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Min 02/21/1995 i 798 Wichita Falls, Texas Memorial Auditorium Building February 21 , 1995 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: Michael Lam - Mayor Terry Loughry - Councilors Angus Thompson - Bill Daniel - Harold Hawkins - Jim Berzina - City Manager Gregory Humbach - City Attorney Jan Stricklin - Acting City Clerk Leon Mallonee - Absent J. W. Martin - Absent Mayor Lam called the meeting to order. The invocation was given by Rev. Jerry Dingmore, Fairway Baptist Church. Item 3 Jimmy Wilson, Wastewater Treatment Plant, was honored as Employee of the Month for February. Mayor Lam presented him with a plaque, City of Wichita Falls pin, transit tickets, a check, and dinner tickets. Mayor Lam presented a proclamation to Pat King , Peggy Tate and Victor Maness honoring the businesses, organizations and homes that provide school children a safe haven from harm and encouraged children who need it to use the Safe Places. Mayor Lam declared Monday February 20, 1995 through Sunday February 26, 1995 as Safe Place Week of Wichita Falls, Texas. Item 4 Moved by Councilor Thompson that the minutes of the February 7, 1995 meeting be approved. Motion seconded by Councilor Daniel, and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 5a-7d Moved by Councilor Thompson that the consent agenda be approved. Motion seconded by Councilor Hawkins, and carried by the following vote. 799 Item 5a-7d Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, .and Hawkins Nays: None Item 5a RESOLUTION NO. 26-95 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING A CONFLICT OF INTEREST WAIVER FOR CITY EMPLOYEES QUALIFYING FOR VARIOUS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT FUNDED PROGRAMS; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS RESOLUTION WAS PASSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW. Item 6a RESOLUTION NO. 27-95 RESOLUTION TO AWARD BID TO BOWLES CONSTRUCTION COMPANY FOR KELL AT ARTHUR STREET 12-INCH SEWER RELOCATION PROJECT Item 7 Minutes of the meetings of the following boards and commissions were received. a. Firefighters and Police Officers Civil Service Commission, January 31, 1995 b. Commission on Human Needs, February 6, 1995 C. Library Advisory Board, January 24, 1995 d. Board of Electrical Examiners, February 9, 1995 Item 8a ORDINANCE NO. 11-95 ORDINANCE CLOSING HEARING AND FINDING CERTAIN BUILDINGS AND/OR STRUCTURES TO BE DANGEROUS: COMMANDING PROPERTY OWNERS TO DEMOLISH SAID BUILDINGS AND/OR STRUCTURES WITHIN THIRTY ( 30) DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS ORDINANCE AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Moved by Councilor Thompson that Ordinance No. 11-95 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Hawkins. Mayor Lam opened the public hearing initially and stated that following the hearing action would be taken on the public safety hazardous structures in that they will be torn down or repaired. He asked if notices had been provided to individuals that own the property. Jim King responded that registered notices had been mailed and the proper advertising in the newspaper had been placed. Mayor Lam asked if any one in the audience wished to speak on the properties addressed in this ordinance and if so to please come forward and speak at this time. Martha Irving represented her father Jack Blair and his property at 1000 Tulsa stated that her father has been in a nursing home for the last two years and they do not have the money right now to fix up the three structures on the property. She asked for more time to get started on repairs. Mr. King remarked that the utilities services were discontinued in 1992 with no activity on the property during that period of time. He also remarked that the property was secure. 800 Item 8a, cont 'd. Councilor Hawkins commented that most properties being considered has had discontinued utilities services since the 1980 ' s and he would be in favor of giving more time if they would get the roof repaired. Mayor Lam asked if she could get the roof fixed and keep the property clean and secure over the next six months if she was given that time. Ms. Irving responded affirmatively. Councilor Thompson suggested that she immediately get with Mr. King and take out a permit to fix the roof. Mayor Lam stated she could have six months to work on the repairs and then the Council will look at it again. Bertha Webster stated that she had purchased the property at 404 Walnut from the Bethania Hospital at a reasonable price to make it available to senior citizens for Foster Care. She indicated that she is on a fixed income and as she gets any additional monies she uses it to fix up the property. She commented that she is in the process of investigating ways and means to get money to fix up the property. She stated the gangs had torn up the property. Mayor Lam asked if she had taken out any permits for repairs. Ms. Webster said she has taken out permits. Councilor Hawkins said the structure is a detriment to the neighborhood. He asked about the roofs condition. Mr. King stated the roof is the best part of the structure. Mayor Lam asked if the structure would qualify for a senior citizen foster care facility. Earl Potts stated that he is not sure the building could even be rehabilitated to meet the requirements for such a facility. Mayor Lail and the Council granted a thirty day period for Ms. Webster to take out a building permit and provide a plan which includes a time line of project completion. Wayne Malone stated that he had purchased the property at 304 Jefferson from the Brewers about two and one half weeks ago. He has itemized estimates from Taylor Electric for the electrical work that needs to be done. He also has estimates from other contractors to begin repair on the structure. Mayor Lam asked Mr. Malone to take out a permit and start to work. Ms. Goldie Edmond represented her father for the 600 Humphreys property. She said the house caught on fire about six months ago and that she is planning to fix it up in May of this year to be rented. Mayor Lam asked what extent was the damage from the fire. Councilor Hawkins asked if the fire was in 1993 or about six months ago. Ms. Edmond stated the fire may have occurred in 1993 . Mr. King stated that the fire report is dated September 1993 . Mayor Lam asked why Ms. Edmond has not started on the repair of the structure before now and if she understands that it will take major reconstruction. 801 Item 8a, cont 'd. Ms. Edmond said that both of her parents are disabled and the children have kept it up as far as the yard is concerned. Councilor Hawkins commented that the water was disconnected 6-28-82 , this house has not been inhabited since then and he sees no reason to go any further. The structure has not been used in fourteen years. Councilor Thompson said it is almost an insurmountable problem but if she can get a building permit within thirty days and a plan for a completion date with resources to accomplish, he would be willing to allow her the time. Mayor Lam said that Ms. Edmond may have thirty days to get the building permit and start the work. Reza Vafaiyan stated he has a contract to buy the property at 709 Burnett and previously had the power of attorney to maintain the structure. He commented that he wanted to discuss a personal conflict that he has with Mr. Earl Potts since he was a Fire Marshall and a personal conflict with James King. He thanked the Council for the help they gave him awhile back when he had this same problem with his property at 3000 Cumberland. He asked to show a five minute video of how he fixed up the property on Cumberland. He said they are discriminating against me and trying to shut me down about the little structure behind the house. He said he has two tenants in the property and one of them is on Section 8 and it has been passing inspection of the City of Wichita Falls. He gave the tape to Mr. King to play. He stated there are three units, a duplex and a house in the back, all on one lot. He said he has problems in that he can not get the electricity turned on in the back house. He commented that all of this is not