City of Midway City Council Meeting Minutes August 29, 2022  The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Brenda Ford.  Thel Invocation was given by Councilman John Whitmire, Mayor Brenda Ford led the Pledge. Those in attendance included Mayor Brenda Ford, City Secretary Debra Newkirk, Council members John Whitmire, Rex Newkirk, Gus Kangos, Brandee Curtis and Marc Nelson. Janet Boone was also in Councilman John Whitmire made the motion to approve the Consent Agenda, Councilman Rex Newkirk  attendance. Operator Wes Savage was not in attendance.  made the second and with all present voting in favor the motion carried.  There were no Public Comments at this time.  Guest Speaker for this meeting was Alessandra Gad of the Bojorquez Law Firm. Ms. Gad informed the Council that she would be the City's General Counsel and, ifr needed, the Prosecutor for Municipal Court. Ms. Gad stated that the firm represents over 501 municipalities across the state and there are several in- house experts to handle questions that go beyond her. The Council was very appreciative oft the time she took to come to the Council meeting and wished her safe travels. At this time, Ms. Gad left the meeting. The first item on the Statutory Agenda was the Request for Donations forms that had been received. These forms were: sent to organizations that had requested donations from the City before and the accompanying letter stated that they needed to be returned tol be approved and made part oft the budget. The first form received was from the Son-Shine Outreach Center for the amount of $250.00: and these monies would be used to purchase school supplies and food and would benefit many of the The second through fifth forms all come from the Midway Volunteer Fire Department and total The first request was for $2500.00 for Add-On money fort the State Championship BBQ Cook-off to bel held October 7th & gth_ Council amended the request to $250.00 The second request was for $2,000.00 for utilities from January to December 2023- - The third request was for $500.00 for sponsorship of the Steak Dinner- Council The last request was for $200.00: for sponsorship of the Fish Fry, Crawfish Boil and These requests, upon approval, would change the line item for Donations from $1,000.001 to  families in Midway. $5,200 in requested monies.  Council amended the request to $1,500.00 amended the request to $300.00  Fireworks- Council did not amend this request  $2,500.00 Gus Kangos made the motion to:  approve the increase on the line item for Donations from $1,000.00 to $2,500.00; approve the $250.00 request to the Son-Shine Outreach Center; approve the donations to the Midway Volunteer Fire Department int the amounts of: $250.001 for the BBQ Cook-off, $1,500.00 for Utilities for 2023; $300.00 for the Steak Dinner and $200.00 for the Fish Fry, Crawfish Boil, and Fireworks.  Brandee Curtis made the second and with all voting in favor the motion carried  The next item before the Council was the renewal oft the TML Membership in the amount of $591.00. Membership with this organization allows access to legal assistance for things such as sample ordinances,    and the ability to ask questions ofa attorneys without incurring hourly charges. This would leave the City Attorney (The Bojorquez Law Firm) tol handle any other legal issues. Brandee Curtis made the motion to approve the membership renewal, Marc Nelson made the second and with all voting unanimously the The next item before the Council was the request to use the firm of Anderson, Marx & Bohl, CPA; to perform an audit for the City. The estimated cost oft this audit is between $15,000 and $16,000 and is due to the time since the City's last audit. Gus Kangos made the motion to approve using this firm and getting the audit, John Whitmire made the second and with all voting in agreement the motion carried. Thei next item before the Council was the question of proceeding with aj police department. In order for Midway to have aj police department, a Chiefv would have to be hired and a' TCOLE. Agency number obtained. The cost for the agency number is $1,000.00 and Bryan Corb, whol had been interviewed for the job of Chief, is still interested. Council was unanimous in the need/want ofaj police department andi in the beliefthat) Mr. Corb can do the job. The questions oft the department centered on the funding and getting grants. It was explained to Council that grants for aj police department cannot be sought until the Chief and the agency number have been obtained. Brandee Curtis requested that numbers (preliminary budget) for the police/court be put together and maybe presented in al briefworkshop before the next Council meeting. Brandee Curtis made the motion toj proceed with the police department, Rex Newkirk The last item on the Statutory Agenda was the water and sewer rates. As ofthis Council meeting, the filtration system had not been turned on but it was felt that it would not be long before it was on. With the addition ofthe line item for the audit, and thei increase on Building Supplies- - Outbuildings in the Water Department Expenses, the rate study revealed that increasing thel base rate from $30.00 to $33.00 would be sufficient to start off the next fiscal year. Once the filtration system has been in service for 6 months, the rates can be re-evaluated. On the Sewer Department Expenses, there is the additional line item for the audit and there were increases on other lines including Sewer System Maintenance & Repair and Contract Services. These increases are needed based on the anticipated work to be done on the sewer system. The rates for sewer have not changed very much since the sewer system was brought into service; at the current time the base rate for sewer is $22.50. Also inj place at the present time are Usage Charges, these charges are based on the amount of water that goes through the meter. Currently usage of Oto 4,000 gallons will see a charge of $2.00 per thousand gallons; 4,001 to 8,000 will see a charge of $3.00 per thousand gallons. Since the bulk ofs sewer customers are within these categories, it is necessary for a slight increase ini these usages. The Usage change would occur the 2,001 to 4,000 gallons used with the change being $2.50 per thousand. At the 6,001 to 8,000 gallons, the usage charge becomes $3.50 per thousand gallons. The Usage Charges would only be changed effective October 1,2022. The Base Rate Charges (increase of $3.00) would be done for Water on October 1,2 2022. The Base Rate changes on Sewer would bei increased on $3.00 effective 10/1/22; 1/1/23; 4/1/23; 7/1/23 at which time a rate evaluation would be done to determine ift the increases needed to continue on a quarterly basis. The first Base Rate change would take place 10/1/2022 and would see the current Base Rate of $71.00 increase to $77.00. It was stated that the City does not currently have specific rates for Commercial (businesses), Institutional ChurchesCommuniy buildings). Rex Newkirk made the motion to approve the changes in the water and sewer: rates, Marc Nelson made the second and with all voting in favor the motion passed. Staff Reports were given at this time. Janet Boone informed the Council that on the 16th of August, the City had a TCEQ Inspection on the Water System and there were no dings on the City's records. Int the Well Yard, thei inspector found the following: a spout on the new ground storage tank was found tol be open more than 1/16of an inch; the meters on the wells had not been calibrated; the secondary containment oft the LAS was insufficient. Wes was immediately able to correct the spout; the meters were calibrated and the paperwork on both ofthem was turned int to thei inspector before the deadline date of  motion carried.  made the second, and with a vote of3 in favor and 2 against, the motion passed.    August 30th. As regards the containment, several things were tried and all were found to be lacking in some way. When it was explained to thei inspector that the City would not be using the LAS after the next couple of weeks, the inspector went tol his supervisor to further discuss the situation. After visiting with his supervisor, the inspector called. Janet and told her that the LAS has to remain on site per the letter from TCEQ. The violation, which is a minor violation and not fine-worthy, would be given a3 month period to correct. When the 3 months are up an extension would be given for an additional 3 months; by that time the 61 month limit on having the LAS on site will have passed, and the filtration system should On the Sewer report, Janet reported that Mr. Adams has designed an aeration system based on the information provided tol him but that he was checking on the availability of parts. Janet stated that she is hopeful he will be able to come to see the lagoons in September and that she will have numbers for the For the City Secretary's report, Debra Newkirk reported that Allison Basinger continues to excel at her work and that they are working on an activity report to be able to give to Council on a monthly or quarterly basis to reflect the work that goes on at City Hall. Debra then requested vacation time on Friday, September 2nd, Thursday, September gth, and Friday, September gth. Gus Kangos made the motion to approve the requested days off, Brandee Curtis made the second, and Rex Newkirk abstained, At this time Gus Kangos made the motion to adjourn, John Whitmire made the second and with all voting  be on-line and working well. At this time the violation would be dismissed.  Council to consider at the next meeting.  and with all others voting in agreement the motion carried. in agreement the meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m.  Brenda Ford, Mayor  Debra  Secretary'  Abucbis  Newkirk,'City