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10-21-2014 MinutesMINUTES REGULAR MEETING October 21, 2014 A Regular Meeting was held by the Schertz City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas, on October 21, 2014, at 6:00 p.m., in the Hal Baldwin Municipal Complex Council Chambers, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Building #4, Schertz, Texas. The following members present to -wit: Mayor Michael Carpenter Councilmember Jim Fowler Councilmember Cedric Edwards Staff Present: Deputy City Manager John Bierschwale Chief of Staff Bob Cantu Deputy City Secretary Donna Schmoekel Call to Order Mayor Pro-Tem. Daryl John Councilmember David Scagliola Councilmember Matthew Duke City Manager John Kessel Executive Director Brian James City Attorney Charles Zech Mayor Carpenter called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Invocation and Pledges of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and the State of Texas ( Councilmember Scagliola) Councilmember Scagliola provided the invocation followed by the Pledges of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and the State of Texas. Employee Recognition Recognition of newly hired employees from the Police Department, Engineering Department and Development Services Department. (M. Bane/M. Sanchez/K. Woodlee) Mayor Carpenter recognized Police Chief Michael Hansen who introduced the following new employees providing a brief biography: Officer Adam Samaniego Officer Shawn O'Leary Officer Kris Mc%irt Mayor Carpenter recognized Director of Development Services Michelle Sanchez who introduced the following new employee providing a brief biography: Chief Inspector Gilbert (Gil) Durant Mayor Carpenter recognized City Engineer Kathy Woodlee who introduced the following new employee providing a brief biography: 10 -21 -2014 Minutes Page - 1 - • Graduate Engineer Cecilia Palomo Presentation • Proclamation recognizing Texas Chamber of Commerce Week. (Mayor /CounciI/M. Titterington) Mayor Carpenter recognized Ms. Maggie Titterington, Schertz Chamber of Commerce President and read and presented her with a Proclamation recognizing Texas Chamber of Commerce Week. • Guadalupe Regional Medical Center — Prescription Assistance Program update (J. Bierschwale /J. Riggs) Mayor Carpenter recognized Pharmacist Jerry Riggs, R. Ph, with the Guadalupe Regional Medical Center who provided a brief report regarding the Prescription Assistance Program. He stated the program provides assistance to indigent individuals and those without any medical or prescription insurance. Monetary assistance is received from a variety of sources and the City of Schertz contributes $5000 annually. There were 37 individuals from the Schertz area who received assistance from February 1, 2014 to July 31, 2014. He stated the retail dollar value of prescriptions provided to Schertz residents was approximately $122,247. The number of prescriptions per Schertz patients per month was 1.67, and the average prescription retail price (3 month supply) per Schertz patient was $329.74. The average annual retail prescription benefit per Schertz patient was $6,607.92. Mayor Carpenter and Council thanked Mr. Riggs for this great program. • Presentation and award from the National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation for a Four -Pack of Little Anne CPR Training Manikins. (J. Bierschwale/D. Wait) (General Managers from Gunn Chevrolet and Gunn Buick GMC will be present) Mayor Carpenter recognized EMS Director Dudley Wait who introduced EMS Community Health Manager, Kellie Scurlock who stated that by the end of October we will have trained over 350 people how to properly provide CPR. Ms. Scurlock stated that back in the summer, EMS was notified of a grant opportunity to obtain a set of CPR manikins from National Automobile Association and as we saw the need for more CPR manikins we pursued the grant. In order to apply, the Foundation required the grant application to be sponsored by a local automotive dealer. EMS reached out to Tony Rhodes at Gunn Automotive to see if they would be willing to sponsor our effort. Mr. Rhodes immediately agreed to be our sponsoring entity. Tonight, we have Mr. Charley O'Daniel the General Manager of Gunn Chevrolet and Mr. Phil Kandera, the General Manager of Gunn Buick / GMC, who are here to present our CPR manikins. Ms. Scurlock stated we are receiving a four -pack of Little Anne CPR manikins along with supplies, kneeling pads, and a carrying case. This package has a retail value of $850. 10 -21 -2014 Minutes Page - 2 - City Events and Announcements • Announcements of upcoming City Events (J. Bierschwale/B. James) Mayor Carpenter recognized Executive Director of Development Brian James who provided the following announcements: • Early Voting continues through Friday, October 31ST • Thursday, October 23, Ebola Informational Meeting for Elected and Appointed officials, Brooks City Base Emergency Operation Center, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. • Thursday, October 30, Community Volunteer Banquet &Steve Simonson Award, Schertz Civic Center- Bldg#5, 6:30 p.m. -9 p.m. • Announcements and recognitions by City Manager (J. Kessel) Mayor Carpenter recognized City Manager John Kessel who stated that he and Mayor Carpenter had received a two (2) page single- spaced email from a citizen commending the professional efforts of Public Works Dispatcher /Clerk Tiffany Danhof and the Public Works Department in general. The citizen stated she had witnessed a truck almost run over some children and she determined it was because there was not an adequate light in the area; the light was out. After speaking at length with the citizen, Ms. Danhof advised the street crew and the light was replaced by public works employees within a few days. The citizen was very grateful and wanted to thank Tiffany for talking with her and getting her concern addressed in a timely manner. Kuddos to Tiffany and the Public Works Department crew. Hearing of Residents: Mayor Carpenter recognized the following who spoke: • Mr. Carl Douglas, 2550 Woodland Village Place, who spoke on the need to have the `Meet the Candidates' night p.ior to the start of early voting so that the candidates have ample opportunity for marketing themselves prior to anyone casting their ballot. Also, for the past three years, we have been hosting a two hour session for not just our Schertz candidates but also Cibolo's candidates. This takes time away for our candidates here in Schertz to interface with our residents. Both Cibolo and Selma are hosting a `Meet the Candidates' forum on their own and Schertz candidates are not invited to either one of those events. Ms. Maggie Titterington, Chamber President stated that she would get with Mr. Douglas later to talk more on his concerns about this issue. • Ms. Phyllis Willman, 3544 Peach Tree Lane, who spoke regarding why it is taking so long for the City to hire an urgently needed professional director for the Schertz Area Senior Center. Many of the Seniors feel they are in limbo. She stated the Seniors are concerned and hearing rumors. They feel they need to have 10 -21 -2014 Minutes Page -3- a monthly financial report posted at the center that reflects what money they have earned and from what activities it came from as well as a list of the expenditures. Mr. T. Barret Lyne, 18075 FM 974, Bryan Texas, who spoke on SAWS and the Vista Ridge Water Proposal. He spoke on the `water grab' going on with SAWS, Blue Water, Vista Ridge, and Abengoa. They claim they have 3,425 leases and it is a fair representation of the landowners in Burleson, Milam, and Brazos County. He was asked to run an analysis our this information which showed an abnormal distribution. Only 5 percent of these leases are over 100 acres. He wanted to provide us this information and so we can become familiar with it. He just wants us to be informed of what is going on regarding Texas water concerns. Mr. Robert Brockman, 1000 Elbel Road, who spoke regarding the new traffic signals on FM 3009; they have not included any pedestrian crossing signals yet and he was wondering why. Deputy City Manager John Bierschwale stated he would check with TxDOT and see what they have to say about this. Mr. Brockman stated that as long as he was speaking with TxDOT he might also ask them whether the third stop light on vehicles is included as a state vehicle inspection item. He has noticed when some cars stop the two tail stop lights come on but not the third one located in the middle of the vehicle. Mr. Bierschwale stated he would ask about this item as well. Maggie Titterington, Schertz Chamber of Commerce President who provided information on the upcoming Chamber activities. She wanted to clarify that the `Meet the Candidates' forum being held this Thursday is indeed for both Schertz and Cibolo candidates. She will be the moderator for the event. Answers by the candidates to public questions will be limited by time so they can get through as many questions as possible. She explained that the joining of Cibolo and Schertz was a matter of manpower and expenses. The monthly October Chamber luncheon was great today. They have a Memory Workshop next Thursday and they have two spots left to fill of anyone is interested. Consent Aeenda Items Minutes — Approve the minutes of the regular meeting of October 14, 2014. (J. Kessel/B. Dennis) 2. Ordinance No. 14 -T -44 — Consideration and/or action approving an Ordinance by the City Council renewing the existing Economic Development Incentive Policy; providing an effective date; and other matters in connection therewith. Final Reading (J. Kesset/C. Sherman) The following was read into record: 10 -21 -2014 Minutes Page - 4 - ORDINANCE NO. 14-T-44 AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY COUNCIL RENEWING THE EXISTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE POLICY; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH 3. Ordinance No. 14 -T -45 — Consideration and/or action approving an Ordinance authorizing,a Budget Adjustment to the Schertz Economic Development Corporation Fund to correct the approved budget. Final Reading (J. Kessel/J. Walters) The following was read into record: ORDINANCE NO. 14 -T -45 AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS AUTHORIZING A BUDGET ADJUSTMENT TO THE SCHERTZ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION FUND TO CORRECT THE APPROVED BUDGET; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT WITH THIS ORDINANCE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Fowler who moved, seconded by Councilmember Edwards to approve the consent agenda items 1 through 3. The vote was unanimous with Mayor Pro -Tent John, Councilmembers Fowler, Scagliola, Edwards and Duke voting yes and no one voting no. Motion passed. Discussion and Action Items 4. Resolution No. 14 -R -88 — Consideration and/or action approving a Resolution adopting the By -Laws of the City of Schertz Area Senior Center Advisory Board. (B. James/B. James) The following was read into record: RESOLUTION NO. 14 -R -88 A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS ADOPTING THE BY -LAWS OF THE SCHERTZ AREA SENIOR CENTER ADVISORY BOARD, AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH Mayor Carpenter recognized Executive Director of Development Services Brian James who introduced this item stating that the City of Schertz took over Senior Center operations earlier this year after years of being run by the Comal County Senior Citizens Foundation. Since then; the seniors have formalized how they are organized by developing bylaws for the Schertz Area Senior Center Advisory Board. They wanted to get some acknowledgment from City Council that this is how they will operate and 10 -21 -2014 Minutes Page -5- provide input into the senior center. Mr. Brockman was kind enough to review the bylaws and pointed out 'a few inconsistencies in the language, such as, they used council in some spots and advisory board, and board in other areas. Tonight,- the recommendation from staff is approval of the bylaw resolution with changes in areas where it references advisory council to use advisory board just to be consistent. During the drafting of the bylaws the issue of restricting eligibility for the board to seniors was discussed and included, but it should be noted that the meetings are also open to non - seniors who have in the past provided valuable input in assistance with the center. Mr. James provided an update on the status ofthe Request for Proposals (RFQ) for an entity to operate the center and options for the meal program that are being explored. He also indicated that we would be happy to start producing financial reports and detailed information for the members. With that said, staff recommends approval of the bylaws with the change of language within it from the term `council' to `board.' Mayor Carpenter recognized Councihmember Duke who asked, `Of the five member advisory board, what does it take for a vote, a majority?' He did not see it written in the document. Mr. James stated he also did not see it written there. He suggested they table it and clean up this version and bring it back for council approval. However, Council decided to just approve the resolution as it is today and recommend that the advisory board meet as soon as they can and then make their modification to the language within. Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Scagliola who asked for a timeline of what the next step was towards finding a new management entity for the center. Mr. James said the bylaws were something the seniors wanted council to see so they would be aware of how the seniors are going to provide input to the senior organization. They intend to issue an RFQ to seek a management entity to run the activities. They will also run that document by the advisory board to get their input. One of the things that is a part of that proposal now is the meal program, which is a significant component. The assumption is that whoever runs it will have to also provide meals. With the lead we now have from CCSCT, we would like to first find out if this is a viable option for the meal program side and try it for a few weeks to determine if it will work. If it does work, then we can modify the RFQ to not include the meal program. This in tam will open ourselves up to a wider array of organizations who can provide only the activity/operations side of our needs. The benefit of this is that because of the funding source they wouldn't require the city to pay for it normally going forward. They take donations and if you are under a certain age you would pay a nominal cost of either $4 or $5 for your meal. Assuming the meeting goes well with the meal program, it will probably be about a month or six weeks before we put out the RFQ. If the meals program does not go over well, it will probably be about three weeks or so. Mayor Carpenter reminded everyone we had kind of stretched the limits of the discussion of approving the bylaws and are discussing the future of the senior center and we should have that under a separate item on a future agenda so if we could keep our discussion to just the bylaws and keep ourselves out of trouble with the open meeting act requirements. 10 -21 -2014 Minutes Page - 6 - Councilmember Scagliola stated his intention was to determine where these bylaws fit in the long range plans and this is a necessary item to take care of before we proceed. Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Edwards who moved, seconded by Councilmember Scagliola to approve Resolution No. 14 -R -88. The vote was unanimous with Mayor Pro -Tem John, Councilmembers Fowler, Scagliola, Edwards and Duke voting yes and no one voting no. Motion passed. Roll Call Vote Confirmation Mayor Carpenter recognized Deputy City Secretary Donna Schmoekel who recapped the votes of items 1 through 4. Requests and Announcements 5. Announcements by City Manager o Citizen Kudos o Recognition of City employee actions o New Departmental initiatives No farther announcements were made. 6. Requests by Mayor and Councihnembers that items be placed on a future City Council agenda. Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Scagliola who stated he requested an agenda item related to a plan to expedite some of the infrastructure improvements we had planned for the streets and sidewalks in the city and he will get together with staff later to explain it more specifically; no specific time frame, just at the convenience of staff. Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Duke who stated he had something similar, yet different. He has been receiving some calls recently regarding some very large cracks on the sidewalks on Schertz Parkway as you are going up the hill and he would like to know what are we doing to maintain those sidewalks as there is such heavy usage of that area. Mayor Carpenter added that this sounds like an opportunity to talk in general about infrastructure and potential bond needs. Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Fowler who stated that maybe in the near future, sometime after the November 4 election, he would like to have a discussion on the water easements we have in some areas of the City of Schertz and the relationship between those easements and private property; especially when some property owners can prevent other people from getting to their property because it would be considered trespassing on the other person's property. How can one person prevent others from reaching their own back yard? City Manager John Kessel suggested that the two of them sit down and look at the specifics and then see if it is a unique situation or something we need to bring back to council. Councilmember Fowler stated he thinks it needs to be 10 -21 -2014 Minutes Page - 7 - done. Mr. Kessel stated it sounds like a specific property with specific facts that is probably not applicable to all the other properties. Mr. Fowler stated that he thinks it appears to be something that does need to be tweaked. They agreed to get together and go over all the details. 7. Announcements by Mayor and Councilmembers • City and community events attended and to be attended • City Council Committee and Liaison Assignments (see assignments below) • Continuing education events attended and to be attended • Recognition of actions by City employees • Recognition of actions by community volunteers • Upcoming City Council agenda items Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Fowler who stated he attended the following: • Tuesday, October 21, 2014, Schertz Chamber of Commerce Luncheon. Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Scagliola who stated he attended the following: • Thursday, October 16, After Hours Mixer hosted by SurePoint Self Storage. • Monday, October 20, Wendy Swan Memorial Park Dedication; he thanked the staff (parks and our maintenance people) for setting everything up. • Tuesday, October 21, Schertz Chamber of Commerce Luncheon. Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Edwards who thanked Councilmember Scagliola for bringing up the Wendy Swan dedication. Mr. Edwards stated the staff had done a really great job with the new design of the signs. We are now sandblasting and etching the signs versus using the raised letters. This method will help keep down vandalism and of course the rusting issues. Adiournment As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7: 00 p.m. ATTEST: Michael R. Carpenter, Mayor Donna Schmoekel, Deputy City Secretary 10 -21 -2014 Minutes Page - s -