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ccreg 08-21-01 Schertz City Council-Regular Session Tuesday, August 21, 2001 The Schertz City Council convened in Regular Session on Tuesday, August 21, 2001 at 7:00pm in the Municipal Complex Council Chambers, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. Those present were as follows: Mayor Hal Baldwin, presiding; Councilmembers Reginna Agee, Ken Greenwald, Norma Head, Billy Pitts, and Tim Swinney. Staff members present were City Manager Dewey Cashwell and Planning and Zoning Secretary Mary Ybarra. The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Mayor Baldwin who then asked everyone to rise and join him in the Pledge of Allegiance. #1 Hearing of Residents: George Mower commented about Council members talking among themselves when someone else is speaking. He felt that it looks bad. #2 Discuss plans for Business Appreciation Dinner sponsored by Economic Development Commission. Mr. Cashwell started out by stating that this year there are some special experiences for members of the business community. He also noted that the success of the community is because of the success of the business community. Amy Madison explained that the City has proposed a show. The theme is going to be Broadway and there will also be a Mystery Theatre. Mrs. Madison stated that the tickets will be mailed out, and each person that is invited will receive four tickets. She also pointed out the Commission came up with the idea to give something back to the community, and to highlight the playscape on that evening. They will most likely be spotlighting the Schertz Parkway Project as well. Mayor Baldwin asked if they were going to invite the vendors to set up. Mrs. Madison replied that they were going to be invited, but the City is going to entertain them instead. She stated that they plan on having only one caterer. Mr. Pitts asked how many people are expected to attend this. Mrs. Madison stated that they are hoping to have somewhere between 300-350 people. She explained that last year the attendance was only around 250, but she is hoping with some of the new themes and plans that more people will come. #3 Discuss and set a Public Hearing regarding request for Specific Use Permit for Geoffery Nienstedt. (Road Runner Towing). 246 Mr. Cashwell commented that Mr. Nienstedt is here to discuss a Specific Use Permit having to do with an operation that he wishes to bring to the community in the way of an impound facility on FM1518\Pecan Drive. Mr. Nienstedt explained that he and the owner of the property decided to go with a two- year lease and if the City of Schertz or the owner is not happy with the way that it is going, then they can end it after the term of the lease. He explained that this would be a wrecker service and an impound facility. He also stated that he needs to put a fence up and a few other things and then the facility would be ready. Mr. Nienstedt understands what the City wants as far as appearance. He also stated that an auction would be held every four to six months. Mr. Nienstedt explained that there would be a six-foot commercial chain link fence with barbed wire. He also mentioned that later on there would most likely be surveillance cameras and a building. Council stated that the reason for the Specific Use Permit is because of the "gray area" as to what this property would be considered as far as zoning. It was also noted that this is inside the ACIUZ zone and this use is compatible with ACIUZ. Mr. Swinney asked if there was an accident and there was blood or something on the car, would that be considered hazardous waste. It was stated that if a car came in like that, then it would need to be marked biohazard. It was noted it is not a State law to mark them. Mr. Pitts asked if there is a layout on how many vehicles would be stored as a maximum. Mr. Nienstedt explained that the State has a layout on how many cars can be there. He believes that on that lot there probably wouldn't be more than 60-70 cars. Council requested that Mr. Nienstedt have a proposed layout when he comes for the public hearing. Council also asked if there would be vehicle-moving equipment on the lot. Mr. Nienstedt explained that he uses his truck, but ifhe stays there long enough, then he would consider having a forklift. Council suggested that the public hearing be set for Wednesday, September 12, 2001. It was also asked that Mr. Nienstedt have some kind of sketch of the lot that would show maximum capacity. Without further discussion, Mr. Swinney moved to approve the request for a public hearing for a Specific Use Permit for Road Runner Towing and it be set for September 12,2001. Mr. Greenwald seconded the motion, which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers Head, Pitts, Agee, Swinney, and Greenwald NAYS: None 247 #4 Discuss and set a Public Hearing for budget and tax rate. Mr. Jain proposed to set the public hearing for the tax rate for