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7-28-22 MinutesPage 1 of 6 SCHERTZ HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMITTEE THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2022 6:30 PM MEETING MINUTES Committee Members in Attendance: Patricia Barnes Sue Boissoneault Robert Durham Jesse Gonzales Patrick Naughton Pete Perez Paul Ringenbach Dr. Miguel Vazquez Roz Wise Committee Members Absent: Tricia Whitman Judy Womack City Representatives in Attendance: Brian James Cyndi Simmons CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 6:30 PM by Vice Chair Pete Perez INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS Robert Durham, Patrick Naughton, and Sue Boissoneault, and Jill Whittaker introduced themselves. DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION ITEMS 1. Minutes – Consideration and/or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of April 28, 2022. The minutes were not distributed in advance; therefore, it was agreed to table approval of April 28, 2022 minutes to allow more time for review. 2. Fund Expenditures – Consideration and/or action regarding the submission of member expense vouchers and approval of fund expenditures. • Pete Perez reports that he is requesting to spend $1,030.50 on 30 trophies for the car show. • Jesse Gonzales sent an email to everyone regarding the purchase of the car show t- shirts, $12.50 per shirt x 130 shirts for a total of $1,625.00. • Patricia Barnes passed out a packet with a process flow for invoicing. 3. Book Sales Report – Consideration and/or action regarding book sale activities during the last quarter and other fiscal activities. • Roz Wise reports that she went to the various locations where the books are sold and there haven’t been any books sold. The yellow books are sold out and there are no more copies available. She distributed books to each location – library (7 books), visitor’s center (5 books), and the city admin building (4 books), and she has 11 at her home for a total of 27 books. There are still 2 boxes of 19 each at the Purchasing Department with Jerry McFarland. • We need to order more books. Dean Weirtz sent Roz an email indicating the last time books were ordered, he ordered 300 yellow books and 100 brown books. Dean Weirtz also gave her the thumb drive with the information from each book. Page 2 of 6 o Patricia Barnes asked what the difference is between the brown book and the yellow book. Roz replied that the brown book is called “a photo history” and the yellow book is more written information. Patricia asked how long ago they were printed and how long did it take to sell 300 books? o Roz Wise remarked that the photo book is $25 and the yellow book is $15 and she believes that’s why the yellow book sold out faster. Dean Weirtz advised her that the quality of the brown book is better – hardcover, quality of paper, etc. o Miguel Vasquez suggested that we update the yellow book with additional information since the printing of this book. o Roz Wise asked if someone would like to look at this project. Patrick Naughton offered to take on this project. o Jesse Gonzales suggested that we check with Randolph Air Force Base to see if they’d like to keep copies on hand. o Patricia Barnes suggested we could check with realtors to see if they would be interested in purchasing them and giving out to new residents. o Patrick Naughton suggested advertising on social media. o After Brian James arrived at the meeting, discussion went back to the books. Roz Wise asked about the accounts for the book sales. Brian James advised we would need to check into it. She also had been told that for every sale of the $15 book, $1.13 goes back to the city. Brian James advised that he believes that the remainder goes into the SHPC account. The amount the city replenishes in the account is after taking into consideration receipts of book sales. 4. Publication of the Summer 2022 Committee Newsletter and the Remembrances Special Edition Article 2022-3 – Consideration and/or action regarding the publication of the Committee Summer 2022 Newsletter and the Remembrances Special Edition Article 2022-3. • There was no newsletter or Remembrances Article published, so no action needed. • Jesse Gonzales offered to write articles. • Cyndi Simmons offered to accept articles and publish the next newsletter. 5. Schertz Landmark Property/Heritage Neighborhood Designation Nominations – Consideration and/or action regarding Schertz Landmark Property/Heritage Neighborhood designation nominations. • Roz Wise visited with Dean before our meeting and the new owners of the Dietz home on 3009 have agreed to have the home designated as a historical landmark. The new owners are in the process of converting the home into a German tavern. • Pete Perez recommends the Beck home on Beck Street. 6. Amendment Considerations to the Committee By-laws – Consideration and/or action regarding the amendment of the Committee by-laws. • Roz Wise went through each Article and asked for any suggested edits: o Article I Name and Location: No changes. o Article II Purpose: No changes. o Article III Membership: 1. 3.5 (a). Motion by Jesse Gonzales to adjust number of appointed members back to no more than fourteen (14). Pat Barnes seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Page 3 of 6 2. Miguel Vasquez suggested that membership be open to not only a Schertz resident, but or a member that works in Schertz or has a place of business in Schertz. Brian James joined the meeting at this time and remarked that for a lot of our boards and commissions that would not be something that he would support. However, given the work of the historic preservation committee, he would not have a problem with it. We may want to limit the number of members who are not Schertz residents. Parks Board allows one or two members who are not residents. Roz suggested up to three people and Brian agreed. Brian’s opinion is that we have someone that is interested in this committee and interested in sitting on this committee, he wouldn’t even say you have to work here or what not. Brian also agreed that we should get away from voting/non-voting member distinction. Pete Perez does not feel we should allow non-residents as voting members. Miguel Vazquez motioned that all members be voting members and seconded by Pat Barnes. Motion passed with eight ayes and one nay. 3. Changing the wording of 3.1 to state that up to 3 appointed members may be non-residents of Schertz. o Article IV Meetings: 1. Brian James suggested that we start the meeting at 6:00 PM. Almost all of the other boards and commissions begin at 6:00 PM. Consensus was to change meeting start time to 6:00 PM. o Article V Elected Officers: No changes. o Article VI Elected Officer Duties: No changes. o Article VII Subcommittees: 1. Remove 7.2.a o Renumber to add Article VIII o Article IX Parliamentary Authority: No changes. o Article X: No changes o Article XI: Publications o Article XII Property/Artifacts Offerings: No changes. o Article XIII Committee Budgeting: No changes. o Article XIV Member Expense Vouchering: Roz White wanted to see (a) and (b) clarified. Brian James explained that as 14.1 (a) reads now, a committee member may purchase something up to $249 and bring it to the committee for reimbursement, with the risk that the committee may or may not approve without prior approval. However, anything over $250 should always be approved by the committee before being purchased. In addition, if you have an item that is between $250 and $1,000, all it needs to do is be pre-approved by the committee. But if somebody has an item that is over $1,000, it must be approved by the committee first and then it needs to be approved by the City Manager’s office so it can be routed through for approval. Brian also explained that it would be a rare occasion for a committee member to purchase something at random up to the $250 and ask for reimbursement before consulting with the committee for approval. 1. Change wording of 13.1 (a) to: Items costing more than $250 but not more than $1,000 must be pre-approved by the SHPC before being purchased. Page 4 of 6 2. Change wording of 13.1 (b) to: Any purchase of $1,000 or more must be approved by the SHPC and coordinated through the Schertz City Manager’s Office for a City of Schertz Purchase Order using Appendix A. 3. Roz White asked Brian James about the two accounts for SHPC. Brian James responded that in our annual budget the city approves the SHPC to spend up to $8,000 each year; however, there is more money than that in the SHPC account (approximately $14,000). If the SHPC needs more than the $8,000 in the year, there needs to be a budget amendment submitted to Council to authorize the overage. o Article XV Designations of Heritage Neighborhoods and Landmark Properties: No changes. o Article XVI Schertz Main Street Area Preservation Incentive Program: No changes. 7. Nominations and Vote for Committee Officers – Consideration and/or action regarding nominations and voting for Committee Officers. • Patricia Barnes has agreed to be Chairperson and Pete Perez would remain as Vice- Chairperson. • Roz Wise made the motion to nominate Patricia Barnes as Chairperson. Sue Boissoneault seconded. Motion passed unanimously. • Miguel Vazquez made to motion to nominate Pete Perez as Vice-Chairperson. Sue Boissoneault seconded. Motion passed unanimously. • Cyndi Simmons asked if Patricia Barnes would then remain as the committee’s finance point of contact. Patricia Barnes responded that she would remain until the car show is concluded. Pete Perez and Brian James also commented that the committee does not have an appointed Treasurer – the city takes on that role. Brian James also reported that James Walters will provide a balance sheet for the committee before each meeting. 