his problem, actually his problem is that City officials has been pushing him around. He said they have been trying to exercise the power of their positions in a negative way, in order to get him out of business. He said that he was here to ask for the Councils help to straighten the problem out that has been bothering him for fifteen or sixteen years. Mayor Lam stated this is a public hearing on 709 Burnett and that is what needs to be discussed. Mr. Vafaiyan continued discussing the 3000 Cumberland property and its various inspections. Mayor Lam and Councilor Hawkins reminded Mr. Vafaiyan that 709 Burnett needs to be discussed at this time on the agenda. Mr. Vafaiyan stated he plans to fix 709 Burnett if the City Council will provide him fair treatment from the inspectors. He said they have been harassing him. Mayor Lam said if you have some problems with City people harassing you then bring those issues up under the portion of �»ti todays agenda which is presentation to City Council by members of the public wishing to discuss items which do not appear elsewhere on the agenda. Mr. Vafaiyan stated he was ready to discuss it at any time to prove how these people are treating me. Councilor Thompson asked if Mr. Vafaiyan was prepared to take out a permit within thirty days on 709 Burnett property and to begin to renovate that structure. Mr. Vafaiyan stated he has tried to take out a permit and they will not let him. Mayor Lam said there must be some reason why they will not give him a permit. 802 Item 8a, cont 'd. Mr. Vafaiyan said it is discrimination. Councilor Hawkins stated because the structure was subject to todays Council review may be the reason. Councilor Thompson asked if he could get a permit today. Mr. Berzina said it depended on Councils action today. Councilor Hawkins inquired if authorized would Mr. Vafaiyan take out a permit and start work within thirty days. Mr. Vafaiyan said he had no problem with that, he has been working on it for six or seven years. He said that his problem is he wants help from the Council for fair treatment. days. Councilor Hawkins said he agreed to allow him the thirty Mr. King pointed out to the Council that this property came before the Council in 1989, the main and rear structure. Mayor Lam said the Council will allow the thirty days. Mayor Lam declared the public hearing closed. Moved by Councilor Thompson that the ordinance he passed with notations so noted on those properties. Motion seconded by Councilor Hawkins and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 9a ORDINANCE NO. 12-95 AN ORDINANCE WAIVING SECTION 25-69 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES TO ALLOW THE OPERATION OF A TRANSIENT SHOW AT THE NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL 19TH ANNUAL SPRING FESTIVAL ON MAY 51 6, AND 7, 1995; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS ORDINANCE WAS PASSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW. Moved by Councilor Daniel that Ordinance No. 12-95 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Thompson and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 9b ORDINANCE NO. 13-95 ORDINANCE WAIVING SECTION 27-29 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES WITH RESPECT TO PLACING A SIDEWALK ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF STATE HWY 79, ADJACENT TO THE NORTHWEST LINE OF LOT 1, BLOCK 1, TEALWOOD PLACE Moved by Councilor Thompson that Ordinance No. 13-95 be passed. 803 Item 9b, cont'd. Motion seconded by Councilor Daniel and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays : None Item 9c ORDINANCE NO. 14-95 ORDINANCE WAIVING APPENDIX A, SUBDIVISION SECTION 9 (B) ( 2 ) (a) OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES WITH RESPECT TO PLACING CURB AND GUTTER ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF STATE HWY. 79, ADJACENT TO THE NORTHWEST LINE OF LOT 1, BLOCK 1, TEALWOOD PLACE Moved by Councilor Thompson that Ordinance No. 14-95 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Hawkins and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 9d ORDINANCE NO. 15-95 ORDINANCE WAIVING APPENDIX A, SUBDIVISION SECTION 9 (B) ( 2) (a) OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES WITH RESPECT TO PLACING CURB AND GUTTER ON THE EAST SIDE OF RIFLE RANGE ROAD, ADJACENT TO THE WEST LINE OF LOT 1, BLOCK 1 , GOLDEN ACRES Moved by Councilor Hawkins that Ordinance No. 15-95 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Thompson and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 9e ORDINANCE NO. 16-95 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, ADDING ARTICLE III TO CHAPTER 17 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES TO PROVIDE RULES, REGULATIONS AND POLICIES FOR THE COLLECTION AND REMOVAL OF RECYCLABLE MATERIALS WITHIN THE CITY; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS ORDINANCE WAS DISCUSSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW; PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Moved by Councilor Thompson that Ordinance No. 16-95 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Hawkins. 804 Item 9e, cont 'd. William C. Young, 1018 Widows Lane asked for clarification of the ordinance, if it is for commercial pick-up and not for private citizens. Mayor Lam responded in the affirmative. Jim Shur, Bell Processing and Wichita Recycling, 1326 Burk Road, stated that he had worked with Mr. Bonnett and the legal department and they have done a good job. He believes the $100. 00 per cite is probable too high, we can go along with the 200 recycling site locations. We think the fee should be a little lower because of the cost of picking up recyclables and mainly that is paper. The truck that will be designated for pick-up cost $140, 000. 00 and they will have to have $30, 000. 00 worth of containers. Overall it is going to be pretty expensive. The neatness of the operation is covered in the bond that you require in the ordinance. This is a good ordinance and we would like to see that fee lowered. Councilor Loughry asked if Mr. Shur had talked to them about lowering the fee. Mr. Shur affirmed and stated that Mr. Bonnett has a different opinion. Councilor Hawkins remarked that we might save the difference of half the amount by not having to process or bury it in the landfill. Mr. Berzina commented that the fee can be any fee as long as it is high enough to make sure you get bonafide people in the business and they do not go out of business and take off to parts unknown. All we are trying to do is regulate the downside of what we see and who would be left with the final clean-up cost. Anything that gets us away from the free level will accomplish what we need. Councilor Thompson asked if $50. 00 a site might be preferable. Mr. Shur agreed they would try it with the right to come back if it doesn' t work. Councilor Thompson recommended it be set at $50. 00 annual fee a site and be flexible if that doesn' t work. Motion carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 10a RESOLUTION NO. 28-95 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, TO NOMINATE THE PETROLEUM BUILDING HOTEL AS AN ENTERPRISE ZONE PROJECT TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS RESOLUTION WAS PASSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW. Moved by Councilor Thompson that Resolution No. 28-95 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Hawkins and carried by the following vote. 805 Item 10a, cont'd. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 10b RESOLUTION NO. 29-95 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, SUPPORTING THE ENACTMENT OF FEDERAL AND STATE LEGISLATION TO PROHIBIT CHILDREN FROM BEING ALLOWED TO RIDE IN THE CARGO AREAS OF LIGHT TRUCKS/PICKUP TRUCKS; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS ORDINANCE WAS DISCUSSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW. Moved by Councilor Thompson that Resolution No. 29-95 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Loughry. Councilor Hawkins asked if there is an ordinance on record already against these things. Mr. Berzina stated this ordinance is giving support only to the enactment of state and federal legislation, regardless of what we have locally. Councilor Hawkins commented that this is again one of those laws trying to make certain that society does what we want done regardless of what the people may want or need. A family that has to have a pickup truck and has a family of any size will not be able to bring their family into Wichita Falls. He doesn' t think this is something that should pass . Councilor Daniel said that he would echo Councilor Hawkins comments. How for can we go to regulate peoples lives. Mayor Lam replied that he would echo the other side, a child at an early age does not have the ability to know whether to ride in the back of a pickup truck or not when they are told to be back there. He echoed to support them and provide for their safety. He said governmental entities have the jurisdiction to provide that and he is in support of passing this ordinance. Councilor Loughry stated his support and reminded the Council that the Traffic Safety Commission ask this ordinance be brought to the Council. Councilor Thompson called for the question and the motion carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry and Thompson Nays: Councilors Hawkins and Daniel Item 10c RESOLUTION NO. 30-95 RESOLUTION APPROVING THE GRANT APPLICATION TO THE TEXAS NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION COMMISSION (TNRCC) FOR THE COMMUNITY WASTE PREVENTION, RECYCLING, AND COMPOSTING ASSISTANCE GRANTS Moved by Councilor Thompson that Resolution No. 30-95 be passed. Motion seconded by Mayor Lam. 806 Item 10c, cont 'd Councilor Hawkins inquired if the cost of the program would be the $116,800. 00 applied for in the grant and that all equipment and supplies would be what we already have in stock. Mr. Bonnett stated that was correct and this program would provide pick-up twice a week, once for trash and the other for yard waste. Dave Lehfeldt gave a report describing the pilot program stating it would reduce cost of the landfill and employees and provide better service to the citizens. This is curbside pick-up not alley pick-up. Mr. Bonnett said the program is a pilot program and we expect public input. He stated this input will be encouraged to see where we need to go in the future. Councilor Hawkins stated it proves the survey that was done says we need to go to a one day refuse pick-up and one day recyclables or yard waste. He stated the days of burying everything is long past. Councilor Daniel stated that George Bonnett had indicated one hundred and forty (140) tons per day reduction to the landfill from the city composting be done. He inquired if a decrease in yard waste was noticeable due to the don' t bag it or mulching promotion. Mr. Bonnett remarked it is difficult to measure, we don' t know, although we think it has reduced it some. He said in the total volume it is tough to measure. Councilor Daniel said the point he wanted to make is we read about a lot of programs in different cities that are high- tech, high-profile and wanted to commend Mr. Bonnett for taking direct aim on one of the biggest sources of waste going to the landfill. He said he thinks it is economic, realistic, achievable and we are saving $38 a ton in cost in this program, giving us the money to go on to other programs. Councilor Daniel said he wished to encourage Mr. Bonnett to look at other programs of plastic, glass or other recyclables on a realistic basis. He said he was certainly glad to see him doing such a good job. Councilor Thompson said another way we could encourage recycling of yard waste if we charged by the bag for trash that was picked up, where those that have ten or twelve bags of trash in their yards, we would have a fee for that versus one or two. He said it would encourage people to recycle rather than put it in the landfill and we could couple that with this program. Mr. Lehfeldt stated the cost per bag program has problems in managing the system in whose paid what and for what and that you have the bags in with the grass. He said grass in bags creates a major odor problems at the transfer station which we want to avoid. Plus we still have the grass in bags which is heavy for our men to collect, he stated. He said the system he has proposed has carts that can be purchased in different sizes from 30 to 120 gallons. Mr. Lehfeldt said the Council at their discretion can set a base rate for the various sizes, allowing options for the citizens. Mr. Bonnett said on a trial basis with some of the technology that is evolving is that the "Pay For Throw" as it is called, has a reader that can be put on the back of those cans. He said the reader will read out the name, address and other information and as it is hooked to the can the truck can read it. He stated it goes into a little micro-chip in the truck for billing purposes. He commented the problem we have with pay for throw is the number of throws but that is an automatic. He said, he might add that there has been some limited success and some limited failures also. He said it is an interesting alternative. 807 Item 10c , cont'd. Councilor Hawkins remarked that he was not speaking against this for the Clean Country and that he supports it one hundred percent and glad we are moving into the area of recycling on our prior motion to allow for those collectibles and then this shows the City is taking a step forward. Councilor Hawkins called for the question. Motion carried with the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None Item 10d RESOLUTION NO. 31-95 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, DECLARING THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS' ELIGIBILITY AND INTENTION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TAX ABATEMENT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT/REDEVELOPMENT; FINDING AND DETERMINING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS ORDINANCE WAS DISCUSSED WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW. Moved by Councilor Thompson that Resolution No. 31-95 be passed. Motion seconded by Mayor Lam. Councilor Thompson stated that he raised at the last Council meeting the need for tax abatement in some of our low income areas for residential purposes and he sees in this ordinance talks about all residential purposes. He said hopefully this will help to address some of those issues. Dave Clark stated he has the impression that there is an opening for at least consideration. Mr. Berzina said this is enabling legislation that we should do every two years to keep the program available to YOU, have to specifically have each time you would add to it, y that ordinance for the area. Councilor Thompson asked if we have to specifically identify the area. Mr. Berzina stated this only enables you to do that at a future date and this allows you to be on the list of those who have the capability to create the zones and add the benefits or slant it whichever way you want. He stated this just gives you that capability in the future. Motion carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel and Hawkins Nays: None - - - - - - - Item 11a RESOLUTION NO. 32-95 RESOLUTION APPROVING THE AWARD OF BID AND A CONTRACT FOR THE LANDFILL LINER CELL NO. 11 PROJECT Moved by Councilor Thompson that Resolution No. 32-95 be passed. 