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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983.01.31_City Council MinutesOn Monday, January 31, 1983, the Owasso City Council met in special session in the Council Chambers at City Hall per the Notice of Public Hearing and Agenda posted on City Hall bulletin board at 4:00 p.m, on January 28, 1983, and by ref- erence is made a part hereof. ITEM l: CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m, with Mayor Spencer presiding. ITEM 2: FLAG SALUTE Flag salute was led by Mayor Spencer. ITEM 3: ROLL CALL PRESENT: Boyd Spencer, Mayor Wauhilleau Webb, Vice-Mayor James Smalley, Councilman Phyllis Gross, Councilwoman Dale Block, City Manager Ron Cates, City Attorney Ann Hendrickson, City Clerk ABSENT: Von Stockler, Councilman ITEM 4: DISCUSSION CONCERNING PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS IN THE WATER AND SEWER AREA AS WELL AS THE FEASIBILITY AND DESIRABILITY OF FINANCING ALTERNATIVES. Mayor Spencer stated that the purpose of this meeting was to discuss the problems with Owasso's water system as well as an eminant threat of a moritorium on building because of certain sewer problems. He said the City alone cannot solve these prob- lems, that the City will need some help. He said the City could consider several ways to solve these problems and that the City had asked Mr. Brian Davis to come to the meeting to help explain the different plans that could be presented for a vote of the people. Mr. Jimmy Summers asked the Mayor to explain what the crisis is about. The Mayor said that around Christmas there were a great number of water breaks. He said that a problem with electrolosis in the soil has caused serious deterioration in the water pipes. He said the City also needs another storage tank (high level) so that we can have more even pressure all over town. Mr. Summers asked for an explanation of the sewer propblem in the northern part of the city. The Mayor said there is a need for a natural gravity flow and that serious problems occur when there is a severe rain. Mr. Block said that the technical problem facing the City with regard to the sewers in the northern sector is the moritorium FHA has put on insuring FHA loans. The lift stations in the area of 97th St, can't handle the type of infiltration inflow OWASSO CITY COUNCIL PAGE 2 JAN. 31., 1983 resulting from storm water and when one of them fails, the result is sewage popping out somewhere. The problem can be solved by bypassing the lift stations and putting in a gravity flow sewer. Because of these problems FHA and VA are no longer willing to insure homes in this area. Growth has kept Owasso vital and a moratorium on building permits would be very detrimental.. Mr. Block explained that the new storage tank has been planned for some time northeast of the present tank location. It would be beneficial not only for additional storage, but would help solve the pressure problems in the lines. The problem that occurred when the pressure control valuve ruptured could happen again at any time. Mr. Block outlined which lines in the city need to be replaced with a plastic pipe that will not react to the chemical problem in the soil. He further stated that another storage facility is needed to avert a possible crisis if the city has two fires at the same time. Mr. Wayne Vines stated that the most emphasis lately has been put on water problems, but the sewer problem is something that has been identified a year or more ago and is not something new. He said it is pathetic that those people in the northwest part of town pay property taxes at the same rate as all. other people in town and yet they are restricted. Whenever they want to sell their house, they are oi:ng to have problems. The City should have taken steps back then to get it taken care of. Nothing has been done to get HUD off our backs. The same manholes in that area that are down in ditches that get water in them every time it rains were identified a year ago. Why haven't at least those things been taken care of by now? Mr. Block said that an infiltration inflow study is being done in that area now in preparation for correction of the problem. Mr. Vines said the study was mentioned at the beginning and. it still hasn't been done.. Doug Childress wanted to know exactly which area in the northern section of the city was being referred to. The Mayor said it goes on up into Steed and in the area of 97th E. Ave, and 116th St. North Alberta Hillard asked if E1 Rio Vista hooked onto the sewer at 97th. The Mayor told her- it did not. It is hooked up at 86th. Carol Seim stated that she was concerned about the financing of these projects. She asked about money in the budget that had been appropriated to parks and recreation and why it couldn't be spent on sewer and water. .,~. OWASSO CITY COUNCIL PAGE THREE JAN. 31, 1983 Z~ir.. Block explained that the money budgeted for Elm Creek Park is federal grants, not city funds, and can only be used for that. Primarily the money in parks and recreation budget goes to support the staff in the recreation center, as well as utility costs, etc, for running it. Although water and sewer are extremely high priority, it would not be good for the city to close such a center that benefits so many of the citizens. He also explained that trying to pay for the cost of solving the problems out of the general budget would take years. Mike Nomura stated that although he felt the immediate needs of the City must be met, it is important to place equal emphasis on long range planning. He said we need to look ahead and plan for the future. He asked what is being done to develop some long range plans. Mr. Block said that the purpose of Step I in the current EPA project is to determine the needs of the city over the next 20 years regarding sewage treatment. He said there is long range planning done concurrently with every project. Solving the water storage problem will be a long range effort as well as consideration of a future secondary sour-ce of water. Mr. Nomura asked about the time frame for completion of the EPA project. Mr. Block said it would probably be spring of 1984. Doug Childres said he lives on Dogwood and appreciates the excellent job of replacing his water line. He asked when the debris and mud would be cleaned off the street. Mr. Block explained it would be done when all the snow is gone. Rick Mullenix asked what the options are for funding the projects that need to be done nova. The Mayor said Mr. Brian Davis would explain different options in a few minutes. Rick Tyler asked about the amount of planning that was done as new developments were built in the city. The Mayor said most of what was done in the new development was done by investors. About six or seven years ago the City formed boards such as the Planning Commission to help guide the City, growth and also added new personnel.in the area of inspection and public works. The growth wasn't forseen, but we can see it now. Mr. Block stated that even though growth causes problems, a city without growth has much more severe problems. He said Owasso's Planning Coirnnission is to be commended for its quality of work which is better than many cities two to three times its size. OWASSO CITY COUNCIL PAGE FOUR JAN. 31, 1983 Mr. Vines asked if there is a timetable on the sewer problem. Mr. Block stated that the City is trying to get funding from the Community Development Program to work on the sewer on 97th Street, but because we have a high per capita income in our community, we are not in the best position. The Federal Gov- ernment has. cut back funds in this area also, but we are hopeful of receiving perhaps $150-200 thousand. We hope to know some- thing within 60 to 90 days. Dr. Steve Clark commented that we had been doing studies for over a year and asked if we were here tonight to discuss how to get funding for a whole new sewer system. Mr. Block said we were talking about the sewer system on 97th Street, water lines in the old part of town, storage facilities, and treatment facilities. Dr. Clark asked if we had made up our mind we are going to do it and need to find out how to pay for it. Mr. Block said he felt the purpose of the meeting was to see if we were in agreement on the needs of the city and listen to ideas from people attending as well as hear from Brian Davis on the. various financial options open to the City. Mayor Spencer asked Brian Davis to talk about what the City could. do to finance the projects discussed. Mr. Davis said there are four options available: 1, straight general obligation bond which goes on tax rolls and paid by general property tax. 2. use Trust Authority to finance OPWA improvements and issue revenue bor_ds which can be repaid from utility system revenues or a combination of utility system revenues and sales tax revenues. 3. accumulate revenue from a new source such as a new l~ sales tax and pay as you go. ;with this method, short term notes can be issued in anticipation of the sales tax revenues). 4, a combination of sales tax and a general obligation bond using the sales tax to pay the general obligation bond. The bonds would not go on the tax rolls unless there was not sufficient sales tax coming in. With regard to earmarking sales tax revenues, he said the earmarking can be as strict or as loose as the City wants it to be. The way this is done and the way the sales tax i= put into effect in the city is that the City Council passes a sales tax ordinance. Then an election is held where the voters approve the adoption of the OWASSO CITY COUNCIL PAGE FIVE JAN. 31, 1983 ordinance. He said he prefers the use of general obligation bonds over revenue bonds as the revenue bonds are more costly. Mr. Mullinex asked if he was saying that we need the combination of two to meet our needs so that we will have sufficient money at the lowest interest and we would have the money right now. Mr. Davis said he was saying that a combination of general obliga- tion bond and sales tax revenue would get us the lowest possible interest rate and it could be repaid without there being any prop- erty tax. One drawback is that any time you issue general obliga- tion bonds, it affects your capability to issue bonds for other things. Mr. Block said he liked the idea of using revenue from a new sales tax as it accumulates to build projects because you get interest on the money instead of paying interest on the bonds. The new sales tax would probably bring in about $50,000 per month and it would take a while to build up money to build some of the projects that are facing us right now, but because of preperatory work that would have to be done on any project there would be some time for money to accumulate. Also projects are paid for when they are finished which gives time for accumulation of funds. Mr. Block said any of the methods were acceptable to him except the revenue bonds as he felt the water rates were high enough. Mr. Vines asked if money could be obtained now by using the general obligation bond and l~ sales tax. Mr. Davis said that with any bond issue you could get the money now. Mr. Block said that was the big advantage of using a bond issue, but you do have to pay interest on it. Mr. Mullinex said he liked the idea of using a 1~ sales tax as that did not put all the burden on the homeowner. Mayor Spencer said he also did not like the use of revenue bonds in OPWA as it could.be done without a vote of the people in almost unlimited amounts. He was in favor. of the l~ sale tax. Mr. Childress said he felt the use of the sales tax reached all the people of the community including those outside the city limits and those people who rent their homes. Mr. Enzbrenner said it seemed to him everybody was in favor of using the sales tax. Mr. Block emphasized that the City's problems are all manageable, solvable problems. Mr. Childress asked if there was an approximate figure as to how much all these projects would cost. OWASSO CITY COUNCIL PAGE SIX JAN. 31, 1983 The Mayor said he didn't think anybody could give a good approx- imate figure at this time and the next thing to do is for the Council to direct the City Manager to have an engineering study on the water lines and the sewer and go from there. Mr. Enzbrenner asked what the City is doing about future growth planning. Mr. Block said the sewer lines on 97th street were not just a corrective measure but would help guarantee the development of the north part of the city. The development of new water storage is a growth plan as well as taking care of current problems. The sewer facility we're talking about expanding is for. now and the future. It would not only eliminate the threat of a general moritorium on building, but would provide adequate sewage treat- ment for a 10 to 20 year period. Mrs. Webb asked if any of the studies the City has paid for in the last two years could be utilized in these projects. Mr. Block said he was trying to correlate what we have and it shouldn't take too long. Mr. Smalley asked Mr. Davis how long it would take after we know how many dollars we need and have our study information together to put a bond issue together. Mr. Davis said the County Election Board has to have 30 days notice and it would take approximately 90 days from the date of the election. He said that much work can be done during this time and usually by the time you need to make a payment, the money is available, Mr. Vines asked if would be possible to get going within 30 days. Mr. Block said 30 days might be a little close, but certainly in 60 days. The Mayor said he did not think 30 days would be enough time. He said a good study could be completed by the first Monday in April. Mr. Smalley said the concensus he has gathered from the meeting tonight is that we know the problems and that we have to solve them. We need some long term solutions and from the discussion it seems that passing some general obligation bonds to be paid by earmarked taxes is an acceptable plan. This would allow all the people in the community to share the expense. The Mayor said that within 60 days, the City will know what funding they would get from the Community Development Block Grant and this is a big factor in the approximate dollar amount we ~` need. Mrs. Gross said the City might be able to use some of the study done by Mansur, Daubert, Williams. OWASSO CITY COUNCIL PAGE SEVEN JAN. 31, 1983 Mr. Vines asked when we might expect to be able to vote on the issue. Mr. Block said he thought it would be about mid-May. The Mayor asked the audience if they thought the Council was doing the right thing in bringing this before the citizens at this time. The show of hands was favorable. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. ,c. BOYD M. SPE R, MAYOR ANN HENDRICKSON, CITY CLERK