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ccreg 01-16-1996 I REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 16, 1996 The Schertz City Council convened in Regular Session on Tuesday, January 16, 1996 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. The following members were present: Mayor Hal Baldwin, presiding; Charles McDonald; Joe Potempa; Earl Sawyer; Timothy Swinney and Ken Greenwald. Staff present were City Manager Kerry Sweatt and City Secretary Norma Althouse. Mayor Baldwin asked everyone to rise and join him in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. #1 HEARING OF RESIDENTS: speak on agenda items (other items not on the agenda, will Those citizens wishing than public hearing items) be heard at this time. to or No one had signed up to speak. #2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A. B. C. Special Session 11-15-95 Regular Session 12-05-95 Regular Session 12-19-95 Mr. Sawyer moved to approve the minutes for the Special Session of 11-15-95, the Regular Session of 12-5-95 and the Regular Session of 12-19-95. Mr. Greenwald seconded the motion, which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa, Sawyer, Swinney and Greenwald. NAYS: None. ABSTENTIONS: 12-19-95. Mr. Potempa for the Regular Session of #3 INTRODUCTION OF CITY STAFF MEMBERS Mr. Sweatt explained they are beginning a new program this year with the first regular Council meeting of 1996. They are starting, among other things, to develop a new employee orientation program. Each department head will be responsible for hosting a program. The remainder of the staff will attend that program in an attempt to learn more about what's going on in each of those departments. Mr. Sweatt commented in order to start it off, he asked all the department heads to attend and observe a Council meeting in progress and have the opportunity to make comments. -100- Mr. Sweatt then introduced the following department heads: Norma Althouse, City Secretary Steve Simonson, Asst. City Manager Norman Agee, Police Chief Johnny Woodward, Fire Chief John Bierschwale, Director of Public Works Evelyn Boggess, Tax Collector Debbi Kline, Finance Officer Alice Austin, Officer Manager/Data Processing Administrator Leonard Truitt, Code Enforcement & Chief Building Official Gail Douglas, Librarian Mark Marquez, Director of Management Services LeRoy Cinnamon, Municipal Court Judge Juan Guerrero, SAFES Administrator Mr. Sweatt noted that Mike DeLeon, Building Services Supervisor, had a death in his family and was unable to be here this evening. Mayor Baldwin welcomed everyone and Mr. Swinney and Mr. Potempa urged them to keep up the good work. Mr. Sweatt remarked the department heads have been involved in some training programs that have in the long run thrown off some very good ideas. People get used to things being done a certain way, so it broadens the scope and expands the envelope a little bit to see how others do those same things. They are in the process now of the training programs and he hopes Council sees the results of a very dedicated staff. They are dedicated to the City and to the citizens of the community to deliver quality service at the least possible cost. #4 PUBLIC HEARING: To receive regarding the Curfew Ordinance. citizen comments Mr. Sweatt noted the current Curfew Ordinance was adopted on December 15, 1992 and became effective on January 7, 1993. As a result of some State law changes, it is mandatory to review municipal curfew ordinances on a periodic basis and determine if they are meeting their purposes and if so, determine if they should be retained, amended or abolished. Since the Curfew Ordinance was adopted, the Police Service has issued a total of 107 first offense notices, 7 second offense notices and no third offense notices. These figures are good through October of 1995. Chief Agee can provide certain median age information and other statistical extracts from that for anyone who's interested. Mr. Sweatt went on to say that at the workshop they discussed the fact that during this same period of time, some 320 other juvenile offenses occurred. Council asked if we could determine if any of the Curfew Ordinance violations might have lead to those other offenses. -101- There's currently not a way to separate those statistics. Generally the Police Service would file on a higher offense as opposed to stacking. Chief Agee reported the main thing they found to interesting about the statistics was that the arrest other offenses, other than curfew violations, dropped direct proportion with the curfew violations. interpreted that to mean that the Curfew Ordinance is some good. be for in They doing Regarding tracking those offenses where the police have filed more serious offenses, Chief Agee advised they can code each stop they make for a curfew violation into the computer. That will require that at the end of a given period, they go back and manually look at that and call up the service form to determine if they were arrested for a more serious offense than just a curfew violation. Chief Agee commented they will be happy to do that and do not think the numbers will be to the extent that it will be an overly time-consuming task for them. Chief Agee then emphasized the Police Department thinks the Curfew Ordinance has been a good tool for them and he urged City Council to keep the ordinance in it's entirety. Mr. Swinney observed that in looking at the numbers, it's obvious the Police Department has been very prudent. That's probably the main reason for the ordinance's success. Mr. Greenwald recalled that when they first discussed the ordinance, they didn't envision it as a panacea, but rather just another tool. Mr. Sweatt related that in a survey conducted recently