ccswks 03-01-1989
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SPECIAL SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
MARCH 1, 1989
The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session,
Wednesday, March 1, 1989, at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of
the Municipal Complex, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. The
following members were present: Mayor Earl W. Sawyer, presidingi
Earl P. Hartzogj Hal Baldwinj Barbara Stanhopei Adolph Aguilar
and Ken Greenwald. Staff present were City Manager Kerry Sweatt,
Asst. City Manager Steve Simonson and City Secretary June Krause.
#1
like to
cartoon.
HEARING OF RESIDENTS: A. Doris Courtney said she would
commend Steve Gaines of the Recorder Times for his
She said it seems to relay her feelings.
B. Chuck Sharpe first said the cartoon did not relay his
feel ings. Then he invited all the Councilmembers and Staff to
the Randolph Metrocom RoundUp, starting at 12:30 on Sunday, March
5th. There would be something for the kids as well as bar-b-que
and door prizes. Everyone was invited to come out and enjoy the
fun.
C. Michelle Tereletski announced the annual rabies clinic would
be March 18th and April 1st at the fire station from 1:30 to 3:30
p.m. both days. The Schertz Humane Society will be helping both
days.
D. Merwin Willman said that some months back Council had
discussed the streets in Deer Haven. The engineers did a survey
of the street right of way, trees, etc.. He then asked if any
action was going to be taken.
Mr. Sweatt advised that the study indicated that a
number of trees were in the right of way and a number
owners were not interested in removing the trees.
estimates on construction of the streets to bring
urban standards would be prohibitive.
substantial
of property
The cost
them up to
Mayor Sawyer added he had talked with some residents and they
did not want to bring the streets to standard and most residents
do not want the trees to be removed.
Mr. Willman then asked what the liability would be if some
resident got hurt up there.
Mayor Sawyer said that the residents of Fawn Drive
Council the petition; but if anything is done to the
they should be brought up to standards. He added
Council would study the Deer Haven streets.
brought
streets,
that the
'2 Discussion of final reading of an ordinance calling an
election for May 6, 1989.
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Mayor Sawyer advised that so far, three people have filed for
office. The final reading of this ordinance will be on the next
regular agenda.
13 Discussion of bids for water tank pumping system.
Mr. Sweatt said this is for proposed improvement to the Live Oak
Road and Lower Seguin Road water storage facilities. We propose
the installation of booster pumps at each of those locations and
an automatic monitoring system. We will receive bids until March
9th and we will bring those details back to Council.
Mr. Aguilar asked if this was to pump water into the tanks and
maintain pressure.
Mr. Denham of Ford Engineers, said we have the larger tank up on
Live Oak, which is 1-1/2 millions gallons and we have at this
time two 1100 gallon per minute pumps at that site. That system
will be directly tied in to our elevated tank in Universal City.
Our south tank on Lower Seguin Road, will have two 600 gallons
per minute pumps. Tha t system down there was pr imar i 1 y to
provide additional pressure. Again, what these tanks mainly will
do is most of the time we will run the system with our elevated
tanksi but at peak times when those elevated tanks cannot keep up
with demands, then these booster pumps will kick in and take us
through those peak times.
Mr. Aguilar said when you say elevated, I get the impression you
are talking about up in the airi but you mean on the ground. Mr.
Denham said yes our tanks are on the ground but where they are
located, they act as elevated tanks.
Mr. Baldwin asked if we are on schedule. Mr. Denham answered
that our tanks ended up being about two months ahead of schedule.
On the water line, we may see that finished and tied in with
Universal City hopefully within a month. We are trying to get
everything together - the tanks went up real fast.
Mr. Hartzog asked what the cost estimate on this would be. Mr.
Sweatt said the total project inCluding the control system is
under $200,000.
14 Discussion of setting a public hearing amending the
zoning ordinance limiting height of accessory buildings.
Mr. Sweatt said this item was discussed as a comment and
recommendation from Planning & Zoning regarding some concern that
had been expressed at Planning & Zoning. We propose to limit the
height of accessory buildings to a total of fifteen feet. This
was developed as a concern of the height of secondary buildings
and was the result of quite a bit of discussion.
Mr. Aguilar said there was some discussion of windows on adjacent
property. Has that been resolved.
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Mr. Sweatt said there was a lot of discussion and it was fel t
that limiting the height was a better way of accomplishing the
same results.
Mr. Simonson said the discussion started because of complaints
from an area where the chain link fences are the norm anyway.
They were concerned about what was being done with two-story
structures and that these were unsightlY..
Mr. Greenwald said a lot of people have workshops and would
rather have windows for light; but if we limit the wall height to
8 foot then you would have no one lookinq down on you.
Mayor Sawyer then instructed Mrs. Krause to set a public hearing
on this matter.
'5 Discussion of a Cooperative Agreement on CDBG Program
with Bexar County.
Mr. Sweatt said we have participated with Bexar County in the
past and am pleased to report on a project that is getting under
way - Rittimann Addition water improvements. We believe all the
kinks have been worked out. We are working with the County on
this project. We expect the details to be completed quite soon.
At the same time, there are future years of CDBG funds available.
We are proposing entering into a three-year aqreement and
recommend Council authorize this cooperative agreement through
years 1989-1990-1991.
Mayor Sawyer advised that he felt the City needs to enter into
this agreement because we will eventually have to annex Rittimann
Addition and the County should bring it up to our standards
first.
Mr. Sweatt said the current project is for water line
improvements and these future funds may be used to improve the
streets.
Mr. Hartzog said this cooperative agreement has nothing to do
with the Rittmann area. This makes us eliqible to apply for
projects inside our city limit in Bexar County. Mr. Sweatt said
they also desire for us to be an inter local contractor on
projects outside our city limits in Bexar County.
Mr. Hartzog said it appears to him that this is a duplication of
what Council did in August.
Mr. Sweatt said this letter agreement is to amend that
agreement. Their letter states that "Bexar County is also
required to enter into a written agreement with the City of
Schertz, for a specific project which would be funded with CDBG
funds. An Inter-governmental Agreement would have to be executed
prior to any funds beinq disbursed." If we propose to do sewer
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work at Rittimann Addition with these funds, through the city of
Schertz membership with CCMA, they need our agreement.
Mr. Baldwin asked if these were totallY grant programs.
Mr. Sweatt said before, it was a proposal for funding and we
declined to go along. Mayor Sawyer said he did not feel Council
should allow the city of Schertz to pay for anything outside our
city limits.
Mr. Sweatt said this is purelY an inter-local agreement between
us and Bexar County. Any individual project would be brought
back to Council for review.
Mr. Hartzog said he had no problem with this but would like to
have Ms. Teran come to a workshop and brief Council. In the past
they wanted an appl ication for funds practicallY overnight. He
then asked if we were going to applY for Ri t timann this year.
Rittimann Addition lost out last year because they did not applY.
Mayor Sawyer instructed Mr. Sweatt to invite Ms. Teran to one of
our meetings.
Mr. Aguilar asked if this says that money is available and we
have to come to an agreement before we can applY.
Mr. Sweatt said this is simply an inter-local agreement between
us and Bexar County.
Mr. Baldwin asked the status of the water 1 ine project. Mr.
Sweatt said it has been funded by Bexar County from '86 and '87
money. It is in the early stages of design. Mr. Sweatt said in
his opinion it was to the City's advantage to participate in
making available certain kinds of projects.
Mr. Greenwald asked if this would preclude the City from making
application for CDBG grants on our own. Mr. Sweatt said we could
apply for discretionary funds.
'6 Discussion of an ordinance amending the Code by revising
the use and regulations of swimming pool facilities.
Mr. Sweatt advised that this proposal is to bring our swimming
pool policy on rules and regulations in line with the posted
rules and regulations. Basicall Y the ordinances states that
children under 8 years of age must be accompanied by an adult;
addresses the conduct of person using the pool and limiting the
use of the pool to posted hours.
Mrs. Stanhope asked if we have a definition of an adul t. Mr.
Sweatt said he would clarify that before the next meeting.
Mr. Baldwin asked if it was correct to assume we are trying to
eliminate a 15 year old from supervising an under 8 year old.
Mr. Sweatt said yes it was.
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Mr. Hartzog said there are kids that are adult at a young age.
