ccreg 08-01-1995
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REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
August 1, 1995
The Schertz city Council convened in Regular Session on
Tuesday, August 1, 1995 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;
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 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A.
B.
C.
Special Session 5-31-95
Regular Session 6-06-95
Special Session 6-06-95
Mr. McDonald moveq to approve the minutes for the Special
Session 5-31-95, the Regular Session 6-6-95 and the Special
Session 6-6-95.
Mr. Potempa asked why it took so long to get these minutes
and Mr. Sweatt replied the City Secretary has been on
vacation.
Mr. Potempa then seconded the motion, which carried with
the following votes:
AYES: Councilmembers McDonald,
Greenwald.
Potempa, Swinney and
Nays: None.
#2 HEARING OF RESIDENTS: Those citizens wishing to
speak on agenda items (other than public hearing items) or
items not on the agenda, will be heard at this time.
Ann Almond of Cibolo presented Council with a first place
plaque for the City float from the Aquafest Land Parade
which was held last Saturday morning in Austin. The other
Aquafest parade, the river parade, will be this Friday
evening and they will not be giving trophies or ribbons for
that. Ms. Almond invited everyone to attend. It starts
at 8:30 p.m. and they will have a fireworks display
afterwards. She has some information on it if anyone is
interested. Ms. Almond announced that the next parade,
after the river parade, is in Jourdanton. Mayor Baldwin
thanked Ms. Almond for all her outstanding work.
Ms. Almond mentioned to Mr. Sweatt that they received
quite a few compliments from the people in Austin for
everyone having the City logo on their outfits. It really
made it easy to find everyone involved with the float.
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#3 RESOLUTION: Consider and take action on a
resolution approving changes to the Schedule of Fees.
Mayor Baldwin read the resolution as follows:
RESOLUTION 95-R-9
BY ..."&Uo CITY COUNCIL OF ....a-d. CITY OF &...n.r.RTZ,
~~S, AUTHORIZING CHANGES TO....&"d. SCI~a.I'JLE OF
FEES.
WHEREAS, it has been severa1 years since the current
fees were established; and
WHEREAS, it is believed, in view of inflation, the
fees should reflect rising costs; and
WHEREAS, such fees are not designed for
neither should the City sustain financial
THEREFORE ,
profit, but
loss; NOW
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ,
TEXAS:
THAT, the revised Schedule of Fees, shown on the
attachment, be authorized for effective implementation.
Mr. Sweatt reviewed the proposed changes and said Planning
and Zoning is recommending a $25.00 charge for site plan
review. They are also recommending the following in plat
filing fees: (1) a change in the plat filing fee from the
current $75.00 to ~100.00; (2) a change from the current
$20.00 to $25.00 for each acre or fraction thereof for the
first five acres; (3) a change from the current $7.50 to
,$10.00 per acre or fraction thereof for each additional
acre; and, (4) a change in the current county filing fee
from $60.00 to $75.00 per sheet.
Mr. Greenwald moved to approve the resolution authorizing
changes to the Schedule of Fees. Mr. McDonald seconded
the motion, which carried with the following votes:
AYES: Councilmembers McDonald,
Greenwald.
Potempa, Swinney and
NAYS: None.
#4 BID AWARD: Consider and take action on awarding
bid for repainting park pavilion.
Mr. Sweatt remarked, that as discussed at the' workshop,
they received three bids by the deadline. Those bids
ranged from a low of $21,200 to a high of $69,500. Ford
Engineering has reviewed the low bidder, General
Construction by Randy's, and has rec"I.I..".ended the project be
awarded to them. They have been in this type business for
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ten years and have done numerous projects from this size
upwards.
Mr. Sweatt referred to a couple of questions that were
asked at the workshop meeting which he was unable to answer
completely, and he responded to them at this time. First,
the bid does include two coats, for a total mil thickness
of 3.5. The first coat, while not being an oxidizing
primer, is a direct to metal application and will act as a
primer. It is water soluble and we will be able to make
minor clean-ups to it in the future without a problem. It
is lead-free and part of the clean-up will be a waterblast.
However, the majority of the application will be rolled on
as opposed to sprayed. The color will blend with the
underside of the roof.
Second, it is estimated to take about 45 days to complete
the project and at this stage, we do not plan on beginning
the work until September 5th to accommodate the swimming
pool schedule. There has been a hold put on reservations
for the pavilion from September 5th through November 5th.
Up to now, the contractor is aware of the time schedule we
have set.
Mr. Swinney asked if this information about
can be put in the September Newsletter and
replied they will do that.
reservations
Mr. Sweatt
Mr. McDonald asked if there's any anticipation, when
they're doing the waterblasting, if they could also do some
cleaning. Mr. Sweatt replied if there is some need of
cleaning, the City could probably do the washing down.
We'll talk as work progresses because there was also a
suggestion that we repair the basketall goals.
Mr. Potempa moved to award the bid for the repainting of
the pavilion to General Construction by Randy's in the
amount of $21,200. Mr. Greenwald seconded the motion,
which carried with the following votes:
AYES: Councilmembers McDonald,
Greenwald.
Potempa, Swinney and
NAYS: None.
#5 BY-LAWS: Consider and take action regarding
approval of by-laws for Northeast Partnership organization.
Mr. Sweatt reminded Council these by-laws have been
proposed for the Northeast Partnership which is an
organization of the cities of Selma, Schertz, Cibolo,
Converse, Garden Ridge, Kirby, Live Oak and Universal City.
These cities intend to work together to plan a consolidated
approach to economic development with a number of
specifically stated goals and objectives in mind. The
Mayors, City Managers and economic development
representatives of these cities have been meeting
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informally for a while now and have concluded it is
important to work collectively because we can accomplish
more. One of the most significant results of a study
completed in 1994 was that as a group we are larger in
population and land area than our largest competitor along
IH-35. Individually, we are smaller in population, and
most likely in land area, than our smallest competitor.
While these goals are not intended to supplant individual
cities' efforts toward economic development, there are some
activities we feel are appropriate for the cities as a
group.
Mr. Sweatt further stated a set of by-laws has been
drafted that would provide for each city to be an active
member. The mayor of each of those cities would.constitute
the Board of Directors. There would be from that Board an
elected President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer.
The City Managers/Administrators of those cities would
serve as the Standing Committee. At this stage no
individual projects have been outlined other than to review
our options and look into placing the Northeast Partnership
as an active member in some other economic development
organization. In order to do that, you have to be
organized and the by-laws are an attempt to achieve that
goal.
Mayor Baldwin mentioned that when he brought the question
of meetina anvwhere in the state of Texas to the attention
of the group, their vote was to leave that in the by-laws.
Their justification for that was if there were an
opportunity to get together with some corporate head or
some committee from a corporation that was considering
relocating in our area, there's a possibility we may have
to go to that location and meet with them.
Mr. Potempa asked what it is going to cost the City and
Mayor Baldwin replied the initial cost is $1,000 per city.
Then an annual dues had been established that will be based
on the population of the cities. The dues will be
determined by the amount of the budget which is adopted by
the Partnership. Right now they are looking at
approximately 12.8 cents per capita for the first year's
dues. Mr. Sweatt added it looks currently like the total
cost to the City of Schertz would be the one-time fee of
$1,000 to join and approximately $1,700 in dues based on
population, for a total the first year of $2,700.
Mayor Baldwin reported they have appointed a Budget
Committee which will start working on the first budget. It
will be ratified by each of the city councils once it is
completed.
Mr. Potempa commented at one time it was me'ntioned the
fees would be based on electrical connections. Is that
still the case? Mayor Baldwin acknowledged that was the
original suggestion, but it was too complicated to decide
who lived where, so they went back to using the official
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census figures. Mr. Sweatt explained the idea of
electrical connections was just a way to count, so when it
became too complicated, they decided to go with population
figures.
Mr. Potempa emphasized he thinks the Partnership is a good
idea, but he still has problems with paragraph 6.07 which
says The Di~~~t0r~ m~v hold their meetinos at anv Dlace in
Texas as desired bv them. You open the door and give these
people all the authority in the world and the next thing
you know it's costing a tremendous amount of money for
weekend trips.
Mayor Baldwin commented he's presuming the councils will
have some control. An individual city can always
disapprove the budget and decide they no longer wish to be
a member.
Mr. Potempa then asked Mayor Baldwin if he really thinks
this will help bring industry and new business into the
City of Schertz. The Mayor replied nothing is an absolute
certainty until you try it. He just knows there's never
been a better opportunity for this area than there is right
now to attract industrial growth, and he feels strongly the
eight cities can do that working together. It gives them a
lot more clout and a lot more persuasiveness to bring all
the resources of the region into play versus each city
working individually. Every city has a different resource
they bring to the table. The Partnership is going to try
and put a very attractive package together that will induce
and compel new industry and business to want to locate
here. We're approaching this with the attitude that what's
good for one city is good for all.
Mr. Potempa questioned Mayor Baldwin if he envisions a
battle between the cities, in other words, cutting each
others' throats. The Mayor answered it is up to each city
to make their best presentation. We're trying to show that
we can all work together.
Mr. Swinney, referring to competition among the cities,
felt without insulting our sister cities, that Schertz is
in a more favorable position than some just because of its
geographical location. Schertz also has a lot of land, the
infrastructure, good citizens and a low crime rate, and Mr.
Swinney thinks if they bring business to the area on an
equal footing, Schertz can compete with anyone.
Mr. Swinney mentioned he is still concerned about
paragraph 6.07 and will continue to be concerned. However,
they did discuss during workshop the fact Council would be
provided line item details of exactly what goes' on year by
year and he's willing to trust that elected officials will
be prudent with that the first year until they prove
otherwise. As far as the precedent for this' Partnership,
Mr. Swinney indicated there's validity allover the
country as far as entities banning together to achieve what
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cannot be accomplished by one individual entity. He's
willing to put a small amount of money into this pot to see
what they can do for us.
Mayor Baldwin related there's a lot of potential for where
the funding can come from. There's nothing to keep the
private sector from donating money and/or joining the
Partnership. It gives them a vote in a limited manner.
Mr. Potempa stressed he would like to see them succeed.
Mayor Baldwin mentioned they have attracted the interest of
the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation.
Mr. Swinney asked if any of the cities are using their
hotel/motel tax to support economic development. Mayor
Baldwin reflected if we had that economic development sales
tax, we could certainly pledge that to it. Mr. Sweatt
indicated he would think on a very limited basis - perhaps
for some of the advertising.
Mr. Greenwald pointed out Council will be rece1v1ng copies
of all the minutes, so he would think if someone's going to
make a trip somewhere, it would be approved in the minutes.
Mr. Sweatt wanted to make a final note about the
competition and said it is not our sister cities who are
the real competition, but places like Georgetown, Round
Rock and Plano. They represent a large population and a
large land area. Once we get a business here that is
interested, we can compete. It is getting them here that
is the real challenge.
Mr. McDonald referred to paragraph 7.03, sub-paragraph c.
where it says the Treasurer shall have charae and custodv
of an be resoonsible for all funds and securities of the
corooration and asked if the an shouldn't be and. It was
agreed it should.
Mr. McDonald then moved to paragraph
Whe~eve~ ~t ~s deemed necessarv
Partnershio incur anv exoenses and
missing. He feels the word to should
incur. The Council agreed.
10.02 where it says
bv the Northeast
said something's
be added before
Pointing out paragraph 14.01, Mr. McDonald noted where it
says bv the Board of Directors are anv contractors it
should say or anv contractors. The Council agreed.
Mr. McDonald then stated he also has a problem with
paragraph 6.07. First of all he understands the
Partnership is a public relations organization and can't
make any decisions without coming to Counc.il. Their
argument that they've got to go, say to Dallas, to meet a
group and have a quorum is erroneous. . A quorum to do what?
They can't make any decisions. Mr. McDonald reiterated he
has a problem with the Directors being able 'to hold their
meetings any place in Texas, as desired by them. We could
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desire to have our meeting at the golf course. There's no
reason for the Directors to have the meeting other than
they desire to have it. The language needs to be changed.
Mr. McDonald then referred to paragraph 6.04, noting they
have the authority where it says reaular meetinas of the
Directors mav be held without notice at such olaces and
times as shall be determined from time to time b~
resolution of the Directors.. Mr. McDonald stressed such
olaces indicates again, they can go anywhere they want to.
Even though Mayor Baldwin feels they have good people right
now, these by-laws don't change if the mayors don't get
reelected. There needs to be some kind of control.
Mayor Baldwin commented the control is that you can
participate or you don't have to participate. Mr.
McDonald still felt the safeguards need to be in place in
the by-laws. Mayor Baldwin asked Mr. McDonald how he
suggests they replace 6.07 and Mr. McDonald replied take
it out all together. Mr. McDonald feels they're being
arrogant in saying they're not going to change paragraph
6.07. If we asked for something else are they going to be
that arrogant again? Mayor Baldwin explained we're just
one vote out of eight cities. Saying he realizes that, Mr.
McDonald still felt paragraph 6.07 should be deleted
because they have the authority in paragraph 6.04 to do it,
or reword it to say the Direct~~~ ~av hold their meetinas
at anv olace in Texas from time to time bv resolution o~
the Directors. Let's get some authority in there.
Mr. Swinney commented, surely with a little master
English language, there's a way to reach a
agreement. We don't want to tie the hands of the
who are doing the business that should be done, but
same time we have a right to accountability of our
our resources and our reputation. There are a few
that could be added to accomplish that.
of the
simple
people
at the
money,
words
Mr. McDonald objected most to the word desire and Mayor
Baldwin asked him for a different word. How do you allow
them to go any place in the State of Texas and put controls
on them? Mr. McDonald answered by adding the words ~
determined bv resolution of the Directors,. It has to be
documented.
Mr. Swinney felt that was a good point. That way they can
go anywhere in Texas to do official business, but they are
held accountable by all folks and everyone knows about it.
It's a very reasonable compromise because we're not
stepping on their toes, but they're agreeing to be
accountable to us.
Mayor Baldwin promised to bring this to the Partnership's
attention. The bottom line is they want to get this thing
going by means of having a document on which everyone can
agree. Right now this is the only Council that seems to
have a problem with paragraph 6.07. If they won't change
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the wording, then obviously Schertz is not going to be a
member of the Northeast Partnership.
Mr. McDonald said the way he reads it, that doesn't stop
us from being a member - they don't need our approval of
this. We're not a member until we pay our dues, regardless
of whether we approve this or not. Mayor Baldwin felt
there's no use being a member of an organization if you
don't subscribe to their by-laws.
Mr. Greenwald asked the Council to look at paragraph 10.02
where it states no debts of anv kind or character shall be
made or incurred bv the ~ommission or anv one actina for it
unless such exoenditures have been soecificallv authorized
bv the Board of Directors in its annual budaet or bV
maioritv board action in a meetina. An exception is
expenditures of less than $200. Mr. Swinney commented
that one sentence starting with no debts of anv kind is
enough to satisfy his doubts.
Mr. McDonald remarked if there's a $75,000 budget for
travel, they can still spend it anyway they want. That's
no safeguard.
Mayor Baldwin said he would take it to the Partnership with
the recommended change to paragraph 6.07 of ~s determined
bv resolution of Directors and tell them we will approve it
with that change. If they won't accept that, then we'll
will have to decide what we're going to do.
Mr. Potempa asked the Mayor if he wants
item. Mayor Baldwin replied no, he wants
make a motion, he wants to join, and
participate in the election of officers
meeting, but only if the Partnership accepts
to table this
the Council to
he wants to
at the next
the change.
Mr. McDonald moved to approve the by-laws for the
Northeast Partnership, contingent on deleting the words as
~eslred bv them and adding instead the words as determined
bv resolution of Directors to paragraph 6.07.
Mr. Swinney mentioned he's convinced this safeguard has
nothing to do with the amount of money spent in the budget.
It only has to do with accountability of a decision being
made public before someone goes on a trip. Mr. Swinney
affirmed it's true, as Mr. McDonald said, there's no
budget limitation, but as Mr. Greenwald pointed out it's
taken care of in paragraph 10.02.
Mr. Potempa seconded the motion with the stipulation that
the word DQ starting the second sentence of Paragraph 10.02
be capitalized. (Mr. McDonald indicated his motion should
have included correction of all the spelling/grammatical
errors.)
Mr. Swinney wondered if this is voted down, does Council
have an opportunity to vote on it again without the change.
~~/
Mayor Baldwin replied if it's voted down, we'll ask for
another motion. Mr. Swinney then asked if it is voted in
by Council and not approved by the Partnership, will we
have an opportunity to vote on it again as it is now.
Mayor Baldwin answered if we call for a vote and the
majority of the Councilmembers vote aye, then we'll go back
to the Partnership with this document saying we will join
if they change paragraph 6.07. If they say they're not
going to change paragraph 6.07, then we have a big decision
to make. Mr. Swinney's concern was if the Partnership
says they won't change it, that Council can vote on it
again as is.
Mr. Swinney then observed if this change doesn't fly,
we're still not jeopardizing our participation. Mayor
Baldwin commented the only thing he sees we're jeopardizing
is the chance to have a voice in the election of officers.
Mr. Baldwin felt the Partnership will organize at their
next meeting.
Mr. Swinney noted, while we're being picky, Cibolo is
spelled wrong in paragraph 5.01.
Mr. Greenwald
Partnership is
August. Mr.
prior to that.
asked when the next meeting
and Mayor Baldwin replied the
Greenwald pointed out we have a
of the
10th of
workshop
Mr. Swinney commented the bottom line is we can have two
votes on this tonight, if so moved. Mayor Baldwin
commented we already have a motion and a second to adopt
the by-laws with that one change. If that motion fails,
then we can have another vote.
Mr. Greenwald asked Mayor Baldwin if he understands
correctly that this change was brought before the
Partnership already and they turned it down. Mayor Baldwin
acknowledged he mentioned it at the last meeting and there
was some discussion. The majority of the cities felt the
flexibility of leaving the original statement in is needed.
They want to be able to go and see these prospective
business representatives when necessary. The Mayor
admitted he has no idea what kind of business they could
conduct. He doesn't think they could make any decisions,
they could only present the prospects with whatever
advertising and video tapes the Partnership comes up with
to dazzle them. Mayor Baldwin emphasized he does not see
this group of Mayors as people who would go off and hold
retreats and do things you would be opposed to just because
they have a pile of money at their disposal. The controls
are there. This is a group of very conservative cities.
Mr. McDonald expressed the opinion, again, that we need
safeguards. Mayor Baldwin, saying he has no problem with
safeguards or with this particular change,' indicated he
would hate for this to be the reason we don't join. He
doesn't want to go to the next meeting and say the City of
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Schertz voted down the by-laws. He would rather say they
approved the by-laws with the exception of paragraph 6.07.
Mr. McDonald pointed out that the last time we ask them to
delete paragraph 6.07 and they refused. This time we're
just asking for a change.
Mr. Greenwald asked Mr. McDonald if he wants to join even
if they don't approve this change. Mr. McDonald replied
he has no reservations about joining.
Mr. Swinney asked Mr. McDonald what extra safeguard those
four or five words would add to paragraph 6.07 that's not
in paragraph 10.02. Mr. McDonald replied paragraph 10.02
tells you that you can spend whatever is in the budget for
travel, but doesn't specify your destination. It's just an
x amount of dollars setting out there in a fund, and a
Board of Directors will determine from time to time where
that travel will be performed as in 6.04, by resolution of
where they're going to have their meetings, and in 6.07,
wherever they desire. Mr. McDonald just doesn't think
10.02 puts any restrictions on where they spend. We need
justification for them to make a trip.
Mayor Baldwin offered the opinion this Partnership won't be
run any differently than any of the cities around and he's
sure these people are not going to take off on trips and
spend three days skiiing or golfing.
Mr. McDonald argued it could happen without restrictions
and Mayor Baldwin wondered how you restrict it. If you get
the kind of membership in there that wants to do that, then
they'll do it anyway. The Mayor felt the safeguards are
already in the by-laws.
Mr. Swinney, saying we need to get through this log jam,
indicated we need to get to the true fear, which is
accountability. We don't understand this organization.
How can every action be accountable and above board? Mayor
Baldwin felt that is the responsibility of the Partnership.
They need to make sure they put things in place that make
the actions of the entire group accountable. Mayor Baldwin
commented he's sure the Mayors will put together a set of
administrative guidelines to support these by-laws that
will put accountability into play. These are just the
by-laws, they are not the administrative procedures.
Mr. Swinney wondered if it's reasonable to expect that
there will be an account of all the meetings in the
newspapers. Mayor Baldwin replied he could almost
guarantee a reporter will be at every meeting. Mayor
Baldwin further stated they are not trying to hide
anything. They're just trying to get ,off the ground.
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The Mayor called for a vote at this time with the following
results:
AYES: Councilmembers McDonald and Potempa.
NAYS: Councilmembers Swinney and Greenwald.
The Mayor voted no to break the tie.
Mr. Swinney moved to approve the by-laws for the Northeast
Partnership, as presented, with correction of the
spelling/grammatical errors. Mr. Greenwald seconded the
motion and the vote was as follows:
AYES: Councilmembers Swinney and Greenwald.
NAYS: Councilmembers McDonald and Potempa.
The Mayor voted yes to break the tie and the motion
carried.
#6 RESOLUTION: Consider and take action on a
resolution authorizing acquisition of certain real estate
in connection with FM 78 right-of-way.
Mayor Baldwin read the following resolution:
RESOLUTION NO. 95-R-8
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ,
AUTHORIZING ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN REAL
AND OTHER MATTERS IN COJ.ilLiI~CTION THEREWITH.
TEXAS
ESTATE
WHEREAS, in connection with the widening of the
FM 78 right-of-way, the City of Schertz, Texas (the "City")
must acquire certain property; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City proposes to
purchase the property currently owned by George W. Giere,
Darron W. Giere, and Rene Farias (the "Sellers") and
located at 201 1st Street, Schertz, Texas (the"Property")
in accordance with the terms of the Earnest Money Contract
dated effective July 7, 1995 (the "Contract"), attached to
this Resolution as Exhibit A; and
nn.t.REAS, the City Council of the City further proposes
to pay the Sellers certain relocation costs relating to the
Sellers' business located on the Property (the Relocation
Payment") in accordance with the Letter Agreement attached
to this Resolution as Exhibit B; and
WHEREAS, the acquisition of the Property and the
payment of the Relocation Payment by the City are deemed to
be in the best interests of the citizens of the City;
~I
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF
.L&1~ CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council of the City hereby
authorizes the City Manager to execute all documents
necessary for the City to acquire the Property pursuant to
the terms of the Contract, and, upon acquisition of the
Property, to pay the Seller the Relocation Payment.
SECTION 2. The Ci ty Manager, and other appropriate
officers of the City are hereby authorized to execute and
deliver such additional certificates and instruments to
further the purposes of this Resolution and the acquisition
of the Property by the City as may be approved by the City
Attorney.
SECTION 3. This Resolution
immediately upon its adoption.
Mr. Potempa moved to approve the resolution authorizing
acquisition of certain real estate in connection with FM 78
right-of-way. Mr. Swinney seconded the motion, which
carried with the following votes.
shall
be
effective
AYES: Councilmembers McDonald,
Greenwald.
Potempa, Swinney and
NAYS: None.
Mr. McDonald asked what's going to happen to
Mr. Sweatt replied the City will offer it
historic building first and if they get no
they'll come back to Council for authority to
the building.
as a public
takers, then
demolish it.
#7 APPOINTMENT: Consider and take action regarding
appointment to fill vacancy on City Council.
Mr. Potempa moved to appoint Mr. James Harris to fill the
unexpired term of Place #3 on the Council which goes to May
of 1997. Mr. McDonald seconded the motion.
Mayor Baldwin then asked for any discussion. Mr. McDonald
reported he had received a number of phone calls urging the
appointment of Mr. Harris.
Mr. Swinney expressed the desire to address some points
before the vote was taken. He commented it had been a most
difficult week in his short political life due to the
importance of this vote.
Mr. Swinney related that the individuals he has considered
all have his utmost respect and admiration. His decision
is based on his best judgment of. how well they can
contribute to building the Schertz that he envisions.
Mr. Swinney
clear up some
went on to say he wants, at this time, to
serious misconceptions he has encountered
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from citizens concerning this Council appointment. Those
include the importance of his vote, old politics, term
limits, the vision of our City, tax groups and Mr.
Sweatt's compensation. He is not a "saving vote", but will
be part of a majority vote as part of the sacred democratic
process. Both sides have told him to vote his conscience
and he will.
Mr. Swinney commented he was told that if he voted one way
that he would be siding with old City politics and people
that have served for way too long. He was raised to
respect the wisdom of older individuals and to value their
experience. We should be grateful that citizens care to
give so much of their lives to public service. Former
Councilmembers, for the most part, are responsible for the
wonderful City that his generation inherited and he thanks
them. If elected officials don't represent the citizens,
then limit their terms by the ballot and not the law. It's
time for citizens to stop the apathy and get involved.
Please stop the senseless attacks against public servants
based on time served and preconceived opinions and agendas.
Mr. Swinney related that many newcomers to the City are
g~v~ng him plenty of advice on how to run the City and he
welcomes their comments. He would remind them he has lived
here since 1966 and his wife's family has lived here since
the 1920's. He remembers a Schertz with flooded streets,
no parks, a rundown City Hall, no library and schools
without air conditioning. When he was barely making enough
money to put food on the table, he donated money to lay the
foundation for the library. He resents people moving into
Schertz and wanting to turn it into a bedroom retirement
community with no taxes and a damn the kids, damn the
elderly and damn the City services attitude. He has seen
how far we've come and asked we do not underestimate his
love and concern for Schertz or his commitment to its
future progress.
Mr. Swinney further stated when he entered the race for
City Council, many citizens expressed their relief that
younger individuals were stepping up to lead our
government. He has been proud to serve the City. Since
the day his candidacy was announced, he was vigorously
opposed by various tax groups who didn't even know his
platform (the same groups that keep demanding "new blood").
He continually received negative calls late in the evening
concerning his votes. He feels if those citizens want to
keep young people out of public service, they are sure on
the right track. To the tax groups, Mr. Swinney says he
can't please them in any way. If they must take aim and
attack him with a vengeance, please understand that he will
not be deterred from his vision of Schertz. This is a
vision of parks, safe streets, quality City employees, new
business opportunities and satisfied citizens.
Mr. Swinney mentioned that, lastly, he has defended Kerry
Sweatt and his compensation package for the last time. Mr.
<3.3,6
Sweatt's record speaks for itself. This man has devoted
over 30 years of his life to public service to communities.
He has done an outstanding job for our City. The contract
is in line with comparable cities of this size and is
roughly equal to a manager at USAA or a Lieutenant Colonel
in the military. A Lieutenant Colonel is paid
approximately $72,000 per year, including social security
and medical benefits. When the Lieutenant Colonel retires,
say at the age of 43, he receives $29,000 per year. Let's
say he lives to be 76, that's 33 years worth of retirement,
which is a total pension of $957,000 in today's money. Mr.
Sweatt would probably be happy to trade his so-called
generous contract with any retired Lieutenant Colonel in
the City. Pay a man what he is worth and then get out his
way and let him do his job.
Mr. Swinney, feeling he had now said enough, thanked
everyone for listening and announced he was ready to vote.
Mr. McDonald concurred with Mr. Swinney about Mr. Sweatt
saying we're not paying him enough, but can't afford to pay
him any more.
Mr. Greenwald agreed with Mr. Swinney that the City has
come a long way. Progress is a slow process and he doesn't
see Schertz exploding in any way other than population.
At this time the vote was taken with the following results:
AYES: Councilmembers McDonald and Potempa.
NAYS: Councilmembers Swinney and Greenwald.
Mayor Baldwin commented, with an opportunity to vote for a
person to serve on this City Council, he has to think long
and hard about who will best represent the majority of
voters in the City of Schertz. Mr. Harris has run for
Council and lost. The organizations that Mr. Harris
subscribes to are not the voice of all the taxpayers of the
City. The organizations he belongs to have, over the
years, been consistently defeated in every level of
election held in the City. Even though their goals are
admirable and you need someone to keep an eye on City
government, the Mayor indicated he doesn't truly think they
are the voice of all the taxpayers of the City or there
would be six of them serving on City Council. For these
reasons, he cannot support Mr. Harris and his vote is no.
Mr. McDonald moved to appoint Earl Sawyer to fill the
unexpired term of Place #3 on the Council which goes to May
of 1997. Mr. Greenwald seconded the motion, which carried
with the following votes:
AYES: Councilmembers McDonald,
Greenwald.
Potempa, Swinney and
331
#8 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: A. Advised the TML Region 7
meeting is August 18th in Leon Valley. Anyone wishing to
attend please let him know by August 3rd.
B. Announced if anyone wants to attend the Aquafest river
parade in Austin, he can get tickets. He and his wife will
be going and will leave no later that 5:45 p.m. Friday.
C. Noted Judge Sagebiel called him today and asked him to
inform Council that on August 22nd, the County proposes to
hold a budget public hearing in Schertz at 7:00 p.m. in
the Community Center. They will not only discuss the
proposed County budget, but construction plans for the
courthouse annex and the juvenile detention expansion
program.
D. Told Council they will be getting an invitation from
GVEC to attend a public hearing they will be holding
regarding the routing of the major transmission line from
their new substation. He's not sure of the date or
location and will let Council know. Mayor Baldwin said he
thought the City should have a representative at that
public hearing.
#9 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. Potemoa: Stated he would
like a copy of the letter from Southwestern Bell, when the
City gets it, regarding the rate adjustment.
There was a brief discussion on which telephone exchange
areas are paying 22 cents and which are paying 18 cents for
the 911 service and how they differentiate them.
Mr. Swinney: Reported on the AMCC convention held in
Austin. He attended a couple of sessions on budgeting and
some of the investment portfolios of municipalities. He
also attended a very interesting session on the vision of
youth. Killeen has established a concept where they take
some of the "best and brightest" 10th and 11th graders and
appoint them as liaisons to the City Council, and they meet
twice a month to plan youth activities and youth service
projects. They have had a lot of success with that. He
isn't sure Schertz is ready for that at this time, but down
the road it is a very viable idea.
#10 ITEMS BY MAYOR: Mentioned he also attended the
AMCC convention. He was very impressed with the Mayor of
Killeen's presentation. One of the things he would like to
suggest we take a look at, and he thinks would be of
interest to cities in the State of Texas, is getting on the
agenda of some future AMCC convention or TML meeting with a
presentation about our teen court.
#11 ADJOURNMENT: On a motion by Mr. Potempa and
seconded by Mr. Greenwald and unanimously carried, the
meeting adjourned at 8:38 p.m.
33~
SPECIAL WORKSHOP SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
AUGUST 1, 1995
The Schertz City Council met in Special Workshop
following the Regular Session, on Tuesday, August
in the Municipal Complex Conference Room, 1400
Parkway, SChertz, Texas.
Session,
1, 1995,
Schertz
#lA BUDGET: Submission of City Manager's
recommendations for FY 95/96 and discussion of
workshop schedule.
budget
budget
Mr. Sweatt presented Council with binders containing the
proposed budget for fiscal year 95/96. He reminded Council
this submission of the budget to them is in accordance with
the City's Charter and with State law. They're still
waiting on word from the State Comptroller's office about
whether or not they have to have separate public hearings
on the tax rate and on the budget. Most likely the public
hearings will be set up for september 13th, with the vote
on September 19th. Adoption of the effective tax rate is
recommended.
After looking the budget over briefly, Council set up a
schedule for budget workshops. They decided, tentatively,
on August 9th and August 30th. They held August 23rd open
in case they needed it because Mr. Potempa could not
commit to August 23rd right now. They also decided to have
a cut-off time of 9:30 for the workshops. Mr. Greenwald
requested a preliminary schedule be included in their next
packets.
#2A ADJOURNMENT: On unanimous consensus by Council,
Mayor Baldwin adjourned the meeting at 9:15 p.m.
Mayor, CitY-Of Schertz, Texas
ATTEST:
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City Secretary, City of Schertz