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HomeMy WebLinkAbout98 1022 min (2) MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 22, 1998 The Plainview City Council met in a Work Session on Thursday, October 22, 1998 at 11:30 a.m. at the Plainview Convention Center. Mayor Lloyd C. Woods presided. Councilmembers present were: Sam Parker-Precinct 1, Mary Jane Shanes-Precinct 2, Rey Rosas-Precinct 3, Mike Hutcherson- Precinct 4, Ross Owen-Precinct 5, Bobby McGehee-Precinct 6~ and Irene Favila-Precinct 7. Staff members present were: Jim Jeffers-City Manager, John Berry-Asst. Director of Public Works, John Castro-Director of Community Services, Larry Gould-Code Enforcement Officer, Greg Zielinski-Code Enforcement Officer, Dale Simpson-Civil Service Director, Cindy Gasaway-Main Street Coordinator, William Mull-Police Chef, Gary Glass-Fire Chief, Wally Hatch-City Attorney, Norman Huggins-Director of Finance, and Karen McBeth-city secretary. 1. Invocation, Councilmember Mary Jane Shanes gave the invocation. Review of City Council Agenda for October 27, 1998. The following items on that agenda were discussed. Item (g) Consider Combination Plat of Jernigan Addition, Plainview, Hale county, Texas, and variance request was discussed. Assistant Director of Public Works John Berry reviewed this for the Council. He said Jakie Harris owns this property and it consists of seven acres. Since it is over five acres, city code requires it be platted. However, as it is not being subdivided and developed he has requested the following variances: length of a lot, alleys, water and seWer extension, and as it is in the flood plain, any new construction will not be allowed in the flood plain. The existing sewer line is at the North West corner of his property line. The Council had no questions regarding the plant and variance requests. Item 5. Zone Case 666. Ordinance No. 98-3188. An Ordinance authorizing the issuance of a Specific Use Permit to operate a flea market in a C-3 (Commercial) Zoning district, generally known as 608 E. 5th Street; Cumulativeness clause; Conflicts clause; Severability clause; And effective date. First reading. John Castro, Director of Community Services, explained this address was previously used as a used fumiture and second hand store, so the flea market designation is not so different from its previous use. He said only two written comments had been received, both were favorable. He anticipated no opposition to this Specific Use Permit. One stipulation is that no "booths" be set up outside the building itself. Item 6. Zone Case 667. Ordinance No. 98-3192. An Ordinance authorizing the issuance of a Specific Use Permit to operate a custom personal service shop in a (O) Office Zoning District; Generally known as 714 West 7th Street; Cumulativeness Clause; Conflicts clause; Severability clause; And effective date. First reading. Director of Community Services John Castro told the Council a Ms. Sue Johnson has requested a Specific Use Permit to put in a beauty shop at 714 West C:\MyFiles\Work Session Minutes\98 1022 wsmi~.~e 1 of 4 7th Street. This area is zoned as office, but a beauty shop would not detract from the area. No negative correspondence was received regarding this request. Item 7. Building Code Amendment. Ordinance No. 98-3196. An Ordinance of the City of Plainview, Texas amending 6-1-16; and 6-26 of the Plainview Code of Ordinances; Severability clause; Cumulativeness clause; Conflicts clause; And effective date. First reading. John Castro, Director of Community Services, reviewed the proposed changes and stated this brings the city up to date and compliant with the National uniform building code. Mr. Castro said minimal changes were made. He said it deals mainly with ingress/egress to fit fire safety codes, strength of building materials in disaster prone areas, and other small items. Councilmember McGehee asked why the fee for a building permit was now $40 rather than $20? Mr. Castro said in reality the City has always charged $40, but the code said $20, and the code now states $40 which is what we actually charge. He said the ordinance also deals with abatement of dangerous buildings and sets forth stipulations regarding costs of repair and demolition of dangerous buildings either by special assessment against the property or personal obligation of the property owner. Greg Zielinski told the Council the cost to the City of demolishing the bUilding on Columbia Street recently was $15,000 plus landfill charges of approximately $9,000. Item 8. Minimum Housing Code Amendment. Ordinance No. 98-3197. An Ordinance of the City of Plainview, TexaS amending Chapter 13 of the Plainview Code of Ordinances; Severability clause; Cumulativeness clause; Conflicts clause; And effective date. First reading. Mr. Castro reviewed the ordinance stating it adopts the most recent edition of the Uniform Housing Code. He said the minor changes bring us in line with national codes and gives us a uniform guide. Item 9. Nuisance Amendment. Ordinance No. 98-3198. An Ordinance amending the City of Plainview Code of' Ordinances, Chapter 16, Nuisance Code and amending sections of the Nuisance Code; Cumulativeness clause; ConflictS clause; Severability clause; And effective date. First reading. Mr. Castro told the Council one of the most significant changes this ordinance makes, is it allows the City to charge an administrative fee of $175 if we have to declare a building unfit, or if the City has to abate, the nuisance. Councilmember McGehee asked if the paper work was more time consuming than actually shredding the weeds, demolishing the building, moving the vehicle, etc.? Mr. Castro said yes. 3. City Council reports. Councilmember McGehee reported he attended the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority r board meeting on October 21, 1998. He said with the passage of legislation allowing the authority to buy the aqueduct to bring it under CRMWA authority and not federal control, the authority will sell $34 million in bonds to purchase the aquedUct. The authority will also sell $4.125 million in bonds to support the salinity control program in New Mexico. He said information on the Roberts County project was exceptionally impressive. The authority accepted requests from member cities for the amount of water to be received this coming year, agreeing to a 90% allotment. C:\MyFiles\Work Session Minutes\98 1022 wsmi~.