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SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
AUGUST 15, 1990
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Session, Wednesday,
August 15, 1990 at 7:00 p.m. at 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.
*1 The Council members toured the Water/Waste Water and the
Streets/Parks Departments.
*2 The tour having been completed, Mayor Sawyer declared
this meeting adjourned at 7:43 p.m.
ATTEST:
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
AUGUST 15, 1990
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session,
Wednesday, August 15, 1990, at 7:45 p.m. in the Conference Room
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.
#1 HEARIBG OF RESIDERrS: Mr. Willman asked if the City was
still in Stage 1 of the Water Conservation Plan.
Mr. Sweatt said yes, it is, as we have not heard from the Edwards
Acquifer Commission.
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#2 Discussion of the final reading of an ordinance amending
the Code of Ordinances Section 18-76, providing speed limits on
Lower Seguin Road.
Mr. Baldwin asked if these speed 1 imi ts were up or down. Mr.
Sweatt said actually the speed limits were set by Council some
time ago; but for some reason, we did not get them into ordinance
form.
There being no further discussion, Mayor Sawyer asked that this
item be on the action agenda for the next Tuesday.
#3 Discussion of first reading of an ordinance amending the
Code Section 18-76, providing speed limits on Ware-Seguin Road.
Mr. Sweatt advised that he had asked Mr. Graham and Chief Agee to
research the 30 miles per hour speed on this road. While there
are some almost 90 degree turns, it is fel t there is
justification that the 30 MPH is too low a speed limit. There is
no cross traffic. He said staff feels that the suggested 40
miles per hour speed limit is justified and recommend the
increase.
As no one on the Council had any problems with this, Mayor Sawyer
asked that this item be on the next action agenda.
#4 Discussion of setting a Board of Adjustment hearing for
August 21, 1990 on a request from Arnold Miller of 808 Colony
Drive for a 7 foot side yard and 3 foot back yard variance.
Mr. Sweatt said included in Council packets was a sketch of what
prompted the request for a variance. It is not a structure but
for decking.
Mr. Greenwald added that Mr. Miller wants to put decking 18
inches off the ground around his pool up to the property line.
Mr. Sweat said one of his concerns is that he will be all the way
to the rear property line and we require a minimum of 3 feet.
After further Council discussion, Mr. Sweatt said he would get
clarification as to whether the rear was a property line or an
easement and who the fence belongs to.
Mr. Greenwald said the man has talked with GVEC and knows he has
to maintain eighteen feet between the deck and the overhead
electric lines.
Mr. Sweatt will have the answers by the 21st of August, the date
of the BOA hearing.
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#5 Discussion of a resolution to the Texas Municipal League
regarding the Texas Racing Act.
Mr. Sweatt reminded Council that the deadline for submitting
resolutions to TML is September 19th, so we need to decide on the
wording and consider this resolution soon.
Mr. Potempa asked if we are asking for the 3% or 5%. Mr. Sweatt
said we left that out of the resolution, only asking that the Act
be amended by lowering the State Take Out fee.
Mr. Baldwin said the only thing that bothers him about this is
that the people voted in pari-mutuel racing so that we would have
addi tional means of raising revenues; and now we want to turn
around and give it to the track owners. He said he is not
against the resolution but would like to know that the numbers
are real.
Ms. Leanna Lake said she had talked with Joe Strause and he said
they would be working on a sliding scale. It would be 3% if they
make so much money; and if they make more, it would push it up to
4% or 5%.
Mayor Sawyer received concensus from Council to place this
resolution on the next action agenda.
#6 Discussion of acceptance of resignation from Chairman of
the Planning & Zoning Commission.
Mayor Sawyer informed Council that Mr. Ty Br isgill has just
decided to resign, the only reason being that it was not any fun
anymore. He added that he would 1 ike to give Mr. Br isgill a
plaque for his long years of service to the City. He has done a
real good job as Chairman and will be hard to replace.
Mr. Greenwald advised that a letter would be coming to Council
regarding Planning & Zoning's recommendation for Chairman and
Vice-Chairman.
#7 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: A. Included in Council packets
is a proposed letter regarding the relocation of the MAST
operation. We learned that this decision has been postponed for
about nine months; but we think it would still be appropriate to
send the letter in support, as hardly a month goes by without our
using the MAST unit.
B. The Newsletter deadline is August 20th.
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C. He said he would like concurrence of approval of his action.
Under the new Uniform Truth in Taxation Law, as we understand it,
the City has to designate someone to calculate the effective tax
rate and he designated Tom Dovey. Council concurred.
D. He called attention to the large logo, that is used on our
float, and would like some direction from Council as to where to
keep it in between parades.
E. He showed a sample of our new Garage Sale Permit form that
will be used, effective the first of September.
#8 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. Potempa: A. Asked if City
Manager had heard anything from the Chamber of Commerce. Mr.
Sweatt said he had not but Mr. Shriver said the City should be
getting a letter the following day.
B. It is time to go up on the interstate and mow. The weeds are
getting very high.
Mrs. Stanhope: A. Attended the Housing Authority meeting and
Ri ta Sabo is getting things set up for their Christmas Bazaar.
She said Council will remember that last year Council agreed to
provide the prizes and they want three Council people to be
judges. It will be on the 17th of November. Hal Baldwin and
Joe Potempa agreed to join Mrs. Stanhope to judge. She said that
last year they purchased hams for prizes and it went over real
well.
B. They are starting a lot of their CIAP projects - such as
replacing the sinks and faucets, they are going to be getting a
computer system, and there will be parking lot and sidewalk
repair done. They have requested 25 additional Section 8
Certificates, and they will be for Cibolo in the Northcliffe
area. This was done with Dave Walker's approval.
C. They are still having trouble with speeders at the Housing
Author ity. They commended one of our female officers who was
there.
D. She asked how our park ordinance is coming.
Mr. Sweatt said it has been reworked twice and it is now in the
final preparation stages.
#9 ITEMS BY MAYOR: Mr. Sawyer announced that he would not
be present for the next two meetings, he will be on vacation.
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#10 ADJOURNMENT:
8:24 p.m.
Mayor Sawyer adjourned the meeting at
ATTEST:
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
AUGUST 15, 1990
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session,
Wednesday, August 15, 1990, at 8:28 p.m. in the Conference Room
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
R. Sweatt and City Secretary June G. Krause.
#1 BUDGET WORKSHOP: Mr. Sweatt advised that at the last
meeting Council went to the Inspection Department; however first
he had an announcement. He said that late this same date, he
received a second supplementary appraisal roll information from
the Appraisal District. He said the good news is that it adds
substantial supplemental value to the roll. The result of that
will be to change our effective rate calculation; so, at this
time, he could not tell Council what our recommended rate would
be. He said it appears the results of this supplemental roll may
be to lower our rate to produce the same amount of dollars for
the budget. He asked Council to proceed with the budget
recommendations with the understanding that the tax rate
recommended is subject to change based on this supplemental roll.
Mr. Sweatt handed out some charts and graphs he thought might
give Council some comparisons. The first one reflected the
General Fund 1990-91 Budget Expenditures. It showed that
$1,442,768 or 60.626% of the budget represents Personnel
Servicesi Supplies represents 6.485%; Contractual 28.101%;
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Maintenance 2.21% and Capital Outlay 2.57%. Just for
information this compares with last year's budget as Personnel -
56.46% of budget; Contractual representing 28.58%, down .4%;
Capital Outlay represented 5.4% of budget, whereas this year it
represents 2.57%; Supplies last year represented 6.28% as opposed
to this year's 6.49%; Maintenance last year represented 3.17% -
this year representing 2.21%.
The second chart or table shows the General Fund as $2,379,771,
with Police Service representing 26.531% Fire Department
8.172%; Street Department 11.795%; Inspection 2.194%; Muni Court
1.816%; Parks 4.402%; Animal Control 3.004%; Swimming Pool
2.699%; Non-Departmental 13.156%; Library 3.939% and All Other
Departments 22.292%. He went over the comparisons with last
year, saying the largest single change was in Non-Departmental,
which represents debt service, and that has increased since 1989-
90.
Mr. Sweatt said an interesting comparison was the tax rate and
tax collections. He showed a chart giving these comparisons from
1982 through 1990 proposed.
The last chart showed the overall General Income of $2,382,685
and where it comes from. Ad Valorem taxes represents 40.255%;
Sales Tax 19.875%; Franchise/Contractual 8.092%; Permits/License
1.970%; Miscellaneous 16.805%; Muni Court 13.003%.
Mr. Sweatt asked if there were any questions on the supplemental
tax roll received this date, which shows an increase of about
$16,000,000 in valuation. Mr. Dovey did his calculations on the
first roll received and that is the basis of our budget.
Mr. Baldwin asked if Mr. Dovey had already published the
effective rate notice. Mr. Sweatt said it was to be in this
week's paper. Council decided it would be wise to continue with
the figures we already have, since everyone was uncomfortable
with this supplemental roll.
Mr. Sweatt then called attention to the various dates for the
budget process. September 4th will be the vote to place a
proposal to adopt the tax rate on the agenda and to schedule a
public hearing; September 11th is the date of the public hearing
on the tax rate and September 18th is the public hearing on the
budget and the vote on both the tax rate and budget.
Council then continued their examination of the departmental
budgets, starting with the Inspection Department. When asked why
the salaries were down somewhat, Mr. Sweatt said this was caused
by us having a new Inspector at a lower salary. The total
Inspection Department budget is $52,216.