He felt we were trYing to be a little too restrictive in this
area. He then asked if there had been problems with 15 or 16
year old. Mr. Sweatt said yes we have had problems and we
believe that an adult of 19 years old is more nearly correct.
Mr. Aguilar said what we are saying is that children should not
be baby sat at the pool.
Mr. Sweatt added that we believe it is too great a burden on our
lifeguards to supervise children under 8 years of age.
Mr. Greenwald advised that our insurance probably states that 18
is the appropriate age for an adult.
Mr. Baldwin said he did not see anything wrong with that.
'7 Discussion of Economic Development Task Force
recommendation for a sloqan .The Friendly City..
Mr. Hartzog said this recommendation comes from the Marketing
Team, who feel we do need a slogan. They recommend "The Friendly
City" as the slogan and also "Corridor to the Future"i and have
asked Council to approve this. They are also working with the
Ci ty Manager to come up with a logo for the city. The next
meeting will be the 30th of March.
'8 Discussion of soliciting bids for a portable asphalt
paver.
Mr. Sweatt said he has included specifications in Council packets
for the asphalt paver. The money for this item is in the current
budget, the cost being under $10,000. It is basically a tailgate
type piece of equipment.
Mr. Hartzog asked if, with this equipment, would we be doing some
of our own street work. Mr. Sweatt said yes some but not the
large ares - a limited scale of new construction.
Mr. Baldwin asked if the City did not already have a paver. Mr.
Bierschwale advised that that was a hand made paver.
Mr. Hartzog asked if our people would have sufficient traininq to
use this equipment. Mr. Sweatt said we would have a training
program and would ask the successful contractor to stay with us
for training. Some of our people have already attended some of
the A&M training courses.
Mr. Hartzog asked if we could ask for a lonqer training period on
this piece of equipment and was told we could ask.
'9 Report on well drillinq bids and recommendation
regarding water storage improvements.
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Mr. Sweatt advised that due to the city of Selma's refusal to
participate in our water drilling project by allowing us to drill
in their city limits, we recommend rejection of the two bids
received and give staff longer time to study, not only which
county we wish to locate out water well in but as to what site
would be our best location for future development. We are now
into several growth potentials and are extending our water lines
internally, and we believe it is time to look into location of a
well outside the aquifer zone. We are not in a bind right now.
Mayor Sawyer said he agreed with Mr. Sweatt that we need to
rethink our water system.
Mr. Sweatt said the second part of their recommendation on water
projects is to defer this project but that an additional project
be considered for immediate imp1ementation. Our upper and lower
zones have been studied for some time and we believe it would be
appropriate to include two booster pumps at the deer haven system
and run at least a 12 inch line to connect with an existing line
in the Savanna Square area. That will give us the added back-up
for the upper pressure zone. This project would range from a
maximum of $100,000 to a lower side of $65,000.
Mr. Baldwin asked the age of the Deer Haven tank. Mr.
Bierschwale said although it has a few rust spots, the inside of
the tank is in excellent shape.
Mr. Bierschwale said we have a 250 gallon gpm pump right now
that feeds the upper part of Deer Haven. What we are proposing
to do is util ize that tank. In the event the Nacogdoches tank
fails or we are planning to paint that tank this year and will
need to bring that tank down, the Deer Haven system will be the
onl y support for the upper pressure zone. The only way we can
bring the Nacogdoches down right now is in the wee hours of the
morning - we reverse the system and push 250 gallons per minute
just to keep water in the tank and air out of the lines.
Mr. Aguilar said he thought there used to be the necessity to use
reduction valves to maintain a little pressure in the Deer Haven
tanks.
Mr. Bierschwale said there were four in the Deer Haven system,
and use to be the sole source for the upper zone, so we took the
valves out to give that area more pressure.
Mr. Sweatt said the primary intent of this kind of project is to
go back and provide the full use of this half million gallons of
storage.
Mr. Hartzog asked what size pump are we talking about.
Mr. Sweatt said there would be two 600 gallon per minute pumps.
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Mr. Hartzog said his op~n~on is that the City really needs
another elevated tank on 1-35. Mr. Sweatt said that is partially
true but we believe this is the most efficient way to use this
tank.
