ccreg 01-15-1991
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REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
JANUARY 15, 1991
The Schertz City Council convened in Regular Session, Tuesday,
January 15, 1991, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the
Municipal Complex, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. The
fOllowing members were present: Mayor Earl W. Sawyer, presiding;
Joe Potempa; Hal Baldwin; Barbara Stanhope; Mary Marsh and Ken
Greenwald. Staff present were City Manager Kerry Sweatt and City
Secretary June Krause, along with Attorney Michael Spain.
Mayor Sawyer opened the meeting; and after welcoming everyone, he
asked they join him in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mr. Sawyer then asked Marge Smith of Cibolo to come forward and
presented her with a plaque of appreciation for being the City's
County representative on the Library Advisory Board for one term.
#1 AWARDS: Presentation of both residential and business
awards for the Annual Christmas Decorating Contest.
Mayor Sawyer presented the first place award for residential to
PhYllis McNeal, 402 Brooks Avenue; second place award was
presented to Maurice Kempen, 524 Curtiss Avenue; third place for
residential went to Rick Leal, 1140 Dimrock. The Commercial
winners were first place - Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative,
900 Curtiss Avenue; second place - Boswell-Niemietz Properties,
800 Jack Hays Boulevard; and third place - Kountry Kitchen, FM
78.
Mayor Sawyer then thanked the committee who selected the
winners in the contest and asked for a lot more people to jOin in
next year.
The American Legion representatives had asked to make a short
announcement.
Mr. Jerry Graham, Commander, said the Cibolo Valley Post 610 in
Schertz, in respect for all the folks serving in the conflict in
Saudi Arabia, said he would would fly the American Flag on all
the standards on Main Street. He asked anyone available at 7:00
a. m. the next morning to meet them at the corner of Schertz
Parkway and Main Street, where they would post the colors
appropriately.
#2 GFOA AWARD: Presentation of the Certificate of
Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the City of
Schertz.
Mr. Sweatt said a press release had been prepared, saying that
the City of Schertz has received a Certificate of Achievement for
Excellence in Financial Reporting for its comprehensive annual
financial report for the fiscal year ended September 30, 1989.
The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition
for excellence in state and local government reporting.
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The announcement recognizes that the award is presented for an
easily readable and efficiently organized comprehensive report.
It further recognizes that the City of Schertz has received this
report for the last two consecutive fiscal years. Mr. Sweatt
said we believe this is a milestone in our community and
continues to reflect, not only on the office staff and financial
stability, but the judgment, advise and assistance that the City
Council continues to offer that provides the citizens with a
recognizable way of valuing and reporting financial matters of
the City.
# 3 PUBLIC HEARING: The purpose of the hearing was for
Council to receive citizen input regarding the request from
Resurrection Baptist Church for a Specific Use Permit allowing
them to locate their church at 909 FM 1518, which is in the
AICUZ, APZ-l, Noise Zone 75.
Mr. Sweatt advised that Planning & Zoning Commission held a
public hearing on this matter and received considerable
information from both the applicant and others concerned in this
matter. Notices were mailed to all property owners in the
effective area. The City's ordinance and the AICUZ Noise Zone
stipulates that certain types of use are prohibited within the
noise zone. In order to provide for this to be in a noise zone
area, it would require the granting of a var iance by the City
Council. We provided information to Randolph Air Force Base and
to others who are interested in the maintenance of the Air
Installation Compatible Use Zone. Planning and Zoning Commission
has made their recommendation and tonight was the advertised date
for the public hearing.
Mr. Ray Brown said they had been looking at this building for two
years, since it was first vacant. He added that they have had
the opportunity to listen to some of the concerns that was raised
by the Planning & Zoning Committee. He said they did not really
have any presentation but just hoped the request would go forth
and they would have the chance to establish their church in the
community.
Mr. Potempa said he was concerned about it being in the AICUZ
zone and the noise factor and the base saying there should be no
structure built in the zone.
Mr. Baldwin wanted it made clear that the discussion is about the
building that is there as opposed to new construction.
Mr. Sweatt advised that the building presently there is the one
under discussion. He added, for clarification, that there are
two churches in the area that have been grandfathered.
Mr. Baldwin said he had some concern that a vote upholding the
AICUZ zoning, and turning this down, would preclude anyone from
ever utilizing that building. Unfortunately, it was built prior
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to the adoption of the ordinance adopting the AICUZi and he said
he was real concerned about the penal ty Council would levy on
whoever the owner is for years to come. He said he was even more
concerned about the pledge the City has made to Randolph Air
Force Base to maintain the clear zone. Randolph is the largest
business in our area and provides the most input in dollars into
this area. He said he did not want to do anything that would
jeopardize their future or the possible relocation of this air
base - so he was not sure he could support the approval of this
request.
Mrs, Stanhope said she had looked at this very closel y. She
advised that she lives just down the streeti and they happened to
be living there when an airplane went down about one block away.
She felt Council has to look very closely at the safety of the
people in this community. She said some of the information
submitted said they were small and they did not intend to growi
but she had not seen a Baptist Church that did not grow. She
said she would have a hard time going against the AICUZ because a
lot of time was put into this decision.
Mrs. Marsh said she would agree with almost everything she had
heard, although the noise factor really does not bother her that
much. She said she was very, very concerned about the safety
factor. With the safety factor as established by the AICUZ, this
Ci ty went into an agreement with Randolph Air Force Base to
preclude any large loss of life, hopefully. She said she would
ask two things. No. 1 did they reall y full y discuss the
aircraft accident possibi Ii ty? and No. 2 - she is all for them
having their church, but not at this location. She said we have
other areas, that are available within the City, that fit in with
the zoning ordinance, that are not in the AICUZ.
Mr. Brown said they had looked at several locations and this one
seemed more feasible. He said that before, this building had
been used for a bingo hall and had over 1100 occupants at one
time.
Mrs. Marsh said there is always the factor, that if anything did
happen, of the liability going against the City which would be a
terrible thing.
Mr. Brown reminded Council of the park nearby and said that their
occupancy time would be at times when there was little activity
at Randolph; but the recreation was during their peak time of
activity.
Mrs. Marsh said Randolph is not just a training area. It is a
major headquarters and has many, many flights at night and during
the weekend.
Mr. Greenwald said he really did not think they had looked at all
the potential problems. Randolph probably has one of the safest
training records and flight records of any unit in the Air Force.
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However, the weekend activities involve from 80 to 85 air
planes, if you count the Friday night arrivals, - that is 150 air
craft movements from all branches of the service. He said he
could not vote for allowing children and people to allow
themselves to be part of the crash scenario.
Mr. Lund said the accident factor is very low, the area is not
directl y in the fl ight path and has wide open spaces on both
sides; the park on one side and the creek on the other side.
Mr. Robert Newson said he was at Randolph and the weekends are
low flying times for them.
One gentleman asked if Council did not allow the church to go in
there, just what type would be allowed to go in. Mr. Sweatt said
that low density type businesses could be allowed, such as the
dog grooming business that was there previously.
Mr. George Rider questioned the bingo hall that was in that
building. Mayor Sawyer advised that the bingo hall was in the
building prior to adopting the AICUZ zoning.
Mr. Ray Brown said they are currentl y worshiping in Universal
City in a direct flight path and there are numerous stores,
houses, etc. and it doesn't seem to be a problem. He said they
stood at this location for quite some time and not one plane flew
over this area.
Mayor Sawyer said it does not have to be directly in the flight
pattern.
Mr. William Smith said he did not know where the line is drawn
but there is a Junior High School in the area - just a few yards
from this building. He said he did not see any reason why this
was such a major issue of allowing the Resurrection Baptist
Church to move into this building.
Mrs. Marsh asked our attorney if this was approved and something
happened, what would be the City's liability.
Mr. Spain said he could not tell Council at this time what the
liability would be; however he felt there were a couple of issues
that might be worth looking at. If the Council would consider
tabling this item until the next meeting, he would look into it.
Mr. Chuck Sharpe asked if it would be prudent to consider a
temporary permit for about four or five years to give them time
to get settled and relocate.
Mr. Charley James asked about the two churches already in the
area and what is the City's responsibility to them.
Mayor Sawyer said that is what the attorney wants to look at.
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Mr. Leon Jones said the usage of the building would be limited.
Their hours of operation would be approximate 1 y three nights a
week between 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. and then on Sunday from about
9:00 a.m. to 6:00 at night.
Mr. Baldwin said one of the problems with what this request is
doing is there are churches there, there is a junior high school
there, and some houses in the subdivision right behind the junior
high school. All these are in the AICUZ zone - they were there
pr ior to the ordinance and they are infringing upon the clear
zone Randolph has established. If Council continues to let
people build and move into this area, at some point in time
Randolph Air Force Base is going to look at this and say they can
not afford to fly in this area because it is dangerous to the
people that are there. He said the reason the ordinance was
adopted was that the area was becoming saturated with things that
the Council did not have a lot of control over, and the ordinance
gave Council some control. We can not continue to let these
things come in and then look Randolph Air Force Base in the face.
He said he did not think the area could afford to lose Randolph
Air Force Base.
Mr. Brown said they are only aSking for limited usage and he did
not feel there would be any problem with Randolph Air Force Base.
Mr. Fred Kindle said he appreciated Council's concern about
Randolph Air Force Base; but he real 1 y thought it rather far-
fetched that their limited usage would make them move.
Mr. Baldwin said he was not saying that, but that this would open
the door for others to come in and ask for variances. He said we
have told Randolph that we would monitor what went in the AICUZ
zone; and were able to annex a large area behind Randolph because
the other city was not monitoring it.
There being no further discussion, Mayor Sawyer declared the
public hearing closed at 7:37 p.m.
#4 Consider and take action on the above request for
Specific Use Permit.
Mrs. Marsh moved to table any action on this item until the
attorney can get back with Council. Mr. Potempa seconded the
motion, which carried with the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
NAYS: None
Mayor Sawyer called for a recess at 7:39 p.m.
The Regular meeting was reconvened at 7:48 p.m.
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#5 DEER HAVEN DRAINAGE:
residents of Antler Drive in
drainage problems with Council.
Colonel Ted Duigon, representing
Deer Haven. to discuss water
Mr. Duigon stated he had lived in Deer Haven off and on since
1979. He went on to say that in December of 1983 at a Planning
and Zoning meeting, there was a lot of concern on this subject.
Mr. Duigon said recently he had been in the office and looked at
a lot of minutes of both the P&Z and Council. He said he
understood that the builder of Savannah Square had gone bankrupt
but that the Engineering Firm of Pape-Dawson are working with the
City on the problem now. The builder had said the homes would
be 75% masonary, but he was not made to comply. The development
has caused the drainage problems to escalate. In the minutes,
there is a mention of both a retention pond and detention pond;
but which ever it is, it is not any good. He described the area
in detail. He said that when he and his neighbors carne to a
Council meeting in 1984, they were told that the "Developer has a
possible solution". He then quoted the Texas Water Code Chapter
1108.6 which says that the guy who lives down hill is legally
protected from getting more water, higher speed or quantity. Mr.
Duigon said for the same given amount of rain, they are getting
more run off. He suggested a storm sewer would take care of the
problem.
Ms. Petsie Theis presented several pictures showing the flooding,
erosion etc. caused by the rains. She said that two or three
times a year she had this river going through her back yard and
it is getting worse. Her pictures, taken in 1986 through 1991,
showed the erosion where tree roots were almost completely
exposed. She advised that when she complained about her high
taxes to the Appraisal District, they lowered her appraisal
because this drainage problem has lowered the value of her
property.
Mr. Duigon said they have had a lot of neighborhood meetings and
he did not want to argue engineering or law, but it seemed to him
that the onl y sol ution would be to take the water underground.
He advised that he did have water going through his yard two or
three times a year but now it is fifty times a year.
There were several of the residents of Deer Haven, that are
affected by this problem, present at the meeting giving their
views of the problem. Mr. Clyde Dishong stated, among other
things, that he has water eighteen inches deep going through his
back yard. There was one erosion hole where he put rocks and
seventeen bags of cement to fill it in. Mr. Joe Dale expressed
his concern also.
Mr. Chuck Sharpe said he had lived here over twenty
drainage problem is getting worse all the time. He
he was sitting on the Council at the time this
discussed and he voted for it because Council was
years and the
reminded that
drainage was
told that the
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water flow would not be increased. He said it appears that his
vote may have been a bad decision. He added that they have
discussed that for six or seven years and now they want a
solution.
Mr. Rufus Barnes agreed with what had been said, adding that
everyone pointed out at the beginning what would happen and it
did; and as a resul t, their property val ues are dropping. He
added that the City took it upon themselves to not make the
developer liable at the time - they allowed this to occur. If
the problem is not taken care of, the City is going to have some
unhappy citizens. He wanted to be sure that Counci 1 would take
some action and not put the problem on a shelf.
Mayor Sawyer advised that the Council would not take any action
at this meeting but would ask the people's patience in order to
address the problem.
Mr. Sweatt said staff had spent considerable time researching
this; and have met on two or three occasions with our engineer,
Pape-Dawson and Mr. Dale. He advised that Mr. Dawson was present
to hear the citizen's comments and their concerns. He said he
wanted all the people involved to hear the same comments.
Mayor Sawyer said he welcomed all the citizen comments and some
action would be taken as soon as possible.
#6 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A. BOA Meeting of 12-4-90
B. Regular Meeting of 12-4-9
C. Special Meeting of 12-12-90 and Regular Meeting of 12-18-90.
Mrs. Marsh moved to approve the minutes of the BOA Meeting of
December 4th, the Regular Meeting of December 4th, the Special
Meeting of December 12th and the Regular Meeting of December 18,
1990. Mr. Greenwald seconded the motion, which carried with the
following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald
NAYS: None
ABSTAINING: Mr. Baldwin for the meetings on December 4th.
#7 HEARING OF RESIDENTS: Mr. Joe Potempa, President of the
Business Club, presented Mrs. Stanhope with a plaque of
recognition for her membership, it being the first of the year.
#8 ASSOCIATE JUDGE: Consider and take action on creating
the position of Associate Judge.
Mr. Sweatt said that we have an established Municipal Court Judge
posi tion; however, as the workload of the Court has grown, we
feel the need for an Associate Judge. He will not preside over
court but was for administrative purposes such as issuing
warrants.
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Mr. Baldwin moyeg to create the position of Associate Judge for
the Municipal Court. Mrs. Stanhope seconded the motion, which
carried as follows:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald,
NAYS: None
#9 BID AWARD: Consider and take action on receipt of bids
and award of contract pertaining to data processing equipment,
and other matters in connection therewith.
Mr. Sweatt said that, as discussed many times, the development of
a City-wide data processing capability is absolutely necessary if
we are to continue providing services at a high level without the
continued necessity to process work and provide information on a
manual basis requiring more and more personnel. We have
developed a long-range data processing plan that will meet our
needs today and into the future. Steve Simonson has chaired an
in-house committee that has worked on this for two years. He
said staff is recommending the awarding of a contract of purchase
to IBM/CPS Systems, Inc. to purchase specific software and
hardware to operate a RISC 6000 system, operating on the UNIX
language, complete with appropriate new PCs as well as terminals
and printers,at a projected purchase price of $144,781.
At being prompted by Councilmembers, Mr. Sweatt advised that this
is a budgeted item that will be spread out over a five-year
per iod. He added that this is not all that staff foresees for
the long-term needs of the City as there will be software
additions as our needs grow.
Mayor Sawyer advised that this item has been discussed thoroughly
at several workshop meetings.
Mr. Greenwald moved to award the bid to IBM/CPS Systems, Inc, in
the amount of $144,781 for purchase of computer system. Mrs.
Marsh seconded the motion, which carried with the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
NAYS: None
# 10 ORDINANCE: Mayor Sawyer introduced an ordinance and
read the caption as follows:
ORDINANCE NO. 91-B-1
AN ORDINANCE APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE
EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF "CITY OF SCHERTZ,
TEXAS PUBLIC PROPERTY FINANCE CONTRACTUAL
OBLIGATIONS, SERIES 1991"; SPECIFYING THE
TERMS OF SUCH CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION; MAKING
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PROVISIONS FOR THE PAYMENT THEREOF; AND
RESOLVING OTHER MATTERS INCIDENT AND RELATED
TO THE EXECUTION, PERFORMANCE, AND PAYMENT OF
SUCH CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS, INCLUDING THE
APPROVAL AND EXECUTION OF AN ESCROW DEPOSIT
AGREEMENT FOR THE ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY
AUTHORIZING THE DISTRIBUTION OF A LIMITED
OFFERING MEMORANDUM RELATING TO THE SALE OF
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS; AND DECLARING AN
EMERGENCY.
Mrs. Marsh moved to approve this ordinance as an emergency
measure. Mr. Baldwin seconded the motion, which carried with the
following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
NAYS: None
Mr. Sweatt said he believed this was one of the most important
actions this Council has taken, as this will bring us into the
twentieth century.
# 11 ORDINANCE: Mayor Sawyer introduced an ordinance and
read the caption as follows:
ORDINANCE NO. 91-F-2
REGULATING THE RATES FOR ELECTRIC SERVICE
THROUGH THE ELECTRIC SYSTEM OPERATED BY THE
CITY PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD OF SAN ANTONIO
Mrs. Stanhope moved to approve the ordinance regulating a rate
increase for City Publ ic Service. Mr. Greenwald seconded the
motion, which carried with the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh, Greenwald
NAYS: Councilmember Potempa
#12 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: A. Reminded Council our next
workshop would be January 30th, unless there would be a reason to
consider an emergency meeting.
B. Referred to a letter from the Randolph Area Rotary CI ub
requesting the Council to nominate a "Volunteer of the Year".
Mrs. Stanhope suggested that Mr. Merwin Willman be the City 's
nominee. Mayor Sawyer asked for and received an affirmative
concensus of Council to nominate Merwin Willman.
C. Reminded Council that we have an additional holiday this
year - Martin Luther King Day on January 21st - and City Hall
will be closed.
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D. He distributed a draft letter as part of the City's Chamber
of Commerce renewal. Council discussed the letter, after which
the concensus was to send the letter as written.
# 13 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: t1J:_~_J:)Qj:_emJ2c3. announced the Business
Club would meet on January 22nd at noon at the Kountry Kitchen.
t"tLl:i_'~~c3.DJ:lOpe referred to her article for the next newsletter
regarding the City's proclaiming the month of February as
"Vol unteer Month". She suggested that February 14th should be
designated as their special day. Council agreed.
t1r. gJ:_een~a,1.ci announced that there are several new officers in
CVADAC and there should be a letter soon from the new director
listing the names of the officers.
# 14 ITEMS BY MAYOR: Mayor Sawyer announced that the La
Posita restaurant is now open for breakfasts.
#15 ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Potempa mov~q the meeting be
adjourned at 8:42 p.m., with Mr. Baldwin seconding the motion,
which carried unanimously.
ATTEST:
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