~e 2 of 4 4. Discussion of "Daytime" curfew. Police Chi&Will Mull reviewed the existing night time curfew of the City reminding the Council that it extended the curfew one extra hour during summer months. He said the City allows two warnings to be issued before a citation is written, then the fine can be as high as $500. The Youth Advisory Commission is against a daytime curfew, as is the police department. Since Plainview does not have a "closed campus" it would be extremely difficult to enforce. He said the main problem is around High School but a daytime curfew would not solve that problem. Essentially, there is not enough manpower. He said the people who gather at High School during the noon hour are over 17 years old anyway. He said Texas already has a truancy law which is good. It puts the responsibility on the parents. Chief Mull said the night time curfew is legal, however he is unsure if a daytime curfew would stand legal scrutiny. Mayor Woods said he did not support a daytime curfew. Councilmember Rosas said he did not favor a daytime curfew. Councilmember Hutcherson said he did not favor a daytime curfew. Councilmember Parker asked if some kids sneak offfrom school and hide out during school hours? Chief Mull said probably, and there is no way a curfew would stop this. Councilmember McGehee commented that there were truancy officers to take care of this, why should the City get involved. Councilmember Owen agreed, and asked if police officers stop young people and ask them why they are not in school? Chief Mull said yes, if they are not on campus and if they are truant they are turned over to the school resource officer. A police officer has to be sure of the young persons age, 'and sometimes this is a judgment call. Mayor Woods asked Ron Miller, of the Plainview Independent School District, if he thought a daytime curfew was a good idea? Dr. Miller said it would be difficult to enforce. He said students have so many different class times due to the many activities, such as sports, band, the annual staff, etc. and there are some really legitimate reasons for students to be "out" of school. City Manager Jeffers asked if there were plans for a closed campus? Dr. Miller said this has been discussed, almost yearly. He stated Mr. Shipley (High School Principal) has some ideas on staggered lunch periods, different times for different grades. Mr. Jeffers asked if there was any interest in pursuing this topic? No Councilmember expressed interest in pursuing it. 5. Development policies after annexation. Mr. Jeffers said City services are generally incremental. He stated industrial development does not follow any rules. The Columbia Street annexation still has no water/sewer service. Lubbock and some other cities pay for these extensions. Historically, Plainview has the property owner that benefits from the water/sewer extension to pay for it, and likewise the property developer. He stated some research could be done on how other cities approach this problem and some comparisons could be drawn. He said it would take a lot of stafftime, but it could be done if the Council was interested. Councilmember McGehee stated the Legislature may address this, and their findings could be used as guideline. Mayor Woods said that when Columbia Street was annexed they wanted water, and many of them still do not have it. He said we need to have a plan for offering water and sewer to newly annexed areas. The consensus was to have staffgo ahead with a study. Councilmember Owen asked why we annex, to get a greater tax base or to control our extra-territorial jurisdiction? Mr. Jeffers said both. He said the annexation of US 70 was to direct growth, the annexation of 84 C:\MyFiles\Work Session Minutes\98 1022 wsmi~.~l~e 3 of 4 Lumber was for taxes, and annexation of the feedlot was to control the area. Councilmember Hutcherson asked if other cities tax the newly annexed areas and require the cities to make water/sewer available? Mr. Jeffers said most cities do more than Plainview. 6. Review of Seth Ward Water and Sewer plans. Mr. Jeff.ers told the Council David Milstead contacted him stating Seth Ward is going to begin the next phase of their water supply plan. He asked to change their contract with the City to reflect that Plainview would only be a "back up" supply for water. Mr. Jeffers proposes that the City should be reimbursed for being a "back up" as this will impact the water plant, we will have to maintain a reserve capacity in our system to handle Seth Ward and it impacts our ground water reserve. Councilmember McGehee asked how much we charge Seth Ward for water? Director of Finance Norman Huggins said it is $1.29. Councilmember Parker asked who collects the money for the Seth Ward system? Mr. Jeff.ers said they have a co-op Mayor Woods asked how much money will it take to fix our wastewater plant? Mr. Jeff.ers said between $4 and $12 million. He said Seth Ward will build sewer lines and pump to our plant. Seth Ward will also have to maintain their water and sewer lines. Councilmember McGehee said he wants to be sure they "audit" all commercial users to be certain of what they are putting into our sewer system. Councilmember Owen stated we needed to control as much as we could in the Seth Ward area without annexing them. Mr. Jeffers said Seth Ward is an example of unrestricted growth. Mayor Woods adjourned the meeting at 12:50 p.m. PASSED AND APPROVED on November 10, 1998 n McBeth, ~,ity secretary C:\MyFiles\Work Session Minutes\98 1022 wsmi~t~q~e 4 of 4