808 ?tem lla, cont 'd Motion seconded by Councilor Hawkins. Councilor Hawkins inquired as to how far along are we on Cell 10. Mr. Bonnett responded that he thinks that we are about twenty percent full at this time and hopeful that it will last until we get Cell 11 completed. Mr. Bonnett said we are pretty tight and that we are nervous about it. Councilor Hawkins stated the reason he asked is because there are a lot of changes going on in Washington at this time with the EPA. Councilor Hawkins asked if there was any Possibility of any loosening of those restrictions and getting those back more in line with the area rather than as to cover the United States because you know we have a different problem than they have in New York. Mr. Bonnett replied he totally agreed with Councilor Hawkins and he responded that he does not believe that we will see any relaxation in it at all and at the very best with a good deal of effort on the part of Council and the other eight or nine thousand Councils in the United States that we will stop any future imiositions. He said he doesn' t see much in the way of relaxation but with that he said he will tell you that there has been some indication of relaxation in Austin of the very harsh interpretation. He said there is a lot of ways you can read some of these and it seems about November we did see some changes. Councilor Loughry commented that in looking at the letter from Biggs and Mathews that they put this together, not our Engineering Department. Mr. Bonnett responded that is correct and that this is a Biggs and Mathews design. Councilor Loughry stated that Biggs and Mathews had a bit of concern about this construction company because it was quite a bit lower. He stated that our normal contractors like Bobby Haynes, and Beavers Construction both were in the million dollar bracket and this company is at a couple of hundred thousand dollars less and he noticed they are in their first cell. Councilor Loughry inquired if we are confident that these people can handle us and get it done in the appropriate time frame. Mr. Bonnett indicated that it is a concern that we have. Motion carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None Councilor Thompson moved for a recess. The Council recessed from 9: 45 a.m. to 10 : 00 a.m. Item 12a Josie Rose stated she wanted to discuss a bid that the City publicized in the paper for janitorial on the water plants. She was told this morning that it should not have been publicized and that they were going to keep it in-house. She stated that was not the reason she had come, it is because she bided on the bid, they opened the bids and read the bids. She stated she was the lowest bidder but they would not accept her bid because her references were not in her bid packet. She said she arrived here February 18th at 8: 45 a.m. to turn her bid in this sealed envelope and had everything she needed. Ms. Rose stated when 809 Item 12a, cont'd. she arrived Linda presented her an amendment to go with the contract, in other words added work to be bided on that maybe my bid wouldn' t cover to do the job. She said she had to go and open her bid and rebid it and so when she put her bid back together she oversighted putting it back in her bid. She stated they said it is not their fault. Ms. Rose said while there is no one to blame she does not wish to blame herself because she had her bid put together and closed when she first arrived here, so that is the reason she was here. Ms. Rose said she was suppose to be on the agenda to speak to the Council today but when she spoke to the gentleman, he told her they were suppose dose to have gone through him before they publicized had decided to keep it in-house. She said once you publicize it, receive people' s bids and you read them, sleep on it. Mr. Berzina expressed that he was the one who told her he was going to keep it in-house. This came to the staff meeting last Tuesday and two things were wrong about the bid, one was the question as to whether the bid should be rejected or not because references were not included. He said it was recommended for rejection because the references were not included and he was not comfortable with that and the overriding principal was that he had instructed the staff sometime back that we were going to reclaim in-house all of the janitorial work we could. He said that has been the direction of the City for the last two or three years. In fact, this is the only location where we would have outside janitorial work and we have basically been doing it all in-house. He said at that time he asked that the bid not be put on the agenda and to look to see if this is something that can be done through the centralized custodial system or something we need to put out for bid and secondly he wanted to look more at the reference issue. He stated that he has yet to determine if it should be done in- house or whether we are going to bid it. Councilor Daniel stated that we have not let the bid yet. Councilor Hawkins inquired if any other bids have been rejected due to lack of references in the bid packet. Mr. Berzina said it is a mixed bag and frankly we should check references after we have identify the low bid, if we are going ahead with this. Mayor Lam stated that if we take this outside the City and if she is the low bidder and then her references check out then she should get the job. Mayor Lam said we do have the right to reject all bids and make a separate decision even after the bids are open whether we keep the work in-house or delay the work. He said there are a lot of reasons why we might not want to take a bid even after its opened. He said you can take a bid and let it sit there for awhile, that is legitimate and he concurs with the City Manager that if we proceed to do this outside her bid will be the first to be analyzed and referenced check out, and she is low bidder then she will get the job. Councilor Thompson asked how many bids were received. Mrs. Rose replied that there were two. Councilor Thompson asked who is doing the work now. Mr. Berzina replied it was a contractor at the water plants and that he must not have made it clear enough to staff that he wanted review of this before going out to bid. He doesn' t have the information yet. Councilor Hawkins stated the bid has been opened now and basically the decision is whether the staff brings it to Council for acceptance He sa d bids and the the Managertdecidesers notrtooaccepttion any of acceptance. 810 Item 12a, cont 'd. of the bids and to use City staff it will not come to the Council. Councilor Thompson recommended that if Ms. Rose has the legitimate low bid that she follow the instructions given and if we use the present contractor and not give consideration to her bid, that it would be illegal and wrong. Mayor Lam and Mr. Berzina agreed. Mr. Berzina said the main issue is whether we do it in house or not. Mayor Lam asked if Ms. Rose understood and agreed that we have the right to keep it in-house. Ms. Rose replied that she understood well and that she has thirteen years with bidding a contractor. She does not agree that the City has the right to keep the work in-house and would also like to let it be publicly known that she has applied for jobs here and she doesn' t get hired for them even though she knows she has experience. She was told by the City Attorney that he didn' t feel like her being $5000. 00 lower that he should award her the bid. She said he wasn' t interested in saving the City $5000. 00. She said she has reasons to believe she is being discriminated against. She has applied for four jobs and she didn' t approach this job by her name that the City knows. She said she knows it is a personal vendetta. She stated she will be back in two weeks. Mayor Lam stated he hopes that is not the case and he doesn't think it is the case. He stated that because of the mix-up he understood why she feels this way and regrets the way she feels. He stated that he would ask the manager to check in to this and report back to the Council. Ms. Rose requested that the Mayor ask Jan Stricklin to do this also. Paul Jaco, 2921 Featherston Avenue, Wichita Falls, Texas asked the Council since Ms. Lydia Torres is out of the country and there is a controversy going on over the signatures on the petition which his name is on, if the Council would take into consideration that the time period start when Ms. Torres is back in the country. Mayor Lam stated he regrets that there has been some controversy and that he visited with Ms. Torres by long distance phone call and she said the majority of the names were rejected under the City Charter that the person filling in the blanks had to fill them all in. He said he understood that there is some question about the legality of that in the state of Texas and our ordinance. We and our attorney are of the opinion that we have done it right. Mayor Lam said you can proceed on the basis of knowing that is why the majority of the names were stricken was because the fact there was evidence and she said she went over the list three times. He said she doesn' t have any responsibility to argue the fact with you that is her decision. Mayor Lam said we want to cooperate with you and he doesn't know if we can give you more time. He said we believe we are on solid ground and believe we are right. Greg Humbach stated the City Charter has a time clock of fifteen days and does not have a provision for the Council to waive or extend that time period. Mr. Jaco said when he started this petition back in December 7th he came to the City Clerk' s office and asked how it should be filled out and how to go about it. She told me to see the City Attorney and he told me to interpret the law myself. He said he only has a twelfth grade education and is not an attorney and interpreted and explain the law to the best he could. He said under the state Election Code 277. 