03-12-2003
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
SPECIAL WORKSHOP SESSION
MARCH 12, 2003
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session on Wednesday, March
12, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Complex Conference Room, 1400 Schertz
Parkway, Schertz, Texas. Those present were Mayor Hal Baldwin, presiding;
Councilmembers Carl Douglas, Reginna Agee and Ken Greenwald. Absent:
Councilmembers Steve Simonson and Tony Wilenchik. Staff present were City Manager
Mark Marquez and City Secretary Norma Althouse.
#1 HEARING OF RESIDENTS:
Robert Brockman of 4505 Grand Forrest brought up the following:
. Inquired who's in charge of repairing the Cibolo Creek footbridge. Asst. City
Manager, John Bierschwale, replied they are working with Universal City on the
project. Schertz is going after a portion of the funding (getting FEMA to bid).
. Asked how much the Catholic Church is asking for the property next door, and is
the City interested. Mr. Marquez indicated that subject would be on the agenda
the next time under an Executive Session.
. Pointed out it is the one-year anniversary of the building of the playscape. Are
there any plans for a celebration? Council agreed something should be planned
for the anniversary.
. Noted the forum was not listed on the marquee or posted on the bulletin board. It
was not well advertised. Mr. Marquez explained that attendance was mostly by
invitation.
. Mentioned the last time the City had a clean-up, they had a sign offFM 3009. He
reminded them they need to remember to change the dates this time.
. Questioned why Council votes individually rather than as a group. Mayor
Baldwin replied one reason is for the convenience of the City Secretary. Mr.
Brockman then asked who determines that procedure and Mayor Baldwin
jokingly replied he does. Mrs. Agee said she likes the individual voting - that
way peoOple know where the Councilmembers stand on certain issues. Mayor
Baldwin then added that when he became Mayor, he followed in the pattern of
former Mayor Earl Sawyer.
Clovis Haddock of 3900 Pecan Court spoke regarding House Bill 645, which prohibits
certain restrictions under the guise of water conservation. It is aimed at doing away with
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Mr. Marquez pointed out this had been discussed at a previous workshop and the first
reading of the Ordinance was approved by Council. There are no changes. Council
indicated they were ready for this item to be included on next Tuesday night's agenda.
#4 Discuss Fleet Truck bids.
Mr. Marquez noted there are 10 vehicles on the list. That includes CID vehicles with no
frills. This saves $13,000 from what was projected in the bond. Everything looks good.
Council agreed they were ready for this item to be included on next Tuesday night's
agenda.
#5 Discuss City of Schertz Scholarship (Teen Court).
Judge Stacy Padgett informed Council the funds are in the budget for the scholarship.
What she's asking for tonight are comments on the application, a copy of which was
included in Council's packets.
Judge Padgett stated Michael Spain. City Attorney, has agreed to review the essays. The
scoring will be based on a 3 tier system (presentation, essay, interview) with a maximum
5 points in each tier. They are looking at approximately 22 applicants. She hopes City
Council will conduct the interviews. She then mentioned she didn't know how Council
felt about the applicants including financial information.
Mayor Baldwin asked if the City is okay using budgeted money for scholarships. If not,
maybe the Court could assess a fee. Judge Padgett explained that fee already comes out
of a Teen Court Fee that goes to the General Fund.
Mr. Douglas inquired if admittance to a two-year college would be acceptable and was
told yes. Mrs. Agee suggested also adding a trade school.
Mr. Greenwald wondered if Council needs to concern themselves with financial
information and Mrs. Agee answered she doesn't think so - $250 isn't worth it. They
might, instead, ask for a couple ofletters of recommendation.
Referring back to the Mayor's question about using City budgeted money, Mr. Marquez
said that if the City Attorney says no they can't use it, the Foundation could provide the
money. Mrs. Agee pointed out if they're using Foundation money, the Foundation may
not want to be tied to law enforcement. Mr. Marquez stressed they would find one way
or another to fund it.
Mayor Baldwin commented he is looking forward to working with Judge Padgett and
being on the Interview Committee.
Judge Padgett asked Council if they had any changes to the application other than those
talked about this evening. They didn't have any. She said she would go ahead with the
suggested changes and release the applications.
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Lower Seguin Road Waterline - plugging along.
FM 1518/llI-I0 South Waterline -they will be taking bids in two weeks.
Dietz Creek (FEMA) Drainage Channel - they are in right-of-way acquisition throes.
They can't bid out until they get the rights-of-way and don't think FEMA will object to
the time extension. Mrs. Agee asked if they're still on schedule for the closing ofElbel
Road. She was told there has been very little discussion and the attorneys feel they will
have to go straight to condemnation. He doesn't know if the closing of Elbel Road is
still on schedule.
Upper Dietz Creek Drailll\lle Channel - still on hold.
Tank Repainting (UC Site & Northcliffe) - project complete.
IRC Sewer - project complete.
Fire Sub-station and Public Works Complex - Council has already had a report on these.
Borgfeld Road Temoorarv Drainalle - still working on water diversion.
Storm Water Utility Creation - a public hearing will be held April 1st.
NPDES IT Permit - won't meet the deadline until sometime next year.
Master Sewer Plan - ongoing.
This concluded the update from Ford Engineering.
#7 Discuss use of Gutierrez IandrJIl.
Henry Gutierrez was present for this discussion. Mr. Marquez reminded Council they
have a letter in their packets from Mr. Gutierrez suggesting possible City uses of the
landfill on FM 3009. The most obvious difficulty is the liability associated with landfill
re-use. Michael Spain has a fairly extensive checklist for liabilities. Part of the property,
not associated with the landfil~ could possibly be set aside for the Boy Scouts
Mayor Baldwin asked Mr. Gutierrez if there's ingress/egress on his property. Mr.
Gutierrez replied there's ingress/egress from FM 3009 as well as from a 15' strip. Mayor
Baldwin then asked if they could make a decent road and Mr. Gutierrez replied yes they
could.
Mr. Gutierrez indicated that Mr. Bierschwale had given him a whole list of things the
City needs. This prompted a discussion about a 30' easement, about a back exit from the
property, and about a place on the property where the Boy Scouts had previously camped
for a number of years.
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