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05-17-2017 MinutesMINUTES REGULAR MEETING May 17, 2017 A Regular Meeting was held by the Committee of Committees Advisory Board of the City of Schertz, Texas, on May 17, 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 Earl Hartzog Staff Present: Executive Director Brian James Assistant to City Manager Sarah Gonzalez City Secretary Brenda Dennis Guests Present: None Members Absent: Michael Dahle, Barbara Hall Call to Order Board Member Shonale Burke Board Member Tim Brown City Manager John Kessel Executive Director Dudley Wait EDC Director Kyle Kinateder Deputy City Secretary Donna Schmoekel Chair Richard Dziewit called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m. Discussion and /or Action Items 1. Minutes. Consideration and /or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of April 19, 2017. Chair Dziewit recognized Board Member Hartzog who pointed out that the minutes of last month were not seconded by himself. However, with that correction being made, he made the motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Board Member Brown. The vote was 5 -0 -0. Motion passed. Board members Dahle and Hall were absent. Chair Dziewit complimented city staff on the great Police Memorial Ceremony held this morning at the Schertz Civic Center. Reports/Updates/Discussion and /or Action 2. Boards, Committee, Commission report/updates. Chair Dziewit asked each board member to look at the boards /commissions monthly update document that Executive Director Brian James had passed out which listed the recent activities of the various city boards. He asked if anybody had anything else to add to it. 5 -17 -2017 Minutes Page - 1 - Boardmember Hartzog stated the BOA had two variances they looked at back in March and appro-ftd them. Boardmember Brown said EDC held a recent joint meeting with city council and they approved their incentive plan and they voted to provide a $200,000 incentive to an existing medical corporation who is moving to a location in Schertz. This was mentioned in the San Antonio Business Journal yesterday morning. Boardmember Simmons (Parks Board) stated they had a briefing on the Hotel Occupancy Tax which was enlightening as to what the funds can be used for. She mentioned the upcoming Parks Tour which will be conducted this coming Friday and Saturday and she encouraged everyone to attend if they can. 3. City Manager report/updates. City Manager John Kessel stated that the Parks Tour was a really good idea. They are also considering putting together a tour of the CCMA and SSLGC facilities. They are seeing that it is a good idea to get folks out to see some of the conditions in the field. Some of the newer council members have gone on tours, ride - alongs, or training events along with staff members from the Police Department, Fire Department, etc. This helps people better understand the different functions of the city. There are a few things in the works that will come back to this body for some discussion. One of these is a Contract Philosophy. We are starting to utilize this body as a critiquing mechanism for things like this and which we already did with the Roadway Philosophy and the Strategic Plan. Another one we are working on is the Reserves Philosophy —how do you spend the money above the 25% reserve? They will also be sharing the Facilities Planning information and making sure we are current with that. Two other things to share. Now, there is a strong emphasis on maintenance, i.e. parks and streets. We learned a lot last year with the PCI Index Study. We want to make sure we are doing a good job with prioritizing both staffing and resources overall. Another exciting thing is that Parks has received word they are in competition for a $1.1 million grant. However, there is no guarantee on it until the MPO takes action on it. 4. Citizen Survey discussion. Boardmember Brown spoke about how last time they looked at the satisfaction levels of the citizens survey results and where they could see improvement. Schertz Magazine had 83 %. This is good. The City Website had 47 %. Members discussed how the content of the magazine cycles through different city departments, or features different events /people, and other topics of interest. However, this is not a `breaking news' source. There are still other avenues for that active on social media that take care of this — information sharing. 5 -17 -2017 Minutes Page - 2 - Chair Dziewit said the idea was to take a look at this and see what items or what areas we should start with — working on more communication ideas. 5. Overview of the Public Affairs Department (S. Gonzalez/L. Klepper/M. Geedman) Assistant to the City Manager Sarah Gonzalez provided an overview of the Public Affairs Department. They serve an internal /external audience of approximately 38,000 people. Their job is to enhance communication understanding, perception and image of the city. This is channeled through avenues such as advertising, city videos, press releases, e -mail blasts, social media, other marketing materials and logos /graphics. Public Affairs is comprised of five different divisions:.Civic /Community Centers, Events, 311 Customer Care, Records Management, and Communications. They also have eleven employees. The staff is looking for more ways to increase their daytime facility rentals (training, business meetings, etc.) There will also be some changes with city events and those that were previously operated by the Parks Foundation. The 311 Customer Care division is also trying to engage more in public outreach information availability. Records Management is working to go more digital and they also do scanning for the city with site plans and other large documents. The Communications division is where the magazine is produced and this involves a lot of inhouse coordination. They have a media policy to guide staff in procedures to deal with the public or even internally with other departments. They are also currently working on a social media policy. Working closely with other city departments is another way they assist with getting the necessary communication out for their individual events. A new website is being built with Civic Plus, which should be more user friendly —IT is taking the lead on this project and one of the goals is to keep it more updated more frequently. Members discussed more communication outreach ideas /options /preferences. Executive Director Brian James pointed out that there is no one - size - fits -all answer and most cities who do well in communicating with their residents utilize a wide variety of communication options. Our 311 Customer Care Department does an excellent job of taking citizen calls and directing them to the right department /staff member. City Manager John Kessel stated he