cancellation. COUNCILMAN AUDWIN SAMUEL: Was that only verbal of was there some writing? Are we committed to that? MR. NICHOLS: No, we had the coverage bound in writing, subject to your approval, and we also have the cancellation provisions in writing and their bylaws support it, so . . . MAYOR MEYERS: Are there any questions? COUNCILMAN BOB LEE, JR. : Our experience rating has improved over the years, hasn't it? MR. NICHOLS: It's been up and down. It's going in the right direction. Our present modifier is 1.01 or one hundred's of a percent above manual rate, but it was . . Addie can correct me . . . 1.15 last year? MS. ADDIE ALLEN, PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT: . . . 1.09 . . . MR. NICHOLS: 1.09 last year so . . . COUNCILMAN LEE: It's going in the right direction . . . MR. NICHOLS: We had a bad year a couple of years back. They do it on a rolling three year average and it should be getting better if we can continue good experience. EXPERPT FROM REGULAR -iTY COUNCIL SESSION HELD SEPTEMBER 30, 1986 Page 5 MAYOR MEYERS: I would like you to express our appreciation to that Insurance Committee. These are people in the community who basically give up their right to do business with the City while they serve and they do give a good amount of time in our best interest. MRS. DUNKERLEY: Mayor, could I add one thing to that? We were meeting with the representatives this morning from Deep East Texas Pool and they made a comment they had never seen an insurance committee that functioned as well as ours did. They are used to working with insurance committees but they say in general these committees are local insurance agents that simply divide up the business and they said for the first time they saw professionals that were looking out for the best interest of the City and they were very impressed. MAYOR MEYERS: Good. Thank you. Does Council have any other questions? Then, I would ask for a motion, please. COUNCILMAN LEE: So move for approval. MAYOR MEYERS: Do we have a second? COUNCILMAN SAMUEL: Second. MAYOR MEYERS: No further discussion, those in favor signify by saying aye. (Question: Ayes: Mayor Meyers Councilman Lee Councilman Cokinos Councilman Weisbach Councilman Samuel Councilman Moore) . . . opposed? Nayes: None Abstained: Councilman Brumley END OF EXCERPT.