|
Mayor Danny Owen warned those attending
the most recent meeting of the City Council to expect a lengthy
meeting and apologized in advance.
All active members of the Council were
present, including Howard Gifford, Norma Locke, Johnnye Howell, and
Avery Carlisle. The City’s attorney, Lois Rockefeller, and consulting
engineer Scott Hay were also involved in the meeting. Police Chief
Ralph Dickey was on hand to represent the Police Department and to
maintain law and order.
There were no citizen presentations.
The first order of business involved the
filling of a vacancy on the Council in Place 5 created when John
Holdridge resigned because of his moving out of the city.
Mayor Owen stated his recommendation that
former Council member Gayle Stroud be appointed to fill the vacancy.
He noted that he had asked Stroud if she would serve the balance of
the term, which ends in May, and that she had said she would.
Norma Locke made the motion to appoint
Stroud to the vacancy, and then added that she wanted Stroud to run
for re-election. Avery Carlisle seconded and the vote in favor was
unanimous.
Stroud was immediately sworn-in and took
her new place at the Council table.
Following the approval of the minutes of
the previous Council meeting, Mayor Owen called the council into
executive session to discuss and consider park issues with the
engineer and city attorney.
A closed executive session of almost one
hour in length then followed as everyone else filed out of the Council
chamber and waited outside.
Following the resumption of open session,
Howard Gifford made a motion, “to authorize Scott Hay to continue
moving forward with the contract and working with the contractor on
the park.” Avery Carlisle seconded and the unanimous vote in favor was
taken without discussion.
The next item on the agenda was a request
to use the City Hall auditorium on April 14 by D.W. and Elizabeth
Berry of Comanche. The proposed event was described as a birthday
party, dinner and dance.
Neither of the Berrys were present at the
meeting. City Secretary Karen Wilkerson said she did not know much
about the application since it was received while she was out of town.
She said she thought it basically involved the senior citizens group
that regularly holds dances at the City Hall and added that they hoped
they would not have to hire police to provide security.
Mayor Owen suggested that no action
should be taken since the requesting party was not present, and the
matter was tabled.
The next item involved a request by
Osbaldo Arzate to allow irrigation from the city sewer plant.
Engineer Scott Hay was asked to provide
information regarding the request and the sewer plant in general.
Hay noted that the city’s sewer plant has
long had a problem in meeting state standards, and added that it had
outlived its normal useful life. He said that the plant has had
various types of discharge permit compliance issues dating back to
1988.
Hay noted that he and his associate,
David Todd, who has been more involved with the wastewater treatment
plant, both now agree that a comprehensive study of the various
alternatives available to the city for remediating the non-compliance
issues is now needed.
Hay stated, “In reality, it (the sewer
plant) is past its design life. It’s demonstrating on a weekly basis
that it can’t continue to produce the treated effluent sufficient to
pass your current permit, to meet all of the conditions of your
current permit.”
He noted that the report would detail all
of the available options and their cost, adding that irrigation would
be one possible option. He added that for irrigation to be possible,
that the state would require that sufficient land space and crops
grown must be available to take the effluent without runoff and that
the irrigation system must be under the control of the city, rather
than the landowner(s) involved.
Hay noted that coastal bermuda grass
would be an ideal crop, because it could handle the sodium content
typical in urban effluent and still thrive. He added that the hay must
be cut three times a year or continuously grazed to demonstrate that
the nutrients are being taken up and not accumulated in the soil.
Hay asked Arzate how much land he had available for irrigation and was
told about 40 acres. Hay then said that although he had not yet done
the calculations, that he estimated that probably twice that amount of
land would be necessary because of the extreme conditions that must be
met to satisfy the state’s standards.
Hay said that the report would also
recommend funding alternatives for the favored option. He commented,
“I think we’re past the point of band-aiding the problem, and we’ve
been doing that for almost 20 years now.”
Hay later stated, “The bottom line is
that the facility can no longer meet your permit on a regular basis
and keep you out of trouble. The TCEQ (Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality) has already identified that. That’s the letter
I am referring to that we just got, that you’ve been written up for
non-compliance. So where they are with proceeding with that right now
is to take you in to enforcement. And, at that point, they start
dictating the schedule, and what’s done, and you lose a lot of
options.”
Hay continued, “We think a more proactive
approach would be for the city to finally realize that you’re going to
have to address the problem in a broader perspective and do a proper
evaluation of that and an engineering study, one that would be of
value to you, that you could go forward to a funding agency. Any
funding agency that you are going to try to get money to solve the
problem is going to require you to have an engineering report to set
out the problems and cost them and so that you can make an informed
decision on that.”
