City Council Meeting Minutes December 9, 2024 6pm 1. Opening Ceremonies: Mayor Pro-Tem Braddock called meeting to order at 6:00pm Thosei in attendance were City Secretary Nacona Martinez, City Administrator Derek Stephens and Councilmembers S. Braddock, J. Forsythe, S. Overstreet, S. Henderson: and K.Stone 2. Citizens Presentation: NONE 3. Department Head Reports: Derek- Water and Sewer is working on manholes. 21 manholes collapsed and we got them rebuilt. Unfortunately, potholes are on hold due to the weather. Whaticurrently have them working on while the potholes are on hold are the alleys. have them dragging the alleys to get them leveled out for1 thet trashi trucks. They are also working on meter repairs. They are doing a great job on those. At the landfill, the scraper and compactor are down. I'm actually lookingi into possiblyt trading in the scraper. Right now, we are making do with the excavator./wouldnt. advise the councili to buy another scraper ati this time because they are running at about 1 million dollars. Our compactor blew a rod thrut the block. This is a design flaw. Iti isn't anything that we did wrong. We need toi talk to Republic about the trash. We are being buried by trash and not making any money off ofi it. I'm in1 the process of meeting with other companies. Ihave ar meeting with Shantel at 9ami this week. Withi the EDC and the Airport, Garyi is coming to help with our budget and also to add EDC and Airport to our budget. Also, with the airport, we got $100,0001 from TXI Dot. That $100,000 paid Little MFG fort the 1st Phase oft the airport project. That check went out Friday and EDC will Reimburse the City $7,1321 for what was left over the $100,000. Aviation is fast growing industry. People arel looking for places to park1 their planes. Hanger spaces are in short supply. Phase 2 is goingt to address hangers, anything thati ist through that TxDot Grant will worki towards toi fix any structure that we have to repair those hangers that we already have out there. So, we: should start getting some rent on those in the years to come. We had a developer come out that is looking at developing at flying community and we are kind of landmarked there andy working with Callowayi trying to figure out ifs somebody could actually build al house ont that whichldon'ti think you are going to be ablet to. So, Ihave encouraged them to reach out to the landowner ont that. They! have 5 investors and each of them have talked about building a million dollar "Hanger Minium". But the airport stuffy you will start seeing that ont thet financials. Fund 4i is the airport fund andi that's how we will start tracking thet financials through there. It's goingt toi take time its slow, butlwanty'all rani in on what progress we are making out there. Pool update, same thing through EDC. Carl with Blue Tropical for 31 months Ihave tried toi tell him he's! had an unpaid invoice and for 3months hel has argued with me about not having anything outstanding. So, Ihave reached out tol him andi told him thatl need to get IN' WRITING that youl have been paid in full. Lowa and behold he now discovers hel hasi indeed not been paid that lasti invoice. So, wel have about $35,000 left. Which he'sr right we do owel him and how he didn't catchthat in! his reconciliation! Idon't know. I'm not goingt to payl him until Matt signs off that the pool is hydraulically balanced and once, we, get that I'm going to play hard ball with him and see if he will settle withi the $35,0001 that we have left and maybe that will conclude our business with him. 4. Accept and Approve November 2024 Minutes. Shiloh- motioni to accept and approve November minutes Stephen- Seconded (motion passes unanimously) 5. Discuss, consider and take action on approving House Bill 3186 Local Youth Diversion Chambry- HB: 3186, it's mandatory to have, its mostly used byt the school and some byt the PD. Helps child and parent w/ their child'si tickets. This helps refer children to counseling and classes (GED) even with community service. Judge Olivan and lare trying tot figure out what is the right path with this program. Cost for program is $50.00 for the referral tol be sent to ODR. Child and parent doesn't HAVE to use program if they choose to pay the Program with' Tahoka Municipal Court with' Tahoka Municipal Court. ticket that's1 finei its just this program will help with that. Stephen- how longi is this grant? Chambry- indefinite. Stephen- Is the County doingt this too? Chambry- Yes, I've met with. Judge Olivan. Stephen- Sot the school would refer them to us. Chambry- Yes, we would cover the school district. Derek-T The $50.00 we receive is just a pass thrui int the bank account we would set up. Sam- So, basically thisi isj just a collaboration with the school district. Stephen- Are we gettingt thet tickets from the schooli to utilize the program? Chambry- Not really. I've only seen one ticket so1 far since I've been here. Chambry- Basically. Shiloh- does this cost anything? Chambry- No Stephen- How much money will goi into this bank account? Chambry- $50 or however many kids use ODR. Sam- Imotion to approve House Bill 31861 Local Youth Diversion Program Kent- seconded (motion passes unanimously) 6. Discuss, consider and take action on setting up separate bank accountfor! Local Youth Diversion! Program. Justin- seconded (motion passes unanimously) Sam- motion to approve setting upl bank account 7. Discuss, consider and take action on approving City employee paid Holidays. Shiloh- motion to approve the Holidays Stephen- Seconded (motion passes unanimously) 8. Discuss, consider and take action on Approving Resolution 24-003R & 24-006 with Atmos. Sam- seconded (motion passes unanimously) Stephen-motion to Approve Resolution 24-003R & 24-006 9. Discuss, consider and take action on Resolution 24-004R for Animal Control Board Sam- Ok, solwould like to highlight on the resolution its nota an Ordinance. Thei idea of this, it's been al longt time coming. Wel have only had people volunteering on the board and thei idea behind the boardi is to be in an advisory role only. So, people like Lauren Kline have offered to be on1 the board and has connections with the animal sheltert that she runs but shei is really the only reason our shelter is running. But we also have Laural Henderson, Becky Ammons are interested in helping with the Board. This resolution will be good fora a year to seei if something liket this will work. Ifi it does, then we will write an Ordinance. Derek- One other thing we would benefit from to have al board liket thisi is we arel havinga a hard time finding what exactly Animal controli is. With that Advisory Role and having those people on there we can get away fromi those outi there) just saying that we are, just trying to save money. And all be it, we doi try and save money we doi try and consider the animal itself. But we have to start establishing: and defining what Animal Controls need to be. Somebody's dog getting outi is not an animal control problem and having and officer go out and look fori that dogi is NOT and animal control problem or issue. If anyone wants to know what Animal Control is and really get down tot the brassi tax of things and what we are dealing with is its exactly what Becky's son experienced.I Ican showy'all my daughter's leg. It's gruesome!. And that's where we: are trying to get. Ihope that with the Board we can get to establish those, ground rules and geti it out1 there to the public and starti to define exactly what Animal Control ist for. It's a math problem and we are overwhelmed with not just our community dogs but also with people dumping dogs here. They call the office and say, "Hey we would love to surrender this dog" and we tell them "We arei full" and we get well ify you don'to come get this dog, we are going to go dump it. And that has happened numerous oft times. We have had people just going and dumping their dogi int the fence. I'm hoping that with this Board we can get outi from underneath our bannert to where it looks like I'm being a villain and I'm just trying to get money. We can start addressing thei fact Derek- Sam can you elaborate al little on this. thati iti is an epidemic across the country and its notj just something that is exclusive to us but that we are dealingwith: ani issuei the best way we can. And being ablei to communicate that with everyone. Ithink Stella unfortunately takes thel brunt ofi it and I'm hoping thatt this board will be able toi insulate hert from that criticism. And PD and 1.7 That way when they do have an issue, we can tell them to reach out to that Board and get withi them andi it'll give them a sounding board to go with and we can start to open up grounds of communication sO its not this attacking on Facebook and little slander comments about that we don'thave animal control and we aren't doing a good job. welcome that. If you feel that way, come andi talk to me. l've got the pictures tol back upy what we are dealing with. Itv will turn