The “lights went out” on the downtown trestle bridge earlier this year due to vandalism and then by nearby lightning strikes.
But they’ll be back on for the fall events after council approved spending $7,380, or $410 per bulb, to replace damaged bulbs. Council previously approved $900 on repairs which has not been utilized yet. Ward 3 Alderman April Taylor Johnson moved to make the repair and Ward 1 Alderman Hollis Shadden seconded.
Longview Lights was able to get the controller boards replaced under warranty at a savings of $2,200.
City insurance currently does not cover the bridge, but City Secretary Melissa Boyd said it could be reviewed. There is liability insurance on the bridge but not property.
Jefferson Police Department Chief Tino Perez installed a camera monitoring the bridge to prevent future vandalism.
Council also chose to keep the property tax rate the same as last year of $0.45 per $100 valuation. This will generate an additional $7,096 in revenue.
They established a public hearing for the 2022-23 budget at 6 p.m. September 19 and 2022 tax rate at 5:15p September 20, at the Transportation Center.
Council continued in a workshop discussion on the 2022-23 proposed budget following the regular meeting.
Calculating in all the requested changes to the budget, the City would be short potentially $42,125. However, Mayor Rob Baker indicated now is when the tough part begins of trimming the requests to meet the projected income. Baker projects the City income of $4,019,887.
A Planning and Zoning Commission ordinance was approved establishing the group which will be made up of seven members, each appointed to a 2-year term coinciding with the respective appointing Alderman.
Mayor Rob Baker said he hopes to make appointments and form the commission in the next couple of months.
Boyd will be getting some help at City Hall as Council approved hiring Kimberly Henderson as an Administrative Assistant. Henderson has 23 years experience as a City Clerk and a number of years as a City Secretary so she brings additional knowledge of governmental operations to the office.
Ward 3 Alderman Robin Moore requested council discuss the hiring and specify Henderson’s qualifications prior to hiring. “I’d like to know exactly what her qualifications are,” said Moore.
Boyd outlined the experience and indicated how difficult it is to hire individuals with governmental experience.
Council approved the job description previously and Henderson fits those needs according to Baker and Boyd. Henderson was hired at a rate of $16.35 per hour or $34,000 per year and will start August 22 as well as having the standard 6 month probationary period.
Rayford Truck and Tractor received approval for their bid of $265,230.50 for this years street resurfacing project. Anchor Contracting LLC offered a bid of 343,665.50. The budget for the project was $280,000.
Moore asked for a “clearer” version of the streets that will be being redone and Baker said he would get her one.
George Otstott provided Council with a quarterly update on the activities of NETMWD.
“We’re In a drought level 3 or in the next to worst possible level,” said Otstott. “But in spite of that have a very healthy water supply in Lake O’the Pines. We own the water between 201-228 ft above sea level. Currently at about 10 inches below maximum So we’re at 90%, while many Texas lakes are at 60%.
“We’re currently flowing 75 million gallons of water per day downriver. We only use 1 billion gallons per year out of the main purification plant to all our customers in the Cypress River Valley, so we’re not even close to being threatened.
“NETMWD will have a new general manager starting October 1. Wayne Owens from San Jacinto Water District will be taking over for Walt Sears who is retiring after 25 years. Wayne has a long history of water district management so he’ll be a great asset to us.
Otstott provided some statistics on the amount of water that flows through the river each year. He said there are 208 billion gallons of water that flowed downriver in 2021 and that supplies resources to Caddo Lake and other systems and eco-systems downriver. He again said that as NETMWD only use about 1 billion gallons per year, we’re not in any danger of a shortage.
“Very good shape with water supply,” he said. Otstott is also the county representative on Texas Water District Region D, replacing Dr. Bruce Bradley, and will be the president of NETMWD for the next 2 years
In February Council had requested an update on the city’s “cafeteria insurance plan” prior to establishing a new contract and Ron Fischer was on hand to provide that update. Fischer said cafeteria or flexible benefits plans are offered at no cost to the city, and in fact, save both the city and the employee money.
“You’ve been with us since 1992 and if an employee is paying for additional benefits themselves, it all comes out of their check pre-tax, so it saves them and the city money in taxes,” Fischer said.
Fischer said the city has had some issues with full compliance with the program requirements as not all employees have received the information in the past, but he said he is working with Boyd to get everyone there this year.
Boyd said the plan will be presented to council at the September 20 meeting and packets will go out to employees on September 21. Then the City will hold open enrollment on September 27 and benefits will begin October 15.
Moore asked how many employees and what kinds of options did they choose.
According to Boyd and Fischer, there are approximately 9 of the 19 full time employees taking part in the cafeteria plan. Fischer said most do the whole life options. “The streets department tends to like the accident policy which covers work related injuries not covered by workers compensation while other employees take out critical health issues related plans – like stroke or cancer.
Jeff Soffich addressed the council during public comment asking for assistance or for them to give him an indication about debris cleanup still lingering on his property from the storm five weeks ago. “I’m not asking for my money back,” he said, “but I’d like to know what the plan is on picking up the remaining debris I had to cleanup or if you want me to just push it onto your property that’s near mine.”
Baker asked Public Works Director Allen Whatley to get with him.
St. Paul Methodist Church pastor Ray Walker spoke as well to draw attention to the COVID-19 vaccine and booster clinic the church is holding on Saturday. The church is sponsoring a free vaccination or booster shots from 12-4p Saturday at the church.
Baker notified council of upcoming funding issues with the Hotel Occupancy Tax the city collects. He said it’s been a couple of years since funds were moved from the general fund account over to the HOT account and that he and Boyd were going over the records and Council would be seeing a transfer request in the coming weeks. Baker also said he was working to get the transfer setup as an annual item so the city didn’t get behind again. Funds that have been collected but not used will be transferred to the Tourism Board’s reserve funds account.
Moore provided council with an update on the Strategic Plan Core Team’s activities. She indicated the Leadership training had been completed with some members of the public present and that makeup sessions would be available in the future.
“The next meeting is the October 12-13 meetings where the students will be here to work with us on the strategic planning process,” she said. “They want to interview citizens on what they’d like to see as well as meet with stakeholders to get their input.”