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Min 01/21/2003 9 Wichita Falls, Texas Memorial Auditorium Building January 21, 2003 Items 1 & 2 The City Council of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas met in regular session on the above date in the Council Room of the Memorial Auditorium Building at 8:30 o'clock a.m., with the following members present: Bill Altman - Mayor Johnny Burns - Mayor Pro Tern Arthur Bea Williams - Councilors Linda Ammons - James Esther, Jr - Harold Hawkins - James Berzina - City Manager Bill Sullivan - City Attorney Lydia Torres - City Clerk Michael Norrie - Absent Mayor called the meeting to order. Item 2 Larry Sanner, 5007 Lake Shore Drive, owner Lake Shore Marina, expressed concern about the problems in obtaining building permits. He stated that the Building Department is giving inconsistent as well as incorrect information. It appears some of them do not know what they are doing and are not familiar with the City Ordinances. He mentioned the tree ordinance and that Building Inspection staff told him he was required to put his trees in a certain location, which would result in him having to tear down his two boat storages. He did not think he should have to tear down something that is profitable in order to put a tree there. He said that the Building Inspection Department should be customer friendly. He mentioned having to wait for one week to get a permit because a person was out on vacation and another time a Building Department employee could not get to his building plan because he was behind with 15 other plans. He is tired of fighting the system. Mayor and two other Councilors will meet with Mr. Sanner. Item 3 Reverend Bob Rogers, First Assembly of God Church, gave the invocation. Item 4 Mayor recognized Daniel Talley, J. W. Carmoney, and Aaron Carmoney, Boy Scouts from Troop 200 who were attending this morning's Council meeting and working on their communication, citizenship and community badges. Item 5 The Minutes were approved as distributed. 10 Item 6a-7a City Manager gave a briefing on the items listed under the Consent Agenda. Councilor Ammons requested that Item 6a be moved to the Regular Agenda. Moved by Councilor Williams that the Consent Agenda be approved with the exception of Item 6a. Motion seconded by Councilor Ammons and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Altman, Councilors Williams, Ammons, Esther, Burns, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 7 Minutes of the following commission meetings were received. a. Planning and Zoning Commission — December 11, 2002 b. Traffic Safety Commission — November 6, 2002 Item 6a RESOLUTION NO. 4-2003 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, TO ACCEPT THE REROOFING OF FIRE STATION NO. 4 PROJECT AND AUTHORIZE FINAL PAYMENT TO ARMORED ROOFING CO.; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS RESOLUTION WAS PASSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW Moved by Councilor Ammons that Ordinance No. 4-2003 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Williams. Councilor Ammons was concerned about not having some preventative program in place to prevent and detect mold. Mrs. Jan Stricklin informed that an ongoing assessment was put into place eight years ago. Chief Lindsey clarified that was found was not black mold. Motion carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Altman, Councilors Williams, Ammons, Esther, Burns, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 8a ORDINANCE NO. 5-2003 ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, AMENDING THE 2002-03 BUDGET TO REFLECT CHANGES IN VEHICLE IMPOUND OPERATIONS AT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS ORDINANCE WAS PASSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW Moved by Councilor Esther that Ordinance No. 5-2003 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Williams and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Altman, Councilors Williams, Ammons, Esther, Burns, and Hawkins Nays: None 11 Item 9c was taken out of order to accommodate General Arthur Rooney from Sheppard Air Force Base. Item 9c RESOLUTION NO. 7-2003 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, TO AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE OF A BUS STOP SHELTER FROM BRASCO INTERNATIONAL IN THE AMOUNT OF $13,314.00; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS RESOLUTION WAS PASSED AND WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW Moved by Councilor Williams that Resolution No. 7-2003 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Ammons. General Rooney expressed appreciation to the City for its continued relationship with Sheppard Air Force Base and for the consideration shown to the service men and women, one example is the placement of this bus shelter by the Base. Motion carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Altman, Councilors Williams, Ammons, Esther, Burns and Hawkins Nays: None Item 9a RESOLUTION NO. 5-2003 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A LEASE OF A PARCEL OF LAND LOCATED AT 4611 LAKE SHORE DRIVE TO WILD BIRD RESCUE; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS RESOLUTION WAS PASSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW. Moved by Councilor Williams that Resolution No. 5-2003 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Ammons and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Altman, Councilors Williams, Ammons, Esther, Burns, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 9b RESOLUTION NO. 6-2003 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, CERTIFYING AN EMERGENCY SHELTER GRANTS PROGRAM APPLICATION BY FIRST STEP, INC. OF WICHITA FALLS AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR'S SIGNATURE; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THE RESOLUTION WAS PASSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW Moved by Councilor Williams that Resolution No. 6-2003 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Ammons. Councilor Ammons stepped out of Council Chambers. 12 Item 9b continued Motion carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Altman, Councilors Williams, Esther, Burns, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 10a Councilor Esther expressed excitement over the Champions on Ice show at the Coliseum. He heard very positive comments from out of town attendees. Councilor Esther thanked those who were responsible for the alley rehab project behind Sacred Heart Church. They did an outstanding job. Mayor informed that Councilor Hawkins was now the Illustrious Potentate of the Maskat Shrine. Councilor Hawkins felt very fortunate and stated that we are very fortunate to have the Shrine Center. He announced that the Shriners are giving away a truck this Sunday and he encouraged interested persons to purchase tickets. Councilor Hawkins expressed appreciation to General Rooney for being present today to acknowledge the bus shelter at the entrance of Sheppard Air Force Base and for his participation in this project. He was happy that this bus shelter was going to be added to District 5. Councilor Ammons returned to Council Chambers. Councilor Hawkins stated that his wife and granddaughter attended the Champions on Ice show and they thoroughly enjoyed it. He said that his wife was excited that we had something like this in our City. He noted that the total attendance of all the events last Saturday brought approximately 10,000 people out to the MPEC facilities. Councilor Williams stated that it was a wonderful time to live in Wichita Falls. She was elated and amazed to see the number of families who brought their children to the Coliseum for the Champions on Ice show. It was an awesome turnout. Councilor Williams asked for the job positions report. Mrs. Stricklin stated that she would present it during Staff/Council reports. Councilor Ammons echoed what the other Councilors commented regarding the ice show and the turnout at the Coliseum. There are so many things to do in Wichita Falls. She concurred with Councilor Williams that the Champions on Ice show was something for the entire family. We are so grateful for everyone that is working on bringing these events here. People have been in awe of the Coliseum and we are grateful and we need to continue to support the Coliseum and MPEC to get the best of the best. Councilor Burns informed that he had met with Mr. Sanner and looked at his property. Mr. Sanner has valid points and they need to be addressed. There are some things that do not make sense such as requiring a retention pond on the banks of Lake Wichita is absurd and Mr. Sanner had to deal with that and had to jump hurdles to do what he was trying to accomplish. Councilor Burns announced that the A&M Singing Cadets would be in our City at Wichita Falls High School on Valentines' Day and he invited everyone to attend. Mayor commented that he met people at the MPEC Coliseum from Lawton, Nocona, Bowie and that was just a sampling. The Coliseum is having the effect of bringing folks from the outlying areas to Wichita Falls where they buy food, gas, etc. and it benefits the community as well as provides a source of entertainment for the City and the area at large. Mayor referred to Mr. Sanner's concerns and stated that possibly the water detention ordinance may need to be tweaked in regards to property at the edge of Lake Wichita. Mayor referred to the specific property variances with regard to imposition of various building permits, rules, ordinances, etc. and stated that one thing that concerns him is that, procedurally, people have to go to different departments instead of one location. He suggested 13 Item 10a continued providing an outline or checklist for persons to go by that explains the procedural aspect. He asked the City Manager to look into this. Councilor Ammons suggested that a checklist be provided. City Manager stated that staff would bring a report regarding these concerns. Councilor Williams asked that staff also check into the tree issue mentioned by Mr. Sanner. Councilor Hawkins mentioned that the ice skates have arrived at MPEC and asked if this could be announced on Channel 11. City Manager said that it would be advertised. Mayor commented that there is a lot of interest to go ice-skating. The schedule for the first few months is being worked on for the hockey practices and they are working out the schedule as quickly as they can. Councilor Esther mentioned that there were some attitudes dealing with the general public and he cautioned not to talk down to anybody. We are there to provide a service. He suggested that this might be something to discuss among the City staff. Item 10b Mrs. Pat Hoffman, Property Administrator, gave an update and status report on the lake lot leases at Lakes Arrowhead and Kickapoo. Councilor Hawkins asked if crappie houses are to be removed from all lakes in 2005. Mrs. Hoffman replied in the affirmative and added that the sides can be removed, like a pier, where they can be checked. Councilor Hawkins commented that it would be a crappie house without walls. Councilor Ammons asked if there was a maintenance issue with the available lots on Lake Arrowhead. Mrs. Hoffman informed that there is no maintenance because they are allowed to go back to their natural state. Councilor Ammons asked what set in motion the use of a garden lease. Mrs. Hoffman explained that anyone interested in a garden lease or access lease can request them, however, the lessees have been asked but because of the cost they do not take them. The fee is different than a regular lease, it is $60. Councilor Ammons asked if there were a replat, would the fee to the lessee increase? Mrs. Hoffman replied that the only reason to replat would be to increase the size, but not to obtain a garden lease. If we replat them, it would be to meet requirement sizes for septic systems, and in that case the fees would increase. Councilor Ammons said that the mortgage lenders are very concerned about the lease. The secondary market does not approve of the leases at any of the area lakes because of being able to evict someone off the lease for any reason. I am hoping that we will look at that lease. If you have no financing from the secondary market, all those houses would go back to being owner financed like before. I feel you are going to have less than desirable property if you cannot get the financing. If you can get secondary financing, I feel that you will have a better quality tenant with a nicer house. She asked Staff to look at the lease again and consider some type of resolution on the leases. In the interest of preserving one of our best resources we need to take that into consideration. Mayor stated that there was a citizen committee some years back that looked at the lake lots and the lease form itself; what action was taken? Mrs. Hoffman replied that the committee had made recommendations that the lenders would approve of and it was her understanding that the new leases would not be a problem with the lenders. Councilor Ammons stated that they are a problem because the lease states that the tenant can be evicted for any reason. What happens is that when you have a lender that is lending money on the property they do not want someone to have the authority to evict them for high grass or a broken down car. I can understand the City's position but loans are being rejected because of this lease. Mrs. Hoffman stated that from a staff point of view that is the City's only way to have a hold on these lots. That is the only way to keep tenants to comply with keeping their lots clean and not junky. Councilor Ammons said that there has to be some type of resolution. We should look at some other alternatives. 14 Item 10b continued Mayor asked if any of those lenders offered any suggestions that would be acceptable and still give the City protection. Councilor Ammons said that lenders want to work with the City to find a resolution. Mayor suggested that Mrs. Hoffman arrange a meeting with the lenders and appropriate persons to see if they can come up with some accommodation, and if not then they can come before Council. City Attorney noted that based on some experience we have trouble with lenders in terms that a note is sold numerous times and we have trouble tracking the current lender that holds the note and being able to get somebody in another state to be accountable to us for that property. It has its problems on the lender's side as well. Councilor Ammons said that some way the issue is being resolved because other places are being able to do that. She suggested obtaining copies of leases from other cities. Mrs. Jan Stricklin provided documentation to Council and a report on the City staffing vacancy issue. She noted that Council has a vacancy report and a list of job descriptions. Councilor Williams stated that it was not her intention to be concerned about the turn over rate in terms other than productivity. Her concern was that they appeared to be sitting there with nothing happening to them. She suspected that given a little encouragement to get off the dime most of them would be filled anyway. She is just interested in seeing that most of them are filled if they were really needed, but we had no way of knowing how many were actually needed. I do not think you ask for positions that you don't seriously intend to fill. If they are done, that is all we ever wanted to know. Councilor Hawkins and I were concerned that if so many appear to be unfilled and so many of them were in the same general category maybe there is something wrong with the requirements for filling them. With the alphabetical job description listing we just get a better feel. The day we looked at them there were 59 vacancies and if all are filled that is okay with me. I just don't want to look down six months later and find out 49 are still unfilled because that tells you something that it is pretty serious. If they were filled, they were necessary; if they were not filled they would not be filled by now. Mrs. Stricklin stated that what Council would find in this report is a step by step account from the beginning of the vacancy and will walk you through the various months, times, and each action. She mentioned that some positions in the 59 vacancies required grant approval so it was necessary to wait five or six months. At other times applications were sent to a supervisor several times and the supervisor did not make a selection. Councilor Williams commented that the area of concern was if the requirements are such that they cannot be filled, they might be hard to fill. It gives us an idea of where we are in meeting employment obligations. It has nothing to do with numbers, if they are requested and needed then they need to be filled. Mayor stated that there are two aspects to this: 1) Are the positions needed? I think that is taken care of by the department audits performed on a regular cyclical basis; 2) actual procedures involved in hiring. As I understand it one of the bottlenecks that has been identified and being worked on is where applications are given to a supervisor and he/she does not act on them. Mrs. Stricklin said that they are now working on identifying those positions that are not highly technical or of a very high level to have Personnel select and send the employee to the supervisor instead of going through all that lengthy process. If it is a laborer position we would ask the same questions as the supervisor would ask, and if the applicant has the qualifications they would be hired. Councilor Hawkins stated that his concern about part of the system is that applicants are told that applications are being taken but the position will not be filled until next month. These people need jobs now. He suggested qualifying them for a temporary position and then putting them in line for a permanent position. Mrs. Stricklin informed that they are currently looking to put that same idea into practice, and will bring back a plan to Council of how we plan to do this in the future. 15 Item 10b continued City Manager informed that we are looking at basically shortcutting that whole process and having centralized hiring and we would send out to the department their new employees. That is one of the options we are seriously looking at. We would dispense with this departmental interviewing except for the very technical positions. Councilor Williams commented that it gives Council something to look at. Item 10c City Council went into Executive Session at 10:52 a.m. as authorized by Section 551.074 of the Texas Government Code. City Council reconvened at 11:24 a. m. Mayor announced that there were no votes taken in executive session. Item 10d(1) Moved by Councilor Burns to appoint Mr. Mike Castles and Mr. Bill Altman to the MPEC Board of Trustees, with terms to expire January 20, 2006. Mr. Castles will replace Mr. Harold White, Sr., Place 5, and Mr. Altman will replace Mr. Michael Lam, Place 6. Motion seconded by Councilor Hawkins and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Altman, Councilors Williams, Ammons, Esther, Burns, and Hawkins Nays: None City Council adjourned at 11:28 a. m. PASSED AND APPROVED this �' _day of , 2003. WILLIAM K. ALTMAN MAYOR ATTEST: Lydia Torres City Clerk f 1 1 NOTICE OF MEETING Regular Meeting Of The Mayor And City Council Of The City Of Wichita Falls, Texas To Be Held In The City Council Chambers Of The Memorial Auditorium, 1300 Seventh Street, On Tuesday, January 21, 2003, Beginning At 8:30 a.m. City Council: Mayor William K. Altman - Councilors Arthur Bea Williams, Linda Ammons, James Esther, Michael Norrie, Johnny Burns, and Harold Hawkins 1 . Call to Order. 2. Comments From The Public To Members Of The City Council On Items That Are Not On The City Council Agenda. (The Regular Agenda will begin upon completion of public comments, or no later than 9:00 a.m. Individuals who prior to this Council meeting signed up to speak, but could not be heard before 9:00 a.m. due to time constraints, may speak at the conclusion of the meeting.) TELEVISED SERVICES TO BEGIN 3. Invocation: Reverend Bob Rogers First Assembly Of God 4. Presentations: 5. Approval of Minutes. CONSENT AGENDA 6. Resolutions: a. Resolution To Accept The Reroofing Of Fire Station No. 4 Project And Authorize Final Payment To Armored Roofing Co. (City Council Bill #10) 7. Receive Minutes: City Council Agenda Tuesday, January 21, 2003 Page 2 (1) Planning & Zoning Commission — December 11 , 2002 (2) Traffic Safety Commission — November 6, 2002 REGULAR AGENDA 8. Ordinances: a. Ordinance Amending The 2002-03 Budget To Reflect Changes In Vehicle Impound Operations At The Police Department. (City Council Bill #11 ) 9. Resolutions: a. Resolution Authorizing The City Manager To Execute A Lease Of A Parcel Of Land Located At 4611 Lake Shore Drive To Wild Bird Rescue. (City Council Bill #12) b. Resolution Certifying An Emergency Shelter Grants Program Application By First Step, Inc. Of Wichita Falls And Authorizing The Mayor's Signature. (City Council Bill #13) c. Resolution To Authorize The Purchase Of A Bus Stop Shelter From Brasco International In The Amount Of $13,314. (City Council Bill #14) 10. Other Council Matters: a. Discussion Of Items Of Concern To Members Of The City Council. b. Staff/Council Discussion. c. Executive Session: (1 ) Consider Qualifications Of Possible Appointees To The Multi-Purpose Event Center Board, "As Authorized By Section 551 .074 Of The Texas Government Code." d. Open Session: (1) Appointments To Multi-Purpose Event Center Board 11. Adjourn. Wheelchair or handicapped accessibility to the meeting is possible by using the handicapped parking spaces and ramp City Council Agenda Tuesday, January 21, 2003 Page 3 located off the east parking lot on the Sixth Street entrance. Spanish language interpreters, deaf interpreters, Braille copies or any other special needs will be provided to any person requesting a special service with at least 24 hours notice. Please call the City Clerk's Office at 761-7409. CERTIFICATION I certify that the above notice of meeting was posted on the bulletin board at Memorial Auditorium, Wichita Falls, Texas on the day of 20 at o'clock (a.m.)(p.m.). City Clerk