HomeMy WebLinkAbout96 0910 minCity of Plainview
September 10, 1996
The Plainview .City Council held a meeting. at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 10, 1996 in the
Council Chambers of the Plainview City Hall at 901 Broadway. The Council met in Pre-Session
at 7:00 p.m. The notice and agenda for -this meeting was ,posted in City Hall at 5:00 p.m. on.
September 4,, 1996. Mayor Lloyd. Woods presided. Councilmembers present were: Alton
Jackson Sr.-Precinct 1, Mary Virginia Kirchhoff-Precinct 2, Rey Rosas-Precinct 3, Mike
Hutcherson-Precinct 4, Ross Owen-Precinct 5, Bobby R. McGehee-Precinct 6, and Irene Favila-
Precinct 7.
'~ Staff members present were: Jim Jeffers-City Manager, Wally .Hatch-City Attorney, Ches
Carthel-Director of Public Works, John Castro-Director of Community Services, Norman
li Huggins-Director of Finance, William Mull-Interim Police Chief, Cesar Cervantes-Plainview/Hale
County Health Department, and Karen McBeth-City .Secretary.
Guests present were: Representatives of the Junior Service League.
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~~ OPEN MEETING
L Invocation -The Honorable Bobby R. McGehee
Pledge of Allegiance -The Honorable Ross Owen
2. Recognitions jOath of Office -There. were none.
3. Consent Calendar - Councihnember Irene Favila made the motion to approve the
Consent Calendar as presented. Councilmember Ross Owen seconded the motion which carried
~ unanimously .among .all seven Councilmembers present.
a) Minutes were. approved.
! b) Departmental Reports were. accepted.
c) Expenditures were approved.
d} Texas Department of Health. Approval. of TDH Document. No. 7560006391 97,
j with the Texas Department of Health, a contract which will provide $48,326.00
of vaccine for pediatric immunization and $45,333.00 financial assistance for
~ personnel, fringe benefits and travel, to the Plainview/Hale County Health
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Department. The contract begins 9/1/96 and ends 8/31/97..-The contract was
approved.
REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
4. Budget Adoption. -Ordinance No. 96-3090.. An Ordinance adopting and approving the
Budget for the fiscal. year beginning October 1,.1996 and terminating September 30, 1997, and
making such appropriations for each department, .project and account. Second and Final
.Reading. Councilmember Ross Owen moved to approve Ordinance No. 96-3090, which
Councilmember Irene Favila' duly seconded. Mayor Woods quickly reviewed the ordinance and
asked if there was any public comment; there was. none. When asked all seven Councihnembers
voted to .approve the ordinance without exception.
5. Tax Rate. Ordinance Na 96-3091. An Ordinance levying municipal ad valorem taxes
for the City, of Plainview, Texas, for the year 1.996, and directing the assessment and collection
thereof; Severability clause; Conflicts clause; Cumulativeness clause; And effective date. Second
and Final Reading. Councilmember Bobby McGehee made the motion to approve Ordinance
No: 96-3091, which was seconded by Councilmember Ross Owen. Mayor Woods reviewed the
ordinance establishing the tax rate. He asked for public comment and Bruce Rider, 1100
Thunderbird, said he congratulated the. Mayor and Council for doing a good job. He stated he
believed they did the `very best they could with. the resources :available. The Council was polled
and all seven Councilmembers present voted unanimously to approve Ordinance. No. 96-3091.
6. Zone Case 631. Ordinance No. 96-3092.. An Ordinance amending the zoning map of
the City of Plainview, Texas, to rezone property located at 408 W. 7th Street and 410 W. 7th
Street from M-1, Multi-family-1, to R-2, Single-family residential-1; Cumulativeness clause;
Conflicts clause; Severability clause; And .effective date. Second and Final Reading.
Councilmember Rey Rosas made the motion to approve Ordinance No, 96-3092 and
Councilmember Ross Owen seconded the motion. Director for Community Services John Castro
reviewed the Zone Case in the ordinance stating it changes the captioned addresses from multi-
family zoning to single family residential zoning. The Planning and Zoning Commission
recommended approval of this change and the City received no objections to this change. There
was no public comment for or against the ordinance. All seven Councilmembers voted in favor
of the motion to approve. There. were no negative votes.
7. Zone Case 632. Ordinance No. 96-3093. An Ordinance .amending the zoning map of
the City of Plainview, Texas, to rezone property located at 1910 W. 16th Street from R-1, Single-
family residential-l, to C-3, Commercial. general business; .Cumulativeness clause; Conflicts
clause; Severability clause; And effective date. Second and Final Reading. Councilrnember
Bobby.. McGehee moved to approve Ordinance No. 96-3093, and his motion was seconded by
Councilrnember Rey Rosas. John Castro, Director of Community Services, explained the
Plainview Independent School District needed to use a lot they own, which is directly across 16th
Street from. the High School,. on which to place temporary classrooms while construction is
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being done to the school. There was no public comment and Mr. Castro .recommended approval. ~
of this ordinance. When polled, all seven Councilmembers voted in favor of the ordinance, with ~ ~°
no one voting against it.
8. Health Department -Annual Report.. Cesar Cervantes,. with the Plainview/Hale County
Health department reported to the City Council regarding the activities of the Health Department
for fiscal. year 1996. The Health Department recorded 3,700 initial visits; 5,100 clinic visits and
3,879 immunizations. He,said 1,400 of .this number was during the August,<199.6, vaccination
campaign. They did 398:health inspections and handled 762 health complaints.: These were
mostly regarding restaurants, :sewage. He gave a breakdown of he actual number of tests given,
the number of flu and pneumonia shots. given, and the number of blood pressure. checks that were
made. He cited as the goals for .next year. to aim for 80% completion of TB medication :and
getting children up-to-date on vaccinations by age 1 to a 90% level.
9. Senior Citizen Advisory Committee. Ordinance No. 96-3094. An Ordinance of the
City of Plainview, creating a Senior .Citizen Advisory Commission for the City of Plainview.
IYrst Reading. Councilmember Rey Rosas moved to approve Ordinance No. 96-3094, and it
was seconded by Councilmember Mike Hutcherson. Councilmember Mary Virginia Kirchhoff
told the Council and the public that last .year the City made an agreement to support the Senior
Citizens., Center, and at that time she realized the.. City. may have overlooked a valuable resource.
The proposed Senior Citizen Advisory Commission has been thoroughly researched and a lot of , --.
time and thought was put into the proposal.. She .said she .believed Seniors to be very
knowledgeable and conservative and they have asked to be a functioning .part of City ,?
government. She said the ordinance. is quite comprehensive and she is quite pleased to be the
one to present it. All: seven Councilmembers voted in favor of the ordinance establishing the
Senior Citizen. Advisory Committee. No voted against it.
10. Energas =Rate. Case. Consider action on the request of Energas for a rate increase.
Councilmember Ross Owen moved to approve a-rate increase, though not the 6.7% requested,
and Rey Rosas seconded this. motion. Director of Finance Norman Huggins reported that in May
of this year, Energas filed for an increase of 6.7% in the rates. At that time the City suspended
the rate increase so as to study the .need for such an increase. The City joined 67 other area
cities and farmed a Steering .Committee to conduct this study. The Committee came up with a
compromise and Energas has agreed to the compromise rate,' which is a 5.3% increase in the rate.
Individual households will see an effective 7.7% rate increase, on the average. The last rate
increase .was in 1994, which was a l . l % increase... In 1990 Energas got a 3.6 % rate increase.
Since the Steering Committee and .Energas have reached a compromise and agreed on the 5.3
rate increase, the City has three options: To agree with the compromise; Do nothing, and in effect'
that is the same as agreeing; Or, to deny it and then go to the Texas Railroad Commission and
argue our case individually. Staff. has reviewed this compromise and says it. appears to be a
reasonable settlement... Mr. Huggins stated Energas runs a good operation and they are good
neighbors.. He said the only flaw he could see, was that Energas had only. used one year, this
past year, as their cost/use. study base, and this past year was a very mild winter. There was no j
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public comment.. Councilmembers .Jackson, Kirchhoff, Rosas, Hutcherson, Owen, and McGehee
voted in favor of agreeing with the compromised increased rate of 5.3%. Councilmember Favila
abstained from. voting due to a conflict of interest.
11. Upen Forum. Hear. citizens. requests and comments per Open. Forum Policy. Mayor
.Lloyd Woods, having duly signed a request to speak during the Open Forum section of the
Council Meeting .addressed the Council and public. He said he has been Mayor for 28 months
and the City has been really busy. He said he realized how tough it is being on the City Council.
He said he appreciated the hard work the. Council does and he wants the citizens to know that
every Councilmember wants to serve all the people of Plainview.
He said the 21st Century is approaching and there are many important issues facing Plainview.
Water is always of prime. importance to the South Plains and in order to guarantee water to
Plainview, his predecessors wisely joined the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority. While
this was a good move, there are ongoing water. problems which will need to be addressed by the
Council. The salinity control project, the renovation of the City's water treatment and distribution
system, as well as the waste .water facilities and the problems with TNRCC. He said the Council
has the responsibility of taking care of the citizens of Plainview and this is what they are
pledging to do.
Mayor Woods spoke about .the. accomplishments of the past two years: The passage of a new
~_ ~ charter, appointing a Diversity Task Force, the appointment of a Bond .Infrastructure Advisory
~ Committee to help formulate a proposal for a bond election, and the organization of a West
i Texas Environmental Alliance to help fight against the many unfunded mandates placed on cities
4 that .are unnecessary and very costly.
He .continued saying that.. he .was ready to file suit against the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission and/or the :EPA for what they were attempting to make the City of
Plainview do regarding the wastewater treatment plantand the sanitarylandfill.
Councilmembers Kirchhoff and Rosas both expressed support of the Mayor.
12. Closed Meeting.. Deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment of
duties, removal, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee, or to hear complaints or
charges. (Bond Infrastructure Advisory Committee, Diversity Task Force, Board of Adjustment,
Senior Citizen Advisory Committee, Planning and Zoning Commission). This meeting is
authorized by [TEX. GOV. CODE ANN. §551.074, 551.075 (Vernon 1996}]. A Closed Meeting
was not held.
13. Boards, Committees and Commissions... Bond Infrastructure Committee, Diversity Task
Force, Board of Adjustment, Senior,..Citizen Advisory Committee, and Planning and Zoning
Commission. No appointments were made.
14. Adjournment. Councilmember Ross Owen moved the meeting adjourn; Mike Hutcherson
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seconded the motion; the motion passed unanimously among the seven Councilmembers present. ``
Mayor Woods adjourned the meeting.. at 8Q9 p.m. ~ !
Passed and approved on September 24, .1996.
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Lloyd C. oods, Mayor
ATTEST:
Karen McBeth, City Secretary
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