by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, it was found that 46 of the cities that responded have a new or recently modified curfew ordinance and of those cities, 21% have had them for a year or less. It is a mark of distinction and farsightedness that Council made this tool available for the Police Service several years ago. Mr. Greenwald declared it has proved a good market for the Police Department evidenced by the number of citizens not here to complain about the Curfew Ordinance. Mr. Swinney added the first line of defense is the parents and he thinks he's starting to see parents becoming more aware again of where their children are. Judge Cinnamon, mentioning he comes in contact with results of the Curfew Ordinance all the time, said he thinks what has happened is evidence of the Council's wholehearted backing of Teen Court. He plans to present some figures to Council at a later date to show them how successful Teen Court has been. Judge Cinnamon commented what he's seeing, in other than Teen Court (regular Municipal Court), are -102- more parents coming with their children when they're not required to. There seems to be an awareness that children are part of a family and the family must work together. Judge Cinnamon heartily recommended that Council keep the Curfew Ordinance in effect. Mr. McInnis of 411 River Road asked if the Curfew Ordinance applies only when children are out on the street or does it also apply if they're in their own front yard. Chief Agee answered it primarily deals with public places, but there are other laws that would apply to children on their own property. Mr. McInnis explained he has a problem just about every night with loud noises. Chief Agee asked Mr. McInnis to get together with him sometime and they'd see what they could do to help him. There being no further comments, Mayor Baldwin closed the public hearing at this time. Mr. Greenwald moved to reapprove and continue the current Curfew Ordinance. Mr. Swinney seconded the motion, which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa, Sawyer, Swinney and Greenwald. NAYS: None. #6 BID AWARD: Consider and take action on awarding bid for fire hose. Mr. Sweatt reminded Council that included in their packets was a tabulation of two bids received for specific fire hose. The hose being purchased includes twenty 50' sections of I 3/4", ten 100' sections of 5", one 50' section of 5" and four 25' sections of 5". Ferrara Firefighting Equipment submitted a bid of $9,540 and Wilson Fire Equipment submitted a bid of $8,925. It is recommended the bid be awarded to Wilson Fire Equipment. The bid falls within our budgeted amount. Mr. Sawyer moved to award the bid for fire Fire Equipment in the amount of $8,925. seconded the motion, which carried with votes: hose Mr. the to Wilson Potempa following AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa, Sawyer, Swinney and Greenwald. NAYS: None. Mr. Sweatt, in connection with the bid, asked Chief Woodward to provide some information to Council regarding the new fire truck. Chief Woodward fire truck and had been to Louisiana to check on the new had pictures with him for Council to see. -103- The Chief reported the truck is way above his expectations. It is being painted now and they are looking for delivery by February 1st. He also informed Council they got a 1996 chassis which gives them one more year on the key rate. The Chief thanked Council and the citizens of Schertz for making the purchase of the new fire truck possible. Mr. Swinney asked about the training schedule Woodward replied when the truck is delivered, spend three days with Fire Department personnel day with Public Works personnel. If we're not they will stay longer. #7 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: There was none. and Chief they will and half a satisfied, #8 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. McDonald: Reported he had attended the Economic Development and Environmental Review Committee meeting for AACOG today as an alternate. Saying he would reserve his comments, noted it's a bureaucracy at work. Mr. Potemoa: A. Related the Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) Committee had a meeting Monday evening and things are looking good. It's a possibility they may be able to reach one of their goals (widening of Schertz Parkway) in ten years versus twenty years as was originally thought. B. Thanked everyone for their thoughts and prayers after his surgery last month and said he was glad to be back. Mr. Oak more Sawyer: A. Stated he had two reports of Forest and the residents out there would patrolling by the police. vandalism in like to see B. Commented it has been a real pleasure working with the Council and he's looking forward to many more years. Mr. Swinney: A. Declared it was ironic they had minutes for approval on the agenda tonight which included the meeting with Paragon Cable and he just happened to get his "love notice" from Paragon. Ms. Nivens had commented, when he asked her about future cable rate increases, that if competition comes in from phone companies, then cable rates may possibly come down. She said it depended on the competitive environment. Mr. Swinney expressed disappointment with the new cable rates coming out and indicated he is one consumer who is voting with his pocketbook. Maybe if more consumers did that, it would get some attention. He is dismayed about the lack of competition. B. Reported people fret season. he had a call from a concerned citizen saying about their yards during the sewer averaging -104- Mr. Sweatt told Mr. Swinney, as he knows, the City currently provides for a three-month winter averaging to determine the sewer bill. We are experiencing a dry winter and as a result, are hearing from a lot of citizens. The suggestion was made we drop off one of the months and just do a two-month averaging. Initially, that has some attraction, but when you look at the cyclic billing and the need to get that information across to all the citizens, he doesn't know if it would be very effective. Mr. Sweatt emphasized he understands the problem, but isn't sure the City has a good solution. Mr. Sawyer, stating that's the music we've been dancing to forever, thought the current method of winter averaging should be left alone. Mr. McDonald pointed out there are people out there with new houses putting in lawns and using a lot of water. Eight years ago he was new to the City and put in a lawn and had a $30 sewer bill for the first year he lived here. Mayor charge really Baldwin mentioned the year round based on hurts folks. only real alternative is to water consumption and that Mr. Swinney asked if San Antonio and the surrounding cities use the three-month winter averaging. Mr. Bierschwale wasn't sure, but thought New Braunfels uses a two-month winter and a two-month summer averaging. He volunteered to call around and find out. Going said cable back to the discussion about Paragon, Mr. McDonald he had called and cancelled everything but his basic service. Mr. Sweatt commented one of the things Paragon is stressing is that we're not far from seeing a full menu-driven program. Once the fiber optics are in place, you should be able to pick and choose your levels of service. Mr. Swinney indicated he felt very slighted for Paragon to say in a letter that he was a valued customer and to explain this rate increase was for increased service and channels and also that they were going to be doing wonderful things for the schools. He commends them for doing things for the community, that's a major investment, but it astounds him that Paragon is basically a monopoly. c. Noticed, and school President. in a letter to the editor, that local councils boards were put in the same bracket with the ~r. Greenwald: Sawyer attended The gentleman did A. Reported Mr. Mazoch's a lot for the that he, the Mayor and Mr. funeral service yesterday. City and we will miss him. -105- B. Announced he went to a BVYA meeting last week. It's baseball time again. In case anyone gets calls from parents, the prices went up and the cost for an average child is a little over $35. Mr. Swinney asked if the price is broken down and Mr. Greenwald replied it is as far as equipment, liability, etc. Pony baseball has put in some rules, so there will be face protection equipment and batting helmets. Also, the candy drive will be discontinued. Speaking that the to $3.00 of fund-raising drives, Mr. Sawyer interjected price of Girl Scout cookies has gone up from $2.50 and the number of cookies has gone down. #9 ITEMS BY MAYOR: A. Related that at the Northeast Partnership meeting, the cities voted to join the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation and the.Austin-San Antonio IH-35 Corridor Council. The Corridor Council's representative, Jim Shaw, informed them that for their fee to join the Corridor Council, they can have two seats on the Executive Board. There is an Executive Committee meeting February 15th. The Partnership also heard a presentation by Janet Kennison of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) about the proposed plans for the widening of IH-35 from downtown San Antonio out to Loop 1604. The public hearing was held at the new BAMC hospital. What he saw of the new structure was very nice. Mr. Sweatt, saying he was speaking for the EMS services, hoped they will have a road for them to get there on. Mayor Baldwin mentioned they are looking for federal assistance in putting an interchange in there that will be just for the hospital to get ambulances in and out. They are also talking about elevated lanes, high occupancy vehicle lanes and rail transportation and are looking for input. If anyone has input, they need to contact the MPO. Mr. Swinney, verifying that Selma is part of the Northeast Partnership, asked how much worry there is about Retama closing. Mayor Baldwin replied it really hasn't been a subject of discussion at the Partnership meetings. Obviously, it is in the best interest of all for it to stay open. Mr. Swinney observed he's sure the Ramada Hotel would be glad for Retama to stay open. Speaking of the Ramada, Mr. Sweatt informed Council the staff is touring it tomorrow morning. The plans are for it to open by the end of the month. B. Asked what's being built behind Jack-in-the-Box. Mr. Sweatt replied Arby's is going in there. Mr. Sawyer thought there was a Texaco going in up there someplace. -106- Mr. Sweatt confirmed that Texaco has refiled a site plan. Mr. Simonson added they've refiled their third site plan and this one is supposed to be a new corporate image. We're supposedly getting one of the first ones in the United States. Mr. Simonson felt the City should expect to see something within the next 90 days to begin construction there. Mr. McDonald asked Mr. Simonson if there's been any word from HEB and was told there has not been. Mayor Baldwin inquired if anyone else had questions. Mr. Sawyer wanted to know if City Council goes around from department to department to meet people. Mr. Sweatt answered he thought they may do that at budget time. Mr. Sawyer expressed the desire for all the City employees, not just department heads, to know who the Mayor. and City Council and City Manager are. Mr. $weatt acknowledged that is part of the aim of the new employee orientation program. #10 ADJOURNMENT: On a motion by Mr. Potempa, seconded Mr. Sawyer and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 7:56 p.m. r- Mayor, City of Schertz, Texas ATTEST: ~J~ City Secretary, City of Schertz -107-