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. 

Capitol Improvement Plan Town Hall

11 FEB 2019 - Capitol Improvement Plan Town Hall 

Hello Copperas Cove! The Copperas Cove City Manager (Ryan Haverlah) held a Town Hall event tonight to go over some of the projects the city is working on right now. He wanted to do this to inform and update the public of what is in the works as well as let citizens voice their opinion about the current projects and bring up ideas for future projects. The presentation is non-prioritized, and still has several different projects in their early stages of planning. 

This was not a required event for our City Council members to attend, however we did have most of them in attendance along with Bradi Diaz and Ron Nelson (Mayoral Candidates), as well as several other directors of public departments and organizations. In case you're wondering about your elected council members:

Joann Courtland: Present

Fred Chavez: Present

Dan Yancey: Present

Jay Manning: Present

Kirby Lack: Absent

Marc Payne: Present 

Charlie Youngs: Absent 

The presentation was presented in 5 sections divided by funding: General Fund, Water and Sewer Fund, Solid Waste Fund, Drainage Fund, and Golf Course Fund. A lot of these don't require a lot of commentary, so I will be touching on key points. 

The General Fund is expected to be funded through a bond not to exceed $40,000,000, so they do still have some trimming to do on costs. As of now, the expected total for the General Fund sits at about $55,000,000, so that's at least $15,000,000 that they need to cut back by revising projects or putting them on the back burner. 

For starters, we'll dive into the General Fund Projects. A few points to note:

-Fire Station #3 is located out west of Ogletree Gap. It isn't that old itself, however shortly after we finished building it - it was already too small. Fire trucks and ambulances have grown in size since then which requires bigger bays to store them. Additionally, this station staffs 2 people. Each truck requires a minimum of 2 people to run it; even then, those 2 people are usually taking the vehicle and meeting up with other crews. Once that truck is out, there's nobody left to staff the station if another call goes off in it's area or if someone shows up needing assistance. So this project will be to update and expand the building which will accommodate the larger vehicles and allow increased staffing. This is scheduled to be a 2019 project. 

-Radio Station Communications System Infrastructure Update- Over the years, our first responders have been updating their equipment, including radios. New radios and old equipment/infrastructure don't mix very well. They will be updating this facility to fully maximize use of the current radios, update consoles and add 2 additional consoles, 

-The animal shelter has long been identified as being inadequate for our needs. The current plan is for them to build a completely new building at a new location in 2020. It will have more kennels, an upgraded adoption space, more office space, an updated clinic, and updated quarantine area. This plan as it stands was presented to the council and kicked back due to exceeding what they wanted to spend. It is being revised right now to bring the cost down, but as it currently stands the cost shown is correct. 

-Fire Station #4 will be a new fire station on the east side of town. The EDC has donated land in the Narrows Business Park for this. The 24,409 sq ft building will be started in 2020, is expected to be completed in 2021, and will need an additional $1,895,000 for trucks and equipment on top of the $12,805,582 for the building itself. 

In the Transportation projects, they will be using MPO funding for the majority of these projects. 

-Business 190 Project  was originally a 2 lanes in each direction project on top of widened sidewalks and bike lanes added. That was recently changed to 3 lanes in each direction, with sidewalks not as wide and only on the south side of the highway. It is currently in design phase, but you can find schematics on the City Website (embedded link). It is projected to start construction in 2020 and be completed in 2021. 

-South FM 116 & FM 3046 Sidewalk Improvements will possibly be having bike lanes added to the sidewalk improvements for this project. That is currently under revision. 

-Narrows Business Park will be having sidewalks installed for the entire park. 

The street projects are slated to have some MUCH needed work done around town. It won't fix all our street problems, but it's a good start. 

-Pecan Cove Drive was JUST talked about at last weeks city council meeting, so I'm hoping that Mr Oliver is paying attention. This is a very heavily used road and has had problems going back 20 years. It sounds like instead of just doing another patch job, they will finally be getting the job done right. In 2019, they will be completely reconstructing this road and installing guardrails where needed. While they have it up, they will be inspecting and relocating some water lines as needed to avoid having to dig up the road at a later date due to water line leakage. If they can get this done, it will be one of the first road projects completed in 6 years. 

