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03-31-2015 MinutesMINUTES REGULAR MEETING March 31, 2015 A Joint Workshop Meeting was held by the Schertz City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas, and the Mayor's Task Force on March 31, 2015, at 6:00 p.m., at the Schertz Civic Center. The following members present to -wit: Mayor Michael Carpenter Councilmember Grumpy Azzoz Councilmember Robin Thompson Councilmember Daryl John was absent. Mayor's Task Force members Present: Maggie Titterington Barbara Hall Fae (Floy) Simmons Richard Dziewit Mayor Pro -Tem Cedric Edwards Councilmember Jim Fowler Tim Brown Howson Lau Michael Dahle Members Frank McElroy and Ed Finley were absent. Staff Present: Executive Director Brian James Chief of Staff Bob Cantu City Secretary Brenda Dennis Call to Order (General Comments) City Manager John Kessel Interim Executive Director Dudley Wait City Attorney Charles Zech Deputy City Secretary Donna Schmoekel Mayor Carpenter called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Mayor Carpenter had Councilmember Thompson provide an invocation. Welcome /Overview • Mayor's Task Force Introduction and Overview. Mayor Carpenter began by stating last summer he envisioned a `Task Force Committee' consisting of a member representative from each of the current city volunteer boards and commissions. This committee would meet and talk as a group about our community priorities and what we could and should do next and collaborate on what they felt we the city could focus on; what quality of life projects and improvements are of immediate concern to the community. Members were selected from each board and now this community involvement team has been meeting regularly for the past six months. 03 -31 -2015 Minutes Page - 1 - City Manager John Kessel passed out a handout to the attendees. He said stated this could be a reference for us to use and at the same time see the current policy values of the city. Mayor Carpenter recognized committee member Mr. Michael Dable who had each member of the team stand and introduce themselves. Mr. Dahle said they wanted to look at community involvement, volunteer fair(s), utilization of websites, etc. One of the best ideas brought up was about getting kids involved. This already has happened through the Historical Committee with an Arts and Essay Contest which recently happened. Then the committee discussed what we should do as a community in regard to having a quality of life environment, supporting our local economic engine, and providing core services to our residents, as well as how to keep a good balance in these three areas. They also talked about the city budget and its impact on the community. Remembering back to the 2010 bond projects, the general consensus was we got a little out of balance with concentrating more on quality of life projects. • Staff update on potential Bond Measure items. Mr. Dahle stated that the proposal by city staff to build a third fire station in south Schertz is an absolute must for us. This project could also be expanded to include a meeting space. Two of our roadways (FM 1103 and FM 1518) and infrastructure are also priorities. Future land acquisition for future parks is also important as land is never going to get cheaper. Basically, they recommend five projects in total: 1) FM 1103 2) FM 1518 3) Fire Station No. 3 4) Roadway Improvements (intersections, traffic signals, etc.), and 5) Land acquisition. The total estimated budget is around $20 million; a category estimate is as follows: 1) $2.5 million, 2) $7.5 million 3) $7.0 million 4) $2.0 million, and 5) $1.0 million. Mr. Kessel added that in talking this afternoon with facility master plan staff the fire station project would be closer to $8 million if they want to include amenities such as a large meeting room, EMS patient treatment room, police room, equipment and other soft costs. Mayor Carpenter stated that the staff has already taken a look at our bond capacity which estimates we can issue this amount of debt, handle the payments on it, and remain in a position that protects our bond rating; and we can do it without raising taxes. We can spend more or less if we want to but this $20 million is a threshold that says we can do this without raising taxes. So what are our priorities in using this amount of money? Mr. Kessel clarified that in regard to possible TxDOT assistance for road improvements on FM 1103 and FM 1518 they (TxDOT) have already verbally committed to a one to one match for FM 1103. This represents a $5 million investment. The worst scenario is they could come back and say we don't have any money. Then we would use what we have to maybe make turn lanes or install traffic 03 -31 -2015 Minutes Page - 2 - signals, widen the roadway, etc. That number needs to be what we can live with even if TxDOT doesn't help. There are about 4,000 plots already approved for development in southern Schertz which means about 10,000 new housing units. There will soon be another school (elementary) in this area. Currently there is not any room for passing on the roadway (FM 1518) and traffic quickly gets stacked up, resulting in impatient motorists who start taking chances in passing. It is an unsafe situation and is a high priority for us to fix even if TxDOT does not assist us. There are different reports always coming out regarding growth and Austin (l') and San Antonio (5�h) are among the top 10 fastest growing cities. In fact, Travis, Hays, and Comal counties are the fastest growing counties in the entire nation right now. We are right in the fastest growing traffic corridor in the nation right now and this means more schools, cross roads, water, and sewage services are necessary. If we get behind it will be harder to catch up. Our current projections are going to be low and the pace of growth is getting quicker. Councilmember Azzoz asked how FM 1518 would look if we did not get any monetary assistance from anywhere else. Mr. Kessel stated he thinks `adequate' will not happen until we widen it to either four or six lanes. However, if we make turn lane improvements it will make it more safe and effective. We really should do a design first with a portion of our money so that we can deal more efficiently with TxDOT and their engineers. If right -of -ways are needed, that takes two years to accomplish. Mr. Azzoz asked how soon we could expect the 4,000 new homes in south Schertz. Mr. Kessel estimated it would be about 10 years; this includes Willow Grove, Rhine Valley, and Cross Vine developments. The Laurel Heights subdivision is building homes as fast as they can. Schertz Forest is also out there. Five years from now there will be twice as many homes as we have now. If we suddenly had all the money we needed to do the FM 1518 road rebuild it would take about five years; a year of design, a year of environmental, and two or three years of construction, including right -of -way acquisition. Remember that the day you can proceed is not the day after the election approving the bonds, but the day all the bonds are sold (usually around January or February). We would have to phase in the different projects we have to work on. Councilmember Fowler stated he was at The Crossvine subdivision today and was surprised at the number of homes that have already been sold and two families are already in residence. Councilmember Edwards expressed caution about how many more homes we should be bringing into the area in the future. We should also consider bringing in Joint Base San Antonio in our conversations on this subject and talk about securing their future. We need to consider our future economic engine. Our decisions need to be made for securing our future. Mr. Kessel referred everyone back to the handout and said all these projects are wanted and needed. He referenced roads, both new and existing (those that need to be rebuilt), as necessary for future development and handling the increased traffic 03 -31 -2015 Minutes Page - 3 - capacity. Councilmember Azzoz said we have to be careful so we don't run short on our budget. Costs are rising and you can add 12% to the cost for the day we get to the point of action. Mr. Kessel agreed that costs will continue to increase and we will have to consider that. Councilmember Edwards said interest rates are low now and we should strike while the iron is hot; meet with our financial advisors and see what they say. Mr. Kessel stated if we issue debt we need to be buying land, doing design, pursing a project and moving forward. Our limitations are what we have as our bond capacity without raising taxes and the community's tastes for tax increase. Staff capacity must also be considered for managing these projects and maintaining them (example, Fire Station #3). Mayor Carpenter stated if we go with $40 -50 million dollars to spend on projects, we are going to have to hire more people in order to execute on those or sacrifice customer service in our ability to maintain our day to day operations; a delicate balance to manage. We, as a community, can choose to raise taxes to allow us to take faster action but it is a hefty undertaking. Councilmember Azzoz said there is a price associated with maintaining a quality of life atmosphere and citizens won't mind as long as they know where the money is going. We need to make sure we have staff and services; no one likes to raise taxes, but it is a price you pay for access to certain amenities; nothing is free. Mrs. Simmons stated she believes they can effectively go out and sell these five projects. This is the first step. Others will follow. She believes they can sell these bonds. Community salesmanship is very crucial. Mr. Dahle said Council has to decide if the current Task Force Committee can now become the Bond Committee and start going out to have meetings with the public and get feedback from them. Mr. Azzoz said with these issues, the trust has to be there. Mrs. Simmons stated we have learned something from the last bond issue and that will help them with the current task ahead of them. Councilmember Thompson said he thinks it is all in how we talk to the citizens, not what we haven't done but what we have done. Secondly, in regard to acquisition of land, has there been some discussion of potentially acquiring some of the land near Randolph to use as a buffer zone through parks? The task force members said no they had not; they recommended city staff, council, and JBSA discuss this subject. Mr. Kessel said we are working with JBSA and they are not thinking about acquiring any land by imminent domain. The Air Force is working with us for what they need and what we need. We need to focus on what is in front of us. Mr. Richard Dziewit stated we are trying to maintain this project activity to where taxes do not have to go up. Councilmember Azzoz said that FM 15 is something the public would probably go for because it is a structural improvement (roadways); FM 1518 is a very crucial road as is the Fire Station in south Schertz. Councilmember Fowler pointed out that we decided to get several smaller things (Animal Adoption Center, Skate Park, Ball Parks, Dog Park) done in a time frame as we could, and we did, except for the largest one (the swimming pool). If you had 03 -31 -2015 Minutes Page - 4 - done the pool first, we would not have these other things in place already. Mr. Kessel agreed there was some logic in doing it this way with what we could accomplish. We identified we would need $500,000 a year to operate the pool and our operating budget didn't allow it. It was easier to work on the other projects. While the pool is a delayed project it will come in on budget and not cause a tax increase. Ms. Simmons said we cannot control all the variables, we have to act and make decisions based on what we have now and as we go along in the future. Mr. Dahle added the people who are planning deal with this and make their best estimates and adapt accordingly. • Discussion on potential Bond Election process and items. Mayor Carpenter said a lot of what we are discussing now, the dollar amounts and the speed of implementation is largely what a bond committee would do. So what is our next step? Do we want this same task force group to serve as the bond committee or do we want to expand it? We don't have a lot of time; we need to get the committee seated. They need time to discuss the merits, more or less, ratify the priorities and come back with recommendations. We have to call the election in August. Council needs to discuss how to seat a committee. The current task force is currently made up of nine members with no designated chair. Mr. Azzoz suggested allowing this current task force board move into the bond committee role due to their cohesiveness and progress they have made. Councilmember Fowler asked everyone was willing to serve; they replied yes. They also recommended leaving the committee at its current size. They also stated they would call upon various subject experts as needed. • Direction on potential Bond Election preparation for June City Council Retreat. Mayor Carpenter requested we put an item on the next available agenda to appoint the bond committee. Mr. Kessel said this group will have to develop the details that have to be budgeted and determine the scope so the city attorney and city manager can write the actual language for council review in June. We also have a number of things to consider with the classification and compensation study that will be a significant issue to work through in a short period of time. We have to prepare the budget. We also have the facilities master plan to work with in its final stages. So the bond committee really. needs to have some deliverable data in June. Mayor Carpenter asked if anyone from the community wanted to speak. No one did. He then asked the council to consider if this task force should become an ongoing group (a committee of the various committees) to facilitate even better communication between the different boards and groups. He requested this be on the next council agenda. Mr. Dziewit said he has found that this committee has already opened up communication between the different committees and also the schools and asked what each other needs. Mayor Carpenter said this group could also become an 03 -31 -2015 Minutes Page - 5 - important part of the annual budget process. We have the city departments already working together during the budget planning and we should probably have the boards, committees and commissions made up of the citizenry have this same opportunity. It'is an alignment of leadership. This could be a very valuable long term approach to decide what we are going to do, who we are going to be, and how we are going to spend the people's money. Councilmember Azzoz thanked everyone for the work they contributed. Mayor Carpenter asked if anyone had changed their mind about speaking up. Mayor Carpenter recognized Mr. Glen Outlaw who stated he felt they should consider allowing a few others to join the group as the new bond committee. It could otherwise be construed as an inside group. Councilmember Azzoz said he is not in favor of that because it would take a lot of time to educate them and bring them up to speed. At the end of the day, they will be bringing their recommendations to city council and it will be in their hands. Mr. Outlaw, said the group has done a great job, but the next problem is going to be selling these identified priorities to the public. His suggestion is not to undo what the group has already done but to assist in convincing the public these are the priorities. Mayor Carpenter suggested we think about this until next week because this group can do surveys or otherwise interact with the public. Councilmember Fowler said there may be times they will need to bring in someone with some expertise to advise them and add input to their mission. Mr. Dahle said he also foresees the committee having a few public meetings for more input. Adi ournment As there was no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:36 p. , -%c el R. Carpenter, Mayor ATTEST: L Donna Schmoekel, Deputy City Secretary 03 -31 -2015 Minutes Page - 6 -