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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/22/1982 City Council 00J.° MINUTES O? THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON NOVEMBER 22, 1982 A SPECIAL SESSION of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:00 p.m. with the following members present: Gene Pollard Mayor Scott North Councilman Larry Sample Councilman Norman Adeler Councilman Charlie Parker Councilman Charles Dodds Councilman Marlene Poole Councilman and with no members absent, thus, a quorum was established. 4. CLOSED DOOR SESSION DEALING WITH PERSONNEL AND PENDING LITIGATION Mayor PoIlard announced that the Council would now meet in a closed door session as authorized by Article 6252-17 of Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes and that this would only last approximately five minutes. 5. CONSIDERATION OF APPOINTMENT OF CITY MANAGER Upon reconvening in open session, Councilman Poole moved to hire Mr. Johnny Sartain as City Manager of The Colony. Seconded by Councilman Dodds, the motion carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None At this point, Mayor Pollard introduced Mr. Sartain to the members of the audience and invited him to sit at the Council table for the remainder of the meeting. 1. CITY MANAGER'S STATUS REPORT Mrs. Carroll stated that she would like to have the Council's input on the question of the City opting to drop out of the Social Security system. She stated that an "intent to withdraw" had to be filed with Social Security two years prior to the time the City could actually drop out. Councilman Parker stated that he felt the City should look into this. Councilman Dodds said the staff should go ahead and get this written up in order to have all options open. She reported that the auction held by the Police Department recently was a success, bringing in over $1,300. Everything available for the auction was sold. Councilman Parker asked if the old yellow ambulance and the "water wagon" were included in the auction, and Mrs. Carroll stated that they would be sold along with other vehicles in the spring. She advised the Council that the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony would be held on December 3rd at 7:00 p.m. next to Fire Station 1 and would be conducted by the Alpha Tau Gamma Chapter of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. She announced that The Colony's first Christmas parade would be held on Saturday, December 4th at 11:00 a.m. All members of the Council indicated that they would be able to attend. -1- She advised that the annual Turkey Trot was held at Stewarts Creek Park and that there were 10 winners. She gave the Council information from the Interim Regional Transpor- tation Authority and stated that they were asking for around $2,000 from The Colony if the City wished to participate. This amount is based on The Colony's population. It was pointed out that the Council had already voted not to pay to participate. Sandy Jacobs, Precinct Two Commissioner, had advised Mrs. Carroll of a meeting concerning the Highway 121 right of way. Mrs. Carroll stated that she talked with Mr. Simmons of the Highway Department about this and that the construction timetable had not been changed. The right of way acquisition is not scheduled to be started for around two years. The City's portion of this will be approximately $200,000 and the state will reimburse the City for 90% of this. The Colony's portion includes only the north side of Highway 121. Councilman Sample stated that he had heard that property owners in this area were going to donate this right of way. Mrs. Carroll advised that the contractual agreements would be sent to us within the next few weeks. 3. CONSIDERATION OF ALLOCATION OF STREET IMPROVEMENT BONDS FOR AN INCREASE IN THE COST OF THE CONSTRUCTION PLANS FOR FM #423 Mrs. Carroll advised that she had talked with Mr. Pete Tart, the City's bond attorney, and he advised her that we have enough money in the bond interest account to cover any cost overruns. The cost of this project has also been reviewed by Michael Cummings, City engineer, she stated. The figures which had been given to the City previously were estimates and the figures now being supplied represent actual costs. Councilman Sample asked if the City was receiving any property tax from Denton County Electric Cooperative on their equipment in The Colony. Mrs. Carroll stated that she would check on this, and she advised the Council that no action was necessary on this item. 2. CONSIDERATION OF CATV FRANCHISE AGREEMENT Mayor Pollard recognized Councilman North at this time, and Council- man North stated that a Certified Letter had been sent to Mr. Campbell advising him of this meeting and of the items that the Council wished to have supplied at this time. Mrs. Carroll stated that in a telephone conversation with Mr. Campbell today, he had advised that Mr. Charles Fiscus would attend the meeting to represent him in this matter. Mayor Pollard noted that since Mr. Fiscus might not have been aware of the meeting starting at 7:00 p.m., this item would be delayed Jn order to give him time to arrive. At this time, Mayor Pollard recognized Diane Kovar of the Alpha Epsilon Chapter of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. Ms. Kovar at this time asked Mayor Pollard to draw a winning name from a basket for a free turkey. Mayor Pollard drew the name of Mrs. Joyce Laseter. At this time, Mayor Pollard called for a brief recess. 4. CLOSED DOOR SESSION DEALING WITH PERSONNEL AND PENDING LITIGATION Upon reconvening, Mayor Pollard announced that the Council would again meet in a closed door session. 