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SSLGC 03-18-1999 MINUTES OF THE SCHERTZ/SEGUIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT CORPORATION THE STATE OF TEXAS i COUNTY OF GUADALUPE i SCHERTZ/SEGUIN LOCAL i GOVERNMENT CORPORATION i On this, the 18th day of March, 1999, the Schertz/Seguin Local Government Corporation convened at 1 :30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Schertz Municipal Complex located at 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas with the following members being present and in attendance: Robin Dwyer Ramon Cook Jim Wolverton Sidney Bauer Gloria Rivera President Vice-President Secretary Director Director constituting a majority of the persons appointed to the Board and a quorum for the transaction of business, and notice of such meeting having been duly given in accordance with the provisions of Texas law. Also in attendance were Ken Greenwald, Kerry Sweatt and Jack Hamlett. Absent: Eric Vordenbaum. Due to the fact President Dwyer was going to be late, the meeting was called to order by Vice-President Ramon Cook. The first order of business was approval of minutes for the meeting of February 18, 1999. Director Rivera moved to approve the minutes, as submitted, for the meeting of February 18, 1999. Secretary Wolverton seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote of all Directors present. The second order of business was a report from the consultant regarding the water study. Mr. Crockett Camp reported he had attended a Regional Planning Group meeting this last week as an alternate for Director Rivera. He asked them directly if the Schertz/Seguin Local Government Corporation's Carrizo project was included on their agenda in the item they had adopted some time ago for the Carrizo study, and their consultant told him it was not. What they've adopted up to this point is the option that is San Antonio only bringing water from the Carrizo. They are also looking at what they call new options. The ones they've adopted have been part of the Trans Texas Study. Vice-President Cook commented those are very old - going back as far as 1957. Mr. Camp indicated they are going to rehash the Trans Texas Study one more time. Mr. Camp then went on to say one of the newer options included local communities bringing water from the Carrizo and is worded as "local communities located over the Carrizo" which our communities are not. He spoke with their consultant about having a wording change that would include communities like the Corporation's which are bringing water from the Carrizo for local purposes. Mr. Camp indicated that where this leaves the Corporation is that for the next few years the planning of the Regional Planning Group is of little consequence to this project because the Corporation will have water coming out of the pipe probably before their plan is effective. If it turns out, however, that the Corporation has the capacity to deliver more water than the immediate needs of their communities, then that part should be considered for inclusion in the Planning Group's plan so the Corporation has the capacity to bring more water into the area. In his opinion, the Regional Planning Group has not considered the Corporation's project by itself, because they consider it a done deal. It is on their list of things that will be finished before their plan comes out. Mr. Camp recommended he stay the course with Director Rivera and keep pushing so there's the option to continue the kind of work he's doing on behalf of the Corporation so it's not just the City of San Antonio that can bring water into the area. Mr. Hamlett asked, even if they consider it a done deal, can't it be put on the agenda and considered as a project that is there. Mr. Camp replied it's a strange situation - no one says no. It's like walking into a really fine-feathered pillow and then you realize you've been smothered. When you ask if our plan is there, then they answer no, your plan is already done - you are on our list of projects already finished. Then when you ask what happens if the Corporation brings in more water than the Planning Group has considered, they answer you're in new option 2A. We are not in option 2A because we are not in communities located over the Carrizo. Mr. Camp said he then asked if option 2A could be amended to include the Corporation and was told yes, but it remains to be seen. Mr. Hamlett pointed out that the City of Seguin has another option which needs to be in there. When the pipeline is installed, they have the ability to use the water on the river. Mr. Camp agreed and also mentioned that suppose they are not considered in that way and they need to go to the Water Development Board in a few years to make a project, they may be precluded from doing that if they are not part of this plan. For the immediate needs of the Corporation's project, what the Regional Planning Group is not doing won't stop that. Mr. Camp then reminded them he had told them previously that the Water Development Board was very interested to see if it's possible for them to participate in this project. They may not be able to consider that five years down the road if the Corporation is not part of this plan. In the next three years it won't have much effect, but beyond that it will have a very definite effect. The Corporation's very fortunate to have a Board member that's on the Planning Group. Mr. Camp stated he finds it difficult to have a clear proposal before this Planning Group to vote on. He doesn't think there would be sentiment against this project. Vice-President Cook observed that considering what it's bringing along, the Planning Group's tail is pulling a big load already - an economic load and is promising more. Mr. Camp added it's difficult to get a focus. They managed to meet all day that day and no one knew, even their facilitator, where they were. They basically had to quit without making any decisions and tell the consultant to go back and redo the list. They did not adopt any of the projects. When asked if it was part of the TNRCC, Mr. Camp replied no, it's part of the Development Board. He than said the staff of this Planning Group is the San Antonio River Authority and GBRA is certainly a big part of that. The consultant is HDR who also did Trans Texas. What the Corporation wants is enough recognition to get into one of these plans so they're not forever precluded from working. Director Rivera pointed put this is a new approach to planning. It is not from the top down, it is from the bottom up. It is uncharted waters and the procedures haven't been set in stone. It is a trial and error procedure and she can imagine how hard it is to select options. At one of the meetings they asked everyone to vote and select which options would be chosen. It really wasn't the Corporation's option, it was the option of bringing water from the Carrizo to San Antonio. Mr. Camp noted there have been some questions about the population figures they were using. Apparently the cities corrected, but they took it out of the hide of the county. If they are going to have something in their plan that is the Trans Texas option they adopted, which is basically that San Antonio brings 90,000 acres of water from the Carrizo, what if the Corporation's project has already taken a portion of that away. There's a reason for them