Mayor
Dee Grimm
Councilmen
Dwayne Padalecki
Francisco Arevalo
Susann Baker
Doug Thomas
Deborah McInerney
City Secretary
Barbara Pawelek
Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting
April 6, 2017
1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Mayor Dee Grimm called the meeting to order at 7:32 pm.
2. ROLL CALL AND ESTABLISH A QUORUM
Roll call was taken. Members present were Councilman Frank Arevalo, Councilwoman Susann Baker, Councilman Doug Thomas, and Councilwoman Deborah McInerney. Councilman Dwayne Padalecki was absent. A quorum was established. Barbara Pawelek presided as City Secretary.
3. READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Council looked over the minutes from the city council meeting of March 2, 2017. Councilwoman Susann Baker moved to approve the minutes as written. Councilwoman Deborah McInerney seconded the motion. All were in favor; the minutes were approved.
4. READING AND APPROVAL OF THE FINANCIAL SUMMARY
The financial summaries were for February and March 2017.
Councilman Frank Arevalo moved to approve the financial summary for February.
Councilman Doug Thomas seconded the motion. All were in favor; the February financial summary was approved.
The next financial summary was for March. Councilwoman Susann Baker moved to approve the financial summary for March as written. Councilwoman Deborah McInerney seconded the motion. All were in favor; the March financial summary was approved.
5. RECEIVE AUDIT REPORT FOR 2015-2016 FISCAL YEAR BY MIKE PERALTA WITH ARMSTRONG, VAUGHAN & ASSOCIATES
Mike Peralta, with Armstrong, Vaughan & Associates briefed city council on the 2015-2016 audit report. He said our revenues were pretty much the same as last year. The change was in our capital outlay, which was because of our road project. Our Road Project was budgeted for one million dollars, but since we did not spend all our money in our budget, we only had a $763,000 loss, which Mr. Peralta said was a plus on our behalf. We did better than projected. He went over the fund balances that were restricted. We have $128,323 that can only be used for our debt service, which can only be used to pay back debt that is outstanding like our bonds. The other is $32,115 which is used strictly for child safety.
Councilman Arevalo questioned for a City of our size, how does he feel we handled our business? Mr. Peralta replied that we did very well, especially with the decrease in the tax rate. Since our bond is almost paid off and will be in the next few years, and since we have that restriction for debt service that can only be used to pay back debt, we need to decrease that debt fund balance so that we can get rid of that restriction. He said we have a healthy fund balance, and we are doing very well.
6. DISCUSS AND TAKE ACTION ON AMENDING FEE SCHEDULE OF CITY'S COMMERCIAL BUILDNG PERMITS
The Mayor explained that when we were working with the new school, they pointed out that our fees were much higher than other cities. We looked into it and worked with our city attorney and we determined that our fee schedule was not in alignment with other cities. The current fee scheduled even looked like we would make additional revenue off the building permit. That is not allowed. The Mayor said we can only make revenue off of taxes, not building permits. With the attorney's assistance, and following the uniform building code fee schedule, we now have a clear understanding of how we calculate the permit. The Mayor read the ordinance that would amend the new fee schedule for commercial buildings.
Councilman Frank Arevalo moved to approve the Ordinance 1703.
Councilwoman Susann Baker seconded the motion. All were in favor; the ordinance was approved.
7. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
David Todd, 1207 Churchview, wanted to congratulate what we are doing with the park. He said it was beautiful.
Mr. Todd said he wanted to know what the City could do about the water pooling in the bar ditch at 1346 and 1518. This is the part of the road they adopted to pick up trash on the road in honor of his son. He said the sign even fell over because of how wet it is. He understands this is a state road, but the flooding is from the private property, and the water just sits there, even on hot summer days. He said it is also a safety hazard because of the mosquitoes.
Mr. Todd also had a concern of how fast the cars drive here. The busses are really bad. He wanted to know if we can get more enforcement.
Kathy Palmer, 690 N. Lupon, addressed council regarding the call she received from Councilman Frank Arevalo stating that her services to the city was no longer needed.
John Hafner, with the American Legion Post 539, updated council on local events.
For a complete list of American Legion Activities, you can visit their website at:
http://cyberjag33.wixsite.com/alp539
Dale Prince, 14885 Old St. Hedwig, spoke on the opposition of the digital marquee signs.
He encouraged council not to rush into decisions about the 5 acre minimum, and such, with the new school coming in there will be a lot of changes.
Mr. Prince notified council about the flooding problem on Felix Road and 1346. It is very deep when it rains.
Effective immediately, Dale Prince turned in his resignation from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Louise Martin, 3190 Pittman, spoke on the opposition of the digital marquee signs.
Effective immediately, Louise Martin turned in her resignation from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Neil Martin, 3190 Pittman, spoke on the opposition of the digital marquee signs.
