July 17, 2014 – City Council Meeting Minutes

Sep 16, 2014

REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING

JULY 17, 2014

 

A Regular City Council Meeting was held on , Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 7:00 P.M. at the Portwood Arts and Civic Center, 800 E. Morris, Seymour, TX  76380.

 

Call to Order, Roll Call and Pledge of Allegiance by Mayor Toby Hines at 7:00 p.m.

 

Council Present: Mayor Toby Hines, Council members Les Hons, Jon Hrncirik, MPT Billy Henricks and Monty Glass.

 

Council member David Horton arrived at 7:03 p.m.

 

Counsel Present: Cindy Ayres, City Attorney

 

City Staff Present: City Administrator John Studer, City Secretary Conchita Torrez and Economic Development Director Lauren Bush.

 

Guests: Steve Moffitt, Patty Hines, Carlos Beceiro, Jeannie Allbritton, Lan Winn and Sid Winn.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE MAYOR: Mayor Hines stated he was thankful for the rain.

 

CITIZENS QUESTIONS AND / OR COMMENTS: No comments or questions were asked by anyone at the meeting.

 

CONSENT AGENDA: (Items listed under the Consent Agenda are considered routine and are generally enacted in one motion. The exception to this rule is that a Council Member may request one or more items to be removed from the Consent Agenda for separate discussion and action.)

 

  1. CONSIDER APPROVING THE CONSENT AGENDA AS FOLLOWS:

 

  1. A) Approve Thursday, June 19, 2014, Regular Meeting Minutes.

 

  1. B) Approve City Council Report for City Bills paid in June, 2014.

 

  1. C) Accept Reports:
  2. Monthly Investment Report
  3. First National Bank Account Summary Report
  4. Employee List/Salt Fork Membership Report
  5. City of Seymour Police Department

 

  1. D) Accept and approve the City of Seymour Quarter 3 Investment Report, as presented by Investment Officers, for Fiscal Year 2013-2014.

 

END OF CONSENT AGENDA

 

Motion made by Council member Monty Glass, seconded by Council member Les Hons, to accept the Consent Agenda as presented by City Staff.

Motion passed unanimously.

 

Regular Meeting closes and Public Meeting/Workshop presented by GrantWorks representative Carlos Beceiro begins at 7:03 p.m.

 

  1. Planning Workshop as part of the City’s comprehensive planning process for 2014-2024, associated with TxCDBG Planning Study Contract No. 713124. Items to be discussed include provision of services for economic development, recreation, water, wastewater, drainage and streets, as well as housing conditions and land use and zoning patterns.

 

Mr. Beceiro began by handing out some sheets regarding the Public Planning Workshop. Topics discussed were the following:

 

Housing- the amount and type of housing in the city.

 

Land Use- if new development were in the city, where should it go or not go.

 

Parks- concerns about the existing parks and the facilities needed that we do not have.

 

Economic Development- the types of goods or services that are needed in the city. How can the City create a better downtown.

 

Water and Sewer- Concerns, if any, about the quality of water in the city.

 

Storm Drainage – if any drainage problems exist in the city.

 

Streets- What streets need to be addressed ?

 

Future Development /Regulation – What are the concerns about future development? New subdivisions or the placement of businesses in residential neighborhoods.

 

Mr. Beceiro stated that he had received around 200 surveys from customers and went on to say that that was a good number.

 

Public Meeting /Planning Workshop ends and Regular meeting resumes at 7:45 p.m.

 

  1. Discuss, consider and take action (if any) regarding the Planning Workshop/Public Hearing for Contract No. 713124.

 

No action taken on agenda item #3.

 

  1. Hear presentation from Steve Moffitt, with Schneider Engineering, Ltd., regarding AEP Contract extension evaluation and give City Administrator John Studer direction.

 

  1. Hear presentation from Steve Moffitt, with Schneider Engineering, Ltd., regarding Congestion hedging management for 2015 evaluation, and give City Administrator John Studer direction.

