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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-04-13 Special Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS AGENDA Special City Council Meeting Tuesday, April 13, 1976 at 7:30 P.M. Council Chambers - 413 Main Street - I. CALL TO ORDER II. INVOCATION: Councilman Doil Dalton III. CITIZENS REQUEST AND/OR MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS & DISCUSSIONS IV. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES (March 16, 23, and 24) V. OLD BUSINESS A. City Council to consider a resolution to revise the Salary Classification Plan of city employees. B. City Council to consider an agreement authorizing the Grapevine Little League Association to operate the concession stand at Oak Grove Park baseball field. City Council to also consider summer recreational activities. C. City Council to consider a Resolution by the Mayor' s Council to establish a county wide Utility Rate Study Committee. D. City Council to consider a Resolution by the Mayor ' s Council to continue the Revenue Sharing Program. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. City Council to designate an official voting representative to North Central Texas Council of Governments for 1976-77. B. City Council to consider the resignation of David Florence from the Planning & Zoning Commis s ion. VII. ADJOURNMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 6252-17, V.A.T.C.S. , AS AMENDED BY CHAPTER 227, ACTS OF THE 61ST LEGISLATURE, REGULAR SESSION, THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA I WAS PREPARED AND POSTED ON THIS THE 9TH DAY OF APRIL, . 1976, at 1:30 P.M. CIT SEC AR , STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF TARRANT � CITY OF GRAPEVINE , The City Council of the City of Grapevine, Texas convened in special session at 8:00 P.M. on this the 13th day of April, 1976 with the following members present to-wit: William D. Tate Mayor � Doil Dalton Mayor Pro-tem Thelma Conine Councilwoman Charles Dunn Councilman David Florence Councilman Larry Oliver Councilman � Willis Pirkle Councilman � constituting a �uorum with, � Jim Hancock Assistant City Manager Shirley Armstrong City Secretary � John Boyle City Attorney � with Floy Ezell, City Manager absent. 1 Mayor Tate called the meeting to order. The Invocation was given by Councilman Dalton. � The first order of business was to consider the minutes of j the March 16, 23, and 24 meetings. Councilman Dunn made � a motion to approve the minutes as published. The motion � ;� was seconded by Councilman Pirkle and prevailed by the following vote: Ayes : Tate, Dalton, Conine, Dunn, Florence, Oliver, & Pirkle Nays : None The next order of business was for the City Counc il to consider a resolution to revise the Salary Classification Plan of City employees. The Assistant City Manager explained that the Personnel Committee, Personnel Director, and the City Manager had compiled the proposed plan and were submitting it at this time for the Council ' s consideration. He then asked Personnel Director, Kenneth Pritt, to explain the provisions of the revised plan. Mr. Pritt began by s�ating that all City personnel and their classifications were shown on the schedules with the exception of City Manager and Assistant City Manager who are considered unclassified personnel as established by the City Council. He further commented that meetings were held with each depart� � ment head to discuss recommendations for individual employees. � He explained that class "B" was composed of department heads � and class "A" was the remainder of the city employees. He further acknowledged that an attempt had been made to classify employees with similar job responsibilittes within the same grade. The Personnel Director acknowledged one major difference was that the person previously nemed Parks and Recreation Director was now called Director of Community Services. He explained that the reason for the change was that in the near future j this person would be overseeing many activities pertaining to � senior citizens. He explained that if the plan is approved, I I , all departments will be under the budget with the exception of the Fire Department. Mr. Pritt further acknowledged that the reason for that deficit was that the committee had strived to place the firemen on an equal basis with the police patrolmen. He commented that a recent survey revealed that the majority of the surrounding cities placed their firemen on the same scale as their patrolmen. Mr. Pritt acknowledged that that deficit could be made up by amending the budget after nine months and placing unused personnel service funds from other deparihments into the Fire Department. He stated that he and the committee felt that as an employee completed certification � plans, college courses, etc. , that he should be compensated for that experience and effort. An attempt of this tygg should keep other cities from taking specialty employees after Grapevine had aided them in gaining additional knowledge. Councilman Dunn, Chairman of the Personnel Committee, ex- plained that in revising the Salary Classification Plan, emphasis was placed more on job quality rather than longivity when raises were considered. He further explained that prior ta the revision an extensive survey was made to compare salaries of our employees with those insaurrounding cities . He commented that the main priority of the committee at this time was to make some adjustments within our own city to take care of obvious inequities. He further stated that using the survey as a basis, the committee felt like the changes would make Grape- vine salaries comperable and would allow us to compete for personnel. Councilman Dalton stated that the survey shawed that Grape- vine was pretty well in line and commented that many of our starting salaries werernot as high as other cities, but that potential top salaries tended to exceed others. Councilman Dunn acknowled�ed that the Personnel Committee unanimously recommended adoption of the plan. The City Secretary then read the proposed resolution. Council- man Dalton made a motion to accept the recommendation of the Personnel Committee and adopt the resolution to approve the revised Salary Classification Plan. Councilman Oliver seconded the motion and the motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes : Tate, Conine, Dalton, Dunn, Florence, Oliver, & Pirkle Nays : None RESOLUTION NO. 76-11 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING, THE NEW SALARY CLASSIFICATION PLAN TO BECOME EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 1976. Councilman Dalton expressed his appreciation to members of the City Staff and Persnnnel Committee for many long hours of hard work. Councilman Dunn stated that he would like to thank former Councilman Murphy and Councilwoman Conine for their assistance as committee members. Mayor Tate commented that obviously a Salary Classification Plan is a very complicated procedure and extended his comple- ments to all involved. The next order of business was for the City Council to con- sider an agreement authorizing the Grapevine Little League Association to operate the concession stand at Oak Grove Park baseball field. The Assistant City Manager gave a brief history by stating that there was a new concession stand at the Oak Grove Park and that the Grapevine Little League Association has requested permission to operate it from May 1 to July 15. He further stated that the Park Board and the Park and Recreation Department have reviewed the request and � recommend that it be granted. Acting Parks and Recreation Director, Bob Hart, briefly explained the terms of the agreement as follows: l. The Grapevine Little League Association may operate the concession stand beginning May l, 1976 thru July 15, 1976. � 2. The City of Grapevine will receive $2.50 per game day from the Grapevine Little League Association as a rental fee. 3. During City softball tournaments the Grape- vine Little League Association will operate the concession stand and the City of Grape- vine will receive 10% of the gross receipts. 4. There will be a 10% charge made by the Little League Association when the concession is operated by Civic Organizations for civic events. Of the 10/, the City will receive 3/ and the Grapevine Little League Association will retain 7%. 5. The Little League Association may operate the concession stand for organizations not related , at all to the City and retain 100% of total gross sales, subject to City approval. � 6. The Grapevine Little League Association will be responsible for maintenance of the concession stand and will incur all expenses involved ' therein. Mayor Tate asked if the City Staff recommended approval of such an agreement. The Assistant City Manager answered yes. City Attorney John Boyle stated that it was his recommendation that the agreement be in the form of a letter signed by the City Manager and the Li��le League representative. He further recommended that clarif�cation be made of an independent or- ganization that was sponsored outside the city as opposed to an organized�����sored by the city. � Councilman Dunn asked if this aagreement would cover the City' s expenses involved in putting on tournaments. Mr. Hart ex- plained that an entry fee of $45.00 was charged that adequately covered the City' s expenses. � Councilman Pirkle made a motion to allow the City Staff to enter into an agreement with the Little League Association for operation of the Oak Grove Park baseball field concession stand. The motion was seconded by Councilman Dunn and prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: All Nays: None Acting Parks and Recreation Director, Bob Hart, continued �y briefly explaining plans for summer activities. He stated that plans contained such events as men' s softball, Little League baseball, girls softball, two softball tourna- ments, a track meet, swimming, tennis, and July 4th activities in conjunction with the Bi-Centennial Committee. There was little discussion. Mayor Tate stated that the program ap- peared to be excellent and he was pleased that the Parks and Recreation Department was able to provide some a��itional programs for our citizens this summer. The next order of business was for the City Council to consider a resolution by the Mayor' s Council to establish a county wide Utility Rate Study Committee. The Assistant City Manager gave a brief history by stating that the proposed resolution was prepared by the Mayor ' s Council of Tarrant County. The Mayor' s Council suggested that the resolution be acted upon by each member City Council. The Assistant City Manager then read the proposed resolution. The City Attorney stated that under the Texas Utility Commission' s Bill one of the new aspects is that the City acting as the rate making body does have the direct statutory authority to charge the cost of the investigation in evaluation of a rate increase to the utility. He further stated that he was not sure as to whether the Tarrant County Utility Study Committee would have that same ability. Mayor Tate stated that the effort is to try to coordinate rate studies. He further commented that concerning the legal question, it is the understanding that the utility companies would cooperate in that they would rather pay for one study instead of several studies made by individual cities. The Mayor further stated that it was his understanding that the garticipation is not binding and that we could withdraw if we felt like the joint participation was not effective or if we felt like it was not in the best interest of the city. He continued by saying that an effort was being made to afford more experienced people and to share the cost of obtaining such information. The Mayor acknowledged that the City would not be giving up any control, the resolution is not binding, but is simply another source of information. Councilman Dunn asked Mayor Tate if the Committee would be composed of Mayors. Mayor Tate answered that the Tarrant Couty Planning Department is going to make some recommendations, and the Mayors will vote on that at a later date. £ �: Councilman Dalton stated that he felt it was a very good idea and that he believed we needed to join together in situations such as this because many times we feel that we are somewhat at the mercy of utility companies. The City Attorney commented that when the rate increase requests are filed, the Council would have to make some initial deter- mination as to whether to go with the committee, decide who is going to fund it, as w�ll as consider the separated data question The City Attorney further commented that it was not necessary to pass the proposed resolution. He then recommended that Grapevine could pass their own resolution that essentially says that we agree to become a member of the Tarrant County Utility Rate Study Committee and that we reserve the right to withdraw at any time. Mayor Tate commented that he did not feel the Council would be authorizing an expenditure of any City funds in adopting the resolution at this time. He further stated that i�rraas his recommendation to go ahead and adopt the proposed resolution. Councilman Dalton made a motmon to allow the City Staff to draft a resolution, taking into consideration the previous discussion, and that the Council agree to join and become a member of the Tarrant County Utility Rate Study Committee. The motion was seconded by Councilman Pirkle and prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Tate, Conine, Florence, Oliver, Dalton, Pirkle, and Dunn Nays: None RESOLUTION NO. 76-12 A RESOLUTION DECLARING THE INTENT OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE TO JOIN WITH OTHER CITIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING A COUNTY- WIDE UTILITY RATE STUDY COMMITTEE. The next order of business was for the City Council to consider a resolution by the Mayor' s Council to continue the Revenue Sharing Program. � The Assistant City Manager read the proposed resolution and stated that it was his belief that the Mayor' s Council was asking each member city to pass a similar resolution. Mayor Tate commented that the Secretary of State had provided the statistical date of each city in the state showing what effect the eli.mination of the Revenue Sharing Program would have on a tax base. �e acknowledged that there was an 11/0 factor for the City of Grapevine. Councilman Oliver made a motion to adopt the resolution. Councilwoman Conine seconded the motion and the motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes : Tate, Conine, Florence, Oliver, Dalton, Dunn, & Pirkle Nays: None RESOLUTION NO. 76-13 A RESOLUTION DECLARING THE INTENT OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE TO JOIN WITH THE MAYOR' S ! COUNCIL OF TARRANT COUNTY FOR THE PURPOSE � OF ENCOURAGING CONTINUATION OF THE REVENUE SHARING PROGRAM. Mayor Tate then stated that he was not in complete agreement with the Council of Mayors program. He further commented that the Council of Mayors was originally set up to administer the Community Development Program. He continued by saying that it ars broadening out into other areas. He stated that he felt it served a good purpose in allowing the various mayors of the county to discuss problems that they might be having in their respective cities. He acknowledged that they meet on a somewhat regular basis and that there appears to be an attempt to broaden the scope and responsibility of the Mayor' s Council. He stated that he was not in complete agreement on that because it takes away �art of the opportunity of the individual councils to be briefed and to be responsive to the various problems. He further stated that we needed to be very cautious in the future to make sure that we do not delegate too much of the responsibility of the Council and loose � the opportunity to have people present to hear discussions. - He stated that the Mayor' s Council serves a good purpose in some respects, but that we want to be very cautious to make sure that the efforts of the county do not weaken the efforts of the City. Councilman Dalton stated that the City of Grapevine has benefited well because of Mayor Tates ' participation in the Mayars Counc�l. Mayor Tate acknowledged that the City of Grapevine had been appropriated $��,000 for a senior citizen' s facility. He stated that additional requests will probably be made next year for additional equipment. He further acknowledged that Grapevine had received a $125,000 grant on the multi-city water project this year. Councilman Dalton stated that we were very fortunate to have people interested in the North East protion of Tarrant County and the City of Grapevine. Members of the Mayor' s Council are particularly interested in people who are working very hard, like Mayor Tate, and they have been very receptive to his ideas and his thinking. The next order of business was for the City Council to designate an official voting representative to North Central Texas Council of Governments for 1976-77. The Assistant City Manager stated that our present rep- resentative was Mayor Tate and that he could be listed again or the Council could appoint someone else. Councilman Pirkle asked if Mayor Tate would serve again. The Mayor answered that he would but that he had no ob- jections to allowing other members of the Council to serve. Councilman Pirkle made a motion to nominate Mayor Tate. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Canine and pre- vailed by the following vote: Ayes : Conine, Pirkle, Oliver, Dunn, Florence, & Dalton Nays : None Abstain: Mayor Tate The next order of business was for the City Council to consider the resignation of David Floren.ce from the ��: Planning and Zoning Commission. ; The City Secretary stated that she was in receipt of a letter from Mr. Florence requesting that the Council accept his resignation. She then read the letter to the Mayor and Council. Councilman Dunn made a motian to accept the resignation of David Florence from the Planning & Zoning Commission. The �otion was seconded by Councilwoman Conine and pre- vailed by the following vote: Ayes: Tate, Conine, Oliver, Dalton, Dunn & Pirkle Nays: None Abstain: Florence Mayor Tate and Councilman Oliver each made a statement commending Mrs. Robbie Gibbs, librarian, for her work during National Library Week. � Councilman Dalton s�ated that Mr. Florence had served well on the Planning & Zoning Commission b�t that he was welcomed as a new member of the City Council. There being no further business, Councilman Oliver made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Councilman Pirkle and all present voted aye: The meeting adjourned at 9:17 P.M. i ��'`� `--.. `. � �:�F� _�--,� � Mayor � � ATTEST: � � . 3 ^ � City Secr ar ; 1 1