08-16-2017 MinutesMINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
August 16, 2017
A Regular Meeting was held by the Committee of Committees Advisory Board of the City of
Schertz, Texas, on August 16, 2017, 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 Tim Brown
Sue Boissonneault
Board Member Shonale Burke
Board Member Earl Hartzog
Staff Present: City Manager John Kessel
Executive Director Brian James Assistant to City Manager Sarah Gonzalez
EDC Director Kyle Kinateder Public Affairs Director Linda Klepper
Environmental Health Manager Jesse Hamilton
Members Absent: Boardmember Floy `Fae' Simmons
Call to Order
Chair Richard Dziewit called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. and asked everyone to introduce
themselves.
Discussion and /or Action Items
1. Minutes. Consideration and/or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the
regular meeting of June 21, 2017.
Chair Dziewit recognized Board Member Brown who made a motion to approve the minutes,
seconded by Board Member Hartzog. The vote was 5 -0 -0. Motion passed.
Rep orts/Updates/Discussion and /or Action
2. Boards, Committee, Commission report/updates.
CCAB members were all provided a summary document that contained the most recent
updates /information for each board/commission/committee. CCAB members also touched
on the highlights from their respective board /commission/committee. BOA had not met
since the last CCAB meeting.
The Library did not meet in July but did meet on August 7. They went over the revenue from
their recent book sale and went over their upcoming budget which is basically maintaining
their current level of service with no increase in things.
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TSAC is still looking at the parking issues over near the Autumn Winds Retirement Center to
see what can be done. He should have better information coming forward in a month or so.
Mr. James added they have also been looking at the parking issues with the Samuel Clemens
School District where students have been parking at the Library, Playscape and Senior
Center. With the renovation of the school now, we will probably have an even bigger
problem this coming school year.
Mr. James said the Historical Committee had their quarterly meeting in July and they will
probably be putting up some more banners in Aviation Heights. They also had another
request for a Main Street grant.
Tim Brown stated EDC had two meetings. On June 22nd they approved their 2017 -18 budget.
They are including $500,000 that will be used for small business grants. They are also going
to purchase the primary software for permitting for the city; the city will be responsible for
maintaining and operations going forward. The base price is approximately $265,000. They
also plan on having a 20th anniversary celebration in 2018, for which they approved $20,000
for expenditures. At their July 27th meeting, they approved a service agreement between
Schertz Economic Development and Comal County to provide economic development
services on behalf of the county. For clarification, the 1/z million dollars set aside for small
business grants are restricted to those companies that will create primary jobs — meaning
companies that bring in new money to our community so there is more demand for additional
businesses like doctor offices, new restaurants, etc.
Mr. James stated Parks and Recreation had a couple of meetings and discussed what they
need to focus on and possible future drone use at city parks. The general decision was not to
allow them for safety reasons —we are limited by state law. They also discussed how to name
future parks in the city —the general consensus being to name a park after a person, and that
person should have some type of connection with it (i.e., Wendy Swan Park).
3. Citizen Survey discussion. (S. Gonzalez /L. Klepper)
Chair Dziewit introduced Assistant to the City Manager Sarah Gonzalez and Public Affairs
Director Linda Klepper who provided a summary of the Citizen Survey which was conducted
last fall. It identified the need for increased communication between the City and Schertz
residents. Ms. Gonzalez gave examples of two great communication tools; those being the
Schertz Magazine and the city website, currently in the process of being updated.
Ms. Klepper provided a PowerPoint presentation and highlighted several initiatives that are
underway through the Public Affairs Department in an effort to allow staff to listen better to
Schertz residents. Public Affairs is also focusing on specific tools to help send information
out to Schertz residents. One example is the city's 311 incoming call center, which takes
about 445,000 incoming calls per year. Other avenues of communication are through the
various city boards, committees, and commission public meetings, annual budget meetings,
City Council, or Council -on- the -go meetings. Staff listens to them and gets feedback at all
these gatherings. Social media is another popular avenue (i.e., Instagram, Facebook, Twitter).
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People can leave comments and we get feedback from that. The city also has group
(departmental) e- mails. Surveys are another method we use to get public feedback. Some
others are city surveys, HOA meetings and social media `community' pages and
comment cards at our Council -on- the -Go Community Meetings.
The area they are trying to focus on now is trying to improve on their outreach feedback
loop through the new website, the Schertz Magazine, e -mail groups and more to engage
more with the residents. They are striving to standardize all their communication
processes towards more consistency.
4. Discussion on FY 2017/18 Budget (J. Kessel)
City Manager, John Kessel, provided an overview of the proposed FY 2017 -18 budget.
Mr. Kessel emphasized that the proposed budget addresses the main items addressed in
the citizen survey and other input received by staff. Twenty -two new staff positions will
be created including 2 police officers, a code enforcement officer, inspections personnel,
and public works staff members. The proposed budget will allocate $1.3 million towards
storm water maintenance for drainage. Mr. Kessel said that the proposed budget utilizes
current reserves while ensuring that the City maintains its 26% reserve threshold over the
next five years. Mr. Kessel addressed questions and comments from the members.
5. 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.
Chair Dziewit recognized Boardmember Hartzog who stated he would still like to see an
item for discussion regarding `recycling'. Additionally, he inquired how often the survey
would be done in the future— answer: every other year.
Chair Dziewit requested for the next meeting, maybe have a discussion regarding
`contracts' – regarding the processes and how that in turn affects everything else. Mr.
James stated we could probably do both of these items on the next agenda.
ADJOURNMENT:
Chair Dziewit stated if there was nothing else, the meeting was adjourned (4:22 p.m.).
ATTEST:
Donna Schmoekel, Deputy City Secretary
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Richard Dziewit, Chair
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