City Council Meeting (2/4/2021)

CITY OF RULE FEBRUARY 4, 2021 
The City of Rule met in a Regular Scheduled City Council Meeting at 1:00 p.m. in Rule City Hall. Those present were Mayor Delle Watkins, Council Members Kyle Kittley, Sandy Flores, Linda Hensley, Krissy Richards, Water Superintendent Justin Carman, and City Secretary LeAndra Carman. 
Others present were Fire Chief Hugh Brady, Wade Gomillion, Jeffrey Murray, Doris Williams, and Bob Bishop. 
Motion to pay bills by Sandy Flores. Kyle Kittley seconded with all in favor. 
The minutes from January were approved as presented. 
The budget sheet and balance reports were approved as presented. 

Public Comment 
Bob Bishop: There is a water line on my property, and a lot of leaks have happened on it. If it keeps happening, it may ruin my new building. The only reason I put my building there is because I was promised years ago that the water line would be moved. 
Delle Watkins: What all would have to happen to get that line moved? 
Justin Carman: If there is a leak over there, we do not have the equipment to bore underneath his building. Now another citizen has put a fence over the line as well. Kelly Williams came and looked at it and he agrees that it needs to be moved. He said it could cost anywhere from $6,000-$12,000, but he would like an engineer to look at it too. This would add another 15% to the overall cost. Our maps of the water lines are not correct. We do not know exactly where the water flows. We do not know for sure where to move the lines. Also, we have no isolation valves so we cannot cut the water off while moving it. This is not a simple or cheap issue to solve. 
Bob Bishop: I do not expect it to all be done at once, but I would like to see some progress done. 
We need to figure out a project plan. What will have to be done, what the cost will be, when we could start, how long it will take, etc. 
Linda Hensley made a motion to start the project of moving the line. The contracted services budget line will be used for any costs. Kyle Kittley seconded with all voting in favor. 

Cemetery 
Jeffrey Murray: We spray preemergent twice a year. The preemergent needs to be watered in with rain. The first application is around late February to early March and late May to early June for second application, depending on when it rains. Late last year Helena Chemical didn’t coat the fertilizer with the preemergent for some reason. They are going to give us a free application due to their error. This first one of this year will be free. 
Delle Watkins: While digging a grave, a funeral home out of Fort Worth tore up the lot and broke the curb. LeAndra Carman got their information to call and get them to repair it. If not, we will get someone to repair it and then bill them. 
There are eight roads that go east to west and three that go north to south. We repaired the three north/south roads a few years ago, but not the east to west roads. Delle Watkins asked Jeff if he would be interested in fixing them. 
On the other roads we sprayed weeds and then bladed the road after it killed off the plants. We received $2,100 in donations for road material. A man that is moving into town is offering to donate materials now. If we do not start on them before they get too bad, it will be harder in the future to keep up with it. 
Jeff Murray: There are a couple of small trees that may be dead and need to be cut down. We will wait until spring to be sure what is alive and what isn’t before we chop anything down. 

Fire Department 
Hugh Brady: The white truck needed a spare tire. The cost of one new tire is about $2,000-$2,400. For four used tires with 90-95% tread on them was $1,260.31. We went ahead and had Martin Brother’s order the used tires. 
Hugh Brady: The white rescue truck had a bad oil leak. The mechanic quoted $1,265 but did it for $1,000. While repairing it, he noticed there was a bad head gasket. Whoever changed it in 2013 left part of the old gasket behind there. He gave a rough estimate for the repair to cost $3,500-$5,000. I do not think it is worth it to repair. I recommend that we get rid of it and try to find a replacement of equal or lesser value. 
Hugh Brady: The new red truck is wobbling when it reaches 60 mph. The same mechanic who fixed the white rescue truck said he could fix the red truck for $500. 
Kyle Kittley made a motion to reimburse the Fire Department $2,260.31 for the four new tires and the repairs to the white rescue truck. Linda Hensley seconded with all in favor. 
Linda Hensley made a motion to strip the white rescue truck and advertise it for sale. Kyle Kittley seconded with all voting in favor. 

Streets/Alleys 
Krissy Richards motions to approve the Interlocal Agreement to remove the concrete slab located at 707 Adams, property of Sandy Flores. Linda Hensley seconded the motion. Sandy Flores abstained from voting with all else voting in favor. 

Water/Sewer 
Delle Watkins: When Mr. Carman started for the city, it was agreed that he would work salaried with weekends off. Mr. Carman and Buster McRae are now having to switch weekends to get readings required by the TCEQ. To compensate, if they worked that weekend, they get a day off during the week, but this was just a temporary solution until a better one could be decided. 
Justin Carman asks that they be paid an additional 8 hours every other week for the extra work they are doing on the weekends. 
Sandy Flores made a motion to pay Justin Carman and Buster McRae 16 additional hours per month on top of their original salary (to be reevaluated after additional employee is hired). Linda Hensley seconded with all voting in favor. 

General 
Delle Watkins: City Hall needs a new roof. Monte Conrad Construction quoted the repairs at $5,801. Tabled until additional quotes are received, and we find out if the insurance will cover a new metal roof. 
Delle Watkins: The door to City Hall is open from 7 until 4 o’clock. LeAndra Carman cannot finish a task without getting interrupted. I suggest moving the hours that we open to 9:00 a.m. The employees would still get here at 7, but LeAndra would have the first two hours of the day uninterrupted. 
Further discussion or decisions on the matter is tabled until the next scheduled meeting. 
Delle Watkins left the meeting at 3:02 p.m. 
The council decided to hold a Special Meeting on February 9th at 1:00 p.m. to discuss matters remaining on the Agenda and to do interviews for the part time position. 
Linda Hensley made a motion to adjourn. Krissy Richards seconded with all in favor. 
These minutes were prepared by City Secretary LeAndra Carman.