Justin Jones, 14764 FM 1346, spoke on the opposition of the digital marquee signs.
He took a moment to recognize Kathy Palmer and the other P&Z members, and for all their accomplishments. He felt council was out of line in letting Kathy Palmer go.
8. DISCUSS AND TAKE ACTION ON DIGITAL MARQUEE SIGNS/SIGN ORDINANCE
Mayor Grimm said this has been on the agenda several times. It first came up many months ago when the American Legion expressed interest in having a digital sign. The Church expressed interest in one, and with the school coming, they had expressed interest in a digital sign. This is why it started in the first place. During several meetings, we have heard from the citizens about the digital signage. We hoped to find a compromise because the reason primarily to the objection for the digital sign was from keeping the night sky, so looking at some of the language, we looked at provisions that the signs would be turned off after dark and before dawn, so this would not be an issue. The bigger thing that came to our attention is that both the sign ordinance and the lighting ordinance are very old. When we asked our city attorney to look at them, she said it looked more like a code than an ordinance, and there were some conflicting information. So the attorney is helping revamp them to make them more consistent. The Mayor went on to say that this still leaves the issue open whether or not digital signage would be allowed. We do not have a sign ordinance to pass because the attorney is still making sure the ordinances are uniform and everything matches. Councilman Arevalo said if we do not have anything to look at, he suggest we table it until the attorney has it ready. Councilwoman Deborah McInerney seconded the motion. All were in favor; the motion was approved.
9. Discuss and take action on ratifying action taken at special called meeting held on March 16, 2017 removing Planning and Zoning Commissioner Kathy Palmer
Councilwoman Susann Baker made a motion to remove Kathy Palmer from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Councilman Doug Thomas seconded the motion. All were in favor; the motion was approved.
10. OLD BUSINESS
A. Roads – Receive Road Maintenance Report, and Take Action if needed.
Councilman Doug Thomas gave the road report.
Ronnie mills started spraying the shoulders on all roads.
Texas Road Repair made repairs on Saint Hedwig and Lupon roads.
The city has a new road maintenance person. His name is Jordan Phillips. He worked for a sign company which is a plus for us.
Mayor Grimm stated that the Road Project is completed to everyone's satisfaction.
B. CITY PARK
A new lawn mower was purchased for the City.
New bench pads were put in for more park benches.
Councilman Doug Thomas said Mark is keeping the park looking good.
Mayor Grimm explained that we pulled out the old Park Rules we had spoke about before since we have been having issues with certain individual. We will be posting them, and just because we do not have a law enforcement in St. Hedwig, does not mean that we cannot enforce these rules. We do have methodologies to get this done. We will be proactive to enforce these rules. We can call Bexar County Sheriff Office and they will come out.
The Mayor read the park rules. We will be making a couple of signs to post. Some of the rules include that the park will open at 6:00 am and close at 10:00 pm. There is no overnight camping. The Mayor is hoping this will resolve some of the issues we are having.
C. MONTHLY CRIME STAT REPORT
Councilwoman Susann Baker gave the report for the period February 24th thru March 28. There are a total of 4 crimes in our area. You can visit our website for more details at sainthedwigcity.org
D. UPDATE ON ILA WITH WILSON COUNTY FOR OUR ETJ
Mayor Grimm explained that Texas Local Government Code provides that Cities have interlocal agreements with counties regarding their ETJ's and their subdivisions that extend into another county. An interlocal agreement was developed between the City and Wilson County, for providing and regulating the subdivisions within the City of St. Hedwig’s ETJ. Mayor Grimm read the agreement and said it was sent off to Wilson County for their approval. We are still waiting to hear back from them.
E. REPORT FROM FIRE DEPARTMENT
There was no report from the fire department.
F. REPORT FROM CODE COMPLIANCE
Kim Fornof gave the report for the Code Compliance. 1 ag permit was issued this month. Kim is working with the school on the building permit process.
G. REPORT FROM PLANNING & ZONING
There was no report from the P&Z Commission.
11. ANNOUNCEMENTS
· Thank you MD Systems for the Spring Cleanup Day!
· The Recycling bins will no longer be at the American Legion Hall. They will be removing them within the next couple of months.
12. AGENDA FOR NEXT REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING May 4, 2017 at 7:30 PM
1. Call Meeting to Order
2. Roll call & Establish a Quorum
3. Reading and Approval of Minutes
4. Approval of Financial Summary
5. Report from VFD
6. Report from Planning & Zoning Commission
7. Report from Code Compliance
8. Citizens to be Heard
9. Old Business
a. Roads
b. City Park
c. Crime Stats
10. New Business
11. Announcements
12. Determine Agenda for next meeting
13. Adjournment
13. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm.
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