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ccswks 08-26-1992 /) ~-: ('J ~'-"'''-j SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 2 6. 1992 The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session. Wednesday August 26. 1992 at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Municipal Complex, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. The following members were present: Mayor Pro Tern Barbara Stanhope; Joe Potempa; Hal Baldwin; Mary Marsh and Ken Greenwald. Absent: Mayor Earl W. Sawyer. Staff in attendance were City Manager Kerry R. Sweatt and City Secretary June Krause. #1 HEARING OF RESIDENTS: None #2 Dorothy them to and into Discussion of BOA hearing on a request by M.L. and Coons, 2800 Hidden Grove, for an exception allowing encroach into the easement at the back of the lot the required setback from the main building. Mr. Sweatt pointed out the memo in the Council's packets, from Planning & Zoning stating they had denied this request to place a 12' x 20' metal building in their back yard. Their decision was based on two zoning regulations: (al nO accessory building may be closer than ten feet to the main building in the rear yard; and (bl no accessory building shall be constructed in the front yard or an easement. Mr. & Mrs. Coons have now appealed to the Board of Adjustment for hearing and this hearing has been set for the next regular meeting on September 1, 1992. Mr. Greenwald said the memo from P&Z does not go into details but originally the Coons had stated they had recently just gotten married and needed more storage room. Later on in the conversations with them, it came out that this building will be used as a hobby shop. Also, even though they consider this a temporary movable building, it would be extremely hard to move this size building and for a hobby shop, it would need electricity at the very least. There were no further comments from Council. #3 Discussion of Goofy Golf sign at corner of FM 1518 and Oak Street. Mr. Sweatt said we have identified what we believe to be assertion of ownership. Mr. George Barnard says it was his and it went with the Goofy Golf property when it was sold. We have not ascertained if the sign was constructed with a City permit. Mr. Barnard said the DePlantis family have purchased the property and have asked that this sign be grandfathered. In the meantime, the sign became a hazard and has been partially removed. There would have to be an agreement signed for the placement of this sign on City property and for maintenance and repair. 'Jr"'J. (I ~.erJ Mrs. LaPlantis said when they bought Goofy Golf, they were uncertain if the sign was a part of the purchase. They then contacted the City to see if they could repair the sign. She said they had submitted a drawing for the sign, which mentioned not only Goofy Golf but BVYA, the City pool, Batter Up, and the parks in a family atmosphere. She went on to say that if approved, the City would not have to do anything at this point. Mrs. Marsh said she remembered the drawing and thought it nice and that it would be an asset. Mr. Potempa agreed and Mr. Baldwin had no problem with this. Mr. Greenwald said that Planning & Zoning Commission recommended getting rid of the sign and questioned if the City would be sanctioning Goofy Golf by allowing them to put up the sign on City property. Mrs. LaPlantis said they would be promoting the City and everything is geared for the family. Mr. Sweatt had a couple of suggestions Council might consider. If Council authorized this sign, they should have a written agreement speaking to liability and maintenance. Mayor Sawyer asked if Council wished to have staff work up an agreement and bring it back for consideration. Council agreed. #4 Discussion of final consideration of an ordinance regulating convenience store security. Mr. Sweatt first called attention to the changes as requested by Council. Added to definitions is that of an "At-Risk Business" and under the definitions of an illuminated Parking Lot we have added "includes all property adjacent to and under the control of the business outside the building which is used for vehicular purposes." Mr. Sweatt said the time-release safe was eliminated. The next change was that the training should be completed within ninety days of employment. The next addition dealt with the creation of an Advisory Board and the make up of this board. After extensive summarized their follows: discussion by Council, Councilmembers feelings about the proposed ordinance as Mrs. Marsh said she was not against the ordinance the cameras, alarms, training programs, etc. She said she was very much in favor of the advisory board. She said she would rather have the Advisory Board corne into being and their first duty would be to come up with an ordinance that would be clear, concise, reasonable, and understandable. She then added that in the feeling of compromise, she would go along with the ordinance since it does include the board. -~ ~, ~ Mayor Pro Tern Stanhope then asked for a consensus of Council members with the following results: Mr. Potempa, Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Greenwald had no problem with the ordinance being on the next agenda for action. Mr. Bob Davis, President of Lone Star Ice and Food Stores, again addressed Council concerning this ordinance. He said their company spends about $300,000 a year to protect their people. He had some suggestions, which included making this a part of the Building Code and not a separate ordinance. He also questioned the enforcement of the camera, such as after it is installed will it ever be checked again. He said he already had a silent alarm system in place. Mr. Davis then questioned the illuminated parking area definition. He ended by saying he did not feel the ordinance, as written, was enforceable. Mr. Sweatt just like set some Municipal advised that this ordinance would be enforced any other ordinance. He said the purpose is to limits, with violations being subject to our Court. #5 Executive Session: Called under Article 6252-17 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, Section 2 (e) concerning pending litigation. Mayor Pro Tern Stanhope called this executive session at 7:50 p.m. The Special Meeting of the City Council was reconvened at 7:21 p.m. by Mayor Pro Tern Stanhope. #6 Consider and take action, if any, on the above executive session. Mrs. Stanhope advised there is no action to be taken. #7 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: A. Mr. Sweatt said contrary to our plan, it will be necessary to close municipal pool after the 30th of August because of shortage of life guards. We will be posting notices to effect and will have a message on our voice mail. that our the this B. We have received the corrected FEMA Federal Flood Insurance map. They have been brought up to date and we have copies in our office. C. We did have a burglary