City ofMidway City Council Meeting Minutes March 8, 2021 The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Brenda Ford. Those in attendance included Mayor Brenda Ford, City Secretary Debra Newkirk, Council members Steve Parrish, Gus Kangos, Angie Thornton, John Whitmire, and Ed Faw. Water Operator Janet Boone and Wes Savage were unable to attend. Guests present included Denny Wheeler and J.D. Hatton, from Piney Woods Sanitation; they were here to make a presentation to the Council. Councilman John Whitmire gave the Invocation and Mayor Brenda Ford led the Pledge. Gus Kangos made the motion to approve the consent agenda, Ed Faw made the second and with all voting in favor the motion carried. There were no public comments. Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Hatton approached the Council to make a presentation for Piney Woods Sanitation. Mr. Wheeler told the Council that the company he represents, Piney Woods Sanitation, could provide a better level of service to the residents ofMidway and save the City of Midway $15,000 to $20,000 per year. Their services would include the following: > All of the customers would be picked up in a single day and the route would not be considered complete until all poly-carts had been emptied and it had been cleared with the City Secretary > The City would be able to maintain the 2 city-wide clean-ups each year > The City would no longer pay fees and taxes > The City would receive a 5% franchise fee on the commercial dumpsters in the city limits > The rate the City pays per poly-cart would be reduced; dumpster charges are less with Piney Woods; > The Fire Department could have a roll-off provided for the BBQ cook-off, along with port-o-potties and hand washing stations- this would be part of the contract and not an expense for the fire department References were provided Households with handicapped residents or seniors unable to get their poly-carts to the street could leave the poly-cart at the house and those on the trash truck would get the poly-cart and return it to the house after dumping. Council members Gus Kangos and Angie Thornton discussed making the motion. Council members Ed Faw and Steve Parrish discussed checking references and verifying the potential savings. After some discussion, Debra Newkirk was asked to call random references and verify the savings potential. Mayor Ford stated that the motion regarding the contract would be moved to the March 29th City Council meeting. The next action before the Council was to approve Betty Ann Reynolds to be the Election Judge for the upcoming City Election to be held on May 1, 2021. With 4 candidates running for 3 spots, an election will be held. With one of the candidates being the husband ofthe City Secretary, it is necessary, to avoid the appearance of impropriety, to have someone else be the Election Judge for this election. Mrs. Reynolds has much experience with elections and is a resident of the Midway area. The motion before the Council was to have Mrs. Reynolds named the Election Judge and pay her $10.00 an hour for the duration of the election cycle. Also included in the cost of the election, presented with Mrs. Reynolds pay, was the approximate cost of the election supplies and a request for handling the City Secretary's overtime during the election cycle. The total overtime hours for Mrs. Newkirk would be 24; it was requested that instead of paying overtime those hours could be saved to be used as comp time at a later date. Gus Kangos made the motion, John Whitmire made the second and with all voting in favor the motion carried. Winter Storm Uri, which left the City of Midway with intermittent water and electricity the week of February 14th through February 20th, has been given a disaster designation of DR-4586-TX by FEMA and TDEM. Information on the damages that the City incurred and receipts for supplies and repairs have been completed are being kept and are being collected. The damages the City incurred will be reported, as will the costs of the repairs. The response from FEMA has been, if you have insurance FEMA will only reimburse what the insurance does not cover. As with all FEMA projects, it will be a 75/25 split. The last item before the Council concerned radios for the City. These radios would allow communication with the EOC during events such as hurricanes and Winter Storm Uri. There could also be other uses, but would probably not be used daily. The cost of the radios would be $401.04 per year. Future repairs and replacement of units would be the responsibility of the City. Since there was not a need for the radios on a daily basis and events where they would be needed are infrequent, Gus Kangos made the motion to deny the agreement, Angie Thornton made the second and with all voting in agreement, the motion to deny passed. Motion was made by Gus Kangos to approve a $600 bonus for Wes Savage for work above and beyond during the week ofl February 14th 20", Steve Parrish made the second and with all voting in agreement the: motion passed. Angie Thornton made the motion to adjourn, Gus Kangos made the second and with all voting in favor the meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Quby - pakak Brenda Ford, Mayor Debra Newkirk/City Secretary