Council Report 1/25/07
This is my transcript of the meeting. It was mercifully shorter than usual with little serious business. Council members did bring up many serious issues to consider in the future. My transcription is far from perfect, but the price is right. I did my best to capture what happend without commentary (you get that later!). The meeting was orderly and polite for the most part.
RobC
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6:00 Pledge of Allegiance. Full council present for quorum.
6:01 No minutes to approve because staff has been busy with auditor.
6:01 Mayor’s report. David Lanman: I requested report from chamber of commerce. This administration recommends a board of professionals to review permits. There was a hoodoo about two buildings that went up on the edge of town. People have a right to do what they want within the ordinances. I think we need to have a board to review the permits. One of the buildings over there needs to go to the BoA because of an oversight on our part. We could have a more thorough investigation; we could do a better job on all that. We are going through some changes in the community, with the building infrastructure. We had a grant for a city planning. I suggest we hire a firm to update those resources for planning. We have in this city, this council, we have never addressed any long range planning. Dan Petrosky mentioned this. We are like an island. We are going to see development in the ranch land around us. We are going to need more infrastructure. I don’t think we have the resources to do a job on that. How much was that Oscar, for Grantworks? (OM: It was quite a bit.) Some of the work they have done in those formats is obsolete. I want city council to be thinking about a budget timeline. We have had some problems with this. Maybe we could start before the election. In your packet, you have some information from the gas corp. We have two members of the gas corp that have expired terms, whose terms have lapsed. Consider all applicants. I’d like this council to consider who owns the gas company. Both mayors of both cities have had difficult time getting info from the gas co. Today they would not send the second amendment to the interlocal agreement. Um, in my investigation it has been told to me that it is an enterprise owned fund, for profit. I think the gas board thinks they are independent of the city. We need to work this out. If the gas company is going to be independent of the city, then that is one thing. The city is liable. They are not on their own. I encourage the council to look at that. We are getting close to the lease on the MacGuire property for the sewer plant and we will have that in February. We have a lot of activity in city hall. Please be considerate of the staff. People don’t need to be back there. we are grateful for the volunteers. If too many people are back there, it breaks the momentum. I ask you to be considerate of that. That is it for mayor’s report.
6:10 Council Member Comments: Leo Salgado (LS): no comment. Dan Petrosky (DP) Keep it short. Gloria Rivera (GR): no comment.
Maria Williams (MW): For this agenda, council member Martinez requested changes to the agenda be cleared by council. I think this needs to be placed on the agenda. Thank you for cleaning lot 3 over on the hill. When will 1 and 2 be done? I want to know if the budget has been filed. I have received anonymous letters about the USDA grant, Parks & Rec, and Sauceda’s vacation, also there was a letter to the editor. I don’t like it when permits are signed “City of Marfa.” If the documents are not signed, they should not be considered legal. I want a response in writing. I want the map signed. I grew up in a family with two master plumbers and a code inspector. Marfa’s ordinances are not being followed. People are getting permits and are not following the ordinances. I have a proposal for a permit review committee, and I would like to pass out copies now. I would also like to see this placed on the February 13 agenda to discuss and consider. I think we need to address this issue. People are building in good faith but nobody is telling them that they are breaking the ordinance. People ask about the EMS donation. I wrote to the TWDB; they forwarded to TCEQ; they responded. Section 13.143 says voluntary funds for EMS do not need to be placed in a separate account. I hope this clears things up.
Oscar Martinez (OM): I thank you for moving those comments to the front so that citizens could hear them. Now that it is back to the original format, I don’t think it needs to be on the agenda unless council wants it. Mary mentioned the anonymous letter. When I was mayor, I have the policy that if I get an anonymous letter, I don’t even bring them up. They should have the gumption to sign it, or they go in the round file. I agree with the mayor and Mary about the permit review. I think permits are being issued willy-nilly. I beg to differ with my colleague to my left that people are building in good faith. Builders are building on public space. There are water and gas lines and easements, and perhaps they are building over those lines. Encroachment on city lines causes problems. The longer it gets away the harder to take care of. The budget time line, I agree. I also want for you two guys to put together a five year budget to look ahead, a proposal for a 5 year budget to see if we are going in the right direction. That is why I recommend to this council that we start a five year budget to see what direction we should go. On gas company ownership, I agree with you mayor. We need to find where the problem comes from. Do we need a liaison? That is what the council members are on the board for. Yes it is an enterprise. On the MacGuire land, I think I mentioned that when we consider the lease, we should also consider getting into negotiations if we should extend the perimeter of the waste water treatment area for treatment ponds. Perhaps also the idea of purchasing the property so that we can get away from this problem if we want to expand or build or renovate. Let’s see if we can make this city property so we can get away from this problem. See if the owners are amenable to sell or some other means of making it city property. That’s all i have.
6:21 City Administrator report. Florencio Sauceda (FS): The property on 100 Philadelphia, we have cleaned 90 percent of lot 3. City has taken responsibility to clean it. We have a roll-off there. Lots 1 and 2 are being cleaned by the property owner. Our police chief has worked with me on this. The new auditors have completed the field work. At the gas board meeting, CPA skinner presented the audit. See note 8 on page 11. It references distribution to cities. Amending the interlocal agreement. Council approved this asking the gas board for disbursement. Total operating cash of $463,000. Cash available of $132,000 that would be $66,000 to each city 50/50. On 60/40 basis it would be $52,800. Based on future actions we can look at it. The focus is on infrastructure needs and repairs. I have talked to owners of property on San Antonio with the double-wide that was never brought up to standard. I talked to owners about cleaning it up and will report on February 13. With inclement weather, many alley ways have deteriorated due to moisture. We have a list and will address on priority basis. I approved Humble and Bonkemeyer relocation of sewer on their property and will report at next meeting.
6:25PM Planning & Zoning report from Pam Harris (PH): I just found out about tonight’s meeting on Tuesday. I would like you to replace Dan Petrosky’s place ASAP and get it on the agenda. We have not had a meeting since last time I spoke here. One of our members has been taking care of a son in Dallas. About adopting the map. P&Z says the present map should be adopted or reaffirmed. It is the quickest way to get in place. Otherwise, public hearings are required. Need to chang section 3 in the ordinance. It is about the map. It is overkill. It spells everything out. I gave you the old ordinance, the current ordinance, samples from different cities, a draft, a comment from one of the other board members. I have not gotten any feedback. I’d really like some feedback. We can get it in shape to go to the attorney only one time for review. I consider the Section 3 to be as important as and part and parcel of adopting the map. The map has not been protected for two years. People can draw on it any time they want. The old map is gone and on it, the only industrial zone was behind Bobby’s. Now we have 3 or 4. The Appraisal office has only one industrial use area and that is Godbold’s.
OM: What about industrial zoning? What about the map with industrial all up and down the railroad. Have you seen that map?
PH: That map is gone.
DL: I have an inventory of all the maps, but the one zoning map has been taken down.
PH: If you look at the map you will see how inappropriate industrial use is along the railraod tracks. I would like all of you to consider having new maps made with more detail. Another map with larger scale showed so much more detail and I think it appropriate to show as much detail as possible, that is the first thing that should be done. We should buy three of those maps from the Appraisal District. The use of those maps would be: one signed original, an official copy signed, and a signed copy to the county recorder. I’d like you to name and designate a person to design safekeeping for the one on display. I can confer and get an estimate of the cost of materials. The official copy could go in the frame the same night that you authorize it. I propose that the original be kept in the city safe deposit box. That is pretty much covered in my proposal for section 3. I’d like to know specifically, would the city be purchasing the map or would I purchase the map and be reimbursed by you. I don’t know how much they would cost. Maybe one large copy on the wall, and maybe smaller maps to the recorder, listing each use by block and lot for an inventory.
DL: The appraisal district charges quite a bit. i had someone go to Kinkos and they charged five bucks a pop.
PH: The detail gets better with larger.
DL: They charge an extraordinary amount. Kinkos has the same equipment. I understand you want more detail.
PH: If you look at the maps, you will see details here that are not on the smaller map.
DL: We could ask them to do it cheaper. Maybe we could get a disk from the appraisal district. We’ll look into it.
PH: The last map I bought from them cost $35. I could not buy it in the name of the city because you owe them some money. I’d like to be able to discuss section 3, article 3 with you at the next meeting or a joint meeting with P&Z. We are stuck until we talk together, and we have not received any feedback. Anybody from the public could write something down. I could come pick it up. You are talking about a comprehensive plan for Marfa. The one from GrantWorks is very technical. If you look at other cities, they do not look like ours. Everybody else has a map that looks like a story, San Angelo, Alpine, any number of small cities with comprehensive plans on the computer. They have their zoning and their permitting on the computer. They have professional people. It would be expensive. If you could take the VIP stuff and use that with the comprehensive plan you could save some money and in the future you could have a historical district in town with the VIP survey. I guess that is it. I’d like you to review proposed section 3, I need feedback. I would like to get it to the attorney so you can adopt it. Adopt the map as it is. We can draw the same lines and you could sign that. I would like to see an official copy on the wall and protected. I think the panel to look at permits to insure compliance is a great idea. That is what the city administrator used to do. Most cities have a building inspector or code compliance officer to do that.
DP: On P&Z, while this looks like a lot, this is a baby step to accomplish all that we need to do. When you look at lots and blocks on the railroad tracks, it is hard to tell what is what. A lot of work needs to be done. On officers row there are streets that have the same name as in other parts of town. This needs to get done as quick as practical, otherwise we are going to be looking at this in ten years in the same place.
OM: I agree. Lots to do on this map. We need a surveyor to define the city limits. Talking about one main map along with one for zoning. Street names and numbers need to be corrected. The bottom line is we need mapping. the bottom line is we don’t have funds for all this, this year. if we do it incrementally then we can do a little bit.
