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ccswks 09-14-1994 ~bi SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 14, 1994 The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session on Wednesday, September 14, 1994 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; Barbara Stanhope; Mary Marsh and Ken Greenwald. Staff present were Assistant City Manager Steve Simonson and City Secretary June Krause. #1 HEARING OF RESIDENTS: A. Annie Almond was pleased to present a third place ribbon our float received at the Kendall County parade. The float will be going to Karnes City the next Saturday and there are six parades left this year. She mentioned that the Flambeau invitations will be coming out soon and this year we really need to animate the float. She asked for ideas from Council. Mayor Baldwin expressed Council's appreciation to Ms. Almond for her efforts in presenting our float throughout the State of Texas. Mr. Potempa congratulated Ms. Almond on her appointment to the Planning & Zoning Commission in Cibolo. B. Bob Pond said he appreciated the opportunity to speak but wished it could be with each item brought up. He mentioned that Government from the Federal level, State, School and City eats up 46% to 58% of income from citizens. He stated that politicians listen to bureaucrats who present some sort of presumed bare-bones budget, then the politicians carefully scrutinize the various line items espousing the needs to support various departments. Then they reflect on how much money can be brought in through taxes and adopt the tax rate to provide the means to support these needs of the community. That is the ugly stench of government, he added. He said he understood that this year's budget request is up $148,000 from last year said that is a tax increase no manner how you cut it. We should require the City Manager to submit a budget that represents a cut in spending or at least stays even. He said he might be a little late this year but in 1995 let's avoid further erosion of freedom of the citizens of Schertz by taking the opportunity to cut the tax rate to the bare minimum. Mr. Pond then read some quotes from previous meetings, saying they were very arrogant. He ended by saying this all leads up to the vote on the tax rate and asked that Council hold the rate at $.4275 recommended by Mr. McDonald. C. Jim Harris said he hoped everyone read his article in the Herald. He said he was dumbfounded at the last workshop when the Council voted against the City Manager's and audit committee's recommendation to spend an additional $4500 and ~ 263 did not approve the low bid on the auditor. There will never be a way to prove if this was right or wrong. Mayor Baldwin spoke regarding the audit. In the bid specifications and in the proposal that the gentleman made was the phrase that if he runs into some things he did not anticipate, he would be able to come back and receive more money for the audit. A person who has never audited a city, ever, is going to run into some things he has never run into before. There is no way the man could have completed the audit for the bid he made, which was so much lower than all the other bids received. They did not have anyone on their staff that had ever audited a city. Mr. Harris again referred to his article in the paper where he asked everyone to call the Council and make their wishes known as to why the Council would vote for a $.43 tax rate when the City Manager had only asked for a $.4275 tax rate. #2 Discuss awarding bid on Group Medical, Dental and Life insurance. Bob Feike, Insurance Broker for the City, stated he had good news as far as money is concerned. Out of the eleven bids received, seven came in lower than the existing rate. We evaluated each bid on the merits of the plan proposed and found that by switching to Humana, we could save over $7,006 over the existing plan with the same or better benefits. That is the savings to the City but the employees save even more. The employees now have an opportunity to add dependent coverage they can afford, in some cases as much as $106 a month. We feel that we will have many more employees covering their dependents. He then introduced Humana representative Linda Phelps. Ms. Phelps thanked Council for this opportunity to explain their plan and answer questions. She advised that they had tried to save money on the dependent coverage by presenting a tiered rate. They also offer a PPO, in addition to the HMO. The City will pay the HMO rate and the employee who wishes a PPO rather than the HMO will pay the approximately $4 difference. The main difference in the two plans is that with the PPO, you can go outside the network and utilize your own doctor and facilities and still get the majority of the costs paid. Mr. Feike advised that this plan reduces the doctor copay from $8 to $5 and also reduces the prescription copay by one dollar. Employees will still get prescriptions filled at the HEB in Universal City and can use the Village Oaks hospital or any Humana related hospital. When asked by Mr. McDonald about preexisting conditions, Mr. Feike explained that was not a consideration during the initial sign up period or for new employees. 264 Mrs. Stanhope said she has had Humana for six years and was very satisfied. #3 Discuss awarding bid for the Reconstruction of Pfeil Road and Eckhardt Road projects. Mr. Simonson related that is considerable savings in this bid compared to what we had projected. There were three bids received, with V.K. Knowlton being the lowest at $160,093.70 for the Pfeil Road and $60,843.00 for the Eckhardt Road, with a grand total of $220,936.70. This contractor has been in the construction business for approximately 34 years and their projects are completed within time allowed and budget. Mr. Simonson explained that the Eckhardt Road project is slightly extended from what we originally asked them to look at. The Comal portion had never been redone and we will be extending the life of the Guadalupe County portion. This is well within the money we had set aside. V.K. Knowlton is dOing work in our area at the present and we recommend acceptance of their low bid. He explained that this money is part of the 1987 bond issue. Council agreed these projects are long overdue. #4 Discuss ordinance levying and assessing all taxable property and providing for the collection of tax at the rate of $0.43 on the $100 assessed valuation. Mr. McDonald agreed with the gentleman who spoke earlier, saying he did not feel the City needed this money as we are not a bank. If you total up everything, there is $28,000 surplus in the budget and there will be a little bit more in the general fund on merit wages. He said the Council should not worry about "what ifs", we need sound fiscal management. He reminded that our staff came up with a good budget at $42.75 tax rate and we do not need more than that. We should live with staff recommendations, they spent a lot of time on it with a lot of good thought and research. Mrs. Marsh said there is one thing that those who have been on the Council for the last six years understand is that we did not have a reserve, and we still do not have the required amount of reserves, which is three months operating expenses. We must have that. She felt it only prudent, when you can, you should have funds for reserves and you should have contingencies in each and every department. The contingency reserves is what the auditors look at. They have complimented Council highly during the last few years for building the reserves up from nothing. She also wanted to remind of all the things that are needed in the City that we do not have because we cannot afford them. ~ ?Rf) Mr. McDonald ~eminded that we are going to have to have a bond issue shortly for public safety; but with the proposed $.4275. there is a $6100 surplus in general fund. So with the $9,000 in insurance we are up to almost $13.000 surplus. Mrs. Stanhope said that for the 5 1/2 years she has been on the Council, the auditors have reported every year and called Council down on is that we still have not reached our three months operating reserve. Mayor Baldwin said that we are close but we will not know until the audit is complete how close to the desired reserves we are. He said he made the suggestion that we pick up the extra $7,000 in the $.0025 raise in rate because there was some discussion about the need to paint the pavilion. He said he did not have any problem with backing off that and going with the $.4275 since we have the $7,000 needed to paint the pavilion in the insurance savings. When the audit is done, we will know. Mrs. Marsh said we have gone through years and years of agony and we are finally getting to the point where this city is going to be in excellent shape. Mr. Greenwald said if we go to the $.4275, we have made up the $7,000 on the insurance and we should still come close to our three months objective on fund balance. This is a maybe but we are getting real close. Mrs. Marsh said she hope that the Council never spends the reserves again. What did it before was lowering taxes and spending the reserves. Mrs. Stanhope said she also hopes the City Fathers have learned their lesson about spending reserves. Mr. Greenwald said we could fund everything that is in the budget for the $4275 and would still have money for the painting of the pavilion by what is saved on insurance. Mrs. Stanhope said one of the Kerry Sweatt to furnish this Department Heads had asked for budget before it got to Council. things Council did not ask year is all the things that he had cut from the Mayor motion time. Baldwin said all it would take on Tuesday night and vote, there being no further discussion at is a this #5 Discuss an ordinance providing funds for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1994 and ending September 30, 1995 by