Rezoning consideration at the P&Z tonight!

Copperas Cove Planning and Zoning Committee Meeting - 28 Jan 2019




The Commissioners:
Kenneth Thomas - P
Rob Endter - P
Christian Mulvey - A
Bob Marting - P
Howard Hank - P
Adam Martin - P
Dale Treadway - P


The Agenda

Tonight's meeting started off with a welcoming of the new commissioner - Howard Hank. Mr Hank was very excited to be here and is looking forward to doing what he can to leave a positive impact on the city.

Once that and the approval of the meeting minutes was out of the way - a public hearing was held for a request to rezone property at the east side of the intersection where Grimes Crossing and Big Divide meet. The property contains just under 15 acres, and will be rezoned into 4 single family home plots, averaging out at around 4 acres each. Rob Endter asked if the property next to the rail road tracks would be falling in line with city code as far as distance from a rail road track. He was told by the city that the only regulation is the property line can not cross the rail road easement, which it falls right on the border, so no codes are being broken. Mr Endter then further expressed concern about a train derailment sending a rail car into the house on that property. The representative for the developer stated it was his understanding that the developer plans on placing the house as far in the opposing corner as possible to keep it away from the tracks. The rezoning was unanimously passed.

Grimes Crossing area

Tonight's staff report was on review and approval of the first chapter of the Comprehensive plan. They will be reviewing one chapter per meeting, and tonight was the first meeting for that. The presented chapter was approved.

Economic Development Corporation meeting

 EDC meeting for January 23, 2019




EDC Directors:
Adam Martin-Present
Chris Mulvey-Present
Jeremy Tate-Present
Joey Acfalle-Excused Absent
Council Liaison-Charlie Youngs-Absent

The meeting went pretty quick with all five action items which involved the monthly audits and payroll reports. All passed 4-0.

    There was a staff report from the Interim Director and briefed from a company called CBRE. They gave some insights and ideas about Copperas Cove and the Narrows. He told us that the 2018 employable population of Copperas Cove is 18,176, ages 16 and over.
    In regards to the Narrows, he said that most likely a 20,000 to 40,000 square foot single tenant facility would be ideal for that area. That is for optimal usage. We could even go to 80,000 for multi tenant. He did tell the EDC about the EIG opportunity zone which Copperas Cove falls into. This came about from the 2017 tax reform bill from the federal government. Copperas Cove should look into this.

These are some demographic slides about Copperas Cove.

These are slides that describe the EIG opportunity zone.







The Executive Sessions that were conduct and yielded no results were as follows:
1. Project Etch.
2. Project Glow.
3. Discussion of the Interim Director.
4. Discussion with the Attorney about the digital sign.
5. Deliberation regarding process and options for obtaining a new Executive Director.

Marcie Lowery- EDC Director

How do our city candidates spend campaign dollars!

2018 Candidate Campaign Finance Report summary













The Campaign Finance Reports were supplied by the the City Secretary through a Freedom Of Information Request.

Copperas Cove City Council Place 1
                         Joann Courtland                                      Cheryl Meredith
30 Days Filed      Yes                                                          $500 modified
  8 Days Filed       No                                                            Yes
              Final      Yes                                                            Yes

Place 1 Summary: Mrs Meredith spent only $629 on her campaign. Mrs Courtland spent $3152.32 on her campaign. Neither candidate raised any donations for the run for city council. The result was Courtland defeating Meredith.

Copperas Cove City Council Place 2
                         James Pierce Jr                                        Fred Chavez
30 Days Filed      Yes                                                           Yes
  8 Days Filed      Yes                                                           Yes
              Final      Yes                                                            No

Place 2 Summary: Mr Chavez raised $2902.83 and spent $2539 for his campaign. He did not file a Final Report which is required unless he is going to file quarterly reports in which he missed that deadline, also.  Mr Pierce raised $4398 for his campaign and spent $4369.45. Mr Chavez defeated Mr Pierce.

Copperas Cove Mayor
                         Azeita Taylor                                           Joe Acfalle                                           
30 Days Filed      Yes                                                            Yes
  8 Days Filed      Yes                                                            Yes
              Final       N/A                                                           Yes
  8 Days Filed      No
              Final      No

Mayor summary: Mr Acfalle raised $50 for his campaign and spent $97.43. He did not receive enough votes to advance to the run-off. Mrs Taylor lent her campaign $110 and used her credit card spending $487.13. She did not file any reports for the run-off election, which is required. She ended up in a run-off election with the Mayor and lost in the run-off. I didn't request the Mayor's CFR due to circumstances.

Copperas Cove City Council meeting for January 15, 2019

Copperas Cove City Council meeting for January 15, 2019


The Council:
Mayor Pro Tem Dan Yancey- Present
Joann Courtland- Absent (Excused)
Fred Chavez- Present
Jay Manning- Present
Kirby Lack- Present
Marc Payne- Present
Charlie Youngs- Present



The Agenda

The big announcement of the meeting came from the Interim City Manager that DPW Director Mike Cleghorn accepted the position of City Manager for Lawton, Oklahoma.

There were two speakers during Citizens Forum:
Jeremy Frew brought up that while our city council approved the WCID #1 recommendation letter which expands on the area and removes our voting rights, Killeen has not yet decided and will be hosting a public town hall meeting about the subject with their citizens. Copperas Cove should be doing the same before taking the right to vote from us.
Terri Deans spoke about Fathom and that there are many issues still unresolved. She also brought up a disaster training program by FEMA, called G317, that is taught in Killeen. It is free to the public. The next class is March 22-23. If you are interested in attending please message "Speak Up!!! Copperas Cove" and we will put you in contact with her.

The Consent Agenda passed without objection 6-0.

There was one public hearing tonight. It was for amending the Fiscal Year 18-19 budget about the Utility Department.  Terri Deans asked if it would raise the cost of water for residents. The ICM said there would be no rate change. It passed 6-0.

Keith Sledd from "Heart of Texas Defense Alliance" (HOTDA) presented its quarterly update about Ft Hood and the community. 1, February 1, 2019, will be Ft Hood Legislative Affairs Day and is sponsored by Senator Buckingham. There will be many state political officials in the area taking a tour of Ft Hood and being brought up to speed about Ft Hood for those who are new staff and and to the Senate. 2, The Multi-Modal study is complete and was endorsed by LTG Funk, on December 22, 2018. The big driving factor is that we fall right in the middle of the "Texas Triangle" (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio ). Some quick facts - 60% of the population of Texas lives in the triangle, and they are expecting that to climb to 70% by 2050, truck drivers can drive anywhere in the triangle within 1 day, and 77% of Texas' economy comes from the triangle. Right now, an area of land northwest of Ft Hood is being looked at as the optimal site. 3, The Fort Hood military population is presently 35, 911, of which 7,374 are presently abroad. 4, Jan 20 is a Texas Military Preparedness Meeting, and Jan 28th is the Texas Military Summit (Both in Austin). The council approved by a vote 6-0 the $4,250 payment to HOTDA.

By a vote of 6-0, Councilman Yancey was approved for another year as Mayor Pro Tem. He was nominated by Councilman Lack and was unopposed.

Committee and board assignments for council members was approved by a vote of 6-0.

Council liaison assignments for 2019

Deputy Fire Chief Gary Young was appointed the Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC) for Copperas Cove. This position has to be reappointed every year. No vote was necessary.

Copperas Cove is required to have a Primary and an Alternate representative for the KTMPO Policy Board. The Mayor will be the primary and the Mayor Pro Tem or ICM will be the alternate. The vote was 6-0 in favor of the appointment.

Special Election for Mayor

The date for the special election is April 27, 2019, per our charter, which states that there must be an election prior to 120 days due to a vacancy in the Mayor position. The filing period started on January 15 and will end on February 25, 2019. Early voting will start on April 10 and end on April 23. The 12 hour early voting days will be April 11 and 23. All voting will be at the Coryell County Justice Center and ALL COPPERAS COVE RESIDENTS LIVING IN LAMPASAS COUNTY WILL VOTE HERE ALSO. Please see the City Secretary for information and or a packet.

The City Council authorized the ICM along with the EMC and Director of Finance to apply for and Emergency Management Performance Grant. We have received this grant every year for the past 10 years, and are expecting it to go through again. We requested the maximum amount of $122,000, but are expecting $30,000-$35,000 based on prior years' amounts.

The City Council approved a bid awarding B Corp Utilities the Oak Hill Dr Water Improvement Project for approximately $135,000. The vote was 6-0.

The City Council authorized the ICM to execute a 10 year water purchase contract with CTC. This to protect Copperas Cove from future price increases. Councilman Payne did however inquire about the cost of water. The Vote passed 6-0.

Howard Hawk was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The vote was 6-0.

The estimated 2019 city population for Copperas Cove is set at 34,787. Councilman Payne asked why the population count was not determined by water meter counts instead of housing permits. Mr Lewis explained that as recommended by the Census Bureau and Texas Data Agency the method used is the 2010 census count plus the number of housing permits times 2.68 added yearly. This is also in common use nation-wide. Mr Paynes reasoning against it is water meters are more accurate than building permits to tell if there are people in the residence or not. ICM stated that we don't want to change our style of performing a self-census in between official Census', but we could look at that after next year's Census. The vote passed 5-1. Payne was the no vote!

Ordinance 2019-7 was approved. There will no longer be involuntary water meter disconnects on Fridays or on the day prior to a holiday due to non-payment. Also, disconnects will not be acted upon until 25 days after non-payment. The vote was 6-0.

The council approved the ordinance amending the PIP FY 2018-19 for Utility Department staffing changes. This will add 1 customer service rep and 2 meter readers. The vote was 6-0.

Councilman Payne requested an excused absence. He also requested a briefing on the water flow in the storm drains inside the city by the railroad tracks.

CCISD School Board Workshop for January 14, 2019

CCISD School Board Workshop for January 14, 2019














The Agenda

CCISD Trustees:

Joan Manning-Present

Shameria Davis-Absent

Inez Faison-Present

Jim Copland-Present

Mike Wilburn-Present

Bob Weiss-Present

Karen Harrison-Present

SC Lee's Principal Ms Love discussed with the board about employment of teachers. She said that due to the low number of resignations and the low number of new hires there are a lot of full time subs were being used at her school. Dr Burns stated he has only 2 pending resignations due to military relocation.

The renewal of the AMP component for Schoology will cost the district approximately $58,000.

Clements-Parsons will be getting 2 new 130 gallon water heaters replacing the older water heaters that need to be replaced.

CCISD plans on replacing lawn mowers at a cost exceeding $2500.

There are 2 planned out of state trips in March:

  1. March 17-19, Impact Aid Conference, in Washington, D.C.

  2. March 14-16, 2019 NAFA Art Competition, in Boston, MA. 

CCISD wants to use the same Audit firm as last year.

CCISD is seeking accreditation agreement with Temple College for articulation credit due to CTC rethinkng their class structure (this was pulled from all area high schools). This does not affect Duel Credit classes.

CCISD Wants to build a canopy outside the board entrance to prevent water damage. Cost is approximately $28,000.

There was executive session for the results of a security audit.

ALL ITEMS WILL BE VOTED ON AT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING ON JANUARY 15 AT 6:30PM.

Thank you Rachel Pierce for attending the meeting for "Speak Up!!! Copperas Cove"!

Quality of Life

Quality of Life had their first meeting of the year

Quality of Life Board members:
Adam Redmond- Excused Absent
Cheryl Kielman- Present
Jim McEvers- Present
Robert Sizemore- Present
Craig Foster- Present
Marcie Lowery- Present
Dustin Phipps- Excused Absent

City Council Liaison- Charlie Youngs- 12th straight absence

The Agenda

There were two Items on the agenda today at the Quality Of Life Board; Parks Phase 1 and 2 updates and the Parks and Recreation monthly update:

1. The lettering for the signs at the parks have been sent to the fabricator and in a few months will be installed. City Park still has a few more trees and grass to be planted for Phase 1. The flag pole is about to go back up at City Park. At South Park, the 116 sidewalk project will connect the new sidewalk with the walking path. Dirt work at High Chaparral, Heritage, and Highland Parks have started. Oncor will be cutting down the oak tree at Highland Park where the power line is tangled up in it.
     Phase 2 will be brought to the City Council on February 5 regarding the bathrooms. The package is for three new bathrooms and a retrofitted one. They are made from a company named CXT precast. The new bathrooms are pre-made at the company and then brought to their installation location. They will have LED lights, Maglocks, and have anti-graffiti paint on them. The locations for the bathrooms will be at Field 8, Field 4 and 5, and to the right of the swimming pool. South Park will have their bathroom retrofitted. The cost is $328,000. It is already part of the parks upgrade.

2. Parks and Recreation monthly report.
Joe Brown gave the board some exciting news today. The very first issue of the Golf Course Newsletter will go go out today. The newsletter will be a quarterly publication and this issue is 12 pages long. It will be a digital publication, to save money. Look for it soon!

Youth sports highlights. Winter Soccer registration closes on January 11 and already has 104 players. That is an increase from last year. Basketball games will start on January 12 and has 448 players. This is also an increase from last year. Recreation tackle football had only 100 players this last season compared to 165 players last year. Pop Warner football had only 19 players last season. Mr Brown said this may be the only season for Pop Warner tackle football due to area organization problems in other communities. Costs for December report was $2100 net revenue minus total expenditures of $5653.36 equals total revenue of$-3553.36.

Aquatics. The new ADA chair lift has been installed at South Park pool.

"The 5K to Polar Bear Plunge" will be January 26, 2019, at 6:30 am, at City Park. This year it will be dedicated to Mayor Frank Seffrood, who passed away this past December 28, 2018.

"Fishing in the Park" will be on February 16, 2019, at 9:00 am, at City Park.

Golf information. According to the report, there were 2812 rounds of golf played last year at our golf course. That was with 20 bad weather days, also.

As of December 31, 2018, these are the membership stats:
29 Annual Regular memberships
50 Annual Senior memberships
2   Annual City Employee memberships
19 Annual Dependents memberships
51 Annual Cart Storage memberships
26 Annual Trail Fees
11 Golf Course Employee memberships
6  Semi-Annual Regular memberships
2  Semi-Annual Senior memberships
0  Semi-Annual City Employee memberships
2  Semi-Annual Dependent memberships
0  Semi-Annual Cart Storage
0  Semi-Annual Trail Fees
0  Marshals
1  Volunteer
The total is 199 different memberships.

The only concern that came out about the condition of the 8 city parks was from South Park. Evidently there are people feeding the feral cats out there and leaving the cans at the park. They are also leaving camouflaged small kennels for shelter for those feral cats.

Quality of Life Board meeting at the Golf Course, on January 10, 2019

Questions for Fathom

If the city were to host a town hall event with the top reps of Fathom, what questions might you ask??

     In May of 2016, the City of Copperas Cove attempted to take a big step into the 21st century, with a unanimous vote from the City Council, by improving the billing system at the Utility Department. It involved replacing the decades old water meters, that were very inaccurate, and had to be manually read ever month with new ones. The new AMI meters by Neptune are automated and are read by radio bursts on a daily basis. That data is collected by Fathom and issues our water bills every month. They also utilize a call center in Arizona to answer and resolve customer service issues. Copperas Cove pays Fathom approximately $60,000 a month for the service. Currently only Councilman Dan Yancey is the only remaining elected person on council that voted for the Fathom contract.

Here are a few questions that we might ask:

It has been almost three years since the city approved the 15 year agreement with Fathom and there are still ongoing issues, why?

Why was there not a dedicated group at the call center for Copperas Cove issues?

Why was there an issue with creating blanket accounts for property managers, when the city was told there would be no problem in transferring them?

Why was a bonding attorney used instead of the city attorney in reviewing the Fathom contract?

In other communities where Fathom serves, what were some of the implementation issues were there?

Why has there be been Copperas Cove customers with double bills?




Speak Up and let us know what questions you would ask.
You can leave a comment in the comment section below or send us a message on the right side and we will add it to the blog.

Myron stated from a message "The Damage is already done Fathom needs to go."

Copperas Cove City Council meeting for January 3, 2019

Happy New Year!

Copperas Cove City Council meeting for January 3, 2019

The Agenda

The Council:
Mayor Pro Tem-Dan Yancey- Present
Joann Courtland-Present
Fred Chavez-Present
Jay Manning-Present
Kirby Lack-Present
Marc Payne-Absent (Excused)
Charlie Youngs-Present

     There were only two items for the workshop this evening. Michele Adkins and Robin Smith were recognized for five years of service to the City of Copperas Cove. Congratulations, ladies!

     The council meeting opened up with a moment of silence for our Mayor, who passed away on December 28, 2018. The Interim City Manager and all the members of council gave tributes to him. Frank's viewing is Saturday and Sunday 1-3PM and 6-8PM at Crawford Bowers Copperas Cove. Sunday at 7:30PM is the recitation of the Rosary. Monday is the funeral at 10:00AM, at Holy Family and 12:00 At Central Texas Central Veterans Cemetery.

Mayor Frank Seffrood 1939-2018

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/copperas-cove-tx/frank--seffrood-8102655

Three people spoke during Citizens Forum:

1. James Pierce-WCID action item

2. Jeremy Frew- Fathom issues

3. Dick Young-WCID action item

Consent Agenda:
Approval of prior meeting minutes/ Approval of leave for Mrs Courtland at next council meeting/ Approval for City Manager to submit an application with the TxSSC for the FY19 Tobacco Enforcement Program to enable CCPD to reduce the use and distribution of tobacco products pertaining to minors. - All Passed 6-0

There were two Public Hearings: 

1. Killeen Towing wants a conditional easement for an Impound Yard over by Gym Kix. Being an impound yard, this will not be a long term storage facility for vehicles (or junkyard). Dick Young spoke in favor of it and as company representative. Passed 6-0

2. Amending 2018-2019 city budget. Sometimes projects are started and funding is set aside, but the project may not be completed/closed out the same Fiscal Year that it was started. When that happens, they roll the funding for those projects into the next FY. That's what this was about. No speakers. Passed 6-0

Action items:

H1. Is about bringing in 133 lots on 31.76 acres out of a 55.42 acre tract of land labeled "Heartwood Park". No discussion in council. Passed 6-0

H2. Is about NE Waste Water Plant UV Disinfecting System. There were two qualified to bid, but only one bidder, Xylem Water Solutions USA (WEDECO), to apply for the contract. That bidder did come in under cost. The city reached out to the company that did not bid and was told something along the lines of they were not licensed to work in the state of TX. Mr Manning expressed concern about there being only one bidder. He was only speaker about it. Passed 5-1

H3. The council appointed Kevin Miller to the Housing Authority Board. There were two applicants, but the other applicant did not list any sort of experience or qualifications. Passed 6-0

H4. The council appointed Edith Freyer, Elizabeth Sherman, and Bo Roldan to the KCCB. There were 5 open positions and 3 applicants. The item passed 6-0

H5. The council set March 1 for the council retreat and March 21 for the planning session. It will be held at the council chambers. Passed 6-0

H6. The council supported the proposed Bell County WCID #1 expanded boundaries with no elections by a VOTE of 6-0. The goal is to eliminate the direct representation in favor of councils and organizations selecting representatives. The "optics" of this proposal comes directly after WCID #1 had their first contested election in 24 years. If this passes up to 275,000 people that get their water from WCID #1 would have no elected representative for them only appointees. What that means for Copperas Cove area customers is if the council appoints the representative for us then what happens to the voice of the people that live outside the city limits that use Copperas Cove water system? Their vote is infringed upon. 

H7. Capital Improvement Plan involving the Oak Hill project needing and additional $131,707, increasing the overall funding to $296,707. Funding will be transferred from another project with a large amount of left over dollars. No debate. Passed 6-0

H8. The council gave the ICM approval to sign a contract with L5E for electric supply for city offices at or below .04 cents per kWh. A 72 month contract right now is .0352 per kWh. Passed 6-0

Future agenda items:

Mr Youngs inquired about the Special Election for Mayor. ICM said it would be on the January 15 council agenda.
Mrs Courtland asked to have discussion the Civic Center Fee being reduced for the Refuge Corporation be post-poned to Feb 5th so she can be part of the discussion. - Passed 

James' opinion: Roberts Rules of Order says no debate before a motion is made. This was ignored at least twice tonight (supposed to be enforced by Mayor Pro Tem). In H6, WCID #1 should be expanded but we need to vote for the representative and equal representation. I agree with Mr Manning on H2 about the only one bidder.