002 it states what has to be put on a petition and who has to put it on there. He said then he went by sections 48, 49 and 50 of the City 811 Item 12a. cont'd. Charter in essence of who had to sign it and what had to be put on there and he did that to the best of his ability. Mayor Lam said he had no doubt that Mr. Jaco presented a petition that Mr. Jaco felt was good and meet the requirements. He said the City Clerk looked at the names very carefully and felt it was not done all by the same person therefore she rejected them by the Charter. Mr. Jaco can verify that some of the information was placed on there by himself for a man that was legally blind and handicapped. He stated he believed he could do that under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Mayor Lam said that may be but surely 1863 names that were rejected were not all handicapped. Mr. Jaco stated his wife' s name was rejected from the petition and he knows she put ever bit of the information on the petition herself and he wanted to know why her name was rejected. Mayor Lam said Ms. Torres indicated that was specifically the case on Ms. Jaco' s signature, this was Ms. Torres interpretation. William C. Young, 1018 Widows Lane, there are no less than nine people that is handicapped. He stated that they turned his name down and he signed his own signature and brother I printed the whole thing. He stated that they said on the notation sheet that only one in six was any good and one signature was scribbled clear out and he happened to be number three on there. He also commented that what amazes him is that we had the same problem in June of 1992 in that 3279 names were disqualified because they did not follow the City Charter, which says signer must enter all information himself. He said according to the Secretary of State the Council makes the determination as to whether or not it is a valid petition and it goes on to state how the Council certifies that by putting it on the ballot. He said even Mr. Berzina stated in there that he felt it was a good idea and did not wish to face a lawsuit. Mr. Young said now with Americans with Disabilities Act you can' t discriminate against them. He said we use to have them fill out the yellow sheet when you come in to vote now it isn' t done that way all the voter has to do is sign the signature. He stated now you are saying that the Americans with Disabilities Act doesn' t count. He commented the main thing is that it is legible and you can read what it says. He remarked that the Secretary of State has ruled on Section 277.002 a voter registration number is not required to appear on petitions in signers own handwriting, the Secretary of State has constantly interpreted this section as requiring only the signature to appear on the petition in the signers own handwriting. He stated he s but in 92 you understands by he states rules. Mr. Young asked decided that youou we can' t do it this time. Councilor Daniel asked Mr. Young to walk him through what happened in 1992 since he was not on the Council at that time. Mr. Young replied we put a petition out to put the MPEC Center on the July ballot. He said we got a whole bunch of signatures, the Charter says you have to have 3000 signatures and we turned in 3279 plus and Ms. Thomas turned it down for the very same reasons Ms. Torres is turning them down. He said, at that time prior to that election the voters had to print all their information and then the Civil Rights Act stated you can' t discriminate because of a disability. He said the City decided to do the way the County has always done and allow the person working the polling place to do the printing of the date, address and registration number and then the voter sign their 812 Item 12a, cont 'd own signature. He said what he can' t figure out is if Council decided on that election to go by the state. Mayor Lam said let me clarify this a little for you, one is that was a combination City and County election and we wanted to have as little confusion as possible and the City Council at that time elected to concur to the County' s procedures so we should not have requirements on one petition and different requirements on the other petition, this was a legitimate reason. Mayor Lam said second, that was a County-City vote and the County would be voting on it due to their petition and we certified that we were going to have to vote on it also. That was an unique situation where City and County vote on petitions were held at the same time. Mr. Berzina stated that is true and from a legal stand point, there was great concern that if the City did not have the same voting requirements as the County there could be legal action stopping any contract after bids were let since it was a money funding issue. He said the question and concern was is it could be stopped legally we have a contractor out there that could sue the City for the award of damages. Mr. Young said if the City holds to this own signature thing the City is subject to violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act and he would be happy to file the complaint on it. He stated he had rather not do that because the City has been good to folks with disabilities. Mayor Lam stated the petition people have fifteen days, when that is submitted and if there are names on there that fall under the disabilities act and can be proven, then those names will be given credit for them, everyone of them. He said, at that point in time it will be this Council ' s decision as to whether we valid the petition or not, we can't make that decision today. This Council wants to give this group every Possible advantage to submit a fair petition but we are not going against the City ordinance. Councilor Daniel stated we have asked the City Attorney if the Council has the authority to waive that and we were told we could not. It is the City Charter and any change to it would have to be voted on by the entire City. Councilor Hawkins asked how we were able to do it last time if we can' t do it this time. Mayor Lam said we can validate the petition we cannot waive the ordinance. Councilor Hawkins said didn't we set a precedence in 92 when we allowed it for the voter to follow state law and he said he has additional questions as to whether the Charter is even valid under the state law 277. 004. He said 04 says in addition to and when he was appointed as a precinct judge one of the things on his list was a birthdate of all the voters. He said that has now been taken off because that was not a requirement of the City Charter in 1985 that the birthdate had to be put on there and that was the addition to item and there was one other means of measuring who was who. Mr. Young said he would be glad to work with the Council after this mess is over with to get the language changed where it complies with the rest of it. He said everybody has the right to vote. Councilor Daniel said he is not trying to belabor the point or encourage the petitioners but he ask did we change the rules in 1992. He said did we do one thing in 1992 and now doing another thing. 813 Item 12a, cont'd. Mayor Lam said we discussed why we did it then. He said this group was not told to follow the guidelines of 1992 , they were told to fill out a petition that conforms to todays deal and he doesn' t believe this group went forward on that basis. Councilor Daniel said so in 1992 the petitioners knew prior to gathering the names what the rules were. Councilor Hawkins said no sir, it was changed after Ms. Thomas kicked out the names and it was brought to the Council and we made a determination to follow the state law instead of the City' s. Mr. Berzina said what he recalled is the mood of the Council was essentially the petition was insufficient in 1992 but for the reasons the Mayor cited earlier, the political climate seemed to be with the funding of 4 million dollars of certificates of obligation that could be tied up in a lawsuit for years and not available to pay contract award prices at the MPEC construction sites, the Council said although we feel the petitions are insufficient we will call for the election, we will have an election anyway. Councilor Hawkins said Mr. Berzina is right. Mayor Lam said we have the same right to make that decision on this at the end of the f if teen days. We did not change any rules. Mr. Jaco said he will agree that they were not given any guidelines to follow according to 1992 and we were not given any guidelines to follow at all, we had to interpret them for ourselves. He said he would like to bring that to the attention of the Council. Mr. Berzina said the change the City made was the methodology used in voting, we use to require the voter to fill out everything and the comparison you were given by Mr. Young the County didn' t require that. The City then said henceforth in voting we won' t require that for a lot of the reasons that have been cited, plus the fact we were having long lines in absentee voting and by giving assistance to those who were slow to fill it out. He said the Council agreed to change in the voting procedure but did not change the petition aspects because it is written in the Charter. He said the voting procedure can be changed but the petition can not without a vote of the people. Larry Brumbelow, 5127 Deer Creek, Wichita Falls, duly elected spokesperson and member of the Citizens Right support Group of Wichita Falls and I might point out at this time is not a non-profit organization, we are simply an organization of concerned citizens who upon the passing of the ordinance for sweeping demands and mandates for anti-smoking rules in this City back in December went to work diligently to provide this City with the petitions they require in opposition of this ordinance to bring this thing to a vote. Mr. Brumbelow pointed out when they started the petitions this was not for anything other than getting it taken before the people for a vote. He said they proceeded with the rules they were given and filed in the time allowed, actually a day early with more names then was needed. Mayor Lam said the gentlemen that spoke prior to Mr. Brumbelow about the petition said you were not given any rules. Mr. Brumbelow said on the rules we were given it was a set of criteria that stated we need the name, address, etc. that we needed. He said many of our people gave up holiday time because the time we were allowed fell over the two most major holidays of the year. He said they eliminated over 1000 names in our own verification process. He said the letter of notice on valid 814 Item 12a, cont'd. signatures, presented by the City Clerk dated and signed February 16, 1995 even though the City Clerk had been out of the country for almost a week. No accountability at that time of who was eliminated or for what reasons have left repairing and correcting such faults as may exist to bring them into compliance literally impossible. The only individual that can correct the obstruction to the completion of our task remains out of the country not to return until the final day of our time to complete the amended petition. He said we see this an obstruction to our rights to due process. Mr. Brumbelow said he was holding in his hand a Bill of Rights Constitution of America which the first amendment says that a legislative body shall make no rule to obstruct the peoples right to a peaceable assembly and to petition the government for the redress of its grievances. He said that voter records have incorrect addresses at no fault of the voter. He said they know of two incidents where names were kicked off the list for having an entry of South before their street number which does not exist in their address, this is no fault of the voter. He said that they had been told that many of the names were kicked off due to their registered address when they registered to vote has changed addresses which is their current legal address does not match, they were kicked off. He said if they are allowed to vote in regular elections with this difference but not allowed to petition with this difference that makes their voting in the regular election illegal. He said that calls in to play that the last elections this City has had as being possibly fraudulent. The discriminatory requirements brought before us today discriminates against the disabled, elderly, illiterate voters having to fill out all the information themselves, even though we have many respondents, not one, two, four, five, twelve, many respondents that are seriously disabled. He said many of them with critical arthritic conditions and other disabling conditions, other people are blind people. Mr. Brumbelow asked are you saying this City' s Charter denies these people their right to due process and to petition, just because these people are unable to fill out these papers, they are ineligibles. Mr. Brumbelow asked what qualifications that the City Clerk of this City has in regards to handwriting expertise or what background she has in the category of being an authorized or bonafide and qualified handwriting analyst for her to make such decisions on her own. He said on this issue there are still questions about the petition, the validity of the signatures that exist with the City' s staff. He said on last nights news that the legal department said there may be discrimination involved in throwing out these signatures and that was possible the reason, all of these inconsistencies are eating away at our time frame to complete our task. He said our fifteen days do not exist, we are sitting with nine days, time is counting and we still have no answers to our questions. He said he would like to bring attention to the fact that there are several working from literally the City Clerk' s trash that was sold to our people. He stated working from her trash notes that were copied and given to us to try to ascertain who was eliminated and for what reasons. He continued by his statement, we have ascertained numerous number of signatures have been eliminated from this list for absolutely no reason what so-ever of registered voters, once again these questions are eating away at our time frame. He said it severely affects our right to petition and severely affects our right to due process, our opportunities to bring this to a vote is swiftly sliding away. He remarked it has been stated by certain members of the City' s staff that it doesn' t make any difference one way or the other to them but when we called City offices trying to find out something as simple as when the City Clerk' s office close. He said his people were "treated with rudeness and disrespect and told on numerous occasions that we are to figure it out for ourselves, these are p4cople who are suppose to work for us as citizens of this City. He said when he called the City Attorney' s office and talked to Bill Sullivan and I told him about my people were being treated rudely. He said he told Bill Sullivan that my people were tax paying citizens of this City, 815 Item 12a, cont'd. upstanding, upright citizens and for them to call a City office and get that kind of attitude, the kind of information that any bum off the street should be able to get a courteous forthright answer to, Mr. Sullivan stated to me and this is a quote "they have been instructed in the City Clerk' s office not to assist or cooperate with you people in any way. " He said if the City doesn' t matter one way or the other why does an office get such instructions. He stated bringing this issue to the voters is our only concern, our opposition in this matter has repeatedly stated in the news media that they look forward, invite and feel confident about the vote and Mayor Lam has stated that he would look forward to bringing this to a vote of the City. He said let us come to some common ground on this issue, take this ordinance to the voter before litigation and a deeper division affects this City' s ability to move to other matters. He said we contend that the City has failed to comply with the forty- five day limit allowed by the Charter to successfully complete this process set before them and we request that a review of this matter as to an agreement to accept said signatures and petitions as filed and to proceed to take this issue to a vote without further delay or obstruction of our due process. He said a formal complaint of this nature is being drafted to be sent to the appropriate agencies within the state government. Zachery Taylor, 2204 Buchanan, said he has had some trouble with six or seven of the neighbor' s cats. He said the cats are at 2203 Buchanan and we can' t go outside because of the smell and problems with possible disease. He said he has contacted Animal Control twice and they never brought out the traps that they promised. Mayor Lam reassured him that Animal Control would assist him and a report to the Council would be made. William C. Young, 1018 Widows Lane distributed a document to the Council and read it into the record. He stated the residents of Sunnyside requested their polling place be restored for City elections because they are a close-knit community and very much want to maintain their identity. He said members of their community contacted the City Clerk and it was suggested that it might be a financial problem, if it is tell them the amount and we will take up a collection and reimburse the City for that expense. He remarked our identity is worth the cost and they ask the Council for help in restoring their polling place at 2206 Lucas in Lamar School. he pointed out all other elections are held there. Mayor Lam asked the City Manager to respond to this request when the City Clerk returns. He said we will take a look at that. Marty Sparks said he wanted to know why his signature was thrown off this petition and that the Mayor had promised to personally get back in touch with him and tell him the reason. Mayor Lam said he did check on it and that Mr. Sparkman had said his name was on page 146 and according to the Assistant City Clerk his name was not on that page. He said he had no way to get in touch with Mr. Sparks and he thought Mr. Sparks was going to contact him again. Mr. Sparks said you all are saying City government ordinance supersedes State laws. Mayor Lam said this City had an ordinance that was in effect before the State passed their law and it is eligible to be grandfathered in and according to the State of Texas we have the right to have restrictions other than those that are with the State. He said our City ordinance with regard to presenting a verified petition is correct, enforceable by law and a correct procedure. 816 Item 12a, cont'd. Mr. Sparks said he wanted the Council to take note that he and his wife at the same time at the same place with the same person, personally signed our name when we entered into this concerned citizens group, her name was accepted and mine was thrown out. He said the Mayor told him this was the most controversial issue ever brought before this Council. He said why is it not in your power to make a motion have it seconded and put this to a vote. He asked what is the problem with that. The Mayor said after fifteen days we can make a decision and vote on that issue in the meantime you have a petition that has been returned to you to correct to the best of your ability and get it back to us. Mr. Sparks said so our clock is ticking and lets go back before December lst. Mr. Sparks distributed a document and asked that Terry Loughry see it first because he is Mr. Sparks councilman. He asked if the decision on this matter was made by you all before and this was not a done deal. He said somebody out here knew it was a done deal before the ordinance passed. Councilor Daniel replied, in no way was it a done deal. He said there was no decision among the Council before the vote. Mayor Lam asked Mr. Sparks to state his question. Mr. Sparks replied that he wanted to know how they got the names of the four Council members that voted for the ban on smoking since the post card was dated December 2nd. Councilor Daniel stated on any given issue a group will come to individual Council members to get their opinion of the issue. Mr. Sparks said the main reason he is here is to find out why his signature was thrown out and if he had voted in the elections illegally and some answers. Mayor Lam indicated that he had been given some answers. Ina Herron, 2313 Dorothy said a signature was possibly thrown out because an S was included in the address and an S does not go with the correct address and she would like for the Council to take a look at it. Mayor Lam said Ms. Herron if that is corrected and brought into our City Clerk for re-evaluation, that will be taken into consideration. He said we can not do it today, we can not prove whether it is right or wrong today. He said he has confidence that what the City Clerk did was right to the best of her ability. He said he has also said today that they will bend over backwards to try to help you get to where you are within our limits. Item 12b Councilor Loughry stated he had a couple of things, one is a question since they don' t know exactly whose names were rejected and whose names were not, how will they get it corrected. Mayor Lam said they know whose names were rejected and that was evident today by the lady coming up and stating her name was rejected because of an S on the address. Councilor Loughry wanted to know from Mr. King about a house on Fillmore not being complete. Mr. King responded that the property owner has a current building permit and the building permit is valid as long as work is going. 817 Item 12b, cont'd. Mayor Lam asked Mr. Bonnett if they had looked at any different sewage rate structures for large industry that are heavy water users by metering the sewage. Mr. Bonnett said it has been looked at several times and there is nothing wrong with metering sewage but it is very high in administrative cost, if the Council chooses to change the question is would the administrative cost would be driven out to the rest of the rate payors. He said it is a policy issue, it is the Council ' s call, Mr. Bonnet said the ordinance requires the unused water to go into the product. Mr. Berzina said we could put together some additional facts for you on the impact to the system. Mayor Lam stated he would like to see that information. Councilor Hawkins said we have had so much discussion today about the smoking ordinance and holding an election that he would personally like to see it go back to our old ordinance and possibly have the Mayor appoint a committee to rewrite the ordinance that could be acceptable to both sides. He said he thought that would defuse this whole issue and make it a mute point and then we could address this later on as to whether or not the person has to handwrite their address, age, IQ and everything else. He said he feels this has hurt our City, it has hurt it bad by having this. He said he believes some bad information was given to our City Clerk. Councilor Hawkins said he disagrees with the City Attorney' s interpretation of the law and would give anything if one of the four that voted would come forth and ask for the ordinance be called back for re-vote, appeal it and the Mayor appoint a committee and try to get an ordinance that would be acceptable to both sides. He said we need to do something to heal this wound in our City. He said we have business men out here that have said they will build their restaurants in the country instead of the City. He said it is not good for our City. He said he is asking the Mayor, Mr. Martin, Mr. Mallonee, or Mr. Thompson to bring that back. He also stated that he had brought up the Covington Bridge before this meeting and he appreciates the support he is getting from the staff now. Councilor Thompson said unlike his colleague, he does support our City Attorney and his interpretation of the law on the smoking ordinance and he stands behind him until he is unable to function. He said he has had some concerns about some of the comments made this morning that Ms. Torres is out of the country and she told us she was leaving the country and he is sure it is not because of the smoking ordinance but he does think there should be someone in that office that could answer some of these questions, in reference to the right to petition and if the signatures are valid. He said he thinks we should put forth a greater effort to educate our people as to the proper process to file petitions because as citizens need to participate and take advantage in their rights as the law says and we need to educate our people in how to provide that information. Councilor Thompson said he has learned that as a democracy there is no guarantee that you are going to win, you cast your vote and when that vote is taken sometimes your side prevails and sometimes it doesn' t prevail and of course you go on to another issue, you don' t keep bringing it up, there is no guarantee that we are going to be successful on every issue. He said you make your argument and go on to something else. Councilor Thompson said he wanted to commend Mr. Clark and others who have worked to bring about the progress that is being made in the downtown area with the Petroleum Building and that it is going to be used again as a hotel. He is also happy that the MPEC Zone is going to be used to bring in more jobs and cause downtown to be a semblance of what it use to be. 818 Item 12c Mr. Berzina reported that the present status of the Health Department situation that went through several weeks appears be working, he has had recent updates, the air seems to be holding and everything seems to be almost back to normal. He said he thought it was time to report and ask for any questions at this time. He said he also wished to express strongly his appreciation for the support the Council gave us during this, he will have some follow up reports at a later date on cost and other issues. George Bonnett reported that he is continually looking in refuse to be sure the routes are balanced off between the Monday - Thursday collection and the Tuesday - Friday collection and as populations shift those get out of balance and we are currently out of balance with about 800 residences. He said they are going to start notifying the public of a change, which has nothing to do with our grant or mode of collection, it is just the day on which the property owners refuse will be picked up and it is an area running south of Seymour Highway and old Seymour Road, north of Kell bounded on the east by Lansing. He said that area will be shifted from Tuesday and Friday pick-up to Monday and Thursday pick-up. He said they are going to put door hangers on and press releases to the public. Council may get calls on it. He said it is solely to balance pick-up. Mr. Berzina asked Bob Parker to give a quick report on implementing phase two of the parking study. Bob Parker reported last year they looked at adding diagonal parking to the downtown area and tried it on east Scott Street because of reduced traffic flow and the width of the streets. Two blocks of Eighth Street, one block of Ninth and Tenth we added diagonal parking and approximately doubled parking capacity, we have had no traffic problems, no increased accident rate. He said they had monitored it very closely with no problems and recommend that we bring it back to east of Scott Street on Tenth, Ninth, Eighth and we had a request from Naylor Auto Supply on Sixth Street between Indiana and Ohio sometime within the next sixty days when the temperatures are a little warmer to add diagonal parking to those areas. Mayor Lam asked Mr. Parker to hold a public hearing prior to implementation and advise the property owners to get their input. Councilor Hawkins asked if Mr. Parker was sure he wanted to put the parking on that side because you now have to bring up the others. Mr. Berzina stated we will call for a public hearing. Greg Humbach stated that his legal opinion has been eluded to a couple of times about the Charter requirements so maybe it would be appropriate to articulate what that opinion is and clear the air, the controversy is the Charter requirement that requires each petitioner sign his name and the additional information includes their address, voter registration number, city and state and that sort of stuff in their own handwriting. He said the state law in 1987 passed a statute which addressed the validity of a petition. He said one of the requirements specified in the state law was that the signature is the only information that is required to appear on the petition in the signers own handwriting. Mr. Humbach said that would seem to indicate that our Charter is clearly in conflict with this limitation by state law, unfortunately in that same statute they added a grandfather pr"ovision which states any requirements for the validity or verification of a petitioners signatures in addition to those prescribed by this chapter by a home rule City Charter or City Ordinance are effective only if the Charter provision or Ordinance was in effect on September 1, 1985. He stated our Charter provision was adopted in 1983 . He said he had talked to the Secretary of State' s office and the lady he 819 Item 12c, cont 'd. talked to was of the opinion that our Charter requirement that each individual sign in their own name all required information by the Charter in their own handwriting violated the first provision of the state law but they have no legal authority for that. He said this provision of the state law has never been challenged, there are no cases. He said he can find no legal authority other than a case out of Colorado where a similar issue had been raised that was brought to the Colorado Supreme Court, on an issue that all the requirement that all information must be in the individual ' s own handwriting violated the Colorado Constitution. He said the Colorado Supreme Court found it was a valid requirement. He said if our Charter requirement is challenged as being in conflict with state law, he can not state that our Charter provision will prevail and we would be successful, but until such time he can not as your legal officer can not tell our City Clerk to ignore the clear language as specified in our City Charter and that is the problem. He said until some legal authority is very clear he can not say we would win or lose if challenged and can not advise the City Clerk differently. Mayor Lam stated he believed that it has been explained very clearly to the public. Mr. Berzina said that Mr. King had a report for the Council about demolition if the Council wished to hear it at this time. Jim King reported on the property at 1006 15th Street Mr. and Mrs. Marlow that asked for and was granted additional time from the Council. He said at this time there has been no activity on that property from the owners for repair. He stated he had notified them by letter. Councilor Thompson inquired about property on Barwise Street. Mr. King responded that Mr. War at 201 Barwise took no action and the City subcontracted the cleaning of those streets and alleys and if Mr. War continues to progress minimally as previously done the City will be required to remove that structure. Item 12d City Council recessed for 15 minutes at 11: 25 a.m. and went into Executive Session at 11: 40 a.m. as authorized by section 551. 074 of the Government Code. The Council reconvened at 12: 10 p.m. Item 12e Moved by Councilor Thompson to appoint to the Firefighters and Police Officers Civil Service Commission Mr. Ron Bullock with term to expire 3/1/98. Motion seconded by Councilor Hawkins and carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Lam, Councilors Loughry, Thompson, Daniel, and Hawkins Nays: None 820 Item 13 The city Council adjourned at 12: 12 p.m. PASSED AND APPROVED this TY—' day of , 1995. Michael Lam, Mayor AT Str ' cklin sting City Clerk