P&Z

P&Z - Village at Walker Place, Heritage Place, and Reata Ranch 

The Commission:

Dale Treadway(Chairman) - Present
Rob Endter(Vice Chairman) - Present
Kenneth Thomas - Present
Dustin Dewald - Present
Howard Hawk - Present
Sarah Kindler - Present
Jerry Cantrell - Present


Hello again Copperas Cove! The Planning and Zoning Commission held a Call to Order with Public Hearings related to Village at Walker Place, Heritage Place, and Reata Ranch phase 2. Dustin Dewald recused himself from the majority of the meeting (F1 - F4, G1 & G2) due to his involvement and part owner of land being discussed.

Meeting Agenda link

Public Hearing:

F1- The Public Hearing opened up with discussion about a request to amend the Future Land Use Plan map for Village at Walker Place from Low Density Residential to Medium Density Residential.  The applicant (Mitchell and Associates, Inc) intends to plot 68 duplex units on a 33.356 acre area located east of Dixon Circle and north of US HWY 190. Bobby Lewis (Development Services Director) informed the Commission that out of 100 notification letters sent out to nearby residents, 4 were received back with comments for denial. Kenneth Thomas asked to see the letters for his review, to which Bobby Lewis was able to present.

Mike, with Mitchell and Associates, was the first to go up to the podium for questioning. Rob Endter asked if there will be a through-fare passing through the new development, or will it dead end? Mike stated they would like to have one eventually that would lead out to the highway, but they are facing complications with TxDOT that they need to figure out first. With that, there were no more questions for the applicant, so residents started coming to the podium to speak. Christina (Cline Dr) was the first to speak out against the neighborhood because she feels like she and her husband would be directly affected with many reasons for concern. Her husband is a disabled veteran and their home has been custom built to accommodate his disabilities. The construction of the neighborhood will affect accessibility to their property and disturb the peace and quiet that he needs. One example she gave was he has a workshop in the backyard that he needs to be able to access with his vehicle, and this construction would affect that access. They don't want to impeded on progress, but she also has to watch out for her family. Donald was next up and he stated the area they are looking to build on is a nice serene environment and he is concerned about losing that serenity. He also raised concern about this becoming a "high priced ghetto", and it allowing neighborhood crime to be brought in as well as surrounding property values to drop. Dustin Dewald followed these comments to provide his input as a property owner of the lots being discussed. This development won't affect anyone's access to their property unless they're accessing from his property - which leads into a bigger problem he's been facing. People have been trespassing his property for years to use it for illegal dumping, hanging out, and even bringing their 4 wheelers on it to go have fun. All of that is a liability for him as well as an eye sore for the property. Bringing in this neighborhood will make the property look nicer and bring an end to the illegal activities. It's always been intended to be a neighborhood, it just took them until now to decide to make it happen. They are hoping to bring the road out to 3046 during the next phase of construction. Rob Endter asked if this will be like "The Meadows" off W. Ave B? Dustin was unsure about that particular neighborhood, but knows of other similar neighborhoods in the area to what he's wanting to bring in. He also brought up the fact that duplexes cost more than a single family home. Because of that, he doesn't see how it's possible for this neighborhood to drop property values. Jerry Cantrel, concerned for DV's, wants to see us looking out for each other and be considerate. Dustin agrees with this and said the neighborhood there is a safe neighborhood and he doesn't expect to see this change any of that. The only change should be this undeveloped property will be developed. Choncey (Walker Place) asked if there is any way to make the entrance only from the bypass or 3046 and block off access from Walker Place or Cline Dr? Dustin said there's not due to city ordinance. All neighborhoods must allow through-fare when possible. With this, there was no more discussion and the Commission moved to vote. Pass 4-2 Against - Howard Hawk, Jerry Cantrell

F-2 Mitchell and Associates is requesting to rezone property for Village at Walker Place from AG-1 and R-3 to R-2. Village at Walker Place sits on property consisting of 123.529 acres located west of FM 3046 and south of US HWY 190. By getting rid of the AG-1 and rezoning from an R-3 to R-2, they're actually being more restrictive on what can be built in this area. R-3 allows a mix of businesses and apartments to be mixed in with single family homes and duplexes. This change would only allow duplexes and single family homes. Even without this change, they could come in and build duplexes right now - but they are wanting to make this change to "clean up" local zoning. With no public comment, this was voted for PASS with votes from all Commissioners present.

F-3 Mitchell and Associates submitted a request to amend the Future Land Use Plan map for Heritage Place Addition to go from Low Density Residential to Low Density Residential, Medium Density Residential, and Retail. Heritage Place Addition sits on property consisting of 123.529 acres located west of FM 3046 and south of US HWY 190. Bobby Lewis informed the Commission that the city sent out 20 letters of notification to nearby residents and received 3 letters of approval and 1 letter of denial in return. Kenneth Thomas asked to review the letters, to which Bobby Lewis was able to present. Mike with Mitchell and Associates was present for questions from the Commission, to which there were none. One Citizen stood up and expressed his concern for losing the serenity of the property and crime increasing in the area. Sam followed up and asked what type of businesses are they anticipating coming in with this change? The place does look like a trash dump so it will be nice to see that cleaned up. What will happen to all the Oak Trees on the lot? He'd hate to see them pulled up and burned. There's a small creek running along the property - has anyone checked to see if this is a flood zone? Will the creek be reinforced with concrete or large rocks? There is a mountain along the south side of the property - will they be cutting into that? Jerick Dewald responded that there is nothing specific planned for commercial businesses. When pressed if he had any ideas in mind, he stated he didn't want to go into that until they had something solid in motion. The duplexes would be built and maintained "in house", but if there are single family homes built, they will be picky with who they allow to build to ensure quality materials and workmanship. They will leave as many Oaks as possible in the neighborhood, and the creek will be left natural. Anytime they look at building on a lot, it's an automatic thing to check for flood planes, and if one is identified then it becomes a very rigorous process to ensure the proper steps are taken. This involves participation on the local and federal level. With that, there was no more discussion and this request was a PASS with votes from all Commissioners present.

F-4 Mitchell and Associates is requesting property for Heritage Place Addition from Agricultural to Single Family Residential, Two Family Residential, and B-5 Commercial Services District (the most liberal of Business Zonings). The property is located on 123.529 acres located west of FM 3046 and south of US HWY 190. Bobby Lewis said based on the plan provided by Mitchell and Associates, the City Staff recommend B-4 rather than B-5. When Jerick Dewald was asked the reasoning for requesting B-5, he said they were just trying to ask for as much leniency as they could get and see what happens. The Commission voted to PASS with the recommended change by Bobby Lewis of B-4 instead of B-5.

Action Items:

For Action Items G1 - G3, the Commission voted to PASS all items without change. These items covered:
-a Preliminary Plat Request for the Village at Walker Place, being a duplex unit residential subdivision consiting of 4 blocks and 68 lots
-a Preliminary Plat for Heritage Place Addition being a residential and commercial subdivision consisting of 14 blocks, 367 residential lots, and 2 commercial lots
-a Preliminary Plat for Reata Ranch Phase 2 being a single family residential subdivision, consisting of 3 blocks and 24 lots located on 23.75 acres of an 80.86 acre parcel, located within the ETJ of Copperas Cove, west of FM 116 and Coleton Drive.

Reports:
Bobby Lewis reported that there are a couple items coming up on next months' meeting, one of which is wrapping up the sign ordinance.


With that, the P&Z meeting was wrapped up. We appreciate your continued support of the blog and remind you to share this among our fellow citizens!

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.

Operation Stand Down-Central Texas is planning a move! P&Z December 23

Operation Stand Down-Central Texas is planning a move!

The Commission:

Dale Treadway-Present
Ken Thomas-Present
Rob Endter-Present
Dustin Dewald-Absent
Howard Hawk-Present
Sarah Kindler-Present

Meeting Video

Agenda

Consent Agenda:
The previous meeting minutes were passed 5-0.

Public Hearing:
Copperas Cove received a request on November 22, 2019, from Councilwoman Courtland and her husband (Christopher) about rezoning the properties on 201 and 203 Carpenter Street. It is directly behind the Ave E soccer field. The purpose is to build a 4,500 square foot warehouse and office building for Operation Stand Down-Central Texas along with 8 parking spaces. They are also going to request to replat the properties into one address. Mr Bobby Lewis stated that going from a
R-3 to a B-4 should not be an issue since most of the properties are changing in the area and it fits into the Copperas Cove FLUP (Future Land Use Plan). The builder said there will be an increase in traffic but would not affect the road. He didn't offer any evidence to justify that statement. They will have one year to produce all plans that meets city requirements and codes.

The meeting video is only twelve minutes long. Mrs Courtland will have to recuse herself from the discussion and vote when it comes before the council.

There are no buildings located on the properties.

The drawings show the surrounding areas are still primarily Residential Zoned.

Make sure you read the end of the description of the project!

Last City Council meeting before Mayor election!

Last City Council meeting before Mayor election!


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

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

Hello again Copperas Cove! It's great to have you back for another recap of the latest City Council meeting. We appreciate each and every one of you for checking in and sharing these blogs with your fellow residents. The more we can educate the citizens of Copperas Cove, the more educated people will be going to the polls and knowing what's going on in our little corner of Coryell County. If you haven't already - remember to subscribe!!

Breaking News for our concerned citizens!!!

