ccswks 09-14-1994
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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#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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
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City Secretary, City of Schertz