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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/14/1983 City Council MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON December 14, 1983 A REGULAR SESSION of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. at the City Hall with the following members present: Larry Sample Mayor Scott North Councilman Norman Adeler Councilman Noel Long Councilman Charles Dodds Councilman Marlene Poole Councilman and with Don Amick absent; however, a quorm was established. 1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE Mayor Sample led the Council and members of the audience in the pledge to the United States flag. 2. CITIZEN INPUT There was no citizen input. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Councilman Poole moved to approve the minutes of the November 21, 1983 and the December 5, 1983 meetings as written. Seconded by Councilman Dodds, the motion passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 4. PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING WHETHER THE SALE OF TRADE OF THE OFFICE CREEK PARK AREA TO THE LEWISVILLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS AS OUT- LINED BY ARTICLE 5421Q OF V.A.C.S. Councilman Dodds made a motion to open the Public Hearing. Seconded by Councilman Adeler, the motion passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None City Manager, Janice Carroll advised the Council that all the legal requirements for a Public Hearing have been met. She said the purpose of the hearing is for the Council to determine that this is the most feasible use of this park land. She went on to recommend that this is the most feasible use for this park land as in the past, all other area's for a high school have been explored in great detail and this would be the best area. The location of a school in this area would not be detremental to the use of this land as it would still be used for recreational purposes by the high school students of The Colony. She mentioned that she had spoken to Mr. Marshall Durham, Assistant Superintendent of the L.I.S.D., today and he said they had no problems with this plan and were ready to pursue a contract and further negotiations. He provided us with a survey of the B.B.Owens site which we will sell and or trade for this Office Creek property. He went on to say that the architects are looking at several locations on the Office Creek property to put the high school building. It is by no means definite, but they are considering building the school on the southern most end of the property. This would delay the actual moving of the existing ball fields. There were no comments for or against this sale or trade of the park land. Councilman Dodds moved to close the Public Hearing. Seconded by Council- man Poole, the motion passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Councilman Dodds then made a motion that there is nolfeasible and prudent alternativelto the uselorltaking of such land; and that such program or project includes all reasonable planning to minimize harm to such land as a park and to direct the City Manager, Janice Carroll to enter into negotiations with L.I.S.D. Seconded by Councilman Poole, the motion passed with the following roll call vote: Ayes: Ail members present voted aye Noes: None Mayor Sample then skipped to item #7 on the agenda. 7. CONSIDERATION OF FEE STRUCTURE FOR STEWART'S CREEK PARK City Manager, Janice Carroll recognized the presence of several Parks & Recreation Department Board Members, Clifford Orme and Doug Megredy as well as Sylvia Brantley, Recreation Super- visor. Mr. Jerry Van-Y, Public Works Director was also present in their behalf. Ms. Carroll summarized the memo from the Parks & Recreation Department concerning the fee structure stating that basic- ally they want to drop the $20 group fee and they have ordered their new permits for 1984. Mayor Sample opened the floor for discussion. Councilman Adeler agreed with dropping the group fee and the idea of an "Early Bird Special" price of a 20% reduction of the fee if purchased between January 1 and February 15, 1984. He went on to move to accept the fee schedule as presented. Seconded by Councilman Dodds. Mayor Sample asked for any further discussion. Councilman Poole was concerned over whether or not the cost of the permits would continue to defray the cost of maintaining the park. Mrs. Brantley assured her that ti would and went on to add that the regular rates would be $15.00 for the first annual permit and $5.00 for any additional permits. Councilman North expressed some concern about dropping the group rate. He wanted to know who would be in charge of cleaning up the area after a group gathering. Mr. Van-Y expressed the fact that as a rule, in the past, most groups have generally cleaned up after themselves without any special instruction from the Parks & Recreation Department or the Public Works Department. With no further discussion, the motion passed with the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Mrs Carroll added that the City did get a three year extens- ion on the Stewarts Creek Park from the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers. 8. CONSIDERATION OF REVISION OF PARK AND RECREATION FEES AND PROCEDURES. City Manager, Janice Carroll referred to a memo from Sylvia Brantley, outlining the Parks & Recreation Department and Board discussions about the fees along with Resolution 83- 10 passed April 1983, adopting fee's for certain functions within the P & R Dept. realm. Mrs. Carroll recommended to the Council that they postpone the non-resident fee as adopted by this resolution at this time due to the uncertain- ties of playign fields for the Soft Ball League and wait until all ball fields are relocated. Mayor Sample asked if a year postponement would be sufficient. Mrs. Brantley said it would. Councilman North moved to postpone the non-resident fee as adopted by Resolution 83-10 until the City Manager and the Parks and Recreation Board feel it is the proper time to implement the Resolution. The motion was seconded by Councilman Long. Councilman Dodds then moved to amend the motion to put a ceiling of one year on the suspension of the Resolution. The amended motion was seconded by Councilman North and he went on to add the effective dates would be 1/1/84 to 1/1/85. The amendment motion passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None The amended motion also passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None At this time, Mayor Sample called a brief recess. Upon reconven~ng, Mayor Sample went back to agenda item #5. 5. CONSIDERATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF BIDS FOR POLICE DEPARTMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS VEHICLES AND AWARDING OF SAME. City Manager, Janice Carroll recognized Chief Ristagno. He summarized the bid information presented in memo form to the Council. He recommended the Council take the Doran Chevrolet bid, although it was not necessarily the lowest bid, based on his recent in-house maintenance studay on the presently owned City vehicles. He went on to read the clause Mr. John Boyle, City Attorney, had added to our bid form in the ~nstruction to bidders section stating that: The City Council, in accepting or rejecting any and all bids, may consider the historical repair and maintenance records for vehicles of the type to be purchased. Chief Ristagno then briefly went over his maintenance study with the Council. Mayor Sample asked if the study applied to the City trucks also and wanted to know why he didn't want to go with the lowest bid for the Dodge trucks. Chief Ristagno replied that yes, the study did ~nclude trucks and that Doran Chevrolet was the lowest bidder for a 1/2 ton Chevrolet truck and that Dodge was the lowest bidder for the 3/4 ton truck. Mr. Jerry Van-Y, Public Works Director, was present and added that the City currently has a 3/4 ton truck that has just had extensive repairs and is expected to last at least another twelve months. He went on to say that a 1/2 ton truck would not only be more than sufficient for the needs of his department but the price would also fall into his planned budgeted amount, whereas the 3/4 ton would not. Councilman North addressed the matter of trade in values. Chief Ristagno stated that the City Ordinance states that the City must auction off the used City Vehicles to the highest bidder, there- fore, trade in values would have no impact. Councilman Dodds was curious as to whether or not the new vehicles would be marked. Chief Ristagno replied that four patrol cars would be marked, one would not. As for the two trucks, both would be painted white with the brown City markings on them. Councilman Dodds then moved to pass the following resolution. Mayor Sample read it aloud. WHEREAS, sealed bids for five (5) police vehicles, one (1) ½ ton pick-up for Animal Control and one (1) ¼ ton pick-up for Public Works were opened and reviewed on November 30, 1983; WHEREAS, the Public Works Department has recommended that a ½ ton pick-up be purchased due to extensive repairs made on an existing ¼ ton pick-up; and WHEREAS, the bidding document did include the following statement "... the City Council, in accepting or rejecting any and all bids, may consider the historical repair and maintenance records for vehicles of the type to be purchased..."; and WHEREAS, it has been determined by an in house maintenance study that the cost to maintain the Chrysler police vehicles is .043 cents per mile and the cost to maintain the Chevrolet police vehicles is .028 cents per mile; and WHEREAS, based onthis study it is the reocmmendation of the City Manager and the Chief of Police that an additional capital investment of $1,121.00 to award the bid to Doran Chevrolet for five (5) police vehicles the low bid for ½ ton pick-ups and Chevrolet police motor vehicles. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS: That the bid be awarded to Doran Chevrolet for five (5) police vehicles and one (1) ½ ton pick-up for Animal Control in the amount of Fifty Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Sixty Four & 45/100 ($59,964.45) Dollars; and one (1) ½ ton pick-up for the Public Works Depart- ment in the amount of Seven Thousand Nine Hundred Sixty Eight & 05/100 ($7,968.05) Dollars. PASSED AND APPROVED on this the day of , 1984. Larry D. Sample, Mayor ATTEST: Janet Gadd, City Secretary based upon the analysis of the letter by Chief Ristagno dated 12/07/83 that we find Doran Chevrolet is the lowest and best bid and that we accept that bid. Seconded by Councilman Poole, the motion passed by the following roll call vote: AYES: All members present voted aye NOES: None 6. CONSIDERATION OF AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO A LEASE AGREEMENT FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED CITY VEHICLES City Manager, Janice Carroll recommended this Ordinance be tabled until the Janaury 4th, 1984 meeting. At that time, she will have gathered sufficient data on interest rates from Rauscher-Pierce, Tri-Leasing, Mercantile National Bank and the Colony Bank. Her decision for the .lease agreement will come from this information. Her preliminary figures lead her to believe that Mercantile would offer the best rate. She went on to say that Mr. John Boyle, City Attorney, has recommended that a clause be added to whatever agreement is signed to state that the City be allowed to pay off said vehicles at the end of a physical year. This being based on the fact that many such agreements have sizeable penalities if you prepay a lease. Mayor Sample asked Mrs. Carroll if the City had adequate funds to pay up front for any or all of the proposed vehicles. She responded that she had not yet looked into that. Councilman North mentioned that he preferred to buy these vehicles as a capital purchase. He went on to say that he felt a lease was fine but that the vehicles should be paid off at the end of the City's budget year. Cou~ci~lman Dodds moved to table this Ordinance until the January 4, 1984 meeting. Seconded by Councilman Long, the motion passed by the following roll call vote: AYES: All members present voted aye NOES: None Mayor Sample then went on to agenda item #9. 9. DISCUSSION OF APARTMENT COMPLEX LICENSES AND SINGLE FAMILY DEFINITION Janice Carroll, City Manager, advised the Council that included with their agenda packets, they would find a copy of the proposed Farmers Branch Ordinances for Single-family and Multi-family licensing. Mayor Sample then recognized that Mr. John Boyle, City Attorney , would answer any questions the Council or members of the audience may have. Councilman Poole asked that the Single-family Ordinance be reviewed first. Mayor Sample added that he wanted to know why it (Farmers Branch Ordinance) was in the form of two Ordinances. Mr. Boyle gave a brief background as to how they came up with their definitions. He said the problem with Multi-family residences was not the construction but as they got older, the maintenance tends to decline. Multi-family dwellings are like Single-family dwellings in the s~nce that neither dwelling can be entered and inspected without a warrant. He added that high density use requires the owner to retain licenses and agree to allow a building inspector to come in once a year and review the premises. A Single-family dwelling is considered as people related to each other plus one to four unrelated persons. Councilman Poole asked if every landlord in the City would be licensed and ntoed that The Colony has a serious problem with absentee landlords. She is wanting to find a way to eliminate %his problem and protect the homeowners. Mr. Boyles stated that yes, this ordinance would apply to every landlord and that it would give the homeowners the kind of protection they need. He added that the fee is just to offset the inspection costs. Mayor Sample asked if this ordinance would pertain to every residence and went on to say "What do you do when a residence hasn't been licensed and the landlord can not be lacated?" Mr. Boyle replied that yes the ordinance would pertain to every residence and that if the landlord could not be located, then the city could come in and close up the house. The matter would then be handled through Municipal Court. Councilman Poole asked Mr. Boyle for his recommendation. He stated that ti would be necessary for the Council and the City Manager to evaluate the community, read the Farmers Branch Ordinance and tailor it to fit the needs of The Colony. He went on to say that it would be a good idea to publicize the proposed ordinance before a public hearing is held. Councilman Adeler stated that he wanted to clarify that the license fee was seperate from the Certificate of Occupation. Mr. Boyle added that landlords would include an annual ~nspection clause in their leases. City Manager, Janice Carroll read aloud Section 8 A-3 from the Farmers Branch Ordinance as follows: Right and access to inspect all unoccupied dwelling units when, upon reliable information, the building inspector has reason to believe that violations of the ordinances os the City or State law exist that involve serious threats to life, safety, health and property. Mr. Boyle stated that if there is reason to believe, get a warrant to get in. Mayor Sample went on to say that 28.3 percent of the Colony ~s rental property and that hefeels this Ordinance would help enforce the Certificate of Occupancy Ordinance. Councilman Long added that he was ready to do what ever was necessary to fine tune the F.B. Ordinance to fit The Colony's needs. Councilman North feels it would be nedessary to look into possible litigation before drawing up such an Ordinance. Councilman Dodds then moved to have the City Manager put this matter on the January 4th, 1984 agenda as a discussion item. Mayor Sample added that he wanted to discuss the Multi- family issue at the same time. Mayor Sample announced the Council would now move to agenda item # 10. 10. CLOSED DOOR SESSION AS AUTHORIZED BY V.A.C.S. ART. 6252-17,SECTION 2, REGARDING LITIGATION With no further discussion, Councilman Dodds moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Councilman Poole, the motion passed as follows: -- AYES: All members present voted aye NOES: None Mayor Sample adjourned the meeting at 12:36 a.m. APPROVED: ~.~L~pl~r, ~ayor ATTEST: J add,City Secretary