1962 02 05 CC Minutes, Special1715
MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
February 5, 1962
The City Council of the City of Baytown met in special session on Monday,
February 5, 1962, at 7:00 o'clock P.M. in the Council Room of the Baytown City Hall
with the following members in attendance:
Seaborn Cravey Councilman
W. L. Ward Councilman
C. A. Hansen Councilman
Velma H. Ansley Councilman
Roy H. Hughes Councilman
James M. Bryan Councilman
Al Clayton Mayor
J. B. LeFevre City Manager
George Chandler City Attorney
Edna Oliver City Clerk
The Mayor called the meeting to order and introduced Harry F. Massey, Manager
of the Baytown Division of the Houston Natural Gas Corporation.
Discussion - Request for Rate Increase
Mr. Massey introduced Mr. Jack Hinds, Attorney and Vice President of the
Houston Natural Gas Corporation who referred to his request of November 26th for
an adjustment in the residential and small commercial gas rates in the City of Bay-
town. He discussed the schedules of present rates and proposed rates, the opera-
tional expense, system of accounting and statement of operations. The Company is
asking for an increase in minimum monthly bill of residential consumers from $1.60
to $2.00 and from $1.85 to $2.00 on small commercial consumers, this would result
in an approximate 95Z monthly increase to both residential and small commercial
consumers. The new rate schedule will reducethe cubic feet of gas from 1,000 to
400 for residential and small commercial users and increase the monthly bill
from $1.60 to $2.00 and $1.85 to $2.00 respectfully. The return on investment for
cities in the company's system, with the exception of Baytown, was set at 5.44 per
cent and in Baytown 5.94 per cent. The Council contended that this discrepancy
was unfair to the consumers in Baytown while Mr. Hinds plead for a uniform cubic
feet rate schedule throughout the entire system. Since the Council was of the
opinion that the operational schedule presented by the gas company's representatives
was unrealistic, Mr. Hinds invited City Manager LeFevre to visit the main office
in Houston to see if the records are not kept in accordance with good accounting
practices and principles. Mr. LeFevre accepted the invitation and the Council
deferred further action on the request at this meeting. A second meeting was set'
for Tuesday, February 13, at which time the City Manager will make a report of
his findings and the Council will pursue its discussion in an effort to reach a
compromise.
Adiournment
1 Councilman Ansley moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilman Cravey
1 seconded the motion. The ayes were unanimous and the Mayor declared the meeting
adjourned.
Al Clayton, May #r
Edna Oliver, City Clerk