City of Midway City Council Meeting Minutes February 28, 2022 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, Rex Newkirk, Wes Savage and Janet Boone. Council members Steve Parrish and Angie Thornton were unable to attend. Guest for the meeting was Ray Jordan, who was to meet with Council concerning the position of City Attorney. Gus Kangos made the motion to accept the Consent Agenda, John Whitmire made the second and with all presenting voting in favor, the motion passed. There were no Public Comments and at this time the Guest Presentation was moved to the end of the meeting. The Certification of Unopposed Candidates was presented by City Secretary Debra Newkirk to Mayor Brenda Ford. The certification stated that the following candidates were unopposed for their positions: Candidate Brenda Ford Position of Mayor Candidate Marc Nelson Position of City Council member Candidate Brandee Curtis Position of City Council member This is not an action item, this is a formal action that precedes the cancelling of an election. Ordinance No. 2022-07 was presented to the Council at this time. This ordinance officially cancels the election scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 7, 2022. This ordinance also allows for the posting of the Order of Cancellation which must be posted on Election Day, May 7th at City Hall. John Whitmire made the motion to approve the ordinance, Gus Kangos made the second and with all present voting to approve, the motion carried. The City had received a letter from Entergy regarding a new tariff and with it a request for an ordinance to deny the rate change. Ordinance 2022-08 was prepared at Entergy's request and presented to Council for the denial. Gus Kangos made the motion to approve the ordinance denying Entergy's rate change, Rex Newkirk made the second and with all present voting in agreement the ordinance to deny the rate change was approved. The Midway Volunteer Fire Department" S utilities were brought to Council. The Atmos Energy bill for the Fire Department has been extremely high for the past two billing cycles and there was also an increase on their electric bill from Entergy. When the City Council had agreed to pay the gas and electric for the Fire Department, The City's budget was adjusted with a $2,300 increase to cover the increased cost. After discussing several possibilities, Gus Kangos made the motion that the City write the Fire Department check; round up the City's increase from $2,300 to $2,500, deduct from that the amount the City has already paid, and that is the amount of the check. A letter is to be sent with the check, stating that the costs the City has incurred are much greater than what was originally agreed upon and SO the City is giving the Fire Department what the City had expected to spend, minus what has been paid and they can use this money toward paying their bills. The City will no longer cover the gas nor the electric for the Fire Department. John Whitmire made the second, and with all present voting in agreement the motion carried. The next item before Council was concerning the "In Case of Emergency" signs at the well yard and lift stations. Currently, the phone number listed on the signs is incorrect and we need to add a sign at the gate to the sewer plant and one here at City Hall. The signs would be the same as the ones we currently have with the exception of the correct phone number and red on the edges. The cost for 7 signs would be less than $400.00. The quote provided is for 6 signs at $53.52 each for a total of $321.12 adding $53.52 to the total cost of $321.12 and the new total cost would be $374.64. The signs were quoted with TCI (Texas Correctional Industries), they did the signs we currently have. Rex Newkirk made the motion to approve the quote for 7 signs, Gus Kangos made the second and with all present voting in favor the motion carried. Danny Patel, owner at Fraley's Food Store, sent a letter that further explains what he would like to do with regards to a small casino/game room in Midway. The letter was provided to each member of the council, who each expressed they had some concern with the project as a whole. This letter brings up the issue oft the game machines that are currently in operation in Midway. Debra Newkirk reminded the Council that this was an ordinance that had been attempted to be written before, but there had been no luck in getting this accomplished. Which brought up Ray Jordan's appearance at the Council meeting. Mr. Jordan is present SO that he and the City Council can have a conversation regarding the position of City Attorney. At this time, this item was tabled for further consideration. The next item before the Council was a request for closing of City Hall to the public on Thursday, March 3rd and Friday, March 4th for training purposes. The training is being conducted by Master Meter and is for the purpose of teaching how to use the new lap top for the radio read meters, as well as, downloading and uploading from the desktop to the lap top and back to the desktop. The training is expected to take both days with training starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m. Provided that it takes that entire time on Friday, there may be a small amount of overtime for Mrs. Newkirk. John Seitz would receive the bulk of the training on Thursday with Friday being in the office for Debra. Gus Kangos made the motion to approve the closure, John Whitmire made the second and with all present voting in agreement the motion carried. A quote had been received from U.S. Underwater Services after their inspection of the City's existing water tank. There were some things that they said are needed by are not immediately required. One item that stood out on the quote was cleaning all of the sediment off of the bottom of the tank. The price quoted is $2,300 with $700 mohiliationdemohiraton fee. The $700 fee is for travel to and from Mansfield, Texas and setting up and taking everything back down when the work is completed. The reason for asking for the approval now is due to the time it takes to get on their calendar. We wouldn't actually schedule the cleaning until after the new tank is set up and running. Gus Kangos made the motion to approve the quote and get on U.S. Underwater Services book, John Whitmire made the second and with all present voting in favor the motion passed. The last item on the Statutory Agenda was a request for attendance at a meeting on March 16th to be held at the BVCOG (Brazos Valley Council of Governments) for the CDBG-MIT, MOD (Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation, Method ofl Disbursement). The State ofTexas has allocated funds for mitigating damage from both natural and man-made disasters and this meeting will be discussing types of projects, participating communities/counties; and how much money goes where. Debra Newkirk discussed that in the material she had seen, projects could be awarded up to $1 million with $0 matching funds. This would be a huge benefit as the next series of projects pertain to the sewer and the uncertainty of what will be found. Mayor Ford let it be known that there had been some serious scheduling changes forl her and that she may be able to attend this meeting with Debra as opposed to sending Councilman Newkirk. John Whitmire made the motion to approve attendance at the meeting, Rex Newkirk made the second and with all present voting in favor the motion passed. Staff Reports were given. Janet Boone reported that the Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP) had been turned in. Wes Savage that generators at Lift Stations B & D and the one in the Well Yard need to be looked at for repair. Gus Kangos made the motion to get the generators repaired, Rex Newkirk made the second, and with all present voting in agreement the motion carried. 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 8:05 p.m. bunde ud // à - Dichuk Brenda Ford, Mayor Debra Newkirk, City Secretary