CITY OF WINTERS, TEXAS 310 S. MAIN ST. WINTERS, TX COUNCIL CHAMBERS REGULAR MEETING MINUTES February 26, 2024, 6:00 p.m.  Call meeting to order. Mayor Pro-Tem, Jimmy Butler called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and a quorum was established. In attendance were. Jimmy Butler, Alderman Mike Neal, Alderman Wesley Hagle and City Attorney Ken Slimp. Not in attendance were Mayor Chris Bahlman, Alderwoman Ida Rodriguez and Alderwoman Ursula Estrada.  Pledge of Allegiance -US and Texas Flag  Agenda Item 1. Community Input. Mark Burkhart addressed the council and city staffto: say the banners downtown look nice and he appreciates the work the Street Department is doing on the downtown streets. He stated further that he would like to have the council meetings recorded on Mr. Francisco Robles addressed the council stating he would like to be on the next agenda requesting a variance for his home-based business, a gym. City Administrator, Nate Smith stated that Mr. Robles would have to come by City Hall and complete an exception request form which would have to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission and the proper channels before it Agenda Item 2. Approval ofl Minutes from January 29, 2024. Alderman Mike Neal made a motion to approve the minutes from January 29,2024, seconded by Alderman Wesley Hagle. All  audio in the future.  would go before the council for final approval.  ini favor, motion carried. Ayes 3, Noes 0. Agenda Item 3. Department Reports: City Administrator: Nate Smith  A. Introduction ofi new employees. Mr. Smith introduced Dailey Elmore, the new Utility Billing Clerk and informed council that al Lake Keeper, Michael Strength, B. City Administrator Report. Mr. Smith stated that the Everbridge implementation is under way and moving forward faster than he had anticipated. His goal is to be live before the end ofl March. Mayor Pro Tem, Jimmy Butler asked the plan for citizen sign up, Mr. Smith stated that administration staff are working on updating phone numbers and citizen email addresses at each contact and he would put notice on Facebook as well as flyers and putting information on the utility bills.  had been hired. Mr. Strength was not in attendance.    C. Sales Tax graphics. No discussion, Mr. Smith attached graphs showing the sales  tax statistics. City Secretary: Sheila Lincoln  A. Atmos Rider GCR-Rate Filing. No discussion.  B. Credit card machine update. Ms. Lincoln stated that as of this morning the credit card machine was installed, and staff were able to take payments in-house and not just online. Alderman Hagle asked if there is a fee for using paying with a credit/debit card; the council previously approved no fee to the customer for utility payments only, however, there is a fee for other payments such as lake passes, court payments, rent, etc. Mr. Butler asked if one had to come in the building to utilize the credit/debit card machine or ift they could pay through the drive through as well. Ms. Lincoln stated one could pay via the drive-through as  well.  Water Department: Supervisor, Michael Blackshear A. Water Usage- Water Usage & Lake Report.  B. Sewer Status  C. Projects, New/ Ongoing. Mr. Blackshear stated that the crew came in last week to start the valve work, they did get three (3) effluent valves done they started to backwash and ran into a major issue SO got them put back together SO that it would run, a couple of more parts had to be ordered that should be here this week to finish it up to complete the project. Nate Smith asked Mr. Blackshear how many filters the plant has working right now, to which he answered five (5) stating we are still down one. Alderman Wesley Hagle asked ifany of the valves had been replaced, Mr. Blackshear replied that there will only be three (3) left out Street Department: Supervisor, David Lara Not present. Mayor Pro Tem, Jimmy Ms. Linda Huckaby asked if anyone knew the status of the mess in the street on Circle Dr. regarding the easement to allow water to drain from the street. Nate Smith stated that he was supposed to have had a call with eHT today but has to postpone it until later this week as he is moving, he and his family to Winters and things have been hectic. Police Department: ChiefPaula Geyer. Nothing to report/no questions.  oftwenty-four (24) upon completion of this project. Butler stated that the banners and streets downtown look great.  A. Projects  A. Statistics- Report attached.  Code Enforcement: Bobby Sanders. Mr. Sanders stated that Eugene Killgore signed the legal waiver relating to the tear down of! property located at 517N. Main St. He has once again marked substandard dwelling with red tape and is working on the removal of gas He stated on the Code Enforcement side there were nine (9) prohibited conditions, one (1)junked vehicle, three (3). prohibited occupancies of RVs, three (3) substandard buildings and three (3) prohibited home-based businesses with one citation. A. Animal Control- three (3) dogs and three (3) cats were picked up with five (5)  and electrical services.  incident reports.    B. Citation Statistics- no citations on the animal control side.  City Judge: Greg Nichols.  A. Citation Statistics. Mr. Nichols stated there had been forty (40) violations, thirty- one (31) closed. There has been $2,346 collected in fines and $2,791 in fees and he has been working on duplicate names in Incode, hel has deleted one hundred  seven (107) duplicate names.  Airport Manager: Richard Humphrey. Not present.  A. Projects B. Events-  Agenda Item 4. Approval of Bills. Alderman Mike Neal made a motion to approve the bills seconded by Alderman Wesley Hagle. All in favor, motion carried.. Ayes 3,Noes 0.  Agenda Item 5. Council's Report:  A. Mission, Vision, and Goal Setting. Alderman Mike Neal stated hel has noticed that Mr. Smith has been working with the staff on mission, vision and goal setting also. Mayor Pro Tem Butler stated that hopefully this will dovetail, and the council can look at those. Mr. Smith stated that he has been working with senior leadership hoping to create a better team identity and ai more cohesive team.  