Ark-Tex Council Of Governments

 

 

AGENDA
ARK-TEX COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
OCTOBER 27, 2016

The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Ark-Tex Council of Governments (ATCOG) will meet at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, October 27, 2016, at the Titus County Extension Office, 1708 Industrial Road, Mt. Pleasant, Texas.
Item 1. Call to order.
Item 2. Invocation.
Item 3. Self-introductions.
Item 4. Approve the minutes as submitted by the Ark-Tex Council of Governments Executive Committee Meeting held Thursday, August 25, 2016, in Mt. Pleasant, Texas.

Review and Comment
Items 5 & 6 will be presented separately by Paul Prange, Environmental Resources Coordinator
Item 5. Review and comment on an Environmental Assessment to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for proposed Air Quality Permit Renewals by the following:
a) U.S Steel Tubular Products, Inc. to authorize the continued operation of the processing center located at 2552 FM 250, Lone Star, Morris and Cass Counties, Texas.
b) Harold Jackson Smith, Jr., to authorize the continued operation of a concrete batch plant located at 1358 County Road 3010, Cookville, Titus County, Texas.
Item 6. Review and comment on an Environmental Assessment to TCEQ for proposed Water Quality Permit Renewal by the following:
a) Alumax Mill Products, Inc. to authorize the discharge of treated wastewater from the facility located at 300 Alumax Drive, Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas, ultimately to Days Creek.
b) The City of Bloomburg to authorize the discharge of treated wastewater from the facility located near the intersection of Cypress Street and Pennock Avenue in Cass County, Texas, ultimately to Cypress Creek Basin in Texas.
Item 7. Review and comment on an application by Detroit Independent School District to the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Head Start, for a grant of $947,771, to be matched with $236,943 cash and in-kind, for continuation/refunding of the head start.
(To be presented by staff member Vickie Williamson)

Regular Business
Item 8. Review and consider approval of changes to bylaws of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC). (See attachment 1) (To be presented by staff member Paul Prange)
Item 9. Review and consider approval of the ATCOG Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA), State Preparedness Report (SPR) and the Homeland Security Implementation Plan for 2017. (See attachment 2; additional information available in Addendum)
(To be presented by staff member Mary Beth Rudel)
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Item 10. Review and approve adoption of a risk-based formula as the method for allocating State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) funds for jurisdictions, as well as revisions to the Homeland Security Advisory
Committee (HSAC) bylaws to reflect the risk-based formula method. (See attachment 3)
(To be presented by staff member Mary Beth Rudel)

Other Business
Item 11. Executive Director Report (For information only – see attachment 4)
(To be presented by Executive Director Chris Brown)
 Homeland Security Quarterly Report
 Area Agency on Aging Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) minutes
Item 12. Review and consider ratification of contracts. (See addendum; copies available at meeting)
(To be presented by Executive Director Chris Brown)
 Renewal of Interlocal Cooperation Agreement between the Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division and ATCOG
 Renewal of Juvenile Justice Services Contracts between ATCOG and ATCOG counties.
 Renewal of Interlocal Cooperation Agreement between the Office of the Governor, Homeland Security Grant Division and ATCOG.
 Renewal of Technical Assistance Agreement between the Texas Department of Agriculture and ATCOG.
 Renewal of Texas Department of Transportation Project Grant Agreements as follows:
a) Section 5310 Federal – Enhanced Mobility of Seniors & Individuals with Disabilities
b) Section 5311 Federal – Rural Public Transportation (RPT)
c) Section 5311(f) Federal – Intercity Bus
d) RCTP Application
e) Public Transportation – Rural State Funds
Item 13. Recognition for 9-1-1 Satellite Project Award.
(To be presented by Executive Director Chris Brown/ staff member Mary Beth Rudel)
Item 14. Update on EDA/TexAmericas grant.
(To be presented by staff member Vickie Williamson)

Announcements
The next Board of Directors Meeting will be held Thursday, December 8, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. The location announced at a later date. Under the Texas Open Meeting Act, Government Code Chapter 551 one or more of the above items considered in executive session closed to the public. That includes but not limited to consultation with an attorney under Texas Government Code Section 551.071 and Section 551.074 arising out of the lawyer’s ethical duty to advise ATCOG concerning legal issues stemming from an agenda item. Any decision held on such matter will be taken or conducted in open session following the conclusion of the executive session.

Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need auxiliary aids or services should contact Administration at 903-832-8636 two (2) work days before the meeting to make appropriate arrangements.

All agendas are sent electronically and available at www.atcog.org. Should any Board Member need a copy printed and available at
the meeting, please call 903/255.3555 or email athurston@atcog.org.
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MINUTES
ARK-TEX COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
AUGUST 25, 2016

The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Ark-Tex Council of Governments (ATCOG) met at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, August 25, 2016, at the Titus County Extension Office, in Mt. Pleasant, Texas.

Item 1. President L.D. Williamson, Judge, Red River County, called the meeting to order.
Item 2. Brian Lee, Judge, Titus County, gave the invocation.
Item 3. Each attendee introduced themselves at this time.
Item 4. The next order of business was to approve the minutes as submitted by the Ark-Tex Council of Governments Executive Committee meeting held Thursday, May 25, 2016, in Mt. Pleasant, Texas.

Motion to approve was made by Ann Rushing, Mayor, City of Clarksville, and seconded by A.M. “Rip” Benefield, Councilman, Queen City. The minutes were approved as submitted.

Review and Comment
Item 5. Paul Prange, Environmental Resources Coordinator, presented for consideration an Environmental Assessment to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) by Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, to authorize the modification to and continued operation of Compressor Station 802 located on County Road 24200, Lamar County, Texas.
Motion to approve made by M.C. Superville, Jr., Judge, Lamar County, and seconded by Mayor Rushing. Measure passed

Item 6. Mr. Prange presented for consideration an Environmental Assessment to TCEQ for proposed Water Quality Permit Renewal by Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation to authorize the discharge of treated wastewater from the facility located at 664 FM 127 West, Mt. Pleasant, Titus County, Texas, ultimately to Big Cypress Creek below Lake Bob Sandlin.
Motion to approve made by Lynda Munkres, Judge, Morris County, and seconded by Councilman Benefield. Measure passed.

Item 7. Vickie Williamson, Special Projects Coordinator, presented for consideration an application by Sulphur Springs Independent School District to the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Head
Start, for a grant of $22,649, to be matched with $5,617 in-kind, for cost of living increases for Head Start Staff.
Motion to approve made by Robert Newsom, Judge, Hopkins County, and seconded by Marc Reiter, Councilman, City of Hooks. Measure passed.

Item 8. Ms. Williamson presented for consideration an application by Red River County Sheriff’s Office to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Fund, for a grant/loan of $177,868 for the purchase of four patrol vehicles.
Motion to approve with typographical corrections to the Resolution was made by Scott Lee, Judge, Franklin County, and seconded by Councilman Benefield. Motions passed.

Item 9. Ms. Williamson presented for consideration an application for Amy Management, LLC., to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Fund, for a loan of $27,500,000 for the renovation and equipping of a State-of-the-art hospital.
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Motion to approve with typographical corrections to the Resolution was made by Judge Newsom and seconded by Mayor Rushing. Motion passed.

Regular Business

Item 10. Mary Beth Rudel, Public Safety Manager, presented for consideration approval and adoption of the monthly regional repeater test participation requirement for Homeland Security grant eligibility.
Motion to approve made by Judge Newsom and seconded by Judge Superville. Measure passed.

Item 11. Sharon Pipes, Director of Administration, presented for consideration approval of the adoption of the ATCOG Flexible Benefits Plan Cafeteria Plan for FY2017.
Motion to approve made by Judge Brian Lee and seconded by Judge Munkres. Motion passed.

Item 12. Chris Brown, Executive Director, presented for consideration approval of Formation of ATCOG Holding Company to allow for refinancing of ATCOG’s main building.
Motion to approve made by Judge Brian Lee and seconded by Councilman Benefield. Measure passed.

Other Business
Item 13. Mr. Brown provided a quarterly financial report for Indirect funds. This item was for information only; No action taken.

Item 14. Linda Moore, Finance Manager, presented an update on IRS 990 forms, filed annually. Copies were made available to anyone interested in reviewing them.

Item 15. Ms. Rudel presented an update on Kari’s Law, which would require business owners to provide direct dial access to 9-1-1, eliminating the need to dial “9” or any other numbers for an outside line. ATCOG’s 9-1-1 Department has been working with area business owners, hospitals, hotels, schools, etc., to get them into compliance by the deadline of September 1, 2016. Ms. Rudel advised anyone needing more information or assistance on contact her. She also provided an update on next generation 9-1-1, which would include texting and send pictures to 9-1-1 from a cell phone, setting up workgroups to assist with rerouting calls from mobile phones to the correct dispatch center, as well as rural addressing issues and errors. There were some general
comments regarding the updates. This item was for information only; no action

Item 16. Patricia Haley, Criminal Justice Coordinator, presented an update on Computerized Criminal History (CCH) Eligibility for FY2016 and handouts provided for each county. She also announced the
schedule for upcoming Law Enforcement Training in both September and November at ATCOG.

Announcements

Ms. Rudel announced the possibility of adopting a risk-based allocation formula for Homeland Security funding. Updates will be provided after further planning by the HSAC, if the committee decides to move forward. Ms. Pipes advised that ATCOG signed a Continuation of Coverage with TML for COBRA benefits, which was due before the Board meeting but did not require Board approval.

Mr. Brown advised Board members that Mr. Mike Sandefur, a former ATCOG Board member, is now the President of Sulphur River Basin Authority. He may be contacting counties regarding future projects.
Amber Thurston, Executive Assistant, announced she is currently making reservations for the NADO Annual Training Conference and to communicate with her if you have an interest in attending.
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Judge Williamson announced the next Board of Directors Committee Meeting is Thursday, September 29, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. at 201 N. Davis, Sulphur Springs City Hall, hosted by Emily Glass, Mayor, The City of Sulphur Springs.

There were no other announcements, so the motion to adjourn was made by Mayor Rushing and seconded by Becky Wilbanks, Judge, Cass County. The meeting adjourned

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT
L.D. Williamson, Judge, Red River County
M.C. (Chuck) Superville, Jr., Judge, Lamar County
Scott Lee, Judge, Franklin County
Lynda Munkres, Judge, Morris County
Robert Newsom, Judge, Hopkins County
Brian Lee, Judge, Titus County
Becky Wilbanks, Judge, Cass County
Emily Glass, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Sulphur Springs
Bob Thorne, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Daingerfield
Ann Rushing, Mayor, City of Clarksville
A.M. ”Rip” Benefield, Councilman, Queen City
Marc Reiter, Councilman, City of Hooks
Brady Fisher, Northeast Texas Resource Conservation & Development
District
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
Ralph Robertson, Mayor Pro Tem, the City of Mt. Vernon
GUESTS PRESENT
Reece DeWoody, Office of Senator John Cornyn
Daniel Alders, Office of Senator Ted Cruz
Robert McGee, Chief of Police, Queen City
Jim Caldwell, Red River County Sherriff’s Office
Samantha Sellers, Red River County Sherriff’s Office
Jennifer Harland, SWEPCO/NETX Workforce Solutions
Randy Reed, NETX Workforce Solutions
April Corbit, NETX Workforce Solutions
Kiann Richards, NETX Workforce Solutions
Susan Thorne, Member of the Public
STAFF PRESENT
Chris Brown, Executive Director
Sharon Pipes, Director of Administration
Linda Moore, Finance Manager
Lisa Reeve, Area Agency on Aging Manager
Claude Ramsey, IT Manager
Paul Prange, Environmental Resources Coordinator
Patricia Haley, Criminal Justice Coordinator
Leslie McBride, Human Resources Coordinator
Vickie Williamson, Special Projects Coordinator
Amber Thurston, Executive Assistant
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L.D. Williamson, President
Ark-Tex Council of Governments