feels the City of Schertz has done a great job of building.a reputation within this region, which is why we are a city open to two -way communication. In fact, others in the area are saying this for us. Members continued discussing different avenues for better communication and how to increase public participation. Chair Dziewit stated that the expansion of the city's communication process is probably one of the biggest things we need to work on, especially as we continue to grow in size. 5 -17 -2017 Minutes Page - 3 - 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. Chair Dziewit asked members to continue to review the Citizen Survey results again before the next meeting so we can pick certain items out and talk about how to make them better. What can we do? Or maybe just neighborhood information. Boardmember Simmons stated she would like to see an item on a future agenda about exactly what this committee's long -range goal is. Where are we going and what are we accomplishing as a group? Mr. James said from his perspective, this group has learned about the Roadway Stewardship Philosophy, the proposed Communication Plan, and the proposed Reserve Philosophy. This membership has a broad overview of the city and are able to weigh -in on things in a meaningful way. You can give management good input. Mr. Kessel said having a group of individuals who are experts in one area but serve to see other areas is invaluable. You help management see something differently because you represent both the city and as citizens. It helps them understand the community better. Members continued discussing their individual roles, gaining broad based and /or specific information on city projects, plans and proposals, broadening their base knowledge of departments and executive decision making, and understanding prioritization processes and communication techniques with each other as well as with their fellow citizens in general. They also revisited the citizen survey and those results in relation to citizen satisfaction with current city operations. Next month: board members will continue to look at the Citizen Survey Results. Chair Dziewit confirmed that the next meeting will be June 21, 2017. Boardmember Hartzog inquired if our committee bylaws provided any provision for allowing guests and /or residents attending the meeting to be able to speak or ask questions. Mr. Kessel said we are not obligated by state law to do so. However, we have always extended the courtesy if the guests at board meetings wish to say something. However, we could certainly put a citizen's comments item at the beginning to make it available to them. All the members concurred that citizens feel better when they are simply heard by city representatives regarding their concerns. City Secretary Brenda Dennis asked if an item should be added to future agendas for this and the answer was no. Members decided that if citizens are present and they wish to make comments or ask a question, they will simply allow them to do so. 5 -17 -2017 Minutes Page - 4 - ►: "reli»u►ilyelI Chair Dziewit recognized Board Member Burke who moved, seconded by Board Member Simmons to adjourn the meeting. The vote was 5 -0 -0. Motion passed. Board members Dahle and Hall were absent. As there was no further business, Chair Dziewit adjourned the meeting at 4:35 p.m. % Richard Dzi wit, Chair ATTEST: (� Donna Schmoekel, Deputy City Secretary 5 -17 -2017 Minutes Page - 5 - May 17, 2017 CCAB reports from boards and commissions (Last CCAB meeting April 19, 2017) BOA — April 24, 2017 (scheduled) There were no items to be considered so no meeting was held in April. Planning and Zoning Commission - -April 26 and May 10, 2017 At their April 26 meeting, the Commission considered two plats related to the development of the northwest corner of Old Wiederstein Road and FM 1103. There were no items to be considered so the May 10 meeting was cancelled. TSAC — May 4, 2017 Prompted by a request from resident to remove a speed hump, the Commission discussed the process for applying for a speed hump and ideas about standards for removal of speed humps. Staff provided an update on the Cibolo Toll Road, Historic Preservation — April 27, 2017 (Next Meeting is July) Schertz Library Director Melissa Uhlhorn discussed participating in the Bibilioboard Project, The City was approached about participating in this project to digitize and publish online documents regarding the history of the Schertz area. The Committee supported the project and subcommittee was identified to work with Melissa. The Committee recommended two properties for Landmark designation. The Committee discussed publication of the spring 2017 Committee Newsletter and Remembrances Special Edition Article 2017 -2 as well as the Fifty Year Consolidated City Council Activity Report, The Committee discussed Heritage Neighborhood banner restoration and placement of additional banners. Finally, the Committee discussed goals for 2017. Parks and Recreation Advisory Board —April 24, 2017 The Parks Board received a briefing about Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds which can be used to fund some sports tournaments. They also discussed the park improvement project list, the Community Survey and the Status of Homestead Park and Hilltop Park. Finally, they set dates for a tour of park facilities. Library Board — May 1, 2017 The library Board reviewed the Treasurers', Librarian's, Bookstore and CCAB reports for the past month. The Board discussed budget priorities for the upcoming budget. Schertz Economic Development Corporation The City of Schertz Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) met in joint session,with the Schertz City Council on May 2, 2017. During the meeting the SEDC and City Council authorized an economic development incentive for Evestra, Inc. to relocate and expand its operations in Schertz. Evestra is an emerging biopharmaceutical research and development company who will move their headquarters, manufacturing, and research and development operations to Schertz. The SEDC's support for Evestra is part of a strategic effort to attract growing small businesses and to provide a long -term stability to the City's tax base. During the joint meeting, the SEDC and City Council also discussed the City's incentive policies which will include a traditional economic development policy and a local flavor policy. The traditional economic development policy focuses on the attraction and retention of primary jobs which help grow our economy while the local flavor policy will focus on growing Schertz retail and service businesses that create local flavor for the City of Schertz and its residents. The traditional economic development policy was approved by the SEDC and City Council, Staff is working to develop the local flavor policy