-S. FM 1113 Sidewalk will be in its 2nd phase of construction. They got this started in the previous phase, but there's a lot of spots where the sidewalk didn't connect in spots like it should. This will be fixing those issues in 2020. 

-Eagle Trail Dr has sections where the road base has failed (usually due to erosion) and will require the city to completely tear it up, correct/replace the road base, and re-lay asphalt. I can tell you from personal experience in this field - sometimes you can lay a great base and top it off with a beautiful layer of good asphalt. Mother nature may have different plans for the longevity of that road, or other man-made factors may come into play from nearby projects. This is just one of those things, and I'm glad to see the city going about this with a proper fix. This is looking to be done in 2020. 

-Oakhill Drive has been having drainage problems for a few years now which has torn away at the asphalt. They're going to correct the drainage issues and replace the asphalt in 2021. 

-Veterans Ave is one of our older streets around here and the sidewalks reflect this. In 2021 they will be giving all the sidewalks on the NE side an overhaul as well as installing ADA compliant ramps. 

-Freedom Lane, South 1st, Ogletree Pass, Grimes Crossing, Suja Lane, and Megg Street are all due for reconstruction due to base failure. Freedom Lane will be having ribbon curbing installed as part of the project. 

Joe Brown over with Parks and Rec has some big things going on with revamping the city parks over a 5 phase project. Currently we are in phase 1 of that project. It will entail things like new restrooms, overhauling parks, and installing new ADA compliant parking lots. For more information, I HIGHLY recommend you sit in on a Quality of Life meeting or Parks and Rec quarterly update. I can answer specific questions, so if you have any - please leave them in the comments. Parks and Rec is also going to be building a new maintenance shop which will be 5,600 sq ft with 2 bay doors. They've added in some newer storage shops recently, and this will be the final touch to their vehicle storage/maintenance area. Construction is expected to begin 2019. There was a crowd mention to use EDC funds to help towards the almost 8 million dollar Parks Improvement Plan. 

The library has been going through some pretty major changes recently including an addition of a very nice reading room and mural in the front entrance area. Next on their list is to overhaul the childrens room, updating their shelves to be more friendly towards kids and bring in technology to modernize the room. 

A citizen stated to Ryan that she would like to see sidewalks on both sides of residential areas as well as better street lighting. She would like to see us have the contractors make this happen when new neighborhoods are put in. Ryan responded that this is currently in the works. 

The Water and Sewer Projects are coming from the Water and Sewage Fund

-SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Aquisition) allows for remote monitoring and adjustment of public water and sewer systems. Most cities and municipalities are running them to some degree these days. We are going to update our water systems SCADA, and install one for our sewer systems. Currently, our sewer department has been having to do this job with radios and people on the ground. This update will make things much more efficient for the sewer crew and free up people to take on more work orders. 

-Oak Hill Drive is currently in the middle of its water pipe improvement. They are upgrading to a bigger 8" waterline down Oakhill Drive. 

-A few years ago, we upgraded our waterline through Ft Hood. We never officially abandoned our 8" and 12" lines that we were using. Unfortunately, you can't just say "hey- we don't want it anymore" to abandon a water line. You have to pull it out, burst it in ground, fill it with a solid substance, or find another way to make it unusable. We are currently looking into our options and costs associate. 

-Hogg Mtn has a water tank that is needing a rehabilitation. To do this, they will be draining the tank, cleaning the inside, re-coating the metal so it doesn't rust, and then applying a new coat of paint to the outside. Turkey Run has a water tank that needs the same applied. 

-South Meadows will be seeing a waterline improvement in the nature of a loop system upgrade. Currently, the system is a dead end which is harder to maintain quality pressure and requires more cleanings/service. The loop system being installed will address those issues. 

-Mickan Mountain needs to have the "Bulldog" tank torn down and a new one built in its place.  I suggested to Ryan that if we do this - can we get a group like the art guild to come in and put a bulldog on the new tank. I feel like that has been a long standing staple of this town and would like to see us keep our Bulldog pride for past alumni and future students alike. He added that to his notes. 

