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ccreg 09-17-1996 REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 17, 1996 The Schertz City Council convened in Regular Session on Tuesday, September 17, 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; and Ken Greenwald. Absent: Councilmembers Earl Sawyer and Timothy Swinney. 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. #l HEARING OF RESIDENTS: James Gibler of 1528 Mt. Laurel spoke regarding the proposed Intermediate School in the Greenshire Subdivision. He started by saying he is not categorically opposed to neighborhood schools. His concern is about safety. He made a presentation to the School Board on August 22nd and had written a letter to Dr. Springer. Last week he talked with the Planning and Zoning Commission. Mr. Gibler had a diagram showing the runway at Kardy's Airport. From the end of the runway to the proposed school site it is approximately 3400 feet. The second sheet of the data he provided to Dr. Springer concerns data from 1983 through 1995 concerning catastrophic engine failures during the take-off phase of flight. A catastrophic engine failure in this area would almost assuredly force the pilot into a straight ahead descent. This is a significant risk to the school and especially during the winter when the school has maximum occupancy. He is hopeful further consideration and research will be devoted to this issue. He feels the proposed school location is a potential hazard to students. Mr. and data McDonald asked how many take-offs Mr. Gibler answered that's a fair is available to determine that. this data represents question and further Mr. Potempa asked why they're building a school at the end of a runway. Mayor Baldwin replied the School Board determined that was the best site. Mr. Potempa then asked how many accidents there had been at Kardy's and Mr. Gibler replied there had been two in the last two years. He doesn't think a member of the School Board will give you this information. When he talked with Dr. Springer, he was assured Mr. Rehmann was looking into the situation. Mayor Baldwin thanked Mr. Gibler for his concern. -442- #2 ORDINANCE: Consider and take action on final reading of ordinance rezoning 121 acres from Planned Unit Development/General Business/Light Industrial (PUD/GB/M-1) to Residential Dwelling District (R-6) Gated. Mayor Baldwin introduced an ordinance and read the caption as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 96-S-29 BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS, AMENDING THE UDC ORDINANCE NO. 96-S-28 BY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 121 ACRES OF LAND OUT OF GUADALUPE COUNTY AND REFLECTING SUCH CHANGES ON CERTAIN ZONING MAPS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCHERTZ UDC ORDINANCE. Mr. Sweatt pointed out the location of the property on the map. It will include both gated and ungated communities. It calls for an extension of Wiederstein Road through the property from the Live Oak Hills Subdivision out to FM 3009. The property includes a substantial amount of overhead wires and major transmission lines and the area under those will be devoted primarily to hiking and biking trails. Also included in the rezoning request is a variance to build on 55' wide lots provided that not more than 30% of the development contains those size lots and also provided that all the lots meet the 6000 square foot requirement. Mr. Potempa moved to approve the final reading of an ordinance rezoning 121 acres from PUD/GB/M-1 to R-6 Gated. Mr. Greenwald seconded the motion which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa and Greenwald. NAYS: None. #3 PUBLIC request from for a Specific HEARING: To PCS PRIMECO, Use Permit. receive Personal citizen comments on a Communications, Inc. Mayor Baldwin explained the procedures to be followed for the public hearing. Mr. Sweatt advised this is a request to allow PCS PRIMECO to erect a cellular phone tower at the rear property of the Cibolo Valley'Baptist Church. The Church has no objection and has sent a letter of endorsement regarding the request. Two letters were sent to property owners within the required distance and the Church had the only reply. Planning and Zoning recommended City Council hold a public hearing on this request. -443- Monty Pruitt from PCS PRIMECO was present to make a presentation and answer questions. Mr. Pruitt stated the tower will be contained within a chain link fence topped by three strands of barb wire. It will be an unmanned facility and will give them blanket coverage between San Antonio and Austin. Mr. Sweatt mentioned the the tower and Mr. Pruitt co-locating, however the through the Church. possibility of future sharing of admitted they are not opposed to applicant would have to work Mr. McDonald asked if this cell service will cover the area from 1-10 to Houston and Mr. Pruitt answered they are working on that. As a matter of fact, they are working on several sites along major freeways. There being no further questions, Mayor Baldwin closed the public hearing at this time. #4 Consider and take action on the request from PCS PRIMECO for a Specific Use Permit. Mr. Greenwald moved to approve the request from PCS PRIMECO for a Specific Use Permit allowing them to erect a cellular tower at the rear of the property of the Cibolo Valley Baptist Church. Mr. McDonald seconded the motion, which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa and Greenwald. NAYS: None. #5 PUBLIC HEARING: To receive citizen comments on the proposed budget for fiscal year 1996/97. Mayor Baldwin once again explained the procedures to be followed for the public hearing. Mr. Sweatt advised the proposed budget had been filed with the City Secretary on August 1st in accordance with the City Charter and with State law. The total expenditures for all funds is recommended to be $6,900,966. Revenue in all the funds meet or exceed proposed expenditures. They have held four budget workshops. Two action items