MINUTES CITY OF AMES 304 MARTIN DR. - AMES, TEXAS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 13, 2025 6:00 PM The City Council for the City of Ames, Texas held a meeting at the Ames City Hall at 6:02 p.m. Mayor Barbara Domain called the meeting to order at that time. Mayor Domain conducted the roll call, at this time the members of the City Council who were present were: Mayor Barbara Domain, Councilman Michael Trahan, Counciwoman Elizabeth "Liz" Hardy, Councilman Eddie White, and Councilwoman Audrey Harrison. Councilman Alfred Freeman Jr. was absent. Councilman Eddie White led the prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. CITIZEN APPREARANCE There was no public participation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR DECEMBER 09, 2024, REGULAR MEETING. The council took a few minutes to look over the minutes. There was no discussion. Mayor Domain asked for a motion. A motion was made. All were in favor. Passed unanimously. Motion made by: Councilwoman Elizabeth "Liz" Hardy Seconded by: Councilman Eddie White All in favor: 4 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS: 1. CONSIDER, AND IF APPROPRIATE, TAKE ACTION TO APPROVE ORDER CALLING FOR MAY3, 2025, ELECTION. There was no discussion. Mayor Domain asked for a motion. A motion was made. All were in favor. Passed unanimously. Motion made by: Councilwoman Elizabeth "Liz" Hardy Seconded by: Councilwoman Audrey Harrison All in favor: 4 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 2. CONSIDER, AND IF APPROPRIATE, TAKE ACTION TO EXTEND DEADLINE OF RFQ SUBMISSION FOR BOOKKEEPING AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES. Mayor Domain explained that we extended the deadline previously; however, we did not send the email to the original recipients to inform them of the extension. We are requesting an additional extension to give the recipients time to respond to the RFQ. We will extend the request until February 7,2 2025, at 1:00 PM. Councilwoman Harrison asked ifwe could run the RFQ ad in newspapers outside of Liberty County. Mayor Domain stated that we would extend our notifications outside of Liberty County. There was no further discussion. Mayor Domain asked for a motion. A motion was made. All were in favor. Passed unanimously. Motion made by: Councilwoman Audrey Harrison Seconded by: Councilman Eddie White All in favor: 4 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 3. CONSIDER, AND IF APPROPRIATE, TAKE ACTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION, DECLARING THE PUBLIC NECESSITY TO ACQUIRE 404 MLK SOUTH FOR PUBLIC USE BY THE AMES VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT. Mayor Domain explained that what she is trying to do is get permission from the council to move forward on seeking 404 MLK for eminent domain to use for the fire department and police department. She stated that she wants to make sure this is something that the council wants before she starts the leg work. The property is .96 acres. She explained that she spoke with Mike Fielder, and he stated that the best way for the city to ascertain this piece of property would be through eminent domain because when it comes to an auction, anyone would be able to bid on the property att thati time. Councilman Trahan asked ift taking this action is the proper process to followi for eminent domain. Marivious Allen explained that this resolutionistelling the public that the City of Ames would like to purchase this property for public use. He also stated that the budget does not have the money for the acquisition, SO this is just to start the process. If an offer is made and accepted, then the council would have need to find money in the budget to purchase the property. Mayor Domain explained that what she is planning to do is obtain a grant that would include purchasing the land for the fire department as well. There was much discussion regarding the budget and where we would get the money from to purchase the property. Marivious explained again that the purpose of this agenda item is to decide if the City of Ames is interested in obtaining this property through eminent domain. The approval of this agenda item will set the ball in motion to determine the next steps including cost and securing funds to purchase the property. There was no further discussion. Mayor Domain asked for a motion. A motion was made. All were in favor. Passed unanimously. Motion made by: Councilman Michael Trahan Seconded by: Councilman Eddie White All in favor: 4 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 4. CONSIDER, AND IF APPROPRIATE, TAKE ACTION TO APPROVE OPENING A BANK ACCOUNT FOR THE AMES VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT. Mayor Domain explained that when she was elected into office and started working on reinstating the fire department, she discovered that was money in unclaimed funds that belonged to the Ames Volunteer Fire Department. A request was submitted to claim the funds and the check finally came in. She wants to create a new bank account dedicated to the Ames Volunteer Fire Department. Mayor Domain also stated that the Ames Volunteer Fire Department has already been reinstated. This new account will be where all funds related to the fire department will be deposited. There was no further discussion. Mayor Domain asked for a motion. A motion was made. All were in favor. Passed unanimously. Motion made by: Councilman Eddie White Seconded by: Councilwoman Elizabeth "Liz" Hardy All in favor: 4 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 5. CONSIDER, AND IF APPROPRIATE, TAKE ACTION TO APPROVE CONTRACT FOR RECLAIM ENVIRONMENTAL. Marivious Allen explained that in December we sent out the RFQ for general maintenance. Reclaim Environmental was the only contractor that submitted a response, and the city council awarded the contract to Reclaim Environmental Services. Contract negotiations have taken place and the contract thaty we have todayi in the final contract that requires the council's approval. Marivious made reference to Page 2, paragraph 3, which states that compensation under this contract will not exceed $60,000. The contract also explains the responsibilities of Reclaim Environmental, for example repair of manholes, service and maintenance of lift stations, sewer line repairs, operation of sewer Jetter, coordination with vendors for repairs, coordination with TXDOT, and maintenance repairs to city hall, equipment, lawn care service, and vacuum and maintenance of lift stations. It was brought up that there may be emergency situations that may occur and if it happens to exceed the contract amount then a new contract will have to be negotiated. Councilwoman Hardy asked once the contract is approved Erwin Semien will no longer be an employee of the City of Ames. Mayor Domain explained that he would submit his letter of resignation effective January 14, 2025. There was no further discussion. Mayor Domain asked for a motion. At this time Councilwoman Audrey Harrison recused herself from voting on this agenda item. A motion was made. All were in favor. Passed unanimously. Motion made by: Councilman Michael Trahan Seconded by: Councilman Eddie White All in favor: 3 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 6. PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AN ORDINANCE REGARDING AN AMENDMENT TO THE 2025 BUDGET. Staff Report: Marivious Allen explained that this ordinance reflects the changes that are required to fund the contract previously approved for Reclaim Environmental Services. The budget currently has money allocated for salary that we need to move to contract labor. The ordinance shows the money that was moved from the salary budget line to the contracttaborbudget line. Councilwoman Hardy asked what would happen if we had to replace the position. Mayor Domain explained that if anything happened and we had to replace the position, we would have to approve a budget amendment to move the remaining funds from the contract labor budget line back to the salary line. Councilwoman Hardy asked that once Erwin goes contract, we are not hiring anyone else to replace his position. Mayor Domain explained that we would not be replacing Erwin's position, and that he would still have all the same responsibilties that he had as a city employee, except now he would be a contractor. Public Hearing: At 6:27 pm the public hearing began for consideration of approving an ordinance regarding an amendment to the 2025 budget. The floor was open for anyone to speak at this time. There was no further discussion. At 6:28 pm the public hearing was closed. Ordinance: Aroll call vote was conducted at this time: Councilman Trahan - Yes, Councilwoman Hardy - Yes, Councilman White - Yes, and Counclwoman Harrison - Yes. There was no further discussion. All were in favor. Passed unanimously. All in favor: 4 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 7. DISCUSS AMENDMENT/S) TO ORDINANCE 2024-01 MANUFACTURED HOMES AND RVS). Marivious explained that this agenda item is just for discussion, no action will be taken today. He stated that for the past 6 months, there have been issues with the enforcement of the mobile home ordinance due to the language in the ordinance. In this meeting we will discuss what the council members would like to see changed and added to the amendment of the mobile home ordinance. The first item discussed was to require mobile/manulactured homes to have skirting around them and to specify what type of skirting can be used. Councilwoman Hardy expressed that the skirting should cover the complete bottom of the moble/manufactured home SO that you can't see under it at all. Councilman Trahan asked if there were changes to the 10 years from the current year requirement. There were no changes made to the 10 years from the current year's requirement. It was discussed that the council needs to make clarification of the verbiage in the ordinance that speaks to roads and easements that adjoin 160 north and south. The city council needs to clarify what the purpose of the ordinance is. Currently the ordinance states that there can be no mobile homes on the streets adjoining highway 