Agenda Item 6. Old Business: N/A. Agenda Item 7. New Business:  A. Discussion and possible action on selection of firm for auditing services. City Administrator Nate Smith stated that in January an RFQI had been sent out for those who would bei interested in providing auditing services for the city; there was only one response from Eckert & Company, and he recommended that Mayor signs engagement letter. Alderman Mike Neal made ai motion to select Eckert & Company for auditing services, Alderman Wesley Hagle asked howl long the RFQ was out for firms to respond to which Mr. Smith replied they were out for ai month and that the city's CPA, Sandra Rose had suggested a couple of firms that were also directly solicited. Mr. Smith also stated that Eckert & Company would not be able to get to the city's audit until after tax season. Alderman Wesley Hagle seconded the motion, B. Discussion and possible action on Resolution 2024-02 adopting an update to the Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan. Mr. Smith stated that this would adopt the update to the city's Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan prepared by eHT as per state law and he recommends approval. Alderman Wesley Hagle made a motion to approve Resolution 2024-02, seconded by Alderman  all in favor. Motion carried. Ayes 3, Noes 0.  Mike Neal. All in favor, motion carried.. Ayes 3, Noes 0.    C. Discussion and possible action on Resolution 2024-10 creating an Economic Mr. Smith stated that he had presented ideas about stimulating economic development and tourism and one was to create a committee his thoughts are that there would be seven (7) members appointed by the mayor with the consent ofthe council with the terms running concurrent with the mayor. They would serve in an advisory capacity only and would bring ideas to the council for approval, which they would not be able to approve. Alderman Hagle asked who the committee would present their ideas to, Mr. Smith stated that he would serve as the staff liaison. Alderman Mike Neal made a motion to approve Resolution 2024-10 creating an Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee, seconded by Alderman Wesley Hagle. All in favor, D. Discussion and possible action on approving a purchase request for new mowers. Mr. Smith stated that Mr. Blackshear submitted a purchase request for two new lawn mowers, one for the lake and the second for the water plant. Mr. Blackshear stated that the lake mower is seven (7) - ten (10) years old and currently has to be started with a screwdriver. The mower currently at the plant is ai residential mower, not commercial. Mr. Blackshear stated that one of the mowers could be kept for a backup. Alderman Wesley Hagle asked if the new: mowers are both commercial grade, Mr. Blackshear replied that they were. Mr. Smith stated that he had looked at Buy Board but the pricing presented beats the priçes on Buy Board. Alderman Mike Neal made a motion to purchase the Tiger Cat mowers, Alderman Wesley Hagle asked ifthere was a warranty with the purchase. Mr. Blackshear stated he would check. Alderman Hagle seconded the motion, all in favor. Motion carried. Ayes 3, E. Discussion and possible action on selecting logo design for the City of Winters. City Administrator, Nate Smith stated that last month he brought before the council two locals who both submitted estimates for logo creations; both submitted possibilities which were printed off and polled among staff and there was a definite front runner. Alderman Mike Neal made a motion to approve number 13, Alderman Wesley Hagle asked if there just had to be one. logo. Mayor Pro Tem Jimmy Butler would like to wait and have community input before deciding. Mr. Smith suggested putting aj poll on Facebook and in person at City Hall. Judge Nichols suggested using the highest three (3) voted by staff. Alderman Mike Neal amended his original motion and made a motion to poll involving the community using # 13, 9c & 7b, seconded by Alderman Wesley Hagle. All in favor, motion carried. Ayes 3, Noes 0. F. Discussion and possible action on Ordinance 2024-01 amending the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year budget. Mr. Smith stated he had found overages on several line items first being the personnel expenses; the what budgeted was not reflecting the how payroll was allocating the line items that were budgeted therefore he went through and submitted corrections and the second was last year there was a grant allocation was showing as an asset and is continues to count against revenue for this year. Overall in the General Fund he submitted lowering the Enterprise Fund paying the General Fund to help the Enterprise out a little bit. In the General Fund he submitted  Development and Tourism Advisory Committee.  motion carried. Ayes 3, Noes 0.  Noes 0.    at total difference of$19,000 and change that would be lowered and he also found $43,000 in savings in expenditures. Waterworks revenue would actually gou up $212,500, however expenditures would go up about $134,000 and change. If approved, both funds would be in surplus. He stated that he ran the numbers by both Sandra Rose, CPA and Alderman Jimmy Butler and does recommend approval. Alderman Mike Neal made ai motion to approve Ordinance 2024-01 amending the General and Waterworks Fund, for clarification Alderman Hagle asked Mr. Smith if he took money from the revenue fund and moved it where? Mr. Smith replied he just adjusted the budget stating that the $19,000 in revenue in the General Fund was the expenses from the Waterworks Fund, lowering that expenditure $19,000 that way it gives the Waterworks Fund al little relief. Mr. Smith states he is trying to reflect current practice to clean up a lot ofitems. Alderman Wesley Hagle seconded the motion on the floor, all in favor. Motion carried. Ayes 3, Noes 0. G. Executive Session, Texas Government Code 551.087, Economic Development  Project Rubber; Texas Government Code 551.074, Personnel Matters - Nate Smith. The Council went into Executive Session at 6:46 p.m. H. Reconvene in Open Session. The Council reconvened in Open Session at 7:33 p.m. I. Consider and take possible action on items discussed in Executive Session. No  discussion or action taken.  Agenda Item 8. Adjourn. Alderman Wesley Hagle made ai motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Alderman Mike Neal. All in favor, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:33 p.m.  APPROVED:  Jimmy Butler, Mayor Pro Tem  ATTEST:  Sheila Lincoln, City Secretary