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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/31/1981 City Council 000949 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON AUGUST 31, 1981 A REGULAR SESSION of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. with the following members present: Richard Turner Mayor Scott North Councilman Norman Adeler Councilman Gary Shipman Councilman Charles Dodds Councilman and with Councilman Freeman Upchurch absent; however, a quorum was established. 1, BRIEFING SESSION The Council did hold a very brief session in which Dan Savage, City Manager, reviewed the following agenda items; however, there was no action taken at this time. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Councilman Adeler moved that the minutes of the meetings held on August 17 and August 24 be approved as presented. Seconded by Council- man North, the motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 3. CONSIDERATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF COUNCILMEMBER RESIGNATIONS A. PLACE 2 B. PLACE 4 Mayor Turner read aloud the resignation letters of Freeman Upchurch and Gary Shipman at this time. Councilman Upchurch stated that, as he was no longer a resident of the city, he would not be able to serve in the position of councilman. Councilman Shipman also stated that, due to his recent move to the City of Carrollton, he will not be able to serve as councilman in the City of The Colony. Councilman North moved to accept the resignation of Counc i lman Upchurch in Place 2. Seconded by Councilman Shipman, the motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Ail members present voted aye Noes: None Councilman Adeler moved to accept the resignation of Councilman Shipman in Place 4. This motion was regretfully seconded by Councilman North. Prior to voting, Mayor Turner stated that Councilman Shipman had contri- buted for the past six years to the growth and development of The Colony and that he will certainly be missed by this Council as well as citizens. He then called for a vote on the motion on the floor. The motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None At this time, Dan Savage, City Manager, reviewed the election procedure that will be followed calling the November 3 election. 4. CONSIDERATION OF APPOINTMENT OF MAYOR PRO TEM Councilman Shipman moved that Councilman Scott North be appointed Mayor Pro Tem. The motion was seconded by Councilman Dodds. At this time, -1- 000950 Councilman Shipman stated that he personally felt that Councilman Scott North had the courage to carry on in this position. Mayor Turner then called for a vote on the motion on the floor. The motion passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Councilmen Adeler, Shipman, Dodds Noes: None Abstention: Councilman North 5. PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING TEXAS POWER & LIGHT RATE INCREASE REQUEST Councilman North moved to open the Public Hearing. Seconded by Councilman Dodds, the motion was passed by the following vote: Ayes: Ail members present voted aye Noes: None Mr. Savage advised the Council that Don Butler, of the Texas Municipal League, and the consultant working on behalf of the Texas cities, Touche Ross, have advised cities to pass a rate providing for a $32,673,000 profit to Texas Power & Light, which represents a 5.44% rate increase. This increase is a reduction of the increase recommended by the Public Utility Commission of $43,500,000 representing a 15.7% rate increase. Mr. John Turner, a representative of Texas Power & Light, did advise the Council that in all likelihood, TP&L would file an appeal on September 1 on this rate. Mr. Savage further advised the Council that the rates had been put in effect under a bond with the city earlier. Mayor Turner asked that Mr. John Turner explain again the procedure for this appeal, which he did. He added that it was imperative that the rates be uniform throughout the state. Mr. Savage advised the Council that this will possibly become a yearly process for the city to go through. There were no further questions for or against this rate increase at this time. Councilman North moved to close the hearing. Seconded by Councilman Dodds, the motion was passed by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 6. CONSIDERATION OF PASSAGE OF ORDINANCE GRANTING A 5.44% BASE RATE REVENUE INCREASE TO THE TEXAS POWER & LIGHT COMPANY Mayor Turner read aloud the following captioned ordinance: AN ORDINANCE APPROVING RATE SCHEDULES TO BE CHARGED BY TEXAS POWER & LIGHT COMPANY IN THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFEC- TIVE DATE FOR SUCH RATE SCHEDULES AND PROVIDING CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH SUCH RATE SCHEDULES MAY BE CHANGED, MODIFIED, AMENDED OR WITHDRAWN. Councilman North moved to approve the passage of this ordinance. Seconded by Councilman Shipman, the motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Ail members present voted aye Noes: None 7. CONSIDERATION OF PASSAGE OF TAX LEVY ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING AN AD VALOREM TAX RATE OF 42¢ PER ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ASSESSED VALUATION FOR THE YEAR 1981 Mr. Savage reviewed again for the Council and members of the audience the reason for a 5¢ increase in the existing tax rate. He advised the Council that our tax base is $181,543,252.00 and our collection rate is 99.5%. One cent on the tax rate represents $18,063.55. He again emphasized that our total tax base has been increased very little, there- fore, creating the need for the 5¢ increase. At this time, Mayor Turner read aloud the following captioned ordinance: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS, LEVYING THE AD VALOREM TAXES FOR THE YEAR 1981 AT A RATE OF $.42 PER ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00) -2- 000951 ASSESSED VALUATION ON ALL TAXABLE PROPERTY WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY AS OF JANUARY 1, 1981; TO PROVIDE REVENUES FOR THE PAYMENT OF CURRENT EXPENSES AND TO PROVIDE AN INTEREST AND SINKING FUND ON ALL OUTSTANDING DEBTS OF THE CITY; PROVIDING FOR DUE AND DELINQUENT DATES TOGETHER WITH PENALTIES AND INTEREST; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Councilman Adeler moved to approve the ordinance as presented. Councilman Shipman seconded this motion. At this time, there followed a brief dis- cussion. Mr. Paul Engle, a member of the audience, was recognized. He stated that, although he had missed the Public Hearing, he was concerned that the city in the last two years had raised taxes 126% and asked if this would continue at this rate. Councilman Shipman at this time explained to Mr. Engle that for the first three years of city operation, the Council dropped the tax rate. Therefore, this created the need for a 19¢ tax increase for the fiscal year 1980-81. Mr. Savage further advised that this tax increase would probably not be necessary in the future, as the County Tax Appraisal District Board does plan to reevaluate all homes in the County in the next taxing year. Chris Peterson, a member of the audience, asked if the tax rate will be readjusted after this re- evaluation. Mr. Savage assured him that it would. There being no further questions, Mayor Turner called for a vote on the motion on the floor. The motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Ail members present voted aye Noes: None 8. PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE Mayor Turner explained that the Council cannot hold a Public Hearing on a zoning case until a recommendation has been received from the Planning & Zoning Commission and, therefore, this hearing could not be opened at this time. 9. RECEIVE PROPOSALS FROM CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMS FOR THE 1980-81 CITY AUDIT At this time, Mr. Savage stated that proposals had been received from seven accounting firms as follows: Pittman and Harris Rylander, Clay & Opitz Peat, Marwick & Mitchell Arthur Andersen & Company John Solana and Associates Judd, Thomas, Beasley and Smith S. D. Vaugh He did advise the Council to review these proposals in closed-door session. 10. CLOSED DOOR SESSION DEALING WITH PERSONNEL A. AUDITORS B. LIBRARY BOARD Mayor Turner advised the members of the audience that the Council would now meet in a closed-door session dealing with personnel as authorized by Article 6252-17 VACS, as amended. 11. CONSIDERATION OF LIBRARY BOARD APPOINTMENTS At this time, Councilman Dodds moved to appoint Patricia DelGado, Bill Longo and George Gillett for two-year terms on the Library Board and Elaine Gayle and Freda Holmes for one-year terms. Seconded by Councilman North, the motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 12. RECEIVE CITY MANAGER'S STATUS REPORT Mr. Savage reviewed in detail a memorandum outlining suggested sanitation contract specifications and advised the Council that he would be arranging -3- 000952 a pre-bid conference for interested pamties. He advised that we would be going to court on September 3 regarding the Charles Purdy suit. He advised the Council that Councilman Dodds had discussed with him becoming involved in the negotiations for a future transit system in the North Dallas-Metroplex area. Councilman Dodds added that Camille Barnett, Assis- tant City Manager, City of Dallas, could give us additional information on this. Mr. Savage then advised the Council that the Labor Day Telethon with Sylvia Brantley as Chairman would be conducted at City Hall Sunday evening and all day Monday and urged all citizens to participate. He added that our Volunteer Fire Department had raised in excess of $1,000 this past weekend for this worthy cause (Muscular Dystrophy). 13. RECEIVE CITY SECRETARY'S REPORT REGARDING THE CERTIFICATION OF INITIATIVE PETITION SUPPORTING UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES* Mrs. Carroll read aloud the following letter that had been submitted to the Mayor, Council and Nick Oprea: Pursuant to Chapter 8 of The Colony City Charter, initiative petitions were filed with me on August 24, 1981, requesting passage of an ordinance supporting Universal Health Services, Inc. I have reviewed the initiative petitions and have dete~ined that they are not signed by the requisite number of qualified voters equal in number to at least 15% of the number of qualified voters of the city, in that as of August 24, 1981, 15% of the number of qualified voters would be 803, and said petitions contained the signatures of only 707 qualified voters. Even if the petitions had contained the requisite number of signatures, they are void under the requirements of Section 8.04 of the Charter in that they do not have an affidavit attached as required by Section 8.03. The petitions were filed by Mr. Nick Oprea and, pursuant to Section 8.04, he is being furnished a copy of this certification letter so that he may have the opportunity to amend the petitions within ten days of notice, in accordance with Section 8.04 of the Charter. I hereby certify the contents of this letter in accordance with The Colony City Charter. Sincerely, /s/ Janice Carroll, City Secretary (SEAL) She did further explain that Mr. Oprea did have ten days from the date of this letter (September 3, 1981) to correct the deficiencies of the petition. At this time, there being no further action to be taken by the Council, Councilman Shipman moved that the meeting be adjourned. Seconded by Councilman North, the motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Mayor Turner adjourned the meeting at 11:34 p.m. ATTEST: eARROLL, SECm A / / i/ -4- 000953 '13. RECEIVE CITY SECRETARY'S REPORT REGARDING THE CERTIFICATION OF INITIATIVE PETITION SUPPORTING UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES Correction Mrs. Carroll advised the Council that she was not able to present a completed report to the Council at this time. She did advise them that Mr. Dillard has determined that the affidavits were not properly affixed to each paper. Ail signatures would be certified by September 3, and the Council will be notified at that time. -5-