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HomeMy WebLinkAbout94 0303 min MINUTES Plainview City Council Work Session March 3, 1994 The Plainview City Council met in a Work Session on March 3, 1994, at 11:30 a.m. at the Cotton Patch Cafe. Mayor E. V. Ridlehuber presided. Councilmembers present were: Alton Jackson, Sr.- Precinct 1; Mary Virginia Kirchhoff- Precinct 2; Don Dickson - Precinct 3; Mike Hutcherson - Precinct 4; Dwain Dodson - Precinct 6; and Irene Favila - Precinct 7. Barbara Dorman - Precinct 5, was absent. Staff members present were: James P. Jeffers - City Manager, Barbara Sullivan - Municipal Judge, Roy L. Osborne- Director of Public Safety, Muff London- Director of Community Development, Wally Hatch - City Attorney, Terry Powers- Director of Human Resources, John Castro- Director Health Department, John Berry- Assistant Director of Public Works, and Karen UcBeth - City Secretary. THIS IS A WORK SESSION AND NO ACTION CAN BE TAKEN The Council reviewed the agenda for the meeting of March 8, 1994. The Council turned to the City Manager's reports. 1. Council Liaison Reports - Irene Favila reported on a two day work shop for Economic Development held in Plainview and sponsored by SPAG. The meetings were directed toward business and marketing. She stated she was very disappointed in the small number of minorities which attended the meetings. She stated she was disappointed that of the ten delegates which will make presentations to the Governor's office, none of them were from a minority group. Mary Virginia Kirchhoff stated she was also disappointed in the unequal way the different cities were treated. She stated there should have been some preliminary information on the structure of the meetings. She felt that the Panhandle cities were definitely given preferential treatment. Mike Hutcherson reported thal at the last SPAG meeting the Main Street Project was unanimously approved as was the loan to Seth Ward for sewer and water. Irene Favila reported that at the last meeting of the Youth Advisory Council, which focused on reCreational activities, the Salvation Army had agreed to provide a paid coordinator; the YMCA agreed to donate facilities and staff time; Wee Care and the Migrant Council agreed to provide meals; MET agreed to provide ten JTPA slots, as did Caprock Community Action (these will be used for staff) and $10,000 from the City will be on an agenda in the near future. She stated the schools have been contacted about the use of the gyms, and they had agreed. She stated that so far the County has not contributed anything. 1 of 3 Capital Improvements Program- Norman Huggins, Director of Finance, reported that approximately 1.5 million dollars are in reserve. He stated that while no strict guidelines dictate how much should be kept in reserve, as the Financial Director he did not feel comfortable with spending more than 500 thousand to one million from this fund. Councilmember Don Dickson Stated he would like to see all of the street projects bid and done at one time. He stated he wOuld like for staff to investigate the ways in which this could be done. City Manager Jim Jeffers recommended using $500,000 of the reserve for street improvements. He stated he would gather information for a Public Hearing regarding a bond issue. Mr. Huggins said that First Southwest will develop a time table for a bond election. The council had no objections. Charter - Mr. Jeffers said that Irene Favila had read the proposed new charter and she has stated she has some problems with it. He proposed the council have a work session developed to reviewing the proposed charter. This work session was sCheduled for March 31, 1994, at the Cotton Patch Cafe. Citizen Participation Survey - A copy of a survey was distributed to the council. Mr. Jeffers asked if they were interested in doing another survey by precinct. This could be a random survey, with numerous questions, all of them regarding city activities. Don Dickson stated he would like to see this type survey done on a regular basis. Mr. Jeffers stated it could be done within the existing budget. The council did not object. Health Department - Mr. Jeffers stated there will be a public hearing regarding raising the fees required by the Health Department for inspections of cooking establishments. Permit fees have not been raised since 1967. John Castro explained that the Sanitarian spends many hours inspecting food establishments - 236 places are inspected twice annually. If the inspection fees are raised, it will allow the hiring of an additional person to do environmental inspections. They will need to hire another sanitarian within a year. Mr. Castro stated the plan was to pro-rate the fee according to how much and what type food was dispensed. A re-inspection fee is to be charged to re-open if they are closed because of failure to pass inspection. He wants this fee to be $25.00 for each time they are re-inspected. The council expressed no objections. Gang Prevention Program. G.R.E.A.T. is a gang prevention educational program which targets 7th graders and will be done by a police officer. Roy L. Osborne, Director of Public Safety, stated he hopes to get the training for the police officer at no cost, but the city will have to pay transportation costs. The schools must agree to have this program in the schools. Youth Program - Judge Sullivan reported that she was working on a program aimed at first time youthful offenders. There is a film on crime/shoplifting that showS what can happen to young people who get caught breaking the law. She said that Detective Pat Serrano is helping her. She stated that parents have to attend these programs with the youth. The program has a great deal of anti- 2 of 3 gang information. She hopes that going through this system will help deter young people from criminal activity. "Adult" Entertainment- City Attorney Wally Hatch reported that the city presently has no ordinance in place for "sexually oriented" entertainment. It does have an ordinance regarding books and videos which are sexually explicit. An ordinance can set out exact criteria for where this type establishment can exist. Such an ordinance does not apply to extra territorial jurisdiction. The ordinance would be limited to exactly what can be "prohibited." No interest was shown in pursuing this. Mayor Ridlehuber adjourned the meeting at 1:03 p.m. Passed and approved on March 22, 1994. E. V. Ridlehuber, Mayor ATTEST: Karen McBeth, City Secretary 3 of 3