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02-19-2015 Approved MinutesNortheast Partnership for Economic Development City of Selma City Council Chambers 9375 Corporate Drive Selma Texas 78154 MINUTES OF MEETING Thursday, February 19, 2015, 6:30 p.m. 1. Call to Order and Establish a Quorum. Mayor Carpenter called the workshop to order at 6:31 p.m., as a quorum was present. Mayor Carpenter welcomed those present. NEP Members present were: Mayor Michael Carpenter, Schertz Mayor Mary Dennis, Live Oak Mayor Lisa Jackson, Cibolo Mayor John Williams, Universal City Mayor Tom Daly, Selma Mayor Pro -Tem John McCaw, Garden Ridge Mr. Ken Roberts, City Administrator, Selma Ms. Monique Vernon, City Administrator, Kirby Mr. Johnny Casias, Assistant City Administrator, Selma Mr. John Kessel, City Manager, Schertz Ms. Brenda Dennis, City Secretary, Schertz Guadalupe Regional Mayor's Association: Mayor Jeff Hunt, City of Santa Clara Mayor Glenn Hild, City of Marion Mayor Pro -Tem Bill Seiler, City Of Marion Francesca Caballero, Mayor's Office City of San Antonio Special Guests: Lt. Col Robin Baldwin, 12th Flying Training Wing Randolph Air Force Base Commissioner Tommy Calvert, Precinct 4, Bexar County Chief of Staff, Ms. Amy Calvert, Precinct 4, Bexar County Mr. Kevin Fleming, Driver for Shanna Igo Ms. Shanna Igo, Texas Municipal League 2. Introduction Mayor Carpenter thanked everyone for being here this evening and went around the room and those present introduced themselves. Mayor Carpenter stated that he had invited the Guadalupe Regional Mayor Association this evening to join them. Mayor Carpenter stated we have two special guests this evening Commissioner Tommy Calvert, Precinct 4 Bexar County, and Lt. Col Robin Baldwin, 12 Flying Training Wing, Randolph Air Force Base. Mayor Carpenter recognized Commissioner Calvert who thanked those that were here this evening for what they do for their communities. He stated he is very impressed with the unity of the organization, and is keenly aware that many times the northeast part of our county feels left out. Commissioner Calvert stated the reason he is coming to them is to let you know that he has not forgotten them and in fact what he is trying to do is improve county services for all citizens of northeast Bexar County. He stated that in a week or two he is going to the Commissioners Court and ask for support for acquiring 51.5 acres adjacent to the Randolph air strip, off of 1604, for in essence what will be called a County Annex. This would be one stop shop. He stated that this idea originally came because our sheriff was building a northeast sheriff substation to deal with the growth population and that we have one of our big crime hot spots in the northeast, the Glen area, as you may have heard. He stated that in an effort to increase response times to the citizens of the northeast area they are building a sheriff's substation because sadly, the sheriff's deputies commute from the farthest point away from the majority of population in Bexar County. Unfortunately right now they are in cubicles and he was upset that their captains and chiefs have to work without file cabinet space. He stated that they had three sites that were finalists. One site was next to a nursing facility, one was next to a residential area, and he mentioned that the residents would be calling due to testing sirens six times a day. Commissioner Calvert stated the site off of 1604, near Randolph is nicely anchored between 35 and 10 for deployment. He stated that this particular piece of property is not close to any residential and when they looked at the price of the land it was more than what the County had budgeted. He stated what he did was he contacted the Packo Valentine USDA Administrator, who he has been courting for dollars before he became County Commissioner and he stated that he likes the project and would like to fill the gap in finding the financing. He stated that during the course of looking at what the cost of eight (8) acres along 1604 was and then the entire 51 acres, we were going to pay about 1.8 million for the 8 acres but 3.8 for the 51 acres. In looking forward down the road, it makes sense for them to not only think about the Sheriff's substation but also putting an annex where citizens can pay their taxes, check their court records, obtain various licenses, etc., a one stop shop for county services to serve the citizens. He stated that he also got the University Health System to agree to pay for half the land. They will contribute about 1.9 million, the USDA will give us funds for the project as they have 47 different types of grant programs which can apply for and they have everything from monies for economic development, public facilities, broad band, water, and have a hard time giving the money away. They will give us a 40 year mortgage at 3% interest; they buy the bonds so we do not have to go to the bond market. USDA is on board to help. Commissioner Calvert provided the following background information: • Commissioners Court allocated $7 million dollars for Northeast side Sheriff substation • $500K - $700K for land acquisition • Location to assist with deployment to crime hot spots and population centers • 3 final locations but 1 location with unanimous support of Commissioner Calvert, Judge Wolff, Commissioner Adkisson, and Sheriff Pamerleau • Cost of 8 acres along 1604 and Rocket Lane was $600,000 — $1 million more than Commissioners Court budgeted. Substation Site Rationale Information: • With siren testing 6 times per day, Rocket Lane