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1991-07-01 CC MinutesCITY OF FARMERS BRANCH CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING JULY 1, 1991 COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY HALL 7:30 P.M. The following members of the City Council were present: Mayor Dave Blair Mayor Pro Tem. Bill Moses Councilmembers Bob Phelps Jeff Binford Calla Davis Ron Pyle The following members of the City Administration were present: City Manager Richard L. Escalante Assistant City Manager Steve Carpenter Assistant City Manager John Burke City Attorney John Boyle City Secretary Ruth Ann Parish Communication Director Donna Huerta Economic Development Director Norma Nichols Director of Community Services Tom Scales City Engineer Jerry Murawski Director of Finance Doug Vanderslice Director of Parks & Recreation Jeff Fuller Police Chief Jimmy Fawcett Director of Public Works Mark Pavageaux City Management Assistant David Reedy Traffic Engineer Dave Davis Recording Secretary Cindee Peters Mayor Blair called the City Council Meeting of July, 1, 1991 to order at 7:30 P.M.. The meeting was televised. Vol. 60, Page 125 A.1 INVOCATION. Mayor Pro Tem. Moses gave the invocation and led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. A.2 ANNOUNCEMENT BY MAYOR BLAIR RELATING TO A SEMINAR HELD BY THE TEXAS VETERANS LAND BOARD. Mayor Blair presented the following information. On Thursday, July 11, in Mesquite, the Texas Veterans Land Board is hosting an informational seminar on funds available to eligible Texas Veterans. This program allows veterans to buy land at favorable interest rates. The seminar is free and open to the public and will take place at the Days Inn, located on Highway 80 and Town East Boulevard at 7:00 p.m. A.3 ANNOUNCEMENT BY MAYOR PROCLAIMING JUNE 30 THROUGH JULY 6 AS PATRIOTISM WEEK. Mayor Blair read the proclamation and proclaimed June 30 through July 6, 1991 as "Patriotism Week" in Farmers Branch. Mayor Blair at this time announced the activities for Independence Day Celebration in Farmers Branch on Saturday, July 6, 1991. Mayor Blair stated that the parade would start at 10:00 a.m. from Mary Immaculate Church, proceeding south on Josey to Valley View, then west on Valley View to City Hall Plaza. Mayor Blair explained the activities will continue at the Doubletree Hotel with a model boat show, hot air balloons, a jalapeno cornbread cookoff and a spectacular fireworks show at 9:15 p.m. A.4 CONSIDER PROCLAIMING JULY AS PARKS AND RECREATION MONTH IN FARMERS BRANCH. Mayor Blair stated in conjunction with the nationally recognized observation of July as Parks and Recreation Month, the Parks and Recreation Department requests that the City Council proclaim "July as Parks and Recreation Month in Farmers Branch." The Parks and Recreation Director recommends proclaiming July as Parks and Recreation Month in Farmers Branch. Mr. Barney Wood of 13509 Pyramid came forward and stated citizens of Farmers Branch are blessed with 177 acres of great parks, the Historical Park, greenbelts and ballfields. Mr. Wood explained how the City of Farmers Branch has been able to sponsor several athletic events in the past because of having great City facilities. Mayor Blair read the proclamation and proclaimed July as "Parks and Recreation Month" in Farmers Branch. Vol. 60, Page 126 Mayor Blair read a list of several events taking place in the month of July. A.5 PRESENTATION OF SERVICE AWARDS. Mayor Blair presented a twenty-five year employee service award to Donald Marder of the Police Department. Mayor Blair presented a five year employee service award to Earl Marett of the Fleet Maintenance Division of the Equipment Services Department. Mayor Blair presented a five year employee service award to Jeff Bair of the Fleet Maintenance Division of the Equipment Services Department. A.6 PRESENTATION OF BOARD APPLICATIONS. There were no applications presented. CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING AS CONSENT ITEMS AND TAKE THE APPROPRIATE ACTION B-1 - B.S. Mayor Blair explained that under the title of consent items are items that are to be considered and action taken that may not need discussion individually. Any member of the City Council or the audience may request to withdraw any item from the consent items and place the item before the Council for full discussion. The concept for the consent items is established in order to speed up discussion for those items that need more time for discussion. A motion by Mayor Pro Tem Moses, a second by Councilman Phelps, all voting "aye", placed item C.3, item D.1, and item D.2 from the regular agenda on the consent agenda. A motion by Mayor Pro Tem Moses, a second by Councilman Phelps, all voting "aye approved the following Consent Agenda items. B.1 APPROVED MINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 17, 1991. B.3 APPROVED REQUEST BY TEAM BANK FOR REPLAT OF TEAM BANK- FARMERS BRANCH ADDITION NO. 2. BA ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 91-090 ACCEPTING A 5-FOOT AERIAL EASEMENT FOR STREET LIGHT INSTALLATION AT 13737 CHARCOAL LANE BY JOE AND THRELKELD MADDEN. Vol. 60, Page 127 C.3 APPROVED THE REQUEST OF DUANE H. GRANT, ON BEHALF OF THE BROOKHAVEN COLLEGE, FOR SITE PLAN APPROVAL OF THREE (3) TEMPORARY CLASSROOM BUILDINGS ON THE BROOKHAVEN CAMPUS LOCATED AT 3939 VALLEY VIEW LANE AND WITHIN THE PLANNED DEVELOPMENT NO. 20 ZONING DISTRICT (PD-20). D.1 ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING CAPTIONED ORDINANCE NO. 1945 AMENDING SECTION 3-38 (7) OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES RELATING TO BANNERS. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS, AMENDING THE CITY'S CODE OF ORDINANCES SECTION 3-38, PARAGRAPH (7), GRAND OPENING OR SPECIAL SALES SIGNS, PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY OF FINE NOT TO EXCEED THE SUM OF TWO HUNDRED ($200.00) DOLLARS PER EACH OFFENSE; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. D.2 ADOPTED RESOLUTION NO. 91-093 AUTHORIZING PARTICIPATION BY THE CITY OF FARMERS BRANCH IN THE U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS DEFERRED COMPENSATION PROGRAM. C.1 CITY MANAGER REPORTS. City Manager Richard Escalante gave an informative report on the happenings and status of projects in the departments of the City. C.2 PUBLIC MEETING FOR CITIZEN COMMENT AND TO CONSIDER ADOPTING ORDINANCE NUMBER 1896, PROPERTY MAINTENANCE CODE, AND TAKE THE APPROPRIATE ACTION. Mayor Blair opened the public discussion and presented the following information. This public meeting has been called to provide an opportunity for comments regarding the proposed property maintenance code. This meeting has been advertised on the City cable television channel and in local newspapers. The code has been presented to citizens at a series of neighborhood meetings and copies have been available to the public at the Library and City Hall. Current property maintenance regulations are contained within at least twenty-four separate ordinances. Some of those ordinances date back to the 1960's. The proposed ordinance consolidates regulations into one document, establishes some new regulations and standardizes the enforcement procedures. The ordinance will apply to all properties, residential and commercial. The Staff recommends the ordinance be adopted. Vol. 60, Page 128 Lucian Bone, 13311 Challaburton came forward. Mr. Bone stated he felt this ordinance was abusive to him. He felt it was a way for the City to show their power. Mr. Bone further stated that some sections of the ordinance were for cosmetic purposes and felt this should not concern the City and was an infringement of his Civil rights. Mayor Blair explained that it was not the intent of the City Council for this ordinance to be abusive to citizens. Mayor Blair explained that 4 separate neighborhood meetings were held for the citizens to give their comments and their comments indicated concern of taking care of their homes and the surrounding neighbors. Mayor Blair understood that some citizens might feel this ordinance was abusive, but it was intended to protect neighbors and homeowners. Mayor Blair explained the process of appealing the ordinance through the Building Code Board of Appeals for a minimum fee of $10.00. Mr. Bone felt it would force people to go the County Court to appeal the ordinance and would eventually cost people more than $10.00. Mr. Bone asked if enforcement of this ordinance would require more inspectors. Mayor Blair stated it would require more inspectors to enforce this ordinance. Ben Carr, 14012 Stardust came forward. Mr. Carr stated he had concern over Section V, Paragraph (f), Subsection II, (a) (b) (c) of the ordinance. Mr. Carr had received a letter from the Engineering Department in regards to his trees. Mr. Carr gave an example that in the 3100 to 3600 block of the Oakbrook median the trees are not in compliance with this ordinance. Mr. Carr felt this was selective enforcement. Mr. Carr stated this past Sunday, for one hour, he drove the City and found 42 specific houses not in compliance. Mr. Carr asked if this ordinance was inclusive of the City of Farmers Branch also. He also felt that 99 % of the streets in the City of Farmers Branch were not in compliance. Mr. Carr presented a list of houses that did not comply with the ordinance. Mr. Carr stated that most of the homes on the list presented to the City Council were in the Brookhaven area. After receiving the letter from Engineering, Mr. Carr called the City and was told 3 different answers on why he had received this letter. Mr. Carr felt this was a type of harassment. Mr. Carr stated he was open for any questions from the City Council. Mayor Blair explained it is not the intent of this ordinance for singling out anyone. The compliant could have been from a number of sources such as City inspectors or individuals. Mayor Blair felt the City tried very hard to give citizens every opportunity to correct violations before any citations were issued. Mayor Blair felt the City needed rules to abide by and it was the consensus of the Community that this ordinance was needed. A motion by Councilman Binford, a second by Councilman Pyle, all voting "aye", adopted the following captioned Ordinance No. 1896-A. Vol. 60, Page 129 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS; ESTABLISHING MINIMUM STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS FOR THE USE, OCCUPANCY AND MAINTENANCE OF ALL STRUCTURES, BUILDINGS AND PROPERTY WITHIN THE CITY; PROVIDING FOR RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAINTENANCE; ESTABLISHING ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES; PROVIDING FOR NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND ABATEMENT OF NUISANCES; PROVIDING FOR APPEALS; PROVIDING FOR RECOVERY OF COSTS; REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 1232; PROVIDING FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY OF FINE NOT TO EXCEED THE SUM OF TWO THOUSAND ($2,000.00) DOLLARS FOR EACH OFFENSE; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. CA CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 1209 AS AMENDED BY ORDINANCE NO. 1462 AND ORDINANCE NO. 1942 BY AMENDING SECTION 2 TO PROVIDE AN EXCEPTION FOR PRE-EXISTING CONTRACTS. Mayor Blair presented the following information for consideration. The 1 percent increase in the occupancy tax effective July 1, 1991, shall not apply to hotel rooms rented pursuant to a written contract entered into prior to June 17, 1991, with a hotel which contract guaranteed the rental of a specified number of rooms for a certain period at a designated rate. Councilman Binford stated he had a problem with amending Ordinance 1209. Councilman Binford felt that current negotiation of contracts should not be exempted from the increase. He felt that hotels should absorb the price change or change the rate as quoted to organizations. Councilman Binford felt this was sending the wrong message to other retailers that the City could freeze by way of grandfathering the new tax. Mayor Blair explained that only one hotel had a problem with previously arranged reservations. Mayor Blair explained this section of the ordinance would only affect one hotel. City Manager Richard Escalante stated that the hotels had originally initiated this increase from 5% to 6% to upgrade the Christmas lighting festivities. A motion by Mayor Blair, a second by Councilwoman Davis, with Councilmembers Moses, Davis and Pyle voting "aye". Councilmembers Phelps and Binford voting "nay". The motion carried with a 3 to 2 vote adopting the following captioned ordinance. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 1209 AS AMENDED BY ORDINANCE NO. 1462 AND ORDINANCE NO. 1942 OF THE CITY OF . FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS, PROVIDING FOR THE LEVY OF A HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX BY AMENDING SECTION 2, TO PROVIDE AN Vol. 60, Page 130 EXCEPTION FOR PRE-EXISTING CONTRACTS; PROVIDING A PENALTY NOT TO EXCEED THE SUM OF TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS ($200.00) AND A SEPARATE OFFENSE SHALL BE DEEMED COMMITTED UPON EACH DAY DURING OR ON WHICH A VIOLATION OCCURS; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. C.5 CONSIDER ADOPTING RESOLUTION NO. 91-095 DESIGNATING AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO A LETTER AGREEMENT FOR AUDIT SERVICES IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $21,000 AND TAKE THE APPROPRIATE ACTION. Mayor Blair gave the following information for consideration. The City Charter requires that the City Council designate an independent certified public accountant to perform an annual audit of the City. The City recently completed a five year audit services contract with the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche. The City Council appointed Councilmen Binford, Pyle and Phelps to a committee to review proposals, interview firms and recommend an independent auditor. Resolution No. 91-095A designates Peat Marwick as the City's independent auditor at a cost of $20,785 for the fiscal year 1991 audit. Resolution No. 91-095B designates Deloitte & Touche as the City's independent auditor at a cost of $18,450 for the fiscal year 1991 audit. Councilmen Binford and Pyle recommend adoption of Resolution 91-095A designating Peat Marwick as the City's independent auditor. Councilmen Phelps recommends adoption of Resolution No. 91-095B designating Deloitte & Touche as the City's independent auditor. Mayor Blair stated the general feeling of the Council was to be cost efficient. The feeling was to continue with Deloitte & Touche for the 90-91 budget year for a savings of $2300 and next year research for a different firm. Councilman Pyle explained why he felt the City should go with Peat Marwick for rotation of auditors. Councilman Pyle stated although Peat Marwick were more expensive the additional hours in the contract would absorb the extra cost. Councilwoman Davis stated that this year is a tight budget. Councilwoman Davis also felt that 10 years with the same auditing firm was not a wise decision. Councilwoman Davis also felt the additional expense would be made up by the extra hours. Councilwoman Davis suggested if the Council votes for Deloitte & Touche that the contract be for a one year period only with consideration of changing next year. Vol. 60, Page 131 Councilman Binford stated an important part of this City Council is always to promote as many vendors as possible. He also had questions as to why only 12 vendors were selected and only 4 vendors had actually submitted bids, and would this also happen next year. Councilman Binford stated since the City had hired their Finance Director from Deloitte & Touche it might be considered a conflict of interest. A motion by Councilman Phelps, a second by Mayor Pro Tem Moses, with Councilmembers Moses, Davis and Phelps voting "aye", and Councilmembers Pyle and Binford voting "nay". The motion carried by a 3 to 2 vote to adopt Resolution No. 91- 095B with an amendment to delete "for a 5 year period" and insert "for a 1 year period". D.3 CONSIDER ADOPTING RESOLUTION NO. 91-094 AWARDING A BID FOR THE PURCHASE OF A HIGH SPEED HIGH VOLUME COPIER TO KODAK AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION. Mayor Blair gave the following information for consideration. Bids for a high volume high speed copier were received and opened May 17, 1991 to replace the copier in the Administration office. The two city hall copiers are four and seven years old. They are no longer reliable when producing a high volume of copies. Two bids were submitted and both met specifications. The low bid meeting specifications was submitted by Kodak in the amount of $43,000.00. An alternate bid was requested which included trade-in of the IBM Model 60 copier located in the Community Services Department. The alternate bid reduced the cost of the copier to $37,000.00. The Administration budget contains $30,000.00 for the purchase of a copier. The remaining $7,000.00 can be taken from the fixed asset balance. The Assistant City Manager recommends adopting Resolution No. 91-094 awarding the alternate bid for a copier to Kodak for $37,000.00. A motion by Mayor Pro Tem Moses, a second by Councilwoman Davis, all voting "aye", adopted Resolution No. 91-094 awarding a bid for a high speed high volume copier to Kodak in the amount not to exceed $37,000.00. D.4 CONSIDER COUNCIL TRAVEL REPORTS AND REQUESTS AND TAKE THE APPROPRIATE ACTION. Mayor Blair asked to reports and requests. Mayor Pro Tem Moses reported on his recent trip for the TML conference in Galveston. Mayor Pro Tem Moses stated this was a very enlightening conference. Mayor Pro Tem Moses was very impressed with the report Bob Bullock gave on the ethics bill recently passed. Vol. 60, Page 132 D.5 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION. Mr. Jack Culbertson of 3036 Mark Twain came forward. Mr. Culbertson had some concern on the recent TCI Encore payment schedule. Mr. Culverson stated he had recently received a letter stating ENCORE would only cost $1.00. However, Mr. Culverson stated toward the bottom of the reply card it stated if a premium channel was dropped, it would cost $4.95. He inquired what amount was correct. City Manager Richard Escalante stated he had called TCI twice and both times was told only when you drop a premium channel would the monthly charge go up. Councilwoman Davis stated she wanted to begin the monthly TCI meetings again so questions such as Mr. Culverson's could be answered. MAYOR BLAIR ANNOUNCED THAT COUNCIL WILL CONVENE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION. THE MEETING WILL RECONVENE INTO GENERAL SESSION AFTER THE ITEMS HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION. ARTICLE 6252-17, SECTION 2 OF THE OPEN MEETING LAW PROVIDES THAT SUCH ITEMS AS PERSONNEL MATTERS, LAND ACQUISITION AND PENDING AND CONTEMPLATED LITIGATION MAY BE DISCUSSED IN CLOSED SESSION. E. la DISCUSS PERSONNEL MATTERS - ARTICLE 6252-17, SEC. 2(g) 1. DISCUSS APPOINTMENT TO THE VALWOOD IMPROVEMENT AUTHORITY. A discussion was held relating to an appointment to the Valwood Improvement Authority Board of Directors. E. lb DISCUSS LAND ACQUISITIONS - ARTICLE 6252-17, SEC. 2(f) 1. DISCUSS MOTOROLA PROPERTY DEDICATION. A discussion was held relating to Motorola property dedication. E.2 CONSIDER NECESSARY ACTION ON PERSONNEL MATTERS DISCUSSED IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION. Mayor Blair announced that no action was necessary on this item and it would be considered at the next meeting. E.3 CONSIDER NECESSARY ACTION ON LAND ACQUISITION DISCUSSED IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION. Mayor Blair announced that further study is needed on this item. Vol. 60, Page 133 F.1 ADJOURNMENT. A motion by Councilman Phelps, a second by Councilman Binford, all voting "aye", adjourned the City Council meeting of July 1, 1991, at 9:50 P.M. Mayor f r City Secretary C Vol. 60, Page 134