ccwks 08-01-01
Schertz City Council- Special Workshop
August 1, 2001
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session on Wednesday, August
1,2001. In the Municipal Complex Conference Room, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz,
Texas. Those present were as follows: Mayor Pro-Tern Norma Head, presiding;
Councilmembers Tim Swinney, Ken Greenwald, Reginna Agee, and Billy Pitts. Staff
members present were City Manager Dewey Cashwell and Planning and Zoning
Secretary Mary Ybarra. Absent: Mayor Hal Baldwin.
Mayor Pro-Tern Head called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
#1 Hearing of Residents:
Ramon Cook mentioned Trees that are dying due to the roots being cut during
construction. The branches are about to fall off onto public streets and walkways.
Several ofthe trees are in Woodland Oaks.
visited the Park on July 5th and just wanted to acknowledge its cleanliness to the Public
Works Department.
Thanked the police patrols in the 20mph zones for doing a good job.
George Mower congratulated the new employee, Amy Madison, for getting the Schertz
Newsletter out on time.
Chuck Sharpe expressed concern about re-districting the County. Feels its the worst
thing that could happen and asked Council to keep their eyes open.
Mr. Cashwell noted there will be one more opportunity to discuss the matter with the
Guadalupe County Commissions Court on August 6, 2001 at !0:00am at the Guadalupe
County Courthouse (307 W. Court St.)
Malford Ackermann remarked more Animal Control personnel are needed on the
weekends. Mr. Cashwell stated the problem would be addressed in item #8 of the
agenda.
Kenny Floyd reported the end of Antler has been opened up. The fence is gone and
people have been driving in there and dumping trash.
Council noted that item number three would be addressed second on the agenda and
number two would be addressed third.
#3 Discuss paving of Fawn and Antler Drive and removal of five trees:
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Mr. Cashwell explained that the work that is being done has to do with an overlay
material that will improve the surface of the street. The streets also need to be
maintained in a safe manner, which is why five trees need to be removed. The City
Attorney advised Council that once such safety hazard has been brought to the attention
of the City and if someone were to be injured or die as a result of one of the trees, the
City could be held liable. Mr. Cashwell also stated that the trees do not belong to the
individual homeowners, but to the public in general.
Mr. Bierschwale then made a slide presentation on the Fawn Drive and Antler Drive
project and public comments were solicited.
Mr. Cashwell stated he believes that this project is a balanced approach to beginning
improvements, which will benefit the City as well as the citizens.
Mr. Chuck Sharpe felt that the project is a good idea because of the accidents that have
happened on Fawn and Antler in recent years.
Mr. Ted Duigon commented that six citizens of the neighborhood received speeding
tickets and he would like to know what the police were doing hiding behind the bushes.
Mr. Bill Armstrong disagrees with the project, he is opposed to the paving of the road
because he feels there is more than enough room for emergency vehicles to get through.
He also feels that if the road is widened, then the traffic flow will increase.
Mr. John Linebarger mentioned a problem with the width of the entrances/exits from
Antler and Fawn onto FM 3009. He said if one car is already there, it usually has to
backup to allow room for the second one.
Mayor Pro-Tern Mrs. Head took a poll of the citizens at the meeting, and the majority
were in favor ofthe paving project.
#2 Discuss Request for proposal concerning Municipal Court Software:
Judge Padgett explained that the Municipal Court has striven for efficiency and
productivity, and has continued to seek opportunities for the enhancement of customer
service. She continued to explain that the current software has failed to contribute to that
objective, and has in fact inhibited productivity. There has been a delay in revenue due to
a delay in the generation of warrants. With advancement in mind, the City went to the
market place and circulated an RFP. The RFP was circulated in the Seguin Gazette and
also in the Austin American Statesman. There was one response and that was from
Incode, which is local government software. New World, the current vendor, declined to
bid. She then turned the floor over to her staff to explain more in detail the daily struggles
that they have with the software.
Linda Babineau (Deputy Clerk) explained that with the system being used currently, it
takes !O minutes to enter one citation (with no interruptions). On a daily basis, 30
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violations need to be entered. During the STEP program, it is normally triple that
amount. There are ten screens or steps involved in entering each ticket. Also, when a
citation is issued to a juvenile, a letter has to be sent out to the parents to make an
appearance in court. There are an additional five screens (or steps) to have the letter
generated, as well as having to add the name to the letter. She explained that with the
new system, once the name and birth date are entered, the letter is automatically
generated.
Esther Mendoza (Court Clerk) Explained that it currently takes her 20-25 minutes to
issue one warrant due to the long process the current system uses. With the new system,
50 warrants could be generated within a matter of minutes.
James McSorley (Warrant Officer) explained that he has to spend a minimum of six
minutes for one warrant, spending three straight hours entering warrants. Once entered
into Omi base, he then has to go to a new section of the software to transmit it. With the
new software there is no need to spend all that time, just hit one particular key and it does
all the transmitting.
Misty Nichols (Deputy Court Clerk) spoke about disbursement issues. It takes anywhere
from 20 minutes (if everything goes smoothly) to 45 minutes if difficulty arises. She also
explained if a person comes in to pay a bill, the clerk has to go into the system and bring
up their case. If they have more than one case, then the clerk has to go back in again and
bring up the other case, and if they want a balance due, then the clerk has to go back in a
third time. With the new system all you have to do is point to the person's name and it
will bring up all the information.
Lee Midkiff (Incode Representative) spoke at this time. Incode was founded in 1981and
in 1984 Incode started in Littlefield Texas. During that time they installed over 400 city
governments with various products such as financial, utility billing, cemetery records,
police management, etc. In 1994 Incode started writing a court system. The very first
sale of the court software was in Georgetown, Texas. Windcrest is also a customer who
has been with them since the very beginning. Since 1994 Incode has installed over 150
court systems in twelve states. There are 95 installed and running courts in Texas. They
have a very well educated court support team. A typical day for Incode is 10-15 calls and
response time is less than one hour. All of their support is based in Lubbock Texas.
The cost of the software is $51,000. The software is $54,000 with the Internet
application. Last year alone the Municipal Court had over $11,000 in reserve. The
Municipal Court has about $25,000 to dedicate to this software by the end of the year. It
was also explained that instead of going through a third party financing agency, the city
would finance the additional $25,000 and it would be deferred to November 1, 2001. The
City would pay the money back over a four-year period. There would still be some
reserve for technical breakdown of the system.
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Mr. Pitts asked how much on-site assistance the service provider would do and how
much would be done by City staff. Mr. Midkiff noted that there would be 62 hours of
training provided by his company, and that training would be in two sessions.
Judge Padgett stated that during the training time, they would have alternating schedules
so the court would not be closed.
It was felt that the issue is worthy of consideration.
#4 Discuss update of Schertz Parkway Bond Issuance:
This is the workshop prior to the final reading authorizing the $4.5 million certificate of
obligation for the Schertz Parkway Project.
Mr. Marquez explained that the City of Schertz has in the last couple of years moved up
in bond ratings to A on the Utility side and A on the General Funds side. As of Tuesday,
July 31,2001 the City of Schertz has been upgraded to an A+. He went on to explain that
the types of projects that the City appears to be focusing on are quality oflife issues. He
also explained that the Sales Tax in Schertz is lower than most communities of this size.
The reason being, outside people are shopping in Schertz instead of Schertz residents
shopping outside their area.
Mr. Pitts asked what the expected savings would be in regard to the bonds going from A
to an A+.
Mr. Marquez replied that the savings are not that substantial, only a couple thousand
dollars every time a bond is issued. You are, however, getting a better bid from the
insurance provider and less risk. He explained that it really is a material item, but the
savings would be directly on a lower cost insurance premium.
#5 Discuss budget presentation schedule:
Mr. Cashwell noted that the overall proposed tax rate is 4.5 cents higher than last year,
but the great majority of that increase is related strictly to the INS portion and the
Parkway Project.
The budget schedule includes at least four workshops on August 8, 15,22, and 29th. He
also said to be prepared no later than the middle of September to set the tax rate.
Mr. Jain explained this gives Council the opportunity to talk to the department heads
about their needs and priorities. Certain dates will be appointed to discuss each topic.
Each week the session would be about three hours long. Updates would be made as
changes occur. He also mentioned possibly spending half a day on Saturday to pick up
other issues, and other departments that are not able to fit into the schedule.
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#6 Discuss bid regarding Pilot Drainage Channel between Live Oak Road and
Buffalo Drive (behind City Hall):
Mr. Bierschwale explained there are designs of the pilot channel behind City Hall. It has
been submitted to FEMA, but they are running about three years behind. Medina is ready
to start work with the City of Schertz. The City will have to purchase about 40 feet of
property. The low bid received was $48,686.00.
The duration of the project would be about 40-45 days.
The question was asked if the money could still be counted as part of the FEMA match.
The answer was they are not sure yet. The City needs to ask FEMA.
#7 Discuss elevated water storage tank on IH-3S:
Bid for the elevated water storage tank will be opened on August 30th. The tank will take
470 days to construct. Completion would be around February 15, 2003. The entire
infrastructure would be in place by the time the elevated storage tank is completed. It
was also noted this be the largest billboard for the City of Schertz.
#8 Discuss Animal Control operations:
Mr. Cashwell explained the animal shelter has made more attempts to provide better
service for the community. They have recently added hours of service and more
opportunities to engage the public in a positive manner with regard to adopting an
animal.
It was stated that animal control is first and foremost, dealing with vicious animals and
animals that attack, with the key reason being the control of rabies. The hours of animal
control have been limited on the weekend to those calls of an attacking animal or a
vicious animal, or an animal that has been neglected or abused. They do not usually call
out a police officer on the weekend for a stray animal.
The hours have been changed from Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, to Seven days a week 8am-5pm.
It was also stated that Animal Control would like the Human Society to come out on
Friday afternoons, Saturdays, and possibly Sundays to help out with the public and
promote the animals. The goal is to turn it into a care shelter with the City staff running
it.
It was suggested to do an early transfer of the Animal Control Division to the Police
Department, but to do so they need an Animal Shelter Manager.
It is in transition now to transfer Animal Control over to the Police Department. It was
also stated that this is going to be a first class animal shelter to support the needs of the
residents and the animals.
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Council proposed that in order to better the weekend hours situation, they be paid "on
Call pay" and they would be on stand-by and paid $15.00 a day. The pay would be
basically just to be around in the event of a call.
It was suggested that since the police are provided with pagers, that they not be paid the
on call pay, but rather just page them when there is a need for them. Therefore there
would just need to be a change of the policy. They are obligated to be on-call. Then they
would be paid either time and a half or double time on holidays.
It was questioned what is a vicious animal. The answer is that if the animal is attacking
or causing harm to the property then it is considered vicious, but if the animal is just
sitting there then it is not considered vicious.
Mr. Cashwell stated that as the City begins to grow, there are going to be more and more
calls. He stated that it should be included in the discussions and should be looked at in
the budget.
There was also concern about having a police officer go to a call of a vicious animal, and
taking that officer away from police duties.
The majority felt that there is a need to have twenty-four hour animal control. It was
stated that it needs to be worked into the budget to get additional help.
Pia Jarman, who is a dog trainer, stated that most people won't go up to a dog that is
snarling and growling, but they will go up to a dog that looks friendly and harmless, and
that most of the time that is when they get bit. She also said the problem lies with stray
dogs going out into the road and then causing traffic accidents.
Chief Smith said he didn't feel that there would be any impact on the Police Department
because they are already taking calls for this. He also said that the officers would have
some training so that they can respond to a call and handle a bad situation.
#9 Ordinance: Consider and take action on first reading of an Ordinance
regarding Stop intersections.
Mayor Pro-Tern Head introduced an ordinance and read the caption as follows:
AN ORDINANCE
BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS PROVIDING
THAT THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS BE
AMENDED BY REVISING SECTION 18-32, STOP INTERSECTIONS; AND
PROVIDING A REPEALING CLAUSE.
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This Ordinance is for Stop Signs at the intersections of Bell North Drive and FM 3009
and Bell North Drive and Doerr Lane.
Without further discussion Mr. Greenwald moved to approve the first reading of an
ordinance regarding stop intersections. Mr. Swinney seconded the motion, which carried
with the following votes:
AYES: Mayor Pro-Tern Head and Councilmembers Pitts, Agee, Swinney, and Greenwald
NAYS: None
#10 Executive Session: Called under chapter 551 Texas Government code, Sub-
Section 551.072, Deliberation regarding real property.
An Executive Session was held from 9:45pm to 10:45pm
#11 Action, if any, on above Executive Session.
No action taken.
#12 City Manager's report: Acquisition oflaw enforcement vehicles
The police department is requesting four new vehicles. A standard police car only lasts
two years opposed to a regular car lasting five years. The reason for this is simply
because of the amount of hours the cars are used.
Mr. Jain explained that these 2001 cars would save the City between $2,800.00-3,000.00
for the four cars that need to be replaced, as opposed to waiting to go through the budget
process next year.
Mr. Pitts asked ifthere was a net amount that goes back into the budget for the resale of
the vehicle.
Mr. Jain answered there are two that they will sell and that they will only sell for around
$500.00. Two go back to city hall for recycling. Mr. Jain also explained that the market
value is not part of the budget calculation. The cars are being purchased from bond
money, not from the general fund.
Mr. Cashwell commented on the staff. He related that Norma Althouse is improving, but
would not be back to work for at least a few weeks. He also stated that Terry Aikmen
responded to a fire and suffered smoke inhalation and began experiencing chest pains.
He is spending the night in the hospital for observation, but seems to be doing okay.
#13 Items by Mayor: a. Strategic planning Session; b. Redistricting Guadalupe
County Commissioners and Justice ofthe Peace precincts
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#14 Adjournment: There being no further business to discuss, Mayor Pro-Tern. Head
adjourned the meeting at 11 :05pm.
d,,/JJ
Mayor, City of Schertz, Texas
ATTEST:
'1Y1 ~ WnAMJ
DeputT City S-J;;etary, City of Schertz, Texas
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