location the only location not adjacent to housing, nursing homes, residents, etc., • Rocket Lane helps protect Randolph AFB from housing encroachment — consistent with JLUS • Best for deployment of deputies to IH 10, IH 35, FM 79, and 1604, and in the growth area of Precinct 4 • Close to crime hot zones, largest population, and future growth. Substation Site Rationale Information: • Due to increased land cost, new sheriff substation building may have been reduced in size without additional funding • In an effort to assist the County with building a substation with the same specifications as Commissioners Court desired, Commissioner Calvert sought the partnership with USDA • Commissioner Calvert also sought out additional partners to help lower Bexar County costs 51,5 Acre County Campus Rational • $1.7 million dollar price for 8 acres for substation • $3.8 million for 51.5 acres in an area that needs access to County Services • 11 -14 miles from nearest UH Clinic • Judson ISD had agreed to consolidate its taxes to Bexar County Tax Assessor - Collector • Randolph AFB wants County as neighbor to avoid housing encroachment County Annex Campus information: • Phase 1: Build Sheriff substation, one - stop -shop County Annex with tax collection, veteran benefit sign -up, office for Justice of Peace, Constable, Commissioner satellite, clerk, and other services • Phase 2: Build UHS Northeast Clinic for family medicine and urgent care, park • Phase 3: Randolph 2 -3 acres land swap or 50 year lease agreement with Air Force. County seeks private development plan of pads for upper -end restaurants or highest and best use development. Financial Leverage: • UHS will pay for half of 51.5 acres land cost, approximately $1,900,000 dollars and build its first northeast side clinic. • USDA loan application for a 40 year term and 3% interest • Bexar County saves $42,762.77 per year for 30 years • Revenue from Randolph AFB land swap to help pay for USDA loan Commissioner Calvert stated he is here this evening to ask for a letter of support from the Northeast Partnership Mayors group regarding support for a proposed project for a 51 acre Bexar County Annex to be located in Northeast Bexar County in the vicinity of Loop 1604 and the Rocket Lane area. Mayor Carpenter stated that a draft letter of support has been passed out to each member to review and provide their comments. Mayor Carpenter took comments from members present stating that this project is worthy of support. Mayor Carpenter recognized Mayor Williams who moved to set aside the rules and to consider acceptance of the letter, seconded by Mayor Daily. Motion passed Mayor Carpenter asked if all those present agreed to the draft letter with certain grammatically changes. Members present unanimously approved the letter. Mayor Carpenter recognized Mayor Dennis who moved to go back to the normal rules of procedure, seconded by Mayor Daly. Motion passed. Mayor Carpenter recognized Lt. Col. Robin Baldwin who provided information regarding a handout entitled "Author's /Sponsor's Statement of Intent (Airport Disclosure) (Expansion of Texas Local Government Code 397 and 397A). "Preventing the encroachment of military installations has become one of the top priorities of the U.S. Department of Defense. To ensure the military's ability to maintain operation readiness in defense of the United States, it is necessary to foster compatible land use between military installations and adjacent communities. This amendment expands upon Texas Local Code 397 and 397A, which allows the readiness of military installations to be preserved alongside the growth and expansion of communities by requiring certain defense communities to meet and confer with defense base authorities regarding any proposed ordinance, rule, plan, or structure within eight miles of the base's boundary line. Further, this amendment also allows for defense communities and installations to reduce the area of coordination regarding any proposed ordinance, rule, plan, or structure as determined by memorandum of agreement in order to reduce the burden of unnecessary coordination ". Lt. Col. Baldwin stated the purpose of the act relating to providing certain information to the public and to purchasers of affected property regarding impact of certain military airport operations is to ensure that potential buyers of property located within a military airport's clear zone, accident potential zone, or high noise areas are informed of the risks to personal safety and quality of life prior to consummating a contract on the purchase of property. He stated in the State of Texas, there is currently no mechanism which compels property owners to alert potential buyers that their property is significantly impacted by high - volume, sustained military aircraft operations near military airports. For example, Joint Base San Antonio- Randolph conducts more than 200,000 takeoffs and landings a year in fighter- trainer jet aircraft. These operations are very safe; however, in the unlikely event of a crash, statistical studies conducted by the Air Force indicate that the most likely areas where an aircraft will crash are in the clear zone and accident potential zones of the military airport. Further, these aircraft create sustained jet aircraft noise on a daily basis throughout the year that has the potential to emit levels of noise that would be incompatible with certain land uses. Proper notification of the impacts and risks of these operations will provide consumer protection by increasing transparency to a prospective buyer during the real estate transaction by bringing attention to all aspects of flying that may affect the ability of these buyers to adequately make an informed decision on proceeding with the transaction. Proper notification ensures that property owners knowingly accept the knowledge and potential risks to personal safety and potential effects on quality of life associated with flying operations and will help ensure that the military airport's operations are able to continue, unhindered. JBSA - Randolph and some leaders in the real estate industry agree in principal that sellers should direct buyers to view the Air Installation Compatible Use Zone Study or Joint Land Use Study that will be available on Joint Base San Antonio's website if they believe they are within three miles of a military airport. This will inform the buyer that they should accomplish their own research with available resources in order to determine if they accept the risks of living in a high noise or clear or accident potential zone. This approach informs the buyer, yet protects the seller, broker, and property values. Finally, the proposed bill is narrowly drafted to include only military airports within Bexar and Guadalupe County. 3. Old Business (a) Discussion regarding the 2015 Legislative Bill proposals, (a) TML Representative Shanna Igo: Mayor Carpenter introduced Ms. Shanna Igo, TML Representative who provided an update on the 2015 Legislative session and bills that have been filed. She passed out a pamphlet entitled `How cities work'. TML put this together about eight years ago and they update it every year and distribute them at the legislature sessions because it is amazing how many people don't really understand what all cities do. They also put one together for new councilmembers and mayors. She stated there are only 103 days left for the current legislative session. They are anticipating about 7,000 to 8,000 bills being filed this session compared to about 6,500 last time. Each session sees more bills being filed than in prior years. The House right now is split in about one thirds: Democrats, Republicans, and Tea Party. The Senate is led by the Democrats. The dynamics assure it is going to be an interesting year and also because of all the new faces. The governor is not a political animal but more of a policy guru. The message we are sending to the legislature is that we are partners with the state and provide infrastructure. She started with TML 26.5 years ago after working seven years with the senate. Back then it was unheard of for the cities to partner with the state or donate right of ways for highways. There is about 112 million dollars that cities give to TxDOT. We also fund about 60 percent of the Comptroller's office by fees of sales tax. She met with one of the railroad commissioners yesterday who does not want cities to have any authority of oil and gas regulation within their city limits. The cities are the foundations for economic growth. In the last two election cycles the voters passed bonds for highways and bonds for water. It is the cities who are going to issue these bonds and build a water plan. According to an official state comptroller report the state's debt increased by twice as much as the cities debt during the years from 2009 -2013. In regard to property taxes, cities are only 16 percent of that, schools are 55 percent. From 2010 to 2014, state debt grew 17 percent and city debt grew by 12 percent. The state is good about shifting the blame to someone else. She stated revenue account is her number one top priority. Senate Bill 118. The Lt. Governor asked her to get some numbers statewide on a projection that if every city did a 4 percent property tax rollback what would the numbers be. It would have been about $130 million. This would only result in about $2.50 per month per household which is not significant for a `property tax relief effort. What they are trying to do is make the system look like California. Ms. Igo spoke regarding managing city debt the Texas Way: "Conservatively while supporting economic growth ". She stated that if you listen to some politicians and political groups, you might think Texas cities are borrowing money as fast as the mint can print it. Nothing could be further from the truth. The city officials elected by Texas voters are using various types of borrowing in a fiscally responsible way to finance the roads, water and sewer systems, and fire and police stations required for our fast growing population. And what government debt is growing as the fastest rate? That would be borrowing at the state level, not the local level. She provided a fact sheet. She stated last session, the legislature increased transparency by requiring that more information be available about local bond elections at polling places and on the Internet. Texas voters today have access to more information about city finances and city debt than at any time in the state's history. Ms. Igo stated that bills have been introduced to cap the amount of property tax revenue cities can collect each year in a misguided effort to reduce the property tax burden on homeowners and businesses. Currently, if a Texas City increases property tax collections by more than eight percent over the previous year, voters can petition for an election to rollback the increase. Bills have been introduced to replace that eight percent "rollback rate" with a hard cap of four percent and require mandatory elections on an increase over four percent, all with the false claim that this would provide property tax relief. She stated cities are not the cause of high property taxes. Cities collect just 16 percent of the property taxes levied in Texas. Most of the property taxes paid by Texans (55 percent) go to school districts. According to the comptroller's report, the total amount of property taxes collected by cities rose by 3.61 percent between 2012 and 2013, while school district tax collections rose by more than twice that rate or 7.72 percent. School property taxes have been rising because the legislature continues to reduce the state's share of funding for schools which forces districts to get more revenue from property taxes. Imposing a revenue cap on cities does not provide meaningful tax relief. Robs cities of the ability to meet local needs, diverts attention from the real cause of higher property taxes. Ms. Igo spoke briefly on SB 343 "Abolish Local Control, Centralize Power in Austin. SB 343 would totally upend the relationship between Texas cities and state government, making Texas like the State of New York. City voters and locally elected officials would have to get the state legislature's permission to enact any local ordinance. SB 343 would abolish Home Rule cities and end local control. Ms. Igo stated the first week in March will be the beginning of some hearings so have as much contact with your representatives and senators. Discussion continued regarding various contact methods and what legislative persons to connect with or not. She stated that their website has continued information on the proposed bills which are being filed. 3. Old Business (b) Discussion regarding upcoming 2015 Legislative Session No further discussion. 4. New Business: 1. Discussion regarding support of the San Antonio Grand Prix at RAFB. Mayor Carpenter opened discussions regarding the possibility of holding the San Antonio Grand Prix at Randolph. Mayor Carpenter recognized Lt. Col. Robin Baldwin with the 12 Flying Training Wing who stated that it would be very difficult to host this event at Randolph. Members present concurred that due to the comments of Lt. Col. Robin Baldwin, they would let Mr. John Thurman know that Randolph would not be the best place for the Grand Prix. 2. Discussion regarding offering financial support to the Heidi Search Center. Members discussed the possibility of providing funds from the Northeast Partnership For Economic Development group. Members discussed this and recommended that this be placed on the April 9, 2015 agenda for the members to discuss and possible approve some type of funding. Mayor Dennis stated that she likes the idea but just wanted those to be very careful that we do not get away from our mission, and that's economic development and keep this in mind as we hear about special projects. 3. Discussion regarding offering financial support to Northeast Alamo Colleges for: (9) Scholarships at $300.00 each for the Academic Scholarships and (5) Scholarships in the Name of Hal Baldwin for the Robotic Camp Students at $250.00 each. Next step is to contact Ms. Kathi Ashworth with Alamo College and send the money for the scholarships. Mayor Williams explained each program and scholarship answering questions from members. Members present discussed continuing financial support and those present agreed to continue supporting the programs and the scholarship amounts as stated above. Members discussed doing other things such as fund rising activities, like hosting a golf tournament for various scholarship requests. No vote needed. 4. Discussion regarding choosing a date to go to Austin: - Tuesday, March 17, - Members Lounge 11 -2 - Wednesday, March 18, Agriculture Museum 11 -2 Mayor Carpenter stated that when he was up in Austin a few weeks ago, he stopped by State Representative Joe Farias office and they provided the dates of Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 11 to 2, at the Members Lounge and Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 11 to 2, at the Agriculture Museum. Mayor Carpenter stated that we would not be able to bring in lunch in the Museum, but could in the Member Lounge. Members present discussed and confirmed that they should go up on Tuesday, March 17th and asked that we confirm with Representative Farias office. City Secretary Brenda Dennis stated that she would contact his office and get the details and then stated that we need to move quickly with securing a bus as well as a location for pick up and drop off. Mayor Carpenter recognized Mayor Dennis who stated that she believed we could use the parking lot at Livingway Christian Church in Live Oak for those to park and for those to meet the bus in that parking lot. Mayor Dennis confirmed that we could use a section of the parking lot for those going on the trip to park their vehicles. 5. Items of Interest by the Member cities. Members discussed 6. Establish a Date, Time and Location of the next meeting. (Next up is the City of Converse to host — Thursday March 5, 2015) Mayor Carpenter recognized City Secretary Brenda Dennis who stated that Mayor Suarez would be out of town that day and has asked if the City of Garden Ridge would be amendable to switch months. She stated if Garden Ridge could take the next meeting in March then he would be able to host the April meeting. Mayor Carpenter recognized Mayor Pro -Tern John McCaw who stated that he did not see a problem with this and would check Mayor Knaus and get back to us. 7. Adjournment. Mayor Carpenter adjourned the joint meeting at 8:42 p.m. PASSED AND- ARPROVED THIS DAY MARCH 2015. Ma rtKEchael R. Carpenter, NEP Chairman