approving the budget for such period. Mayor Baldwin asked if there was any further discussion on this subject and there was none. ~oti #6 Discuss final consideration of an ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance by rezoning 14.57 acres out of Guadalupe County and reflecting changes on zoning maps. Mr. Simonson reminded that this is the Cottage Lifestyles request for proposed Senior Citizen Development located on East Live Oak Road at Maske Road. He passed out a letter from the company answering Council questions raised at the public hearing and their assurance that should this fall through, they had no problem with the zoning reverting back. He said he was in contact with Robert Johnson of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, the people that administer this tax credit program for the State. This is not a HUD project. The way they get around the situation that was worrying many using words like low-income; it is moderate to low income in the since that the normal rents can be held down by them being given these tax credits. Then they take these tax credits and sell them and then take the money and go to the bank and the bank loans them the rest of the money so they are not out a lot of cash up front. HUD has warned us that they must have the amenities in there they say they are going to have, such as 'meals on wheels', transportation to doctors and medication and their trips for senior citizens. Mayor Baldwin said we do have their assurance that they would not have anyone under 55 years of age renting. Mr. McDonald said he had made numerous phone calls on this and they confirm what the State confirmed. The only requirement is that they have to have an exception to the Fair Housing Act in the age criteria. In order to obtain that exception, they have to provide significant facilities for senior citizens. They are putting out new criteria in October as to what 'significant facilities' is. He said the only remaining concern he has is to be sure they are going to meet the facilities criteria. Mr. McDonald said another thing that bothered him is that they are really not putting any money into this project up front. Mr. Simonson said when this is platted, you can ask for certain things right on the plat and they are required by the state to operate for 16 years. He said he has been getting calls wanting to know when they can move in. Mrs. Stanhope said for someone like her, this should be great. In looking at something like this in the San Antonio area, they are all about $1800 a month. There is just nothing like this in the area and there is a need for it. Mr. Marques said they could apply for tax abatement and the way our program is structured, they could get 90% for ten years. We would make a little money even at this rate. Mayor Baldwin mentioned that there is a great need for this type of housing in our area. 261 Mr. McDonald asked if we want to give tax abatement to residential operations. If they apply for the abatement. the Council has the final say on granting one. Mark Marquez said that it is time to review the criteria on abatement policy and they will be discussing some of the changes to be made and one of them might be to take residential out completely. #7 Discuss final consideration of an ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance by rezoning 8.61 acres out of Guadalupe County and reflecting changes on zoning maps. Mr. Simonson said this is the area next to the apartments and our library on Elbel Road. From the Planning point of view, we will have platting problems. There are certain things we are going to ask the owner to do to meet our requirements. One thing we will talk about is putting a right turn lane on Schertz Parkway at Elbel Road. The big thing that will improve the area will be to bring Westchester Street out to Elbel Road. Drainage is also a problem. They plan to build up to three stories. The question came up that we do not have fire equipment for three stories. The Chief talked to him and said he could authorize the three-story level if he would sprinkler the entire building. Mr. Simonson said, however, they did not think they would be allowing three stories. Mr. Greenwald said at the P&Z meeting, the owner was talking about a gated security project for this. There being no further questions, Mayor Baldwin asked that this item be on the next agenda. #8 Discuss final consideration of an ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance by rezoning 155.848 acres out of Guadalupe County and reflecting changes on zoning maps. Mr. Simonson said this is the Rayco Subdivision that will be called Ashley Place. It is situated on the East side of Schertz Parkway between Woodland Oaks and Savannah Square and directly across the road on the west side. We have a preliminary plat at this time for 157 units. The will start on the west side. They have an extremely good mix of lots to save the trees and have wiggled the roads to save trees. This item is also to be on the next agenda for action. #9 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: A. Mr. Simonson said he had talked with Kerry Sweatt and he was having a great time in Colorado and will be home Tuesday. B. Reminder of the Business Appreciation Dinner on the 22nd at 6:00 p.m., with a western theme. 268 C. Mrs. Krause reminded Council of the upcoming TML and asked them to get their registrations in. will Mr. #10 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. Potempa A. asked how long the intersection of FM 78 and FM 3009 be interrupted. Simonson said he would call and get that information. B. He asked how far along are we on the ADA projects. Mr. Simonson advised that we do not have the money yet but as soon as we do, we will be going out for bids. Mrs. Stanhope: A. Reported on a Humane Society meeting she attended. She said Ruth Keller has resigned and that Robie RaIl will fill in until January. They agreed that they would be willing to accept the old animal shelter with the stipulation that they put up the fence. They will use this for storage. It is up in the air as to whether they will eventually put animals down there. They are ready to support the spay and neuter program. Mr. McDonald: A. He had received a complaint from a citizen reporting that there is an area on Green Valley Road that has become a public dump. Mr. Simonson acknowledged he was aware of the area in question and he was trying to contact the owner. B. Reported that the Housing Authority now has 73 units that they supervise, with some being in Cibolo and Universal City. They have applied for units and can enhance their possibility of getting the City sends a letter saying they support the Authority's efforts. It just gives them some extra if we support them. Section 8 Schertz, 50 more them if Housing points Mayor Baldwin said he had asked Mr. McDonald to talk about this because we have never supported Section 8 housing. He asked if Council wanted to continue that position and go on record as saying we will not support their request for additional Section 8 housing? He said there are some good advantages with this, such as if the owner goes along with the Section 8, then the property has to be maintained - this is one way of getting some rental property in good repair. Mr. Simonson related that the City has 76 elderly units, 73 Section 8 units, 33 Section 8 next door to us under another project, 60 low/moderate rental apartments. The City of Schertz is already doing a lot for low/moderate income citizens. Mr. McDonald said he was shocked at the number of these Section 8 units in Universal City as opposed to Schertz, one in Converse and several in Cibolo. Mr. McDonald thought the City should support them. -~ 269 Mr. Greenwald did not agree, saying we should stay neutral. Mrs. Marsh, Mr. Potempa and Mrs. Stanhope had no qualms about it going either way, saying they have always gotten them before without the City. Mayor Baldwin, to break the tie said he preferred to stay neutral. Mr. Greenwald: A. Asked if flowers were sent to Norm Trembley's funeral. Since they weren't sent there. it was requested that a plant be sent to Mrs. Tremblay B. Mentioned that P&Z is working on getting a Bill Millers across from Diamond Shamrock on 1-35. C. Reported on the Canyon R~gional Water Authority meeting he and Mr. Biersctl'.rale attended. The plant is up and running, processl~q 33,000,000 gallons of water, 22,500,000 went to Green Valley and the rest to Spring Hills. Bexar Metro ~s in the processes of applying for 4,000 acre feet and they are looking at running a pipe line all the way from Dunlap to Kirby along FM 78. Mr. Davenport will probably come in soon wanting us to participate in the construction of this line. Part of the discussion was there is approximately 7,000 acre feet of Canyon lake water available - Bexar Metro will take 4,000 and we are going to buy 1,000. They want us to commit to "x" number of acre feet as there is only another 2,000 acre feet left to sell. We really need to set up a water discussion meeting soon. #11 ITEMS BY MAYOR: Reported on a Chamber of Commerce meeting he attended where they received an update on Ratama. It was a very interesting update of a premier race track. They plan their opening for April 7th. There will be about 1,000 local jobs available through Ratama and then about another 100 jobs for people who come in. It will be a dual track the outer will be dirt and the inner will be turf and will be year round racing at least three days a week. There will be a huge lake in the center of the track. #12 ADJOURNMENT: meeting was declared Baldwin. There being no further business, the adjourned at 9:08 p.m. by Mayor -- - ~ ..--_.~-~..~~ --------...-.--- Mayor, City of Schertz, Texas ATTEST: _--__.0____._- _ _...___~__ __~.__ __..__..__ _" ___,,,.,..____.,_... __. City Secretary, City of Schertz