6:46 PM Board of Adjustments presentation: Rosie Garcia (RG), Vice chair BoA. It would be in best interest of BoA to have a description of zones and a signed map. A B&B is a business in a residential district. In October 06 we recommended a committee be formed to review permits, zones, set backs, plumbing etc. This would prohibit issuing permits without looking at everything. Publish variances in the paper. Everybody could be aware of what is happening in their neighborhood.
MW: What happened at appraisal district?
DL: They charge too much.
OM: How much do we owe?
DL: $75 (laughter)
6:4 9 PM Interlocal Agreement Operation Wrangler. FS: Police chief is present. He has made a recommendation to participate with the government office with Operation Wrangler. It is a 6 month program to reimburse overtime, fuel and equipment costs and minor repair up to $150 plus mileage. This would be after the regular work shift. Voluntary for officers that want to participate. It would depend on actual costs. Last time, it was strictly overtime, this time allowing expenses.
OM: We just got this. I was gone so I did not get to look at any of this. That was my concern was that with Operation Stone Garden, the overtime got paid and the city did not get anything for equipment. If they are going to reimburse, then i am glad.
DP: it says you should not use this as an equipment acquisition program. That’s why the limit on repairs only.
LS: That is only for OT?
FS: Yes, and everything associated with overtime.
DP: I move we ratify to participate. Seconded by someone.
DL: So be it. Oh i gotta take a vote. All in favor? Ayes. all opposed. none.
6:53 PM Joint election with MISD. FS: As in past city and school have combined election. This allows us to have a joint election. I talked to the county clerk to use those machines and the paper ballots. I have not worked out those details. I am seeking council support to have a joint election with school district. I am looking for an election judge. Lucas Herrera is willing to do it again. We need to work out use of machines from the county and programming. Consider to go with both paper and machines if citizens want. Some are not comfortable with machines. Do we want candidates to be on the same ballot on that machine to reduce programming costs?
DP: I vote by paper. If on same machine, some are not qualified to vote for school and city. If they are on the same machine, can they vote both?
FS: Good question, I’ll look into it.
OM: I say we do it like we always do it.
DP: Do we need electronic?
FS: We need to offer it. We will work out details. We need to lease them from the county.
DP: It’s cheaper to use the county than for everybody to have their own machines. One of the things offered by the commissioner is an election administrator that would do all elections for all entities in the county. We need to consider this with county and school. Motion. Seconded. Voice vote. Approved.
6:58 Citizen Comment: Ann Dunlap (AD). if a shoe fits where it. I want to say this in a way that’s not confrontational or disrespectful. Yesterday, Jane and I were at the city looking at five variances that were put in the paper without our knowledge. There is a lot of work that we need to do with the staff. The mayor invited us into his office. We had a cordial visit. We talked about a long list of variances. Five might be too many in one night. We left the room and were to chose which variance we would consider. Ms. Torres should be considered because she was first. but the crew at the Thunderbird might be left standing with nothing to do if we waited until March. We wanted to look at the property ourselves. To do that, we need to look at the map. It is not any of these maps here. It used to hang in the small conference room. It was what we used. Monte Akers said it was what we were to use. The last place I saw it was here in this room in this corner. We came looking for the map to look at block 84. The map was missing. We walked back to the front area. I was following the restrictions of the mayor to not go in the staff room. So i do BoA at the counter with files spread all over. I have not even crossed the threshold and I have tried to follow that restriction. On this day, I was behind the counter. The map had been moved into the very far back of the office. I walked into the staff area. I confess. To look at the map to see if the property bordered on the residential area. I entered the forbidden room against the Mayor’s wishes. The mayor very nicely asked me if I would mind stepping out of the staff room; I was crowding people in the staff room. We asked if we could take the map to the other room. We had a nice meeting with the man requesting the variance. I don’t mean to be disrespectful. You need to understand we have a problem. When i left, it was on the wall in the smaller conference room. We really need to protect it. It is easy for somebody to mark the map. It would be easy to change our zoning. All these things would be possible. Protect the map. We do need a way to take care of the map. I would ask that BoA have a way to get to our files and our maps without interrupting the staff. Not one of us mean to create a problem.
Rob Crowley (RC): I wrote a letter and signed my name and placed it in the most public place I could find, the Big Bend Sentinel. At the last meeting, the mayor and council member Martinez spoke against the policy of selling vacation time back to the city. In August 2005, the mayor gave the administrator a raise without authority. Council needed to follow up and authorize it after the fact. The mayor was reprimanded for doing that without authority. He does not have authority to spend one cent. The administrator reports to the collective city council and not to the mayor. In December 2005, he ignored that reprimand and authorized the sale of a week of vacation by Suaceda to the city for $1,250 plus payroll expenses. Sauceda got two weeks pay for that week. In December 2006 he did it again and authorized the sale of another week of vacation by Sauceda. The mayor does not have the authority to spend public money like this. This is a misuse of public funds and is illegal. He should pay it back. I ask the council to look into this. Thank you.