Street Department - Total budget is proposed at $280,695.00
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Council noted that there is also a drop in the salary line item
in this department. Mr. Sweatt said that is primarily caused by
re-aligning the Streets and Parks personnel.
Chemical/Medicine/Lab is down drastically - Mr. Sweatt said we
made a major cut in weed killer in this year's budget.
Clothing has increased - that is caused by the purchase of safety
gear.
Powered equipment under Maintenance - Mr. Sweatt said we have
attempted to separate out motor vehicles from other powered
equipment, such as maintainers, front end loaders, etc..
As for lowering of Building Maintenance, they are moving into a
newer bUilding and we feel there will be less maintenance.
Street Maintenance is zeroed out. Mr. Sweatt said that is
reflected in another account expense number, such as purchase of
material, supplies, etc..
Motor Vehicle Fuel - Mr Sweatt advised we are getting a better
handle on Park use as opposed to Street use. For several years
we had kind of a lump funding for this and the Parks department
on several items.
Parks Department Mr. Sweatt explained the increase in salary
is due to the more accurate re-alignment of Streets and Parks
personnel. Of course, when a project necessitates, all personnel
will work together on that one project, be it Streets or Parks.
Mr. Sweatt explained that we have added open space property to
our inventory and now have about 45 acres that we maintain and
the latter part of this year we will adding addition open space.
When asked about the reduction in the BVYA Support monies, Mr.
Sweatt said we anticipate them doing more of the work themselves
and some work has been completed. Also the $825 in Other
Equipment under Capital Outlay is for a weed eater, air blower
and 4-door file cabinet.
Mr. Sweatt said there would be no major work on the pavilion this
year, Council agreed the pavilion needs painting badly. Mayor
Sawyer asked the City Manager to get estimates on painting' and
sand blasting of the pavilion.
Municipal Buildinq - The salary item includes re-classification
of an employee and addition of a part-time employee. They take
care of the Community Center, Library and in fact all city
bUildings. The library space has increased substantial I y this
year.
There was considerable discussion on the re-classification of the
Custodian to a BUilding Maintenance Supervisor. Mr. Sweatt had
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recommended this position be re-classified from a Service Grade 8
to a 12. After discussion, Council concurred that this position
should be re-classified only to a Service Grade 10 as various
certificates are required for most supervisory position and may
not be required for this one.
Mr. Sweatt said that a good many line items in this department
have been disbursed to other departments in our efforts at more
accuracy.
Mr. Sweatt said that rather than go on to another department,
Chief Melton was present to help answer questions about
maintenance of the fire station building. Also Chief Agee was
present to discuss additional personnel.
Mayor Sawyer called attention to the list of repairs to the Fire
Station that would cost approximately $8,000. Mr. Sweatt said
that since the list was made, we have been able to accomplish
some of the repairs.
Under the hot water heater, estimated at $50, that heater element
has been replaced. Under the shower water leaks, estimated cost
$1500, repairs have been made and it appears it has corrected the
problem. The item on building rust - rear panels and painting
bUilding, estimated at $2750 - we have had a different price and
now should be at $3,446. The gas heater has been out since 1979
and we see no value in replacing that.
Mr. Baldwin suggested using whatever money this department had
left over in their current budget to take care of these repairs;
or if needed, transfer left over money from other departments.
On being canvassed by the Mayor, Council concurred with this
suggestion.
The next item from last meeting is the request to add one more
patrolman to each shift in the Police Service. This would
require the addition of two people to develop the manning. Two
officers would cost about $45,628, a patrol unit ad additional
$15,000, with equipment, for a total of about $60,000. Council
discussed receiving complaints from citizens saying they want
more patrols in neighborhoods. Chief Agee advised that the
Reserve Officer program is not effective. He said we are running
about 70 miles per unit per shift. In 1989, our reported
offenses were 2430 as opposed to 2007 in 1988. Arrests are up
247 to 461 - calls for service from 5309 up to 6648 - citations
went up from 4503 to 5644. Our mileage driven only went up a
couple of thousand over the year.
Mayor Sawyer said this only proves Chief Agee is dOing exactly
just what he was hired to do; and we were not getting that prior
to his being hired. Chief Agee said we have a bunch of dedicated
young people (young in profession) and he said he had never seen
a group as dedicated as these people; and they are still
learning.
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Mr. Sweatt said al so incl uded in the packet was the additional
cost of providing uniform allowance for Communications Personnel.
This is estimated at $1200 per year. There is no projected
addi tional cost in the recommended changes in the sergeant and
1 ieutenant positions, as the incumbents would be moved up in
grade.
Council agreed the uniform allowance is very needed but agreed to
discuss the lieutenant position another time.
#10 ADJOURNMENT.
10:24 p.m..
Mayor Sawyer adjourned the meeting at
ATTEST:
Texas
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