Loading...
07-20-2016 MinutesMINUTES REGULAR MEETING July 20, 2016 A Regular Meeting was held by the Committee of Committees Advisory Board of the City of Schertz, Texas, on July 20, 2016, at 3:00 p.m., at the Hal Baldwin Municipal Complex Council Chambers Conference Room located at 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. The following members present to -wit: Chair Richard Dziewit Board Member Michael Dahle Board Member David Reynolds Members absent: Board Member Floy `Fae' Simmons Board Member Shonale Burke Board Member Tim Brown Board Member Barbara Hall Staff Present: City Manager John Kessel Executive Director Brian James Executive Director Kyle Kinateder Assistant to the City Manager Sarah Gonzalez City Secretary Brenda Dennis Deputy City Secretary Donna Schmoekel Assistant Public Works Director Jim Hooks City Engineer Kathy Woodlee Public Works Manager Doug Letbetter Guests Present: Robert Brockman William `Bill' Bosch (Parks & Recreation Advisory Board member) Call to nrdpr Chair Richard Dziewit called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m., those present introduced themselves. Reports/Updates 1, Boards, Committees, Commission reports /updates. Chair Dziewit stated that TSAC did not meet in July but hopefully will have some interaction in August. Board member Dahle stated the Planning and Zoning Commission (P &Z) has had some meetings (well attended by residents) regarding two zoning cases for tax credit financing for apartment complexes. P &Z recommended to Council not to approve either request. Council has denied one of the cases and the other one will be determined at the August 2, 2016 City Council meeting. Board member Reynolds stated the Board of Adjustments is a quasi - judicial board that exercises the powers and duties issued by the state and the local government unified development code. They address appeals regarding permits (possible errors or those that don't quite fit the code). The last few months they have addressed variances for commercial parking spaces, building setbacks, signage issues, fences, etc. They make decisions based on information provided from city staff (Planning and Community Development Department). Last month they met and discussed easements. 07 -20 -2016 Minutes Page - 1 - Board member Hall (Schertz Historical Committee) mentioned that their Chair (Dean Weirtz) is back home after undergoing cardiac surgery. Their July 28 meeting was cancelled and their next meeting will be October 27, 2016. Meanwhile, Social Studies Coordinator Rebecca Williams from the SCUCISD is working with certain teachers (4th and 7th grades) instructing them about the history of Schertz so they can implement it into their curriculum this coming school year. A tentative date is set for some time in August. Also, the Art and Essay Contest for the students are set for September. This is open to all students Pre -K thru Grade 12. They are anticipating about 200 student entries. Ms. Hall spoke about the Schertz Main Street Preservation Incentive Program, a $250,000 grant from the City of Schertz on a city renovation plan. An application was received from 807 Main Street, but she was unable to get information on it as she was out of town. Paul Ringenbach is a new committee member and he is also the Vice Chairman of the 2017 Tri- Centennial Symposium for San Antonio. This will be held March 5 & 6, 2017. They feel it is quite an honor to have him as part of the Schertz Historical Committee. Note: Executive Director Brian James stated that both the Historical Committee and Council approved the grant application (capped at $20,000) requested by 807 Main Street. Board member Brown (EDC) stated probably everyone has by now noticed the completed demolition of the house to the right of the Council Chambers. This adds a bit more land to the city's master plan in the future. Executive Director Kyle Kinateder added that one of the businesses (Major Wire) that they awarded an incentive to has now moved into the city and they are fully operational. Mr. Brown stated the board continues to work with other business towards their goal of increasing economic growth in the city. William `Bill' Bosch stated the Parks and Recreation Committee members were looking at the Strategic Plan and also focusing more on policy; after that the intent is to focus more on recreation versus parks. Executive Director Brian James added they also want to do an update on the draft of the Hike and Bike Master Plan at their next meeting. Chair Dziewit stated that, regarding TSAC, they are proposing to have a report from CCAB to TSAC so they can understand what is going on and find out how we are interacting with each other with our information. Hopefully they will have that available for the August meeting. 2. City Manager report/updates. Chair Dziewit recognized City Manager John Kessel who stated staff is right in the middle of budget. We are essentially done and now need to make decisions on what needs to be funded or cut, what do we need to change etc.,? On Friday, July 29 we have a council retreat at the Fairfield Inn. Anyone is invited to attend. This one is going to focus on roadways, which is on this agenda for today —so you will be getting a preview of what council will hear /discuss. We continue to see strong progress from TxDOT. They are looking at FM 1518, getting surveys done, obtaining rights of access, etc. They are responsive and are going to look at the full width and design rather than a limited section, which allows us to start and see what kind of funding we can find to continue with Phase Il. This eliminates a need for us to `start over' with design, etc. when we actually go into Phase 11 of the project. 07 -20 -2016 Minutes Page - 2 - Mr. Kessel stated the 4th of July Jubilee this year was a huge success again and is our signature event here in Schertz. It is a strong investment that we need to continue with. In regard to FM 1103, we are deep into the design process. Since the last update, the City of Cibolo had proposed to do a Tollway beginning on the other side of Hwy 78 towards IH -10. We met with Cibolo, TxDOT and the Tollway party who were proposing to have components extending up to IH -35. TxDOT stated if that is going to be a Tollway we are out and you all can start managing that project and there won't be any TxDOT dollars. TxDOT has rules that prohibit them from doing a Tollway. Their dollars are allocated for operational, functional operations. So if you hear any rumors about a Tollway from Steele High School towards IH- 35 that is not going to happen. TxDOT will rebuild the bridge over 111-35, so our $2 million will be matched by $2 million for our section of the road and we will be getting another $8 -9 million in a new bridge. The bridge is scheduled for 2017 construction and in 2018 construction for FM 1103 will begin. In total, it will be a 2 -3 year construction period. As far as FM 1518 timing, they are still saying it will be a 5 year start to get from design to when they can begin construction. This involves a schematic design, environmental design, detail design —then you acquire all the pieces. After that you start to relocate utilities, etc. So we have a window of what we want to do with Phase II of this project. Chair Dziewit asked how this would impact the new Fire station No.3 /Admin Facility proposed for that area. Mr. Kessel stated the recommended site is not directly affected by FM 1518. Travel will be affected but we are not fronting onto FM 1518 so we can work independently of the project. We have a verbal and written contract and a willing seller. However, we have an architect who needs to look at the site for evaluating the dimensions so we can buy just the right amount of property - -- approximately 4 acres. The process will be similar to what we did with the Aquatics Facility by engaging a Manager at Risk agreement. We want to control our costs and not be faced with a lot of escalating unexpected expenses. NOTE: Mr. Kessel requested we go next to Item No. 5 of the Agenda. He also recommended that Public Works and Engineering personnel attending today could give a more detailed report at a subsequent meeting so we don't have to limit ourselves in time today. 5. Discussion and possible action regarding roads /streets and infrastructure. (J. Kessel /B. James) Chair Dziewit recognized City Manager John Kessel to continue with this topic of discussion. Mr. Kessel recommended we use the term `roadway stewardship'. This should be how we are approaching this particular subject. It is not about just one road or one project. How are we managing our roadway network from a larger perspective? In our Strategic Plan, there are three operational values that we reference back to as staff. (1) The systems management —it allows us to integrate and consolidate our resources, share best practices, and achieve greater results and efficiencies across the organization rather than settle for results gained at an individual department level. (2) Being innovative— create new value for our community through meaningful change. (3) Being proactive— create a professional environment that fosters efficiency, offers a greater range of choice and meets stakeholder expectations. 07 -20 -2016 Minutes Page - 3 - These are the three main areas we will test against. The big picture issue from a staff and/or perhaps a board or commission perspective is that there is a balance needed among all the different competing demands. We all tend to focus on what is in front of us rather than what is all around us. All of our needs across the community and different areas are important for us to remember how these areas all fit together. We definitely want to look at our roads (new and existing). For example, FM 1518 is an existing road but we are looking at improvements that will make it a `new' road: new capacity, five lanes instead of two, etc. Schertz Parkway, for example, is a road we simply need to do maintenance and repair work on. We also want to look at our buildings and facilities. We are in the final steps of that. It was recommended we consolidate some of our city hall functions. We would need to be prepared to perhaps move our public safety department to a separate site (would require building a new facility), build a new city hall (two or three stories) on the main campus, etc. Also, to consider would be purchases of new land (for future city use) while it is still available. Then we need to consider maintaining our current parks, public restrooms and other community facilities. Additionally, water and wastewater facilities cost a lot of money /resources, drainage facilities, etc. Maintaining staffing levels are another consideration; we should be targeting about 110 citizens per employee. These are examples of having to assign buckets of money to specific areas rather than project based. Executive Director Brian James provided an example of the city recently (in 2015) doing a classification and compensation survey to evaluate our staff pay and employment competitiveness with other local area cities. The results showed we were below average, in the bottom half. Our plan of recovery didn't even get us to the half way mark. We can't do that in a year —it will take closer to five years. Mr. Kessel stated we had pre - funded only $300,000 towards that study. However, once we had the data, we found a strategy to deal with it. Each year we start the budget and we start with our needs to chip away at this particular project. Shonale Burke arrived at 3:45 p.m. Mr. James explained how with budgeting we look at our needs, more staff, places to put them, dealing with our older parks issues, equipment, etc. These expenses are all divided into buckets of funding. Priorities are then set in each individual department. It is better to address a few things every year than wait several years and then throw a lot of money at it. Mr. Kessel stated big philosophical things they are trying to get direction on is that there are many buckets we are trying to get reviewed, none of which we will get 100% done in any one year, but in a five or ten year window we can move all of them forward together better. He asked if this is a concept this group would agree with. The board members concurred. Another concept is that within roadways in particular there are three strategies: 1) new construction- example, FM 1518 2) road repair -worst road approach 3) proactive repairs - extending the life of a road. This is a new program, more innovative and system oriented. We have a promise to every region/neighborhood in the city. Just because you were on a list in 2006 does not mean you have a greater promise than someone else. We have to get away from this type of thing of making a promise to one and not the other. 07 -20 -2016 Minutes Page - 4 - Mr. Kessel gave an example of putting into place a reserve account to replace vehicles. They used to be line items in the budget request. This year is the first year where we have been able to fully utilize all of our vehicles out of that replacement fund. There are different kinds of areas in the city. The core roads, (i.e., FM 3009), how we all get around, specific residential roads, and economic engine roads (i.e., Tri- County Parkway). We need to stay in balance in all these areas that we are making progress on: the worst residential streets, the worst economic engine streets, and the worst mobility streets. Balance is needed. The Strategic Plan speaks of systems management, being innovative, and being proactive. He hopes what we are attempting to do with this does meet those criteria. The final component of this is that when we did the Class /Comp Study, people wanted to make different philosophical choices. What was helpful was having a pre- approved philosophy for compensation because it kept us from playing favorites. If we don't have a clear cut philosophy or stewardship program as we roll out those numbers to groups, people will say they don't agree with that philosophy. It is the only thing that will keep us grounded. Our strategy going into the retreat will include laying out where we currently are from a budget standpoint and if these philosophies are correct than we have to have different pots of money created that don't currently exist and adding to those pots of money. If council supports what this body says, then it will include other projects, not just roadways. It is important for council to see this mix of things (balance). If you want a philosophical policy that recognizes those balances and we present some options that show it, then we need them at that point to still say yes. If they are not willing to say yes now, then they probably won't be willing to say yes later. He asked the members if they were willing to support this strategy. Chair Dziewit stated he would like to ask the board for their opinions. Everyone stated yes, they would support this strategy. 3. Report and updates from the Public Works and Engineering Departments. (D. Wait /B. James/K. Woodlee /J. Hooks) • Mr. Kessel stated that due to the time (4:53 p.m.), he is going to ask the Public Works/Engineering Departments to come back for the next meeting in August to present their more detailed information. Discussion and /or Action Items 4. Minutes. Consideration and /or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of June 15, 2016. Chair Dziewit recognized Board Member Brown who moved, seconded by Board Member Dahle to approve the June 15, 2016 minutes. The vote was 6 -0 -0. Motion passed. 6. Future Agenda Items Requested — This is an opportunity for the Board members to request that items be placed on a future agenda. No discussion of the merits of the item may be taken at this time. The committee agreed to ask EDC for a presentation/update at the August 17, 2016 meeting. The meeting date for September 21, 2016 was re- affirmed. 07 -20 -2016 Minutes Page - 5 - ADJOURNMENT: As there was no further business, Chair Dziewit adjourned the meeting at 4:55 p.m. %chard Dzie it, Chair A n a Dennis, City Secretary 07 -20 -2016 Minutes Page - 6 -