ccswks 08-28-1996
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
August 28, 1996
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop
Session on Wednesday, August 28, 1996 at 7:00 p.m. in the
Conference Room of the Municipal Complex, 1400 Schertz
Parkway, Schertz, Texas. The following members were
present: Mayor Hal Baldwin, presiding; Councilmembers
Charles McDonald; Joe Potempa; Earl Sawyer; Timothy
Swinney and Ken Greenwald. Staff present were City Manager
Kerry Sweatt and City Secretary Norma Althouse.
'1
speak.
HEARING OF RESIDENTS: No one had signed up to
#2 Consider and take action, regarding
reconsideration of motion which denied a request from FM
3009 Partners to rezone 121 acres from PUD/GB/M-1 to R-6
gated.
Mr. Sweatt advised this was placed on the agenda to allow
a presentation by the FM 3009 Partners in response to a
request at the last Council meeting. It was put on in such
a way 50 they could provide information if it were the
Council's wishes to reconsider it's motion. Clearly,
future action would be necessary if anything were to
develop from that reconsideration. Barry Sandi ten and Sam
Bledsoe are here tonight to represent the FM 3009 Partners.
Mr. Sandi ten explained this is a 121 acre tract of land
located behind the HEB development project. They have a
90' right-of-way to FM 3009 which will be behind HEB's
future retail. They are deed restricted against commercial
and restricted to residential uses only.
When they first looked at laying out the land, they
observed the topography and wanted to see where they could
go for sewer and for drainage. The property has a ridge
coming through it. Part of it drains toward FM 3009, part
of it drains toward IH-35, and part of it drains toward
Wiederstein Road. There were some concerns raised by
certain individuals, one of them being James Harden, about
future development of their property. Mr. Harden wanted
to make sure the residents of this proposed subdivision
understand that his property, in the future, will be
developed into a nursery. An offer was made to Mr. Harden
to incorporate something into the deed restrictions stating
that fact.
Another concern was that the drainage issue be met. Mr.
Sanditen stated he has, along with the help of MBC
Engineering, arranged to drain a lot of what is going up
through other people's properties out to the IH-35 access
road via an easement along the Mobile Villa Subdivision.
He has also arranged for another drainage easement which
will be shown on future plans in this presentation.
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The property is severed by the high power lines easement.
They had originally wanted to gate Wiederstein Road, but
were told it was practically impossible. It was planned as
a minor arterial and they would need to provide for it and
eventually build it to go through the property in some
manner.
Mr. Sandi ten went on to say his concept was to build a
gated community with two different priced homes. The
lower-priced homes would be on 55' and 60' lots and the
higher-priced homes on 65' and 70' lots. He was trying to
provide a greenbelt a setback from the edge of the
right-of-way of 120 feet to create an additional buffer.
He also wanted to provide a hike and bike trail which
extended into what he perceived to be the middle of the
subdivision because that will be the center of the
community for activity. There will be.a swimming pool, a
kidscape, a pavilion, tennis courts and other things of
that nature. They complied with Mr. Willman's request for
Wiederstein Road and came up with the option that was
presented to Council.
Mr. Sandi ten commented that still left the gated community
concept intact, however this plan doesn't show secondary
access which they now have. He has provided for
Wiederstein Road to be built on the east side of the power
lines, and there was a question of concern about the
section that connects to FM 3009. He has met with Pat 01ds
who supports this project and who said he would do whatever
it takes to get the easement to FM 3009.
They had always planned to have a secondary access at some
point, but were trying, with the master plan concept, to
give the Council an overall idea of where they were going.
This was with the understanding the first unit is pretty
well set, using the natural concourse of the land for
drainage.
They met with the residents of the Deer Haven Subdivision
and their concerns were a 75' setback previously agreed to
when this was going to be developed as industrial. They
came to an agreement whereby these will be larger lots of
approximately 80' by ISO' and the setback will be 50'
instead of 75'.
There was a brief discussion on the building of swimming
pools to the back of the lots and whether they would need a
variance to do so. That issue may have to be addressed.
Mr. Sandi ten declared if this plan is not acceptable, he
has an optional plan just to tie into Wiederstein Road and
eliminate the gates. Mr. McDonald indicated he would
rather see Wiederstein Road completed out to FM 3009, so
long as it's where it doesn't do damage to the commercial
property. Mr. Sandi ten mentioned the only thing Mr. Olds
asked of him was that he not leave him with an unusable
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piece of property.
Sam Blesdoe discussed the traffic issue and said the rule
of thumb is that 41% of the number of lots usually
represents the average traffic count at anyone point per
hour going in and out. In this case that amounts to about
72 cars per hour.
Mr. McDonald observed there wouldn't be a lot of traffic
on Wiederstein because the gated community wouldn't have
access out of the gated community onto Wiederstein unless
there's going to be another gate there. That's not going
to be an emergency gate is it? Mr. Greenwald stated you
almost need to establish access because by the time you
built it back in, it's a long way to go to get out. Mr.
McDonald said if they're brave, they could drive down
Wiederstein to Schertz Parkway.
Mr. Potempa asked how long Mr. Sanditen thinks it will be
before they develop Wiederstein Road out to Schertz
parkway. Mr. Sandi ten replied they are not going out to
Schertz Parkway. There is a 60' right-of-way already
dedicated. Mr. McDonald asked if they would build it out
to FM 3009 and was told they would.
Mr. McDonald expressed another concern. Apparently at one
time Mr. Barshop made an agreement to put some kind of
drainage along the property line so it wouldn't go on Mr.
Froboese's land and come out to FM 3009.
Mr. Bledsoe reported there's a road that cuts Mr.
Froboese's property right in half, but it has pretty good
drainage. He doesn't know if you can berm it up in such a
way to get the water to go somewhere else. There are two
large culverts in the area put in by the Highway
Department. One is at the end of the Froboese property.
He doesn't think you can prevent the water from going where
there's a natural low.
Mr. Sandi ten noted they're diverting a lot of the water
that's sheet flowing over the property. They're trying to
get the water down to the culvert to take it over to the
other side of FM 3009. A lot of this water will be
diverted through the street system of the subdivision. He
doesn't think they're increasing the water flow, but you
can't change it. Mr. Bledsoe added they may be picking up
some water and taking it out, but you can't divert water
from one watershed to another. You're sitting on top of a
hill, so water goes about five different directions.
Mr. Sweatt related that when Barshop developed the first
plan, they were oversizing the culvert to handle the entire
area. He then asked Mr. Sandi ten if they ever found the
written agreement between Barshop and Mr. Froboese and was
told they did not.
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Mayor Baldwin asked how many lots are in the first phase of
the project and Mr. Sanditen replied there are 61. Mr.
McDonald then asked when the first part of Wiederstein Road
will be completed and Mr. Sandi ten replied they are
proposing to build Wiederstein Road all at one time. When
they plat Phase 1, they will dedicate the right-of-way.
When they plat Phase 2, they will post 25% of the fiscal
needed for the road and by the time they get to Phase 5,
they will have enough money to pay for developing the road.
Mr. McDonald observed that when they build the first
phase, there will be a possibility of a drainage problem
because Wiederstein Road won't be there to carry any of the
water. Mr. Sandi ten pointed out there are two sources of
drainage in the area.
Mr. Potempa questioned how the water will drain
lots on Antler Drive. Mr. Bledsoe answered it's
ridgeline. Those lots drain pretty much from
back.
down
along
front
the
the
to
Concern was expressed about the back side of
faces IH-35. It seems like it's uphill most of
toward the power lines. Mr. Bledsoe and Mr.
attempted to explain how those lots will drain.
Fawn that
the way
Sandi ten
Mr. McDonald asked if they solved Mr.
and Mr. Harden answered they addressed
is happy with the solution.
Harden's problem
it very well. He
Mr. McDonald commented he has no problem with the gated
community, but he is somewhat concerned about needing a
noise abatement wall behind HEB. Mr. Sandi ten related
that one of the things he obligated himself to do as part
of the agreement for buying the land, was to fence and
screen the area from the commercial development. There was
some discussion about the type of screening required.
Mr. Swinney asked where the gates will be. Mr. Sandi ten
replied at FM 3009 and at Wiederstein Road. Mr. McDonald,
saying Wiederstein won't be completed until after phase 5,
thought they had to have two gates immediately for
emergency access. Mr. Sandi ten remarked they could have a
breakaway gate anywhere along the easement. There is a
caliche road there now and there are a number of options to
get secondary access into the units as they build them.
Mr. Bledsoe pointed out the easiest access is through the
power lines easement. Several temporary access methods
were mentioned.
Mayor Baldwin commented he finds it unusual that the real
expensive houses are in the non-gated area. How many lots
are in the gated area? Mr. Bledsoe replied there are 300
lots in the gated area and there are 50 estate lots in the
non-gated area.
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Mr. Swinney asked if everyone is subject to the homeowners
association dues or just those in the gated area. Mr.
Sandi ten replied just those in the gated area. The estate
lots may have their own homeowners association.
Mr. Sweatt stated they prepared the agenda in such a way
50 the Council could reconsider the motion which denied the
rezoning request and then also so they could take action
regarding a rehearing date.
Mr. Swinney indicated he had spent some time with Mr.
Sandi ten and he had answered all his questions about this
proposed project.
Mr. Swinney moved to reconsider the motion which denied a
request from FM 3009 Partners to rezone 121 acres from
PUD!GB!M-1 to R-6 gated. Mr. Potempa ~econded the motion,
which carried with the following votes:
AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa, Sawyer, Swinney
and Greenwald.
NAYS: None.
#3 Consider and take
date for FM 3009 Partners on
from PUD!GB!M-1 to R-6 gated.
action regarding a rehearing
a request to rezone 121 acres
Mr. Swinney moved to schedule a rehearing date for
September 3rd on the request from FM 3009 Partners to
rezone 121 acres from PUD!GB!M-1 to R-6 gated. Mr.
Potempa seconded the motion, which carried with the
following votes:
AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa, Sawyer, Swinney
and Greenwald.
NAYS: None.
#4 Discuss final reading of ordinance authorizing a
Tax Abatement and Tax Abatement Agreement with Security
Capital Investment.
Council indicated their readiness for this item to be
included on next Tuesday night's agenda.
#5 Discuss final reading
Unified Development Code (UDC).
of ordinance approving
Mr. Sawyer commented the wording is better. Mr. Spain
remarked he addressed all the questions that came up the
last time. In trying to come up with a definition of
graffiti he said it would include oaintino or anv other
kind of writino or markinos on common areas out there
without the orior consent of the homeowners association.
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Mr. Swinney
determined by
the homeowners
liked the fact the timeliness
the City as opposed to being
association.
for repair
determined
is
by
Mr. Spain mentioned he had added an additional remedy so
that if the homeowners association doesn't take care of
these things, the City can take the gate down and make it a
non-gated community. That is one of several choices.
Mr. Swinney asked if
is entitled to the
agreement is silent
required to maintain
the penalties.
in a situation such as that, the City
escrow and Mr. Spain replied the
on that matter. They are still
- taking the gate down is just one of
After being asked by Mayor Baldwin, Council
were ready for this item to be included on
night's agenda.
agreed they
next Tuesday
#6 Discuss bids regarding hospitalization insurance
program.
Mr. Sweatt advised the City had solicited proposals for
hospitalization insurance for the employees. Council
received in their packets a summary of the pros and cons of
the three companies being considered who meet all the
specifications. They are Humana, Pacificare and
Wellchoice. After review and analysis, it has been
determined Wellchoice offers the best alternative. They
are offering a two-year premium guarantee and a cap of 5%
increase for the third year. They are new to the State of
Texas, but have an excellent reputation in Michigan.
Mayor Baldwin asked if they have a local office and was
informed they have an office in San Antonio.
Mr. Sweatt indicated Mr. Marquez and Mr. Feike are
present to answer any questions Council may have.
There was a brief discussion about what is considered an
emergency, about referrals, about the percentage (100%) of
hospital coverage, about the PPO option, about dental
coverage, about the co-payment for an office visit ($10.00)
and about the effects of current legislation. Mr. Feike
pointed out they offer a mail order deal for subscriptions
whereby you can get a 90 day supply for the same price as a
30 day supply at the pharmacy.
Mr. Sweatt noted Wellchoice would represent an increase in
the premium for each employee from $115.40 to $117.96.
This is an increase of 2.2%. Mr. Potempa asked if this
increase is budgeted and Mr. Sweatt replied yes it is.
Mr. Sawyer inquired if the two clinics in Schertz are
included in this Wellchoice program and was told both are
included.
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Mr. Swinney questioned if Wellchoice
reports and Mr. Feike answered yes they
references they got were very positive.
has satisfaction
do and all the
Mayor Baldwin asked which hospitals are on the Wellchoice
Plan and Mr. Feike replied the Baptist System and the
Methodist System which includes the old Village Oaks
Hospital.
Mayor Baldwin then mentioned that the employee who just has
a spouse gets hurt on the cost of this medical coverage.
Mr. Sweatt, Mr. Marquez and Mr. Feike all felt they
could negotiate that figure with Wel1choice.
Council indicated their readiness for this item to be
included on next Tuesday night's agenda.
#7 Discuss bids regarding hand-held meter reading
computers.
Mr. Sweatt informed Council the budget provided for the
purchase of two new hand-held meter reading computers for
this fiscal year. Bids were solicited and only one was
received and that was from the company that supplies the
City's billing system. Unfortunately it is a captive
system. No other bidder can adapt to the software without
the City purchasing a new utility billing system.
The bid received was for $6598 which exceeds the budget by
$598, but there are sufficient funds in the Water
Department to cover the $598. It is recommended the bid be
awarded to CPS Systems in the amount of $6598.
Council admitted they were ready for this item to be on
next Tuesday night's agenda.
#8 Consider and take action to receive report
submitted by Charter Review Committee.
Mr. Sweatt, acknowledging the Council has a memo from him,
deferred to Mr. Spain and to the Chairman of the Charter
Review Committee, Mr. McDonald.
Mr. McDonald related there are no
advised Council to read the report.
all the changes are marked.
Mr. McDonald stated they did clarify the authority to
issue bonds and clarified the process for appointing a
Mayor Pro Tem. Mr. Spain added they clarified what has to
be done for purposes of submitting a petition.
major changes. He
Mr. Spain reported
Mr. Swinney asked
candidates at-large
McDonald confirmed
changed.
if there was discussion on electing
versus district elections and Mr.
there was discussion, but nothing was
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Among the other highlights discussed were the following:
(a) as far as authority to investigate, changed from
having Council investiaate to having Council inauire;
(b) changed from referring to specific Statutes to
referring to what the general law says;
(c) clarified the duties of the Deputy Municipal Court
Judge;
(d) clarified
administratively
from office only
the fact the City
to the City Manager,
by the Council;
Secretary reports
but may be removed
(e) changed various housekeeping items for purposes of
continuity (e.g., Charter spelled with a capital C
in some instances versus charter spelled with a lower case
c in other instances - made them all capitals);
(f) included a clause saying someone other than the City
Manager can be the Finance Director;
(g) changed the clause which now says the Council will
appoint a Charter Review Committee every two vears to
Council will appoint a Charter Review Committee
oeriodical1v; and,
(h) changed the recall procedure to state you have to be
in office six months and you can have only one recall
election during your term.
Mr. Spain informed Council they will find a suggested list
of propositions on the back of the Charter. Taking into
consideration all the changes made by the Committee, he
came up with 24 propositions.
Mr. Swinney wondered if they need to firm up the section
regarding someone, such as a Councilmember, being recalled
to active military duty or is that covered under the
Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act or dovetailed with any
other protections. After discussion by various
Councilmembers, Mr. Spain promised to check into it.
Mr. Spain went on to say if Council wants to present these
propositions to the voters, a Charter election can only be
held on one of the uniform election dates. They are the
third Saturday in January, the first Saturday in May, the
second Saturday in August and the first Tuesday after the
first Monday in November. However, in even-numbered years,
a City election cannot be held on the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November.
Mr. Sawyer moved to oficia1ly receive the report submitted
by the Charter Review Committee. Mr. Greenwald seconded
the motion, which carried with the following votes:
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AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa, Sawyer, Swinney
and Greenwald.
NAYS: None.
#9 Discuss Drought Management Plan.
Mr. Sweatt stressed this is not on the agenda tonight for
any kind of recommendation. The federal judge has made a
ruling to become effective October 1st and an appeal is in
the process of being filed. It is suggested no action be
taken until further information is available.
Mr. Greenwald stated everyone using aquifer water has got
to start thinking about alternative water sources.
#10 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: A. ~entioned, if it
pleases Council, they would like to place an item on
Tuesday night's agenda for action regarding the rejection
of bids on the Xeriscape Park lighting project. They
received a grant from LCRA for the project, they solicited
bids, and the bids came in way above the estimated cost.
They are going to speak with GVEC and also try do some
force account work to try and get the project going.
B. Requested a tentative list of those who are going to
attend the TML Conference. Everyone but Mr. Greenwald is
planning on attending.
#11 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. Swinnev: A.
isn't time for a change of Mayor Pro Tern.
replied the change is due in November.
Asked
Mr.
if it
Sweatt
B. Referred to the Letter to the Editor regarding the
settlement with George Mower and said it caused him some
concern because it seems to contain a lot of
misinformation. He asked Mr. Spain to clarify it and Mr.
Spain explained the question was whether the City could
recover all the attorney's fees in this kind of lawsuit and
it wasn't an option in this case. Although he is confident
that if the City had pursued the case, they would have won,
the only way they could have recovered the attorney's fees
were if the court found that Mr. Mower's claims were
absolutely frivolous. His claims weren't absolutely
frivolous. They had some basis.
Mr. Swinney thought issues like this need to be addressed
in public forum. This misinformation is how people get a
bad taste in their mouths for politicians.
This prompted a brief discussion by Council with Mr.
Potempa saying he understood that when this case was
settled, all the facts and truths would be published. Mr.
Spain commented the only understanding was that there would
not be a confidentiality requirement.
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Mr. Potempa then added the article is very misleading in
that it appears it didn't cost the City/citizens anything.
The fact is the insurance company paid the settlement, but
it cost the City the $5,000 deductible fee.
After further discussion, the consensus of Council was for
Mayor Baldwin to write a letter to the newspaper explaining
the actual facts of the case.
C. Once again referred to a newspaper article, this time
about recycling, and commented the column was ridiculous.
Mr. Potemoa: Asked the status of replacing the Yield Sign
on the IH-35 access road near Mobile Villa with a Stop
Sign. Mr. Sweatt reported no progress has been made, but
Mr. Kelley from TXDoT will be a guest speaker at the
Businessman's Appreciation Dinner.
Mr. Sawver: A. Reported
celebration is this Saturday.
the VFW 50th anniversary
B. Mentioned one of his friends leads a bicycle group in
San Antonio, and two of his members were stopped by a
Schertz police officer for riding side by side. He had
promised to get the law on it and the law says they are
allowed to ride two abreast, but no more than two abreast.
C. Commented the sign on the pole at the corner of FM 1518
and Oak Street still has portions of it hanging on the
pole. He tore most of it off several weeks ago.
D. Stated the park looks good.
~r. McDonald: A. Complimented those who mowed along FM 78.
It looks so much better now.
B. Indicated he had spoken with Mr. Marquez about tax
abatements. Could we put out a report card on those to see
who's meeting their goals? Did they create as many jobs as
they said they would? Mr. Marquez said a report is
required by law every January.
Mr. Greenwald: Noted he had received a lot of good
comments about the appearance of the railroad right-Of-way
along FM 78. He does have one question. What has it done
to the drainage that comes underneath the railroad track
and runs down by the creek? There's water standing there.
There was a brief discussion on this with Mr. Sweatt
promising to check into it.
#12 ITEMS BY MAYOR:
College thanking the
a satellite campus in
A. Read a letter from
City for their interest
this area.
st. Philip's
in supporting
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B. Also read a letter from the Housing Authority asking
that the City select a liaison who can attend the Housing
Authority meetings. Mr. Potempa is the current liaison,
but because of his work schedule, is sometimes unable to
attend the meetings. Mr. Sawyer volunteered to be the
liaison.
Mr. Swinney interjected a question at this time about the
Northeast Partnership and wondered if it isn't time to
review them and see what the benefits have been to the City
of Schertz. Mayor Baldwin agreed the Partnership should
be reviewed.
C. Announced that September 4th at 10:00 a.m. is the
grand opening of a business called British Imports.
D. Noticed in the minutes of the Planning and Zoning
Commission there was some concern about almost not having a
quorum on an evening when they had an important vote.
Their recommendation was to get Mr. Greenwald authorized
as a voting member on any night when their isn't a
majority. Mr. Greenwald questioned the validity of voting
twice on the same issue. Mr. Sweatt mentioned he and Mr.
Spain had been talking about the possibility of a proxy
vote. Mr. Spain wanted to check into the legality of it.
Mayor Baldwin asked why Planning and Zoning can't do the
same as the Board of Adjustment and have alternates. There
was a brief discussion on this.
#13 EXECUTIVE SESSION: Called under Chapter 551 Texas
Government Code, Sub-Section 551.071, Consultation with
Attorney regarding pending or contemplated litigation.
Before the Executive Session, Mr. Sawyer recommended
cancelling the Budget Workshop (Item #15) scheduled for
tonight since it's already 9:40 p.m. and he can't see
having a Budget Workshop after 10:00 p.m. Mr. Sweatt
reminded Council they need to publish the notice for the
public hearing on the budget, and if the effective tax rate
is going to be over the 3%, then they will need to publish
a notice for a public hearing on the tax rate. After a
brief discussion, Council felt the effective tax rate will
not go over the 3% so that public hearing is not necessary
and then gave their consensus for the notice of the public
hearing on the budget to be published. It was decided to
cancel tonight's Budget Workshop and have a Budget Workshop
after the meeting next Tuesday night.
An Executive Session was held from 9:45 p.m. to 10:17 p.m.
#14 Consider and
Executive Session.
take action, if any, on above
No action was necessary.
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#15 BUDGET WORKSHOP (Cancelled and Rescheduled.)
# 16 ADJOURNMENT
On a motion by Mr. Potempa, seconded by Mr.
unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned
ak
Mayor, Ci~ of
Swinney and
at 10:18 p.m.
(
Schertz, Texas
ATTEST:
~ 12.-td-~, ~ "'J
city Secretary, City of Schertz
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