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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/07/1986 City Council MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON FEBRUARY 7, 1986 The EMERGENCY SESSION was called to order at 6:20 p.m. (Meeting starting time was delayed due to bad weather.) with the following persons in attendance: Larry D. Sample Mayor Rick Harris Councilman Tom Arrambide Councilman Helen Gray Councilman Don Amick Councilman Marlene Poole Councilman and with Councilman Dodds absent due to personal business, however, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 2. CONSIDERATION OF THE LEASING OF TEMPORARY SIGNAL LIGHTS FOR THE INTERSECTION OF SOUTH COLONY BLVD. AND MAIN ST. Chief N.C. Ristagno was present at the meeting and advised the Council that he had spoken with represetnatives of the Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation regarding the permanent signal that is on order to be installed at that location, and he was told it would be another 3 to 6 months before the light would be in. Ristagno stated that Mr. Dwight Bird of that department assured him that he would try to rush this order as much as possible. John Miller, also of that department said he had received a verbal approval from Austin to install a temporary signal light at that intersection due to the drastically increased traffic caused by the opening of the McDonalds on the southwest corner of S. Colony and Main on the 4th of February. Chief Ristagno said he has spoken with Rick Campbell of Traffic and Transportation Supply, who stated he has enough equipment on hand to put in a temporary light at no cost to the city. Mr. Campbell did say that installation of the poles and electricity would be at a cost to the City, and that he would talk to the contractor and arrange for the cost to be under $5000.00 to eliminate the need to go out for bid. The Chief went on to say that he had spoken with City Attorney, John Boyle who advised that the contract should be approved under an emergency item and that if it did happen to come in over $5000.00 that the City would be covered as far as the bid process is concerned since it was an emergency. Mayor Sample asked how much time this would take and Ristagno said that after approval approximately 2 - 3 days. Coucnilman Harris asked if the permanent signal, when installed would have "WALK SIGNALS". Ristagno said yes. Mayor Sample asked who installed the 4-way stop signs at the intersection of S. Colony Blvd. and Main St. this week. Ristagno said that the State had installed them a request from the City due to the heavy traffic flow. The Chief stated that there had been too many near accidents (veh~le and pedes- train) since McDonald opened and some kind of traffic control device had to be installed. Councilman Poole asked who is paying for the overtime for the police officers that are having to work at that corner in the peak hours to direct traffic. Chief Ristagno said that money is coming out of his department budget and Mayor Sample said that perhaps McDonalds will defray some of that cost. Coucnilman Poole moved to direct the City Manager to enter into an emergency contract for the installation of a temporary signal light at the intersection of S. Colony Blvd. and Main St. Councilman Arrambide seconded the motion. The motion carried with all members voting Aye. At this the Mayor called a brief recess. Upon reconvening, the following item was addressed: 1. CONSIDERATION OF A COTNRACT AND MUTUAL AGREEMENT TO EFFECTUATE CONSOLIDATION OF THE COLONY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 1 OF DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS INTO THE CITY OF THE COLONY. Mr. John Boyle, City Attorney, noted two changes in the contract to be signed. 1) Personnel Protocol 2) Minor changes in the balane of the contract. Mr. Boyle said he does not feel they are major and that the contract is substantially the same as the one the Council had signed at an earlier meeting. Mr. Boyle went on to say that he feels signing the contract and moving forward will provide the fastest and best method of reaching the goal, which is the consolidation of the City and the M.U.D. Mayor Sample asked if this contract is approved can the process for obtaining the Declaratory Judgement begin on Monday, the 10th. Mr. Boyle said the process can begin immediately, however there are some things outlined int he contract that must be addressed as soon as possible; in paragraph 4, a proforma financial statement is asked for to address the disposition of funds and approximate combined tax rate. Also all entities and public bodies within and contiguous to our boundaries need to contacted and notified of this action to avoid any contest, before going ahead with the Declaratory Judgement suit. Mr. Boyle said once the suit is in the hand the timing is speedy and he sees no reason why the merger cannot happen by October l, 1986 with no problems. Mr. Boyle suggested that the Council authorize the Mayor to execute the contract. Janice Carroll went over the cover letter from District Manager, Bill Hall stating that there are no changes in the contract except in the Personnel Protocol and those were minor and there are no problems with them. Mr. Boyle suggested the pro-forma be set in motion as soon as possible and that a boundary map showing all boundaries is critical. Councilman Amick expressed concern over the require- ment to set the tax rate. Mr. Boyle said that the M.U.D. is concerned that there will be an increase in taxes when the two entities are combined. Boyle went on to say, even though that is not likely, it would be advisable to go along with this request, saying that this would not constitute actually setting the tax rate but merely an evaluation based on information received from the City Manager and the District Manager and woudl result in an approximate tax rate of the two entities. Councilman Amick was uncomfortable with the way the contract seemed to be written to protect the M.U.D. employees and not the City. He stated he would vote for the approval of the contract because he feels this is the most important thing to happen to the City. Mayor Sample agreed this is the single most important thing this Council will accomplish. Councilman Poole made the motion to approve the contract and authorize the Mayor to execute same and to authorize entering into an agreement with Deloitte, Haskins, and Sells, for suitable compensation, to carry out the requirement in Article 4 of the contract and to authorize the obtaining of maps as required in Article 4 of the contract and to instruct the CitY Attorney to proceed promptly and diligently toward preparing the papers for the Declaratory Judgement Suit. Councilman Arrambide seconded the motion which carried with a unanimous roll call vote. 3. CLOSED DOOR SESSION AS AUTHORIZED BY ARTICLE 6252-17, V.A.C.S., SECTION 2E, REGARDING POTENTIAL LITIGATION. Upon reconvening in open session, and with no further business to address Councilman Amick moved to adjourn and with a second from Councilman Poole the motion carried with all members voting Aye. Mayor Sample adjourned the meeting at 8:33 p.m. APPROVED: S~-~I e, -M~a y o r Patt~y [SEAL]