Civic Center Fees at the City Council meeting

City Council meeting for March 5


Hello again Copperas Cove!! Tonight's City Council Meeting was a short one, but there was a long discussion involving the Parks and Rec fee schedule. We're going to give you the run down of what was said so you know where your council members stand. So to start things off, lets take roll - 1 note, we don't THINK we saw Mayoral Candidate Brandi Weiand tonight, but we've been wrong with new candidates before. So Brandi, if you were there - let us know! Ok, moving on -

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

Mayor Candidates:
Bradi Dewald Diaz - Present
Ron Nelson - Absent
Joey Acfalle - Present
Brandi Weiand - Absent

Citizens Forum:
We had two citizens up tonight. The first one was Mike and he spoke about bringing a rec center into Copperas Cove. In 2008 we had a vote on it which failed by 95 votes. That was over 10 years ago and we've had a lot change in population and direction of the city. He feels like we need to have another vote on this and see if the citizens are ready for one yet. Mike coaches for various sports and said he could see this being a great benefit to the city.

Next up was Debbie. Debbie was asking when is the last time that the City Park Pool filtration system has been maintained. When she uses the pool, if she sits in the water, she finds hair on her skin that was floating around in the water. However when she uses the pool at the Gym, this is never an issue. She also wants to know why the removed the water fountains from the pool. Now people are forced to go buy water from the concession stand since they don't allow any food or drinks to be brought in from the outside. She feels like it is wrong to force that on the citizens.

The Agenda

Consent Agenda: All items PASS

Action Items: 

H1 - Discussion was brought up with direction sought regarding the Parks and Rec fees schedule related to renting city facilities. This item was requested by Joann Courtland at the previous City Council Meeting after discussion about discounts for non-profits. P&R Director Joe Brown started the discussion with a brief overview of the P&R fee schedule and his thoughts on the requested intent to offer discounts to non-profits who would like to use city facilities. Joe stated that we recently had a reduction in fees across al
l facilities with the intention of nullifying discounts. We were charging $800 a day for facility use, and we dropped it to $500 a day which was along the lines of the discounted rate we were giving anyone who requested one before the council anyways. So to stop taking up council time, they just dropped the fee to $500 with the intention of no more discounts. Joe further advised that traditionally, P&R rentals are not subsidized - meaning that they are meant to bring some money in for the city. 

Joann Courtland responded first, saying she's not trying to set a discount, but wants to come up with a set fee for non-profits because she is trying to look out for the entities that provide things like free meals and services to the entire community with no door charges or qualifications needed. Two of the places she's looking at are the Civic Center and Ogletree Gap. Just for full disclosure, Joann Courtland and Kirby Lack both operate non-profits (Operation Stand Down and Trinity Worship Center - respectively). 

Charlie Youngs asked "when do we stop cutting funds and realize we're losing money?" These non-profits that are holding events should plan and budget for rental fees. With that said, he believes we should set the fee to the daily operating cost. If it costs $250 to operate the civic center one day - then charge that for the non-profits. 

Kirby Lack said his church is a non-profit, and he agrees that they should pay the fees for their events because they are always fund raising events. Non-Profits like the Star Group should get a discount because they help anyone and everyone who comes to their events and they don't make any money from the events. Their events are all about feeding the community and whatever is charged from the city is taking away from that event. To this, Charlie Youngs came back and reinforced that he is concerned about the city taking a loss of daily operating costs, and he's not about to take a loss for the city. 

Joann Courtland comes back and argues that losing a little on a rental fee is better than not making anything from non-use. To this, Dan Yancey reminds everyone that we already dropped the rate to avoid these discussions and help everyone across the board (citizens and non-profits alike). 

Fred Chavez states that he wants to eliminate back door discounts by setting one rate and sticking with it. If an event raising money - then stick to the fee. If they're providing a service to the entire community with no segregation involved, then that's different. Fred Chavez runs the theater out at Central Texas College and they have non-profits come through all the time asking for a discount. There's a lot of things he can be flexible with as the director, but one thing that must stay firm is the pricing. If a non-profit falls under a certain designation, then they can fill out an application with proof of that designation and get the discount. If you don't have that designation, then you pay the regular price. 

Jay Manning came in and said we're trying to collect enough to provide a service, so we need to keep rates the same to benefit ALL citizens. A few years ago, rates were doubled and from doing so, the city lost a lot of business. That was what caused us to lower our fees last year. He feels like we should lower them a little more to try and bring back some of that business we lost. 

Joe Brown stepped in again and said we just spent a LOT of money on renovations and we still have more renovations coming. He feels like we should keep the rates the same to help out with those renovations. Every other city he's worked in has not provided breaks. Our costs are already very low compared to other cities. To this, Joann stepped in and said that Killeen offers a special rate for non-profits and the Killeen Community Center just went through renovations. 

Kirby Lack stepped in and said that Joe has done a phenomenal job turning around our City Parks and Golf Course. We have our own bills to pay and we need to be careful what we give away. Joe added in that we have a couple House Bills looming that, if passed, could force department heads to make pay cuts across the city. If that happens and we lower rental fees as well, that could put the city in a bad position. 

Fred Chavez asked if we could just narrow the fee reduction down to two areas - the Civic Center and Ogletree Gap. Ryan responded by suggesting creating an application with check marks that need to be met in order to be able to get a discount. He thinks this could prevent abuse of the discount and avoid non-profits having to come to the council to request a discount and get one based off a good sales pitch. The council unanimously PASSED this idea. The city will work on an application and bring it forward in a future Council Meeting where they will go over operation costs of the Civic Center, review the application, and decide on a price point for rentals. 

H2 - This item was basically making a few adjustments to the fee schedule for Copperas Cove. Mostly removing fees for services that aren't provided anymore. A few of note:

-Farmers Market - removing the $25 daily fee. There is now only a $25 application fee which is great news for our local farmers. 

-Library has a color print fee now of 15 cents per page

-Library has set its overdue max fee to $10

PASS 6-0

H3 - The Police Department is requesting to have the HVAC system in their IT room replaced. It has been out for about 2 months now, requiring them to leave the door propped open for air circulation. Not only does this create a security risk for a room that is supposed to remain locked, but proper air conditioning is VERY important in any IT room for the computers to work properly. This repair will cost $20,540 which will be covered by other project savings. 

PASS 6-0

H4 - The Police Department has identified excess and obsolete equipment that is of no use anymore and would like to dispose of it. It consists of some old police uniform items as well as some Parks and Rec computer items. They will be transferring these items to solid waste in accordance with the Texas Constitution. 

PASS 6-0

H5 - There is an ongoing project right now along FM116 South and FM 3046 where they are trying to put in a bicycle lane and side walk. The city has determined that they don't have enough asphalt area unless they remove a vehicle lane, and they don't have enough easement room without making a LOT of driveways steep for home owners. What the city is recommending is creating one shared usage path instead (Option 1), which the engineers have already said they can make work.
PASS 6-0

Executive Session: 

There was a short executive session held regarding the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect referenced as #ED-2018-2 Project Glow. When the council came back out to the Dias, it was announced the no action was taken.

City Council meeting on 5 Feb 19 and Fathom audit results

Copperas Cove City Council Meeting for 5 Feb 19


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


The Agenda

Bradi Dewald Diaz

 Tonight's council meeting lasted over 2 hours and dealt with a variety of subjects. For agenda item H1, Star Group brought a big family of concerned citizens including Bill French and Dr Burns, which led the chambers to have standing room only. There were 20 people left standing in the room, with more out in the lobby. The subject of Fathom was part of three agenda items and took most of the time. We will write about most of it BUT there will be a SEPARATE blog dealing with the audit.

As of now, the only filed candidate for Mayor, Bradi Dewald Diaz, was at the council meeting. We asked her why she was running for office and she told us that she felt it was time to get involved again. She also said that Mayor Seffrood set the bar extremely high for all future mayors for Copperas Cove but she can do it and wants to do it.

Citizens Forum:
-Ms Keegan about water bill. She is a 40 year resident who lives alone and is being told she went through 20,000 gallons of water last month. Some of her high water usage was happening when she wasn't home or from midnight to 8 am when she was in bed.
-Terri Deans about need for open forum about Fathom. We still have double billings, erroneous billings, and wrongful disconnects happening. She doesn't mind fighting for the citizens, but needs other citizens to support her and get up there with her. She also spoke about some disaster training provided locally provided by G317. It will be a 24 hour course and is open to the public. You can get ahold of her directly for more info, or if you need help getting in contact - we can get you in contact with her.
-Mr Oliver about road conditions on Pecan Cove Drive. They have caused at least 4 accidents in recent years due to the amount and size of the pot holes. A Fire Truck and Police Car have been involved in accidents related to these pot holes as well as at least two cars that he's seen run off the road to try avoiding the pot holes and on coming traffic simultaneously. There has been discussion since at least 2014 to repair this road with no action taken.
-Siggi Loe about Business 190 and the need of sidewalks on both sides of the street in subdivisions. She encouraged the council to start enforcing a stipulation to builders that if they are going to build a new neighborhood, they are required to install sidewalks on both sides of the street. She also agrees with Mr Oliver. She sees that we're fixing up the golf course, but leaving our roads in disrepair. She urged the council that while the Golf Course and Parks DO need attention - put our roads first.

Public Hearing:
There was an initial public hearing about the renewal of the youth curfew. Deputy Chief Stoddard gave the brief. Cheryl Davis asked who makes the determination of reasoning of a minor in possible violation of the curfew. The officer makes the decision based on the information and location from the minor and parent. Parents are allowed to send their children out on errands for the parents (grocery store, medication run, etc) but they are not allowed to give their children permission just to go hang out after curfew. The ordinance has to be reauthorized every three years due to state law. It applies to children 16 and below. The next public hearing and vote will be February 19.

Jonathan Haywood Star Group

The Star Group requested that their lease for $1 a year be extended for another year and also explained the they had invested $125,000 (minus labor) in renovations on their building. Additionally, they have invested heavily in the public. Ryan Haverlah agrees tremendous work has been put in by the Star Group. Dan Yancey stated he is "grateful for them being here" and they are "one of the best things in Central Texas". Fred Chavez stated their "main value isn't in what you've put into the building, but the work you do".  The lease can be extended three times. It passed 7-0 and included a future debate on doing a two year extension.


Next the council approved a 50% discount for the Refuge Corporation (CHOP). Joe Brown briefed the council that the Refuge Corporation has never been charged. Dan Yancey and Jay Manning reminded the council that the Civic Center fee schedule last year was voted on by the City Council and lowered from $800 (with half days and discounts ) to $500 (with no half days or discounts). This was done to encourage more entities to rent the Civic Center, and bring an end to requests for discounts coming to the City Council. Even with that change income for the Civic Center didn't go up. Joann Courtland stated we should be trying to help them since they've been a 24 year partner with Copperas Cove and now we're bringing on a fee out of nowhere. Marc Payne stated this is supposed to be the City of Family Living and we need to provide a discount. Also, the Cove House was denied their discount. Passed 7-0

The Noon Exchange came to the council asking that a $3,875 check be issued to the for Copperas Cove partnership in the "Feast of Sharing". There were 750 people fed at no charge in November. November 21, 2019 will be the next scheduled dinner. Ryan Haverlah noted that this has already been budgeted. Passed 7-0

Agenda H4. The Fathom Audit
Here is a summary (look for the other blog soon):
The Audit covered April through September 2017
123 accounts were part of the audit (1% of accounts) and randomly selected
There are 7  billing cycles in Copperas Cove
There were no inconsistent meter reads and only one error.
64 accounts had a +/-10% change in bill during the audit period but we are told it is normal.
There were no disconnects from April through June 2017.
The disconnects problem was fixed by ordinance.
Councilmen Chavez, Yancey, and Manning said there was not a need further audit but need to still get answers to existing problems.

The 1st quarterly Fathom brief from Brad Dreir and Karen Garrison. The Interim City Manager

Brad Dreier, Fathom

started by saying the lobby space in the Utility Department has been expanded for more people, the supervisors office has been improved for privacy during account discussions with citizens, hiring in progress for utility department personnel, they are looking at costs for renovating the old utilities building, and Ryan Haverlah went to Haltom City to view their Fathom operations. Haltom City operates similar to us, started out with similar problems that have now pretty much all been resolved, and city staff were impressed with how they do things. They are the first city that Fathom has put an office in to directly interact with the customers. Ryan also stated that while he can not go into specifics - Ms Keegans bill is accurate, and the meter has not been acting up. He and his staff have been in contact with her and he has a meeting with her again later this week. Brad stated to the council that Copperas Cove now has their own dedicated billing, customer service, and ticket escalation areas. Copperas Cove now has it's own point of contact/representative with Fathom, which is Brad Dreir. Anytime we have any questions, we may contact him directly and he will do everything he can to help us, or the city staff. The Customer Service training time has been doubled. For property managers, blanket accounts have been working well since November 2018. Copperas Cove customers have a 43% portal registration rate compared to 25% nationally. The answered call rate has gone from 17 minutes to 1 minute 6 seconds. They will also be implementing a mobile meter reading vehicle for drive bys.

Brad said he is always available to Copperas Cove. They brief as often as needed. It was a much needed briefing. We still need an open forum.

The next item on the agenda dealt with Capital Outlay Plan for 2019. Main subject was the purchasing of two vehicles for the Utility department. Passed 7-0

The last two items passed 7-0 and were for training for council place 1 and 2, and for legislative policy. The executive session was cancelled.

Citizens attending the Copperas Cove City Council meeting

The Workshop at 5PM was about debt policy and Copperas Cove. Copperas Cove debt is $34 million carried by taxes and we add about $30 million more. Copperas Cove has a goal of issuing $10 million annually. Gary Kimble said that we pay off our debt faster than most other cities. Our bond rating is AA.

Future Agenda Items:

Joann Courtland would like to review the fees for all city owned facilities. - Approved

Thank you for reading "Speak Up!!! Copperas Cove" and remember to sign up to receive our blog by email every time we publish.

Quality of Life

Quality of Life had their first meeting of the year

Quality of Life Board members:
Adam Redmond- Excused Absent
Cheryl Kielman- Present
Jim McEvers- Present
Robert Sizemore- Present
Craig Foster- Present
Marcie Lowery- Present
Dustin Phipps- Excused Absent

City Council Liaison- Charlie Youngs- 12th straight absence

The Agenda

There were two Items on the agenda today at the Quality Of Life Board; Parks Phase 1 and 2 updates and the Parks and Recreation monthly update:

1. The lettering for the signs at the parks have been sent to the fabricator and in a few months will be installed. City Park still has a few more trees and grass to be planted for Phase 1. The flag pole is about to go back up at City Park. At South Park, the 116 sidewalk project will connect the new sidewalk with the walking path. Dirt work at High Chaparral, Heritage, and Highland Parks have started. Oncor will be cutting down the oak tree at Highland Park where the power line is tangled up in it.
     Phase 2 will be brought to the City Council on February 5 regarding the bathrooms. The package is for three new bathrooms and a retrofitted one. They are made from a company named CXT precast. The new bathrooms are pre-made at the company and then brought to their installation location. They will have LED lights, Maglocks, and have anti-graffiti paint on them. The locations for the bathrooms will be at Field 8, Field 4 and 5, and to the right of the swimming pool. South Park will have their bathroom retrofitted. The cost is $328,000. It is already part of the parks upgrade.

2. Parks and Recreation monthly report.
Joe Brown gave the board some exciting news today. The very first issue of the Golf Course Newsletter will go go out today. The newsletter will be a quarterly publication and this issue is 12 pages long. It will be a digital publication, to save money. Look for it soon!

Youth sports highlights. Winter Soccer registration closes on January 11 and already has 104 players. That is an increase from last year. Basketball games will start on January 12 and has 448 players. This is also an increase from last year. Recreation tackle football had only 100 players this last season compared to 165 players last year. Pop Warner football had only 19 players last season. Mr Brown said this may be the only season for Pop Warner tackle football due to area organization problems in other communities. Costs for December report was $2100 net revenue minus total expenditures of $5653.36 equals total revenue of$-3553.36.

Aquatics. The new ADA chair lift has been installed at South Park pool.

"The 5K to Polar Bear Plunge" will be January 26, 2019, at 6:30 am, at City Park. This year it will be dedicated to Mayor Frank Seffrood, who passed away this past December 28, 2018.

"Fishing in the Park" will be on February 16, 2019, at 9:00 am, at City Park.

Golf information. According to the report, there were 2812 rounds of golf played last year at our golf course. That was with 20 bad weather days, also.

As of December 31, 2018, these are the membership stats:
29 Annual Regular memberships
50 Annual Senior memberships
2   Annual City Employee memberships
19 Annual Dependents memberships
51 Annual Cart Storage memberships
26 Annual Trail Fees
11 Golf Course Employee memberships
6  Semi-Annual Regular memberships
2  Semi-Annual Senior memberships
0  Semi-Annual City Employee memberships
2  Semi-Annual Dependent memberships
0  Semi-Annual Cart Storage
0  Semi-Annual Trail Fees
0  Marshals
1  Volunteer
The total is 199 different memberships.

The only concern that came out about the condition of the 8 city parks was from South Park. Evidently there are people feeding the feral cats out there and leaving the cans at the park. They are also leaving camouflaged small kennels for shelter for those feral cats.

Quality of Life Board meeting at the Golf Course, on January 10, 2019