ccspecwksp 04-26-2000
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SPECIAL WORKSHOP SESSION OF THE SCHERTZ CITY COUNCIL
APRIL 26, 2000
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session on Wednesday, April
26, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Complex Conference Room, 1400 Schertz
Parkway, Schertz, Texas. Those present were as follows: Councilmembers Pia Jarman;
Joe Potempa; Reginna Agee; Glyn D. Williams and Ken Greenwald. Absent: Mayor Hal
Baldwin. Staff present were City Manager Kerry Sweatt and City Secretary Norma
Althouse.
In the absence of Mayor Hal Baldwin, Mayor Pro-Tern Reginna Agee presided over the
meeting.
#1 HEARING OF RESIDENTS
Chuck Sharpe of 1200 Antler Drive had signed up to speak about the Internet Taxation
Reso lution, which is I tern #5 on the agenda.
Mr. Sharpe admitted he is not on the Internet a lot. He is, however, concerned about the
federal government's propensity for collecting taxes. It used to be that if you bought
more (water, electricity, etc.) you got a discount. That's not true any more.
. Mr. Sharpe had brought some of his phone bills and cable bills with him to point out the
number of taxes included on the bills. He stated it's an insidious way the govemmen~ has
of getting money. There's something on the phone bill called a portability tax - that's so
in case you move, you can have the same phone number. There's also something called
a TIF tax. Mayor Pro-Tern Agee said that stands for Texas Infrastructure Fund and
money from that fund provides computers to schools and hospitals.
Mr. Sharpe thanked the Council for their time and expressed the wish they won't follow
blindly on this Internet Taxation Resolution just because someone else is doing it.
#2 Briefing by City Attorney regarding recent Attorney General opinion relating
to Open Meeting Law.
City Attorney, Michael Spain, advised Council that the Open Meetings Act has become
more restrictive in some ways and more open in some ways. It seems as if every
Legislature makes some kind of change.
The defmition of a meeting has been changed. It used to be a deliberation. Now it is a
gathering. Even a briefing by staff is now considered a meeting and has to be posted.
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If a citizen plans to address the Council on a matter which is not posted on the agenda,
the Open Meetings Act allows only the following responses to a question: 1) a statement
of specific factual information, 2) a statement of existing City policy, or 3) discussion
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regarding when the matter can be placed on the Council's agenda for consideration at a
later meeting.
If a citizen calls and wants to talk about a specific item, it has to be posted under the
Hearing of Residents Item on the agenda. The same thing applies to the City Manager's
Report and Items by Council and Items by Mayor. If the City Manager, a Councilmember
or the Mayor know in advance they are going to talk about a specific item, it has to be
posted on the agenda under the appropriate Item This can have the result of stifling
public information. Mrs. Jarman inquired how we inform the public of this new
procedure and Mr. Spain answered it will take time. He suggested, in reference to the
new law about answering questions from a citizen, that the statement outlining the three
options be read at the next several meetings to get the public familiar with the procedure.
Council also suggested a copy of that statement be placed alongside the Sign-In-Sheet on
the table in the lobby.
There was a brief discussion about the requirement for posting the agenda 72 hours in
advance of the meeting and also about the 2-hour requirement for an emergency item on
the agenda. Mr. Spain stressed it has to be a true emergency, you can't just post it as an
emergency because you forgot to include it the first time.
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There was also a brief discussion about setting a deadline for people to call in and let the
City manager know they would like to have an item placed on the agenda. It was
suggested that a deadline of 9:00 a.m on Thursday morning preceding the next meeting
would be good.
#3 Discuss Council Rules of Conduct and Procedure.
The Council Rules of Conduct and Procedure were reviewed by Council and the City
Attorney. Among the highlights discussed were the Consent Agenda, specifically in
regard to reading captions of ordinances. Mr. Greenwald commented the Charter says
you have to read the captions. Mr. Spain pointed out you could read six captions and
only vote once. Mayor Pro-Tern Agee remarked that would eliminate discussion on
every item. Mrs. Jarman mentioned that with a Consent Agenda, you don't have to \lave
a first and second to adjourn.
Mr. Williams suggested the Seal of the City be on the first page of the Rules and offered
to do that. Mrs. Jarman indicated she was thinking of a separate cover with the Seal and
Mr. Williams agreed to that.
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Council agreed the information about a deadline no later than 9:00 a.m. on the Thursday
preceding the next meeting, for notifying the City Manager that you want an item placed
on the agenda, should be included under the appropriate item. Mr. Spain felt the
information about the new rule of the Open Meetings Law regarding answering questions
from citizens should be included in the Rules. He wrote up the information and gave it to
the City Manager. Also suggested for inclusion was the information about the City
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Manager, the Council and the Mayor having to have items posed on the agenda if they
know they are going to talk about a specific subject.
Paragraph 2.14 was added regarding Items not Addressed by Rules.
Mayor Pro-Tern Agee stated this is not ready for a vote on next week's agenda. It will
take one more workshop. She would like to see "Draft" stamped all over it.
#4 Discuss public hearing for zoning change in Oak Trails Subdivision.
Mr. Sweatt explained this request for rezoning was denied by Planning and Zoning based
on traffic analysis. The developer asked for a postponement of the Council public
hearing, but it had already been advertised and the process couldn't be stopped. Council
will hold a public hearing and can consider whatever action at that time. A representative
for the developer will attend the public hearing.
There was some discussion about the R1 and R-6 zoning (the request was to rezone from
R-1 to R-6) and Mrs. Jarman asked what R-2 zoning is. Council took a short break while
Mr. Sweatt went to his office to get his UDC, which has that information.
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After the break, Mr. Sweatt explained to Council that an R-1 is a lot size of 9600 square
feet, R-2 is 8400 square feet, and R-6 is 7200 square feet. The zoning classification for a
garden home is R-5 - 5000 square feet.
Council agreed they were ready for this item to be included on next Tuesday night's
agenda. Mr. Greenwald added that if a representative shows up for the public hearing, he
might ask that it be postponed.
#5 Discuss Resolution relating to Internet Taxation.
Mr. Sweatt reminded Council that information about this subject was provided in their
packets. That information included a Legislative Alert from the National Association of
Counties, a draft of a resolution urging that Congress not extend or expand the current
moratorium on Internet Taxation, and several newspaper articles. The lack of tax is
detrimental to the City of Schertz and businesses. The argument could be the same as
that of catalogue sales. There is an equally compelling argument on both sides.
Mr. Williams asked whom you are going to tax. He agreed something needs to be done,
but he doesn't think the federal government knows what to do yet. He advised Council
they must be careful in signing this resolution. He also commented he agrees with Mr.
Sharpe - make the tax equal all around. This was followed by a brief discussion on
where the tax from something purchased from another State actually goes.
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Mr. Williams went on to say he just changed from Southwestern Bell to AT&T. Does
AT&T pay a franchise fee to the City? Mr. Sweatt explained a little bit about how the
franchise fees work. Mr. Potempa commented it's time for another Boston Tea Party.
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Mrs. Jarman asked if Council is voting on this and Mr. Sweatt replied no, they're just
discussing it. Mr. Sweatt then asked what is the pleasure of Council. Do they want to
extend the moratorium until 2003? Mr. Potempa asked why have this internet tax if
taxes are eliminated on over-the-counter drugs.
The consensus of Council was they have discussed it and that's it for right now.
#6 Discuss policy governing names of parks, buildings, rooms and other City
facilities.
Mr. Sweatt remarked this was placed on the agenda without clear direction. Mr. Spain
asked if streets were purposely left off and Mr. Sweatt responded yes, the City has a
policy on streets.
One of the sections of the policy is a list of three, five or seven years pertaining to the
time a person must deceased to have a facility named after them. Mrs. Jarman explained
she thought this was essential because of what happened in the Charles Kurault
situation - finding out he had a family on each side of the continent. You never know
what may show up in someone' s background.
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Mayor Pro-Tern Agee said, on a personal level, she doesn't like any years because this
eliminates her deceased husband, Norman, from being nominated. Even if a person is
deceased for five or seven years, you may still not find out anything.
Mrs. Jarman acknowledged she knows this is a very emotional issue. It came about as a
result of Charles McDonald wanting to name the new complex after Earl Sawyer. She
feels a facility should be named after someone posthumously. Further, this should be
considered a policy and not about individuals.
Mr. Potempa felt facilities should be named after local people instead of national ones.
He also felt there should be zero number of years, but the person should be deceased.
Mr. Greenwald suggested inserting the word normally at the beginning of the second
sentence in paragraph 2 and Mr. Williams suggested, at the end of the second sentence in
this same paragraph, making the length of time three years. This allows time for
emotions to calm down. These two suggestions would make Paragraph 2, second
sentence, read as follows: Normally, facilities will not be named/renamed for
individuals unless they have been deceased for at least three years. Council agreed with
these changes. Mrs. Jarman said leave it at three years, but it can be voted down.
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Mayor Pro-Tern Agee asked what the requirements are if you want to name a facility
after a national leader. To this, Mr. Williams observed that national and state have
enough notoriety, but maybe not the local. Mayor Pro-Tern Agee then wondered what
would justify naming a City Hall after John F. Kennedy. She recommended having
another numbered paragraph for other than local and also recommended they must have
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some kind of link to the City. Mrs. Jarman agreed to work on the wording for those
recommendations.