2. CONSIDERATION OF CATV FRANCHISE AGREEMENT Upon reconvening in open session, it was noted that Mr. Charles Fiscus had arrived. Mayor Pollard again recognized Councilman North, who had done the research on this item. Councilman North had noted quite a few deficiencies in going through the franchise Ordinance, No. 123. -2- 001353 These deficiencies were in the following areas: 1. All complaints received by CATV are to be recorded on a company log and reflect the name, address, the time or date of call, what the complaint is, to whom assigned, when completed and what was found. The City's agent of record, who should receive a copy of this log, is Mr. I. R. Bradburry. 2. CATV is to provide notice to each subscriber, at the time of initial subscription and thereafter at intervals of not more than one year, of the procedure for reporting and resolving subscrier complaints. 3. CATV is to pay quarterly to The Colony 3% of all the gross revenues received and collected during each calendar quarter, payable 60 days after each quarter. The City has not been receiving reports of revenues, so we have not been able to check the franchise amount. 4. CATV is to provide within ninety days of the close of its annual accounting period a report of operations, certified by CATV's treasurer and CATV's Certified Public Accountant, showing annual gross revenues during the preceding year and such other information as the City shallreasonably require with respect to CATV's operations. 5. The City shall require CATV to furnish annual financial statements audited by a CPA, including a balance sheet, incoem statement and statement of changes in financial position. 6. The City shall require CATV to furnish quarterly operating statements certified by an officer of CATV, including gross revenues categorized by class, operation and maintenance expenses, deprecia- tion and showing profit or ]ess from operations for the quarter. Included with this statement shall be data for the franchise giving number of subscribers, number of connects, reconnects and disconnects, number of service call complaints categorized by subscriber equip- ment and company equipment failure, number of miles of distribution system in service, number of yhoursof local programming provided and total number of hours of programming offered. 7. CATV is to provide the amount of $15,000 either in cash or by use of matching or funded federal agency grants to the City for the purchase of equipment, planning and implementation of a civil defense and emergency preparedness system. 8. CATV shall make available to the citizens of the City equipment for cablecast of local origination programming. The equipment will include television cameras and video tape recorders and necessary devices to convert film to television pictures. Councilman North stated that the above deficiencies cause CATV to be in default under Section 14 of Ordinance No. 123. Also enumerated by Councilman North were the following items from the summary of the proposal. 1. Security services: Level I, single panic button; Level II, smoke buttons, fire buttons, police buttons and medical buttons; Level III, key lock arming panel for intrusion alert. 2. ToCom converter: to be in and available between two and three years. 3. Distribution network/shadow trunk, Special Services Network. 4. Network for bi-directional distribution: two-way video and data transmissions (between schools, city facilities), tele- conferences between any two locations. -3- 5. Battery powered backups. 6. Customer service manual. At this time, Councilman North read aloud a portion of a letter written to Mr. Ben Campbell by city attorney Robert L. Dillard. The letter outlined the preceding deficiencies and the concluding paragraph was as follows: "Should the company fail to fulfill its obligations as outlined herein and in the ordinance, the City Council may elect to give you written notice of revocation after public notice and a public ~ hearing on the matter. Should you have any immediate questions or desire to discuss any aspect of this matter, please contact the City Manager, the City Council or me." Councilman Sample stated that the Council was asked to extend the deadline for completing construction of the system, Mr. Risher stated that the problem was due to bad weather and, subsequently, Mr. Campbell stated that they were awaiting higher interest rates, and he felt this was deceptive. Mayor Pollard asked Mr. Fiscus if Mr. Campbell had received the letter from Mr. Dillard and he stated that he had. Mayor Pollard then asked if Mr. Fiscus had the required reports for the Council at this time. Mr. Fiscus answered that they would be available tomorrow, and Mayor Pollard advised that the Council would not be in session at that time. Mr. Fiscus stated that the reports were ready for signature, but he did not have them with him. Mayor Pollard then stated that this was requested last week and a delay had been approved, and he was quite disappointed in this lack of response. Councilman Sample stated at this point that it had actually been four weeks since the request was first made. Councilman Parker asked Mr. Fiscus at this time if he was still serving as The Colony's Munici- pal Judge. Mr. Fiscus stated that he was serving in this capacity until a replacement was found. Councilman Parker then stated that he had a real problem with Mr. Fiscus serving in this capacity and at the same time representing CATV against the City, as he ~-~ felt that this was a definite conflict of interest. Mr. Fiscus answered that he was very sympathetic with this concern and that he had made CATV aware of this and also submitted