Council Meeting Minutes January 15,2024  1. Opening Ceremonies:  Mayor. Jolly called meeting to order at 6:00pm with the Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation Those in attendance were City Secretary Nacona Martinez, City Administrator Derek Stephens and Councilmembers S.Braddock, S.Henderson, S. Overstreet,: ,J. Craig, and. J. Forsythe  2. Citizens Presentation:  Karen Cousin-Idon't understand why we need to contract someone to do our policy and procedures. Do we not have anyone that is already employed in the city that can do this? Shiloh- Right now we can't address this at the moment but, when we get to this on the agenda, we  can start answering questions if there is any.  Karen- Ok 3. Mayors Address:  Ronny- I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New year's. At the last council meeting we addressed our citizens talking to the council back andi forth. We need to get it under control, and we need to puta a stop to so much) jabbering and talking. I'm asking the citizens to be more respectful towards the council and that we get our meetings under control. Andi if therei is something you want to address or get on the agenda that you each have a council member that  you can get int touch withi for stuff like this. lappreciate all your help.  4. Department Head Reports  Sanitation (Paul)- I didn't bring my report. llefti it at the shop, but we have had more rain and windy days this past month as well as holidays. All the equipment is good, the only one up for service is the loader. The tree-piti is still high, but we are working on getting it crushed down to make room. Wel had some people come by and try and get wood from the pit which we don'tmind but when they are usingi it for their homes it's just hard to distinguish which wood is what when it's all mixed in and we found wel have al lot of pine it's not good for their chimneys. T4 pit, we finally expanded it we got the ramp finally down almost 2001 feet, T1 has about 261 tons ini it, and we: still have 401 tons left to fill. The way we are compacting it we should be good until September oft this Derek- Matt came and will be back. January 25th. He has staked out 100 more feet. Paul- We have al lot of trash against our fence right now and wel haven't had that in a while, sO we are trying to clean that up and get some community service guys to come out and help with that. Paul- We do have one, it just says that they can get wood but once they carry it out past the gates  year. We staked out about 1001 ft for the Number 7 pit.  Shiloh- Is there a waiver that they sign when getting the firewood.  the cityi is no longer liable for anything. Shiloh- Good, keep at it!    Library (Peggy)- 689 patrons came into the library this month, 196 color pages were picked up, 18 kids and 14 adults came to Storytime, $362.35 was made this month in fees, services, fundraisers and donations (Total this yeari is $2356.70), 28 patrons attended Kaci Scotts adult programs, 10 more adult programs have been scheduled for the Spring with Kaci Scott, 11 kids & 8 adults attended to Royal Ball, 21 kids and 1 adult attended thet free Santa Pictures event, This month Martin Rosas cam as the Grinch, John Baker came as Santa Clause, Torrey Price cam in as the Gingerbread Man, and Cal Huffaker came as Santa Clause for the kids &1 families Code Enforcement (Dale)- 36 violations and 12 abatements, 18 Public Nuisance, 2 certified mails, 7 Public' Works (Raymond)- 1 water leak, 8 sewer issues, 200-meter reads, 8-meter repairs, 1 reconnect, 15 daily work orders, 4 new Service, 2 Dumpster issues, 6 service disconnects due to leaks, 2 marks for graves and 61 headstones markings, maintenance on the sweeper, Kubota, and Ronny- Is there a way that we can start filling out a form for Services to start holding workers Derek- Yes, Ican help Raymond come up with that sheet because that is something that we do at Court (TJ)- The city brought in $8,145.73 in Total and the City kept $4777.67 and the State kept PD (Chief Parker)- For December, Crimes against Persons was 15, Crimes against Property was 68, Miscellaneous call there were 84, total traffic: stops was 53 and' Total arrests were 6. Chief Parker- Here lately, depending on the severity oft the arrest we have not been denied those  permits and 7i inspections  Department Trucks accountable.  thet fire station, and it isn't hard to do. Raymond - Sounds good. $3368.06.  Sam- Do we still have 3 beds available at the Sheriff's office? beds. For warrants they must be Class B or higher 5. Approve and Accept December 2023 minutes: Stephen- motion to accept December Minutes Justin- Seconded (motion passed unanimously)  Sam- Ok, sO no Class C  6. Discuss Incode, Financials and Auditors Update:  Derek- With Incode we got AR: started with Gary House helping us with it and then come to find out, Incode thought we were paying for it but we were not. We don'thave the license. Trying to get them to dropt the price but they aren't budging. Revenue is trending a little low, but our Ad- Valorem is trending up. Insurance is al biti inflated, but we are working with Lane toi try and geti it cut down. Sanitation is 28%. All our funds are trending where they need to be. The Auditor has come, Nacona- As far as the cemetery Chambry and Idid an audit of the cemetery, and I can say that we are now to where we can look at our cemetery diagram and we can tell you what exactly is available. We have colored all the spots that are taken. This will make it easier for us to help the people that come in. Also, we have cleared out the room with the elevator well, Derek and his son  she's still working on 21' but we are getting close.    have, and we are trying to make that our cemetery room. We are going to be moving chairs and things to help when people come in sO that they have a private area to talk about things. 7. Discuss, Consider, and take action on the Approval on Contracting Jill Stone to Update the City of Derek- Wej just want to make: sure that our policies are legal. They are old and need to be updated.  Tahoka's Policy and Procedures Manual:  Shiloh- Does she have everything she needs to give us a quote? Sam- Wel have sO many different forms of Policy and Procedure.  Derek- Yes  Derek- Yes, we have like 3 or 4 different one's sO we are, just utilizing our Professional services. Cal- There were 50 manyi issues already with all the ones we have now that we. just need to cover Stephen-Imotiont to table approving contracting Jill Stone to update the Policy and Procedures  all the gaps. Sam- Seconded (motion passed unanimously)  Shiloh- Will you just let us know when she gives us the quote?  8. Discuss, Consider, and take action on Approving Food Truck Ordinance  Ronny- Ithink that if they aren't changing their sales tax, they need to pay $20 per visit. AndIthink we need to change "visit" to "day". And lalso think that it needs to be! 500ft from the established restaurant. So, say fori instance you don'twant them parked across the street in that old gas station where the old cable place is to hurt Georges. So, Iwould kind ofl like seeing that 500 ft put back or  300 ft put back in.  Shiloh-Id don'tt think that is fair toi the town.  Ronny- Iti isn'tf fair to the restaurants that have been here 15years either.  Shiloh- What ifa restaurant wants to build next door to Georges? Are we, going to shut that down  too?  Ronny- Well that'sr not a vendor, a mobile vendor.  Shiloh- welllknow.  Stephen- Ifa restaurant is built next to Georges than we are going to get the sales tax on it anyways sO that's going to be a win- win situation fori the city. Idon't disagree with Ronny on this one. Shiloh-Ithinki if someone owns that property and they want to allow someone to do whatever they want then they should be able to. Like right now that truck that parks in the lot next to the old. Jolly time. Theya are taking advantage oft that lot because they know that there is traffic there. Buti if someone bought it, don'tthink that it would bei fair for them to continue to try and sell there. Shiloh- So if Mike and Tammy want to have their food truck at Crushers, can they? Because it's Shiloh- They do it in the summer in the back. Ijust think that is overreaching to tell people. What Cal- I'm just thinking, 500ft what's that about 130yards from our commercial area.  within 500ft of Georges. do you think Cal?  Stephen- Why would they have ai food truck at crushers?  Ronny- 3001 ft wouldn't bel bad either.  Cal- You can cut it down to wear its less footage but, we can do that itsj just a question as too how  fari if we are going to limit them from our commercial areas.    Ronny- Ijust don'twant to take advantage of someone who has been here for a long time and take a chance of running them out of business and then we are left with nothing. Shiloh-Ithinki if they own any commercial property that they should be able to set upi in any commercial zone. It's no different than any lawn company coming in and mowing and I mow. Ronny-Io don't want to cater to someone else that's coming in that is taking our business and won't  It's capitalism, it's the world.  come back for another month. Ithink we need to take care of what we have.  Derek- Can wej just compromise the distance. Ronny-Ithink: 250-300f ft is good for that business. Shiloh-Iwould, just like to look at footage and table this.  