The Council:
Mayor Diaz- Present
Joann Courtland-Present
Fred Chavez-Present
Dan Yancey-Present
Jay Manning-Present
Kirby Lack-Present
Marc Payne-Present
Charlie Youngs-Present
Please read all the way down!
There were two items in the workshop this evening.
The first one was about clarifying data from last weeks special council meeting. Copperas Cove Fire Department is reclassifying three Captains into Battalion Chiefs and six Lieutenants into Captain. There will not be a funding adjustment because the move is in name only. The building department briefed the council on the incentive pay they use to get employees to get and maintain their certification.
The Street Maintenance Plan was the second item. This was a continuation from May when it was discussed.
1. The 1/8 sales tax allocation that Copperas Cove uses for street maintenance is up for renewal in 2020. The discussion was whether to put it on the ballot this November or November 2020. The council agreed to wait until November 2020 in order to show our citizens that the city is doing something about street maintenance.
2. The staff is not currently working on the Street Maintenance Fee that was discussed in May. If it was authorized it would bring in about $400,000 for street maintenance. It would be applied through the Fathom water bill.
3. Pecan Cove Rd project is still a go and a design firm will be selected in August.
The Council Meeting
Councilman Payne announced that on July 27 from 0800-1000, KCCB will be having a pancake breakfast at Applebees in Copperas Cove.
Citizen's Forum:
The Mayor reiterated the rules for speaking and that they are codified in the city ordinance (Chapter 2, administration under Rules of meetings). There are two specific ordinances pertaining to citizens forum.
Sec. 2-57.3. - Citizens' forum/public comment.
(a)
All individuals wishing to be heard, may do so on all matters except the following:
(1)
Personnel matters.
(2)
Matters listed on the agenda as a public hearing.
(3)
Matters under litigation.
(b)
Individuals wishing to be heard shall comply with the following:
(1)
Each person addressing the council must provide to the city's public information officer, his/her legal name and current address for city records and meeting minute preparation.
(2)
Each person will only be allowed to speak on matters on the workshop or regular agenda during citizen's forum/public comment. No rebuttals will be permitted.
(3)
Each person addressing the governing body shall not exceed five (5) minutes.
(4)
The citizen's forum/public comment portion of the agenda shall not exceed thirty (30) minutes total.
(5)
Individuals wishing to speak on a matter posted on the agenda as a public hearing must do so once the public hearing has been opened.
(6)
Section 551.042, Government Code, V.T.C.A. (i.e. Texas Open Meetings Act) permits a member of the public or a member of the governmental body to raise a subject that has not been included in the notice for the meeting, but any discussion of the subject must be limited to a proposal to place the subject on the agenda for a future meeting.
Sec. 2-60. - Oral presentations by members of the public.
The following procedures will guide oral presentations by members of the public at city council meetings:
(1)
When called upon, the person should come to the podium state his/her name and address for the record, and, if speaking for an organization or other group, identify the group.
(2)
All remarks should be addressed to the city council as a whole, not to individual members.
(3)
Questions, if any, should be directed to the presiding officer who will determine whether, or in what manner, an answer will be provided.
Terri Deans- Stressed the importance of emergency preparedness and not just being ready. She was leaving her information with Kevin Keller and gave https://www.preparingtexas.org/ for assistance. We will be posting more info about some upcoming classes on our Facebook page in coming days.
Marcie Lowery- Told the council there is no reason to raise our property taxes and raising fees would not improve the situation. The area is nothing without Fort Hood next to us because the city council has done nothing to give the area any value, so why should our property taxes go up? She's been watching our Street and Water fee increase for years with zero shown improvement to where she lives. Then she went on to Fathom and said that "Your mistake should not cost the citizens - citizens did not agree to this contract". She also said that the Visitor's Bureau should not be moved to the Chamber Of Commerce and that it would be irresponsible to do so. The Mayor stopped her from anymore because her five minutes was up, and the Mayor also took a moment to inform her that the City has never said anything about raising property taxes. Mrs Lowery asked if she could finish her speech because she only had one sentence left, but unfortunately her time was up and the Mayor was trying to stick to the rules she had just briefed everyone on. Mrs Lowery sent Speak Up!!! Copperas Cove the last sentence that she want to say.
