Hello Copperas Cove! This meeting covered everything from citizens concerned with the current state of safety in our neighborhoods to the Chamber of Commerce giving its quarterly update and request for funds.
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- Present
Workshop Notes:
During the workshop, Ryan Haverlah recognized Silvia Rhoads for her retirement after serving Copperas Cove for 20 years, most recently as Staff Accountant. She's also contributed heavily to "Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful" and was presented with an appreciation award from the group.
From there, they started a final workshop review of the 2020 Comprehensive Plan. The city has been working on updating this plan extensively during the past 6 months, covering all chapters of the plan. These chapters cover:
-Future Land Use
-Housing Strategies
-Community Image & Urban Design
-Parks, Recreation, and Open Space
-Government Facilities and Services
Next, the plan will go to Public Hearing during normal Council Meeting.
Regular Council Meeting:
During the announcements, Fred Chavez reminded the public that this weekend is the Polar Bear Plunge and 5K at city park. He's planning on participating in both and encourages the public to come support the event! February 1st will be the "Superbowl of Caring"
Citizens Forum:
-Mark brought forth a petition asking for the city to provide better street lights, more stop signs, and speed bumps throughout Copperas Cove.
-Jayme Sigler said she ran for City Council during the last election with the main concern being for street safety, more sidewalks, and better lighting. She only received excuses for why the city isn't putting in more improvements such as the street lights are installed and maintained by the electric company, the sidewalks are put in by the contractors, and the city can't force citizens to install sidewalks on their properties. Along with these excuses for not giving the citizens more sidewalks and better lighting - our roads are falling apart, and we have no safe parks in the city. None of our parks are completely fenced in, and because of this she doesn't feel like we can let our children play in the parks without them running out in the streets and getting hit by traffic. She went on to reiterate that we have inadequate sidewalks and street lights, and if the City Council doesn't act, any future accidents will be due to their negligence. After all, this is supposed to be the city built for family living, and we need to be looking after our families. She did clarify that this has nothing to do with her losing the election and is all about her wanting to make our city safer for the families that live here.
-Michelle Adkins with the Utilities Department wanted to publicly thank the Public Works and Solid Waste Directors for sending over people to temporarily help the Utilities Department with handling the phones. The few people they were able to spare have made a tremendous impact on the operations of the Utilities Department Customer Service.
-Jessica brought forward her public safety concern for people and animals in Copperas Cove. Since she's been here, she's only seen 1 speed limit sign. She also noted the few street lights we have use the dim yellow lights so it's still hard to see out at night. That combined with there being no sidewalks led to an incident where she busted her head open on a curb one night because she couldn't see where she was going. We need to think about the disabled people trying to navigate the streets at night, but really we need to think about all people because we're all in this together. She is also concerned about the creek behind her fenced in back yard. She's worried that her children might find their way to the creek and drown in it one day. She's also worried about the snakes because they're all over the place and some of them are poisonous. There are a lot of dangers around here and she would like to see the city address as many of them as possible.
- Siggi brought up that even in the newer developments, they only have 1 sidewalk per street instead of a sidewalk on both sides of the street. She talked to a contractor about this and was told they do this per city code, so the council should address city code for side walks and street light spacing/brightness. As a closing note, she mentioned that we should take care of safety before the golf course, and these should have been addressed before the golf course put in a new sidewalk.
Public Hearing:
1. The council held its second public hearing and action on an ordinance amending the FY19-20 Budget. With no council discussion or public comment, this reached a PASS 7-0 vote.
2. For the next public hearing, Joanne Courtland recused herself from the item and left the room due to the request being submitted by Councilwoman Courtland and her husband for "Operation Stand Down", which they both run. He is requesting to rezone a property from R-3 (Multifamily Residential District) to B-4 (General Retail District), locally known as 201 & 203 Carpenter Street, Copperas Cove, Texas. They are planning on using the property to construct a 4500 sq ft storage warehouse and office space for Operation Stand Down Central Texas. The site will have adequate parking and space available for two offices and a donation drop off area within the warehouse building. The applicant will be submitting for a minor re-plat to combine the two existing parcels into one parcel once this rezoning application is approved. Once the minor re-plat is approved and recorded, then building permits can be issued for construction. The applicants agent briefly approached the podium to take questions regarding the rezone, with no questions being brought up. Johnathan Haywood came forward and spoke very strongly in support for how much Operation Stand Down supports the local veterans and community, and that we need to take care of them as not to run them off to another city. With that, the council voted to PASS 6-0 Editorial Note: After the council meeting, it was brought to our attention that the Courtlands purchased the property from a senior member of the city staff in August 2019. It is listed in the supporting documents from the P&Z meeting in December 2019. Here is the link to view it: 201 & 203 Carpenter LOOK ON PAGE 5
3. Bobby Lewis (Development Service Director) brought forward action to approve the final edits of the 2020 Comprehensive Plan. Dale Treadway (Chairman of the P&Z), on behalf of the P&Z, took a moment to thank Bobby for his help in bringing this together. There has been over a year of work put into making this happen and for one last change, Dale requested that the prior Chairman of the P&Z be listed on the final draft as well since he was Chairman during the majority of the work. The council obliged to his request and voted to PASS 7-0 the 2020 Comprehensive Plan.
Action Items:
1. The Chamber of Commerce presented their Quarterly Presentation and request for reimbursement of funds. Alicia Menard (President - Chamber of Commerce) gave the presentation which covered a broad range of topics. To start, she went into the Chamber of Commerce mission statement and how funds are used. They have a new website coming, and are running multiple ads out showcasing the CoC events as well as local public events hosted by other parties. They are also bringing in conferences, trade shows, and events to the Civic Center in addition to going to events in other cities to promote what Copperas Cove has to offer. She said they even gave out 351 Phone Books! After reviewing the 1st quarter FY20 stats and analytics, they requested a reimbursement amount of $10,321. PASS 6-0 (Chavez had to step away for a phone call)
2. Ariana Beckman (Director of Budget) presented an amendment to the Hotel Occupancy Tax policy concerning language related to the amount being requested by outside agencies. The motion struck out the 25% requirement leaving not revenue requirement to qualify for HOT funds. The just need to promote tourism. With little discussion regarding clarification among the council, this reached a PASS 6-0 (Chavez had to step away for a phone call).
3. The City intends to finance the funds for the purchase of Mobile Data Terminals and applicable accessories for the police department to replace current equipment. Out of the 32 laptops from the original purchase in 2013, several have been experiencing problems and are in need of replacement. With little discussion from the council, this reached a PASS 7-0 vote from the council.
4. Annually, the City adjusts its population count to assist with anticipating service needs from different departments. Bobby Lewis brought forward consideration and action to establish the city population at 35,307. PASS 7-0
5. City staff has identified several projects within the City Capitol Improvement Plan for the parks that no longer require services of MRB Group (Formerly BSP Engineering). Johnathan Haywood asked if we had already pre paid MRB for services until the city parks improvements are complete, and if so would we be getting any money back. Jeff Stoddard (Director of Parks and Rec) stated that we pay as we use them, so this action would be cutting costs for services not needed. With that, the council voted to PASS 7-0 this item.
6. Section 4.02 of the City Charter requires the City Manager to file a letter with the City Secretary designating qualified individuals to perform the duties of City Manager in their absence or disability. Ryan Haverlah has designated the following personnel as qualified individuals to perform in his absence:
1. Eddie Wilson (Chief of Police)
2. Scott Osbourn (Public Works Director)
3. Velia Kay (Financial Services Director)
The council voted to PASS 7-0 this designation.
Reports from City Staff
Ryan Haverlah update the Council that DEAAG is in the process of awarding funding for the S. HWY 9 Ramp going to Tank Destroyer Rd, and noted that once this goes through it would be contingent on about $3,000,000 in city funds which would be reimbursed by TxDOT. TxDOT will also donate the design cost.
He also touched on the Utility Department transition and said it is going smoothly and things are on a good track. They currently are not charging any late fees or performing any shut offs due to late payments, but he highly recommends you still stop by and make payments to your account. Once the bills start going out again, they will be covering the current billing period as well as the prior billing period that wasn't sent out so to avoid a huge bill - help yourself out and stop by to make payments.
Future Agenda Items
Fred Chavez requested that they discuss new comer briefings for citizens as well as touch on the Citizens Ombudsman Program that is in the works. This was agreed on and will be added to a future agenda.
Executive Session:
The council announced that they approved the evaluation of the City Manager. Vote 7-0.