Derek- Ijust want to point out our budget because y'all are burning up a lot of our legal and Ithink y'all need to make a decision. I'm not trying to telly y'all what to do but we have spent al lot on this ordinance alone so Ineed y'all to make a decision sO we can put this one to bed. Shiloh-I lagree, thought we have already gone through it and submitted it for approval because Stephen-Ithought this was all brought up sO that the EDC or CRB committees could bring people in when we didn't have anything. just to help them out and the city could benefit from them switching  wel have had it for a couple of months now.  the sales tax over. Ronny- The mini park mobile, they want to be: seen. Ronny- our old ordinance said 3 or 500ft away. Shiloh- but Idon'tk know if that's ever been regulated. Ronny-lhave seen them anywhere near Georges. Shiloh- Tyson was set up over there for quite some time.  Shiloh- Where do y'all expect these food trucks to park?  Shiloh- But they don't have highway exposure and that's what food trucks what because theya are  Ronny- That was 500ft away.  Shiloh- What is the difference? This block or the middle block there was ai food truck next to Stephen- ifiremember correctly, the days that they have had their best sales is when they had them set up att the mini park on the days other established restaurants were not open. Shiloh- Y'all have done the food trucks on the weekends in some while, whyi is that? Cathy- Because y'all couldn'tget) y'all's numbers straight sO we didn't know what they were supposed to do or pay sO like Derek said y'all need to make a decision sO when can get it started Shiloh-lwould move a motion to approve this with the amendments of 250ft away from  Georges.  Cathy- Ihave set them up at the mini park and they have done good.  again.  established restaurant and $20 per DAY. Stephen- seconded. (motion passed unanimously)  9. Discuss with EDC the new Grant Approval for the City Pool:    Kristina- The grant was $217,597.00 for all pool repairs. We plan on getting bids for repairs. EDC want to work with the city to have the pool open and EDC1 taking over and making them a non- Joe- just want to make sure that thisi is going to take care of all the maintenance that is needed. Carson- Once we, get the second quote we should know more or less of what we are looking at Derek- By upgrading the pool, maintenance costs will go down and they can start looking at making  profit.  Kristina- Yes, that's what we are working towards.  ap profit.  Shiloh- Get us some numbers and we will go from there.  10. Executive Session  a. Pursuant to the Texas Government Code Section 551.071 Consultation with  Attorney- to discuss Policy & Procedure's Shiloh- Motion to adjourn into executive session at 7:02pm  Stephen- Seconded (motion passed unanimously) session.  Ronny- we will reconvene into regular session at 7:10pm, no action was taken in executive  11. Discuss Utility/Water Billi increase.  Derek- l've put this on the agenda as a discussion sO we can talk about what I have found over the course of time I have been here. And I'm giving the public 30 days to take it alli in and come up with questions and conçerns and your opinions. We are in a cost share program with the City ofl Lubbock fort them to blend our water. That cost share is $11,000.00: a year. Moving on, we have CRMWA, they are working on improvements: and sof far, they! have used $1.3 million dollars, and our portion is. .46% with comes out to about $10,500.001 that we have still yet to pay. Our CRMWA administration costi is $182,000 over the year. TCEQ is hammering us often and they are requiring us to install an emergency, generator. Thei initial cost oni it was about $35,000 depending on if we go withar new one oraused one. We already have puti in switches overhere and that was $20,000. The well on gths street that was a grant match and Ithink we spent $100,000 on that well and its not even in the system it did test positive for coliform we have to put a filter system on it. Matt sent the review to TCEQ and the numbers oni it are roughly $15,000 and $20,000 on the filter system. And lanticipate us having to do another filter system on1 the other well on gth street it's been granted an exception. On sewer side oft things, you put in a new lift station last year that was $124,00.00 and you have a lift station on the county club road that is completely out right now and the number on it is $220,000.00 its identical to the one on F, this one. serves that hospital and the apartments on 7th street.. And the one on F serves the Sheriffs Office. They take al beating from those 2 big entities. But it's time for them to be replaced. On those 2 the last two water adjustments were in 2015 and the last sewer adjustments were in 2011. We paid Odessa Pumps$16,000 this past year on pumps for the sewer and we have a wastewater treatments license that is up this year and that's $7,900 and it must be renewed every 4 years. Moving into your trash collections, Republic adjusts theirs every year at 5% andi it'ssomething that we approve of. The cost to process trash has gone up, fuel, labor, equipment. The one thingl lwould like to do with the $3i increase isl Iwould like to pledge thoset fundsi in thei future to closing those cells and that bond matures in 2025 and sO if you take the $3 and take the bond payment and start pledgingi it toi that cell closure, you're paving the wayi for Tahoka int the future. The longer youl leave those cells open it's like a revolving debt and we arej just kicking the can down the road. So, our credit rating takes al beating and that's the easiest way on how to explain that. It's just    ac credit liability saying that you can absorb those costs and ift the city were to go bankrupt that there is some way to seal those off and not leave an environmental hazard. It's going tol be a good financial decision int thei future moving forward towards closing those cells and ify you will pledge those funds int thet future and make that then regardless of who takes your spot then that is taking care ofTahoka ini thet future. Whatiproposed wasa a $3 increase on water, sewer, and sanitation. It's $9 a month for the normal water bill, it gets you right at $100. And that includes your $3 donation to the Fire Department. wanted people to still be able to make their donations to the fire department and it would still be about $100. So, your standard bill will go from 88.64 to 97.77 sO with the $3 donation to the Fire department it'll put it right at $100.77 for the average home that will be $108 per year. I felt like that was the fairest way to distributing those costs and not do it just through taxes and it addresses thei infrastructure. That's thej justification that I have and ify y'all have any questions about Shiloh- Ithink we have seen the issues that we have, and just think that inflation is out running us. Derek- I'm not going to lie and say yes because there are, just too many bigger problems to address Stephen- We have put band aids ont things for al long time. We just needi to give the citizens a chance to discuss it and then give them a chance to speak on it. I would like this information posted and Joe- We can push on, like the Texas water development board and other agencies. We need to apply Derek- Yep, that's why we got Quinton that is coming this week. He'll be able to direct us on that. Gary House our ECO guy, he has to deal with the water board and stuff like that. So, there are those resources, but we are still going to have to adjust. There hasn't been another utility that has been adjusted since 2011. But yes, those are certainly some resources that we can reach out too and  it, Ithink having an open dialogue withi it willl help.  Don't get me wrong, Ihate to raise it, but Ithink its necessary: at this point. Sam- Is this increase going to help with the roads, gutters etc.  right now.  blasted everywhere we can.  for that and work with them and they may be some help int that area.  explore for sure.  Joe- Yes, we need some good grant writing going on.  Derek- Yep, we have to get some audits done before we reach out for that.  Ronny- Ihave a chart that has a lot of towns around us and the prices. And a lot of them are at the $100 mark: Like Lubbock is down around $50- $60 but, on top of their water bill they add another $25 fort their chlorinator, another $251 fort their drain water and when yous get through with allo ofthat they have about $150 bill. But next month III try and bring that with me sO people can look at Ronny- Yes, there are several. There are about 20 towns that are in there like Brownfield, Lamesa, Stephen- Can you get that to Derek because I think that would be good if he's having to put things together like this when hel has to propose this. That way he can have side-by-side comparisons.  different towns. Post.  Sam- You said Lubbock. Do you have any surrounding areas that are like our: size.  Sam- can you share that with us.  Ronny-Igoti it from the Brownfield website.  12. Future Agenda Items Utility/Water Bill increase 13. Adjourn Justin- motions to adjourn at 7:32pm Shiloh- seconded.    (motion passed unanimously)  tn  These meeting minutes were PASSED and APPROVED on the Egbdayof leo 2024 Dom2a As  Nacona Martinez, City  Ronny. Jolly, Mayor