Copperas Cove City Council for February 19, 2019

Copperas Cove City Council for February 19, 2019



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

Mayor Candidates:
Bradi Dewald Diaz-Present
Ron Nelson-Present




The Workshop

The workshop tonight lasted about forty minutes. It was basically a summary of the CIP Town Hall from last Monday. Since all the council members were not at the Town Hall, this was a good briefing for them. The Interim City Manager briefed almost the entire time.




This is what was briefed to council:

Fire Station #3 expansion- Will be included with the upcoming Certificate of Obligations for $2,050,000 but has not been planned yet. It will be discussed next month. This project would double the current fire station into a fully functional station with a full compliment of fire fighters.

Animal Shelter- Still in the planning stages to reduce the cost of $7,473,000. It was first discussed last year and is badly needed.

Business 190 Phase 1 project- $11,435,212 funded by TxDOT and KTMPO, with the design  funded by the city. You can still send comments in and the link is on the city web site. Construction is scheduled to start in 2020. Councilman Youngs asked why they have not received any written feedback. The ICM said he will send it to him.

South 116 and FM 3046 Sidewalk project- $1,300,000 for bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the streets. Bike options will be brought to council.

Narrows sidewalk project- $2,116,838 for year 2020. It is currently be replatted for to easement for a 10 foot sidewalk and bike facilities. Councilman Payne asked the progress of the replatting.

South 1113 Sidewalk Phase 2-  Cost is only $61,855. This will connect the existing sidewalks and is already funded. Councilman Youngs why are we not funding street projects. They are different sources of funds.

Pecan Cove rebuild will start this year at a cost of $1,477,156 but has not been planned out yet. It will be done in conjunction with a drainage project ($404,000).

The library renovation project cost $564,000. The Five Hills Art Guild debuted their new mural.

SCADA System Replacement for $200,000. Both proprietary PCs are permanently down and are manually manned at this time until replaced.

South West Water improvement II and III at a cost of $4,500,000 will be fore the Valley of Great Hills subdivision.

The Killeen/Copperas Cove 24 inch water line replacement for 29,500 feet will cost $6,700,000.

There was a lengthy discussion of parks project. Lack asked about when the 2 pavilions that were donated by the Rotary Club would be finished. Joe Brown said it would be done in the first week of April. Councilman Youngs complained about the amount of money being spent on the park when the condition of our streets are so bad. Councilman Chavez said the amount being spent is because of all the years the city neglected the parks. This set off a heated exchange between Chavez and Youngs. Youngs told Chavez something to the fact that you don't need to worry about it because you won't be up here much longer. Watch the video at about the 18 minute mark for the real quote. It should be available by Thursday afternoon.

Thinks we spend to much on parks

The Council Meeting

The Agenda

The council meeting part of the evening lasted for approximately two hours and had three public hearings and four agenda items.







Citizens Forum: One gentleman came forward to speak in opposition to the medians that are being proposed for Business 190. He stated that they would be an impediment to safety to the contrary.

The 1st public hearing dealt with the rezoning from AG1 to R1 for low density housing along Grimes Crossing by the railroad tracks. Kempner Water Supply will provide the water service. There were no speakers. Vote passed 7-0.

The 2nd public hearing dealt with the youth curfew in Copperas Cove. There was no speakers and it passed by a vote of 7-0.

The 3rd public hearing was about Chapter 12 in the Code Of Ordinances. There was only one speaker from the Chamber Of Commerce President. They spoke about the entire ordinance and the ramifications of changing it. The intent of the change was aimed at the illegal gaming places in Copperas Cove. Her recommendation was to to separate it into two sections (Eliminate 12.81) so to just deal with the gambling. That is what the council did eventually. Councilman Payne asked about ten minutes worth of questions. They were very good question.  Watch the council video, also. It passed by a vote of 7-0.

One problem during the debate was that Councilman Payne was interrupted several times while he had the floor. Roberts Rules of Order says he has the right to finish his statements unless he yields the floor to another speaker. This happens way to much during the council meeting.

Agenda H1 was about paying the Lady Dawg Tip-Off tournament HOT funds for $3,691.50. I did not think HOT funds could be used to pay for hotel rooms. http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=279577 and https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2016/june-july/hotel-tax.php also https://www.tml.org/p/What%20Cities%20Need%20to%20Know%20to%20Administer%20the%20Local%20Hotel%20Occupancy%20Tax%20(20%20%20%20.pdf . Please read these documents.

It passed by a vote of 7-0.

Agenda H2 was for the Certificates of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) from Kempner Water Supply Corp. The rejected the council proposal from November of $732.32 ($173 from the city and the balance from the developer) per acre. KWSC said it is worth $810 per acre. The developer also then made his lots larger to reduce his cost on his side. There was no vote on this item but the council authorized the ICM to continue to negotiate with KWSC.

Agenda H3 simply authorized the ICM to inter into a Interlocal Agreement with the Centex Fire & Arson Task Force. It passed 7-0.

Agenda H4 was about IChoosr LLC and Texas Power Switch. They are are a new international company which only US operations are in Texas. They partner with cities and bring to the city a variety of power company options for people to choose. It is an volunteer only opt in service. There are lots of questions about this company. Lack and Youngs wanted to contact other cities individually about the service. Manning had a problem with lending the city logo and credibility to anybody. Payne said he disagrees with this service after what we went through with Fathom. He also wants to see more of their company history. It failed by a vote of 1-6. Fred Chavez For, Everyone else Against. 

Future Agenda Items:
Councilman Manning wants to repeal Appendix D in the Fire Code
Councilman Payne wants to discuss widening 6th Street near the Ave E school to make it easier for school buses, Fire Trucks, and Ambulances to pass through.