have been placed on the agenda tonight - one for approval of the budget and the other for adoption of the tax rate should Council be satisfied with the budget. The General Fund represents a major expenditure of the City's operations and that includes a recommended tax rate of $0.37l9 per $100 evaluation. It is significant to point out that is one cent below the effective tax rate and represents a decrease from 1995 of 8.7% in the overall tax rate. The tax rate is based on the assessed value from the Guadalupe Appraisal District which was up by 12.9% from the previous year. -444- Mr. Sweatt reviewed some of the specific expenditures contained in the budget. He also mentioned that the hotel/motel tax is a new source of revenue this year. Part of the overall budget contains detail sheets of the debt service. Mark Marquez was commended for his hard work on the budget and the employees were commended for providing good services to the community. At this time showing among expenditures, historical tax Mr. Marquez presented charts and graphs other things General Fund departmental General Fund income, total City revenues, rate, and historical tax values. After the charts and graphs were shown, Mayor Baldwin asked Council if they had any questions. Mr. Potempa expressed concern about various positions in the City and, said there seems to be no equalization to them. for example, in the Fire Department a Lieutenant is a 13 and in the Police Department a Lieutenant is a 15. The Library Assistant is a 10 and the SAFES Administrative Assistant is a 14. Mr. Sweatt, referring specifically to the position of Lieutenant, stated certainly the titles are the same, but the demands and scope of activities are sufficiently different. Mr. Potempa felt the firefighters should be on the same level as the police officers because they both put their lives on the line. Mr. Potempa then asked if at mid-term the City can't look at raising up some of the lower positions. Mayor Baldwin commented you can't just look at part of it, you have to take the whole plan into consideration. Mr. McDonald agreed the whole plan should be reviewed and thought they should get some comparisons from other cities. Mr. Sweatt remarked he has no problem with a mid-term review and comparisons are available in the area and also state-wide. Mayor If the at the Baldwin noted they also need to City is losing people, then they figures to see why. look at retention. need to take a look Mayor Baldwin then asked for comments by citizens. James Harris of FM 1518 and Schaefer Road emphasized this is the most important night all year in the City of Schertz and the showing by citizens at this meeting is very poor. He attended the four workshops where they went through the budget line item by line item and he's satisfied Council did a good job. He thinks they're still a little conservative and there will be money there at mid-year for the pay raise. Mr. Harris expressed appreciation for the lowering of the tax rate. All the safety factors for the emergency services departments were met. Recycling is in escrow and -445- he hopes the money will be returned to the citizens. The hotel/motel tax is pretty well controlled by ordinance and by law. Overall, he supports this budget. Ray Wofford of 1200 Spicewood said this was the first time he had been able to attend the budget workshops and he thought they were good with one exception. It's a little hard for a person to come to a budget workshop, be given a copy of the budget, and then try to figure out what's being discussed. Regarding recycling, Kirby and Windcrest are in the same situation as Schertz. When the time comes for an increase, he hopes the escrow will subsidize the increase so the rate stays the same as it is now. That's what was done in those two cities. He thanked City Council for their efforts in trying to explain the line items. Speaking to the government students who.were present, Mayor Baldwin verified there is a lot of apathy. This is a most important meeting and the turnout is poor. He told them he hopes they learned a lesson and will participate in government when they are adults. There being no further comments or questions, Mayor Baldwin closed the public hearing at this time. #6 ORDINANCE: Consider and take action on ordinance approving budget for the fiscal year 1996/97. Mayor Baldwin introduced an ordinance and read the caption as follows: ORDINANCE NO. 96-M-30 PROVIDING FUNDS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 1996 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1997, BY APPROVING THE BUDGET FOR SAID PERIOD AND APPROPRIATING THE NECESSARY FUNDS OUT OF THE GENERAL AND OTHER REVENUES OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS, FOR SAID YEAR FOR THE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION OF THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS AND FOR VARIOUS ACTIVITIES AND IMPROVEMENTS OF THE CITY; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Mr. Greenwald move~ to approve the ordinance regarding the budget for fiscal year 1996/97 and declaring an emergency. Mr. Potempa seconded the motion, which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa and Greenwald. NAYS: None. #7 ORDINANCE: Consider and take action on ordinance adopting the tax rate. -446- Mayor Baldwin introduced an ordinance and read the caption as follows: ORDINANCE 96-T-31 LEVYING AND ASSESSING ALL TAXABLE PROPERTY WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS, FOR THE YEAR 1996; PROVIDING THE BASIS OF ASSESSMENT OF ONE HUNDRED PERCENT (100%) APPRAISED VALUE AND PROVIDING FOR THE COLLECTION THEREOF AT THE RATE OF $0.3719 ON THE ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR ($100.00) ASSESSED VALUATION AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Mr. Greenwald moved to approve the ordinance adopting the tax rate of $0.3719 per $100.00 assessed valuation and declaring an emergency. Mr. Potempa seconded the motion. Mr. Sweatt pointed out that of the $0.37l9 ordinance reflects, $0.3117 is devoted to maintenance and $0.0602 is debt service. which the operation The vote was then taken and the motion carried as follows: AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa and Greenwald. NAYS: None. #8 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT: regarding settlement agreement M & M Underground Construction. Consider and take action for damage to water line by Mr. Sweatt advised that almost eighteen months ago a company was authorized by the utility department to make a boring on Borgfeld Road. The company broke a major water line which primarily served the Dove Meadows Subdivision. Since that time, the City has been pursuing settlement of this claim. The company is a sub-contractor for Southwestern Bell. They have offered to settle for $l2,010.33 and it is recommended Council accept this settlement. Mr. McDonald moved to accept the settlement for damage to a water line of $l2, OlO.33 ~rom M & M Underground Construction. Mr. Potempa seconded the motion, which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa and Greenwald. NAYS: None. #9 RESOLUTION: resolution regarding Authority (EAA). Consider support and of take action on the Edwards Aquifer -447- ~ Mayor Baldwin reads the following Resolution: RESOLUTION NO. 96-R-6 BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS, IN SUPPORT OF THE EDWARDS AQUIFER AUTHORITY (EAA), AND RECOGNIZING AND ENCOURAGING BASIN-WIDE WATER CONSERVATION. WHEREAS, the City Council of the City recognizes the impact of the present drought and of Schertz conditions; WHEREAS, the continued pumping of the Edwards Aquifer interferes with established water rights and reduces spring flow; and WHEREAS, it should be recognized that the timely conversion to alternative supplies is the best form of conservation possible and reduces demands on the Edwards Aquifer; and WHEREAS, the City of Schertz agrees that drought reduction plans should continue to support exemptions for water supply systems which have developed alternative supplies which reduce pumping from the Edwards Aquifer from previous periods; and WHEREAS, regardless of the location, water should not be wasted, and all water suppliers should adopt water conservation measures to reduce waste; and WHEREAS, the Edwards to enact emergency rules well-being of this region; Aquifer Authority is encouraged to protect the safety and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS: THAT, the City Council of the City of Schertz supports the development and implementation of the EAA rules; and THAT, the City of Schertz will continue to support water pricing, encourage a per capita limit of 100 gallons per day per individual for use of water from the Edwards, and will continue to oppose artificial enhancement to offset reducing spring flow; and THAT, the City of Schertz recognizes that the present drought conditions may set a new standard of drought, necessitating the need to keep water in storage; and THAT, the City of Schertz looks to the Edwards Aquifer Authority for a commitment and immediate action to develop adequate emergency rules; and -448- THAT, the City of Schertz further agrees to urge conservation measures be implemented throughout the Guadalupe River Basin at least as restrictive as those contained in whatever final plan is adopted. Mr. Greenwald moved to adopt the resolution in support of the Edwards Aquifer Authority and requested copies be sent to Bill West of GBRA, the Edwards Aquifer Authority Board, the CRWA, Senator Wentworth, Senator Armbruster and Representative Kuempel. Mr. McDonald seconded the motion, which carried with the following votes: AYES: Councilmembers McDonald, Potempa and Greenwald. NAYS: None. #10 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: Reported the PUC is entertaining a proposal to change the area code of this area. They are running out of numbers. It looked at first like we may not have the same area code as San Antonio, but it now appears the San Antonio Metro area will stay together under some area code. It may not be 210. #11 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. Greenwald: Stated he had attended a BVYA meeting last Thursday. They are starting their basketball season and registration dates will be in the paper. Mr. McDonald~ Inquired about the status of the Ron Wood project. Mr. Sweatt related they have not heard from him. The time is approaching for the posting of the escrow money. No lien has been filed pursuant to direction by City Council who asked that we wait until the money was posted to file the lien. There have been inquiries by other developers about taking over the project. There has been no communication from Mr. Wood. Mr. Potempa asked if we had written him a letter and Mr. Sweatt answered no, the time is not quite here for the positing of the escrow money. Mr. McDonald asked when the deadline is and Mr. Sweatt replied in October. Clearly if there are no funds in escrow, no assessment will be made and the project will be dead. #12 ITEMS BY MAYOR: A. Mentioned receiving a letter from Bexar Metro thanking the City for approving their budget. B. Commented he received a letter from Dee McGee (she works for a company that is hired by the various homeowners associations) indicating the homeowners associations would like a closer working relationship with City Council. Mr. Greenwald pointed out Council made the offer five or six years ago that they would attend any of their meetings. -449- Mayor Baldwin suggested maybe they invite Ms. McGee to a meeting and find out what she needs. He thinks they want to find out more about how government works. He said he will give her a call. c. Thanked the government students from Samuel Clemens for attending the meeting. #13 ADJOURNMENT: On a motion by Mr. potempa and seconded by Mr. McDonald and unanimously carried, the meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. ~ Mayor, City of Schertz, Texas ATTEST: ~ t2Ld."n~ City Secretary, City of Schertz -450-