OM: I’d like to address what Ann said about P&Z. I have said many times before that this group is here to help. This council needs to assert itself for what we want. BoA and P&Z should have full access. They are volunteers. They deserve respect. Let’s give them full access. They have the conference room. We need to let them use this. As far as what Rob said, where i stand on this vacation sales, I have always been opposed to it. Council has never done anything about this. It is in the policy manual, I have stated before that this is not good policy. As far as the administrator selling back his time, I want you to ask legal advice if this policy applies to the administrator as other employees. If it is against policy or is in error or illegal, the administrator needs to pay it back. I need some sort of determination for the next meeting to present it in public.
DP: I have Flo calling for volunteers for P&Z in the paper. Motion to adjourn. Seconded. Boom goes the gavel.
7:12 PM Adjourn.
RobC
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6:00 Pledge of Allegiance. Full council present for quorum.
6:01 No minutes to approve because staff has been busy with auditor.
6:01 Mayor’s report. David Lanman: I requested report from chamber of commerce. This administration recommends a board of professionals to review permits. There was a hoodoo about two buildings that went up on the edge of town. People have a right to do what they want within the ordinances. I think we need to have a board to review the permits. One of the buildings over there needs to go to the BoA because of an oversight on our part. We could have a more thorough investigation; we could do a better job on all that. We are going through some changes in the community, with the building infrastructure. We had a grant for a city planning. I suggest we hire a firm to update those resources for planning. We have in this city, this council, we have never addressed any long range planning. Dan Petrosky mentioned this. We are like an island. We are going to see development in the ranch land around us. We are going to need more infrastructure. I don’t think we have the resources to do a job on that. How much was that Oscar, for Grantworks? (OM: It was quite a bit.) Some of the work they have done in those formats is obsolete. I want city council to be thinking about a budget timeline. We have had some problems with this. Maybe we could start before the election. In your packet, you have some information from the gas corp. We have two members of the gas corp that have expired terms, whose terms have lapsed. Consider all applicants. I’d like this council to consider who owns the gas company. Both mayors of both cities have had difficult time getting info from the gas co. Today they would not send the second amendment to the interlocal agreement. Um, in my investigation it has been told to me that it is an enterprise owned fund, for profit. I think the gas board thinks they are independent of the city. We need to work this out. If the gas company is going to be independent of the city, then that is one thing. The city is liable. They are not on their own. I encourage the council to look at that. We are getting close to the lease on the MacGuire property for the sewer plant and we will have that in February. We have a lot of activity in city hall. Please be considerate of the staff. People don’t need to be back there. we are grateful for the volunteers. If too many people are back there, it breaks the momentum. I ask you to be considerate of that. That is it for mayor’s report.
6:10 Council Member Comments: Leo Salgado (LS): no comment. Dan Petrosky (DP) Keep it short. Gloria Rivera (GR): no comment.
Maria Williams (MW): For this agenda, council member Martinez requested changes to the agenda be cleared by council. I think this needs to be placed on the agenda. Thank you for cleaning lot 3 over on the hill. When will 1 and 2 be done? I want to know if the budget has been filed. I have received anonymous letters about the USDA grant, Parks & Rec, and Sauceda’s vacation, also there was a letter to the editor. I don’t like it when permits are signed “City of Marfa.” If the documents are not signed, they should not be considered legal. I want a response in writing. I want the map signed. I grew up in a family with two master plumbers and a code inspector. Marfa’s ordinances are not being followed. People are getting permits and are not following the ordinances. I have a proposal for a permit review committee, and I would like to pass out copies now. I would also like to see this placed on the February 13 agenda to discuss and consider. I think we need to address this issue. People are building in good faith but nobody is telling them that they are breaking the ordinance. People ask about the EMS donation. I wrote to the TWDB; they forwarded to TCEQ; they responded. Section 13.143 says voluntary funds for EMS do not need to be placed in a separate account. I hope this clears things up.
Oscar Martinez (OM): I thank you for moving those comments to the front so that citizens could hear them. Now that it is back to the original format, I don’t think it needs to be on the agenda unless council wants it. Mary mentioned the anonymous letter. When I was mayor, I have the policy that if I get an anonymous letter, I don’t even bring them up. They should have the gumption to sign it, or they go in the round file. I agree with the mayor and Mary about the permit review. I think permits are being issued willy-nilly. I beg to differ with my colleague to my left that people are building in good faith. Builders are building on public space. There are water and gas lines and easements, and perhaps they are building over those lines. Encroachment on city lines causes problems. The longer it gets away the harder to take care of. The budget time line, I agree. I also want for you two guys to put together a five year budget to look ahead, a proposal for a 5 year budget to see if we are going in the right direction. That is why I recommend to this council that we start a five year budget to see what direction we should go. On gas company ownership, I agree with you mayor. We need to find where the problem comes from. Do we need a liaison? That is what the council members are on the board for. Yes it is an enterprise. On the MacGuire land, I think I mentioned that when we consider the lease, we should also consider getting into negotiations if we should extend the perimeter of the waste water treatment area for treatment ponds. Perhaps also the idea of purchasing the property so that we can get away from this problem if we want to expand or build or renovate. Let’s see if we can make this city property so we can get away from this problem. See if the owners are amenable to sell or some other means of making it city property. That’s all i have.
6:21 City Administrator report. Florencio Sauceda (FS): The property on 100 Philadelphia, we have cleaned 90 percent of lot 3. City has taken responsibility to clean it. We have a roll-off there. Lots 1 and 2 are being cleaned by the property owner. Our police chief has worked with me on this. The new auditors have completed the field work. At the gas board meeting, CPA skinner presented the audit. See note 8 on page 11. It references distribution to cities. Amending the interlocal agreement. Council approved this asking the gas board for disbursement. Total operating cash of $463,000. Cash available of $132,000 that would be $66,000 to each city 50/50. On 60/40 basis it would be $52,800. Based on future actions we can look at it. The focus is on infrastructure needs and repairs. I have talked to owners of property on San Antonio with the double-wide that was never brought up to standard. I talked to owners about cleaning it up and will report on February 13. With inclement weather, many alley ways have deteriorated due to moisture. We have a list and will address on priority basis. I approved Humble and Bonkemeyer relocation of sewer on their property and will report at next meeting.
6:25PM Planning & Zoning report from Pam Harris (PH): I just found out about tonight’s meeting on Tuesday. I would like you to replace Dan Petrosky’s place ASAP and get it on the agenda. We have not had a meeting since last time I spoke here. One of our members has been taking care of a son in Dallas. About adopting the map. P&Z says the present map should be adopted or reaffirmed. It is the quickest way to get in place. Otherwise, public hearings are required. Need to chang section 3 in the ordinance. It is about the map. It is overkill. It spells everything out. I gave you the old ordinance, the current ordinance, samples from different cities, a draft, a comment from one of the other board members. I have not gotten any feedback. I’d really like some feedback. We can get it in shape to go to the attorney only one time for review. I consider the Section 3 to be as important as and part and parcel of adopting the map. The map has not been protected for two years. People can draw on it any time they want. The old map is gone and on it, the only industrial zone was behind Bobby’s. Now we have 3 or 4. The Appraisal office has only one industrial use area and that is Godbold’s.
OM: What about industrial zoning? What about the map with industrial all up and down the railroad. Have you seen that map?
PH: That map is gone.
DL: I have an inventory of all the maps, but the one zoning map has been taken down.
PH: If you look at the map you will see how inappropriate industrial use is along the railraod tracks. I would like all of you to consider having new maps made with more detail. Another map with larger scale showed so much more detail and I think it appropriate to show as much detail as possible, that is the first thing that should be done. We should buy three of those maps from the Appraisal District. The use of those maps would be: one signed original, an official copy signed, and a signed copy to the county recorder. I’d like you to name and designate a person to design safekeeping for the one on display. I can confer and get an estimate of the cost of materials. The official copy could go in the frame the same night that you authorize it. I propose that the original be kept in the city safe deposit box. That is pretty much covered in my proposal for section 3. I’d like to know specifically, would the city be purchasing the map or would I purchase the map and be reimbursed by you. I don’t know how much they would cost. Maybe one large copy on the wall, and maybe smaller maps to the recorder, listing each use by block and lot for an inventory.
DL: The appraisal district charges quite a bit. i had someone go to Kinkos and they charged five bucks a pop.
PH: The detail gets better with larger.
DL: They charge an extraordinary amount. Kinkos has the same equipment. I understand you want more detail.
PH: If you look at the maps, you will see details here that are not on the smaller map.
DL: We could ask them to do it cheaper. Maybe we could get a disk from the appraisal district. We’ll look into it.
PH: The last map I bought from them cost $35. I could not buy it in the name of the city because you owe them some money. I’d like to be able to discuss section 3, article 3 with you at the next meeting or a joint meeting with P&Z. We are stuck until we talk together, and we have not received any feedback. Anybody from the public could write something down. I could come pick it up. You are talking about a comprehensive plan for Marfa. The one from GrantWorks is very technical. If you look at other cities, they do not look like ours. Everybody else has a map that looks like a story, San Angelo, Alpine, any number of small cities with comprehensive plans on the computer. They have their zoning and their permitting on the computer. They have professional people. It would be expensive. If you could take the VIP stuff and use that with the comprehensive plan you could save some money and in the future you could have a historical district in town with the VIP survey. I guess that is it. I’d like you to review proposed section 3, I need feedback. I would like to get it to the attorney so you can adopt it. Adopt the map as it is. We can draw the same lines and you could sign that. I would like to see an official copy on the wall and protected. I think the panel to look at permits to insure compliance is a great idea. That is what the city administrator used to do. Most cities have a building inspector or code compliance officer to do that.
DP: On P&Z, while this looks like a lot, this is a baby step to accomplish all that we need to do. When you look at lots and blocks on the railroad tracks, it is hard to tell what is what. A lot of work needs to be done. On officers row there are streets that have the same name as in other parts of town. This needs to get done as quick as practical, otherwise we are going to be looking at this in ten years in the same place.
OM: I agree. Lots to do on this map. We need a surveyor to define the city limits. Talking about one main map along with one for zoning. Street names and numbers need to be corrected. The bottom line is we need mapping. the bottom line is we don’t have funds for all this, this year. if we do it incrementally then we can do a little bit.
6:46 PM Board of Adjustments presentation: Rosie Garcia (RG), Vice chair BoA. It would be in best interest of BoA to have a description of zones and a signed map. A B&B is a business in a residential district. In October 06 we recommended a committee be formed to review permits, zones, set backs, plumbing etc. This would prohibit issuing permits without looking at everything. Publish variances in the paper. Everybody could be aware of what is happening in their neighborhood.
MW: What happened at appraisal district?
DL: They charge too much.
OM: How much do we owe?
DL: $75 (laughter)
6:4 9 PM Interlocal Agreement Operation Wrangler. FS: Police chief is present. He has made a recommendation to participate with the government office with Operation Wrangler. It is a 6 month program to reimburse overtime, fuel and equipment costs and minor repair up to $150 plus mileage. This would be after the regular work shift. Voluntary for officers that want to participate. It would depend on actual costs. Last time, it was strictly overtime, this time allowing expenses.
OM: We just got this. I was gone so I did not get to look at any of this. That was my concern was that with Operation Stone Garden, the overtime got paid and the city did not get anything for equipment. If they are going to reimburse, then i am glad.
DP: it says you should not use this as an equipment acquisition program. That’s why the limit on repairs only.
LS: That is only for OT?
FS: Yes, and everything associated with overtime.
DP: I move we ratify to participate. Seconded by someone.
DL: So be it. Oh i gotta take a vote. All in favor? Ayes. all opposed. none.
6:53 PM Joint election with MISD. FS: As in past city and school have combined election. This allows us to have a joint election. I talked to the county clerk to use those machines and the paper ballots. I have not worked out those details. I am seeking council support to have a joint election with school district. I am looking for an election judge. Lucas Herrera is willing to do it again. We need to work out use of machines from the county and programming. Consider to go with both paper and machines if citizens want. Some are not comfortable with machines. Do we want candidates to be on the same ballot on that machine to reduce programming costs?
DP: I vote by paper. If on same machine, some are not qualified to vote for school and city. If they are on the same machine, can they vote both?
FS: Good question, I’ll look into it.
OM: I say we do it like we always do it.
DP: Do we need electronic?
FS: We need to offer it. We will work out details. We need to lease them from the county.
DP: It’s cheaper to use the county than for everybody to have their own machines. One of the things offered by the commissioner is an election administrator that would do all elections for all entities in the county. We need to consider this with county and school. Motion. Seconded. Voice vote. Approved.
6:58 Citizen Comment: Ann Dunlap (AD). if a shoe fits where it. I want to say this in a way that’s not confrontational or disrespectful. Yesterday, Jane and I were at the city looking at five variances that were put in the paper without our knowledge. There is a lot of work that we need to do with the staff. The mayor invited us into his office. We had a cordial visit. We talked about a long list of variances. Five might be too many in one night. We left the room and were to chose which variance we would consider. Ms. Torres should be considered because she was first. but the crew at the Thunderbird might be left standing with nothing to do if we waited until March. We wanted to look at the property ourselves. To do that, we need to look at the map. It is not any of these maps here. It used to hang in the small conference room. It was what we used. Monte Akers said it was what we were to use. The last place I saw it was here in this room in this corner. We came looking for the map to look at block 84. The map was missing. We walked back to the front area. I was following the restrictions of the mayor to not go in the staff room. So i do BoA at the counter with files spread all over. I have not even crossed the threshold and I have tried to follow that restriction. On this day, I was behind the counter. The map had been moved into the very far back of the office. I walked into the staff area. I confess. To look at the map to see if the property bordered on the residential area. I entered the forbidden room against the Mayor’s wishes. The mayor very nicely asked me if I would mind stepping out of the staff room; I was crowding people in the staff room. We asked if we could take the map to the other room. We had a nice meeting with the man requesting the variance. I don’t mean to be disrespectful. You need to understand we have a problem. When i left, it was on the wall in the smaller conference room. We really need to protect it. It is easy for somebody to mark the map. It would be easy to change our zoning. All these things would be possible. Protect the map. We do need a way to take care of the map. I would ask that BoA have a way to get to our files and our maps without interrupting the staff. Not one of us mean to create a problem.
Rob Crowley (RC): I wrote a letter and signed my name and placed it in the most public place I could find, the Big Bend Sentinel. At the last meeting, the mayor and council member Martinez spoke against the policy of selling vacation time back to the city. In August 2005, the mayor gave the administrator a raise without authority. Council needed to follow up and authorize it after the fact. The mayor was reprimanded for doing that without authority. He does not have authority to spend one cent. The administrator reports to the collective city council and not to the mayor. In December 2005, he ignored that reprimand and authorized the sale of a week of vacation by Suaceda to the city for $1,250 plus payroll expenses. Sauceda got two weeks pay for that week. In December 2006 he did it again and authorized the sale of another week of vacation by Sauceda. The mayor does not have the authority to spend public money like this. This is a misuse of public funds and is illegal. He should pay it back. I ask the council to look into this. Thank you.
OM: I’d like to address what Ann said about P&Z. I have said many times before that this group is here to help. This council needs to assert itself for what we want. BoA and P&Z should have full access. They are volunteers. They deserve respect. Let’s give them full access. They have the conference room. We need to let them use this. As far as what Rob said, where i stand on this vacation sales, I have always been opposed to it. Council has never done anything about this. It is in the policy manual, I have stated before that this is not good policy. As far as the administrator selling back his time, I want you to ask legal advice if this policy applies to the administrator as other employees. If it is against policy or is in error or illegal, the administrator needs to pay it back. I need some sort of determination for the next meeting to present it in public.
DP: I have Flo calling for volunteers for P&Z in the paper. Motion to adjourn. Seconded. Boom goes the gavel.
7:12 PM Adjourn.
posted by RobC at 9:15 PM
13 Comments:
Things to keep in the public eye:
from robert Arber Jan 8 2007
After a meeting with about 10 interested people we delivered a comprehensive letter to the City Administrator the last week of October, We were promised that our request to use the pool would be put on the City Council agenda for its approval. In the letter we outlined that this group would volunteer to do all maintenance, cleaning and operations including the solar heating of the pool. That direct promise went into the trash can...nothing happened... even-though a promise and handshake was given. I would have wished the City Administration was more honest and straight forward with us and said "sorry we will not help you with your request". At that point we could have gone to our council representative for help.
My understanding is the pool has been shut down for the winter, I think our best hope is for a new City Administrator and a new approach in the Spring.
11:25 AM
Another before-the-public-eye
RobC said...
Let me see if I got the committees right:
Finance committee: Formed to help with budget for 05-06, specifically to find more revenue. Essentially ended with budget adoption in Oct 05. Lanman declared no more committees were needed for budget help!
Permit committee: Formed as a subcommittee of Finance to work specifically on permit revenue. I was asked by Lanman to get involved by researching other cities. That's when I realized that some cities actually provide a service for a building permit fee. Shot down by Lanman/Sauceda because it would hurt Lanman's "work" doing illegal plumbing and wiring on his projects.
Landfill committee: Required to demonstrate community support before funding. Lanman asked a few people to help but it died on the vine.
BoA P&Z study committee: Committee of one (Betsy Burns) nominated by Lanman to implement his wish of doing away with those two boards and put both under Betsy. Shot down by council.
Liquor Permit Committee: I don't know the details on this one.
Permit review committee: Idea floated by BoA to have permits reviewed by an independent group instead of the mayor. Being shot down by mayor now.
In other words, David Lanman wants to call all the shots and does not want citizens to participate. He does have his few teacher's pets that get called to the head of the class to sit with him now and then, but no more independent committees. If the results were good, we could almost overlook "King David's" reign of error. Sadly, the emperor has no clothes and no committees to get him dressed in the morning.
Mary Williams is doing her follow up. Good!
Some items to bring forward from first Jan. meeting:
1. Tom Greenwood's architect contract and a stipulation as requested by Oscar
2. Wastewater and garbage policy
3. Skateboard ordinance
4. Review of city personnel policy handbook and financial matters
City was supposed to establish a policy regarding the holding of meetings in the conference room. Lanman wants everything to be in the Casner Room. Instead of a policy, he is hammering volunteers to encroaching on office staff.
Anon at 1:17PM:
That's not a bad summary. You missed the subtlety on the most recent committee. I have much to say about the Permit Review Committee that was discussed. I'll save it for later. Davey-boy is up to his usual tricks. He does not realize that we see right through him. Talk about the emperor with no clothes. Absolutely transparent. And it is not a pretty sight.
Bingo! Lanman doesn't realize that people have long memories. Well, some people. All of a sudden he and Oscar are all for this permit committee since it has become a bone of public contention. Back in the days when they thought we were dumb, barefoot, and in the kitchen, it was okay to let the permitting process go to hell. Rob, if I were you, after all the stuff you have gone through in the last two years trying to get the permitting process straightened out, I would be spitting nails.