-The 24" N. Loop Water Line was actually voted on by the citizens back in 2008 or 2009. When the city started looking into it, they saw it would require an easement through Fort Hood, and the easement cost more than the project itself. With that knowledge, they backed off the project. Now, the area that we needed an easement through has our hwy 9 on it, so we are going to use that area for the water line and avoid the easement fee. 

-The city has a lot of galvanized water line that they are wanting to replace to PVC. This will be a project which will take many years to complete. 

-The City Park Sewer Line has a lot of other smaller sewer lines that tie into it. So this upgrade is vital to the general health of the surrounding areas. Along with the pipe upgrade, they will also be adding in several new manholes that are needed. 

- There are many manholes around the city that need to be upgraded. They are made of brick which has problems with corrosion. There are 266 identified brick manholes that will be upgraded at a rate of 13 per year over 20 years. 

The Wastewater plant upgrades are also coming from the Water and Sewage Fund. 

-A Submersible UV Disinfectant System is scheduled to be installed. Micro-Organisms are used to treat the water, and then the UV system removes them. Other than that, they are trying to update a lot of systems due to breakdown/wear out with age as well as upgrade to that SCADA mentioned earlier. 

The Solid Waste Dept is using its Solid Waste Fund to give the transfer station some much needed upgrades. One of the biggest will be the addition of a wash rack for the garbage trucks. There are strict regulations to what is involved in washing one of these trucks, and this wash rack will address all of those. For those of you who go with smaller cars - they will be installing a lower window and transfer drawer for receipts/money at the drive up scale house. 

The Drainage Dept will be using Drainage Funds to perform upgrades city-wide to our drainage systems. They will also be addressing the washout at the Indian Camp Trail Shared Use Path. I think the plan was to run the water under the trail rather than over it, or maybe slow down the water coming onto it. 

The Golf Course will be using their fund to pay for several improvements including an ongoing Cart Path Improvement, renovation of the tennis courts and pool area (putting in a canopy for events), moving and reconstructing the Pro Shop back to its original location overlooking the golf course, remodeling the current pro shop, and reconstructing the cart barn. There was a comment from the public again about using the EDC to help fund some of these projects. 

As you can see, there is a LOT of improvement going on around Copperas Cove. What are you looking forward to? What do you think they could do better? The city council will be reviewing the CIP and public input in March so you still have time to Speak Up!!!

Fathom Audit

Copperas Cove Utilities Billing Audit - By Weaver and Tidwell 
5 Feb 2019


The Copperas Cove City Council received its requested Utilities Billing Audit, conducted by Weaver and Tidwell LLP. The audit covered a period from 1 April 2017 - 1 Sept 2018. Weaver and Tidwell identified approximately 14,000 individual accounts and approximately 242,000 meter reads during this period.

The procedures performed are as follows:

-Selected 150 individual accounts, allocated across seniors, residential, and commercial groups for testing.

-Compared the amount billed to the preceding and subsequent months and identified any accounts that have a variance greater than 5%.

-Recalculated the amount billed according to the fee schedule.

-Obtained the total volume amount billed and identified any variance greater than 10%.


To match the 1% requested by the City Council, they selected 141 accounts across the city to audit.
Of those 141 accounts:
-123 were residential accounts
-13 were residential-senior accounts
-5 were business accounts


None of the accounts audited showed any mis-calculations of consumption. Of the 141 accounts, 64 had variances of more than 10% from one month to another - which isn't out of the ordinary. 134 of the accounts were recalculated within .01. Of the remaining 7 that weren't, 6 were due to either a shorter/longer billing period depending on what cycle they were on or they were due to Council approved rate changes. 1 account was shown to be an error with their senior citizen discount not being fully applied. That wound up being a recurring error, and one that the auditor will be working with the city to correct for that customer. May - June showed the biggest billing variance across all the accounts due to the billing dates for that period falling on 1 June and 29 June.

In addition to the audit, Weaver and Tidwell presented some extra information that they thought could be useful to the city.

Disconnect Notices:
-None issued between April - June 2017. They believe this may have inadvertently caused problems by letting people get used to not paying their bill and not have anything to worry about. This may have started a domino effect for some customers who now struggle to get their bill paid on time.

