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09-04-2018 MinutesMINUTES REGULAR MEETING September 4, 2018 A Regular Meeting was held by the Schertz City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas, on September 4, 2018, 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 Pro -Tem David Scagliola Councilmember Ralph Gutierrez Councilmember Cedric Edwards Councilmember Bert Crawford Staff Present: Executive Director Dudley Wait City Attorney Dan Santee Mayor Michael Carpenter was Absent. Call to Order — City Council Regular Session Councilmember Mark Davis Councilmember Scott Larson Councilmember Angelina Kiser Acting City Manager Brian James Assistant to the City Manager Sarah Gonzalez City Secretary Brenda Dennis Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola called the regular meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. Opening Prayer and Pledges of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and State of Texas. ( Councilmember Edwards) Councilmember Edwards provided the opening prayer followed by the pledges of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and State of Texas. Proclamation • Proclamation recognizing National Payroll Week (M. Carpenter /Christine Bodily) Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola read and presented the proclamation for National Payroll Week to Andrea Spanley Jones. Employee Recognition • EMS, Benjamin Potts, Paramedic • Public Affairs, Arturo Ortiz, Events Attendant — (Was not available to be introduced) • Public Works, Hector Mauldin & Trey Combs Water Serviceman I Each Department Supervisor introduced their new staff member(s) and provided a brief bio on them. Mayor Pro-Tern Scagliola and Council welcomed everyone on board. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 1 - City Events and Announcements ® Announcements of upcoming City Events (B. James/D. Wait/S. Gonzalez) Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Assistant to the City Manager Sarah Gonzalez who provided the following announcements: Wednesday, September 5th Blood Drive 8:00 am - noon Community Center Parking Lot Saturday, September 8th Paws in the Pool, Noon to 4:00 pm Pickrell Park Pool Tuesday, September 11th City Council Meeting 6:00 pm Council Chambers Thursday, September 13th Northeast Partnership Meeting 11:30 am Olympia Hills Golf Course and Conference Center Friday, September 14' Ribbon Cutting — PhaseLink Utility Solutions 2600 East FM 1518 Join the Chamber of Commerce to meet their newest member. Friday, September 1411 and 15th Schertz Pickrell Park Annual BBQ Cook -off, live music, carnival, family zone, fireworks, and more • Announcements and recognitions by the Acting City Manager (B. James)- No announcements were made. • Announcements and recognitions by the Mayor. (M. Carpenter) No announcements were made. Hearing of Residents Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized the following who spoke: 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 2 - Ms. Michelle Womack, 2944 Mineral Springs, who provided slides /pictures of various shelter animals this past week to show the current poor conditions in the shelter. She asked that her presentation be added to the official records of this council meeting. She was alerted to concerns earlier this year in June. Complaints were in regard to poor treatment of staff, lack of cleanliness and a claim of animal dumping by the facility manager. She has submitted an open records request for which she is still waiting for a response. Animals continue to die (diseases /other medical issues) and be mistreated. She spoke of her visits to the shelter last weekend. She witnessed filth, sick and underweight animals, animals housed together when they didn't have to be and more. On Friday she requested a meeting with city management and three councilmembers. She was concerned about the conditions but also concerned about two animals in particular. Mr. James listened. She wanted Council present to hear her concerns. She thanked Mr. James for following through with her request that the two animals have vet care. He kept in touch with her all weekend long and was at the facility on Saturday trying to make improvements on the conditions and direct staff on the two animals care. She checked this morning and the two animals are improving and the facility is clean —like it used to be, prior to the current manager's employment with the city. The sick cat population is now in another area where she hopes and prays they will get the care they need. However, there is still much more work that needs to be done. It is evident the facility is lacking in proper management and procedure. There is just no other way that it could have been in the current condition that it is. Saturday, Staff was not following vet recommendations for either one of the two animals she was concerned about. Without proper facility management, procedure and training, the shelter will return to last weeks condition. Animals will suffer and die. Two conditions bothered her the most over the weekend. First, the facility manager was no where to be found while employees scrubbed and scrambled to improve conditions. A good leader would have been there next to them making the situation right. A strong properly trained manager takes full responsibility, apologizes to their staff and digs deep to put in the work. It became clear there were no procedures in place to deal with sick animals on days the shelter is closed. This is a huge sign of unqualified and untrained leadership. Moving forward there are multiple things that must happen. A Schertz citizen needs to be placed on the Animal Advisory Board. Senior management needs to seek guidance from other local area facilities on proper cleaning and disinfectant policies as well as operational policies. A-permanent plan must be in place on handling sick animals when the facility is closed. Staff must be trained on the importance of following vet orders. The city must call for an immediate demotion or removal of the facility manager. All cats need to be tested and treated for various illnesses. Reinstate the observation and intake side of the facility to avoid introduction of illnesses and be able to observe pets with behavioral concerns. Return all vet care to the local area vets instead of pet shots. Reinstate positive relationships with local area rescue organizations that have worked with Schertz for years. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 3 - Money needs-to be spent where it needs to be spent —on animal care. Time cards should be reviewed by someone outside of the facility. Review of all procedures needs to occur from April 30a` forward. Stop all transfers until sick animals are treated. Transfers should be from our smaller sister cities only —they don't have big budgets —they need us. All donations to the shelter should be removed from the general fund and put in a separate fund for medical needs. Accountability of the funds need to be made public. All rooms in the facility should be open to the. public. Implement a dress code for staff, especially with whoever is manning the front desk. She leaves with a few questions. 1. Why is staff now calling the facility manager when she enters the building? 2. If there is nothing wrong at the building why has city senior management been scrambling all weekend over there to get things done. 3. When did the police department have to take over management of that department? 4. When did numbers, transfers,_ social media and moving animals become more important than providing for animals in our area; quality care and proper medical treatment. In closing she asked council to demand permanent change and action from Mr. James. We can't sweep this under the rug. Animals are suffering, and lives are being lost. She asked for the changes listed above to immediately be put into place. How we take care of them matters. Take a stand and demand action, make a difference. She thanked council for the opportunity to speak. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola said some good points were brought forward and he is going to have Acting City Manager Brian James provide some information about what is being done and how we can move forward with this. Councilmember Edwards asked for a point of privilege. He asked if we could have this put on the agenda and have a full walk through of what is going on including the intake process and the placement process as well as the removal of animals. Mr. James said they had planned to have the Police Department do an overview in October; however, they will move it up to next week. They will also cover the issues mentioned. Mr. Jeff Womack, 2944 Mineral Springs, who stated they had originally planned this so that if Michelle got cut off during her speaking opportunity (i.e. time limit) he could continue. He thanked them for hearing her out and he thanked Mr. James for all he did this weekend. However, he did want to speak on items 8 and 9. He believes we need to keep moving forward and investing in Schertz. In northern Schertz, Wiederstein Road is a big topic. A lot of folks drive Old Wiederstein (known as Bagdad Highway) on a daily basis. He spoke of the deplorable driving conditions; he implores them to get this fixed. Ms. Fae Simmons, 1216 Cyrus McCormick; who spoke of reading some things on social media regarding the animal shelter and she found them disturbing. She wanted to share her experience, evidently before all these things started. She adopted a cat a while back and 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 4 - she couldn't have dealt with more supportive people and the cages were spotless. She described a stray mother cat/12 kitten situation a few years back and the staff worked with her on how to catch them with a trap and providing supplemental milk for the mother cat and babies. She wound up going through this again a second time and once more the assistance was wonderful. Her concern is what she experienced 2 years ago and what she is hearing now. She offered another solution. She is a member of the Mayor's Committee of Committee's Advisory Board. She has already suggested this topic be placed on their next meeting agenda on September 19 and have the staff members of Animal Services at that meeting to describe and discuss what is going on. They need to start `fact finding' help us get it back to where it was. She suggested the advisory board get together with a council representative and the staff and the concerned citizens and start developing a plan. Reach out to the community and find more volunteers, work out a fund that people can donate money to be used for veterinary services. She pledged to offer to match $1 for $1 the first $500. She believes we can move forward with this. • Ms. Maggie Titterington, The Chamber President, spoke about a public open house EDC had and she thanked city staffers, Kyle Kinateder and Jennifer Kolbe for putting it together for Tri County Roadway. She also thanked staffers Brian James, Lesa Wood, Gil Durant and Bryce Cox for assisting in the opening of Simmons Real Estate. This has been five years in the making. The monthly Chamber Luncheon will be held on September 18 and the topic will be Successful Companies Develop Successful People. Direct Development CEO Craig. Krause will speak. He will then return two days later to teach a business education class called `Creating your own Solutions." It is free to members (non- members $20) and will be held at the Civic Center. • Brent Bolter, 2633 Cloverbrook Lane, who stated he was present on June 9 at the council meeting when Mr. Hernandez came and spoke about his wife who worked for the city at the shelter for almost ten years. So, we were warned. Now this evening we are shown the ramifications, in his opinion, of not taking Mr. Hernandez's comments seriously. We should have paid attention and we didn't. The pictures shown tonight speak for themselves. We all know that the buck stops at whoever is in charge- -that is where the responsibility is. Ms. Womack made her recommendation and he thinks management needs to take that seriously. Again, on June 12 we were warned; now we are in September and it happened. Shame on all of us for not getting more engaged! • Ms. Brenda Dennis, speaking for Ms. Dawn Mitchell (not able to attend tonight), 3805 Whitaker, who asked that her concerns be put on public record regarding the current inadequate conditions at the Animal Shelter. Her understanding is that the facilities are not kept in a sanitary condition and many of the animals are injured or sick and in need of medical care. She has not witnessed this herself but, has received photos and information from other citizens. She understands management has changed at the facility and she would like to know what the current conditions are and why it is that way. She adopted a dog in 2014 and would like to know that any other future animals that are adopted by folks are healthy and the community's resources are being used efficiently and wisely. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 5 - Mr. Grumpy Azzoz, 528 Wayward Pass, who said he loves animals and he stated if you remember, that facility was infested with mold. He has pictures and you all know that and really, up to today, it is still not fixed. But what he really wanted to say is he has been in the city since 1980 -81. He fell in love with the city and moved here. He met a lot of people, attended a lot of functions, and now they decided this coming week to say their goodbyes to the City of Schertz and they are moving to New Braunfels (ETJ). While living here, he was always truthful about anything he said. He encouraged council to `get united' again. You cannot be divided. Your number one priority is to take care of the residents, the city and city staff. No one should have a special agenda. No one is better than their colleagues. Fix the issues; it is okay to vote your conscious. It is not a job, it is a public service! You are an elected public official. JFK said a lot of important things, but the most important one that sticks in his head is `It is not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.' It is not what the city does for you, it is what you do for the city. If things are maintained and growth occurs, you will continue to have people wanting to move here because of the services. He understands their job is tough — trying to please everyone. Don't do that—you can't please everyone. He wants to thank everyone for speaking about their concerns, issues, etc. He wished everyone his best and thanked everyone once again. Consent Agenda Items Mayor Pro -Tern Scagliola read the following. Minutes – Consideration and/or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the meeting of August 28, 2018. (B. Dennis) The following was read into record. Approval of the August 28, 2018 regular meeting minutes. Ordinance No. 18 -M -30 – Consideration and/or action approving an Ordinance amending the City Council Rules of Conduct and Procedure related to the appointment of the Mayor Pro -Tern Position. Final Reading (B. Dennis/Mayor- Council) The following was read into record. ORDINANCE NO. 18 -M -30 AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY OF SCHERTZ AUTHORIZING AND AMENDING CITY COUNCIL RULES OF CONDUCT AND PROCEDURE; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF. ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT WITH THIS ORDINANCE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page ­6 - ® Ordinance No. 18 -M -31 - Consideration and/or action approving an Ordinance amending the City Council Code of Ethics related to the procedure for conducting inquiries. Final Reading (B. Dennis/Mayor- Council) The following was read into record. ORDINANCE NO. 18 -M -31 AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TX AMENDING CITY COUNCIL CODE OF ETHICS; AMENDING SECTION 3 PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCTING INQUIRIES REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT WITH THIS ORDINANCE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE 5. Resolution No. 18 -R -121 — Consideration and/or action approving a Resolution authorizing the Acting City Manager to reject all proposals received for the 2018 Drainage Maintenance Projects ( #2018 - 0723). (D. Wait/D. Letbetter) The following was read into record. RESOLUTION NO. 18 -R -121 A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS AUTHORIZING THE ACTING CITY MANAGER TO REJECT ALL PROPOSALS RECEIVED FOR THE 2018 DRAINAGE MAINTENANCE PROJECTS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS ( #2018 - 0723 -1) 6. Resolution No. 18 -R -122 — Consideration and/or action approving a Resolution authorizing an amendment to the Community Development Block Grant Program Cooperative Agreement with Bexar County. (B. James /S. Gonzalez) The following was read into record. RESOLUTION NO. 18 -R -122 A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS AUTHORIZING AN AMENDMENT TO THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Crawford who asked that items 4 and 7 be removed for short discussion. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Edwards who moved seconded by Councilmember Gutierrez to approve consent items 1 -3, 5 & 6. The vote was unanimous 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 7 - with Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola, Councilmembers Davis, Gutierrez, Larson, Edwards, Kiser and Crawford voting for and no one voting no. Motion Passed. Discussion and Action Items 4. Resolution No. 18 -R -108 — Consideration and/or action approving a Resolution authorizing a contract with Armstrong Vaughn & Associates for auditing services. (B. James /J. Walters) The following was read into record. RESOLUTION NO. 18 -R -108 A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT WITH ARMSTRONG VAUGHN & ASSOCIATES FOR AUDITING SERVICES. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Crawford who had asked that this item be pulled from consent. Councilmember Crawford requested Mr. Walters go over the process we are going to go through to select another accounting firm during the next year. Mr. Walters briefly explained the process for selecting a firm for providing the city auditing services which was vetted and recommended through the Auditing Committee. We have been with the current firm for more than ten years. The committee recommends staying with the current firm for one more year (rather than the standard 3 years) and go back out and request additional proposals with the intent to change auditing firms. To ensure that happens, during our procurement process we can actually bar Armstrong Vaughn and Associates specifically to exclude them from applying again for this next round. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Gutierrez who moved seconded by Councilmember Davis to approve Resolution No. 18 -R -108. The vote was unanimous with Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola, Councilmembers Davis, Gutierrez, Larson, Edwards, Kiser and Crawford voting for and no one voting no. Motion Passed. 7. Ordinance No. 18 -S -29 — Consideration and/or action approving an Ordinance regarding a request of a Specific Use Permit and associated conceptual site plan to allow a Convenience Store with Gas Pumps on an approximate 0.93 -acre site. The property is more specifically described as Lot 6, Block 2 of the Tri- County Business & Industrial Park Unit IA Subdivision; City of Schertz, Guadalupe County, Texas; located at 17501 IH 35. Final Reading (B. James/L. Wood/E. Grobe) The following was read into record. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 8 - ORDINANCE NO. 18 -S -29 AN ORDINANCE BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCIIERTZ, TEXAS TO APPROVE A SPECIFIC USE PERMIT TO ALLOW FOR OPERATION OF A CONVENIENCE STORE WITH GAS PUMPS AT 17501 IH 35, SCHERTZ, GUADALUPE COUNTY, TEXAS Mayor Pro -Tern Scagliola recognized Councilmember Crawford who had asked that this item be pulled from consent. Councilmember Crawford would like to ask staff to work with Council to an extent in the future about looking at the UDC, procedures, and rules we have for density of land use, so we don't have six gas stations (restaurants, or whatever) in one corner. He just feels we need to have a discussion about the use of our land. Councilmember Edwards took a few minutes to show a few pictures including some drainage issues and dumpster dumping problems. He just wanted to remind everyone he did suggest having the dumpsters relocated at the applicants proposed site. He prefers they put the dumpsters on the back side of their proposed facility. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola stated, then there are two issues, one is the standing water and the other is the dumpster location. The applicant representative Karen Mitchell came forward and acknowledged the drainage problem and stated they must follow the requirements of TxDOT. They will not make matters worse in that location. They will do the best they can within TxDOT requirements. Mr. Edwards brought up the dumpster problem one more time and stated he feels it should be relocated. He wants his concern on record and he is concerned about the beauty of the city. It is economically feasible, and he is okay with that. The dumpster location is his only problem. Ms. Mitchell addressed this by saying if they relocate the dumpster it will actually pose more of a safety situation for the employees of 7- Eleven at night that have to take the trash out because it would not be monitored —thus the reason for locating it in a sight monitored location. It would ultimately fall to the property owner to get any illegal dumping picked up. Council engaged in more discussion regarding the number of business types allowed in the city in that council doesn't regulate that. Acting City Manager Brian James said the zoning of areas in the city regulates that. In this case the zoning stipulates they need to ask for a specific use permit and the ordinance lays out the criteria and council can say yes or no to it. In his time here, staff has left the decision of the number and types of businesses to the market. If they feel they can compete, let them compete. Staff has not gotten the impression council wanted them to look at do we have too much of a certain type of business in the city? Councilmember Kiser asked who would be responsible if someone dumped some large items by the dumpster. Answer was the business, 7- Eleven. Councilmember Crawford stated he takes a little bit of exception to what Mr. James says. He spent six years on the Planning and Zoning Commission (P &Z). He spoke of an occasion where the board declined an application for a special use permit for a gas station similar to 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 9 - this item. However, he feels six gas stations in one area is a bit high. He doesn't know what else can be there. He just wanted to point out that P &Z has declined a gas station before. Councilmember Edwards had staff put up a picture of a dumpster with discarded furniture sitting around it and just wanted to point out that unfortunately this often happens to businesses that have dumpsters onsite. He is all for economic development but illegal dumping happens. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Larson who moved seconded by Councilmember Gutierrez to approve Ordinance No. 18 -S -29 final reading. The vote was 6- 1-0 with Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola, Councilmembers Davis, Gutierrez, Edwards and Kiser voting for and Councilmember Crawford voting no. Motion Passed. 8. Public Hearing on Proposed Budget for FY 2018 -19 — Conduct a public hearing and consideration and/or action regarding the adoption of the FY 2018 -19 Budget. (Second PH required public hearing) (B. James /J. Walters) Ordinance No. 18 -T -32 — Consideration and/or action approving an Ordinance on the proposed FY 2018 -19 Budget. First Reading (B. James /J. Walters) The following was read into record. R "com-ki � Cl,l dci►a AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING A BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2018, AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2019, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS; PROVIDING FOR THE FILING OF THE BUDGET; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE CUMULATIVE OF ALL ORDINANCES; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Acting City Manager Brian James who provided a power point presentation with the following highlights: The City's Budget and Tax Rate serve to further the goals of the 2018 Strategic Plan. The Vision, Mission and Values are important because they: • Frame the City's identity and brand • Set defined direction for achieving the City's objectives • Provide clarity when making important organizational decisions; and • Define our true north, guiding us toward the right path Adoption and implementation of these philosophies by City Staff, City Council and community stakeholders will facilitate critical alignment that is necessary for organizational success. City of Schertz 2019 Strategic Plan: 09 -04 -2018 Minutes. Page -10 - So, what is our True North? What is the appropriate balance? What do we take pride in? 2007 CNN Money Magazine states we are Top 100 best place to live Where have we been headed? City of Schertz Strategic Plan Meetings - 2009 & 2011 Mission (Why do we exist ?) To be a community where all aspire to live Vision (Where do we wan to go ?) Our vision is to be the premier city in the region in quality of life and sustainable economic prosperity. Goals (How are we going to get there ?) 1. Quality of Life 2. Sustainable Economic Prosperity 3. Effective Land Use 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 11 - 4. Regional Collaboration and Intergovernmental Cooperation How did we think we would get there? City of Schertz Strategic Plan Meetings - 2009 & 2011 Strengths Recreation Opportunities Quality of Life Opportunities Acquisition of additional parkland Indoor soccer Dog park Drainage area for development of recreational activity It is about fmding the appropriate balance. Core Services Policy Values • Safe Community • Essential Services • Quality of Life Policy Values • High Quality of Life • Attractive Community • Economic Engine Policy Values • Economic Prosperity • Fiscally Sustainable Economic Development & Quality of Life Schertz Economic Development Corporate Website • Schertz, Texas: Strategically located on Interstate 10 and Interstate 35 corridors just outside San Antonio at the northeast gateway to Austin, the City of Schertz is a premier Texas community. The City actively seeks to create a welcoming and exciting place to conduct business and call home. Where is our reputation now? — San Antonio Magazine August 2017 — Top 10 Neighborhoods we love. Schertz was a vibrant community in the late 1800s before a railroad arrived, bringing more people and commerce. With the development of Randolph Air Force Base, Schertz and surrounding suburbs northeast of San Antonio became strong independent towns. Now, more than 35,000 people live in the 32- square -mile city. Play / Schertz has many homegrown events, such as SchertzFest, a celebration in September that includes a carnival and BBQ cook-off. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 12 - Schertz is also home to the Buffalo Valley Youth Association, a large, regional soccer complex. Northcliffe Golf Club, an affordable links -style course, is a hidden gem of sorts for local golfers. Explore / Schertz has more than 20 public park locations, totaling 370 -plus acres, including a skate park and a dog park. Pickrell Park's public pool was recently improved and unveiled a new mural. Crescent Bend Nature Park contains dozens of species of native fauna and flora. What have our residents told us? 2016 Community Survey Report The three Parks and Recreation services that respondents indicated should receive the most emphasis over the next two years include • Walking and biking trails in the City • Maintenance and appearance of City parks, and • Number of City parks City parks and recreation programs were also the highest priority for the City when ETC Institute analyzed the priority investment ratings of overall City services. Because we value the input from our residents we have budgeted $25,000 to do the community survey in 2018. Why did most respondents of the 2016 survey move to Schertz? 1. Location — 71 % 2. Quality of Life — 60% 3. It's a Safe Community - 56% 4. Affordability — 47% How do we balance quality of life and affordability? Council on the Go Meetings • Generally, more residents attend these than normal Council meetings • The City has included updates of parks programs at the Council on the Go meetings What has the feedback been from residents? Because we value communicating with our residents we have spent $6,000 videotaping these meetings each year. Community Budget Meetings • Although not well attended, these meetings provide a forum for those residents who are highly engaged to discuss the budget and offer their views. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page -13 - • What percentage of attendees generally supported the proposed tax increase vs. not increasing taxes? Given the staff time and cost involved do we want to continue to solicit input from our residents on the budget beyond the minimum required by State Law? Mr. James showed proposed cuts that could be made which included: 2 Shred Days per year $10,000 • Collected over 9,000 gallons of paper to be shredded at the events this past year • While some residents own a shredder, others clearly do not as they brought in decades worth of sensitive personal papers • Why not reduce the level of service (1 time per year) vs. eliminate altogether? • Should we consider this as part of a larger discussion of solid waste - # of times trash picked up per week, increased emphasis on recycling, allowing businesses to select their own trash service, brush chipping, etc.? Close 1 Outdoor Pool $150,000 • For the 62 days both pools were open this summer there were 12,783 attendees • Wendy Swan Pool has fewer attendees • Would residents of the area prefer to close Wendy Swan Pool or the North Community Center? • Once we close it, would it ever be viable to reopen it? • Replace with a splashpad to save money the "SMALL" one being built in UC with staff doing grading, trenching, etc. is about $600,000 + $25,000 (fencing and shade structure) with $25,000 for M &O. They are planning for a larger $1.5 million one in UC Park. Stop free lunch for non - Schertz residents $40,000 • The city has applied for grant funding to support this program which would preclude us from charging for meals and Cibolo has indicated a willingness to contribute $40,000 a year towards the Senior Center • Staff can continue to look for ways to drive revenue /donations while maintaining the level of service for seniors in the area who have come to rely on this • 21% of seniors who eat (about 20 per day) are from outside of Schertz and Cibolo Make Schertz Magazine Digital $115,000 • Currently print 180,000 per year and are proposing it increase to 192,000 • Digital reads are growing — 342 to 461 (2016 to 2018) as has average time spent reading — 2:43 minutes to 3:20 minutes. Digital Parks guide has had 1,760 views • Biweekly e- newsletter goes out to 8,134 subscribers with a bounce rate of 11 % and an open rate of 19% • About 700 copies of each month's magazines are distributed a the Chamber, Library, Senior Center,,Rec Center, etc. Staff keeps about extra 50 to 100 copies for requests, etc. those locations are out and the extras were gone mid month in August. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page -14 - While digital is growing, given that in the 2016 Citizen Survey 83% of respondents said the magazine was their primary source of information, do we want to go digital before asking them that this coming year? Push by staff has been to add video content — our HAWK Crosswalk video has over 1,000 views on Youtube and 17,100 on Facebook Reduce the number of parks • Council could place this item on the ballot next year to sell parkland • The assumption being our spending per capita is very high compared to most other cities — but make sure we are doing and apples to apples comparison- our $68 per person includes the civic center, events staff, and senior center parking lot work as well as pools and parks and capital equipment used by others (bucket truck) • Data can be confusing as well — does New Braunfels have 18 parks or 39? • Revisit partnerships 'and charge for new programs to be cost neutral. Other cities may have assets that drive more revenue — access and parking for the Tube Chute on the river, miniature golf, miniature train ride, paddle boats. Stop adding new parks • We already hear from residents who are not near an existing park — Laura Heights and Kensington Ranch about how a park near them might be built • Are we comfortable with different levels of service for different parts of town — accessibility to parks, keeping in mind our population will likely double? Be careful not to make cuts that seem minor but over time have a significant impact on the City or for which there may be better options. Generally, we agree on: • Maintenance levels are not where they need to be and funding is an issue • Increases in Veterans Homestead Exemptions and reductions in court revenue have significantly impacted the City's revenue. • We must continue to look for efficiencies • We need to break the cycle we are in — cost effective solutions over the long term and decrease reliance on CO bonds • We need to take the appropriate amount of time to fully analyze our programs — why we do them, the costs and benefits, alternatives, etc. to make thoughtful decisions Mr. James provided three options. Option 1. Adjust our budget assumptions — assume higher revenue and/or lower expenses • Does that really change our situation? When revenue is higher, and expenses are lower, those "leftover" funds are rolled over to the next year to be prioritized and spent. So, we don't really gain any additional funds — we just move it up one year. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page -15 - • It is very problematic to come up short on revenue and/or high on expenses — we have to make cuts midyear where we can — not where we would choose to. • Despite our pessimistic /conservative estimating of revenues our sale tax revenue has declined 3 times in the past 10 years. • We read about cities that have this happen • Often spending shortfalls are programs that run behind schedule and the money is rolled over to the next year • Savings in spending comes from high staff vacancies and turnover — something we are working to change — which would reduce the amount of savings. Option 2. Quickly make cuts to programs and departments to increase funding for maintenance and maintain the current tax rate. As noted cuts this significant cannot be made without impacting levels of service. • Cuts this significant necessitate us making changes to our Strategic Plan and adjusting our vision of what we want Schertz to be. • It also shifts the focus we have going forward that have discussed — competitive pay and benefits and staffing levels appropriate to level of service expectations as there is not funding in the 5 -year model Option 3. (Staff recommends) Approve the proposed tax increase to immediately fund increased maintenance and expanded programs designed to increase effectiveness and look for program changes over the next year. • Over the course of the next year, staff and council will explore existing programs to determine if changes in direction are appropriate in light of the short- and long -term implications • Actively and aggressively solicit input from member of the community on proposed program changes — citizen survey, Council on the Go meetings, etc. before making decisions • Identify other areas, like maintenance, where service levels are below desired levels and determine appropriate course of action to correct. • As part of next year's budget, cut taxes if revenue is adequate to fund over the long- term services at the reevaluated and established level. Examples to Evaluate • Senior Center Program and Costs • Park Master Plan Standards • AACOG ART Bus program • Schertz Magazine • Recreation Partnerships • Civic Center 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 16 - ® Trash Collection/Recycling/Shredding /Chipping Option 4. Approve budget at the current or effective tax rate with the expanded programs proposed at those levels. Over the course of this year evaluate programs to be cut and reallocate those funds next year to increase funding for maintenance Mr. James provided information on the water and waste /water rates that are also going up. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola opened the public hearing and recognized the following who spoke: • Mr. Brent Bolter, 2633 Clover Brook, supports the tax increase for all the good reasons that have been discussed and outlined. For the future he suggested looking at all the funding levels and what has outlived its usefulness and what must we continue to keep? This has been missing in the past. • Mr. Dana Eldridge, 2625 Gallant Fox Drive, stated we should concentrate on the needs of the city and address our needs versus the wants. Two needs spoken about tonight are the Animal Shelter and maintenance of city facilities. • Ms. Michelle Womack, 2944 Mineral Springs, stated she supports the tax increase because we have a lot to do here; the residents she has talked to are okay with it. Secondly, before. you choose to close the Wendy Swan Pool, you need to read the original deed. We agreed to take it and maintain it as a public pool. The verbiage is in there, it is what the citizens wanted. • Mr. Ferrando Heyward, 2628 Hansel Heights, supports the City and its staff and commended them, on the budget presentations and the work they did for those budget/community meetings. He appreciates them looking at what is needed for going forward in the future. No one likes paying more taxes, but sometimes we may have to (example: safe paved roads). If citizens want certain things, they have to be willing to fund those items. He encourages a citizen survey to see what else people are wanting. • Mr. John Sullivan, 513 Triple Crown, echoed the appreciation of staff and the budget preparation materials, increased transparency for the funding and in particular the need for maintenance of the city facilities, parks and roads. As no one else spoke, Mayor Pro -Tefn Scagliola closed the public hearing for council comments. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Acting City Manager Brian James who spoke for the sake of transparency. Every year they talk about our water and sewer rates and he wanted 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 17 - to remind them of. (typical 5/8 meter /5,000 ww) the current water rate $70.56 and effective Oct. 2018, it will rise to $75.14. An alternate modified recommendation is to raise it to $73.95. The report was received just late last week. This allows us to remain sustainable and still go up a bit. Mayor Pro -Tern Scagliola recognized the following councilmembers who spoke: Councilmember Edwards who spoke about the following items: • What is the cost estimated at for redoing Wiederstein Road? He wants the citizens to know what that number is. Answer: $12 -16 million. • How many budget workshops did we have? Answer: Two council workshops and three public meetings. Number of citizens attending? Answer: between 4 -8. • Schertz Magazine, could we offer the current vendor a shot at streamlining their current process with us? • Look at one -time purchases that can save us in efficiency (i.e., a machine needed in maintenance) • Chipping services and bulk pickup (Bexar Waste used to do it for a cost to the citizen) — now an ordinance passed where the city does it. • No frills budget, staff has done a great job. He recommends we do a manpower study versus just a class and comp study. • Reference the Schertz Magazine he received today. The magazine is well done. Consider picking up some other printing services for this contractor. Why not have a one stop shop for our printing services. Streamline efficiencies. Councilmember Crawford who spoke about the following: • Has the Animal Services Department budget been changed to handle what they will need in the next few months since they are now under the Police Department? Councilmember Larson who spoke about the following: • Shred Day, an event that keeps paying dividends because it demonstrates the absurdity of government spending in one sense. Once a program exists, it never goes away. He also spoke about budgets, cuts, taxes, quality of life, narrowing our focus on programs, what are, we great at, the correct strategy to use, not moving randomly, lost revenue, not doing too much, location, quality of life, etc. Councilmember Gutierrez who spoke about the following: • The city does not have lost revenue, but a shortfall of tax revenue due to exemptions, court fees, etc.; yet at the same time we are seeing an increase in population here. It is amazing seeing some of the citizens coming out to support the tax increase. He thanked Mr. James and Mr. Walters for their presentations explaining our situation. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 18 - Councilmember Davis who spoke about the following: ® He has attended city council meetings since he moved here, and this is the biggest discussion he can ever recall on budget. He likes Councilmember Larson's passion and agrees with about 50% of it. He agrees we need to look for efficiencies, make hard calls on what we should/shouldn't do. He spoke about lost revenues (retired, disabled veterans). This is about a $1.4 million impact on our community. Going back to the rollback rate does not make up for that lost revenue. Also, people have different perspectives on what needs are and what wants are. He thinks city staff has done a good job telling council what we need to take care of now. We need to take care of things like our parks, a/c repairs, facilities, etc. We need community input. However, in the past few years we have not been taking care of certain things. We need to break that cycle. Most of the feedback he has recently received from Schertz residents have been positive regarding the tax rate. You can't compare us with Selma. We need to do what is right for our community. Our citizens want `quality of life'. The singular biggest line item in this budget is increased dollars for maintenance for parks, streets, and facilities. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola stated he thinks we do this budget talk and tax rates backwards. You have to prove the budget, or you can't approve the tax rate. An increase in the budget doesn't necessarily mean you have to increase taxes. He likes option 3. He respects staff. We have the five -year budget pretty much worked out. But it doesn't really forecast the needs of tomorrow (i.e., roads). He spoke on increasing taxes. He is not buying it. He thinks we have the money in the reserves. He would like to see that we use the rate we have now and then have honest conversations about where we can cut in the future. Councilmember Crawford asked Mr. James if the comments made by Mr. Bolter about cutting things but taking the time to sort them out, is that something staff can do this coming fiscal year? Maybe they can look at a few things every quarter and work out a plan to sort this out. The short answer was yes, relook at the programs and make recommendations. Mr. Crawford made a formal request to look at this every quarter, so Council knows as the year goes by how things are going. Councilmember Kiser thinks staff has done an excellent job presenting this to the community and council. Sure, some things can be cut. Costs have increased, whether it is new employees or something else. There are still a lot of open staff positions. She thinks it is very reasonable what staff is recommending in the budget/tax rate. Councilmember Edwards spoke about the annexation that was done in the past, a large one, to protect this environment and our citizens. He also spoke about the IH -35 corridor and the past, present, and future buildout. He also spoke about the acquisition of the water partnership we own and its necessity. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Edwards who moved seconded by Councilmember Kiser to approve Ordinance No. 18 -T -32 first reading. The vote was 5 -2- 09 -04 -2018 Minutes . Page -19 - 0 with Councilmembers Davis, Gutierrez, Edwards, Kiser and Crawford voting for and Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola and Councilmember Larson voting no. Motion Passed. 9. Public Hearing on Proposed Tax Rate — Conduct a public hearing and consideration PH and/or action regarding the adoption of the FY 2018 -19 Tax Rate. (Second required public hearing) (B. James /J. Walters) Ordinance No. 18 -T -33 — Consideration and/or action approving an Ordinance on the proposed FY 2018 -19 Tax Rate. First Reading (B. James /J. Walters) The following was read into record. ORDINANCE NO. 18 -T -33 AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE APPRAISAL ROLL; SETTING THE TAX RATE; LEVYING AND ASSESSING GENERAL AND SPECIAL AD VALOREM TAXES FOR THE USE AND SUPPORT OF THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS; APPORTIONING THE LEVIES FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Acting City Manager Brian James who stated that currently where we are is our tax rate is $0.4911 per $100 evaluation, and we are looking to go up to $0.5146. Again, we allocate the Maintenance and Operation (M &O) rate at $0.3497 and the I &S portion of $0.1649. The proposed rate is not subject to rollback. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Finance Director James Walters who stated that there is a specific motion that must be made when adopting the tax rate as well as a minimum number of Councilmembers that need to vote in favor for the motion to pass. Since we have seven councilmember we need five councilmembers to vote in favor of any motion and the motion must be what is stated on the screen, which read "I move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of (0.5146), which is effectively a (5 %) increase to the tax rate ". So, it stated the tax rate that the councilmember is proposing and then a percentage increase over the effective rate of $0.4892. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola opened the public hearing and recognized the following: Mr. John Sullivan, 513 Triple Crown, who stated that he is for the increase and wanted to make a point that all of these things play together, you don't just move to a community that has good schools and good parks and expect to have a really low tax rate. He moved here, he did some research and he looked at the website; it says we live in a premier community. It. says we care about Parks and it says we have good schools. It says you know your neighborhood on how it looks, we have good roads and then he gets involved in the city and they care about these things. Some on Council are saying we need to subsidize our quality of life for lower taxes for people who want to live here. He is not ok with this and 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 20 - that is not why he chose to live here. The rollback rate is reasonable, it's actually probably not even going to fix most of our problems. This is a good compromise in his opinion. As no one else spoke, Mayor Pro -Tern Scagliola closed the public hearing for council comments. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Larson who stated he wanted to clarify and didn't want his thoughts to be misrepresented. Lowering the tax rate is not asking anyone to subsidize anything. Raising the tax rate is asking your neighbors to subsidize the quality of life you want, so that's literally the opposite. But, beyond that he doesn't think we need to ask our neighbors to subsidize all of our hopes and dreams because his entire point is we can increase the quality of life by taking the current pool of resources which is more than big enough. Because he thinks last year the revenues increased 11 % over the previous year and the population growth was significantly less than 11 %, if you add in population growth plus inflation you're still not 11% so our revenues are increasing per capita faster than the combination of population and inflation growth meaning their net real dollars the city has to spend are increasing; and by taking those same resources and focusing on fewer things we would improve the quality of life instead of having everything we hope and dream for at half quality. The rollback rate is not really a compromise, that's literally the highest we can go without giving citizens a chance to recall it. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola asked if there were further comments and as there were none he stated we have come to the point where we need to make a motion. He stated that he is partial to $0.4910. He asked Mr. Walters to put the statement that the council needs to read back on the overhead. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola stated that what's really interesting is regardless, this is a tax increase. He asked Mr. Walters to assist in figuring out what a $0.4911 increase would be. Mr. Walters stated that if we went to the $0.4910 it would be a .3% percent increase. Mayor Pro-Tern Scagliola asked if that is what our current rate is. Mr. Walters answered yes. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola moved seconded by Councilmember Larson that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of ($0.4910), which is effectively a (.3 %) increase in the tax rate. The vote 2 -5 -0 with Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola and Councilmember Larson voting for and Councilmembers Davis, Gutierrez, Edwards, Kiser and Crawford voting no and Motion Failed. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola called for another motion. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Edwards who moved seconded by Councilmember Kiser that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of ($0.5146), which is effectively a (5 %) increase in the tax rate. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Edwards who stated that he recognized to the citizens that will view this later that he understands he is raising his own 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 21 - taxes and the citizens taxes. He will hold staff accountable for them to streamlining and coming to efficiencies, but realize he is well aware of what he is doing. Mayor Pro -Tern Scagliola called for the vote. The vote was 5 -2 -0 with, Councilmembers Davis, Gutierrez, Edwards, Kiser and Crawford voting for and Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola and Councilmember Larson voting no. Motion Passed. Roll Call Vote Confirmation City Secretary Brenda Dennis provided the Roll Call Vote Confirmation for agenda items 1 -9 Workshop Discussion and possible action regarding the City of Schertz Interview Committee. (B. Dennis) (Item requested by Council to be brought back) Mayor Pro-Tern Scagliola recognized City Secretary Brenda Dennis who provided information on a possible change and recommendation of a change in the interview committee explaining why it would be efficient and fair. Ms. Dennis opened it up to Council for discussion and to let her know what they would like to do. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Crawford who stated that he and Ms. Dennis had talked informally about the possibility of having a member from each committee for which someone was to be selected. That way we would have current knowledge on the board to ask them intelligent questions not relying on a Councilmember whether it's 2, 3, 4 or whatever. Clarifying, he stated they don't have to be permanently appointed members but if we had several different candidates for different boards to be selected, he had talked about having each one of those three on the committee, so they could select and could ask questions that make sense. As an example, he was on Planning and Zoning, but he wasn't on TSAC. In answer Ms. Dennis stated that she does understand what he is asking, this will take a lot more staff time to get individuals set up to come to the interview committee meeting. She provided examples of if there was a vacant position on the Library, she would have to get a hold of a member of that board to attend the interview committee meeting, etc. This would be very difficult to coordinate, and it would require more time. She stated that in the recommendation, the members who are chairs have been in the city for a long time, they have knowledge, not only Planning and Zoning, but they do have knowledge of the other boards and commissions. Councilmember Crawford stands by his recommendation that a senior member on the board for which to be selected to be there and able to ask good questions for someone they are trying to select for that committee. He believes this has a lot of value to it and he is just expressing his concerns about the equity of a good interview. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes • Page - 22 - Councilmember Edwards stated lets just call this what it was. This was not a problem until what happened recently a few weeks ago when we had a previous councilmember not allowed to be on a committee. However, this could have been prevented as we talked about it previously because he brought up a reservation about that and it was voiced during that meeting. So, with that being said the reason why we are making this change is because of that, it was pushed and illustrated. He doesn't mind if someone sits on the committee, the changes here, he doesn't have a problem with it. But we are on a. slippery slope here when things don't go your way we want to make a change, is that what we are trying to do now? Is that how we are governing, that's a problem. Things that were done previously were unprofessional. If this change is conducive to what his colleagues want to do, he doesn't have a problem with it. Councilmember Davis stated he agrees, 99% of the time that we been acting under the current process there have been no issues or concerns, no commentary to the other, otherwise and just recently we had a recommendation and discussion that ultimately came to council, council had a problem with and now the question is of the recommendation is to change the process. He has seen this happen before from this Council. It happened before with the Council with how we select the Mayor Pro -Tem and as we can see now we've just gone full circle and gone back to how we use to do it in the past. He is not convinced that necessarily making any changes to our interview process warrants a change. We haven't had a problem in the past, we had a spirted discussion and some dissention on the recommendations of the interview board recently, but we moved through it. To him that is one of the reasons why we're up here is to speak our mind and as was said earlier to vote our conscience and make a decision. Every decision he makes up here, I make a friend, and I make an enemy and I make someone happy and I make someone sad. At the end of the day he votes his conscience and convictions. He does not see the need to change. If it's not broke don't fix it and he doesn't think it's broken. Councilmember Gutierrez asked how many boards and committees do we have in total? In answer Ms. Dennis paused to provide the answer, but about 9 she believed, but wasn't sure. Councilmember Gutierrez stated, exactly, logistically it would be impossible to get one from every board and committee to be made available for a specific date and time to conduct several interviews. He agrees with his colleagues here and he does like the fact that I put the most important committees as part of the interviews. He stated that the points made by the City Secretary are well taken and the breakout is exactly what we need getting the three most important positions on the committee. He complimented the City Secretary for thinking this over. Councilmember Larson stated that Councilmembers Davis and Edwards were nice not to name him, but he will just say it, he was the one who asked for this. The history of his perception is we had a process, the process broke. It was embarrassing for the City, so he said lets evaluate the process and he thinks if something doesn't go your way and the process breaks, evaluating the process is the responsible thing to do, although the determination may very well be "it didn't work that time but it's still the best process ". Ultimately what happened that caused him to ask for you to look into this was a majority of the members present at the recommendation Interview Committee said they wanted to 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 23 - make a recommendation and then the same members who were part of the committee that sent the recommendation had a problem with it. That's fine, people change their minds, there could be confusion but the reason the process broke wasn't because anybody was wrong in saying what they believed, it was because there are too many councilmembers represented on the committee. You can't have a majority of councilmembers be the recommending people making the recommendation to council and those who made the recommendation to council decide not to recommend the individuals. It was confusing, and it was crazy that's what happened. That is why he asked that this item be discussed. The process actually broke, it was embarrassing to the city, it was unfair to some of our residents. If it is one out of a million and it's not worth fixing, it's fine. He thinks it makes sense to dilute the Council's power on the interview committee because ultimately, we are going to have the ability to review the recommendation anyway. Having a smaller representation of council and a great representation of boards and committees that these individuals are going to actually serve on makes absolutely logically sense, and probably the most reasonable thing to do. He asked Ms. Dennis if we did make the change that was brought forward and implemented the recommendation brought forward would this cause a significant change in the resources you have to expand. In answer, Ms. Dennis stated in thinking about this she did contact the TSAC Chair who agreed to be part of the Interview Committee. There are three councilmembers now, but this means it would go to two, and replace with the TSAC chairman. Councilmember Larson agreed it makes sense to increase the role of board members. Councilmember Davis expressed his opinion that a representative from the Parks Board would be a better fit than the individual from TSAC due to the fact that Parks deals with quality of life issues a lot in comparison to issues with speedhumps. He stated there are other options. He feels changing the number of Councilmembers on the committee from three to two doesn't eliminate the prior concern brought up. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola stated ultimately it is council's final approval that is needed. He feels all the boards and commissions bring value to the community and one is not more important than the other. He doesn't feel there is a problem with the way the interview committee is set up. To avoid further complications, he prefers to keep things the way they are. If you want to add more members you can do that, but he does not like the idea of changing the number of councilmembers to two. It was the consensus after discussion to make no changes to the current make up of the Interview Committee. Councilmember Davis stated since it is on the agenda for `possible action' he would like to make a motion. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Davis who moved seconded by Councilmember Edwards that no changes be made to the Interview Committee process. The vote was unanimous with Mayor Pro -Tem Seagliola, Councilmembers Davis, Gutierrez, Larson, Edwards, Kiser, and Crawford voting for and no one voting no. Motion Passed. Closed Session 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 24 - 10. City Council will meet in closed session under Section 551.074 of the Texas Government Code, Personnel Matters to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of the City Manager. Council did not meet. Requests and Announcements • Announcements by the Acting City Manager. Mr. James recognized Director of Planning and Community Development Lesa Wood who had only one item on the agenda. Today is her birthday, but she wanted to be here in case anything popped up. As it was, Planner I Emily Grobe was able to handle it all just fine. Kuddos to Lesa for her dedication. • Requests by Mayor and Councilmembers that items be placed on a future City Council agenda. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola recognized Councilmember Kiser who requested an item for the next agenda to discuss the possibility of moving to action minutes rather than the current verbatim minutes we are doing. Councilmember Crawford requested an item on the next agenda regarding a discussion on the Animal Services Department. Councilmember Davis requested an item regarding green space. Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola stated staff had answered his concerns on that so he did not ask for it to be put on. Councilmember Davis then asked for an information item for the council packet next time on the matter. • 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 Councilmember Davis stated he recently had a wonderful tour of the children's area of the Library. They are doing some great things there. Councilmember Gutierrez stated he attended the TML Regional meeting and Alan Cockerell's retirement gathering and wanted to say Thank You for his service. 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 25 - Mayor Pro -Tern Scagliola also attended Mr. Cockerell's retirement. He gave exceptional service to us and Seguin and Cibolo. His talents will definitely be missed. Councilmember Edwards reminded his colleagues to look at the TML updates because they are trying to force things on cities and tell us how to run our cities. We need to look at this and be versed on it for the future. 11. Information available in City Council Packets - NO DISCUSSION TO OCCUR • Monthly update on large projects /CIP. (D. Wait/J. Harshman/T. Buckingham) • Pending informational items. Adiournment As there was no further business, Mayor Pro -Tem Scagliola adjyurned the meeting at 9:33 p.m. David ScaglialMa+or Pro -Tem ATTEST: Brenda Dennis, City Secretary 09 -04 -2018 Minutes Page - 26 -