to have our project in their plan and we have to work with the members of the Planning Group to understand that. The question is what is their understanding of the potential of our project and shouldn't they consider the potential of our project in their other plans. It includes side issues like what will happen to Seguin surface water. Director Rivera wondered if when all the options are chosen, would they be able to tell if one option excludes another. Mr. Camp commented the Manager of SAWS remarked it's fine they're going to vote an all these tasks and have a scope of work and have a budget, but has anyone added this up to see if comes to 600,000 acre feet of water. It's fine to have all these separate projects, but until you've added them together, you don't have any idea what the total is. Until the Corporation's project is in there, they will not get a correct reading on the Carrizzo option. They are a long way from getting where they need to be until all these things are considered. Mr. Sweatt noted the problem with planning calling it "from the ground up", (and that's a great concept) is that this is the ground up and somebody somewhere in the process is diffusing it. Director Rivera stated that's why she was glad Mr. Camp could be there. The Planning Group has come a long way, but there's still along way to go. The Corporation's project has a lot of credibility and the timing of it is perfect. It is a step in the right direction and the next hurdle is to get it into the options. That hasn't been accomplished yet. Keith Pate asked Mr. Camp what he feels the odds are for changing the verbiage to get the Corporation's project on the Planning Group's agenda and when that might be accomplished. Mr. Camp replied it is incumbent on him to follow up on that. Mr. Pate said the reason he's asking is that yesterday both the House and Senate Natural Resources had on their agenda the bill to push the time line back four months. Mr. Camp explained this is the time line on the entire Senate Bill 1 planning process. Vice- President Cook commented it has already gone from the Senate to the House for the changes in this particular Corporation. Mr. Camp, saying if they're talking about the Guadalupe County group, he had checked a couple of days ago and it had not been introduced yet. Mr. Sweatt indicated Edmund Kuempel's office is waiting on the public notice now - there is a requirement they post it so many days in the newspaper. Mr. Hamlett reported the public notice has been taken care of - they contacted his office about it. He's also pretty sure they have the affidavit. He signed the letter yesterday to send it and the notice forward. Mr. Camp related the bill-filing deadline has passed, but it takes a two-thirds vote of the House for them to introduce a bill. He has never known the House to fail to allow a local bill to be introduced. Mr. Camp then distributed copies of a poll that the Planning Group had sent out saying it is not a statistically valid poll because they carefully chose who it went to, so it was not a random group. Director Rivera expressed the desire that everyone have a copy of the poll and fill out the questionnaire and send it in. There was some discussion about the questionnaire. Director Rivera then talked about a committee formed in 1997 called the Integrated Resource Planning Committee and explained their purpose and some of their activities. Referring to the questionnaire, Mr. Camp said he suspects that if you don't put your address on it and something to identify yourself, it will not be counted. Before concluding his report, Mr. Camp noted the Planning Group meets once a month and he will plan to attend their next meeting and he and Director Rivera will double team them. Director Rivera once again expressed appreciation for Mr. Camp's attendance at the Regional Planning Group meeting. At this time, Secretary Wolverton reminded the Board they have a letter from the Panda Group supporting their efforts on the water project. They are ready, willing and able to meet when we feel it is appropriate. Keep in mind they said they have a need for water and are ready to provide us any assistance in developing a water supply. When the time is right, they would like to come and speak to us. Vice-President Cook suggested keeping them posted on the Corporation's progress and then pointed out they did not mention the checkbook. Mr. Wolverton admitted they didn't mention it specifically, but offered "any assistance" in developing a water supply. The next order of business was discussion of the time and frequency of future meetings. Mr. Sweatt advised the Board they had a received a memo in their packets. He thinks a meeting twice a month was appropriate at first, but now feels a once-a-month-meeting would be satisfactory for them to take care of business. His suggestion is that they alternate every other month between the cities of Schertz and Seguin. Director Bauer asked Mr. Camp if this would cause any trouble for him and Mr. Camp replied that if something comes up, he would not hesitate to call a meeting. As a matter of fact though, he thinks it may work better to have more time between meetings. After some questions by Mr. Hamlett and subsequent discussion, it was decided to have the once-a-month meeting on the third Thursday. Secretary Wolverton moved to revise the meeting schedule from the first and third Thursdays of every month to only the third Thursday every month and alternate that meeting between the cities of Schertz and Seguin, and to start that change in the month of April. It was suggested by Director Rivera he amend his motion to include the fact special meetings could be called when necessary. Secretary Wolverton amended his motion as suggested. Director Bauer seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote of all Directors present. President Dwyer arrived at the meeting tit 2:05 p.m. Before going into Executive Session, the Board took a short break. The third item of business was an Executive Session called under Chapter 551 Local Government Code, Subsection 551.072, deliberation regarding real property. An Executive Session was held from 2:18 p.m. until 3:05 p.m. The fourth item of business was to consider and take action as a result of Item #4. Director Rivera moved to authorize Crockett Camp and Keith Pate to negotiate on acquisition of property and land discussed in the Executive Session and to report the results back to the Board. She also included in her motion that Mr. Camp and Mr. Pate let the Executive Director and the Treasurer know if they need something before the next meeting. Secretary Wolverton seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous vote of all Directors present. President Dwyer then asked if there was any other business for the Board to consider. At this time it was verified that the next meeting will be held on April 15, 1999 in Seguin at the usual time and place. There being no further business offered, it was moved and seconded that the meeting be adjourned. Upon a vote being taken, the motion carried by a unanimous vote of all Directors present and the meeting was adjourned at 3: 12 p.m. MINUTES APPROVED this the day of .1999. Signatures of all Directors Robin Dwyer, President Ramon J. Cook, Vice-President Jim Wolverton, Secretary Sidney Bauer, Director Gloria Rivera, Director