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ccwks 01-14-04 . CITY COUNCIL MINUTES SPECIAL WORKSHOP SESSION 1-14-04 The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Complex Conference Room, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. Those present were Mayor Pro-Tem Ken Greenwald, presiding; Councilmembers Carl Douglas, Steve Simonson, Reginna Agee and Tony Wilenchik. Absent: Mayor Hal Baldwin. 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: · Said street sign with the correct spelling of Wieder stein Road is finally up. · Noted the speed limits on FM 3009 have changed, as they should have. . · Mentioned the lights on Schertz Parkway are not working. Mayor Pro- Tem Greenwald explained the contractor checked on them and a circuit breaker is out. They should be back on in about a week. · Reported that on Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. there was an accident at Maske Road and Schertz Parkway and the policemen were wearing their orange vests. He was glad to see they were doing that. · Thought that at the Planning and Zoning meeting last night, the new P&Z Commission members should have been introduced. He also found out why Mr. Greenwald doesn't vote at P &Z meetings - he's an ex-officio of the Commission. · Inquired ifthere's a schedule for the street sweeper and was told there is. · Questioned who the new Webmaster is now that Tony Wilson is gone. Mr. Marquez answered it's Evelyn, Rita and sometimes Amy. · Observed Animal Control has no sign on FM 3009. Mr. Wilenchik mentioned he has been down this road. He wants a sign as bad as Mr. Brockman does, but TXDOT won't allow it. · Stated the Do Not Enter signs in front of City Hall are worn out. . · Commented the library is looking good and the comer lot at Elbel and Schertz Parkway is for sale if they want to consider building a new library. 150 . Told the Council the City is doing well. . Johnny Sutton, CounCilman from Cibolo, asked for consideration of some financial assistance from the City of Schertz for the construction of a sidewalk on Dietz Road. The cost of the sidewalk is approximately $47,000 and they would like Schertz to pay $20,000. Mr. Sutton explained it is a matter of cooperation since Cibolo had helped Schertz with the traffic light at FM 3009 and Dietz Road and also with some drainage. It was the consensus of Council to put the matter on a future workshop agenda for discussion and possible action. Mr. Simonson mentioned it has been a point of contention for a long time and Council needs some clarification from the City Attorney as to whether they can spend City money on that sidewalk. Mayor Pro- Tem Greenwald recommended to Mr. Sutton that he plan to attend the next Schertz City Council workshop on January 28th. #2 Discuss public hearing on request to rezone a 35-acre tract of/and located 241 feet south of Corridor Loop Road extending 1,613.45 feet on the east side ofFM 3009. The property is currently zoned Single-Family Residential (R-l) and the request is to rezone the property to General Business (GB). Applicant: City of Schertz. (public hearing scheduled for January 20, 2004.) Mr. Marquez advised this is the Ripps property. There were a lot of people at the Planning and Zoning public hearing last night. Planning and Zoning recommended . approval. Council indicated they were ready for this item to be included on next Tuesday night's agenda. #3 Discuss public hearing on request to rezone a 0.410+ tract of land located at the intersection of IH-35 and Plaza Drive from General Business (GB) to Manufactured Home Parks/Subdivision District (MHP/SD). Applicant: James Harden. (Public hearing scheduled for January 20, 2004.) Mr. Simonson commented it shouldn't be a problem for Mr. Harden to use it as a rental property for workers. Mrs. Agee asked if the City needs to extend the double white line and Mayor Pro- Tem Greenwald answered that was all TXDOT rules. Mrs. Agee said she thought the City had something to do with the double white line and Mr. Marquez told her that's not the case. Council was prepared for this item to be included on next Tuesday night's agenda. #4 Discuss public hearing on request to rezone a tract of land containing 63.92+ acres located on Schertz Parkway approximately 200 feet south of Live Oak Road. The property is currently zoned Residential (R-2). The request is for 62.09+ acres for Residential (R-5) and 1.83+ acres for General Business (GB). Applicant: JWD . Management Corporation. (public hearing scheduled for January 20, 2004.) 151 . Mayor Pro-Tem Greenwald advised Council the request for the General Business zoning has been deleted. This is the Silber property the City is trying to trade with Larry Aiken for the Monterrey-Medina property. Most of the questions at the Planning and Zoning meeting last night were about drainage. A special meeting about the drainage has been scheduled for Monday. Mr. Douglas asked if the property has access to Schertz Parkway and was told it does. Asst. City Manager Jolm Bierschwale reported that in 2001 the houses on Marilyn Drive had at least two inches of water in them. A drainage channel is being proposed that will prevent that from happening again. Mr. Marquez stated this property would not develop easily. It would be of considerable expense to a developer. All proposed housing that abuts existing houses will not.be two- story structures. Mayor Pro-Tem Greenwald added the houses would be of the same quality as those in Wynbrook. Council stated they were in favor of including this item on next Tuesday night's agenda. . #5 Discuss public hearing on request for a Specific Use Permit for a 130-foot telecommunications tower located at the southwest comer of FM 3009 and Live Oak Road (a.k.a.Schertz Funeral Home). Applicant: Verizon Wireless. (public hearing scheduled for January 20, 2004.) Mayor Pro- Tem Greenwald commented that representatives from Verizon were at the Planning and Zoning public hearing last night. They told the Commission that the engineers say the tower is designed to collapse upon itself. Mrs. Agee stressed she is not in favor of the tower. Mayor Pro- Tem Greenwald pointed out that at the end of five years, if the water tower is up, the communications tower would come down. Mr. Marquez related the water tower would be funded within three years. Mrs. Agee noted a water tower is a necessity, but that is not the case with a telecommunications tower. Coming down FM 3009 will be ugly Economic Development Director, Amy Madison, mentioned they made application with the Schertz Funeral Home and it's better to have one tower instead of two. Council agreed they were ready to move forward with this request and to have it placed on next Tuesday night's agenda. #6 Update by Gail Douglas - Community Services Director . 152 Council had in their packets a report prepared by Ms. Douglas regarding community . services. Ms. Douglas stated Sandy Bryant is her Administrative Assistant. Among her duties are the coordination of the uses of the Community Center and purchasing for all departments under the umbrella of Community Services. Due to the formation of the Community Services Department, the library now has a library manager. Circulation of library materials, story time attendance, and summer reading club attendance have all increased. New shelving was installed. A Texas Book Festival grant was applied for and $2500 was received and used to purchase new juvenile biographies. Also, as an Eagle Scout project, Cory Sclmeider raised nearly $700, which was used to purchase new books. The Parks Department, also part of the Community Services Department, is responsible for maintenance and development of 23 parks and over 150 acres of land. One of the major accomplishments was working with the Schertz Parkway Commission and coming up with and implementing the design for the center islands of the Parkway. Among the accomplishments of the pool services were the renovation of the pool at Pickrell Park and the pool at Northcliffe. Unfortunately vandalism is a problem at the Northcliffe Pool and some improvements have been put on hold. Ms. Douglas said in all department of Community Services it is necessary to continue improving the physical facilities, participate in as much continued education as possible, . and improve their efforts and skills in the area of communications. Mrs. Agee suggested they need more programs for seniors. Ms. Douglas pointed out they do have meals on wheels, line dancing and clogging, but there is a need for more programs. #7 Items by City Manager General Announcements Eagle Scout Project . Reported the TML Region 7 meeting is now scheduled for either the 19th or 26th of February. They encountered a conflict with the AMCC conference. . Advised the City received a nice thank you from Ann Almond, who is recovering from a stroke. . Said the Mayor had asked him why the Schertz Parkway sign isn't finished and he told him they are working on it. It should be in place before too long. . Mentioned the Council has in their packets a proposal for an Eagle Scout project from Cole B. Jolmson who lives in Schertz. He plans to improve an unsafe playground area. . 153 . #8 Items by Council General Announcements Councilmember Douglas Liaison - EDC Liaison - Schertz Library Board · Reported he missed the last meeting of the Library Board and had called Gail Douglas to let her know he wouldn't be there. · Thanked everyone for the cards, telephone calls and attendance at the memorial service for his mother. Councilmember Simonson 4-B Board Liaison - BVY A · Brought up the following items in regard to BVY A: . · Inquired how we're doing on the BVY A contract. Mr. Marquez answered it should be on the next workshop for discussion. · Stated they're coming up on the 30th anniversary of BVY A. He will have more details later. Also, this Saturday is registration for baseball Said the subject came up that in Pony, Bronco, etc. they have a World Series. Why don't we? The answer is because you have to put up $50,000 with no guarantee. · Mentioned that one of the discussions by BVY A was that a participant not living in the City of Schertz has to pay a certain amount of money. Mayor Pro-Tem Greenwald said originally, BVY A had to consist of 90% Schertz residents. Gail Douglas said they had suggested that people outside Schertz pay an additional $5.00. There are lots of volunteers from outside the City and they don't want to pay the extra money. Mrs. Agee indicated there had been an issue in the past about those not being in the SCUC ISD. Mayor Pro-tem Greenwald mentioned that the Board of Directors could make these decisions. Councilmember Agee 4-B Board Liaison - Schertz Housing Authority . · Informed everyone the Guadalupe County Advocacy Center is looking for volunteers. Mr. Marquez noted they are scheduled for a presentation at the January 28th meeting. 154 . Councilmember Wilenchik 4-B Board Liaison - Schertz Humane Society Liaison - HOA Coalition Liaison - TSAC . Announced the Doggie Dash is April 24th, Fund raiser letters have been sent out. They have the same sponsorship level as last year. Councilmember Greenwald 4-B Board Ex-officio P&Z Commission Ex-officio - S/SLGC . Noted the Schertz/Seguin Local Government Corporation would meet tomorrow in the Police Department training room at 1 :30 p.m. . Mentioned that Ron Diver has a doggie problem. He and Mr. Simonson both heard from him. He got ill and supposedly gave his sister power-of-attorney. She gave the house, the furniture and his dogs away. Mr. Simonson said the City has . done everything it can. It is a private family issue. Mr. Marquez commented the families who adopted the dogs have some rights. . Remarked the Planning and Zoning meeting lasted until midnight. Some of the issues discussed are as follows: . Schertz is getting a Wal-Mart Super Center. It will be a 203,000 square foot super store opening in the spring of 2005. Mrs. Agee reminded Council they. cannot rely on sales tax to run the City. . A final plat was submitted for Legacy Oaks. . There is a large tract of homes at the south end of Randolph AFB. Someone is looking in that area for a two-acre tract for a fire department. Mr. Marquez commented they are working on a bid package for the IH-35 sub-station. . There will be a new subdivision called Savannah Bluffs behind Paschal Elementary. There will be 64 homes built at an average selling price of $250,000. . GD Bar plans to build a strip center. . Commented there are several things they need to review. There is no designated zoning between the R-5 and R-2 square footage. Several things in the NS/GB . 155 . zoning area are not really appropriate. Mr. Marquez also mentioned they will be reviewing the Comprehensive Land Plan. #9 Items by Mayor General Announcements Mayor Baldwin was absent. #10 ADJOURNMENT They're being no further business to discuss; Mayor Pro-Tem Greenwald adjourned the meeting at 8:54 p.m. . ATTEST: ~~ City Secretary, City of Schertz, Texas . 156