your stomach over. Sot that is my point as to whyi it will bel beneficial. Ididn'th have myhand in Sam- al lot of this is just getting the Resolution created and get it going and give the people whol have already showed interest. There is no definitive way1 to get this going. Al lot ofitwill be word of mouth. If we could come up with a way like putting it on Fb. There isn'tasetway to doi it. Ultimately, we have at least 3 passionate people that are interested in it. Shiloh- Ist there going to be an application process?llove this, Ithink it's great, but Ido Sam- Idon'tthink: an application would be al badi thing but, whatever we end up doingi it Stephen- I'm going to agree with Shiloh. Ithink wer need at least 1 or 2t to get it started but thenlthink the process needs to open to however manyy youv want on there it definitely needs tol be put out there. Because again, ify you create this Resolution and we then hand Derek- Ithink having non-biased people that could look ati it subjectively. Obviously, we want what's best for the animal. There isn'ta single one of us here that doesn'twant an animal down there not to get adopted out. It's just trying tot find homes fora all these dogs. I stress this. I'vel been pretty hard ont thet fact that Ithinkt there is al lot of irresponsible people here. Ithink there is an even biggeri issue with people just bringing dogs to our community. Case inj point, that Belgian Malinois he wasi from Stephenville. Wet tracked them down. We were ablet to findi the owner and of course we, got crickets. Its not) just the locals. Shiloh- The Biggest perspective to me isi to get this Board to educate the community on howt this works. Like how you were: saying a while ago. Therei is al lot of realities for this and Stephen- my question would bet though, who is going toi fund the needs that this board comes upy with?' We did this very same thing withi the Community Relations Board, and we let them go their own way. Is that kind of the envision of what they will do as well? Derek- So, they will set up a! 501-3C. There is sO many' ways of doingi it. Its goingt to be upt to Derek- I'm going toi treat them liket the EDC. I'm going to be apart of ita and help decide. It's any oft this, this was all Sam's doing, and Ifully support this. Shiloh- Sam, how are they going to be able to get on the board? think we need to have application. needs to be simple. Shiloh- Absolutely pick who we want ont there that is not a good look. Sam- The board is ideally for anyone that wants to help and volunteer. that's) just what we are facing and its sad sometimes. the board to flesh it out and how they want to do things. Stephen- How doy youfeel about that? not going to get away from me. Stephen- But with EDC we have them blanketed under the city. Derek- They will be blanketed underneath us too. Stephen- We aren'tgoing to do what we did tot the CRB or whatever they are called. Shiloh-Idon'ts see us wasting any money becausel ift they can raise funds then that willl be Sam- And the best part about this is wel have Lauren Cline. She has her own shelter, and she has a! 501-C3 and knows howi it all works. So, ifthat's the route that want toi take than we have someone thati is experienced. She's done fundraising notj justf for our shelter but Stephen- And I'm good with that just don't want him being int the hot seat like when we had that money that was donated before and it had to funnel through the channels on how it needed tol be legal on our end and everyone was pissed off at him because it didn't go the way thought it would and as quick as they wantedi it. So, ift there is ay way1 to circumvent that to where they get whati they want, and we can keep Derek out of the frying pan then Derek- If they do get to that. We will certainly allowi them to do that. Buti initially, I plan on sitting oni it. As far as their financials and stuff like that I'm lucky enough tot field stuff early. Ican always get with Gary and work stuff out if need be. We are infinitely better at ourj jobs we were ay year ago. So, if we get at fundraiser this time,lpromise Iwill bel better ati itt this Shiloh- See with this resolution we could always reconvene and do something differenti if Sam- Right, that's whyl didn't recommend an Ordinance because this isn'tset in stone. This is kind of like ait feel for1 them to get their feet wet and seel howit's going to run. Andi if by the end of the 6-month period ifi it works great. Everything is basically what we do now. If someone wants to give a donation then they would give it to the board, they will make itto Stephen- Buti ideally if they set upi that thingt then! Iwould want to donate to1 them because Derek- No the best deal. for others as well. that is whatl tlwould prefer. time then was ay year ago. we need to. the city. they are a non-profit. Shiloh- 1 think it can get there. things on their own. foundation Shiloh- seconded (motion passes unanimously) Sam- Well they aren't a non-profit at1 this point. Sam- Right, something is better than nothing. Derek- Just to set the record straight. Other cities dot this and thent they breakaway and do Stephen- then I would move the resolution 24-004R for an Animal control board 10. Discuss, consider and take action onl November Financials Derek- We are moving but you will noticet that revenue is al little low just because we haven't gotten our Ad-valorem yet. It will look different next month when it starts coming in. Ifyou will look at admin you are at 12% buyt thist time we should be at 16%, PD is at14% Grounds and Steets- 7% Park and Pool-13% FD- 7% Code-18%- I'm goingt to attribute some oft that because Dale is dual purpose andi that's some overlap in coding. We will keep an eye on it as we go making sure thati is keeps W/S- 16%- one thingl Iwant) you to look at therei ist their salaries. That's wherel Itold y'all that somethingy was hung upi from) years ago like Raymond whent they were taking off if was hitting administration account and parks and pools were hitting our admin account. So,1 missed there. We are going to have to do al budget amendment at some point and adjust that. It was my mistake. lalso missed employee health insurance. That was just doing my averages lasty year when Leroy quit and came back soldidn'tnot take that into account sO that will be another budget adjustment. So, like Isaid more thei insurance is my mistake but the salaries Idon't! know howi it was coding the way that it was. Stephen-i ity was just gettinge everything coded correctly. We finally got everything right. Derek- eveny with that being said we are: still at 68% of our budget we aren't int the weeds or anything, there isn'ta anything we need tol be panicked about. Shiloh- under utilities it doesn't show payroll tax why doesn'ti it show that. trending the right way. Derek-where are! youl looking at? w/s? Shiloh- Ilost it leti me look again. Derek- its probablyi in one of your admin accounts where we don't payt taxes out ofi it. So, likei in streets they don'thave any employees so their won't be any payroll taxes. Derek- No, those are questions you should be asking. Over in Sanitation they are at: 20%. Ronny- line items were like $10,000 and already spent $39,000 and there was more than Derek- So, we pulled from Reserves this week just because wel hadn'tgotten our Ad- Derek- It comes in kind of quarterly. Since Shelly has taken overi iti is operated a little Ronny- That is basically what the Reserve is for to be able to dot that. Derek- Right, buti it'll get paid back. We will pay fort the sewer machine out of reserve. They are waiting on the nozzle'st they lost them, so1 they. got some more. Then theywillt test it out and service it, soi it'l be goodt to go. figure we will have it at the first of the year. Shiloh- maybe that's wherel Iseen it. Iwas just curious Ronny-Wellit's 100% better whenltook over. Andy you1 took over. Derek-I lagree that that were over budget. Valorem, but we are going to put it back when we start getting it. Kent- How long does it normally take to get all that money. differentlyt then before. Shiloh- move ar motioni to approve the November Financials Stephen- seconded (motion passes unanimously) 11. Executive Session a. Pursuant to the' Texas Government Code Section 551.074 Personal Matters- to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal ofaj public officer or employee i. Municipal Judge Kent- motioni to adjourn into executive session at 7:07pm Stephen- seconded (Motion passes unanimously) Justin- second (motion passes unanimously) 12. Future. Agenda Items Kent- motion to reconvene into regular session at 8:11pm Sam- Addj juvenile report to keep track of cases Chambry has with the new program Derek-. JayDee House is retiring sO we need to get a new CRMWA board member 13. Adjourn Kent- Motion to Adjourn at 8:11pm Justin- Seconded (motion passes unanimously) These meeting minutes were PASSED and APPROVED ont the day of January 2025 louma. B0944 Nacona Martinez, CitySecretary L Ronny. Jolly, Mayor