By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra.com
People at tonight’s meeting of the Paris City Council will get a preview of what Bywaters Park will look like with 150 new trees, new grass, and new lights – plus a large number of boulders cut to serve as seats.
Volunteers have offered to do the work, which Mayor AJ Hashmi estimated will cost about $50,000.
“We are going to try to do it without any contribution from the city,” he said.
He has asked for an estimate on what it will cost to install a sprinkler system at the park, he said.
“I emphasized that it is for the city, so please do not try to make a profit on it,” he said.
The item isn’t on the agenda, so Hashmi will open the council meeting by showing two or three computer slides during the Citizen Forum portion of the meeting.
Also, councilman John Wright will use the Citizen Forum part of the agenda to update the council on progress thus far on the mayor’s 11-person task force on substandard structures.
Gene Anderson
Interim city manager Gene Anderson will give a presentation on work that is being done to bring an electronic permitting process online. Anyone with computer access could go online and get a building permit rather than going to the city hall annex.
“It is not something that is going to happen very fast, but it’s on the way,” Hashmi said.
The mayor said there will also be a report at that time about some resolution to complaints that were raised by people with rental property at a meeting earlier this month concerning the city’s building permit process.
Fire chief Ronnie Grooms will give a report on the use of fire department vehicle to respond to first responder calls. The chief will also provide direction toward the possible purchase of a new rescue truck. The current truck has been out of service for the past eight months.
Grooms has also been asked for a report on fire department overtime, and the impact that adding additional firefighter personnel would have on overtime.
The city staff is recommending that the council approve the award of a bid to Four Thirteen, Inc., of Texarkana in the amount of $345,155 for 2011-2012 water and wastewater capital improvements.
The council last month voted to award the contract to B.Bray because it is a local company and its price was within 3 percent of the lowest bid.
But in executive session, city attorney Kent McIlyar told the council it would be illegal not to award the contract to the low bidder.
The council was told during that meeting that city councils in Houston and other cities have passed an ordinance to allow awarding a contract to a local company if its bid was within 3 percent or 5 percent, depending on the size of the contract.
Nothing pertaining to such an ordinance is on tonight’s agenda.
The only bidder for management of the city’s adult softball leagues was Steve Coker, who will pay the City of Paris 15 percent of all money collected through registration fees in the amount of $450 per team for a nine-game men’s league, $450 per team for an eight-game co-ed league, $550 per team for a 10-game industrial league, and $400 per team for an eight-game men’s league.
The council will consider an ordinance granting a one-year license to operate a taxicab business on the streets of Paris.
The council is expected to grant licenses to operate a taxicab license to Transportation Providers/Yellow Cab, to Transportation providers/City Cab, and to David Thompson dba Lone Star Cab.
Also, On Time Van Service is seeking a license to operate a shuttle service to transport passengers from a location within the city limits to a location either inside or outside the city limits using a Ford Econoline Van.
The council will pass proclamations declaring the month of February as:
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Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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