ccswks 11-09-1988
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SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
NOVEMBER 9, 1988
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The Schertz City Council convened in Special Workshop Session,
Wednesday, November 9, 1988, at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room
of the Municipal Complex, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas.
The followinq members were present: Mayor Earl W. Sawyer,
presiding; Earl P. Hartzog; Hal Baldwin; Ray Stanhope; Adolph
Aguilar and Ken Greenwald. Staff present were City Manager Kerry
R. Sweatt and City Secretary June Krause.
11 REARIWO OF RESIDEBrS: Mr. Chuck Sharpe advised that the
Guadalupe County Appraisal District will be appointing members to
their board, which is composed of nine members. He was not sure
which terms were open but said if anyone had names they wished to
be considered to call him or Mr. Morris. He said they may cut
the number of members to this board to seven because of budget
problems.
'2 President Dickie George to discuss Randolph Metrocoa
Chaaber of C~rce Activities.
Mrs. George presented sample packets to each Councilmember which
included the membership directory, calendar of events, Metrocom
Profile, the Proqress ' 88 monthly newsletter, and a pamphlet
entitled "What the Chamber Can Do for You", explaininq a little D
about each item. She also explained about their new "Free Brown
Bag Seminars", setting out dates and topics for each seminar.
Mrs. George listed some of their concerns as being: to shop
local 1 y , various legislation on businesses, joblessness, public
transportation. They also have a job bank available and are
working with the schools giVing students six weeks of on-the-job
training. Mrs. George ended by saying they are a service
organization and are there to help.
Concerninq dues, Mrs. George said they prefer to call them Annual
investments and, in the past years the City of Schertz has been
paying $1400. This year they chose to go the route of equality
with all cities by recommendinq .0029% of the city's annual sales
tax. Based on 1987 sales tax information, the City's 1989
recommended investment would be $1250.
Mr. Aquilar asked what the administration consisted of in
personnel. Mrs. George said they have two paid staff members and
then the directors that are elected plus their volunteers.
Mr. Greenwald asked about voting for directors. Mrs. George said
they sent out letters in October and then later they sent out
ballots. The number of ballots is based on the annual
investment, which would mean Schertz would get five ballots.
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Mr. Hartzoq asked about the maps the Chamber has always
furnished. Mrs. George said that last year they investigated and
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found the price would be 58 cents each with plain cover. If a
company wanted advertising on the cover, they would cost 72 cents
each. They asked their members to buy them but did not qet
enough response to order more maps. Mr. Baldwin asked if she had
asked each city to order 1000 or so maps. Mr. AqUilar said he
felt the Council should write the other cities with this idea.
Mayor Sawyer thanked Mrs. George for coming and briefing Council
on their orqanization.
'3 Discussion of Cable Television franchise transfer.
Mr. Sweatt commented that Council had discussed on one earlier
occasion this proposed transfer of franchise. We now have a copy
lof a proposed resolution. Mr. Sweatt said he and the attorney
'had discussed this and the attorney is qoinq to recommend several
ichanges before it is presented again to Council. Houston
Industr ies Inc. is the parent company of KBLCOM and they appear
ito have the resources and backqround to operate cable services.
Mr. Baldwin asked if there was any quarantee they would not come
up with an immediate rate increase. Mr. Sweatt said Council has
ithe r iqht to object to a rate increase. They would have to
inotify us of any rate increase and if we would object, we would
!have to deal with the FCC. KBLCOM currently has 600,000
r- subscribers and this would add another 500,000; but this would
only make them in the top five. Mr. Sweatt said he had talked
Iwith several cities that have this company and they have had no
problems. He commented that he had no problem recommending this
for approval after the rewording changes by the city attorney.
.This should be placed on a very near aqenda for first reading.
~r. Hartzog asked the number of years we have on the franchise
!agreement. Mr. Sweatt advised there are several years left. Mr.
IHartzoq called attention to the"option to purchase" clause San
Antonio has in their current contract.
Mayor Sawyer said that would be somethinq to talk about and asked
if this would be a good time to consider increasinq the franchise
fee. Mr. Aquilar said he would not be in favor of an increase
because we would just be passinq it on to our citizens. Mr.
Baldwin was not in favor of increasinq the fee either. Mr.
~artzoq said Council is lookinq at a tax increase down the line
and this way Council could tax everybody and not just the
property owners. Mr. Sweatt advised that several cities have
raised the cable franchise tax up to 5% but in the San Antonio
area no more than 3%.
'4 Discussion of November 15th agenda iteas:
A. Public Hearinq on proposed 30.63 acre annexation.
information on this item.
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B. Final consideration of an ordinance amending 85-H-18,
Schedule "A" Garbage Collection Fees.
Mr. Hartzog said concerning the type III and IV rates on
apartments and mobile homes, he was not satisfied with the answer
given by Mr. Gutierrez because these places can generate as much
garbage as single family dwellings and should be paying the same
fee.
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Mayor Sawyer suggested letting the City Manager look into this.
Mr. Baldwin suggested that maybe density comes into it.
'5 Discussion of Charter Review eo..1ttee rec~ndations.
Mr. Aguilar went through the various recommendations made by the
committee, which consisted mostly of clarifying and clean up to
compl y with state law. There were several additions to the
Council section adding some prohibitions; appointments and
removals; interference with administration; and admission of
liability. Section 6.06 City Secretary was expanded to show
duties and responsibilities. Section 6.07 Tax Assessor-Collector
was changed drastically to comply with the new laws. Section
7.06 Council Action on Budget was changed to allow Council more
time to consider the proposed budget; Section 7.11 Audit was
added. Section 10.03 Petitions, was changed to disallow
facetious recalls and to make it easier to certify signatures.
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Mr. Aguilar said there were a lot of additional ideas but the
committee decided if it works, don't fix it. He said he felt it
was a very good committee.
Mr. Hartzog questioned if all the recommendations would be voted
together or separately. Mayor Sawyer explained that he
recommended Council vote to bring these to election next May and
if there is one or two a person is against, then get out and talk
against that item.
Mayor Sawyer commended the committee and suggested writing a
letter of appreciation to each member for a job well done.
At this point, Mayor Sawyer recognized Mr. Cipriano Guerra who
had requested time to speak on cable television.
Mr. Guerra advised he was briefed on some of the discussion and
it seemed to him one of the concerns of Council was the
unfairness of San Antonio's buy-out clause. He assured Council
that part of what they are doing in San Antonio is eliminating
that clause in the new contract. He said they are getting a ten
year renewal tacked on to this contract; it seems Houston
Industries will have a franchise that goes 15 years beyond 1992.
Mr. Aguilar said Council was thinking about putting the buy-out Dl
clause in our agreement and Mr. Guerra said he hoped they would
not do it. Mr. Guerra advised they are basically passing on the
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,substance of the old agreement with no changes in quality of
service and no changes in access channels. He continue, saying
,Council would only be agreeing to a new buy - if there is a new
:buyer.
Mr. Greenwald asked the consummation date. Mr. Guerra said there
iare two dates the end of December to have evidence that
leverything is acceptable to cities and end of February for the
closing date. Mr. Guerra went on to say that San Antonio has a
,3% franchise fee and ten of the surrounding cities have 5%. All
,that is required is for the Council to pass an ordinance
'requesting the franchise fee be increased and to what extent.
IAnswer ing Mr. Baldwin's question, Mr. Guerra said they can pin
iPoint all addresses as to individual cities - they are working
'with each city to that end. If someone has a question just pick
an address and they can locate it to our satisfaction. Mr.
Sweatt said, as to specific boundaries, Rogers Cable TV have been
,very helpful.
Mr. Baldwin asked if in the original contract did we have any
right as to ownership of the system. Do we have the right to say
,no we do not want to sell to this company.
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Mr. Guerra said that in the Cable Act of 1984, they have the
right to require that the city would have to show that Rogers did
,not substantially live up to the contract, under Federal law.
IMr. Sweatt asked for the specific wording on this Act - Mr.
Guerra said he would forward it the next day.
Mayor Sawyer told Mr. Guerra Council would have the first reading
on December 6, providing we qet the legal wordinq from our
attorney. He told Mr. Guerra he appreciated him coming out to
.the meeting.
Mayor Sawyer then called for a recess at 8:25 p.m.
:The Workshop Session was reconvened at 8:30 p.m.
'6 Discussion of GoinG out for bids on police cars.
Mayor Sawyer said he believes Mr. Sweatt has ideas about how the
money should be spent on these vehicles.
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Mr. Sweatt said he is looking at needs for more than just this
year. One of our needs is equipment in rolling stock. Seven
have over 100,000 miles and two will have that shortly. Not only
are our vehicles in bad shape from mileage, but condition; and
the radios, radars, light bars etc are in bad condition. We see
ia need for replacement of the fleet entirely and to up grade our
r-- equipment. We have three choices. One - do nothinq; two - we
rhave $40,000 in the budget which would allow us to buy three new
pieces of equipment; three - replace the whole fleet at a cost of
$13,000 each. We could issue Certificates of Deposit over a five
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to six years proqram. The most desirable plan would be to
purchase five new vehicles under lease-purchase arranqement. We
could fund those five vehicles and a minimum of equipment for
$40,000. The next year replace an additional four vehicles under
lease-purchase arranqement. At that staqe, our total commitment
would be at approximately $60,000. In 1991-92 the lease payment
would reduce to $46,800 and the third year to $20,000. At the
beqinninq of the fourth year all the equipment would be paid and
we would lease purchase for one dollar. At that staqe, we would
expect to be in qood enouqh shape (1994-95) to start the cycle
aqain. We would need to increase the 1990-91 budqet line item by
another $4800 and continue throuqh 1993-94 period. Mr. Sweatt
said he had reviewed a lot of options and he did not believe
there is another better option. He said he and Chief Aqee
believe it would be to the City's advantaqe to commit for five
vehicles this year- four marked and one administrative 1 and next
year four more plus equipment.
Mr. Aquilar asked what type vehicle they were talkinq about and
Mr. Sweatt said a full size police vehicle, possibly Ford or
Chevrolet and throuqh 1988 the Chrysler has proven qood.
Mr. Baldwin commented that in three years we could replace the
vehicles and have nine units, purchasinq three each year.
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Mr. Hartzoq said that only part of the money in this year's D
budqet will come from General Fund with the rest from self
insurance. Now Council is beinq told that next year they will
need $60,000. Mr. Sweatt said he is lookinq at a lonq term
commitment.
Mr. Baldwin asked the estimated life of a police vehicle. Mr.
Sweatt answered that at the end of four years, he feels. those
vehicles will be placed on limited duty. Mr. Sweatt added that
this represents the best and most expedient way to up qrade the
fleet.
Mr. Stanhope asked if the prices quoted would take care of
maintenance. Mr. Sweatt said the price included only reqular
warranties and we would have to take care of maintenance. The
first one and a half years we would not expect hiqh maintenance
and we are addinq a mechanic to our staff.
Mayor Sawyer received concurrence from Council that they would
like to see more information on this proposal.
'7 Discussion of Revenue Sharing Budget.
Mr. Sweatt advised that to clean up our revenue sharinq fund of
$7595, due to cost overruns etc., he was proposinq to do a
revenue sharinq budqet. This would entail a Public Use Hearinq D
on November 30th, presentation to Council on December 6th, ,a
budget hearing on December 20th and adoption of budget on
December 28th. We can then amend this budqet just like you do
General Fund.
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'8 Discussion of legal notice publication.
Mr. Sweatt advised that basically the Attorney General's opinion
iand State law determine what constitutes a legal newspaper.
Advisory Opinion is that there would have to be a second class
:mailing permit. Recently the Attorney General says it is more
than advisory but obligatory. Our attorney says we need to look
through the question as to what constitutes compliance and we are
itrying to run down the information.
Mayor Sawyer suggested holding up on this until that information
,is obtained.
Mr. Greenwald said the reason he brought up the subject is that
our present legal paper has gone with paid subscriptions and are
not reaching all of our citizens.
,Mr. Sweatt said he would have more information at a later date.
'9 Discussion of aJIlencDtent to ordinance creating the
,Planning & Zoning Commission.
Mr. Greenwald advised that the main reason for this amendment is
to get continuity by changing to two year terms.
Mayor Sawyer asked that this be on the next agenda for vote.
'10 CITY MARAGER"S REPORT:
:A. With regard to our Seal Coating project, they will be
'starting November 14 and do Pfeil, Curtiss, Main and Beck. On
November 15th will do Wright, Windburn, Brooks, Aviation and
Colony and will do Beacon, Elm and the rest on the 16th. We will
,precede those projects with hand bills asking the people to
remove all vehicles on their particular date or they will be
removed.
B. Wyatt Cafeteria Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting will be
Tuesday. Bovember 15 at 10:30 a.m. at Rolling Oaks Mall.
C. Have had a report that one of our neighboring cities has
annexation proceedings announced in what appears to be in
conflict with our ETJ agreement. We have reviewed documents in
our files and with our attorney. We will plan on having a
complete report no later than our November 15th meeting. There
is clearly an overlapping and conflict of interest. They say
their ETJ is based on Letters of Intent from Servtex.
'11 ITEMS BY COUIICIL:
Mr. Hartzoa: A. Have had good reports on our newsletter from
some businesses and know that some have run out of copies. Mr.
Sweatt said Tom Dovey had asked that if a business runs out to
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call him and he would see they received more copies. Mr.
Greenwald suggested placing a list of places of distribution on
our bulletin board.
B. Have had a very good report on our Animal Control and think
they are dOing a lot better job than had been done in the past.
There are still a couple of problem areas but they are working on
them.
C. Bassett Dog Show will be Sunday, November 13th from 10:00 a.m
to 1:00 p.m. at the Community Center.
D. There will be an Economic Development Committee meeting the
10th at the Kountry Kitchen.
E. The Blood Drive will be Saturday at the High School to get
blood for one of the teachers.
Mr. StanhoDe: A. There will be a Humane Society garage sale at
705 Marilyn Drive on Friday and Saturday.
Mr. Sweatt suggested that donations for the department be
receipted in at City Hall as unidentified cash is hard to handle.
It can also be receipted in at the Animal Shelter.
B. The Beautification Committee will meet on the 14th of
November and they are open for donations.
C. What is going to be done about the Christmas Tree.
Sweatt said we are going to propose using a lot of lights
year. With the completion of the Committee's plans, hope to
a permanent place for a tree.
Mr.
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Mr. Baldwin: He also received a lot of good comments on the
newsletter and he hoped Mr. Graham could handle the leaf offer he
had in the newsletter. Mr. Sweatt said we are also working on a
Christmas Tree disposal plan.
B. Has anyone made contact with Dr. Harborth to sell dog tags.
Mr. Sweatt advised that he was never real I y told he could not
sell them.
Mr. Greenwald: A. Brought Mr. Graham back a. sample of a high
density overlay sign, from TML. Size 18 x 30 would cost only $14
and they have a 20 year warranty. Perhaps we could use some of
these in our high theft area and gradually replace all our signs.
B. The Texas Department of Corrections has a brochure and
catalog of all the equipment they have for sell.
C. Handed out copies of the PAZ Annual Report.
D. Also passed out guide lines for redoing the City Plan. They
will be coming to Council with recommended 7 to 10 names of
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ci tizens for a Leadership Panel to update the plan. We are
talking about a 16 month time frame. One of the problems is
money for surveys etc.
Mayor Sawyer asked for some time to study the report.
E. At the last BVYA meeting, a Pony Director talked to them
about hosting a Mustang World Series.
F. CVADAC is attempting to have another seminar on the 8th of
December that will deal with teen suicide prevention.
# 12 ITEMS BY MAYOR: A. Received a suggestion for the
newsletter to be named the "Schertz Communicator".
B. United Suburban Cities asked that we join them in an Inter
Local Agreement in their discussion with City Public Service.
Our portion would be less then $200.
C. Letter from GVEC stating that on Friday December 2nd, there
will be Commemorative Ceremonies in Cost, Texas.
Chief Agee advised that the first few days he was here, he was
made to understand that relations were strained between us and
some of the surrounding cities. He said he had met with some of
the Chiefs and was assured that if there was any strain before,
it would not be in the future.
Mr. Stanhope announced that he had received a $50 donation for
the Beutification Committee from Michelle.
# 13 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the
meeting was declared adjourned at 9:40 p.m. by Mayor Sawyer.
ATTEST:
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