Council talked about paragraph 3.b and suggested the words of money or land be deleted
after significant contribution.
Mayor Pro-Tern Agee remarked she thinks naming emergency services buildings after a
person is dumb It should merely be the City of Schertz Police Department, or Fire
Department, or EMS Department. Mr. Potempa commented you could name the Police
Department building the Agee Building. Mr. Greenwald suggested the Agee Conference
Room in the Police Department building. Mr. Sweatt stated, that for now, the buildings
will be called the Emergency Services Complex. They can always add plaques.
Mayor Pro-Tern Agee, referring to paragraph 4 d, inquired if the City would provide cost
estimates Fr replacing signs and plaques to implement new names. Mr. Sweatt answered
that cost would probably fall on the City. Mr. Spain suggested having the applicant
identify all the changes needed. Mrs. Jarman queried if there should be a repealing
clause. Renaming something is always touchy. Mayor Pro-Tern Agee indicated the City
could always pass an ordinance in the future not to name anything after anybody. This
possibility was discussed.
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Mrs. Jarman volunteered to rework the policy. Mr. Sweatt asked if Council wants this on
the next workshop and they answered yes.
#7 Discuss architectural services agreement for Municipal Building remodeling.
Mr. Sweatt advised Council, as they will recall, the City has contracted with Burns
Fletcher Gill Architects for the architectural and engineering services on the re-roofing,
remodeling/renovation of the Municipal Building and the re-roofmg of the Community
Center through the stage of bidding and contract evaluation. What they are proposing is
for architectural services through the construction phase. Funding is available through
the 1997 bond funds. It will take $17,000 to provide these services and approval is
recommended. The City has always found it necessary and valuable to have an architect.
Mr. Greenwald verified that the renovation work has already been bid out. Mr. Sweatt
noted that V.W. Brooks was awarded the bid.
Mr. Potempa mentioned the punching of holes in the library gutters after the recent
hailstorm and felt they should be torn down. Are they old? Mr. Sweatt replied yes.
Council was prepared for this item to be included on next Tuesday night's agenda.
#8 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
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. Related he has an item for placing on a future agenda or for obtaining direction from
Council this evening. They have been contacted by St. Monica Day Care about
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bringing students to the pool - 150 twice a day in June and 80 twice a day in July.
He then reported that 41 % of the swimming pool income comes from out-of-City
residents. Of that 41%, 45% is from lessons, 35% from season passes, and 19% from
parties. This was an issue last year. One City resident was offended because his
children could not get in the pool (it was full to capacity) and they had season passes.
The City has always done this on a first come, first serve basis. They need direction
and soon. The opening day for the pool is May 27th. Mr. Williams suggested putting
it in the form ofa contract, stating that on occasion the pool may not be available due
to capacity being exceeded. The remaining members of Council thought that was a
good idea. Mr. Sweatt then verified they could move forward without any action on
the part of Council. Council agreed.
#9
ITEMS BY COUNCIL
Mr. Greenwald:
· Reported Randolph Air Force Base will have open house this year for Armed Forces
Day on May 27th and 28th.
Mr. Potempa:
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· Told Mr. Sweatt there is a Christmas tree on Scherrtz Parkway, across from the
Lutheran Mission sign, that should be picked up. Mr. Sweatt promised to look into it.
· Mentioned the TML Municipal Excellence Award and thought the City's new public
safety facilities should be submitted. Can we meet the May 31 st deadline? Mayor
Pro-Tern Agee pointed out one of the criteria is did it meet its goals and we would
have no way of knowing since they are not in the facilities yet. Mr. Potempa asked
Mrs. Jarman if she would help him out as far as the composition of the application
and even though she was reluctant because of other obligations, Mrs. Jarman agreed
to help.
Mr. Williams:
. Thanked everyone for the lovely plant and get-well cards.
. Noted he has a memo regarding a request to discuss policy requiring the City
Manager to brief Council concerning "open items" (to let them know the status of
things). Mr. Sweatt commented the policy in the past has been to submit items to him
that they want on the agenda. Due to the new rules of the Open Meetings Law, it was
decided this item should be included under Mr. Williams name on the Items by
Council portion of next week's agenda.
#10 ITEMS BY MAYOR
. There were none.
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#11 ADJOURNMENT
Since there was no further business to discuss, Mayor Pro-Tern Agee adjourned the
meeting at 9:30 p.m.
ATTEST
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Mayor, City of Schertz, Texas
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City Secretary, City of Schertz
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