CITY OF SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS

REGULAR MEETING OF THE

CITY COUNCIL

OCTOBER 4, 2005

7:00 p.m.

Mayor Clay Walker called the regular meeting of the Sulphur Springs City Council to order at 7:03 p.m. The following council members and staff were present:

Mayor Clay Walker

Mayor Pro Tem Freddie Taylor

Councilman Garry Jordan

Councilman Joe Crouch

Councilman Chris Brown

Councilwoman Yolanda Williams

Staff:    Marc Maxwell, City Manager

             Gale Roberts, City Secretary

 James Litzler, Acting City Attorney

             Johnny Vance, Dir. Community Development

 Peter Karstens, Finance Director – 7:00 p.m.

Absent: Councilman Larry Powers

OPEN SESSION

Mayor Walker reconvened the meeting in open session at 7:03 p.m.

PLEDGE AND INVOCATION

Mayor Walker led in the pledge to the flag and Councilman Jordan led the invocation.

MANAGER’S REPORT

KATRINA EVACUEES – The emergency shelter at the Wesley United Methodist Church is now closed. The City has relocated many of the Hurricane Katrina evacuees to apartments and other housing throughout the City. In total, we have rented 35 units. The cost of the housing, and administration will be about $19,000 per month. The cost will be reimbursed by FEMA.

HIGHLAND SEWER – This project is nearly completed. The contractor has installed the new sewer line and has connected all of the homes to the new line. A few manholes still need to be constructed, and some clean-up needs to be done, but that is about it. This project replaced 2 sewer lines which pass through the backyards of homes on Hillcrest, Highland and Woodcrest. The project has a budget of $181,597.

LEE STREET DRAINAGE – The project is completed. This project installed a new underground drainage system between Lee Street and South Town Branch at a budgeted cost of $62,000.

ACCIDENTS AND CLAIMS - We had 2 minor liability claims in September. One was a minor fleet accident. The street sweeper struck a parked car causing minor damage to the car. Another citizen claims that his home was flooded with sewage when we cleaned a nearby sewer line. Both claims are pending at TML.

We had 2 workers compensation claims in September. One employee was bit by a spider and was off work for a few days. Another employee (a firefighter) dropped a dumbbell on his finger while working out at the fire station. The firefighter will be off work for a couple of weeks. We are in the process of marking all dumbbells with instructions on how to hold them.

REMAINING CIP PROJECTS - The following table shows the progress of our CIP program year-to-date. Items highlighted in yellow are completed.
 

FINANCIAL REPORT - Finance Director, Peter Karstens, will give a year-to-date summary of revenue and expenditures.

CONSENT AGENDA

The following items on the Consent Agenda were reviewed: Consider for approval: regular City Council minutes of September 6, 2005; Special City Council minutes of September 20^th and 27^th, 2005; Planning and Zoning Commission minutes of September 19, 2005; Zoning Board of Adjustments minutes of September 20, 2005; and the Economic Development Corporation minutes of September 19, 2005. Councilman Taylor moved to approve the consent agenda as presented. Councilman Jordan seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ON RESOLUTION NO. 897 SETTING DATES AND TIMES FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR ANNEXATION

This resolution sets the dates and times to hold two public hearings for a request for annexation by Matthew Hanna. He would like to annex 3.432 acres in the Stonebriar Phase II Addition. Councilman Crouch asked City Manager Marc Maxwell about future annexations. There was no one else to speak to the issue. Councilman Taylor moved to approve the resolution. Councilman Jordan seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ON RESOLUTION NO. 898 SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESERVOIRS IN NORTHEAST TEXAS

The City of Sulphur Springs received a request from the City of Clarksville asking us to pass a resolution supporting the Marvin Nichols Reservoir and distributing copies to the Region D Water Board and Texas Water Development Board. However, this resolution supports the studies and development of future reservoirs in northeast Texas since the Park House Reservoirs would be of greater benefit to the City of Sulphur Springs. City Manager Marc Maxwell spoke in support of this resolution and Mayor Walker explained that the resolution is generic. There was no one else to speak to the issue. Councilman Brown moved to approve the resolution. Councilman Taylor seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ON RESOLUTION NO. 899 ADOPTING THE SULPHUR SPRINGS INVESTMENT POLICY

This resolution supports the annual adoption and review of the investment policy as required by state law. Financial Director Peter Karstens presented the staff report. Councilman Crouch stated that Section 5, Delegation of Authority and Training, Item 1, Investment Committee, should include the Mayor. There was no one else to speak to the issue. Councilman Jordan moved to approve the resolution. Councilman Brown seconded the motion. Councilman Jordan amended his motion to include the City of Sulphur Springs’ Mayor to Section 5, Delegation of Authority and Training, Item 1, Investment Committee. Councilman Brown seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ON RESOLUTION NO. 900 A GRANT REQUEST FOR THE RED RIVER VALLEY DRUG TASK FORCE (PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS TACTICAL NARCOTICS TASK FORCE) FROM OCTOBER 1, 2005 THROUGH MARCH 31, 2006

This resolution commits the City of Sulphur Springs to participate in the Red River Valley Drug Task Force and pledges $8,993.00 for the next six months. Police Chief Jim Bayuk presented the staff report. There was no one else to speak to the issue. Councilman Crouch moved to approve the resolution. Councilman Taylor seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ON ALTERATION OF COLEMAN PARK WATER TOWER PAINT SCHEME

A new paint scheme for the water tower in Coleman Park has been presented to the City Manager. The new design would place more emphasis on the words “Sulphur Springs” as opposed to featuring “Coleman”.

Harve Chapman and Bob Bond presented the new concept to the City Council. The logo says “Sulphur Springs, Great Parks, Great People” and is surrounded by trees and children playing.

City Manager Marc Maxwell is seeking approval from the City Council to change the water tower in the next two to three years when it will be scheduled for routine maintenance and painting. In the interim the logo could be protected so it is uniquely ours and we could begin to incorporate the logo in various ways.

There was a general discussion about painting the water tower and the new logo. There was no one else to speak to the issue. Councilman Crouch moved to approve the new logo. Councilman Taylor seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.

VISITORS/PUBLIC FORUM

None.

ADJOURN

With all business complete the meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

With all business complete the meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m.