City of Midway City Council Meeting Minutes October 25, 2021 The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Brenda Ford. The 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 Gus Kangos, John Whitmire and Rex Newkirk; Water Operator Janet Boone and Wes Savage were also in attendance. Council members Angie Thornton and Steve Parrish were unable to attend. Guests for the meeting were Cheryl Nealey, Matthew Faw, Dustin Harkrider, Levi Hurst and Chief Deputy Steve Jeter. Rex Newkirk made the motion to accept the Consent Agenda, which consisted of the minutes and financials for September, Resolution 2022-02R, Naming the Madisonville Meteor the Official Newspaper for the City of] Midway forl FY 2021-2022 and Resolution 2022-03R Approving the Official Holidays for FY 2021-2022 for the City of Midway. Gus Kangos made the second and with all present voting in favor the motion carried. There were no public comments. The first guest presentation was by Chief Deputy Steve Jeter. Deputy Jeter thanked the Council for having him be involved in this process of selecting a Chief of Police for the City of Midway. Deputy Jeter explained that after the interviews were completed, he was asked to handle the background checks which he was glad to do. Deputy Jeter told the Council that both men were qualified to do the job, he felt that they were both good people and people that he interviewed in the background process spoke highly of both ofthem. Deputy Jeter started with Ray Jordan. Positives for Ray Jordan Smart, well educated "Homegrown" Lawyer for HPD, worked with C.O. Bradford In Jeter's opinion would make a good Chief of Police once the department was up and running Not-So Positives for Ray Jordan Has been 12 years since he was in law enforcement Wasn'treally involved in day to day operations as the lawyer for the Chief No Emergency Management training Long process to get re-instated The next candidate Deputy Jeter discussed was Brian Corb Positives for Brian Corb 18 years in law enforcement, 15 years of] high praise Has Chief of Police tenure of2-4 years "Full Service" from day one Has all the training necessary In Jeter's opinion "would be perfect for this" Not-So Positives for Brian Corb In 18 years, worked for 8 different agencies In his 20's working for Harris County he was a "no call-no show" for 3 days and was terminated for this---it was a divorce situation One other position early in his career, he did not report his off-duty jobs to his department At this time, Deputy Jeter thanked everyone for allowing him to participate and he left the meeting. The next guest was Matthew Faw, representing the Midway Volunteer Fire Department. Matthew addressed the Council regarding further financial assistance from the City. He cited the increase in call volume, the growth of membership in the department and new equipment that had been purchased. The newest piece of equipment was the new pumper truck that was purchased and replaced the 1984 pumper truck. The new truck comes with a note of $22,000.00. The fire department receives from the county $23,000.00 annually. Matthew stated that the fire department can get grants for the smaller trucks. Matthew told the Council that fundraising is helpful, but without more assistance the fire department may not be able to grow in the next 5 years. Matthew had presented for the Council packets a document showing the cost of electricity, natural gas, and vehicle insurance from December of 2020 through September of 2021. The total of the electricity is $1,372.76; natural gas is $892.43; and the vehicle insurance is $4,105.00. Debra Newkirk stated to the Council that in the current lease agreement between the City and the Fire Department, the entities pay their own utility bills-electricity, gas, water, trash. The City has never charged the Fire Department for water, considering that partnering with the Fire Department to take care ofMidway. As for insurance on the vehicles, the insurance must be with whoever owns the vehicles, and the City does not own the vehicles. Mrs. Newkirk further stated that if the City chose to absorb the electricity and the natural gas, it would be easy enough as the City owns the building and it would merely be an address change to have the bills come to the City. As for the water, in the City's current loans with the USDA there is a clause, #10, that states there will be no free services. It would not be aj problem to set up an account for the Fire Department and then show the "payment" of the bill as an In-Kind Donation. At this time, Matthew Faw thanked the Council and returned to his seat. In the Statutory Agenda, the first item was with regards to the Fire Department. The Mayor asked the Council, what they would like to do and all Council members present agreed to table the discussion until the full Council was present. Motion was tabled. The Final Budget for FY 2021-2022 and the 4th Quarter Budget Review were presented for Council approval. In the 4th Quarter, Incomerexceeded Expenses by $8,421.27! Breakdown by Departments for the year is as follows: Water Income= $86,693.49 Expenses= $70,566.94 Diference-s16,l26.55 Sewer Income-$48,726.91 Expenses-$57,410.77 Difference-8,68586 Court Income-$11,381.08 Expenses-$23,80.79 Diffeence-24197 City Income-$95,331.81 Expenses-$78,375.07 Difference-s16,956.50 Motion to accept the Final Budget and 4th Quarter Budget Review was made by Rex Newkirk, Gus Kangos made the second and with all present voting in favor the motion carried. Ordinance No. 2022-02 amending the. Budget for FY 2021-2022 was presented for Council's approval. Changes to the present budget include increasing the Subscription line for Water, Sewer and City; Income lines added to City for Admin Fees and Sales Tax Collected, and Expense line added to City for Sales Tax Paid on Trash on a quarterly basis. Rex Newkirk made the motion to amend the Budget, John Whitmire made the second and with all present voting in agreement the motion passed. The Mayor presented the question of paying off the old USDA loans to Council. Currently payments are made in January (Interest Only) and July (Principal + Interest). Upon completion of current water system improvements, repayment of this loan will have aj payment in March and one in September. Those Council members present requested tabling this discussion until a full Council is present. Motion was tabled. The dates of the November and December Council meetings was brought up for discussion and approval. Dates presented for November Council meeting were the 15th (3 weeks from this meeting) or the 29th, which would be a regular meeting date. Dates presented for December Council would be the 13 (2 weeks from the meeting on the 29th, the 20th (Monday of Christmas Week), and the 28th (Tuesday after the Christmas Holiday). Gus Kangos made the motion that the November meeting be on its regular day, the last Monday oft the month-November 29th, and the December meeting be held on the 20th. John Whitmire made the second and with all present voting in favor the motion passed. Janet Boone gave the water report, stating that everything was good. Wes Savage gave the sewer report. Wes approached the Council stating that he has talked about this before that upon completion oft the current water projects the next thing is going to have to be the lagoon. Wes stated that no real improvement type work has been done since the sewer system was put in place. "IfI discharge, I'm going to break the permit limits every time, 9 Wes told the Council. "There are 4 inch pipes and it is all gravity flow at the plant. We have a lot of evaporation and not a lot of wastewater" Wes informed the Council that at the present time there is no discharge and he has been talking to Sean and Janet about the possibility of amending the permit to allow for chlorination before discharging. Wes stated that he would keep the Council informed. Under the City Secretary's report, Debra Newkirk requested time off for Friday, October 29th. Gus Kangos made the motion to approve the time off, John Whitmire made the second, and Rex Newkirk abstained for voting and with the majority of those voting in favor the motion was approved. Debra Newkirk reminded the Council that the Office would be closed on Thursday, November 11th in honor of Veterans Day. The motion to adjourn was made by Gus Kangos, the second was made by John Whitmire and with all in agreement, the meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m. obus Brenda Yhokis Ford, Mayor Debra Newkirk, City Secretary