B190 Info, Park Restrooms, and the Chamber during City Council 7 Jan 2020

B190 Info, Park Restrooms, and the Chamber during City Council 7 Jan 2020

The Council:
Mayor Diaz-Present
Joann Courtland-Present
Fred Chavez-Present
Dan Yancey-Present
Jay Manning-Present
Dianne Campbell-Present
Marc Payne-Present
Jack Smith-Absent

Workshop Agenda

Business 190 Median Project Status Video

Road Map Video

The main subject of the workshop this evening was about the upcoming Business 190 Median Project. It will span the area from Constitution to Avenue D or 1.3 miles. When finished it will have three lanes of traffic on each side, the median, a bicycle lane and a sidewalk on the south side of the road. The price for the road project, to include design,  is just over 11 million dollars. Copperas Cove paid for the design and is only responsible for anything over 10 million dollar construction budget. 

When the medians are built, each one will have a 4 foot safe haven at the end for pedestrian safety and paver stones after that. The distance between will be TxDOT standard for vehicle U-Turns. All Business entrances will have a TxDOT approved entrance widths at their locations, the map doesn't specify the measurements. The MLK intersection will be redesigned and be striped. The order for the project is the sidewalk, then the median, and then a complete overlay.

TxDOT recommends 20 MPH but the city is recommending 30 MPH. 

City Council Agenda

Citizens Forum:
Ashley Wilson- She want to make the public aware about the 20th Annual Polar Bear Plunge and 5K on January 25, She also invite members of the council to participate.
Rachel Pierce- She wanted to recommend that the council look at adding Civil Defense/Tornado sirens to the Copperas Cove area. Her residence was in the path of the EF-2 tornado that struck Copperas Cove on June 9, 2019. She did not receive a Cove Red notification until after the storm had passed.
Siggi Loe- She wanted more transparency from the city in the following areas; the planning of the under/overpass proposals at the railroad crossings with traffic congestion, how would an overpass even work, she heard about a mentioned overpass at the HWY 9/N116 intersection, speed limit of 55MPH is to fast on N116 and should be no higher than 40MPH.

Consent Agenda:
All seven items on the Consent Agenda passed unanimously.
The first five were for meeting minutes approval.
Item 6 was for granting Jack Smith an excused absence from the current meeting. It did not specify the sickness or emergency reason for missing the council meeting.
Item 7 was for authorizing the City Manager to execute acceptance of a General Warranty Deed conveying property to the City as necessary for the Southwest Water Improvement Project and the future development of the Valley at Great Hills Subdivision.

Public Hearing:
1. Oak Cove Development wants the council to amend the Future Land Use Plan from Low Density Residential to Medium Density Residential at 111 Wolfe Rd. They want to build a duplex on the location. There were no speakers. It passed 6-0.

2. Oak Cove Development wants the council to rezone the property from R-1 Single Family to R-2 Multi-Family. There were no speakers. It passed 6-0.

3. The city needs two public hearing for public disclosure to reconcile the FY 2019 Budget that recently ended on September 30, 2019. It was an extensive list. Please review the attached link to review the list on the agenda. This is normal business and there were no speakers. No vote is scheduled until the next public hearing.

Action Items:
Councilman Dan Yancey was nominated for the third year in a row to be the Copperas Cove Mayor Pro Temp. The person filling this position fills in for the Mayor when he/she is not available. He was selected by a vote of 6-0.

Judge Bill Price's Annual evaluation came up for approval before the council. The council had three options. Reappoint for two years, remove from office, take no action and on the 91st day after December 2 would automatically be reappointed for two years. He has been the Municipal Judge since 1992. The vote was 6-0 to reappoint for two years.

Associate Judge Lisa Kabala's Annual evaluation came up for approval before the council. The council had three options. Reappoint for two years, remove from office, take no action and on the 91st day after December 15 would automatically be reappointed for two years. The vote was 6-0 to reappoint for two years.

The Economic Development Corporation needs to fill a vacancy on it's board. The seat runs through September 30, 2020. The following people applied for the seat: Charlotte Brown, Amy Williams, JC Stubbs, Edson Florexil, Darren Blair, Shawn Alzona. JC Stubbs is currently on the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors (as is the Mayor and Councilman Jack Smith; neither voted on the nomination). JC Stubbs was approved by a vote of 6-0.

The Planning and Zoning Commission needs to fill a vacancy on it's commission. The only applicant is Jerry Cantrell. He also serves on the Board of Adjustments for Copperas Cove.  Councilman Payne said he was not comfortable with Cantrell serving on both boards. Mr Cantrell was present and reassured everyone present that his military experience taught him to be open minded about the offices he is appointed. He was approved by a vote of 6-0.

The final plat for Heartwood III consisting of 147 lots on about 76 acres came before the city council this evening. The subdivision is located off of Courtney Lane by S.E. Lee Jr High School. WBW Land Investment brought the request. There were no questions from the council. It passed by a vote of 6-0.

The Chamber of Commerce came to council requesting the final payment of $12,600 for HOT funds for the Kris Kindl Markt, at City Park, from December 5-8, 2019. The total amount received would be $15,646. They said total attendance was approximately 15,902. Their largest unexpected expense was for lights costing $5721. To be honest the presentation was very hard to follow due to them jumping all around with groups of numbers for that weekend. We are including the expense report here for your review. It passed the council by a vote of 6-0. Payment Request link!

The council debated changing the policy for receiving Hotel Occupancy Tax funds. It would simplify the paperwork. Also, the city would like to stop enforcing the 25% rule which would mean that and organization could only receive 25% of their anticipated revenue in HOT support. For example, it the annual Art Guild Spring Fest revenue was $10,000 they would only be able to ask for $2,500 in HOT funds. Several council members wanted to raise the percentage so to help the smaller organizations. This was led by Councilman Payne, Manning, and Campbell. In the end the ordinance passed by a vote of 5-1 (Payne voted no). Councilman Chavez later request a future agenda item to rectify the percentage.

The city would like to amend the Personnel Improvement Plan for FY20-24 and the Position Listing for FY20. Please review the attached agenda for the complete list. It passed with a vote of 6-0.

In order to ensure compliance with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the City Manager must submit by January 15 the Revised Storm Water Management Plan for the City's MS4. The vote was 6-0 to authorize the City Manager to submit.

The Parks and Recreation Director recommends rejecting the bid for replacing the restrooms at City Park and South Park. If it went forward it would put the project $100,000 Dollars over budget. Jeff Stoddard said that only one bid was received and it was for $230,212 for prep work. His plan is to work a solution out and bring it back to council. The restrooms are part of Phase II of the five year parks renovation project. The restrooms were supposed to be ready by the start of baseball and softball season. There are Port A Johns at the parks now. The council voted 6-0 to accept his proposal.

Last year the engineering firm BSP merged with anther group to form MRB. Since the name changed the City Manager needs the authority to sign legal paperwork with the newly named engineering firm. The council authorized him to do so with a vote of 6-0.

The Mayor brought out the new Committee Assignments that council members act as liaisons for the council. The Mayor added to additional committees to the chart. Marc Payne will be on Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful and Dianne Campbell will be on the Library Advisory Board. Still, there are no council liaisons for the Planning and Zoning and the Board of Adjustments. The council approved this by a vote of 6-0.

Recycling Update

The City Manager wanted to let the citizens know that the legislation allowing recycling on post was passed in December. It is located in Sections 326 and 327 of the FY2020 NDAA that was signed by President Trump on December 20, 2019. Congressman Carter was very instrumental in getting this passed. This will result in substantial cost savings for the city. The City Manager will need to work out specific language with Fort Hood before it will begins.

Fathom Update

December 17, 2019 is the termination date of service with Fathom.
The transition is in progress.
The Utility building now needs an architect before going forward.
Before Fathom ceased operations the sent out city sections 5,6, and 7 statements showing a due date of January 6, 2020. This led to 1800 calls on January 6 to our CSRs.
The are no late fees or disconnects right now and service connections are being presently being manually logged.
Online payments will be returning soon.
The Finance Department is also taking payments.
The city will soon be sending a letter to all Copperas Cove Utility Customers.

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. 

TxDOT Public Meeting for US Business 190

12 Feb 2019 TxDOT Business 190 Project Public Meeting

Representatives from TxDOT held a presentation with public comments on the Business 190 project. Copperas Cove PD, and the Copperas Cove Fire Department were also on hand to address public concerns with the roadways. While this was not a required meeting for any City Council members to attend, most were in attendance as well as both Mayoral Candidates. For those keeping track:


Council Members:
Joann Courtland- Present
Fred Chavez- Present
Dan Yancey- Present
Jay Manning- Present
Kirby Lack- Absent
Mark Payne- Present
Charlie Youngs- Absent

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

 Mr Victor Goebel, P.E. (Director of Transportation Planning and Development - TxDOT Waco District) led the meeting with a brief overview about the project and why they were holding the meeting. This section of the Business 190 project covers 1.25 miles from Ave D to Constitution Ave. The project is scheduled to take place for 15 months from 2020 to early summer of 2021. It will consist of a raised median, improved access management with cut in turn lanes, and provide bike lanes and improved sidewalk. The lanes will be 12 feet with a 17 foot median. Along the south side, there will be a 5 ft bike lane, and 6 ft sidewalk. Along the north side, there will be a 14 ft wide shared bike and vehicle lane. Along the south stretch of road just west of the MLK Drive intersection, there will be terraced landscape with funding donated by the state, for winning the Governor's Award. That was really about all there was for the presentation. They did open the floor for public comment limited to 3 minutes per speaker, but they would not respond to any questions tonight. They will be taking all written and spoken comments back to Waco for review, make any minor adjustments needed, and then submit for ecological survey. 

There were 9 citizens who spoke during public comment. 

-John Weber (KTMPO Rep) stepped up first, giving a brief overview of the history with this projects' planning. 

-Jason Manning said his family owns Manning Homes, and they see there being problems with delivery drivers trying to get large trucks into his business. On top of that, he does a lot of driving around Business 190 for his job, so he foresees himself needing to take a lot of that driving to the residential streets once this is put in. 

-Jonathan Manning said he is part owner as well for Manning Homes, and is not sure how some of his delivery trucks will be able to get in and out of his business with this median in place. 

-Beth Moore reminded us that this was originally started by a grant that KCCB (Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful) applied for to bring in landscaped medians down 190. Once it was apparent that would not happen, the focus then shifted over to this being a safety project and it turned into what we have today. She went on to provide examples of cities who have tried medians and removed them due to revenue loss for their businesses. In closing, she pointed out that a big portion of Copperas Cove is against this project. 

-Siggi Loe stated that the median won't reduce accidents. Lanes will be reduced in width which will make it more dangerous with large semi trucks on the road. She closed by stating that it's ok to back out of the project at this point and most citizens would be ok with it. 

-Sylvia Rhodes came right out stating that she's in favor of the project. She was on KCCB back when they originally presented the beautification idea to the city. "While we wanted a beautification project, we were not involved in current terracing." She closed out by saying she doesn't mind waiting to turn if it will prevent accidents. 

-Tom McNew.  asked if there has been any sort of time analysis on accidents to see when they are primarily happening. Also, will the U-Turns affect accidents, and who will be in charge of paying for upkeep of this median?  

-Natasha T. stated that accidents have been reported by local media as being down in recent years for Copperas Cove, especially now that we have the two bypasses installed. Additionally, Copperas Cove population has been either flat lining or slowly decreasing within the past 10 years, so we're not seeing any big rise in population that would affect accident rates. If anything, she thinks the forced U-Turns will create more accidents. In closing, she asked if this plan is so great, then why stop in the middle of town? (Editors Note: We have a Business 190 Phase II project that will continue through town in our 25 year plan - this one stops in the middle of town due to budgeting)

-Zack J stated that these are great ideas from the 1950's, but can be hazardous when installed where they aren't needed. You typically put these in when you're developing an area, but Cove is already developed. There is no adjusting business entrances to work with this median - you just put the median in and hope it works. He also went on to say that with the current turn lane, he can slow down his speed while in the turning lane, coast in to the business, and coast to his parking spot. With the forced U-turns, more cars will be required to use additional gas, wasting more energy. Right now with the nations focus on saving energy, this goes against that. From there, he let us know that he is an engineer for things like this and has been providing input on projects like this for decades. He drives a full sized pickup and does not thing his pickup would be able to conduct a U-turn without performing a 3 point turn in the middle of traffic. He also wants to know how this is supposed to create any safety for pedestrians crossing the highway. Some may be slower due to wheel chairs, but there's nothing in the median to help wheel chairs get to safety if they should get caught in the middle. In closing, he asked why would we tear out all the ADA ramps that were just recently put in. 

Ron Nelson, Candidate for Mayor

Citizens at the Civic Center

With that, the meeting wrapped up and the public was left to talk among themselves or strike conversation with the TxDOT/PD/FD representatives there.