Loading...
ccswks 08-30-1989 282 \ SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 30, 1989 The Schertz City Council convened in Special Session, Wednesday, August 30, 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, presiding; Earl Hartzog; Hal Baldwin; Barbara Stanhope; Mary Marsh; and Ken Greenwald. Staff present were City Manager Kerry Sweatt and City Secretary June Krause. # 1 HEARING OF RESIDENTS: Ruth Tienor addressed Council regarding the Bonfire and Snake Dance to be held on October 25th. Mayor Sawyer advised that Mrs. Tienor should get all the details into the City Manager. Mrs. Tienor said that cooperation between the City and School Board is one of her ul timate goal s. She added that last year the Business Club members were most helpful and gracious. 12 Discussion of an ordinance adopting the fiscal year 1989-90 budget. Mr. Sweatt advised that the total amount of the budqet is $4,491,783. This represents the most recent changes and with these chanqes, the tax rate will be lowered to .3183 cents. Other changes of note would reflect the Telecommunications franchise, increase in Rogers Cablevision and the additional $1,000 transferred from SAFES to General Fund. Deductions include the reduction of longevity by $7,000, the capital item in Animal Control feline cages for $1.095; and $250 from Management, plus the $300 transferred to Economic Development. All together, this reduced the tax rate proposal from .3283 cents to .3183 cents per $100 valuation. Mayor Sawyer asked that this item be placed on the next agenda as there were no additional comments from Council. '3 Discussion of a Contract for Engineering Services for 1- 35 at F.M. 3009 Waterline Relocation. Mr. Sweat said this is a standard contract for professional services for engineering services that would be involved in the I-35 line relocation. He added that we do need to move several feet of water line and fire hydrants. Based on our review, this will cost approximately $3,954.39. Mayor Sawyer also asked that this be placed on the next agenda. 14 Discussion of a request for Proposal to conduct water and sewer Impact Fee Studies. Mr. Sweatt said that Senate Bill 336, passed two Legislation Session ago, requires the City of Schertz to make a study that ) ( 283 our fees for water and sewer utilities are in conformance. This will basically prove whether our charges are correct or not. There are several firms doing this work. We propose to receive proposals from anyone. We would like to make recommendation and place on the September 19th agenda. This is a proposal and not a formal bid. We would solicit proposals from the list on file and recommend one and have a representative at the meeting to answer questions. Mr. Hartzog said he least some of them. bid and you would bargaining. would like to hear from all of them or at Mr. Sweatt said this is a proposal and not a not want to put them in a position of Mr. Sweatt said we will send requests for proposals to two firms. One proposes to do the work with Ford Engineering consulting as there is an accounting side and an engineering side. The other firm is both accounting and engineering. We could bring the two firms in to a workshop before the Council meeting. He asked if Council would like to do that at the 13th meeting. Council agreed. tl5 Discussion of an ordinance relating to taxation of Telecommunication Services. Mr. Sweatt advised that the Legislature in 1985 passed legislation providing that certain telecommunication services were, among other things, exempt from sales tax; but later carne back and said cities could repeal that exemption. After reading some of the definitions, Mr. Sweat advised that a full quarter after adoption must pass before this can go into effect. In our case, we are recommending that with this action, the sales tax could go into effect January 1, 1990. Mr. Sweatt said he felt very confident with the estimate given at budget discussions. This ordinance has been reviewed by TML and a number of cities. #6 Discussion of a resolution approving an agreement between the State of Texas and the City of Schertz for construction, operation and maintenance of a proposed Highway Illumination System on IH-35. Mr. Sweatt said this is an extremely nice kind of agreement. It is to bring overhead lighting system for 1-35. The State will furnish and maintain - we have no direct or indirect expense and will have a high level type of lighting. This segment will go slightly beyond FM 3009. As the project progresses, the lighting will be taken on to New Braunfels. This was not originallY part of the Highway Department plan; but we discussed it with them and they agreed it should be included because of the