Mayor Sawyer received a majority concensus to proceed on this
project.
'10 Review announcement of Entex gas rate decrease.
Ms. Nelda Ibanez of Entex addressed Council concerning the
proposed gas rate decrease. The result of the decrease is mostly
due to wages and benefits. She advised that Entex did some
management restructuring. She went over some figures on a hand
out, which showed total operating expenses of $45,162,996.78 and
by deductinq the cost of services and divide by the number of
customers, the cost of service per customer for 1987 was $133.54
and for 1988 was $133.28 or a 28 cent decrease. This equates to
a $0.02 per bill decrease, starting April 1, 1989.
Mayor Sawyer added that the City recently called on Entex
regarding a company that wanted to come into our city. Entex
assured these people they could supply to them at a competitive
rate. Al though the company did not follow through, Entex was
most cooperative in this instance.
#11 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: A. There will be a United
Suburban Cities meeting on Thursday, March 2nd, in Converse at
3:00 p.m..
B. A reminder of the Legislative Conference in New Braunfels
Thursday evening March 9th and all day Friday. This will be at
the New Braunfels Civic Center. Tickets are $25 each for the
reception and $30 each for the conference and luncheon Friday.
C. The hearing was held on our litigation with Garden Ridge
regarding annexation into our extraterritorial jurisdiction. The
hearing was held in Comal County, arguments were heard and the
Judge has advised that he will be giving his opinion hopefully by
the end of next week.
#12 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mr. Aauilar: there should be some
type of road sign at the end of Schertz Parkway and frontage
road. It is hard to see the entrance to Schertz Parkway. Mr.
Sweatt said he would look into this.
Mr. Baldwin said they should be able to put in some type of
temporary off ramp for Northbound traffic.
Mr. Hartzoa: A. We need to resolve some of the problems in
area while we are waiting for the improvements to be made.
traffic really gets bad up there. Maybe we could make a
lane coming off 1-35 and turning onto Jack Hays.
this
The
turn
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B. Several people have contacted him about the police officers
not patrolling either residential or business areas. Mr. Sweatt
said of course we are patrolling. The bulk of the officer's time
on his shift is response to calls. We have asked the officers
not to come back to the office to write up their reports but to
park in residential neighborhood and write his report so that
people can see him. Mr. Sweatt said he would like the
opportunity for the Chief to discuss this with the citizens who
have concerns. It is a lot easier if we can respond to
specifics.
C. It has been six months since the Council hired Mr. Sweatt and
Council had said they would evaluate him at this time. He said
he felt the forms that were handed out months ago are adequate
for this purpose.
Mayor Sawyer asked the City Manager to provide copies of these
forms to Council for the next workshop. It will be handled in
Executive Session since this does concern personnel.
Mr. Baldwin: A.
from 3 to 7 p.m.
SAFES' Jamboree will be Sunday at the V.F.W.
B. There is a street cut on Antler that has been open for about
one month. There was some dirt put in but it has settled and it
is time something should be done about it.
C. What is the status of the junk car ordinance. Mr. Sweatt
said the staff revision has been completed and have comments
back. We now have to get back with the attorney for final form
and get back to Council this month.
Mr. Greenwald: A. Did we get something back from the attorney
on the official newspaper. Mr. Sweatt said we did get his letter
back on that.
B. He announced that a couple of people had approached him about
a petition going around Northcl iffe about annexation. Mayor
Sawyer said we will accept a petition and think Mr. Sweatt will
have some information about accepting without taking over their
debt.
#13 ITEMS BY MAYOR:
from Schirmerville area
junked cars and animals.
A. Couple of weeks ago some citizens
approached Council complaining about
Are we ready to replY to that.
Mr. Sweatt said he was not ready to replY but we have been out in
the area and there are some possible code violations. The animal
complaint has been taken care of. There are a number of storage
problems, vehicle repair operations, some unkempt areas. We have
to determine how much was prior to annexation.
B. Had dinner with Representative Kuempel and he expressed that
he is still our representative and he desires to help us in any
way he can.
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#14 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come
before Council, Mayor Sawyer declared the meeting to be adjourned
at 8:35 p.m.
ATTEST: