ccswks 08-26-1992
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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: