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4-28-22 MinutesPage 1 of 8 SCHERTZ HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMITTEE THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2022 6:30 PM MEETING MINUTES Committee Members in Attendance: Daniel “Frenchy” Bourgeois Jesse Gonzales Pete Perez Paul Ringenbach Dean Weirtz Judith Williams Rosalyn Wise Committee Members Absent: Patricia Barnes Richard “Monty” Gonzalez Dr. Miguel Vazquez Tricia Whitman Judy Womack City Representatives in Attendance: Brian James Cyndi Simmons CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 6:36 PM by Chair Frenchy Bourgeois. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS No guests present. PRESENTATIONS: • Presentation to the Chairman – Dean Weirtz “This letter is written in recognition of contributions of Major Daniel Bourgeois to the advancement of the Schertz community, heritage, and legacy while a member and leader of the Schertz Historical Preservation Committee from 2019 to 2022. Major Bourgeois volunteered his time and talents, becoming a committee member in May of 2019. He immediately proved his enthusiasm for advancing the Committee’s goals by volunteering to lead subcommittees on publications and community exposure initiatives. He quickly achieved the support and cooperation of his fellow committee members so much so that in 2020, his peers voted him Chairman of the Committee. As Chairman, he led the Committee to new heights. He carried the business of the Committee through its most difficult period as the COVID 19 pandemic created real challenges with regards to the project promotion and membership retention. He led the Committee by example as the first to volunteer for volunteer projects and involvements such as the city’s open house and collection of like-minded newsletters and special edition historical articles. He developed liaisons with the Schertz Public Affairs office that resulted in publication of record numbers of Committee-produced historical articles, reaching thousands of city residents. Major Bourgeois proposed and led the planning and execution of the city’s first annual classic car show which proved to be a tremendous success. Major Bourgeois achieved such success by maintaining close liaison with city of Schertz leadership to include the mayor and all city councilmembers. His leadership style is such that the organization members feel comfortable and at ease when dealing with him. He is a true leader who has made a significant difference in the improvement of the status of the Preservation Committee.” -- Dean Weirtz Page 2 of 8 In addition to those remarks, Dean, on behalf of the entire committee, presented Frenchy with a plaque that summarizes our feelings. The plaque reads, “The Schertz Historical Preservation Committee hereby recognizes Daniel Bourgeois for his outstanding leadership and many contributions to the Committee from 2019 to 2022.” Frenchy thanked the Committee and expressed that it has been a real honor to serve and has had fun doing so. DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION ITEMS: 1. Minutes – Consideration and/or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of February 10, 2022. Motion made by Dean Weirtz and seconded by Rosalyn Wise to approve the minutes as written. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Fund Expenditures – Consideration and/or action regarding the submission of member expense vouchers and approval of fund expenditures. • None reported. 3. Book Sales Report – Consideration and/or action regarding book sale activities during the last quarter and other fiscal activities. • One yellow book was sold last quarter -- $13.85 ($15.00 total, but $1.15 goes to the city). • Rosalyn Wise reports that she bought a brown book at the visitor’s center recently. Dean Weirtz remarked that the sale has yet to be recorded. 4. Publication of the Spring 2022 Committee Newsletter and the Remembrances Special Edition Article 2022-2 – Consideration and/or action regarding the publication of the Committee Spring 2022 Newsletter and the Remembrances Special Edition Article 2022-2. • Dean Weirtz reported that corrections were submitted and have been made to the publications. • Motion made by Judith Williams and Pete Perez seconded to approve the newsletter and the remembrance article. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Schertz Landmark Property/Heritage Neighborhood Designation Nominations – Consideration and/or action regarding Schertz Landmark Property/Heritage Neighborhood designation nominations. • No new nominations reported. 6. Consideration of a “Time Capsule” for development by the SHPC – Consideration and/or action regarding the development of a “Time Capsule”. • Dean Weirtz reports that a subcommittee was formed in early 2021. The subcommittee came to the conclusion as to what general content of the time capsule would be and brought it to the Committee. We’ve briefed it at the Committee twice at two different meetings and it was approved as outlined by the subcommittee. We’ve received only two inputs from the general public and the rest has been set forth in the outline of social, political, and economic issues. It’s ready to be placed. We advertised we would accept submissions until June before placement so we’ll stick to that date sometime in June to put it in place. o Rosalyn Wise has some things she forgot to bring today so she will take them to his house. o Frenchy Bourgeois also commented that it has been advertised in the magazine and Dean Weirtz reports that nothing has been submitted due to those advertisements. Page 3 of 8 o Rosalyn Wise asked if we could still get the aerial photo of I-35 as it is now and Frenchy Bourgeois that he could still get that done. Discussion ensued. 7. Amendment Considerations to the Committee Bylaws – Consideration and/or action regarding the amendment of the Committee bylaws. (Note: At this point, Frenchy’s comments became difficult to hear.) • Frenchy Bourgeois presented the edits that were recommended. • 2.1 – Mission Statement. Dean Weirtz advises that the mission statement can be found in the ordinance that designates three areas of interest, 06-R-35. • 3.1 – Pete Perez suggested to add “as approved by…” Brian James advised that membership is approved by City Council. o Dean Weirtz commented regarding membership. We’re missing 5 members from the membership roll. For those who don’t know, new members come to us from applications submitted to the City Secretary. One that was submitted had actually applied for a different committee and they switched him to our committee which didn’t really strike well because we’re in need of people who are really motivated to be interested in what we’re doing here. We even talked about the fact that we should interview prospective members to find out, 1) How active do they really want to be and 2) Do they have any interest in our committee. Thus, we’re just not an experimental period for people to decide whether they want to stay with us or not. Maybe we could make a recommendation to Brenda Dennis that we have a comment period available for us to talk with potential applicants. o Rosalyn Wise asked Brian James, do we only get to select once per year? Brian answered, no, the way the city has done it in the past is we’ve had all the boards and c commission members expire at the same time at the beginning or end of May and we’d hold a volunteer fair and try to get a large pool of applicants and try to appoint then. But then what happens is that people resign mid-year and they’ll go back to people who didn’t get appointed or new people. The plan now is to stagger those because one of the issues is that it’s too many people on boards and commissions for Council to look at and they’re going to stagger every 3 months some of the boards and commissions expiration dates. To Dean’s point, this is something we’ve talked about with Council because it’s a problem. What happens is that somebody applies for a particular board, i.e. EDC, and there isn’t a spot available and in trying to get this person who is interested in volunteering, they suggest another board or commission. The problem with that is that person doesn’t necessarily have an interested in historic preservation or the parks board and often they’ll say they’ll try it, but then they find they don’t have as much of an interest or commitment or necessarily put in the work that’s needed. We’ve conveyed this issue to Council and let them know we’d like to interview the applicants before Council appoints. Brian James also commented that it’s frustrating and disappointing that somebody gets appointed, doesn’t really have an interest, and attends one meeting and then resigns. o Rosalyn Wise further commented that we can have 14 members for the Committee. Dean Weirtz responded that last summer is when we got the big flux of five new members and they’re gone because he thinks they just didn’t have the interest. Whatever the number, if we have dedicated, devoted members that would be great. 14 members risks losing people because it’s hard to find 14 dedicated people. Brian James responded that while he appreciates Page 4 of 8 the concept but that they’ve always been welcoming for folks attending the meetings but necessarily have to serve on the committee. We’re struggling to find a big number and may do better with a smaller number of more committed folks and then somebody who’s interested can come to the meeting and can contribute. o Rosalyn Wise asked how we invite people to our meetings. Brian James responded that the Committee needs to be ambassadors for the Historic Preservation Committee. We do that as staff when we talk to folks. o Dean Weirtz remarked that he likes the idea of lowering the number on the Committee which we could do by writing a letter to Council indicating that we would appreciate having our number lowered for membership to whatever we would agree to – 7 or 8 – so we don’t have to deal with this issue and the City doesn’t have to deal with the issue of routinely having to replace our 14-member quota. If we have the right people, it makes us assured that we’re going to have a meeting every time where we can vote. o Paul Ringenbach remarked that it doesn’t say we have to have 14, it just says there shall be no more than 14 so we could have 7 members. o Dean Weirtz responded that the resolution says, “14-member Committee” and that we would petition the Council to change the provision. o Rosalyn Wise asked if we could determine the number amongst ourselves. o Brian James remarked that we can change the Resolution by making a recommendation to change it and Council can approve. We’ve changed things about other boards and commissions in the past. It’s not intended to be this “set in stone magna carta” – it’s more of a living document that can be changed. Just make the recommendation and he’s sure that Council is going to show deference to the Committee. o Jesse Gonzales commented that if you go too small, do you risk not having a quorum if somebody’s out. o Judith Williams commented that she recommends we have nine members unless there are more committed individuals. o Motion made by Rosalyn Wise and Judith Williams seconded to set the number of committee members to nine members. Motion passed with six ayes and one nay. Jesse Gonzales opposed because we already have a set 14 members and we’ve never had 14 – it’s just a number. o Frenchy Bourgeois will submit something to City Council to make this change. • 3.2 – Members shall be volunteers… changed to will be. • 3.5.a – Change Appointed members shall be no more than 14 to shall be no more than nine. • 3.5.b – Jesse Gonzales asked why we have non-appointed members. Frenchy explained that they provide input to the committee and have interest in the committee, however, because they are not a resident of Schertz, they are unable to serve as an appointed member. He asked how many non-appointed members we have and Dean Weirtz answered, Tricia Whitman, Judy Womack, and Miguel Vazquez. They all have an interest in the committee and would like to participate. • 4.3 -- Rosalyn Wise would like to see this wording be changed to “whoever is present at a meeting is the quorum” and voting can be done. Dean Weirtz replied that the Committee operates under the Rules of Order that require a majority of the Page 5 of 8 membership to be present to take votes. Rosalyn Wise asked if we could get a hard copy of the Roberts Rules of Order for the Committee to have on hand at meetings to reference. Jesse Gonzales added that he’s on other committees and you need some kind of quorum. Judith Williams also added what if we included an additional statement in this paragraph to say something to the effect that special sessions can be called for special events. For example, if we were to meet in July or August for the October Car Show, that would be a special session and everyone would be aware of that. Rosalyn Wise also commented that they tried to have a Time Capsule meeting and couldn’t get anyone to agree on a date so they didn’t have a meeting. Dean Weirtz responded that they had the initial meeting of the subcommittee in which we outlined what the capsule would consist of and then brought it to the full Committee here twice in April, so there was plenty of discussion and two votes by the Committee to approve what would be the content of the capsule. Jesse Gonzales asked if a subcommittee would also be bound to the quorum rule. Dean Weirtz answered that the subcommittee is only a recommendation body for the full Committee. o Discussion regarding the necessity of a parliamentarian for the Committee. After discussion, it was decided that a hard copy of the Roberts Rules of Orders will be ordered for the Committee to have on hand as well as an electronic copy. • 5.4 – Term of office discussion. Changed to term of elected officers and committee members will be one (1) calendar year term for their duties and roles. • 5.5 – Officers and committee members shall not jointly or individually enter into any legally binding contract on behalf of the Committee. Discussion ensued. Brian James confirmed that any contract between the City and another entity, such as the school district, would go through the City and an ILA (interlocal agreement) would have to be drawn up to cover the contract. Rosalyn Wise asked if the Committee participates or does anything outside of the Committee, we have to get the City’s approval to do that particular project/event? Brian James responded that the intent of it is that the Committee cannot enter into a contract. You can buy items up to a certain amount but the Committee can’t enter into a contract. If the Committee wants to do something that requires a contract it would need to be approved by the City. It can be sent to him to submit to Council. Jesse Gonzales asked about the t-shirts and trophies for the car show and if he should have gone through the City. Brian James answered that yes, it probably should have gone through the City and should next time. • 6.1 – Addition of “Represent the Committee at City of Schertz City Council meetings, activities, etc. as needed.” Dean Weirtz commented that we don’t want to have to oblige the chairperson or the vice-chairperson to go to every City meeting, but if appropriate. Rosalyn Wise commented that she didn’t mean it to be that way, just a general statement that if we’re invited that we represent our Committee, not at every City Council meeting. We were asked to represent at the Main Street, so we participate when asked. • 6.2.b.iv – Change wording to read “Gather data and prepare the Committee’s Annual Report as an executive summary to the City subsequent to the January Committee meeting.” • 7.2 – Change the appointed committee member that leads a sub-committee to be referred to as “Coordinator”. Page 6 of 8 • Revisited 14.4.b – Discussion regarding procedure for removing members from the Committee. Brian James remarked that City Council appoints and ultimately should be the ones to remove a Committee member based on the Committee’s recommendation. • Article XV – Dean Weirtz explained the wording for removing City Council’s approval from this section. The Texas Administrative Code sets forth the requirements for designating historic properties within the State of Texas. They set forth provisions that require municipalities to define special districts. Brian James and Dean have talked about this many times back in 2019. At that time, the legislature in the state came out with a House Bill 2496 which gave us pause. Up to that point, we were bringing all our recommendations to City Council for designating heritage neighborhoods and landmark properties. In 2019 when this additional provision for the state code was passed, the staff took the language that they had in our City code out that required our recommendations to go to City Council. They did that because we didn’t want to make a fuss about what we were doing in the City because if they challenged us – anybody from the county level to the state level – they could tell us to stop and disregard what we’ve done thus far. So, we need to get that out of our bylaws – the fact that we send these recommendations to City Council for approval. Our Committee can designate properties as long as staff continues to agree. It will be an honorary designation as it always has been. Otherwise, if we have to follow the state’s requirements, we’re going to have to provide the rules that are set forth in the Secretary of the Interior’s rules for the amendments to the exterior of properties and properties that are in these districts have to abide by that. With Brian’s experience in other towns and cities who have that such as San Antonio, they have a difficult time with the ownerships of those properties and the restrictions and we don’t want that in our City. He recommends that we still take to City Council for their approval of the honorary designation. o Jesse Gonzales asked why these things we’re deleting were in the bylaws to begin with? Dean Weirtz replied that we didn’t take some things into consideration when the bylaws were last revised. Then it came to our attention that the Texas Code said something different. o Brian James affirmed Dean’s remarks that we didn’t want to unintentionally impose restrictions on properties so we said we would make the designations more of an honorific designation. o Paul Ringenbach suggested that instead of calling it an historic neighborhood, should we actually call it “Honorary Historic Neighborhood”. Brian James replied that he’s not sure that it matters in that regard. We can work with the City Attorney to work on the wording to make it clearer. Dean Weirtz remarked that we may not want to do too much coordinating with the City Attorney – they sometimes take the hard road and start talking about facing a lawsuit. • Frenchy Bourgeois called for a motion to pass the bylaws with the modifications discussed. Jesse Gonzales motioned and Judith Williams seconded to accept the bylaws as written with the modifications discussed at this meeting. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Nominations and Vote for Committee Officers – Consideration and/or action regarding nominations and voting for Committee Officers. • Rosalyn Wise would like to nominate Judith Williams as Chairperson of the Committee and has received her permission. Dean Weirtz seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Page 7 of 8 • Rosalyn Wise would like to nominate Pete Perez as Vice-Chairperson of the Committee and has received his permission. Judith Williams seconded. Motion passed unanimously. • Rosalyn Wise thanked Frenchy and Dean for serving as Chair and Vice-Chair. • Judith Williams also commented and thanked Frenchy for being our Chairperson. 9. Expected Future Committee Involvements/Mission Pursuits – Consideration and/or action regarding future Committee involvements/mission pursuits. • Car Show: o Dean Weirtz remarked that this is where we bring up the car show. If there’s going to be a car show, we need to begin planning. o Rosalyn Wise commented that she was told that the Mayor does want us to have the car show this year. o Dean Weirtz replied that everyone knows his position on this – not meeting the mission that we are appointed, so he’s opposed to the car show. He first and foremost asks the newly appointed Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson if they are behind the car show. Judith Williams responded that she is committed to put on another car show this year. Pete Perez also responded that he is committed 100% and he has spoken with the Mayor and he is for it and we can proceed with the planning. o Dean Weirtz would like to remind the two officers that we surveyed the membership for volunteers for positions on the subcommittee and we got one volunteer and no others. We need to have volunteers to carry this out. 10. Subcommittee Reports • Historian – Rosalyn Wise reports that she is planning the “Looking Back” articles for Schertz magazine 2023. Dean Weirtz has given her some material and she’s looking for people who’ve lived in Schertz since the 60’s and 70’s to provide information on how Schertz was back then. She’s given some information to Pete Perez that he can tweak on. Dean Weirtz has also given her contact information for others who have lived in Schertz that may provide information for the articles. She’s also going to reach out to Tricia Whitman for another article on Native Americans. She’d like to thank Paul Ringenbach for verifying her data before it went into the magazine. • Outreach – Dean Weirtz reports that we had Easter greetings sent to us from our sister history society in France and this month they are providing their community an exposition from their history from 1972-2022. They sent us a miniature poster that they will be using for that event with an invitation. He also reports that he’s continued to attend the Main Street Committee meetings and that committee is now working with a contractor to put forth a final plan for the amenities on Main Street. This is a long-term project. REQUESTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: 11. Request by Committee Members that items be placed on a future agenda. • Car Show 12. Requests by Committee Members to City Manager and Staff for information. • Robert’s Rules of Order book and digital version. 13. Announcements by Committee Members Page 8 of 8 • Jesse Gonzales reports the Knights of Columbus celebrated 50 years of service to the Schertz community and he was able to persuade the Mayor to have the Council issue them a Proclamation of Congratulations and was able to get an article into the Schertz Magazine also congratulating them for 50 years in Schertz. Dean Weirtz asked Jesse for a copy of the article to be included in the next Remembrances newsletter. • Dean Weirtz announced that we had a completion of a restoration project in our heritage neighborhood on 1st Street. There was an overgrown area that covered our plaque and Parks & Recreation landscaped the area so it’s much better. A thank you note was sent to the City for that work. • Dean Weirtz announced that another landscape project is underway at the Kramer House. ADJOURNMENT Pete Perez motioned and Dean Weirtz seconded that the meeting be adjourned. Motion passed unanimously and meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM.