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.