Hay then stated his recommendation.
“That’s where we think you should go.” He then recommended against the
city signing a proposal his firm had provided back in November to
investigate only an irrigation proposal.
Hay said he thought it was great that the
city had a citizen (Arzate) who was willing to take the treated water
and use it in a beneficial manner. He noted that the present
wastewater treatment plant is essentially out of room for pond
expansion and landlocked.
Hay said that a mechanical wastewater
treatment plant could be placed on the existing site and that it would
produce a treated water on a consistent basis that would keep the city
out of trouble and could still be used for irrigation, or be applied
to any use. He noted that the discharge from such a plant would
produce water that was cleaner than was already in the typical creek.
In response to an audience question, Hay
said that a mechanical treatment plant would likely also yield
benefits in less odors produced, which was important because of the
proximity of the new city park.
Hay estimated that the estimated cost of
the recommended study would be around $15,000, and that that cost
would be eligible for reimbursement under grant and loan funding. He
said it would take three or four months to complete.
Hay added that if the city was working on
the engineering study, it would be less likely to suffer punitive
action by the TCEQ.
Various funding alternatives are
available, Hay stated. He said that the USDA’s Rural Development
agency would probably be the most favorable because they sometimes are
able to provide a portion of non-loan grant funds in addition to low
interest rate loan funds. USDA also allows a longer payback period
than other funding sources.
Howard Gifford and Danny Owen asked
numerous questions on the wastewater treatment situation and options.
Howard Gifford then offered a motion to
authorize the Hibbs & Todd engineering firm, where Hay is employed, to
go forward with an engineering study of the city’s wastewater
treatment situation and to make their recommendations to the Council.
Norma Locke seconded and the vote of approval was unanimous.
After that vote, Mayor Danny Owen then
called the Council into a second executive session, this time to
discuss and consider disciplinary action against Police Officer
Waverly Inman, who was recently arrested by the Comanche Sheriff’s
Office and charged with Assault Causes Injury, Family Member.
At the conclusion of the second executive
session, this one lasting over 40 minutes, Mayor Owen asked the
Council if they wished to take any action regarding Officer Inman.
More than one Council member stated “no action.”
In response to a question from the
reporter as to whether Inman remained on the police force, Owen stated
that he remained on suspension, while the investigation regarding the
arrest incident continues.
Following the routine approval of the
February tax statement, the Council moved to consideration of the
required 2006 Racial Profiling Report as prepared by the DeLeon Police
Department.
Mayor Owen asked Police Chief Ralph
Dickey if the city was okay on racial profiling. Dickey stated his
opinion that no profiling problem exists in DeLeon.
The report listed a total of 384 cases
filed in city court with 312 involving caucasians, 12 africans, 50
hispanics and 10 other or unknown. There were considerably more males
involved than females in each category. Arrests included four
Caucasians, two Africans and five Hispanics.
The Council next approved continued
participation with a steering committee made up of representatives
from cities served by TXU Energy Delivery. The cost was $243.30.
Changes to the city’s group medical
insurance plan was the next matter considered. City Secretary Karen
Wilkerson noted that federal regulations now required the city to
offer maternity coverage for its employees, despite the fact that it
wasn’t wanted by the affected employees.
Howard Gifford expressed considerable
displeasure over the increase, noting that he had asked for and
received assurances that there would be no medical insurance cost
increase.
Gifford was assured by Wilkerson that the
city had no other choice. She added that the large majority of those
covered were men, and that none of the women employees desired
maternity coverage, yet regulations required it to be provided.
The additional cost would be $19.86 per
employee per month, totalling over $4,000. The cost for group medical
coverage per city employee would increase from $386.09 to $405.95.
Wilkerson said that even though the city
had no choice in taking the additional coverage, she did not have the
authority to agree to it and requested Council approval. Gayle Stroud
offered a motion to approve, Avery Carlisle seconded, and the vote of
approval was unanimous.
Public Works Manager Rob Duncan stated
that he was certainly glad that he now had maternity coverage.
The new city park was the next matter on
the agenda. It was noted that the concrete work would soon begin at
the tractor pull arena with an April 1 start date projected.
Howard Gifford and Danny Owen both wanted
the matter clarified that the DeLeon Boy Scouts had not declined to
work on setting up the playground equipment, but did not have access
to equipment needed to dig the pier holes and set the concrete for the
playground equipment footings.
Danny Owen blamed himself for what he
termed as a “failure in communication” regarding the Boy Scout’s
concerns. He added that he really felt bad about the matter. It was
later noted that the Scouts remain interested in helping the city and
may get involved in setting up benches and picnic tables. It was also
noted that the Masonic Lodge members would be installing the
playground equipment.
Owen noted that city workers had been
moving a lot of dirt around the amphitheater dance floor in
preparation for the installation of fencing.
Rob Duncan said that work on the RV
parking area was almost complete, and that more moisture was needed to
complete the grading and gravel application.
In response to a question regarding the
location of the 2007 Peach & Melon Festival and if it would be at the
new park, Mayor Owen said, “We’re sure trying.”
Karen Wilkerson added, “We’re hoping.”
Others chimed similar responses.
Danny Owen added, “We’re waiting for one
to complete one, so we can do another. But, we’re still making
headway. Our intention is to have it there.”
It was noted that July 15 was the end of
the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s four year grant compliance
timeframe.
The next agenda item concerned staff
reports among various city officials and administrators.
Engineer Scott Hay was again invited to
address the Council. He noted that the City had received a letter from
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that same day concerning
the writeup the City had received on its water system. “They did write
you up,” he noted.
Hay said that there were two issues that
had been dealt with for quite some time that were becoming very
important. One pertained to the water system’s pumping capacity not
meeting the state’s standard of two gallons per minute per connection
or 1,000 gallons per minute, whichever is less. The second violation
involved the city’s failure to have 200 gallons of water storage
capacity per connection.
Hay said that when the city took its
ground storage tank out of service several years earlier, it caused
both violations. He said, “Both of those criteria can be rectified
with putting the ground storage tank back in service. There’s a number
of reasons that I know of, maybe there’s more, why it was taken out of
service.
Number one is primarily is that the
coating on the interior of the tank was deteriorating to where it
wasn’t adequate to hold water any more. The exterior might be in
better shape. But the interior appears to have a lead (based paint)
coating on it. We haven’t tested it, but the color of it, and the way
it appears, appears to be a lead based paint, which is no longer
acceptable in a water storage facility. And, also, the two high
service pumps that you did have up there were both quite small. They
didn’t meet the total service pumping capacity of two gallons per
connection. Since the tank was taken out of service, they weren’t ever
repaired or upsized like they should have been.”
Hay noted that they were working with the
Upper Leon River Municipal Water District to hopefully get to take
some credit for their recently increased water storage capacity,
although he expressed uncertainty whether that would be permitted.
Hay then stated, “Probably what’s going
to have to happen to get you out of trouble with this, is to put the
ground storage tank back in service. To do that, the lead paint is
going to have to be blasted off the inside of it, down to bare metal,
and recoating it with an appropriate coating. Inside that tank, we’re
going to have to put some service pumps in, at least two, to meet the
pumping capacity.”
Hay continued his presentation noting
that the city would have to begin taking water into the ground storage
tank, rather than receiving water directly into the elevated storage
tank as at present, in order to keep the disinfectant residual in the
groundwater tank up to standards.
Hay noted that the city had a pretty
short fuse on the water standards violation notice, with a response
listing planned corrective action mandated by March 15. He stated his
recommendation that a letter be prepared to the TCEQ advising them of
the city’s plans to put the groundwater storage tank back into service
and add pumping capacity.
Howard Gifford asked how urgent the water
matter was than the wastewater situation and Hay responded that the
water situation was probably a little more urgent.
Hay discussed with Council members
various means of funding the water system improvements and reasons why
other water system alternatives would not accomplish the required
objectives.
Hay said that the city’s first course of
action should be to seek some credit for additional water storage
capacity recently installed at the Upper Leon River Municipal Water
District. He said that dialogue should begin almost immediately.
If that was not allowed, the cost of
refurbishing the ground storage tank and adding additional pumping
capacity would be around $85-100,000. He assured the Council that that
would be the lowest cost remaining option.
Hay said the Water Development Board
could provide almost immediate loan funds at 5-6% interest over 20
years. He noted that his firm could have bid documents on the street
in as little as two weeks if needed.
Rob Duncan noted that the increased cost
per month per water customer would not be that significant, perhaps
around one or two dollars per month.
Mayor Owen offered his opinion that the
city should pursue Hay’s recommendations.
In other matters, Mayor Owen noted that
the city had recently been experimenting with applying reflective tape
to various paved city streets.
County Emergency Services Coordinator Ray
Helberg noted that the area was in extreme fire danger and that rain
needed to be put on the prayer list. Owen responded, “It’s there.”
Councilman Howard Gifford requested City
Secretary Karen Wilkerson to investigate alternative and lower cost
sources of electrical power. She indicated that she would check into
the matter.
After a brief discussion of various items
in accounts payable and approval of payrolls, the Council meeting was
adjourned at 9:10 p.m. |
