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REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
AP R I L 16, 1 9 9 1
The Schertz City Council convened in Regular Session, Tuesday,
April 16, 1991 at 7:00 pm in the Council Chambers of the
Municipal Complex, 1400 Schertz Parkway I 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.
After opening the meeting, Mayor invited everyone to stand and
join him in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Sawyer then skipped
to item 2 of the agenda.
#2 HEARING OF RESIDENTS: A. Mr. Bill Neller had
previously shown members of the Council a sign he had constructed
encouraging everyone to vote in the upcoming election. He asked
and received Council approval to have the sign placed in a
prominent place in the City. At Mr. Potempa's suggestion,
Council agreed to place the sign in front of the Municipal
Building.
Mr. Baldwin mentioned that Mr. Neller has provided United States
Flags for all Absentee Voting places in Schertz to comply with
the National Flag Code.
B. Mr. Leon Davis said he would like to address Council on the
subject of the SAFES program. He reminded them that he had
volunteered to help try to collect these bad debts but evidently
his services were not wanted. He added that he did not know if
the City Manager had any conversation with the Administrator of
SAFES or not. He said he fel t he had sufficient education and
his life-time work was in the personnel field and he could use
tact.
He said he still did not understand some remarks that had been
said at past meetings. Three citizens obj ected to these wr i te-
offs and the only comments from Council were that they had tried
collection agencies before and it cost too much money. He al so
asked if the City was only a bookkeeping service for SAFES. Mr.
Davis said he was not criticizing any Council Member but he felt
something was very wrong. He said he did not understand the
attitude of being afraid of being sued. He said he still objects
and requested the matter be brought back before the City Council
to be reconsidered, He ended by saying he volunteered in good
faith.
Mr. Davis also brought up the matter of the City official
newspaper. He said he felt it might be a matter of impropriety
if the Council changed newspapers because one employee of one of
the newspapers is directly connected with the city.
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Mr. Davis said he wanted to talk about another item he had
brought up before - the matter of communication to the citizens
of Schertz who attend the meetings. He said Council uses
acronyms and terms that are unfamiliar to the citizens. He
referred to a newsletter article about easements and said he did
not know what an easement was. He also wanted to know who is
responsible for cleaning easements.
Mrs. Marsh said first she took a little bit of exception to the
SAFES comments as there were two "no" votes and was not a
unanimous vote. She al so reminded Mr. Davis that, since he was
at both the workshop and regular meeting when this was discussed,
it was brought out that everything had not been tried to collect
these debts and Council discussed the possibility of a lawyer's
letter as a means of collecting these debts. She said as far as
the organization of SAFES and what they do and how they fit into
the City, he should sit down with someone who understands a very
convoluted organization, because that is what SAFES is. She said
SAFES does not belong to the City, they are a private
organization. She added that due to the growth of the
organization, it became necessary to have city employees over
there. She suggested he get with someone like Mr. Sweatt to
explain to him the organization.
Mrs. Marsh referred to terminology, such as easements, and
inv i ted anyone to come up to the City off ices if they do not
understand terminology, or are interested in any of the City
ordinances or codes. These are all on file and anyone can go in
and review those documents, and anyone on the staff would be glad
to explain anything. She said Council tries as much as they can
to give explanations of items during the meetings. She
encouraged Mr . Davis or anyone to avail themselves of all the
information that is available at the Municipal Offices.
Mr. Baldwin added that all Council members' phone numbers are on
the newsletter and they welcome phone calls from anyone.
Mayor Sawyer said that the deed to each person's property should
tell them whether they have an easement or it is an alley. He
added that it also depends on the location as to whether it would
be an easement or alley.
Mr. Sweatt said he was not sure what the implication was about
him having spoken to the Administrator of SAFES. He said he was
the one that suggested Mr. Davis volunteer. He said he resented
the fact that Mr. Davis would imply that he talked with them.
Mr. Davis said he intended to imply that. He said that all
Council members and the City Manager are public servants and they
are constantl y under publ ic scrutiny and are subject to their
integrity being questioned. That is his outlook.
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C. Mrs. Bobbie Vonada of 121 Henry Ford had some comments for
Mr. Davis. She said that, contrary to Mr. Davis' remarks, Mrs,
Marsh does not work and can be contacted at home most any time.
#1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Special Meeting of March 27, 1991.
Mr. Potempa moveg to approve the minutes of the Special Meeting
of March 27, 1991. Mrs. Stanhope seconded the motion, which
carried with the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Stanhope, Marsh and Greenwald
NAYS: None
ABSTAINING: Mr. Baldwin
#3 BID AWARD: Consider and take action on awarding bid on
the Schirmerville Water System Improvement Project.
Mr. Sweatt said that on March 28th bids were received and a total
of four bids were opened for this project, which is a combination
Ci ty of Schertz and Bexar County Community Development Block
Grant partially funded program. After the review, the second low
bid from McAllen Pipe and Supply, in the amount of $83,216.61, is
recommended for award subject to Bexar County Project approval.
He added that staff recommended the second low bid because the
low bid omitted one specific item from the proposal.
Mr. Greenwald moveg to award the bid for material for the
Schirmerville project to McAllen Pipe and Supply in the amount of
$83,216.61 subject to Bexar County project and funds availability
approval. Mr. Baldwin seconded the motion, which carried with
the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
NAYS: None
#4 BID AWARD: Consider and take action on awarding bid on
the FM 1518 Water Line Project East of Randolph Air Force Base.
Mr. Sweatt said that also on the 28th of March bids were received
for the installation of approximately 4800 linear feet of twelve
inch water line to complete a project under contract with the
Department of Defense. The bids ranged from $101,700 to a high
of $147,934.65. Staff reviewed all bids received, each of the
contractor's work experience and related information, and now
recommend the second low bid of Bluestone Excavation, in the
amount of $103,120.85, as the lowest responsible bidder.
Mr. Greenwald moved to award the bid for the FM 1518 Water Line
Project East of Randolph to Bluestone Excavating in the amount of
$103,120.85. Mrs. Stanhope seconded the motion, which carried
with the following vote:
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AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
NAYS: None
Mayor Sawyer pointed out that this project is costing the city
nothing.
#5 ORDINANCE: Mayor Sawyer introduced an ordinance and
read the caption as follows:
AN ORDINANCE
BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ,
TEXAS AMENDING THE ORDINANCE CREATING CITY
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION, NO. 87-S-9,
SECTION 2, MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT;
SECTION 3, TERMS OF OFFICE AND REMOVAL FROM
OFFICE i SECTION 4, ORGANIZATION i SECTION 7,
COMMISSION ACTIONS; AND PROVIDING A REPEALING
CLAUSE.
Mrs. Marsh moved to approve the first reading of an ordinance
creating the Planning & Zoning Commission. Mrs. Stanhope
seconded the motion, which carried with the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
NAYS: None
#6 RULES OF PROCEDURE: Consider and take action on
amending the Planning & Zoning Commission Rules of Procedure.
Mr. Sweatt said this includes several items that have been
pointed out to the Planning & Zoning Commission that fall into,
in some cases, a conflict or will allow the Planning & Zoning
Commission to perform in a more orderly fashion.
Mr. Potempa moved to approve amending the Planning & Zoning
Commission Rules of Procedure as outlined. Mr. Greenwald
seconded the motion, which carried with the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Potempa, Baldwin, Stanhope, Marsh and
Greenwald.
NAYS: None
#7 EXECUTIVE SESSION: Mayor Sawyer called an Executive
Session under Article 6252-17 of Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes,
Section 2 (e) on pending litigation at 7:30 pm.
The Regular Meeting was reconvened at 8:08 pm.
#8 Consider and take action, if any, regarding the above
executive session.
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Mayor Sawyer advised they held the session to receive an update
on pending litigation and no action was necessary.
#9 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: A. Reminded Council of the
Chamber of Commerce Military Appreciation Day May 31st at the
Notthcliffe Country Club from 5:00 to 6:30 pm.
B. United Suburban Cities will meet on April 18th at Universal
City City Hall, continuing their rotation of meeting places.
C. He reminded Council that there will not be another Council
Meeting until May 1st.
D. He explained that Bexar County has scheduled a meeting on
April 19th at which they will receive proposals for Block Grant
funds. Mr. Sweatt pointed out some streets in the Schirmerville
area that are in very bad condition, explaining that he would
like to put in an application for some of the CDBG funds for this
project. Council gave their approval,
# 10 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. Potempa announced that Mrs,
Marsh had been nominated the Jr. Vice Commander of the VFW.
# 11 ITEMS BY MAYOR: Mr. Sawyer said he was real happy
that Mrs. Marsh was nominated the new Jr. Vice-Commander.
Mayor Sawyer said he had had some good reports on the new street
signs in Greenshire Subdivision.
#12 ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Potempa ~_Q~ed the meeting be
adjourned at 8:18 pm. Mrs. Stanhope seconded the motion and it
carried with a unanimous vote.
ATTEST: