04-27-2021 MinutesMINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
April 27, 2021
A Regular Meeting was held by the Schertz City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas,
on April 27, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. in the Hal Baldwin Municipal Complex Council
Chambers, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Building #4, Schertz, Texas. The following members
present to -wit:
Present: Mayor Ralph Gutierrez; Mayor Pro -Tem Jill Whittaker; Councilmember Mark
Davis; Councilmember Michael Dahle; Councilmember David Scagliola;
Councilmember Allison Heyward; Councilmember Tim Brown
Absent: Councilmember Rosemary Scott
City City Manager Dr. Mark Browne; Assistant City Manager Charles Kelm; City
Staff: Attorney Daniel Santee; City Secretary Brenda Dennis; Assistant to the City
Manager Sarah Gonzalez; Deputy City Secretary Sheila Edmondson
Call to Order
Mayor Gutierrez called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Opening Prayer and Pledges of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and
State of Texas. (Mayor Pro -Tem Whittaker)
Mayor Gutierrez recognized Mayor Pro -Tem Whittaker who provided the opening
prayer followed by the Pledges of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and the
State of Texas.
Employee Recognition
e 20 Year Service Pin Presentation to Sylvia DeLeon. (M. Browne)
Mayor Gutierrez recognized City Manager Dr. Mark Browne who introduced
and recognized the Sr. HR Generalist Sylvia DeLeon for her 20 years of service
to the City and presented her with her 20 year service pin. Ms. DeLeon
introduced her family members who were present. Mayor and Council also
congratulated Sylvia.
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Presentations
• Green Valley Special Utility District Winter Storm Event update. (Jill Bennett -
Board President - Pat Allen - General Manager)
Mayor Gutierrez recognized President Jill Bennett and General Manager Pat
Allen with the Green Valley Special Utility District who provided a brief
PowerPoint presentation regarding the Winter Storm event and how it affected
their customers.
City Events and Announcements
• Announcements of upcoming City Events (B. James /C. Kelm/S. Gonzalez)
Mayor Gutierrez recognized Assistant to the City Manager Sarah Gonzalez who
provided the following information:
• Saturday, May 1 st
City Nature Challenge
10:00 AM — 2:00 PM
Crescent Bend Nature Park
Schertz Parks & Recreation will be joined by Guadalupe Master Naturalists
to share information and encourage residents to find and document nature in
our area. Event details can be found on the Schertz Parks & Recreation
Facebook page.
• Sundays, April 18th through May 23rd
Come enjoy watching the Adult Kickball League (ages 21 years and older)
sponsored by the Schertz Parks & Rec Social League.Games are played
Sunday evenings from 6 -10 PM through May 23rd at Thulemeyer Park.
• Tuesday, May 4th
Next regular scheduled Council meeting
• Announcements and recognitions by the City Manager (M. Browne)
None were provided at this time.
• Announcements and recognitions by the Mayor (R. Gutierrez)
Mayor Gutierrez thanked all those who volunteered to help with the food drive
held today.
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Hearing of Residents
This time is set aside for any person who wishes to address the City Council. Each
person should fill out the speaker's register prior to the meeting. Presentations should
be limited to no more than 3 minutes.
All remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a body, and not to any individual
member thereof. Any person making personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks
while addressing the Council may be requested to leave the meeting.
Discussion by the Council of any item not on the agenda shall be limited to
statements of specific factual information given in response to any inquiry, a
recitation of existing policy in response to an inquiry, and/or a proposal to place the
item on a future agenda. The presiding officer, during the Hearing of Residents
portion of the agenda, will call on those persons who have signed up to speak in the
order they have registered.
Mayor Gutierrez indicated that no one had signed up on the sign -in sheet this evening
and asked the City Secretary if she had received any by email.
Deputy City Secretary Sheila Edmondson read the following into record regarding
workshop agenda item 6:
• Mr. John Sullivan, 513 Triple Crown who enthusiastically agreed with the idea
of a more inclusive program geared toward leadership and fostering a young
volunteer community that informs our city leaders. This aligns well with the
leadership initiatives in our local schools and modernizes the program to be more
beneficial to both the participants and the community. This also aligns with our
Hal Baldwin scholarship and current student council programs. I strongly
encourage the direction staff is taking to transform the Sweetheart Court into the
Schertz Young Leaders program!
Consent Agenda Items
The Consent Agenda is considered self - explanatory and will be enacted by the
Council with one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless
they are removed from the Consent Agenda upon the request of the Mayor or a
Councilmember.
Mayor Gutierrez read the following items into record:
1. Minutes — Consideration and /or action regarding the approval of the minutes
of the Joint and Regular City Council meeting of April 13, 2021. (B. Dennis /S.
Edmondson)
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2. Resolution No. 21 -R -36 - Consideration and /or action approving a Resolution
by the City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas authorizing additional
expenditures with Bound Tree Medical totaling no more than $175,000 and
with Henry Schein, Inc. totaling no more than $100,000 for medical
supplies and other matters in connection therewith. (M. Brown/C. Kelm /J.
Mabbitt)
Mayor Gutierrez asked Council if there were any items they wished removed
for separate action. No items were removed.
Moved by Councilmember Mark Davis, seconded by Councilmember
Michael Dahle to approve consent agenda items 1 & 2.
AYE: Mayor Pro -Tem Jill Whittaker, Councilmember Mark Davis,
Councilmember Michael Dahle, Councilmember David Scagliola,
Councilmember Allison Heyward, Councilmember Tim Brown
Passed
Discussion and Action Items
Mayor Gutierrez read the following items into record:
3. Ordinance No. 21 -T -16 - Consideration and /or action approving an Ordinance
by the City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas authorizing an adjustment to
the Fiscal Year 2020 -2021 Budget to provide funding for an amendment to the
2017 Roadway Impact Fee Program, repealing all ordinances or parts of
ordinances in conflict with this ordinance; and providing an effective date.
First reading (B. James/K. Woodlee)
Mayor Gutierrez recognized City Engineer Kathy Woodlee who introduced
this item stating the City of Schertz adopted the 2017 Roadway Impact Fee
Program (Program) by Ordinance 18 -M -13 establishing the collection and use
of Roadway Capital Recovery Fees. The program includes the division of the
City into four service areas in which fees are collected from new development,
accumulated in accounts assigned to each respective area, and made available
for use to fund roadway projects identified in the adopted Capital Improvement
Plan. Chapter 395 of the Texas Local Government Code stipulates that the
established service areas be limited to the area within the corporate boundaries
of the political subdivision. In order to expand the areas subject to the program
to include area annexed into the City Limits since adoption of the Capital
Recovery Fee Ordinance, the Program must be amended.
Amending the Program to incorporate the newly annexed areas includes data
collection, update of impact fee databases, calculation of updated cost per
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service area unit, technical documentation, and statutorily required Capital
Improvement Advisory Committee (CIAC) meeting(s) and public hearings.
Staff recommends approval of the budget adjustment to fund an amendment to
the Roadway Impact Fee Program.
Moved by Councilmember Tim Brown, seconded by Councilmember Mark
Davis to approve Ordinance No. 21 -T -16 on first reading.
AYE: Mayor Pro -Tem Jill Whittaker, Councilmember Mark Davis,
Councilmember Michael Dahle, Councilmember David Scagliola,
Councilmember Allison Heyward, Councilmember Tim Brown
Passed
4. Ordinance No. 21 -T -18 - Consideration and /or action approving an Ordinance
by the City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas authorizing an adjustment to
the Fiscal Year 2020 -2021 Budget to provide funding for professional services
related to the relocation of water and wastewater utilities along FM 1518
between FM 78 and IH 10, repealing all ordinances or parts of ordinances in
conflict with this ordinance; and providing an effective date. First reading (B.
James/K. Woodlee/E. Schulze)
Mayor Gutierrez recognized City Engineer Kathy Woodlee who introduced
this item stating part of the preparation for the widening of FM 1518 from FM
78 to IH 10 is the relocation of underground utilities so that they will not be
beneath the pavement of the new roadway (with few exceptions like
crossings). The City of Schertz has water and wastewater mains and
appurtenances that must be relocated. A step in the process to relocate those
utilities is to engage a Professional Engineering firm to provide services related
to the design and construction phases of that project.
City Staff has worked with Halff Associates, Inc., to develop a scope for those
services and a budget adjustment is needed to fund this portion of the project.
Proposed ordinance 21 -T -18 allocates $600,000 for the professional services
needed to assist the City with relocation of the utilities. That amount includes
the consultant's fee and a contingency amount of approximately ten percent.
Staff recommends approval.
Moved by Mayor Pro -Tem Jill Whittaker, seconded by Councilmember
Allison Heyward to approve Ordinance No. 21 -T -18.
AYE: Mayor Pro -Tem Jill Whittaker, Councilmember Mark Davis,
Councilmember Michael Dahle, Councilmember David Scagliola,
Councilmember Allison Heyward, Councilmember Tim Brown
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Passed
5. Ordinance No. 21 -T -17 - Consideration and/or action approving an ordinance
by the City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas authorizing a budget
adjustment to the FY 2020 -21 Budget for electricity usage fees related to the
Winter Storm, repealing all ordinances in conflict with this ordinance; and
providing an effective date. (M. Browne/B. James /J. Walters) First Reading
Mayor Gutierrez read the corrected caption into record.
Mayor Gutierrez recognized Finance Director James Walters who introduced
this item stating the state had an unprecedented winter storm that left much of
the state with freezing temperatures and power outages between February 10
and 20, 2021. During this time, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas
(ERCOT)set the price of electricity at the $9,000 -a- megawatt-hour maximum
for nearly two days due to high demand. This led to high electric costs to
providers.
Due to the high electric costs, Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative (GVEC)
must spread its costs for the winter storm to its customers. GVEC had a special
fund balance that it spent down in order to avoid large swings in prices to its
residential customers based on the prices ERCOT sets. Residential customers
will see a small increase in their rates going forward as GVEC replenishes its
emergency fund.
Commercial customers, like the City, have ERCOT's fee changes passed
directly on to them. GVEC waited until they received their charges for power
usage before assigning the charge to their commercial customers. Based on the
calculation by GVEC, the City's outstanding charge for the winter storm is
$63,188.10.
For Fiscal Year 2019 -20, the total payments to GVEC were $460,038.51. This
additional charge would be an estimated 13.7% increase in fees and staff is not
confident the budget can account for those overages.
There could be an option to submit these charges for federal relief through a
grant program and help offset some fiscal impact of this charge. Staff is
waiting on clarification from the state to see if these charges are applicable for
reimbursement.
GVEC has offered to let the city spread these charges over a 48 -month
maximum with a 2.33% financing charge on top of the balance. If the city pays
off the entire portion upfront, there would be no additional charges.
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Since these charges are for services within the current fiscal year, the city must
recognize the entire expense on its financial statements even if it spreads out
the payments over the next 4 years. Since the city does have enough cash on
hand to pay the charge up front, Staff recommends paying the balance with the
upcoming bill.
Staff wanted council's input before such a decision was made and has GVEC
Chief Operating Officer Sean Alvarez to help answer any questions on the fee
calculations. Mr. Walters addressed questions from Council.
After discussion by Council, it was Council's concurrence to pay the additional
$63,188.10.
Moved by Councilmember David Scagliola, seconded by Councilmember
Mark Davis to approve Ordinance No. 21 -T -17 on first reading with the
payment of $63,188.10.
AYE: Mayor Pro -Tem Jill Whittaker, Councilmember Mark Davis,
Councilmember Michael Dahle, Councilmember David Scagliola,
Councilmember Allison Heyward, Councilmember Tim Brown
Passed
Roll Call Vote Confirmation
Mayor Gutierrez recognized Deputy City Secretary Sheila Edmondson who provided
the roll call vote confirmation for agenda items 1 through 5.
Workshop
6. Discussion on the future of the Schertz Sweetheart Program. (B. James/L.
Shrum)
Mayor Gutierrez recognized Director of Parks, Recreation and Community
Services Lauren Shrum who introduced this item stating the Schertz
Sweetheart Program has been coordinated by the city for 14 years. The
program originally began under the umbrella of the Schertz Business
Association back in 1989 which was a predecessor to the current Chamber of
Commerce. The program was a traditional pageant program that focused on
evening gowns, talent, and interview portions and culminated in a coronation
of court members. The number of court members has varied over the years but
there have been 4 members for the last 9 years - Miss Schertz, Miss Sunshine,
Miss Jubilee, and Miss Friendly City. The court has represented the city at
various special events and participates in parades in neighboring cities. The
court also participates in a service project. Originally the program had fairly
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good participation, but over the years has waned, and ultimately only serves 4
youth.
Since the COVID -19 pandemic hit, we were unable to host the traditional
pageant program and coronation in 2020. Thus, city staff created a virtual
application process whereby participants created talent videos on their own at
home and uploaded them to a site for the judges to view. They participated in
live Zoom interviews with the judges and participants also pre- recorded a
"Ted -Talk" type video on a persuasive speech of any topic of their choosing.
The judges utilized these videos and virtual interviews to make their selection
of the 2020 Court. Opportunities for the court to participate in activities and
programs was limited in 2020 due to the pandemic, so the court experience was
not the same as it had been. In 2021, we will utilize the same process because
even though we are hosting special events and programs again, the Civic
Center is being used exclusively for vaccine clinics and SCUCISD is not
renting any of their auditorium facilities for outside use at this time.
Since the pause in the traditional program really forced us to revaluate how we
put the program on, conversations among staff began again about changing the
program. Over the last several years there has been discussion of evolving the
program into a more inclusive format that can impact more youth. City staff
did research on the Texas Municipal League's (TML) Youth Advisory
Commission (YAC) program and looked at what other neighboring cities are
doing such as Youth Leadership New Braunfels. There are currently 38 Youth
Advisory Commissions across the state and there is an annual YAC Summit
hosted once a year by TML. The YAC initiative provides cities with energetic
volunteers for civic projects, gives city leaders a fresh perspective on issues
challenging our cities, and creates a sense of accomplishment for youth. The
Youth Leadership New Braunfels program is so popular that they had over 100
applicants for 30 slots. The program focuses on city government, leadership
skills, healthcare and social services, and higher education. Participants go on
a retreat and participate in a graduation ceremony.
The idea is to evolve the Sweetheart Court into a leadership program entitled
Schertz Young Leaders. The new program would have up to 20 participants
and would be modeled similarly to Youth Leadership New Braunfels.
Schertz Young Leaders would focus on leadership, communication, civic
responsibility, community service, public speaking, and teamwork.
Participants will get to engage with the business community and civic leaders,
participate in a team - building retreat and community service opportunities, and
represent the city at various special events.
City staff recommends evolving the Sweetheart Court program into the Schertz
Young Leaders program in FY 21 -22.
Mayor and Council discussed this and it was the concurrence of Council to
move forward with the program.
Information Item: Available in City Council Packets - NO DISCUSSION TO
OCCUR
Mayor Gutierrez mentioned that agenda item 7 is an informational only item and was
provided in their packets as well as can be found online.
7. COVID -19 UPDATE - Bi- Weekly COVID-19 Update.(C. Kelm/
K.Long /S.Hall)
Requests and Announcements
• Announcements by the City Manager.
Mayor Gutierrez recognized City Manager Dr. Mark Browne who recognized
and congratulated Assistant City Manager Charles Kelm who has been elected
Secretary /Treasurer for Region 8 of the Texas City Managers Association.
• Requests by Mayor and Councilmembers for updates or information from staff.
No updates requested at this time.
• Requests by Mayor and Councilmembers that items or presentations be placed
on a future City Council agenda.
No items requested at this time.
• Announcements by Mayor and Councilmembers
• City and community events attended and to be attended
• City Council Committee and Liaison Assignments (see assignments below)
• Continuing education events attended and to be attended
• Recognition of actions by City employees
• Recognition of actions by community volunteers
Mayor Gutierrez recognized the following:
Mayor Pro -Tem Whittaker who stated she attended the following:
• Citizen Police Academy
® Vaccination Clinic
12th Flying Wing Military Affairs Luncheon
• Chamber Luncheon
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Councilmember Dahle who stated he attended the following:
# Chamber Luncheon
CVLGC Board Meeting
Councilmember Scagliola who stated he attended the following:
. Chamber Luncheon
Various Ribbon Cutting events
Vaccination Clinic
Councilmember Heyward who stated she attended the following:
• Chamber Luncheon
• MAC Luncheon
• Food Drive
• TML Legislative Update Webinar
Adjournment
Mayor Gutierrez adjourned the meeting at 7:12 p.m.
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alph butierrez, Mayor
ATTEST:
Brenda Dennis, City Secretary
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