The City Council met in regular session on Tuesday night, September 6, where they discussed a number of items on the agenda. The regular meeting had been moved to Tuesday because of the Labor Day holiday.
During the visitors’ portion of the meeting Bill Trice was in attendance requesting the Council looking into adding some dirt in a drainage ditch just south of his residence on Avenue C. Trice informed the Council he had two large storage units close to the ditch which had been added during the summer to help divert rain water. He added with each rain the dirt was eroding and he was concerned eventually it would affect the buildings.
Public Works Director Dave Tedford noted the City had put in a concrete ditch just south of the Trice home to help move the water faster off of Avenue C and the Stuffy Moorhead Park into a ditch on the corner of North Avenue B and 15th street. This area also had two water pumps that moves the water to still another area. Even though Trice said the water was moving much better since the installation of the new ditch dirt was still being washed away.
Trice informed the Council he would put rain gutters on the buildings to direct the water away from the affected area to help with the eroding. Mayor Tommy Hicks assured Trice the City would look into the problem and work with Trice to help solve the issues.
During the announcement portion Chief of Police Jack Miller introduced to the Council his new officer, James Decker. Miller gave the Council a background of Decker and said he was pleased to have him as a new officer. Decker, a Plains native, is a recent graduate of South Plains Police Academy and started work with Denver City on July 28.
“We are pleased to have you, welcome to Denver City and to the Police force,” Mayor Hicks said.
Also during the announcements City Manager Stan David noted that concrete work will start soon on the intersection of Broadway and Main Street to help repair that area. It is estimated the work will take about 3 weeks to complete.
The Council also had another Public Hearing concerning the 2016-2017 budget. City Manager Stan David highlighted several key points in the proposed budget in his prepared statement. The new budget will be effective from October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017.
The budget will cover both revenues and expenditures for the General Fund, Water Fund, Sanitation Fund, and Gas Fund which will have a projected total revenue and expenditures of $6,069,501, up from the $5,671,882 budgeted in 2015-2016. This new figure includes transfers from reserves in both the General and Sanitation Funds to help with projects in those two departments.
David went on to say taxable values for this year had decreased by almost 22.5% from last year’s figures. The budget was put together based on an 89.9 cents ($0.899) per one hundred-dollar valuation, a rate that is 4.9% lower than the effective tax rate, but is a 22.7% increase tax rate from last year.
Part of the budget will include a shared expense with Yoakum County for the abatement and demolition of the old Civic Center building, which will be done some time during the next year.
“Even though we are still in a challenging time with our economy it’s still the people that makes Denver City a great place to live and raise a family,” David said.
The Council is expected to approve the new budget and the tax rate of $0.899 during their meeting on September 19.
Moving on to the regular agenda Economic Development Corporation Director David Mitchell presented the EDC budget for the Council to approve. The EDC 2016-2017 projected budged shows a total income of $196,400 and total expenses of $163,810. For the purpose of comparison, the 2015-2016 total income was $216,000 and total expenses were $170,650.
The projected State Sales Tax check will account for $192,000 of the revenue with the remainder coming from CD and DDA interest.
David did tell the Council he was the only full time employee for the EDC but there is also some contract labor as needed.
The Council unanimously approved the new proposed EDC budget.
David was also requesting approval for the construction of a new fence around parts of the walking trail located on highway 214 and 8th Street. David said the cost of the new fence will be $17,084. When the EDC has an anticipated expense of over $10,000 the Council must approve the additional expense.
A Plus Fence of Lubbock will be doing the work, which will start in about three weeks. The fence will be along the east side of the walking trail and a small portion of the south side close to the entrance. The Council unanimously approved his request.
And in his last request David was asking permission to install a 60-inch TV in the Council chambers to be used for presentations from laptops or other media devices. He said the total expense on this item will be approximately $1,500. The Council thanked him and the EDC for adding the media device.
Moving on in the agenda the Council also spent a considerable amount of time discussing parking restrictions along Mustang Avenue. New striping had been done on Mustang which included a turn lane that extended all the way from Broadway to just past The Dag. It was discussed eliminating the extra wide turn lane up to possibly 3rd Street and leaving these turn lanes the rest of the way to The Dag. But the main issue at hand was the parking restrictions and where they would be placed. After hashing out several items it was decided to table it until the next meeting so David could check into different aspects of the proposed project.
A new application for FY2017 Routine Airport Maintenance Program Grant was also discussed. David said this is an annual renewal for the local airport with TxDOT. The Council unanimously approved a $10,000 matching grant between Denver City and the State equally sharing $5,000 for any airport maintenance needed for the year.
And in their last item the Council discussed a slight increase in utility rates and utility billing schedule changes. They are expected to include these items in their next agenda.
After going into Executive session the Council reconvened to approve the paying of the bills that totaled $89,898.09.
Councilmembers Joan Breith, Ronald Weir, Robert Hanneman, Clinton Bowman, Mark Sherman, and Keith Mensch along with Mayor Tommy Hicks were all present.
The next meeting will be held on September 19 at 7 pm in the Council Chambers.
