02-15-2017 MinutesMINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
February 15, 2017
A Regular Meeting was held by the Committee of Committees Advisory Board of the City of Schertz,
Texas, on February 15, 2017, at 3:00 p.m., at the Hal Baldwin Municipal Complex Council Chambers
Conference Room located at 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas. The following members present
to -wit:
Chair Richard Dziewit
Board Member Floy `Fae' Simmons
Staff Present:
Executive Director Brian James
Deputy City Secretary Donna Schmoekel
Patty Horan
Guests Present: William Bosch
Members Absent: Barbara Hall, Shonale Burke
Board Member Tim Brown
Board Member Michael Dahle
City Manager John Kessel
IT Director Myles Clauser
EDC Director Kyle Kinateder
Resigned: David Reynolds officially resigned with an effective date of February 14, 2017 via City Council
ratification of his written notice.
Call to Order
Chair Richard Dziewit called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m.
Discussion and /or Action Items
1. Minutes. Consideration and /or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the regular
meeting of January 18, 2017.
Chair Dziewit recognized Board Member Dahle who moved, seconded by Board Member
Brown to approve the January 18, 2017 minutes. The vote was 4 -0 -0. Motion passed.
Reports/Updates/Discussion and /or Action
2. Boards, Committee, Commission report/updates.
Chair Dziewit asked each board member to look at the attachment that Mr. James passed out
listing the recent activities of the various city boards. He asked if anybody had anything else
to add to it. No one did.
City Manager report/updates.
Chair Dziewit recognized City Manager John Kessel who spoke about the handout regarding
the Schertz Community Survey Report conducted last fall by ETC Institute. He went over
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each page of the report and briefly explained the different service categories and the levels of
citizen satisfaction. The company we hired is nationally recognized and they do surveys all
over the United States. The satisfaction levels of Schertz were also compared with levels in
the southwest portion of the country and also throughout the entire United States. This is good
data to have and can be used in the future as we continue to do future surveys maybe every
two years and see if we are making a positive difference. It is good data to have. We need to
have not only the city data but also the trending information and the comparison of those.
The response from the community was good. The original target goal was 400 returns and we
received 601 responses back. The company randomly selected 3,000 households and
contacted them by mail, phone, and /or e -mail. The bottom line up front is that overall the
residents have a very positive perception of the city and its services. Eighty four percent of the
respondents were satisfied with the overall services provided by the City and only 2% were
dissatisfied. Fourteen percent were neutral. There are a bunch of good questions that come
from this survey and you can see the value of having a tool like this so we can ask ourselves
better questions and know how to spend our budget dollars correctly.
The survey covered major interests of the residents such as traffic, road construction, repair,
and expansion, as well as planning for more growth and development and more parks and
recreation programs.
Chair Dziewit said he thought this was a good starting point for us and they can each take
these things back to their own boards /committees and see what they can do to help the others
out on different projects, such as roads in different neighborhoods, parks, etc.
The Schertz Magazine is listed as our number one community communication tool. We need
to maybe concentrate on some other things as well. Committee members discussed different
aspects of communication tools and staff. Do we have enough of each of these? Board
member Dahle suggested communicating with some more HOA's and other groups who can
post things on their websites, Facebook, etc. and assist us in sharing information.
4. Overview of the Information Technology (IT) Department. (B. James/M. Clauser)
Chair Dziewit complimented the GIS Department report who provided a presentation at the
last meeting. He stated it was like a precursor to what this survey is and can balance out and
get us like the complimentary information between what is happening and what we are doing
with the survey. He said maybe we should kind of work on that as well.
Chair Dziewit recognized IT Director Myles Clauser who provided a PowerPoint presentation
and stated he wanted to try to explain how they operate and what information they deal with.
Their mission statement basically means they want to bring new stuff to the city, adapt to
technologies and processes that are working well for others and improve productivities.
Many of our working tools and facilities (i.e. police cars, EMS vehicles, Fire vehicles, aquatic
center) use /need modern day technology to function in our society. IT staff look at e- mails,
flash drives, Wi -Fi, etc. as a potential security risk to our information assets. They currently
manage about 8.8 tera -bytes of data on a daily basis. They also provide connectivity services
to San Antonio, Bexar County, Universal City, and Marion. Cyber security is a big, serious
issue. Since October 1, 2016, they recorded some 375,000 attempts to hack into our network.
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Staff has to monitor and maintain the city's system to monitor that. They also have an ongoing
training program for the employees.
The IT Department is required to look to other regulatory agencies for guidance (Homeland
Security Agency, FBI, National Institute of Standards and Technology, HIPPA Compliant,
PCI, Multistate Sharing Center, etc.
What is coming for the future: Fire Station #3 connections, new workforce solutions (mobile
connectivity), Council Chamber Upgrades, (upgrade our video's, recording, etc.), upgrades to
the city website (page by page), Planning and Inspections (new online software package being
considered). The goal is to improve our productivity and response time.
Our core network plan is our Master Communications Plan, which was approved back in 2012
by Council. There are a lot of things we need to connect and will take some time, several
years in some cases. Ultimately, we will have Wi -Fi in the parks. Mr. Clauser showed a map
of some of the proposed connectivity routes. Our goal for all our public safety employees is to
eventually have a city wide Wi -Fi connection. Mr. Clauser addressed several questions from
the committee members.
5. Overview of the Schertz Comprehensive and Thoroughfare Plans. (B. James)
Chair Dziewit recognized Executive Director Brian James who stated they have a couple of
big projects they want to revamp up now. The two projects that were put on pause before
election season (that just got approved) are 1) an amendment to the Comprehensive Land Use
Plan, and 2) the City Thoroughfare Plan Update. A few things they want to incorporate into
the Thoroughfare Plan are planning for intersection functions, FM 3009, where it stops and
possible additional connections. On both FM 1518 and FM 78 they are also ultimately
planning for more connections. At this point it is a plan for it to happen. They generally try to
run roads along property lines but it isn't always possible. While some property owners don't
want to sell their land for development, others do. However, we have to plan for it or else
then everyone else will struggle and be stuck with what exists.
The other element is we are looking to impose a roadway impact fee. We already do this for
water and sewer. While some developers will build some roads, not all of them will but
someone has to pay for the difference. The traffic that is generated by new development also
has to pay their fair share. If a developer builds a road system, they get credit for that, but if
they don't then they have to pay a fee in lieu of it. Then the city can step up and build one.
A balance is needed in making up for who pays for what. While we don't want to kill
development, we need help keeping up with enough roads.
One of the elements of our Comprehensive Use Plan is the land use plan which basically says
this is how we want to develop the city. The problem is compatibility of those uses
(residential vs. commercial). The issue we have is Randolph Air Force Base (RAFB). As you
have more people moving in, you don't have as many people who have a connection with it.
Randolph also has problems (i.e. issues with birds). Randolph continues to work with the
community to minimize negatively impacting each other. The plan in the past was to be okay
with 1/2 acre lots. However, now there are 500 houses out there. The military said this is not
what they anticipated. So we are running through a land use plan amendment and looking into
those areas.
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There are competing interests that exist, but we have to look at our responsibilities to
everyone as a community. Not everyone will be happy but we have to find a balance between
an individual's interest and the community at large.
After they do this area in south Schertz, they will go back and revisit the other side of FM
1518. We want some areas of medium density and real low density. This affects infrastructure
where medium density will need sewer service and low density would have to use septic. Mr.
James addressed further comments /questions from other members.
6. Future Agenda Items Requested —This is an opportunity for the Board members to request
that items be placed on a future agenda. No discussion of the merits of the item may be taken
at this time.
Discussion among members occurred regarding many residents' lack of knowledge of what
goes on with the committees and boards and lack of proper enforcement of city ordinances
(parking, property maintenance, etc.). Are there enough teeth in our laws? A suggestion was
made if they could reach out to the HOA's and let them know what our city policies are and
what constitutes a violation. It was suggested to have an item on a future agenda regarding
code enforcement and how it works, what current city policy is, and then hold a discussion on
how to improve it. Maybe staff can come back with some other suggestions as well. Then we
can look at sending out some information to the HOA's.
Mr. James recommended they think about if the problem is that the city does not have a
regulation or we don't go out and enforce it quickly enough. What is the expectation we want?
Technically, our goal is not to issue a citation but to correct the problem. It is a balance. Do
we need to adjust that balance? The challenge is for the city to enforce rules evenly. So think
about what you mean by code enforcement and what you think the issue is.
Boardmember Dahle suggested the Code Enforcement Unit come talk to the board about what
they do and provide some data on citations issued by category, and whether it was a complaint
or if they saw the citation on their own. This would be a good start.
Mr. James suggested he get the Municipal Court to give a presentation because if a citation is
issued, it goes to court for settlement.
Boardmember Dahle suggested at some point in the future perhaps a presentation could be
made on the city's capital improvement plans (after the code enforcement topic).
Lastly, Mr. James again reminded everyone to e -mail Brenda and Donna a list of codes that
are most important to you and take pictures if you see something to use as an example.
7. ADJOURNMENT:
Chair Dziewit reminded everyone that the next board meeting will be on March 15, 2017.
Chair Dziewit recognized Board Member Brown who moved, seconded by Board Member
Dahle to adjourn the meeting. The vote was 4 -0 -0. Motion passed.
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As there was no further business, Chair Dziewit adjourned the meeting at 5:01 p.m.
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Feb 15, 2017 CCAB reports from boards and commissions
Last CCAB meeting January 18, 2017
BOA — January 23, 2017 (scheduled)
The Board of Adjustment meets on the 0 Monday of the month, but only if they have a variance request to hear. They
did not have a meeting in January.
Planning and Zoning Commission — January 25 and February 8, 2017
At the January 25th meeting, the Commission approved a plat associated with the next phase of The Crossvine and items
associated with Bindseil Farms, the residential subdivision under construction on Schertz Parkway across from Live Oak
Road. At the February 8th meeting, the Commission approved items associated with the proposed Hallies Cove residential
development on FM 1518, approximately 1,375 feet south of Trainer Hale Road. They also discussed the proposed
Thoroughfare Plan amendment and the Comprehensive Plan update south of Join Base San Antonio Randolph.
Schertz Economic Development Corporation — January 26, 2017
The SEDC Board of Director's reviewed the proposed Schertz Incentive Policy and made a recommendation to send it to
the City Council for their review and approval. The incentive policy outlines the SEDC and City's Chapter 380 incentive
policy. As part of the policy, the SEDC will create incentive programs for existing businesses, small businesses, large impact
businesses and extra -large impact businesses that create or retain primaryjobs in Schertz. The policy establishes incentive
thresholds for each of the programs. Lastly, the policy shifts the primary responsibility of incentives from the City's general
fund to the SEDC funds.
The SEDC Board of Directors entered into an agreement with Texas Plumbing Supply Company (TPS). TPS is a warehouse
and distribution company that will service customers throughout south Texas. Under the agreement, TPS will construct
an approximately 35,000 square foot facility at the corner of Red Iron and Pipestone. TPS will receive a grant once they
start operations in Schertz. TPS must maintain job and investment levels for five years.
TSAC — February 2, 2017
TSAC discussed the need to review and evaluate school zone times relative to when children were having to walk to bus
stops near schools. Staff reviewed the list of pending items including replacing traffic signage in Belmont and making
improvements to a crosswalk. They also discussed actions to calm traffic on Fairlawn.
Historic Preservation — January 26, 2017
The Committee met for its regularly scheduled quarterly meeting in January. The meeting included a presentation to the
owner of the 603 Main Street of the Landmark Property Plaque. The Committee reviewed the Summer Newsletter and
Remembrance Special Edition article. They also discussed the Committees Annual Report. Finally, they discussed potential
future Landmark Property designations.
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board — January 23, 2017
Staff provided the Board with an update regarding the ongoing effort to develop a standardized list of parks amenity
equipment. The goal of this standardization effort is to improve efficiency, particularly with regard to improving the
timeliness of repairs. Staff also briefed the Board on the Alamo Area MPO transportation funding request for sidewalks,
hike and bike trails and bike lane improvements.
Library Board — February 6, 2017
The library Board reviewed the Treasurers', Librarian's, Bookstore and CCAB reports for the past month. As part of the
Librarians' report, the Library Director provided copies of the Citizen Survey and the Board discussed the results.