8. Car Show Discussion and Expenditure Approval – Consideration and/or action regarding the Car Show and Expenditure Approval. • Pete Perez reports that he is organizing the following and is about finished: o Parking o Volunteers o Judging o Trophies o History Table o DJ • Pat Barnes is organizing: o Flyers o Website o Emails o Payments o Food Truck Vendors o Craft Vendors • Brian James is organizing: o Street Banner - $480.00 • Jesse Gonzales is organizing: Page 5 of 6 o T-shirts – invoice has been sent to Brian James 1. Volunteers will receive a free t-shirt 2. Each car show registrant will receive one free t-shirt o Dance lessons • Roz Wise reports that she is only going to distribute the car show guidebook to new committee members. She also thinks the registration will go a lot smoother and faster this year. o There will be a one table each for: 1. Filling out the registration form 2. Receiving the money 3. Picking-up their t-shirt • Pat Barnes announced for new members that the car show is Saturday, October 15 at Pickrell Park Pavilion and asks that volunteers arrive at 7:30 AM. Car show begins at 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM with the craft show ending at 2:00 PM. Paul Ringenbach suggested a walk-through before the event begins. 9. Subcommittee Reports • Historian – No report. • Outreach – Pat Barnes reports that she has created an SHPC Gmail account: o SchertzHPC@gmail.com, password is SchertzHPC123 and committee members are welcome to log into the account PRESENTATIONS (Note: Moved from beginning of meeting to end so that Brian James could be present) • Schertz/Cibolo Historic Cemetery – Dr. Miguel Vasquez o Schertz-Cibolo Cemetery located off Highway 78 off River Road and Bubbling Springs Road. The German immigrant that came to our area is Ferdinand Michael Dietz. He came from Germany in 1849 on the ship Francisca and landed in Galveston on December 6, 1849 and was 19 years old. He was joined later by his brother, August Dietz. They traveled from Galveston to Indianola, and then up the Guadalupe to New Braunfels and then to what was known as the Cibolo Pit. o The cemetery began when a female farm worker for the Dietz family died in the early 1900s and there wasn’t a place to bury her. Mr. Dietz marked off about an acre and told the workers they could bury their people there and that’s how it started. His workers then referred to him as “Buena Gente” or a “real good man”. o He has spoken with the Dietz family to see if they had any cemetery records and came across some personal notes from Ottomar “Pat” Dietz (d. 1980’s). The first burial in the Dietz family cemetery was in 1868, 5-year-old Agnes Dietz. One entry read: “Another burial plot is also located on the Dietz property, originally known as the Mexican Cemetery. The land was donated by Mr. Dietz upon the death of a young Mexican girl residing with her parents who were his farm workers.” It was great to collaborate what the oral history was on one side with the descendants and then collaborating Ottomar Dietz’s notes. He also spoke about the other cemeteries along Cibolo Creek -- Schneider, Boettcher (sp?), Stopper, and Amiker, and two Seiler cemeteries. o He presented photos of the cemetery. They volunteers have created a “little angels garden” where there are children buried including the original. o There are about 220 total graves. They are a private cemetery but are open to the public. Page 6 of 6 o When he came upon the cemetery about 3 years ago, it was overgrown, a lot of underbrush, and it looked like an abandoned cemetery. There were trenches throughout where two guys had come through and were digging for arrowheads. Therefore, the volunteers had to level out the landscaping. o A new gate has been installed this month. o The cemetery is funded by donations and selling of plots. o Is asking for funding from the City. Brian James suggests that we may want to develop a policy for these types of requests. Once we start funding cemeteries, others will want/expect funding as well. May want to put on a future agenda for guidelines. Would also suggest checking with other communities to what degree the City or Historic Committee is involved with these types of requests. o Paul Ringenbach asked if the application has already been sent to the Texas Historical Commission (THC). Miguel Vazquez confirmed that the application has been sent and approved and the marker has been approved as well. They are in the process of making the plaque. They would like an unveiling when the plaque is being placed. o Brian James also remarked that if the committee feels like this is a worthwhile project to pursue, then the committee can put the time in to reach out to THC to find out what other communities do, calling other cities and other historic committees, etc. He also suggested that the subcommittee be formed with other members and for Miguel Vazquez not be one of the members as to remove any appearance of impropriety. REQUESTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 10. Request by Committee Members that items be placed on a future agenda. • Continue Cemetery Discussion • Pat Barnes will be ordering additional committee member shirts 11. Requests by Committee Members to City Manager and Staff for information. • None 12. Announcements by Committee Members • None The next meeting will be Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 6:00 PM. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 8:53 PM by Pete Perez.