on the night of the 25th of August in the Streets and Parks Department. where they stole a pickup, grill, radio, color TV, VCR, tool boxes, grinder and any number of items. We have located the vehicle and it was stripped. #8 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. Potempa referred to the letter regarding the City float and vehicle to be used in October parade in Dallas, it states we understand that all costs of the activity will be borne by others. He asked Ms. Almond what costs are going to be incurred and was told food and lodging for the driver, food for herself, gas and oil 272 for the Potempa Almond asked oil. up to City vehicle, t-shirts, etc. When asked by Mr. how much gas she estimated they would need, Ms. said about $80 to $100 worth. Mr. Potempa then why the City could not pick up the tab on the gas and After discussion, Council consensus would be to allow $100 for gas for this purpose. Mr. Baldwin said he got a call stating it had been a long time since the city had cut the right of way on Lower Seguin Road. #9 ITEMS BY MAYOR: None #10 BUDGET WORKSHOP. Mayor Pro Tem Stanhope suggested going through the budget by Departments. City Council - no comments City Manager - no comments Municipal Court - no comments Tax - no comments, however Mr. Baldwin did ask if the City had been contacted about the County collecting taxes for the City. Mr. Sweatt said he had not been contacted. Planning Department - no comment Legal - no comment Police Mr. Potempa suggested changing the authorization for dispatchers from a Service Grade 6 Service Grade 8. He said he felt they do a tremendous and looking at other positions, they should be upgraded Service Grade 8. pay to a job to a After discussion, Council members agreed they would like to see the Dispatcher position upgraded to a Service Grade 8. Mr. Sweatt said he would get the budget figures for this upgrading. He did say he felt it awkward to reach out and pick one position and that it would cause some questions in other employees. Mr. Potempa referred to the five new vehicles in the police budget and asked what kind of vehicles would be purchased. Mr. Sweatt said we had priced the full size vehicles but that may not be what is recommended. Fire Department - no comments Inspection - no comments Street Department - Mrs. Marsh said she was very concerned with the low figure presented for maintenance material for street repairs. She said the estimated real cost is about $70,000 instead of the $14.550 in the budget. She said the only way she could see getting more money for this would be an additional $25,000 if the tax rate is increased to right under the rollback figure. j {: r-73~ ,4I.....ll J Mrs. Stanhope said there would really not be that much and keep it under the rollback figure. Mr. Sweatt reminded Council that there is a need to do seal coating, hot patch work, as well as repairs. If we had $100,000 to $150,000, we would probably go out for contract work and put on a schedule. Mr. Baldwin said he was not necessarily in favor of increasing the tax rate to raise the money, that he would rather see it come from other areas of the budget such as contingency or use reserves. Mrs. Stanhope said that in the past, the Council spent the reserves but have now decided to try to build our reserves rather than spend them. Mr. done, Greenwald suggested getting a plan on what needs to be get a committee working on this and go out for bonds. Mr. Sweatt said that to be blunt, putting $20,000 more in this line item would only mean more patching. Mayor Pro Tern Stanhope then asked for any comments on the Parks Department - there were none. Municipal Building - Mr. Potempa mentioned about saving money on electricity by replacing with power-saving bulbs. He asked if the money was for more bulbs - Mr. Sweatt said just for replacing bulbs. Animal Control - no comments Swimming Pool - no comments Administration - no comments Library - no comments Economic Development Task Force - no comment Non-departmental Mr. Potempa asked if it would not be cheaper to purchase software rather than lease. Mrs. Stanhope said that in the first place, software becomes obsolete two days before you get it and by leasing and keeping a maintenance agreement, we are probably saving money. Water/Waste Water - Mr. Potempa asked if we really need to purchase three new vehicles this year. Mr. Sweatt referred to the revenue page which shows these vehicles are being purchased from the vehicle replacement fund - no operating money is being spent on these vehicles. Mr. Greenwald said if we keep vehicles beyond their you really get nothing on resale. However, if they replaced on a fairly good schedule, all you have is routine maintenance. time, are just 274 Mr. Potempa then asked if the water rates were going to be increased. Mr. Sweatt said we have recommended ralslng rates in this budget year but that is not in the income figures in this budget. He said we could survive this year but next year the relationship of the operating income to operating expenses will be in such a position that our future bonds sales would be in jeopardy and bond coverage would be in jeopardy and our bond rating would be decreased. Mr. Sweatt said we are going to have to look for more water and will need to start preparing now so that it will not be such a shock. He said that included in the rate increase is an inverted rate schedule. Today, our water and sewer base charge is not going to meet our costs. The design of the increase is that the base rate takes care of the base costs and additional per thousand costs takes care of all additional charges. We must be looking at some increase during the next fiscal year. Mayor Pro Tern Stanhope asked if there were any comments on the Water/Wastewater Billing Department - there were none. Fleet Service - no comments Capital Recovery - no comments. SAFES - no comments Mrs. Stanhope then asked if there were any comments on any portion of the budget - Council had no additional comments. Mr. Sweatt advised that on the September 1st agenda there would be an item to vote to place the proposal for a tax rate increase. This is just a vote to place it for public hearing. Then at the September 8th meeting, Council will hold the public hearing on the tax rate only. On September 15th we will have the budget public hearing and items to act on the tax rate as well as the budget. #11 V.T.C.S. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Called under Article Section 2 (g) concerning personnel. 6252-17 Mayor Pro Tern Stanhope said this item was placed on the agenda in case it was needed; however, there is no need for it at this time. #12 Consider executive session. and take action, if any, on the No executive session - no action. above #13 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before Council at this time, Mayor Pro Tern Stanhope declared the meeting to be adjour d at 10:27 p.m. ATTEST: