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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01 0823 minThe Plainview City Council met on August 23, 2001, at 11:30 a.m. at the Plainview Convention Center, 2902 West 4th Street, Plainview, Texas. The agenda for this meeting was posted in City Hall at 11:00 a.m. on August 20, 2001. Mayor Lloyd C. Woods presided. Councilmembers present were: Sam Parker-District 1, Rey Rosas-District 3, Mike Hutcherson-District 4, and Buddy McGehee-District 6. Councilmembers absent were: Mary Jane Shanes-District 2, Ross Owen-District 5, and Irene Favila-District 7. Staff members present were: James P. Jeffers-City Manager, John Berry-Director of Public Works, John Castro-Director of Community Development, Wally Hatch-City Attorney, Sean Lanier-Assistant Director of Public Works/City Engineer, William Mull- Chief of Police, Albert Perez-Fire Captain, Dale Simpson-Director of Civil Service, Matthew Tsakanikas-Main Street Coordinator, and Belinda Hinojosa-City Secretary. Guests present were: Pat Karrh-President of the Chamber of Commerce, Brian Pohlmeier-1st Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, Jim FerrelI-Executive Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, Kevin Carter-Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce. News media representatives present were: Richard Orr-Plainview Daily Herald. Matthew Tsakanikas delivered the invocation. Councilmembers Shanes-District 2, Owen-District 5, and Favila-District 7 were granted an excused absence for this meeting. The Council and Staff then reviewed the agenda for the City Council meeting of August 28, 2001. Pat Karrh, President of the Chamber of Commerce introduced some of the officers. She presented a list of the events for the past few months, along with the number of visitors each event brought. The graph also showed the amount of money given to the events. She stated $22,800.00 had been given from October 2000 to the present, but she stated that of this amount some money is always received back in the people that come to the city for the events. She stated that the Chamber was interested in having the City more involved and stated they would like to have a representative from the City be part of the Convention Visitors Bureau and Board of Directors. She stated the following are upcoming events: September 12 Ag Seminar - Ag Lead - Brian Pohlmeier stated that Ag Lead is a 25-member group looking at the agricultural impact to the community. It is basically a sounding board. It addresses the changes in agricultural industry. He noted that several people are going into the cattle industry. The Chamber provides education. September 15 Cowboy Days - Rollie Hyde, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce has been working on this, along with Matthew Tsakanikas, Main Street Coordinator. There will be a Texas Wildlife Association Exhibit. City of Plainview City Council Minutes August 23, 2001 Page 1 of 3 September27-30 Vietnam Memorial Wall - The Chamber has gotten TxDOT to postpone the 1-27 construction work until next summer to not interfere with the Wall. October 13 & 20th contest that will people. Two band contests - one of which is the region band bring 56 bands to the City with approximately 14,000 November & December Parade. Queens Classic, Pioneer Classic and Christmas June 1 thru September 15 Vatican Exhibit will be in Lubbock. This is the only place in the world that this will be available. There is expected to be 10,000 people a day, with people staying in local motels. The Chamber is currently working on finding activities to coincide with the exhibit, possibly offering discount packages. Ms. Karrh also mentioned that the Chamber is also working on their calf project. She mentioned that the Women's Division of the Chamber of Commerce also has the Hi Neighbor luncheon, scarecrow contest, Read First Program and several business seminars. The Chamber is a member of the Llano Estacado Tourism Society. The Chamber is also involved with the Farmer's Market, Cleanup Plainview, Up With Trees and Ports-To-Plains. They are currently working on ways to increase membership; they are currently down 100 members from last year. The Chamber receives.approximately $100,000 from hotel/motel tax from the City. They are currently in the process of decreasing the amount of money spent on personnel services, thus permitting more of the funds to be available for community reinvestments and marketing. In 1999-2000, 50% of the monies were used for personnel. The Convention and Visitors Bureau hopes to bring that percentage down to 25% by 2004-2005. Brian Pohlmeier stated that it would take two to three years to streamline the expense side. Jim Ferrell advised the Council that they would be working on the budget at a September 2® meeting. He stated the budget was pretty close to what had been budgeted and the $72,000 in reserves was still the same. The Chamber is interested in assuming a closer relationship with the City and moving forward. There was no representative from the Industrial Foundation in attendance. Mr. Jeffers stated that the Foundation has grudgingly accepted the City being more involved. The Industrial Foundation currently receives $25,000 from the City and $25,000 from the County. Councilmember McGehee advised the justification for using taxpayer's money would be that it would result in offset of taxes. He gave an example of the swimming pool plant that the Foundation acquired. It is located outside the city limits, thereby would not pay any city taxes. Another example was the dairy, which is also located outside the city limits. He asked how could the City promote PHIF to the citizens of Plainview since there was no benefit? Mr. Jeffers stated there could be a request for payment in lieu of taxes in the initial contract. He stated in connection with the pool plant, it was loaned $200,000 from the City. The Contract has a clause stating they would not oppose annexation after five years. Mayor Woods stated the Industrial Foundation is the same group of people on the board. This year several new members were recruited. He questioned why the contribution was equal between the city and county. It appears that the County City of Plainview City Council Minutes August 23, 2001 Page 2 of 3 gets a greater tax benefit since several businesses have located outside the city limits. Mayor Woods commended Mr. Jeffers saying he has provided more input than the Industrial Foundation people. Mr. Jeffers stated the Council needs to begin to try to put ideas on paper. He commented that the Chamber of Commerce embraces the idea of the City's involvement. He stated there should be a coordinating committee to improve economic development efforts. He stated all Councilmembers should be considered members of both the Industrial Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Jeffers stated the 2001-2002 budget would include $336,000 for the hike/bike trail and $40,000 to create an incentive fund for economic development. These amounts would be from the City reserves. Public hearings for the 2001-2002 budget will be on September 11th and 25th. Mayor Woods adjourned the meeting at 12:30 p.m. Belinda Hinojosa City Secretary 239 City of Plainview City Council Minutes August 23, 2001 Page 3 of 3