Did anybody hear a peep from Gloria last night when Lanman was beating up on the Presidio County Appraisal Board? She is the city's representative on that board. A brief aside or two. Danny Watts and Norma Arroyo are the county's reps. Here's another one of Lanman's power plays: He tried to get the County to remove Danny Watts and put Lineaus Lorette on the board instead. This was when Lanman and Lorette were buds (Lanman has also tried to get the county to fire Nancy Francis as Emergency Management Coordinator and put Larry Skiles in instead. So, you see, Lanman's placement of Friends of the Mayor extends to other political subdivisions, which takes unmitigated effrontery to tell the county how to do business)
Did Gloria defend the appraisal board? No. Here's the straight skinny. Per the Appraisal office, they provided Lanman free maps. Then he came back and wanted more and they told him they would have to charge for the extras. He took them and has yet to pay for them.
I'm getting to the point....Everybody, especially the Appraisal Board members, knows that it took quite an expense to set up the additional work area and equipment to do these state of the art maps. The Appraisal Board budget had to be approved by all the taxing entities, including the City of Marfa. This was much publicized at Board meetings. Gloria knows what expansion and expense was required to provide these maps and furthermore that the cost of them is justified. Once again, Lanman runs his mouth bullying somebody.
Anon at 3:12:
Spitting nails! Of course not. I get a good laugh from it all. I was trying to volunteer my services to the council with that permit stuff. They are the governing body. They are responsible for every single action or inaction in this city. The buck stops at their council table.
It does not matter to me what the city does. Hell, I have plenty in common with Lanman. I would rather have no rules. I would like to have exemption from state laws. I would like to be "special." I would like to do what I want, when I want, where I want.
The difference is that I was asked by the city to make a suggestion for a policy that would be in the best interest of the city, not myself. Lanman got mad at me when I would not suggest policy that was in HIS best interest. I don't care what the city council does on this. If they want rules, I will follow them. If they want this lawless behavior, then cool!
One thing for sure is this. If I am asked to give my opinion on something, I am going to put my personal interests aside and suggest what I think is best for the city, not what is best for me, and certainly not what is best for Lanman's wallet!
To anon at 3:29
If you scratch the surface of any, and I mean ANY, deal involving David Lanman, you will find political favoritism. Council would be wise to suspect his motives for any person's name he puts forward. I believe that David Lanman only suggests the names of people that he thinks he can manipulate into doing his personal bidding.
I know. I have been there.
For all you "buddies" of David Lanman out there, be careful. If he puts your name forward for a position, he thinks he can play you. Many people, not just me, will see you as a pawn of David. He does not suggest the best people for the job; he suggests the ones that he thinks will do his favors.
I am not saying that the people he suggests can be manipulated or are unfair or are not the best for the job. They might be the best people. He has floated some fine and experienced people such as Betsy Burns. I am saying that he only floats the names of people that HE THINKS he can charm to do his work, independent of their qualifications.
If you want to work with the city on something, I strongly recommend that you go through council and at least "appear" to be independent of his machinations.
I speak from personal experience. Be careful. David does not care about your reputation. He will ask you to compromise your personal ethics for his benefit. Everything is about him. We are just pawns in his game.
This game ends in 106 days.
Oh My! Lanman critical of citizen volunteers b/c they are an impediment to good government???
Give me a break. At least Dave, they are there to serve the public interest unlike yourself. The biggest danger to democratic rule in Marfa is D. Lanman. The man, in my personal experience with him as a public official, has no "public service" motive, lacks altruism. The private Lanman may be a completely different animal, I don't know now. At one time, yes, I thought so. Now, I'm not sure you can separate the Mayor from the man.
Mike said:
"I'm not sure you can separate the Mayor from the man."
Separation of the mayor from the man is a simple procedure. It is called end of term.
We did not know the man when he ran in 2005. As W would say if he could, "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
Or as W said himself: "fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again."
Ask Terlingua. Ask Alpine. The man has a past. It is not pretty. It has caught up with him. Tell Valentine and Shafter to be on the lookout for a charming snake oil salesman on May 13th.
I find it incredulous that Oscar Martinez will not even look at an anonymous letter.... "Immediately in the Round-File" !! Wow, has he ever looked at a national newspaper? Time after time, "anonymous sources" are quoted. Confidentially is a key ingredient in investigative journalism. Without Deepthroat we would never have had Watergate and Nixon, whistle-blower Silkwood saved many lives in nuclear processing plant. Here in Marfa if you speak up, retaliation is the norm, be it a city employee or a citizen. Its seems Lanman+Oscar cannot stand criticism. Hey Oscar, look at the letter, if there is a fact you doubt, look into it, take you blinders off, get your head out of the sand.
Anon of 3:29 reported that Lanman tried to get the County to remove Danny Watts and put Linneaus Lorette on the Presidio County Appraisal District Board. Right before trying that little control trick, Lanman called Linneaus into his office after a City Council meeting and asked Linneaus to become the replacement for the city's rep, Gloria Rivera!! Linneaus, being a great friend of Gloria's, went to ask her if she wanted to step down as the city's rep to the board. Her answer was something like not only no, but...! It was not even Lanman's appointment to make.
Lanman has already selected the members he would like to have on the building permit review committee. Again, those appointments are not his to make. I'm counting down on my calendar too--only 105 days to go!
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