September 4,2001 and the public hearing for the budget on September 18,2001, and after the public hearing on the 18th, Council would act on those items. Without further discussion, Mr. Greenwald moved to set the public hearing on the tax rate for September 4,2001 and to set the public hearing on the budget for September 18, 2001. Mr. Pitts seconded the motion, which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers Head, Pitts, Agee, Swinney, and Greenwald NAYS: None #5 Consider and take action on change of EMS rates. Mr. Cashwell explained there are challenges in garnering the necessary revenue for operation from a variety of sources. One of those challenges is the actual ambulance charges. Mr. Wait pointed out the new rates do not place Schertz at the high end of the market, but rather at the 75% level of the EMS market. Without further discussion, Mrs. Head moved that the City adopt the increased rates to EMS customers for the new budget (see attached sheet). Mr. Swinney seconded the motion, which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers Head, Pitts, Agee, Swinney, and Greenwald NAYS: None #6 BudgetVVorkshop City Council/Assistance Program City Manager Public Information Human Resource Information Technology Economic Development City Secretary City Council/Assistance Program: Mrs. Head explained that the program that was established in January 2000 allotted $5,000.00 to budget. It does again for this coming year. for use in supplemental funds for prescription drugs. She also explained that the temporary utility assistance program was put together to assist people with first rate increase. There is a chance that funds could be handed out as late as December and the 248 first part of January. Mrs. Head remarked there has been some discussion on whether or not they are going to repeat the program next year with the next rate increase. City Manager: There is a need to do something with the annual rewards. There have been occasions where the City has not been able to follow through with an event during the fall or late part of the year to provide awards for people who have recognition commg. There is a longevity program that rewards employees in terms of compensation. There is also a pay plan, which in mid-year if the employees evaluation meets the requirements for the merit pay then they can receive a 2 - 2]1,% increase. Council stated that they are recommending a suspension on the merit increase this year. Public Information: Mrs. Madison stated that there are some major strategic things that are going to help the City be successful this year. One thing in the budget is a customer care specialist to help in better communication with the citizens. She stated she thinks that they will be able to fill the slot with current staff and then there should be no need to hire an additional person. Mrs. Madison mentioned another critical issue is the signage. The first impressions that people have are the signs at the entrances into the City, as well as the signs in front ofthe municipal buildings. Another problem is the distribution issues. They have been running out of newsletters. HOA's have been requesting more copies to put in their newsletters. Mrs. Madison informed Council that they are looking into increasing the numbers of newsletters going out. She is also requesting more space in the newsletters. Council suggested that if the newsletter is read by that many people, it might be beneficial to add an advertising section. Council also asked how soon the newsletter could be up and running on the web site. Mrs. Madison explained that they are currently preparing the newsletter in a PDF (portable document file) so that it can also be viewed over the web. Council suggested that the paper document should still go out in some numbers. The reason is that some people aren't familiar with the Internet, or don't have Internet access. You want to get as much public information out as possible. Mrs. Madison felt that putting advertisements in the Newsletter would take up too much staff time trying to get people to advertise and then getting the copyright and deciding whether or not they approved it. A member of Council suggested that the newsletter go out in the water bill every month, and that it just stays with the one page format with just the main facts in it. 249 Mrs. Madison added that as soon as the budget is finished, the main focus is going to be on developing a City web page. She explained the first thing they are going to do is survey the front line personnel and find out what the questions and concerns of the citizens are. She also stated that the web page would need to be advertised heavily. Mrs. Madison continued to talk about some of the things that could happen this next year such as bond issues, annexation, and computer upgrades. Human Resources: they propose to separate the human resources from the Economic Development Department. It is proposed that Donna Dykes take over operations this year for the creation of this function and that there be a clerical assistant provided to her for record keeping. Mrs. Dykes explained she went to the City of Schertz strategic plan and looked at how this department would fit in with where the City is going in the future. Mrs. Dykes advised Council that Human Resources is not just one function, but six functions. Those are recruiting; training, compensation and benefits, employee labor relations, employee safety and health, and managing change. Mr. Cashwell informed Council the employee assistance program is necessary. He stated that the best way for people to sort out their problems is to sort them out with the help of people that can guide them in the right direction and the employee assistance program has proven very effective in that way. It has also been very helpful in preventing additional problems such as substance abuse, problems with finances, or other issues. Mr. Marquez stated that the salary survey was passed out months ago. He is also going to try and translate what it said into something tangible. Mr. Marquez explained that according to the survey package, 80% of the positions are not competitive. The total cost to make them competitive would be $521,000.00. Mr. Cashwell stated that there were 37 people who would not have gotten a raise at all because they were already in the market range. These people are going to be given a minimum 4% raise. Mr. Marquez also commented that they really looked hard to come up with a health care package that will serve the need of the employees. The increase that they originally looked at was 59%. Information Technology: Rohan Pierce stated that this is a new department, so there is no past history to fall back on. It is primarily based on communication, getting all the departments talking both over the phone and through the data communications. Also getting Public Works better communications back to City Hall and to the network. Planning and Zoning equipment needs to be updated, the computer systems are very slow. 250 Mr. Pierce commented that one of the big issues is to get the network completely up to speed. The Library and Animal Control are not connected to the main system. In the Capital Equipment area they have moved all the equipment into one budget instead of having it in every departments budget. He explained that in some cases they may get twice as much equipment as what they budgeted for due to finding the best buy for the dollar. Mr. Pierce added that the batteries in the UPS would need to be replaced. Replacing the batteries is more cost effective than buying new units. It was also noted that the batteries are hazardous waste and cannot be thrown out in the garbage. Mr. Pierce also mentioned that the employees need to have computer-based programs to help train them, to make them more efficient. The dollar amounts in the capital budget are the consolidated view of all of the capital for computer needs throughout the organization. City Mana!!er's ReDort Mr. Cashwell noted he has a couple of things to discuss in the FYI section. There was a letter sent by a citizen who has some feelings regarding the zoning issue that is coming up. There is also something from the Texas recyclable program. There is information on use of City vehicle by employees. Another item is a document from the Guadalupe County offices regarding what Guadalupe County is seeking to do as far as EMS services. They are going to try and provide their own services. Mr. Cashwell informed Council that there would be a meeting with Northcliffe and Scenic Hills on September 6th at 3:00pm. Mr. Cashwell advised Council about the TML conference that will be held at the end of November. They either need to get into the lottery for the hotel rooms or find some good hotel rooms at the non-conference rate. Mr. Cashwell also suggested that anyone going to the Schertz-Seguin Corporation gathering meet at City hall and car pool to the event. Mayor Baldwin also mentioned that ifthere are any more Home town Hero nominees that they need to be submitted by September 7, 2001. He felt that they need to screen the entries and select one or two to submit. Due to the time, Economic Development and City Secretary will be discussed at the next workshop. 251 #6 Adjournment: There being no further business to discuss, Mayor Baldwin adjourned the meeting at !0:30pm. ATTEST: ,!#dfl~ If::A~ / Depu Ci S retary, City of Schertz, Texas .-- 252 tZ,j) ( Mayor, City of Schertz, Texas ~J&~ <12//0/ EMS Revenue FY 2002 !l Increased rates to customers _ Proposed increase in ambulance charges Current Rates Proposed Rates BLS: $250 $435 ALS: $300 $525 Mileage: $5.00/miie $1a.aO/mile At cost + 20% $75.00 N '" w . ,....._-..==-.~_"',s-~-=-....,,--'<"'='-"""~'''==,'-''''''=--......"''~.........~ ~ .- Schertz EMS _~,~__~""""'d_-"""~''''''''~'~Mu">-''_''''' ~"..'~-'" --..".-,- ^".'- ..-~..,.,,-" ...--, .~,. -_.._.-.._--,--,--.,.~......"._- 8