ccswks 03-01-1995
/Y;3
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
MARCH 1, 1995
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop
Session on Wednesday, March 1, 1995 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; Barbara Stanhope; Mary
Marsh and Ken Greenwald. Staff present were City Manager
Kerry Sweatt and City Secretary Norma Althouse.
#1 HEARING OF RESIDENTS: No residents had signed
up to speak.
#2 Discuss final consideration of an ordinance
offering an alternative to the filinq fee requirements.
Mr. Sweatt advised the first reading of this ordinance was
approved after a discussion with the City Attorney
regarding provisions of the Election Code. The current
City Charter provision states that a filing fee shall be
paid to the City Secretary when the applicant files for
office. The fee, which is set by Council, is presently
$5.00. The City Attorney has suggested that, under the
provisions of the Election Code, we should provide an
alternative to the filing fee. This ordinance providing
the applicant an opportunity to sign an affidavit stating
he/she cannot afford the filing fee is the result of that
suggestion. The ordinance states the City Secretary will
notarize such affidavit without charge to the applicant.
City
that
next
Council indicated to Mayor Baldwin, after
they were ready to have this put on the
Tuesday night's meeting.
his inquiry,
agenda for
At this time Mayor Baldwin recommended they move to Item #6
on the agenda.
#6 Discuss Paragon Cable request for transfer of
ownership and other matters.
Mr. Sweatt noted that two representatives from Paragon
Cable are here this evening Gina Nivens and T.J.
Connolly. They are here to discuss briefly the request for
transfer of ownership.
Mr. Connolly spoke first saying the stock of Paragon
Cable's holding company is going to be bought, in total, by
Time Warner, Incorporated. They will acquire the company
and then begin running it and managing it. No changes are
anticipated. Their buying of Paragon will not have any
impact on cable rates. Mr. Connolly referred to Section
20 of the City's franchise agreement with Paragon Cable
which allows for the rate set in San Antonio to
automatically carryover to the City of Schertz. What is
-;,.
13'1
expected is that this purchase will likely speed up the
fiber optic process. Also, the rollout of new technology
will probably be sped up.
Paragon is aggressively getting into the phone business.
They are allowed by law to do local phone service in
apartment complexes Which are basically fully-contained
areas. They cannot get the right-of-way across the street,
but can operate in apartment complex and hospital settings.
There will be a whole host of new technology coming in the
cable industry and Time Warner has been a leader in
developing that technology.
Mr. Connally
asked over a
acknOWledge the
that they have
Management and
they don't even
stated the City of Schertz is going to be
period of the next couple of weeks to
fact that Time Warner is buYing Paragon and
no objections. It's a simple stock trade.
operations are going to stay the same and
expect a name change.
Mr. Connally went on to say Paragon sent a letter to the
City of Schertz telling them the City of San Antonio
approved a 29 cent basic cable rate increase which reflects
inflation and programming costs. The basic cable rate has
not changed since 1991. Another increase in basic cable
rate is not anticipated for at least a year, or perhaps
longer. The FCC states that just as cable companies are
allowed each year to push through programming increases,
they must also, by law, push through programming decreases.
So at some time next year, if inflation holds at its
current level, the customer could possibly see a rate
decrease.
Gina Nivens spoke briefly on the Emergency Broadcast System
they are putting in place. A meeting was held today,
attended by Mr. Sweatt representing the Metrocom area, and
they set the goals for how they want to implement the
system. The system will allow any city that has a Paragon
system to be notified in two ways about an emergency in
their particular city. The first way will be by an
all-channel crawl across the bottom of the screen. An
example would be: "Attention all residents of the City of
Schertz, you are experienCing an emergency. Please turn to
channel 21 for further details." The second way is by the
listing of all the details on channel 21. The same methods
would apply to notifying people the emergency is over - an
all-channel crawl and then details on channel 21.
At the meeting today it was determined there will be three
representatives from each franchise city and it would be up
to the city to decide who will be authorized to access the
system. That person will call into the San Antonio
Emergency Management office and notify them of the
emergency. There will be three layers of security codes to
guard against tampering. The system should be in place by
the end of March. It will then be tested, the training and
procedures manuals will be distributed to the various
/33-
cities, and everything should be up and running by the
first part of June.
