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ccspecwksp 04-26-2000 . 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. . 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 -174- e 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. . 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. . 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 -175- . 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. . 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. . 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. -176- . 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. . 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. . 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 -177- . 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. . 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 . . 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 -178- . 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: . · 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. -179- . #11 ADJOURNMENT Since there was no further business to discuss, Mayor Pro-Tern Agee adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m. ATTEST 7?~/J__'_Il_ ff~ .." . -( --. Mayor, City of Schertz, Texas V ../i. fR.b'- 7 &-1Yl ~-~ aU!:-k~ City Secretary, City of Schertz . . -180-