his resignation as Municipal Judge. He also stated that he had submitted full disclosure to all parties, and was planning to terminate his duties as Municipal Judge as soon as possible. He then advised that he had not had any awareness or any effect upon this particular ordinance and that his office would not have had any influence on this ordinance and, therefore, he did not feel there was a conflict. Councilman Sample asked if he had every had any discussion with a member of the Council regarding CATV and if this would have been a privileged conversation. Mr. Fiscus stated that he did not remember anything of this nature. Councilman Sample stated that he was bothered by the fact that he could not remember what he might have said to Mr. Fiscus or if any other Council member had done so. Mr. Fiscus stated that he believed the reason that he was on this case was because he was the only attorney who took an active interest in the town. Councilman North then asked why Mr. Scott Felton, one of the owners, was not mentioned anywhere, and Mr. Fiscus stated he could not answer this question. At this point, Mayor Pollard stated that this matter was really not within the Council's purview to deal with who CATV chose as their attorney. Mr. Fiscus then presented the following letter from CATV's CPA: TV Cable of The Colony I have examined the gross revenues of TV Cable of The Colony for the period from December 1, 1980 to December 31, 1982. My examination was made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and accordingly included such tests of the accounting records and such other auditing procedures as was considered necessary in the circumstances. -4- In my opinion, the reported gross revenues of $66,630 present fairly the gross revenues of TV Cable of The Colony for the period from December 1, 1980 to December 31, 1981. /s/ George W. Williams, CPA November 16, 1982 Mayor Pollard requested formally again a report signed by an officer of CATV. Mr. Fiscus stated that the problem ahd been that there was not a separate set of books for each franchise held by CATV and these separate books had not been available from the inception of the franchise. He stated further that no one had complained about this lack in the past. Councilman North asked about the company log of complaints. Mr. Fiscus stated that he was not aware of this requirement and, therefore, he could not address this issue at this time. Mayor Pollard then advised that CATV was being served notice of these deficiencies as of November 18, 1982. Councilman Sample asked about Mr. Campbell's apparent problem with signing the statements. He stated that the annual report should be signed by a CPA but that the quarterly statements could be signed by a company officer. Councilman Adeler pointed out at this time that there were three quarters for which there were no signed statements. Councilman Sample asked if there had ever been a prospectus submitted on CATV. Mr. Fiscus answered that he was not sure. Mr. Fiscus did address one issue at this time. He stated that there had been a total lack of requests for the equipment for public access. Councilman Adeler did point out that no one knew this was available, and Mr. Fiscus answered that there had been information on a public access channel but it was cancelled due to lack of support. Mayor Pollard asked if the system for transmission inside the schools was in place, and Mr. Fiscus answered that he was not sure of the status of the teleprompter in Lewisville, which would be required as this was to be district wide. Mayor Pollard then stated that in July or August the School District had made a request that this be hooked up. Mayor Pollard then reiterated that CATV had 60 days to correct these deficiencies. Councilman Poole stated that she would like to have information on what type of statements other cities are receiving from CATV. Mr. Fiscus did not think this would be a problem. Councilman Dodds stated that he would like to see a complete customer listing. Mayor Pollard then asked why the franchise agreement was executed with requirements for these statements if CATV knew it would not be possible to provide this information. Councilman Adeler asked if other cities having franchises with the company had similar clauses in their agreements. Mayor Pollard then asked when a report would be made back to the Council concerning the information which should have been provided by CATV at tonight's meeting, and he stated that this should be provided no later than November 29th. 4. CLOSED DOOR SESSION DEALING WITH PERSONNEL AND PENDING LITIGATION Mayor Pollard then announced that the Council would meet in a closed door session once again before dealing with Item 6. 6. CONSIDERATION OF APPOINTMENT OF MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE Upon reconvening in open session, Councilman Dodds moved to appoint Edmund Burke as The Colony's Municipal Court Judge. Seconded by Councilman Parker, the motion carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 4. CLOSED DOOR SESSION DEALING WITH PERSONNEL AND PENDING LITIGATION Mayor Pollard announced that the Council would now meet in a closed door session for the last time to discuss pending litigation and that no further action would be taken at this meeting. -5- 0101'356 Upon reconvening in oepn session, Councilman Dodds moved to adjourn the meeting, as there was no further action to be taken by the Council. Seconded by Councilman Parker, the motion carried by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Mayor Pollard adjourned the meeting at 10:45 p.m. GEN~ POLLARD, MAYOR ATTEST: JANI~B?/C~RROLf~, CITY SECRETARY // -6-