Hello again Copperas Cove! Thank you for continuing to follow and stay on top of what's going on with YOUR City Council. At this meeting, we had service awards, a retirement, there were a bunch of budget approvals, and the Council Members gave updates on their committees.
The Council:
Mayor Bradi Diaz-Present
Joann Courtland-Present
Fred Chavez-Present
Dan Yancey-Present
Jay Manning-Present
Kirby Lack-Present
Marc Payne-Present
Charlie Youngs - Resigned
Place 3 Candidates
Jayme Sigler- Present
Dario Eubank-Present
Place 4 Candidates
Matt Russell- Present
Benjamin Beck- Absent
Place 5 Candidates
Dianne Campbell- Present Gary Kent- Absent
Place 7 (Unexpired Term) Candidates
COMING SOON
Workshop Items:
The City Council held a workshop
recognizing several employees for service awards and one retirement.
-Jeff Davis was recognized for his 5
years of service as the Human Resources Director.
-Carol Ballesteros was recognized for
15 years of service and is currently serving as a Firefighter
II/Paramedic.
-Gary Young was recognized for 30 years
of service and is currently serving as the Deputy Fire Chief.
-Daniel Hawbecker was recognized for 40
years of service and is currently serving as the Water
Superintendent. Ryan Haverlah had the following to say about Daniel:
-Daniel began his employment with
the City of Copperas Cove on September
1, 1978 when he was hired as a Laborer
for the Sanitation Department.
Throughout the course of his career he
has served in numerous positions
within the Public Works Department and
was promoted to Water
Distribution Superintendent on January
19, 2002, a position which he held
until retirement.
-Daniel was responsible for the
overall administration and operation of the
Water Distribution Department and its
facilities. He managed a department
of 12 personnel and was responsible for
the performance of repairs and
maintenance on all pumps, fire
hydrants, water storage facilities, meters and
water lines for the City of Copperas
Cove.
-Daniel has always kept the City’s
best interest in mind and his experience,
knowledge and expertise has saved us
thousands of dollars over the course
of his 40-year career. He was nominated
for the Unity Award in September
of 2013 for going above and beyond
while he was on vacation by responding
to a citizen’s concern. Daniel also
received the Noon Exchange Club’s City
Employee of the Quarter recognition in
August of 2014 for his outstanding
service to our community.
-His supervisor commented on a
recent evaluation that “Daniel is one of the
most knowledgeable and technically
proficient Superintendents I have ever
had the pleasure of working with. His
level of knowledge and expertise in
the City’s water distribution system
is unparalleled.”
-Daniel Hawbecker has been an
exemplary employee for the past 40 years, a
friend to many, and his presence will
be missed by his co-workers. On
behalf of the City of Copperas Cove, I
congratulate him on his retirement
and wish Daniel and his family only the
best!
Following Daniels service award, he was
retired from working for the City of Copperas Cove. He was given a
copy of a painting from the 5 Hills Art Guild with the city coin
embedded in the frame, and a gift card. He was joined by fellow
co-workers past and present, and gave a speech to everyone after the
presentation.
Editors Note: Congratulations Daniel Hawbecker - we appreciate all that you've done for our city!
The Agenda
Regular Council Meeting:
Citizens Forum:
-George McMaster started things off by speaking about Fathom. He wanted to compliment our Utility Department on the ease in which he was able to sign up for an account by going in to see them face to face. He did want to touch on that there are problems with Fathom wanting to charge a fee if the city goes over a certain amount of calls per month. Copperas Cove is a transient city due to Ft Hood which opens us up to a higher than normal amount of people coming and going. He was curious if this was factored into the contract when that fee was written in the contract. Overall, he feels we should just drop Fathom and return control to our Utility Department. They have a grasp on things and are pleasant to deal with, so we really should drop Fathom.
-Terri Deans was next up to the podium. She opened up by pointing out that there has been a lot of craziness going on lately, as we've seen on the news. DART had one family member who was at the El Paso Wal-Mart shooting. Due to the training that member had received through DART, they were able to quickly assess the situation and get themselves to safety - taking other people with them. They refuse to be made public, because in that moment it wasn't about being a hero. It was about taking care of them-self and those people around them. That could be any one of us at any time. If you're caught in an active shooter environment, will you know how to react? Will you know the first aid to save other peoples' lives, or possibly your own? It's never too late and there's plenty of training opportunities to come. If you're interested in one of these opportunities, reach out to "Speak Up!" and we can get you in contact with her same day - possibly even the same hour. She's very responsive to helping her community.
-James Pierce followed her up with 3 agenda items he wanted to touch on. First and foremost, he encouraged the council to accept Charlie Youngs' resignation, unanimously. We don't need that type of disrespect representing our city. In regards to item H3, he doesn't think that the city should be giving away our facilities for free. The cost for the Civic Center has already been dropped from $800/day to $250/day to help out organizations that couldn't afford it. (Editors note: When the council dropped that, they said they would stop giving out breaks to organizations - this was said both times they dropped it. - Jeremy). On August 15, the Farmers Market was cancelled so the city could host a Military Affairs event in the Civic Center. He did a freedom of information request to inquire how many people attended and how much the building was rented for, and nobody could find the paperwork for the request. He has another FOIA request that he is still waiting on word back from. We are always falling short on our budgets, but here we are giving away things for free - he doesn't feel that's right no matter what the dollar amount is. He also noted that as of 1 Sept 2019, HB 2840 regarding the open meetings act has taken place. He highly encourages everyone to familiarize themselves with this piece of legislation. (Editors note: "Speak Up!!! Copperas Cove" will be sharing this piece of legislation with our followers in a separate post, soon to come. -Jeremy)
-Alicia Menard followed up behind James Pierce to clarify that the use of the Civic Center last Thursday was due to a partnership between the City, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Military Affairs Events Group.
Public Hearing:
-The 2019 Certificate of Obligation Funds require an overall revenue and expenditure increase of $8,321,901 for projects authorized under the issuance of the 2019 Certificates of Obligation on July 16, 2019. The Fiscal Year 2018-2019 budget was adopted on September 4, 2018 and amended on January 03 and 15, May 21, June 4, and August 20, 2019. According to Section 6.02.1(a) of the Copperas Cove City Charter, in order for the City Council to amend the budget it must post such amendments in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act. Section 6.02.1(b) of the Charter also provides a requirement that when fund balance is to be used to fund increases in expenditures that two public hearings be held. The proposed budget amendment will not use fund balance for this amendment." - Ariana Beckman, Budget Director / No public comments - PASS
Action Items:
- The Council broke for executive session and then returned to vote on approval of Charlie Youngs' resignation. Councilman Jay Manning believes it's only appropriate to accept anytime someone submits their resignation. PASS 6-0 Charlie and the bird video
-The Council then voted to approve of a NOV 5 Special Election for the replacement of Charlie Youngs. PASS 6-0 Applications for a place on the City of Copperas Cove Special Election Ballot may be filed from September 3, 2019 through September 26, 2019, Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm. Candidate packets are currently available in the City Secretary’s Office and on the City’s website. The physical address for filing applications in person is 914 S. Main Street, Suite D, Copperas Cove; mailing address is P.O. Drawer 1449, Copperas Cove. Election information may be obtained by visiting the City Secretary’s page of the City website at: http://www.copperascovetx.gov/
-Ryan Haverlah spoke on item H3 in regards to Consideration and action on authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce for hosting and participating in Military Affairs Events. He went on to further clarify that the way the three work together is the City provides the location, the CoC in return provides seats for the Council Members at the event, and the CoC hosts the Military Affairs Events group. Ryan stated that they released the information to properly be evaluated by the Council a little late so he is recommending action not be taken and he will move it to the next council meeting for action. There was no further discussion. NO ACTION TAKEN Editorial comment: Our city government should not be be doing Quid Pro Quo (a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something) for organizations. Where does it end? When do we start collecting for services from those organizations instead of on the backs of tax payers? Where is the transparency? - James
- Shortly after Ron Nelson took his position on the Planning and Zoning Committee, he had to step down due to "unexpected life events". The council voted to put Sarah Kindler in his position - PASS 6-0. Editorial comment: This appointment will probably need to be done again since there wan motion made to suspend the rules so a direct appointment was made and there were two candidates on the agenda. These are the rules the council set. -James
-The Board of Adjustments had two positions that were coming up for the end of their term and were requested to fill those positions. Jerry Cantrell and Charlotte Brown were both elected to take those positions. PASS 6-0
-The EDC Budget, Personnel Improvement Plan, Capitol Outlay Plan, Capitol Improvement Plan, City's Fee Schedule, Budget and Plan of Municipal Services, and Property Tax Rate were all a PASS 6-0 for each of them. Editorial comment: Part of this set of agenda items is the City Fee Schedule. The council raised both the water base rate and waste water base rate from $12 to $14 and the trash fee for residents from $18 to $19. Your water bill is going up $5 per month plus tax. -James
- The final agenda item was for the council to appoint Mayor Diaz as our representative for the Texas Municipal League business meeting on October 9-10, in San Antonio. Vote passed 6-0
Staff reports
From the Mayor
Audit Committee- They had an extensive meeting for the upcoming city audit and placed it on a calendar. It will take several months for it to be done by Weaver and Tidwell.
Central Texas Council of Governments executive committee- Serves 370,000 people in central Texas and seven counties. All their services in the region include equipment being provided and the operate the Texas Workforce Commission in the area.
HOP- Dan Yancey will comment on this.
Killeen Temple Metropolitan Planning Organization- KTMPO has 23 projects on it's list five of which are in Copperas Cove
Place 1
Citizens Focus Group- This group has not met since Andrea Gardner left Copperas Cove.
Youth Advisory Council- Ms Courtland said the the YAC has not met in the last couple of months. Editorial comment: She has never been to a YAC meeting even though the kids were always prepared for her to show up. -James
Place 2
Quality of Life- Mr Chavez briefed the condition of the golf course, the width of the cart paths were brought up, restoration fee update, Food Truck Fest and its cancelled run, bylaw updates, and travel team concerns.
Adopt-A-Unit- There have be no meeting to attend.
Place 3
Hill Country Transit- HOP will have an updated Plan of Action to discuss soon with the council.
KTMPO- The bypass widening will be in the FY21 funding.
Place 4
Subdivision Technical Advisory Committee- There has been 36 two hour meetings with city and private sector involvement and has made a lot of progress especially with the fire code. Transportation work group- They have made several recommendations.
Place 5
Animal Shelter Advisory Committee- They meet once a quarter and Mr Lack just spoke to Mr Wyres. At the last meeting the ASAC discussed the 3 year rabies shot.
Ministerial Alliance- He said they meet regularly and it is a friendly environment.
Place 6
Cemetery Advisory Committee- Marc Payne said that they last met in October and several members have stepped down. Editorial Comment: There was one on May 21, March 6, March 27, and November 28. There are minutes for these. -James
Public Housing- He tried telling us what they did there but he was hard to understand.
City Manager Update
FATHOM will update the council on September 17. We have surpassed the 10% call volume every month since April 2017, but have never been charged.
Recycling Agreement- The city has been working on this for 6 years. It is presently in Conference Committee, in Congress. This will enable Copperas Cove to take recycles to Ft Hood instead of Taylor, Texas.
City Community Events- Fall-O-Ween is still on.
Heartwood IV burn- There were no unauthorized items burned there. The fire chief is developing a plan to ensure this never happens.
FM1113 and FM116 is getting four miles of new overlay and reseal and will be completed this fall. It is a $1.4 million dollar project and is completely funded by TxDOT.
Future Agenda Item
The Mayor made a recommendation for the council to look at a code of ethics (totally supported)
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