160 north and south. Mayor Domain explained that this doesn'twork because all the roads in Ames are adjoining 160 north and south, SO this would prohibit mobile homes in most of the city. Mayor Domain stated that she believes that we should only prohibit mobile homes on Highway 90 and 160 north and south. If the property is off the beaten path, they should be able to put a mobile/manufactured home there. Councilman Trahan asked how many mobile homes are allowed on a property before it is considered a mobile home park. 5 or more mobile homes on 1 property would be considered a mobile home park. Mayor Domain explained that the property would have to be owned by 1 person to be considered a mobile home park. Marivious added that the individual would also have to get a permit and a license to become a mobile home park. Mayor Domain expressed that we need to discuss how many homes would be allowed on individual property. Right now, thereis some overcrowding on some properties that could be a safety concern, especially if a fire breaks out on one home, it could cause damage to the others because of how close they are to each other. Councilman Trahan stated that when a potential resident comes in and wants to develop something thati is brand new, they should have to submit plot plan. Marivious stated that there is site plan language in the current mobile home ordinance. After much discussion, it was determined that we need to schedule a workshop to discuss changes and additions to the current mobile home ordinance. 8. CONSIDER, AND IF APPROPRIATE, APPROVE ANNUAL MUNICIPAL JUDGE TRAINING FOR EMMET ALBRO IN THE AMOUNT OF $250.00. Mayor Domain explained thatJudge Albro has mandatory annual training thath he must attend to serve as judge and maintain his certifications. There was no further discussion. Mayor Domain asked for a motion. A motion was made. All were in favor. Passed unanimously. Motion made by: Councilman Michael Trahan Seconded by: Councilwoman Audrey Harrison All in favor: 4 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 9. EDC REPORT > The EDC was approved by the State > Marivious submitted request for Comptroller approval for tax-exemption and was approved A He will be submitting an application to IRS to obtain a 501c3 for non-profit status, which will allow us to apply for institutional grants. Marivious informed him that because we are approved by the state that we can apply for state funded grants. The EDC's next meeting will be on January 28, 2025, to agenda and the goals for 2025. The EDC will start seeking grants and will be reaching out to grant writers to assist them Emmett has a question about the skirting requirements on mobile homes. His question was will the residents be grandfathered in with the current ordinance. Mayor Domain explained that as of now the residents are currently grandfathered in with the current ordinance that we have in place. She explained that if they remove the skirting that they have, then they would have to replace it with what the current ordinance stated is acceptable skirting. 10. MAYOR'S REPORT > Meet with C&A Construction for the kickoff meeting for the sewer restoration project. They plan to begin working on January 27, 2025. Erwin will be out monitoring the work and making sure what is stated in the contract is what is being done. Also spoke with Mr. Myron Broussard from TXDOT to obtain the permit to do the necessary work on MLK North and South. The contractor has 180 working days and up to a 210-day extension to complete the project. Anything outside of that time frame, the contractor will have to pay the city $500 per day. > January 14, 2025, the EXT Steel company will start installation on the building at the fire pad. It should take about 3 days to complete. We will add power and a restroom to the building as well. She will be attending TML Training on Thursday and Friday January 16 - 17, 2025. > Pumps will be installed mid-week at Lift Station E and Grinder Pumps A and B. Erwin will install grinder pump A himself. Sweat Tech will install the other pumps. Will reach out to TDEM about grants for generators at the lift stations. We would like to upgrade to natural gas generators. She is also looking into grants for funding the construction of the fire department. > She is working on submitting documents to TCOLE to reinstate the police department. 11. CLOSED SESSION Texas Government Code Sections 551.071 (Consultation with Attorney) At 7:11 PM, the closed session meeting began. A motion was made to end the closed session at 7:33 PM. Motion was made. All were in favor. Passed unanimously. Motion made by: Councilwoman Audrey Harrison Seconded by: Councilman Eddie White AlL in favor: 4 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 12. ADJOURNMENT. Mayor Domain asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:33 PM. Motion made by: Councilwoman Elizabeth "Liz" Hardy Seconded by: Councilwoman Audrey Harrison All in favor: 4 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0 BL Barbara Domain Mayor Wlona Codu / Wellona Godfrey City Secretary