Mr. Connolly pointed out that San Antonio represents 80%
of Paragon's customer base and Schertz represents less than
one half of 1% of the customer base, yet the only reason we
have this system going up by the end of the month is Kerry
Sweatt. Three years ago, during the franchise renewal, he
dug in and would not let up even though Paragon fought him
tooth and nail. Mr. Sweatt was the driver of this system,
so Schertz can take full credit for it happening.
Mayor Baldwin asked if the crawl will appear across every
television set in the San Antonio area even if it's a
Schertz emergency. Ms. Nivens answered yes it will right
now. Mr. Connolly noted that when the fiber optics
expansion is completed they should be able to go in and
break up every city almost as a stand alone system.
Mr. Sweatt pointed out this has much more flexibility than
just weather. We're dealing with man-made disasters,
hazardous spills, train wrecks, etc. and we really are not
an island unto ourselves. Mrs. Marsh added there's
nothing wrong with letting everyone know there is an
emergency close by.
Mr. Greenwald asked if this will affect the National
Weather Service hurricane and tornado warning system. Mr.
Connolly answered it will not. Right now the broadcasters
are alerted about a disaster coming and the broadcaster
makes the decision about whether or not to interrupt a
certain program or wait for another hour. The new system
will not be so concerned with what's on the cable channel
and will have the ability to override, including the right
to override the broadcast channels. Those channels are not
happy about it, but legallY the cable company has a right
to do that.
Mr. McDonald, referring to the basic cable rate of $8.92
asked if we pay that amount plus the franchise fee. Mr.
Connally answered yes we do and then Mr. McDonald asked
why that's not stated on the bill. Mr. Connally replied
they are not legally allowed to do that because the
franchise fee is set by the community they are in and
different communities have different rates.
Mr. Sweatt remarked Paragon has been very responsive and
customer friendlY since the last franchise. Traditionally
the Schertz City Council has held a publiC hearing on these
kinds of issues. We have tentatively set a public hearing
for 7:00 p.m. April 4th to receive citizen input.
Mr. Connolly touched briefly on the progress being made in
the installation of fiber optics and the particulars of how
they will do that. Mr. Connolly stated, that at no
additional expense to customers, fiber optics will improve
the picture quality and the sound quality. If the customers
--
/Jt
do not want any new channels or new services, they stay at
their current rate. However, more channels and new
services will be available.
Mayor Baldwin thanked the people from Paragon Cable for
their presentation.
The Council then returned to Item #3 on the agenda.
#3 Discuss final consideration of an ordinance
revising water rates.
Mr. Sweatt commented City Council approved the first
reading of this ordinance. The most exciting part of it,
in his opinion, is the opportunity to eliminate a take or
pay type of arrangement and increase the incentive for
conservation and recognize conservation activity. The
Public Works Department worked long and hard to come up
with these new water rates.
City Council indicated to Mayor Baldwin they were ready to
have this put on the agenda for next Tuesday night's
meeting.
#4 Discuss plans and specifications for painting
of large pavilion.
Mr. Sweatt
Enqineering
this item.
project has
related he had asked Paul Denham of Ford
to be here tonight to provide some input on
For something that started out so simple, this
become rather complicated.
Mr. Denham informed the Council they have a two-part story
with the large pavilion. There's a super structure in need
of painting and the decking that is underneath it, that
makes up the majority of the square footage, is in pretty
good shape. However, it's difficult to paint one without
painting the other. The structural steel, which is the
part that needs to be painted as soon as we can get to it,
is about 12,000 square feet. The decking alone doubles
that. Mrs. Marsh asked for a definition of decking and
Mr. Denham explained it is the actual parts (beams and
columns) that support the roof.
Mr. Denham went on to say they first looked at the prices
of using a high pressure water blast system for the steel
structure and then coming up with a two coat painting
system for the decking. That could run as much as $25,000
to $30,000. If we look at a system where we paint the
structural steel and allow overspray onto the decking, of
something approximately the same color as is already there,
then we could get the price down. Again, another thing is
containing paint in that open area. There will be
environmental regulations you need to deal with in any type
of commercial painting and that runs a few thousand
dollars. At this time, going with the painting of the
structural steel and allowing overspray onto the decking,
--
.---:-
/31
and allowing for environmental regulations, the best price
we can get is around $20,000 to $22,000.
Mrs. Marsh asked about all the water blasting and
collecting of toxic waste and the disposing of it. Mr.
Denham answered they allow some money in there to do all
that and then explained some of the process.
Mr. Sweatt mentioned they had looked at one time into some
sort of primer that would consolidate the prior paint, but
it appears the water blasting and the capturing of the
residual is going to be the best method. Mrs. Marsh asked
how long it will last and Mr. Denham replied it typically
has a 12 to 15 year life. Mr. Sweatt commented we don't
know if we can get more than a five-year warranty. Mr.
Denham noted that normally painters are not too
enthusiastic about giving more than a one-year warranty,
but we're going to ask for a longer one than that if we bid
this project out.
Mr. Potempa asked if there is lead in the paint that's on
there now. Mr. Denham replied there is always some sort
of lead in primers, and even today, there is a federally
mandated maximum amount of lead in primers you use. The
paint on there meets today's criteria for lead.
Mr. McDonald asked if the overspray will cover it all, or
will there be a strip down the middle. Mr. Denham
answered there may possibly be some striping that will
appear, but that's going to come down to the coloration.
They will probably try to choose something that will match
as close as possible. Mr. McDonald then asked how much it
would cost to overspray it all and Mr. Denham replied it
would double it.
Mr. Greenwald asked if they had taken any measurements to
see how deep the corrosion is and Mr. Denham pointed out
there's no corrosion problem that would be structural in
nature. Mr. Greenwald then wondered if they had looked at
the phosphoric acid type of treatment and Mr. Denham
answered they had, but you're usually dealing with
chemicals and miXing them around the soil, so they shy away
from that method. Mr. Greenwald pointed out you can paint
over the old paint, it doesn't have to be removed, and it
neutralizes the corrosion. Mr. Denham admitted it's an
option and they've looked at it, but he would have to check
into the cost effectiveness of it.
Mr. Potempa clarified then, that they don't know if the
phosphoric acid treatment is cheaper. Mr. Denham stressed,
that in his opinion, it will probably not be Cheaper, but
he can certainly check into it. Mr. Greenwald observed
that by the time you get someone authorized to handle it,
it probably won't be any Cheaper. When you start talking
painting, you're talking big bucks.
~
/JJ'
Mrs. Marsh asked Mr. Denham to verify that he is saying
they can get the overspray, waterblast and cleanup for
around $20,000 to $22,000, and Mr. Denham stated that's
correct. Mr. Denham also emphasized they need lots of
good competitive bidders for this project.
Mr. Sweatt remarked there's a problem in trying to get
this project completed before the 4th of July Jubilee. He
recommends doing it afterwards so there won't be such close
time tolerances with the contractor.
Mr. Denham had mentioned a seasonal time for contractors
that do tanks and structures and Mrs. Stanhope asked when
that time is. Mr. Denham explained there won't be any
from out of state, but there are contractors that might be
in Mission, Texas right now who normally do these types of
projects. Mr. Denham also mentioned there are probablY
three reputable painters in San Antonio who do this type of
work. We need to open up that competitive type of bidding
atmosphere.
Mr. Potempa asked how long
Denham replied that if it's
completed in thirty days.
it will take to do
done correctly, it
it.
could
Mr.
be
Mrs. Marsh asked what they do now. Does there have to be
a vote from City Councilor can they have a consensus to
press on? Mr. Sweatt answered they have the authority to
solicit bids and bring them back to City Council. He would
like Council's direction on timing.
Mrs. Stanhope indicated she is trying to envision how it's
going to appear with overspray - to her overspray is a
horrible word. How bad is it goinq to look? Mr.
Greenwald pointed out if you can get a close match on the
paint color, at that distance you won't be able to notice a
lot of striping.
Mrs. Marsh wondered if we could ask
decking so it will be clean and Mr.
a possibility. Mr. Greenwald stated
them to waterblast the
Denham answered that's
it's a good idea.
Mr. McDonald wondered how long the decking will last using
this procedure and Mr. Denham replied it looks like the
deCking may have had industrial primer which has a
significant life.
Mrs. Marsh
not a factor.
costs. Mrs.
4th of July.
recommended they press on and that timing is
Mr. Greenwald suqgested getting some actual
Stanhope concurred with doing it after the
Mr. Sweatt advised they will probably look into some
alternatives, but he wanted the Council to be aware of
where they are and his concern for time if they wanted it
completed before the 4th of July Jubilee.
_/'
/ ..J tJ
#5 Discuss revised agreement with City of Cibolo
for use of Animal Control facilities.
Mr. Sweatt reminded Council that included in their packet
is a proposed agreement with Cibolo that updates our
agreement with them and with our current ordinance and
practices. The previous agreement was executed in February
of 1985 and is woefully out of date. This letter of
agreement brings those fees and charges in line with what
the citizens in our community are expected to pay for
services from the Animal Control facility. After the
packets were prepared, we received an executed copy from
the City of Cibolo acknOWledging and agreeing to those
terms and conditions. It is suggested action be taken on
this agreement at the Council's next regular meeting.
Mr. Potempa asked how long this contract is good. Is it
indefinite? Mr. Sweatt replied until it is changed.
All Councilmembers agreed they were ready for this to be on
the agenda of next Tuesday night's meeting.
#7 Discuss appointments to the Schertz Housing
Finance Corporation.
Mr. Sweatt reported the Schertz Housing Finance
Corporation was established in 1983 for the purpose of
encouraging mUlti-family residential rental development
through the use of non-profit bonds. The Board is made up
of five members appointed by the governing body and they
are required to be residents of the City. Currently there
are two vacancies on the Board that came about as a result
of members moving outside the City limits. The Board has
not been active until recently and had not met in two or
three years. They meet only when necessary to consider
changes in the current funding arrangement or to consider
requests for approval of additional bonds. These bonds are
not issued by the City, but are industrial development type
bonds.
The Board has recently met at the request of an applicant
and it was pointed out we have these two vacancies, so it
is requested the Council consider appointing two people to
fill those vacancies. The Board has suggested Council
consider appointing Ronald Krnavek of 1201 Antler Drive and
William Marciniak of 908 Antler Drive. They are neighbors
to each other as well as to one of the current Board
members, Chuck Sharpe. Also, Mr. Marciniak is Mr.
Sharpe's son-in-law. Mr. McDonald asked if there's any
conflict of interest with having relatives on the Board,
but was advised there is not.
Mr. McDonald asked if they are considering selling the
Sycamore Creek Apartments and Mr. Sweatt answered it's a
finance arrangement only. Those apartments were
constructed under a certain financing technique and they
are proposing to refinance them which required Board
~
/70
approval.
Mrs. Stanhope commented we have a real problem with housing
in Schertz as far as a shortage of places to rent.
The Council indicated to Mayor Baldwin they are ready to
have this item on next Tuesday night's agenda.
#8 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: Mr. Sweatt reminded
Council of the new operating hours at the Municipal
Complex. We're open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday from 7:00 a.m.
to 6:00 p.m. The change has been advertised and he has
asked the various departments to keep track of business
during those hours and give him some feedback.
#9 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. Greenwald told everyone
the opening day for BVYA is Saturday, April 1st. They are
going to have their parade again this year. There is an
appreciable number of increases in the brackets for small
children. We need to start looking at more ballfields.
Mr. Potempa asked
Greenwald replied at
putting out flyers to
what time the parade starts and Mr.
8:00 a.m. and then said they will be
advertise the event.
Mr. McDonald: A. Expressed concern about the
issue on FM 3009 because of water on the road. Mr.
promised to communicate those concerns to the
engineer of TXDoT.
Mr. Greenwald asked Mr. Sweatt if he had heard anything
else about the public hearing on the widening of FM 78.
Mr. Sweatt replied he has not and indicated the Highway
Department hasn't finished a right-of-way map yet. There
was a brief discussion regarding construction contracts,
funds and times for IH-35, FM 3009 and FM 78.
safety
Sweatt
resident
B. Mentioned the motel that was supposed to have been up
and running by April and they haven't even put the first
stake in the ground. Mr. McDonald suggested cancelling
their tax abatement.
Mr. Sweatt remarked they've missed the
they've missed the summer season. Mrs.
as far as she's concerned, they've shot
foot.
racing season and
Stanhope declared,
themselves in the
Mayor Baldwin suggested mentioning to the developer
the City is getting restless and is goino to look at
tax abatement with the possibility of cancellation in
that
their
mind.
Mrs. Stanhone: A. Mentioned she had a deliqhtful time at
the meeting of Boy Scout Troop #51. Danny Stift had asked
her to attend as part of their effort to earn a patch. She
was very impressed with how much these young people know.
They are 5th, 6th and 7th grade boys. Among the things
;.-----
/~I
they asked questions about were the school bond issue, teen
court, the curfew and why there's no stoplight at Schertz
Parkway and Elbel.
B. Reported she has some Catholic friends who are highly
incensed because political flyers were put on their car
windshields while they were attending church. They want to
know if there's anything that can be done about people who
put flyers on vehicles when people are parked on what they
consider to be private property. Mr. Sweatt stated there
is an ordinance that prohibits placing flyers on private
property. If these incensed people are willing to come and
sign a complaint, the City will treat it as an ordinance
violation. Mr. Potempa mentioned a call about a month ago
from a lady at the Baptist Church who had a similar
experience and felt the same way these people do.
C. Showed the Council a tote bag
plastic bottles. The people at
assembling these tote bags for RAYCO.
made from recycled
the Lighthouse are
D. Asked Mr. Greenwald how to find out what's
at the ballfields on May 20th. The Lion's Club
their annual garage sale. The children from the
came over for goodies last year, so they thought
have something like tacos this year. Mr.
assured Mrs. Stanhope there would probably be
that day, but he would find out for sure.
Mr. McDonald interjected that he had seen Henry Gutierrez
last night and Mr. Gutierrez told him he had lost 50
recycle bins and went out to Bussey's Flea Market and saw
some there. Mr. Gutierrez asked him what to do and Mr.
McDonald suggested he start making police reports.
happening
is having
ball fields
they would
Greenwald
games on
Mr. Potempa: A. Reported City Public Service has been up
on IH-35, in his subdivision, cutting trees back and doing
a great job.
B. Asked what's going to happen across the street at the
old junkyard. Mr. Sweatt advised they have cleaned it up.
All the junked vehicles have been removed. We will advise
the inspectors to keep an eye on it.
#10 ITEMS BY MAYOR: Mayor Baldwin noted he had
attended two meetings of the Restoration Advisory Board at
Randolph. Their intent is to get citizen input and watch
Randolph while they clean up all the environmental things
that have occurred there throughout the lifetime of the
base. They have identified twenty-two projects and have
them all cleaned up but three. They want this citizen's
committee to go out and meet with them and follow the
progress. Mayor Baldwin emphasized he needs someone else
to go in his place because he feels Schertz does need
representation. Mr. Potempa asked what time of day they
meet. Mayor Baldwin responded they meet at different
locations at different times of the day. Sometimes they
.~
/ If,)-
meet in the afternoon, sometimes in the evening. Jim
Harris volunteered to go in Mayor Baldwin's place.
#11 ADJOURNMENT: On a motion by Mr. Greenwald and
seconded by Mr Potempa and unanimously carried, the meeting
adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
c;z~
---'
Mayor, City~of Schertz, Texas
ATTEST:
~~ Il/*-&f-"_e-/
City Secretary, City of Schertz