 

Mr. Steve Moffitt discussed Council Agenda items number 4 and 5 together, due to both relating to each other.

 

Motion made by Councilmember David Horton, seconded by Council Member Billy Henricks to allow City Administrator John Studer and Steve Moffitt to move forward and check with other suppliers and see where they are at on their electric management and go back to AEP regarding congestion charges.   Motion passed unanimously.

 

  1. Hear monthly report from Economic Development Director Lauren Bush.

 

Lauren Bush presented Mayor Hines and City Council with her respective report for the month of July , 2014.

 

We have about 1200 Visitor’s Brochures in circulation with another 500 in process. Most of my recent days have been busy printing, folding, and delivering to local businesses. I have created a Facebook page for the city.  It is called “Seymour Texas – Do More, See More”  and I have been using it to encourage community participation in local events and advertising the town in general.  It has been a very fast growing page and I see and hear lots of great feedback from it.  I do a Main Event Monday where the week’s events are posted, a SHOP To It Tuesday and I go to a local business and take pictures and feature them on the page, and this Friday we have our second Foodie Friday where all of our restaurants participate with tent cards on tables encouraging patrons to take pictures of their meal/food and share it on social media with hashtags #foodiefriday #seymourtx # the restaurant’s name.  My hope is to increase retail food sales that will help grow the current businesses we have and to encourage new people to open a food establishment.  The average social media post is seen by a minimum of 6 people.  If 100 people participate in this then we are potentially reaching 600 possible patrons.  Retail food is sales taxed so as the restaurant reaps the benefits of more clientele and higher sales, so does the city.  This dynamic also applies to the SHOP To It Tuesday posts.
Large chain restaurants also like these type marketing ideas because, for example, when you eat at Dairy Queen and hashtag it #dairy queen then the possibility of someone in your network in another town will see that and patron their local Dairy Queen. As Foodie Fridays catches on even more, I plan on using it to entice chain food establishments by being able to say that I am actively working to increase their business thru social media. I spoke with Jessica Bruno from KFDX Monday and we may be featured this Friday with a piece about Foodie Friday which is just more positive advertising for our town and the support we show our retailers.

We are to see an influx in employees of the Wind Farm in the next coming months. Many are looking for fully furnished housing and for a shorter time than 6 months.  To inform our renters association about this need, I sent out a newsletter that was very informative and also included how to list their property with Airbnb.com to encourage more tourism over-night stays.  We are at 21 Landlord’s listed offering 62 properties.  We were also very fortunate to have Snyder Steel sponsor our membership cards this quarter.  I give out our listing about 4 to 5 times a week which is really great.  Our average website daily count is about 50.  I have mailed out two possible hotels sites to an interested party.  We are planning to meet in the near future to discuss the issue further.

I have made contact with Valarie Clayton who does photo-collages of towns. Her work is quite impressive and uniquely pertains to the town specifically.  She does not charge commission for her artwork and it is great way to ignite the spark of love for your hometown.  She was able to come in 2 days and take photos around town.  I am very excited about the marketing possibilities as these can be made into postcards and coffee mugs as well as full size prints.

I spoke with Jay Lawrence, co-owner of Lawrence Brothers Grocery Store and our store will change into a Cash Saver store in the next 3 to 6 months. They price everything at cost and then add a small percentage to the total of your sale at check out.  They said they have seen lots of growth and excitement with this new store.

Soon I will begin on New Move-In Packets for those new to the community. These packets will feature information provided by local businesses about what they offer and where they are located.  This is to help prevent the “driving to Wichita” for everything gap.  My goal is to make Seymour retailers in the fore front of new community members’ minds so they become more accustomed to shopping locally than driving out of town.  This too should encourage more retailers as people see the efforts we are making to help grow their business.

I also provided John with about 25 signatures for the TDA Sidewalk Grant this past week. It was a great opportunity to go out into the community and speak with lots of people about the potential they see in Seymour and hear their ideas on how to attain that.