residential and urban areas. Mr. Sweatt said Council was aware of the signal operation at 1-35 and FM 3009 now. At the completion of the project, they will replace those and update the signal lights. We are getting from \ 284 ~ $25,000 to $30,000 in improvements from the State through our city. #7 Discussion of an ordinance amendinq the zoninq ordinance Article XXIII, Sections 2 and 4; Article XXV, Sections 2 & 7; and Article XXVI, Section 5. Council had no additional comments on this recommended ordinance so Mayor Sawyer asked that it be on the next agenda. #8 Budget. Discussion of the Guadalupe County Appraisal District Mayor Sawyer welcomed Mr. Morris and Mr. Sharpe to the meeting. Mr. Sharpe said the Appraisal District budget is a little different from cities as they do not levy taxes. He said they try to be at any place where people have questions. He said they sent out a proposed budget in June, did have three workshops and then approved the budget in August. Each entity can approve or disapprove it. Mr. Sharpe then went over a summary of the budget, ending by saying there is about an 80% increase for the Appraisal Review Board. When asked why, he repl ied that 1990 is the reappraisal year and there will be much more work, plus additional mailings and this is what they feel the Appraisal Review Board will need. They have from nine to seven members, and they are still discussing if the number should be dropped to five members of the Review Board. They estimate six members per day for 66 work days of 8 hours each. Answering Council questions, Mr. Sharpe said the Appraisal District has 16 employees and this budget includes a 3% pay raise for each. When Mrs. Marsh asked what qual ifications the appraisers have, Mr. Morris answered they are regifftered with the Board of Tax Examiners and they have people with various levels of certification, which take five years to complete. Their overall average is 4.8 years. Mr. Sweatt asked if they would clarify the roll of the Appraisal Review Board. Mr. Sharpe said the Board of Directors set the pol icies and appoint the Appraisal Review Board. The ARB can subpoena peopl e, listen to protests and certify the tax ro II . The Board has limited the terms to two full-terms, so they will have four members corning off. They get paid $75.00 per day and work from May through August. If they do not work, they do not get paid. Mr. Hartzog questioned the legal i ty of the Appraisal District retirement system and if it was true the employees would be 100% vested in five years. Mr. Sharpe said yes. Mr. Morris said he knew their retirement system has evoked enough interest that the Texas Senate has written the Attorney General to review it. . ) ( 285 Mr. Hartzog said he understands there is dissension among the Board members, some saYing this retirement system has never been voted on by the Board. Mr. Sharpe said he asked Mr. Morris to look at it and get the best deal. The Board approved the money and the plan but Mr. Sharpe said he did not take it back to the board for vote. Mrs. Marsh asked what causes a change in an appraisal - a person lives in a house for years with no improvements but his appraisal continues to increase. Mr. Morris said basically economic - how that house was appraised or iginall y and what other people 's houses are sell ing for. Mrs. Marsh said she fel t this totall y unfair. Mr. Hartzog said he would like this item to be on the next agenda and he planned on recommending disapproval, the reason being that the Board needs to get together. The retirement system does not seem to be resolved and they should have a yearly merit pay plan. Mr. Sharpe ended by saying the letters to all taxing entities centralized tax collections. Appraisal District did send on a proposed meeting on Mr. Sharpe also said they would be reviewing applications for the Appraisal Review Board at their next month's meeting, so now is the time to apply. If Council knows of anyone qualified to serve on this board, send them down as there are four vacancies and most are from this end of the district. He also reminded Council they will be getting a notice to get their nomination in for the Appraisal District Board. The notice will give the tabulation of the number of votes the city has. Receiving concensus of the Council, Mayor Sawyer asked that the Appraisal District budget be on the next agenda for vote. #9 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT: A. Reminder of the Chamber of Commerce Mixer on August 31st from 5:00 to 7:00 at Gordo's in Universal City. B. Also reminded Council of the meeting the following night at 7:00 p.m. for the Public Hearing on the Tax Rate. C. He plans to have on the September 13th agenda the ordinance, for first review, on the licensing process for sexually oriented businesses. D. We have a request for an exception to the Zoning Ordinance that will have to go before the Board of Adjustment. The Park Manager at Windy Meadows is asking to place a recreational vehicle at 409 Meadows View Drive for their maintenance person. Mrs. Krause explained that because of the publication dates, it will not be on the agenda until October 3rd. \ "" 286 '\ #10 ITEMS BY COUNCIL: Mrs. Marsh reported on the activities of the Economic Development Task Force as discussed at their meeting of August 24th. Public Relations - Jim Shriver reported the Business Appreciation Dinner was a great success and received good media coverage. Contact Team - Lee Boswell - they are working on the special brochure for the LCRA tour, they are getting more input from the letters sent out, they now have a filing cabinet with two master files, they are also working up special package on the possibility of the Alamo Iron Works. Community Relations - Chuck Sharpe - lot of good feed back on the Appreciation Dinner, tabulation of surveys is taking quite a long time but is corning along. Mr. Shriver talked about the Chamber tour package and what we could do about that. Marketing Team - Bob Booth - had no takers on going out for bids on the brochure but will try again. In September they do plan on starting the scripting for the video. They then discussed the LCRA Tour that has been moved up to the 19th of October and now have 45 minutes for our city. They will have a welcome basket and will have two different items for the package - one at-shirt, the other is something a woman could use in her house with the logo on it. Mrs. Marsh then reported on the Austin-San Antonio Corridor meeting on the 14th of August. A year ago they were fall ing apart and are now doing great. They have from $89,000 to $90,000 in the bank and have wiped out a debt and are going to be very, very careful with accountability of their money. The 29-31st of October in Austin is the El Camino Real Conference and someone from the EDTF will be attending. Mayor Cockrell has put in for San Antonio to host the 1990 Economic Summit. They need additional participation by urban cities. They have four primary committees. One is the International Trade and Economic Development - Mrs. Marsh will belong to this committee. Second is the Highways Task Force. Other committees are Water and Energy j Tour ism and International Trade i Special Economic Development; Budget and Revenues. Mrs. Marsh ended by saying the January issue of Fortune magazine will feature the Austin-San Antonio Corridor. Mr. Hartzog: A. Asked the status of the city maps. Mr. Sweatt said he was not real sure. The committee has made their report and he thought the Chamber of Commerce is trYing to sell advertising. They are hoping to get the total up to get a better price. B. City vehicles will start having logos on them soon. C. The Business spoke to most of appreciated it. excellent job. Appreciation Dinner went quite well. He said he the business people as they left and they really He said he thought the Task Force did an D. At the APA Conference, we will be giving a presentation. ( 287 ~ ML,,--_qre~ll""'Alcl: A. Regarding the APA Conference in Lubbock, Steve Simonson and Ty Brisgill are putting together a slide presentation. After the last conference, we sent a letter complaining that every conference is geared to cities over 25,000 population. We then received an invitation to make this presentation. B. In going through the reports, he noticed that there were 13 false 9-1-1 calls and 18 hang ups. He asked if we are taking any type of action on these calls. Chief Agee said they are but it is hard to prosecute. They have a school program planned and can work this into that program. C. The report shows there were 6 runs by SAFES to Comal County and have made 36 runs there this year and have not gotten a dime from them. He suggested going back to Comal County and give them a cut off date just like we did Bexar County. Mayor Sawyer agreed. Mr. Sweatt called attention to an item in Council packets - Chief Agee has announced we have appointed a new Reserve Commander. He has been a member of the reserves for a number of years. Now the Reserve Unit will have rank structure similar to the regular officers. # 11 ITEMS BY MAYOR: Kuempel over the weekend. A. Had opportunity to talk to Mr. B. On Monday, the Mayor will be representing the City at the Jerry Lewis Telethon, if anyone wants to make a donation , give him a call. # 12 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Mayor Sawyer declared the meeting to be adjourned at 9:46 .m. ATTEST: Schertz \