Notice ofa Regular Meeting Minutes CITY OF BEVIL OAKS, TEXAS  August 25, 2022  1. Call to Order @ 6:31 pm 2. Pledge of Allegiance/Inyocation a. The United States Flag  b. The Texas state flag: "Honor the Texas flag; Ipledge allegiance to thee, Texas,  one state under God, one and indivisible."  3. Roll Call - All Present 4. Conflict of Interest Statement None  5. Citizen Comments (3 minutes each) - An opportunity for the citizens to: address Council on agenda items or concerns: not on the agenda - those wishing to speak must complete the comment card, present the comment card to the City Secretary prior to thel beginning of the meeting, and observea3- Nathan Wright - Wanted tol know about the road repair grant that the City has. Matthew Godfrey- Introduces himself. Asks questions about the grant. Doug Clark- heard that the City wants to change the garbage company that is used in Bevil Oaks. Suggests that we get someone to investigate the City. States that per the water code that the water meters are supposed to manually be tested Rodney Robichau- Suggests that the Council listens to the citizens and their  minute time limit  once a year. concerns  6. - Discussion  a. Officer Donte Miller - school security  Officer Miller- states that there are officers at the school now due to the recent shootings. States that the state has opened grants to have more officers on school campuses. States that the officers have taken training to deal with a live shooter ift there was one present at the school. States that the Sherriff's office has increased patrol in Bevil Oaks to try to keep the speeding down. Suggest that the parents talk to their kids about situations such as shootings, sO they are aware of what needs to be done in those scenarios. Suggests if someone sees something to tell an officer States that one of the trees that is on the City property by his house was struck by lightning and cause his house to burn down. He wants the trees that are on the City property removed. There are 5 dead trees with no tops on the property. States that Allen Pride (former Councilman), was going to have a ditch dug on the backside of! his property to relieve some oft the water caused by the dirt that was brought in by former Councilwoman Adams. States that the neighbors have all brought in dirt to build their property up causing his property to flood. States that the back ofhis property has standing water because it doesn't drain  ifthey see one.  b. Agenda Request made by resident Dennis Klumpp  properly.    Mayor Emmons- asks when he spoke to Allen, was it during a Council Mr. Klumpp- No, it wasn't in the Council meeting Councilwoman Mitchell- Are the trees that Mr. Klumpp is talking about in the Utility easement because Utility easements are usually 30 to 50: feet depending on what the deed restriction says? Mr. Klumpp's daughter- The builder stated after doing the survey, that there is only a 10-foot easement on each side. Councilwoman Mitchell- Are the trees on your property Councilman Merendino- No, they are on the City's property. Councilwoman Mitchell- Is there a reason why the City can'tremove those trees? Asks the Mayor if she can write an agreement between the Mr. Klumpp- What is sO important about those three trees? Councilwoman Mitchell- You asked to have those trees removed, Councilwoman Mitchell- states that is why she asked the Mayor what we could do to appease the City and you (Mr. Klumpp) at the same time to have the trees removed for you. States that she will take personal responsibility to write something up to appease the City and possibly you (Mr. Klumpp) that way we can come up to some type of agreement Councilwoman Mitchell- States that she has a backhoe on her tractor Councilman Merendino- states that it seems that it would be beneficial to the City to have those trees removed because the plan is to rebuild the Civic Center and if the trees were removed, it would create more room Councilman Mullins- The trees are 10 feet on the other side ofhis Mr. Klumpp- states that he has had several people living in his house. Hei is worried that those trees will end up falling on his house and hurting someone, sO he won't build a new house until the trees are Mayor Emmons- Asks Council ifthis is something that needs to be brought back to a meeting to vote on or ifit can be taken care ofwithout doing that. States that since there are other houses on the property, it will Doug Mullins- Ifwe cut down the trees on Mr. Klumpp's property are we setting a president for the rest oft the residents? Are we going to be responsible to cut down every tree on City property that a customer has a  meeting  Mr. Klumpp's daughter- no  City and Mr. Klumpp.  correct? Mr. Klumpp- yes.  toremove the trees for you. Mr. Klumpp- and dig a ditch? that she could dig the ditch with.  for parking. fence?  removed.  need to be somebody licensed and bonded.  problem with?    Councilwoman Mitchell- Ifanother citizen has an issue similar to Mr. Klumpp' 's about trees, they will have to come to Council about it. Ifs she takes responsibility for the company that cuts down the trees, can she choose a company that is not bonded and insured. Asks to take a vote. Council took a vote. Councilwoman Vautrot, Councilman Mullins, Councilman Merendino & Councilwoman Mitchell all approved. Councilman Emmons did not vote. No one opposed.  7. Presentation  a. Dru Montgomery- Clarification ofi issues relating to how grant funds are accessed, paid, transferred and overseen. Skipped due to technical difficulty. b. Milton Bertolio with Charles E. Reed and Associates - 2021 Audit for the  Will come back after the audit is presented. City of Bevil Oaks and the Public Works Department Mr. Chuck Reed- Presents the preliminary audit. Councilman Merendino- Asks ifhis company is the only company that Mr. Reed- states that they have been the City's auditor Mayor Emmons- asks ifhe can explain what the single audit is? Chuck Reed- states that every grant has different rules that must be followed. What has triggered the City's single audit is the Elevation Grant. As soon as $750,000 is spent, a single audit must be performed. Councilwoman Vautrot- every penny has to be accounted for ina Charolette Veates- No auditor will be able to account for every penny, but yes, the grants are looked more heavily than regular financials Mr. Reed- states that there are a few typos that need to be fixed but nothing that has to be changed will affect the numbers. Dale Darby (got skipped during citizens comments) - States that he is tired of all the secrets with Council. He is tired of Council doing stuff and then telling the citizens about it. States that the secrets are the reason Just for clarification- presents an overview of the grants that the City has received since 2017. Opens the grant portal for the citizens and Council to City Hall/Civic Center are 90/10. The government gives 90% and the City has All the grants that the City has through this system are reimbursement grants, meaning that the City has to incur the expense first, then submit it to FEMA for reimbursement. All the grants are looked over by a grant administrator to help the City stay in compliance with! FEMA and that everything is done correctly. Realistically the City is supposed toj pay the invoice first and then submit a Cathy Crane- Are the grants that are being presented approved through  has audited the City?  grant?  why he wanted to get a forensic audit done.  Charlotte Yeates (City CPA)- Review of grants received since 2017.  review. topay 10%.  reimbursement request. Council    Charolette Yeates- the grants that are currently inj place, have been applied for Councilman Merendino- When grants are received, why can't they be done Charolette Yeates- States that she doesn'thave the access to do anything with the grant portal, she only has the option to view the projects. The payments were only approved after the invoices are received. Buyout Grant- the City Charolette Yeates- The next set of grants are from the TWDB on the water side. The grants were all $500,000 aj piece. There were 3 of them. The Water Plant, The Lift Stations & the Sanitary Sewer Plant. The $1.5 million for these three grants were placed into an escrow bank account (not the City's bank account). Once the outlay requests are submitted to the TWDB and everything isa approved the funds are then wired to the City's bank account. Elevation Grant- explains that the contractor and the grant administrator get paid out oft the grant funds. Everything is done inj phases. Road Grant- this grant is through the GLO( (general land office). This is also al reimbursement grant. The invoices have to be submitted before the money can be disbursed to the City. Covid Grants- There was a small grant that was received. It was Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund- This grant can only be used for Councilman Merendino- Council and the citizens are wanting to know how much grant money we have in the bank and how much we have left to spend. Charolette Yeates- We can go: ahead and do the financials ift the Council Charolette Yeates- Goes over the financials. Explains what each line item is Councilwoman Mitchell- being that it's restricted, can it be put toward Charolette Yeats- ift there is money left over, you would have to ask to keep Councilwoman Mitchell- for the franchise fees, can we make sure that they go into the road account? Would we need to pass a resolution for that? Charolette Yeates-] Ifyous want it placed into a certain account, a resolution will need to be passed, then it can be placed into whatever account the Council Councilwoman Mitchell- Can we put the balance sheet on the website? Councilman Mullins- how much insurance money do we have and can we  since 2017. right then.  bought out properties that were substantially damaged  probably tol buy sanitizer and masks.  infrastructure.  wants to. on the financials. another grant? the funds.  decides on. Charolette Yeates- yes Mayor Emmons- once they are approved, yes. make the funds unrestricted? Charolette Yeates-yes  d. Dru Montgomery- Clarification ofi issues relating to how grant funds are  accessed, paid, transferred and overseen.    Over the past few months, accusations have been made that the Mayor and the Council have stolen grant money. States that he has received several complaints from citizens about the accusations that have been made.  8. Discussion/Action Items  a. Consideration/Discussion/Approval of2021 audit previously presented by Milton Bertolio. Approved- M/M/2/C- Councilwoman Mirchel/Counelwoman b. Consideration/Diseussion/Approyal of ordering of November 2022 General Election. Approved- M/M/2/C- Councilwoman Mitchel/Councilman Mullins.  Vautrot  Council approved to enter into a contract with Jefferson County to Consideration/Discussion/Approva of Appointment of Council Officers- The vote was not clear; it will put on the next agenda to be voted on again. Mayor Pro-Tem- Martha Vautrot - yes- Councilman Emmons  conduct the general election.  Councilwoman Mitchell- abstained Councilman Merendino- said no  d. Consideration/Discussion/Approva of 2022 Tax Rate Discussed after 8.i. M/M/2/C- Approved- Councilman Merendino/Councilwoman Mitchell- no- Charolette Yeates- Explains how the tax rate is determined. Consideration/Discussion/Approyal of resolution for authority to perform time-sensitive road repair, maintenance or construction per interlocal agreement. Approved- M/M/2/C- Councilman Emmony/Counclwoman  new revenue  Vautrot  Councilman Emmons- states that the County will come out and do work for the City when they have time and equipment to do sO. The roads that need the repairs first have been looked at by the County and himself. Most of the roads still have a good base. The County and City agreement states that the County will do a mile ofroad a year. The County unofficially stated that they will do more work than that ift they are available. We need to have the material on hand because we don'th have a timeline of when the County will be coming out. This amount ofr rock will give enough to do around 2 miles ofroad. The cost of the Resident- The first road that needs tol be done is Leaning Oaks. Councilman Emmons- That's the first road on the list  material willl be around $50,000. Resident- Is this part of the grant? Mayor Emmons- No  Consideration/Discussion/Approva resolution to cancel FEMA grants for the  City Hall/Civic Center- Approved- M/M/2/C-Councilwoman  Mitchel/Counciiman Mullins- AllI's  Councilwoman Mitchell- Ifwe decide to: not stay with the grant, will we be able obtain the $200,000 that has been paid out to Blueline?    Councilman Merendino- If we stayed with the grant, would we be able to Mayor Emmons- When we first talked to someone from FEMA, we asked them for additional funds, they pretty much laughed in our faces because it'sa 428 grant which means that the funds that the City are obligated to get are Councilman Mullins- The City does not have the money toj pay their 10 % of Councilwoman Mitchell- Mentions that she spoke with Brad (TDEM representative) and he said that there was no guarantee that FEMA would allow Councilman Mullins- Ifwe wanted to change the scope ofwork, it would take FEMA at least 61 months to a year to get a decision back to the City on approving or denying the change in scope of work. Councilman Merendino- A lot of the grants that the City have are repayment grants, where you spend the money then you get reimbursed? If we didn't get rid of the grants, spent the money to redo the buildings, started working on the buildings, requested a change in the scope of work from FEMA; a year from now ifFEMA said yes to the change in the scope of work, then we submit the cost to redo the buildings, then they would send us the money? Attorney Dru Montgomery- Explains that isn' 't the way that the grant works. You have to do the work that they approved. Ifyou don't comply with the approved scope ofwork, which we are unable to do because of the size ofthe Mayor Emmons- Most oft the money that was paid to Blueline was done before any of us were on Council. The money came out ofinsurance money. Councilman Merendino- Could we rescope it? Ifwe did and a year from now Mayor Emmons- We can't do any work until we hear back from FEMA Councilman Mullins- Ifd do work ahead of their approval, we wouldn'tget Resident Dale Darby- The original part of the grant was to repair it? Mayor Emmons- Yes, Becky changed it and asked for more money. It was right around $1,000,000, but the buildings had to be torn down and then we had to have new buildings built 14 feet in the air. We are trying to do away with the grant so that we can get these buildings renovated.  change the scope of work?  pretty much set in stone. the grant.  achange in the scope ofwork.  contract.  they approvedit reimbursed.  Consideration/Diseussion/Approval of variance requested by resident that Approved a six-month Payment Plan- MM2C-Counciman  damaged a water main during fence install Merendime/Councliman Mullins    h. Consideration/Diseussion/Approval of ordinance for a Public Maintenance Department- Approved- M/M/2/C- Councilman Miulins/Councliwoman  Mitchell  Mayor Emmons - This will be for someone to mow properties, fill potholes, Mayor Emmons- The big DD6 ditches that run through the properties that DD6 can't get to because they don't! have enough room for their equipment to Councilwoman Mitchell- This is Community Development. Mayor Emmons- States that she got Sabrenna to go through Utility Innovations invoices to see how much the City could eliminate paying the Councilwoman Mitchell- When BOMUD was in the City, they even had a Consideration/Diseussion/Approval of submitting Community Disaster loan application for an amount not to exceed the forgivable amount calculated by FEMA. Discussed after financials 7.C. Approved- M/M/2/C- Councilwoman  change meters and endpoints, etc.  fit down.  Utility company. Community Development  Mitchel/Counciman Mullins for $140,000  Charolette Yeates- Explains that the community disaster loan. This type of loan becomes forgiven which means that it turns into a grant. Dale Darby- If the funds were used on utilities, then the money that was going to be used to pay the utilities can redirected to something else.  Charolette Yeates- Yes.  Consideration/Diseussion/Approyal ofOrdinance for Entergy Declining to Approve Change in Rates Request. Approved- M/M/2/C- Councilman Miuliny/Counctlwoman  Mitchell  9. Review/Approve Consent Items - Approved- M/M/2/C- Councilwoman  Mitchel/Counciman Mullins a. Financial Reports for City of Bevil Oaks b. Financial Reports for Water Report by Utility Specialties d. Previous Meeting Minutes  10. Discussion  a. Agenda Request made by Councilman Merendino for various items.  Councilman Merendino- states that years ago when aj pump or something went out, the Council would have to have an emergency meeting to decide toj purchase a new one, sO the Mayor was given the authority to spend $5,000. Suggests that the $5,000 only be used for emergencies. Resident- asks what if something happens, like a tree falling. Dru Montgomery- You can't have a meeting without 72 hours' notice. There was a resolution that past stating that unless it was over $50,000, it Councilman Merendino- Can the Mayor hire and fire?  didn'thave to be put out for bids.    Attorney Dru Montgomery- Yes, the Council has given her permission to do SO. The City Council has the power over the payroll, to fire someone Councilman Merendino- Let's go back to hiring someone. Can the Attorney Dru Montgomery- Administration oft the office has always Councilman Merendino- There is no background checks done on the Resident- Can the Council set guidelines to the people that are hired? Councilman Merendino- The mowing contractors don't have a current copy ofthe insurance for them. The contract that we currently have with Councilwoman Vautrot- Ihave asked the Council to go out for bid fora  that the Mayor hired. Mayor hire someone? been given to the Mayor. employees.  them is expired. new mowing contract.  Councilman Merendino- What about Republic?  Councilman Merendino- Suggests that the attorney bills get put in the packet for everyone. Also suggests that the spreadsheet that is done by Sabrenna when the bills are paid be put in the Council packets as well. Councilman Merendino- States that the DD6 sign that is located by the park is not visible enough for kids. A kid could run into it. Mentions that there are trees growing over and through the chain link fence that's at the sewer plant. At one-point Cousin' 's brush hogged the field, it needs to be done again. Asks why they mow the cul-de-sac side ofthe Inwood.  11. Reports  a. Councilwoman Vautrot - Grounds and Maintenance No report b. - Councilman Merendino - Flood Prevention Project- No report Councilman Emmons - Roads and Drainage  This grant is a GLO grant. The total for the grant that the City will receive is close to $2,000,000. The GLO & engineer suggested that the City wait until the prices ofi material drop. They wanted to get the work started, so the GLO changed the type of material that can be used. The roads that can be done with the GLO grant are the high traffic roads. States that some sections of Sweetgum and Riverbend have already been identified as not needing to be done. Describes the type of material that will be used to do the roads. The City also received a grant from FEMA to do the roads. The FEMA money  iss specified to fix potholes.  d. Councilman Mullins - Water & Sewer- No Report    e. Mayor Emmons - Various Items- No Report  12. Adjourn Meeting @ 10:54 pm - M/M/2/C- Councilman mmonyCounciwoman  Mitchell  Doug Mulling City Secretary, Doug Mullins  Attest:  11:34CDT  BE Mayor, Barbaral Emmons