-Issued 1-2 days past the bill due date. These notify that the disconnect will be 10 days after the notice is mailed out. (Editors note: Keep in mind - that 10 days includes any weekends if it's mailed out on a Thursday/Friday as well as holidays if the mail is down. It IS possible for you to get a disconnect notice in the mail on a Monday afternoon and have it tell you you're due for disconnect the following Tuesday.)

-No disconnects during Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, or New Years day.

High Consumption Notices:
-Received via email and phone call
-Approximately 40% of our accounts are active online. No online accounts will not receive an email disconnect notice. This presents a problem because phone calls are automated, and a lot of people instinctively do not answer automatic phone calls that come across as spam on caller ID, or they hang up as soon as they hear the automated voice.

Audit discussion by City Manager and City Council members:
-Ryan Haverlah started the conversation off by bringing up that the city did not retain a proper amount of staff to know what would be needed to work with Fathom - which was cause of a lot of the problems with accounts. This put the city in a reactive mode. Once we get our utility staffing back up, that will help us regain footing in a proactive role. However, during the issues the city has had, Fathom has been very responsive in helping city staff.
-Joann Courtland stated that this "is not enough data". Citizens are still coming forth with issues and we need to do everything we can to help them. With this audit, "we hit the bread, but we want to get to the meat" of the problem.
-Charlie Youngs would like to see the city keep the auditor on hand until the city staff gets better and can start doing in house audits. To that, the auditor replied that they could certainly do more work if needed.
-Marc Payne asked if Fathom can do any tracking of the types of problems coming in - even if it's just a paper next to each phone with general types of problems in columns, and the operator quickly puts a check in a column as it is called in.
-Dan Yancey stated the call centers don't have the time to track problem types so we need to find a different way. Jay Manning stepped in and said that 1% isn't a bad number, and that there aren't any real problems being highlighted in the audit. With the old system, a lot of times the meter reads were averaged out. Those problems that were ignored because the reading was being averaged out are now having a spotlight put on them, grabbing peoples attention via their wallets. More audits won't do any good - we should focus on our known problems for now. It is in our and Fathoms best interest to work together. For Fathom, this is even a PR issue as it won't look good for them if a city backs out due to poor service. He believes we can work together and fix all the issues going on.
-Ryan Haverlah will start categorizing and focusing on complaints, however a lot of the initial problems have been worked out.
-Fred Chavez agrees with Jay Manning's comments. He wants to compare our numbers to Fathoms as well as look at what they consider appropriate standards of customer service vs our standards.

The audit was not open for public comment, however you may comment on it at the citizens forum. With that, the discussion ended and moved on to the next agenda item.

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.

Copperas Cove City Council meeting for January 15, 2019

Copperas Cove City Council meeting for January 15, 2019


The Council:
Mayor Pro Tem Dan Yancey- Present
Joann Courtland- Absent (Excused)
Fred Chavez- Present
Jay Manning- Present
Kirby Lack- Present
Marc Payne- Present
Charlie Youngs- Present



The Agenda

The big announcement of the meeting came from the Interim City Manager that DPW Director Mike Cleghorn accepted the position of City Manager for Lawton, Oklahoma.

There were two speakers during Citizens Forum:
Jeremy Frew brought up that while our city council approved the WCID #1 recommendation letter which expands on the area and removes our voting rights, Killeen has not yet decided and will be hosting a public town hall meeting about the subject with their citizens. Copperas Cove should be doing the same before taking the right to vote from us.
Terri Deans spoke about Fathom and that there are many issues still unresolved. She also brought up a disaster training program by FEMA, called G317, that is taught in Killeen. It is free to the public. The next class is March 22-23. If you are interested in attending please message "Speak Up!!! Copperas Cove" and we will put you in contact with her.

The Consent Agenda passed without objection 6-0.

There was one public hearing tonight. It was for amending the Fiscal Year 18-19 budget about the Utility Department.  Terri Deans asked if it would raise the cost of water for residents. The ICM said there would be no rate change. It passed 6-0.

Keith Sledd from "Heart of Texas Defense Alliance" (HOTDA) presented its quarterly update about Ft Hood and the community. 1, February 1, 2019, will be Ft Hood Legislative Affairs Day and is sponsored by Senator Buckingham. There will be many state political officials in the area taking a tour of Ft Hood and being brought up to speed about Ft Hood for those who are new staff and and to the Senate. 2, The Multi-Modal study is complete and was endorsed by LTG Funk, on December 22, 2018. The big driving factor is that we fall right in the middle of the "Texas Triangle" (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio ). Some quick facts - 60% of the population of Texas lives in the triangle, and they are expecting that to climb to 70% by 2050, truck drivers can drive anywhere in the triangle within 1 day, and 77% of Texas' economy comes from the triangle. Right now, an area of land northwest of Ft Hood is being looked at as the optimal site. 3, The Fort Hood military population is presently 35, 911, of which 7,374 are presently abroad. 4, Jan 20 is a Texas Military Preparedness Meeting, and Jan 28th is the Texas Military Summit (Both in Austin). The council approved by a vote 6-0 the $4,250 payment to HOTDA.

By a vote of 6-0, Councilman Yancey was approved for another year as Mayor Pro Tem. He was nominated by Councilman Lack and was unopposed.

Committee and board assignments for council members was approved by a vote of 6-0.

Council liaison assignments for 2019

Deputy Fire Chief Gary Young was appointed the Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC) for Copperas Cove. This position has to be reappointed every year. No vote was necessary.

Copperas Cove is required to have a Primary and an Alternate representative for the KTMPO Policy Board. The Mayor will be the primary and the Mayor Pro Tem or ICM will be the alternate. The vote was 6-0 in favor of the appointment.

Special Election for Mayor

The date for the special election is April 27, 2019, per our charter, which states that there must be an election prior to 120 days due to a vacancy in the Mayor position. The filing period started on January 15 and will end on February 25, 2019. Early voting will start on April 10 and end on April 23. The 12 hour early voting days will be April 11 and 23. All voting will be at the Coryell County Justice Center and ALL COPPERAS COVE RESIDENTS LIVING IN LAMPASAS COUNTY WILL VOTE HERE ALSO. Please see the City Secretary for information and or a packet.

The City Council authorized the ICM along with the EMC and Director of Finance to apply for and Emergency Management Performance Grant. We have received this grant every year for the past 10 years, and are expecting it to go through again. We requested the maximum amount of $122,000, but are expecting $30,000-$35,000 based on prior years' amounts.

The City Council approved a bid awarding B Corp Utilities the Oak Hill Dr Water Improvement Project for approximately $135,000. The vote was 6-0.

The City Council authorized the ICM to execute a 10 year water purchase contract with CTC. This to protect Copperas Cove from future price increases. Councilman Payne did however inquire about the cost of water. The Vote passed 6-0.

Howard Hawk was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The vote was 6-0.

The estimated 2019 city population for Copperas Cove is set at 34,787. Councilman Payne asked why the population count was not determined by water meter counts instead of housing permits. Mr Lewis explained that as recommended by the Census Bureau and Texas Data Agency the method used is the 2010 census count plus the number of housing permits times 2.68 added yearly. This is also in common use nation-wide. Mr Paynes reasoning against it is water meters are more accurate than building permits to tell if there are people in the residence or not. ICM stated that we don't want to change our style of performing a self-census in between official Census', but we could look at that after next year's Census. The vote passed 5-1. Payne was the no vote!

Ordinance 2019-7 was approved. There will no longer be involuntary water meter disconnects on Fridays or on the day prior to a holiday due to non-payment. Also, disconnects will not be acted upon until 25 days after non-payment. The vote was 6-0.

The council approved the ordinance amending the PIP FY 2018-19 for Utility Department staffing changes. This will add 1 customer service rep and 2 meter readers. The vote was 6-0.

Councilman Payne requested an excused absence. He also requested a briefing on the water flow in the storm drains inside the city by the railroad tracks.

Special City Council meeting 18 Dec 2018

We have a winner!

The Agenda

Copperas Cove City Council

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

There was only one Action Item this evening.

Election results:

Frank Seffrood is declared winner of the mayoral run-off election. 

Seffrood: 588

Taylor: 523

Council result: 7-0, resolution passes

Executive Session: 

EDC presented the information to the city council. 

Council result: 7-0 in favor of

City council authorizes the Interim City Manager to open a dialog with Project Etch.

Councilman Place 7 Charlie Youngs