"My goal is not to stand here and have you look at me with a deaf ear, but to place yourself back on this side of the room and remember who it is you represent, the citizens of Copperas Cove."
- Marcie Lowery
The Consent Agenda:
Items F1-F4 passed unanimously. The first three was for meeting minutes and the last was for proper disposal surplus property.
The Agenda Items:
-The Resource Director of the local Boys and Girls Club came to the council ask for reimbursement of promised funding from this budget year totaling $6,241.84. The fuel part of the total was $1,702.61. Daniel Hall also told the council that the Killeen Boys and Girls Club gave them a van to help with transportation. Vote passed 7-0
-Lampasas Central Appraisal District requests to amend the vehicle reserve budget by $4,000. The council had until August 2 to take action and this is the last council meeting prior to that date. It passed by a vote of 7-0.
-Gary Kimble briefed the council on the Series 2019 Certificates of Obligation for several city projects. He also said the true interest rate for the COs is 2.38% and the city bond rating is AA. The vote passed 7-0.
Ryan Haverlah had discussion and was looking for authorization for Council Members to travel to the Texas Municipal League 2019 Annual Conference in San Antonio. He said it is very beneficial for council members to understand industry standards in City Council, network with other council members, and learn from issues that other cities have come across. Bradi Diaz, Fred Chavez, Joann Courtland, and Marc Payne all spoke up as wanting to go. None of these members are up for election this year. PASS 7-0
Reports from City Staff:
Tornado Damage Update
Ryan gave an update on the Tornado Disaster Declaration. This was a coordinated declaration between Copperas Cove, Coryell, and Lampasas Counties. Coryell and Lampasas counties coordinated with the "Building Officials of Texas" to bring them out here and work together to identify just under $3,000,000 between counties due to split jurisdiction. 189 properties were damaged, 1 house was destroyed, but nobody was hurt or injured. Arrangements were made for brush and debris to be picked up with no charge. Killeen and Lampasas donated workers and trucks to help Copperas Cove accomplish this task as well as different departments within Copperas Cove who pitched in to help out. Ryan decided NOT to waive permits or fees for the rebuilding from the damage that was done. This is due to the cost of providing the service and track improvements for the city appraisal district. Also, there are many vendors who only show up to disaster sites, and then are gone as soon as the areas are fixed up or work runs out. Because of their transient nature, they don't always perform the best work or work at the best rates. The permit will ensure that the work is being done right and citizens aren't being ripped off.
Future Agenda Items:
Jay Manning would like to take a look at 2016-36 that deals with travel for Council members in their last year of service. Right now, it doesn't allow for travel and he feels it should at least allow for some travel due to relationships that Council members build during their tenure. Editorial comment: We believe that since Mr Manning is eligible for reelection this should not go forward at this time.
Kirby Lack - in order to maintain as much transparency as possible, he would like a briefing to tell citizens what happened with the City Manager search and why it went as long as it did. He said even if a Readers Digest version could be put out, a lot of people tend to think Ryan Haverlah was handed the position and that simply wasn't the case. He would like for the citizens to see what exactly he was up against and some of the very well qualified candidates mixed in with.
Central Texas College's radio station has a new program director and he has been attending surrounding communities and their council meetings. He is researching on how to expand his programming. He told us that he would sign up for Speak Up!!! Copperas Cove .
Election filing season opens up this Saturday for Council Seat 3 Dan Yancey, Seat 4 Jay Manning, Seat 5 Kirby Lack. Kirby Lack is term limited and can't run again. Dan Yancey and Jay Manning have not declared any intentions yet. Councilman Yancey voted to bring FATHOM to the city. Speak Up!!! Copperas Cove knows of one person definitely running and one possible. We will let you know as soon as anyone files for election.
Thank you for your continued support and don't forget to subscribe to our blog to stay informed. We are here for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for the message and concern for our city. We will be in touch with you.