 

 

  1. Discuss, consider and seek direction on Ordinance presented by Sid Winn, authorizing the assessment and collection of fees for certain services provided by the Seymour Volunteer Fire Department at vehicle fires, vehicle collisions, hazardous material spills, rescue incidents, Wildland Fires, structural fires and rescue incidents.

 

Mr. Sid Winn thanked the Mayor and City Council for allowing him to speak and explain the ordinance before them.

The Seymour Volunteer Fire Department services all of Baylor County and the City of Seymour. We have 20 Volunteer firemen that service our county and our city.

 

Mr. Winn went on to say is that what we have found is that it is becoming increasingly more costly to operate our county and city fire department. The city takes care of a lot of the funding for the SVFD and the county does as well, and we are very appreciate of the funding we receive from those entities.

 

The ordinance that you have before you gives us an opportunity to seek reimbursement from expenses and cost incurred from vehicle fires and also structure fires.

 

There are instances where the firemen spend up to four hours at a scene, again that is all volunteer time, and no compensation is received for the volunteer fire fighters.

 

This ordinance we are asking you to approve this evening allows us to re-coop some of the cost. None of the monies that is perceived will go to the firefighters. The funds would be given back to the City of Seymour and County of Baylor to continue their fire fighting services.

 

The ordinance also has a clause in Section 3 that states that no fees would be assessed to residents of the City of Seymour in connection with vehicle collision or fire, except in which a residence has been convicted of an offense that constitutes a class B misdemeanor, caused or resulted in the collision of a fire. That protects our local citizen’s from being assessed with a fee.

 

After having this explained in full detail, Mayor made a motion to entertain.

 

Motion made by MPT Billy Henricks, seconded by Council member David Horton to all Mr. Winn to proceed with this ordinance in our August Council Meeting. Please note that this ordinance required a first and second reading.   Motion passed by 3 ayes and 2 abstained from voting as Council members Glass and Hons are SVFD Fireman.

 

  1. Discuss, consider and take action regarding information received from SVFD President Sid Winn, in regards to proposed changes relating to Local Retirement Contributions, Section 310.6.

 

Mr. Winn explained the information before Mayor Hines and City Council regarding their local retirement contributions by saying that the city and county have graciously supported the SVFD since 1978 and have contributed to this emergency services fund.

 

When it was created in 1978, it was the only avenue that volunteers received any type of compensation for their services. Back in 2002 the SVFD saw its first raise from the city and the county. At that point the city and the county were contributing $12.00 ( $6.00 from each entity ) into the fund.

 

The city and the county are supporting the fund at $36.00 per month per fire fighter. That rate has not increased since September 2011.

 

The System has liabilities that it cannot pay, due to losses that occurred in 2008 and previous plan benefits that were too rich when compared to member contributions at that time. In order to offset cost the SVFD is asking the council to consider contributing a rate increase to $42.00 per month, per fire fighter, effective September 1, 2015.

 

Motion made by Councilmember Jon Hrnciriks, seconded by Councilmember David Horton to approve the $42.00 increase to the SVFD, effective September 1, 2015. Motion passed by 3 ayes and 2 abstained from voting.

 

  1. Discuss, consider and give City Administrator John Studer direction regarding city property located at 707 N. Tackitt.

 

Councilmember Jon Hrncirik made a motion to give City Administrator John Studer direction regarding property at 707 N. Tackitt Street and go out for bids. Motion seconded by Councilmember David Horton.  Motion passed unanimously.

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Adjournment made by MPT Billy Henricks, seconded by Councilmember Les Hons to adjourn council meeting at 8:40 p.m.

 

 

PASSED AND APPROVED ON THIS THE 21ST DAY OF AUGUST, 2014.

 

 

TOBY HINES, MAYOR

 

 

ATTEST:

 

CONCHITA TORREZ, CITY SECRETARY- TRMC