Two weeks ago, Jonathan Haywood spoke during Citizens Forum about a shopping center entry way between the Laserwash and Valvoline that was very dilapidated with pot holes. The city and all the businesses in the responsible area thought the other entity owned the area so it was never repaired. James Pierce followed up a couple days later at the building department (they are responsible for business code enforcement) and filed a complaint against all the business' in order for the city to resolve the issue of ownership. Ryan Haverlah told Mr. Pierce Tuesday evening that the owner of the property where Lazerwash is located is in fact the rightful owner of that particular piece of concrete and has been notified by letter of the issues at hand.

The Agenda:

Announcements:

Ryan Haverlah: Parks and Rec has a Parks Improvement Plan survey out right now and they would appreciate all the input they can get. That survey can be found here: Survey Monkey Cove Master Park Plan  . Also, the Easter Egg round up was postponed due to weather and is now going to be this Thursday (18 April, 2019), starting at 6pm at City Park. 

Dan Yancey: Voting for our next Mayor is going on right now, so be sure to get out and vote! 

Editors Note: Voting for the Central Texas College Board of Trustees will be starting next week (April 22-30). Technically, you can get out and vote Monday and Tuesday and be able to vote twice in one day! Copperas Cove Citizens can vote for the CTC Trustees at the new CCISD Administrative Building, next to Lil Tex/across from the Library. 

Citizens Forum: Just a quick friendly reminder to our citizens - All citizens are allotted a 5 minute block of time for which to speak. There are 30 minutes set aside for the citizens forum. Additionally, by State Law, the Council Members and City Staff are not allowed to answer questions during citizens forum. Any questions asked will be met with helpless faces of "We wish we could answer, but we can't". However - you can show up early and ask council members questions, or stay late and ask them questions. 

Nick: In reference to tonight's Action Item #1, he supports it and encourages the council to as well. 

Wendy: Just showed up from Virginia, but owns property in Copperas Cove. She asked how is code enforcement enforced if violations are not addressed. She also asked is there a 5 year plan for Copperas Cove, and if so is it available for the public to see online or via email. 

Terri: There will be a major disaster drill on May 7th. An application has just been released and she reviewed the general basis of it. She did mention that it says registration does not guarantee participation. Stay tuned for more on this in a future blog. 

Siggi: Touched on the topic of transparency in government. There was a City Council Workshop on March 19th that was listed as "Presentation and discussion on a Downtown Transportation Feasibility Plan". When reading this, she took it as they were talking about a bus route or something to do with buses. She did not understand that it would be discussing road work that would possibly be going under the railroad tracks and she feels like it was intended to mislead the public so the City Council could push this through. 

Public Hearing:

1. This hearing had to do with the applicant shutting down Kids World Daycare Center. The building has been a business for at least 50 years that she could track, and she's been running it for over 20. She shut the business down last July and the property has been for sale the past 4 years. She has been having problems selling it, and she thinks that's been in large part to it being zoned as B-2(Local Retail District) business in the middle of a residential (this is a house that was running as a business). She would like to have it rezoned to R-1(Single Family Residential) to make it easier to sell. PASS

2. This hearing had to do with rezoning from an R-3 (Multifamily Residential District) to a B-3(Local Business District). This will bring the lot in line with all surrounding lots. PASS

3. This hearing had to do with a local resident wanting to change his conditional use permit from a Commercial Office Building, to a retail store to put in a food mart. This has years of backstory and as well as a lot of recent events to it, so bear with me as I try to condense it down a little while still getting everything in here. 

In mid 2013, the property owner, Mr. Amr Abdelazeem (we'll call him Mr A - with all due respect), requested the property be rezoned to R-3 (Multi-Family Residential) District with a Conditional Use Permit to allow for the construction of a commercial office building for a branch of his business office and an additional office space to lease to a future tenant.  The item was passed through the P&Z Commission on May 28, 2013 and presented to City Council on June 4, 2013. The Conditional Use Permit was granted by Ordinance No. 2013-29 and was limited to the operation of certain conditional uses outlined in the Zoning Ordinance for two (2) professional office uses being Engineering Services and Architectural and Planning Services.

In addition to granting the Conditional Use Permit for them to run a business office, they presented Mr A a long list of standards that had to be met covering everything from numbers of parking spaces to the privacy fence in the back and lighting that couldn't leave his northern property line. Somewhere along the line, Mr A decided that the business office wasn't going to work out, but he wanted to put up a convenience store instead. 

He took this to the P&Z Board and showed he had plans to meet all the criteria, and then some. However, upset citizens were taking notice as well and were also showing up as well as writing letters to show their displeasure. Eventually, the P&Z Board shot it down, which sent it to the City Council where it could only pass with a 75% vote in favor. Ryan Haverlah updated the council and showed that every specification asked for was met. They wanted 6 parking spots, he put in 7. They wanted a plan to show how the delivery trucks and trash truck would get in and out - he had it. They wanted a well let back area as an emergency exit, with privacy fence and a way to keep kids out from that back area - he had it all figured out. Then came the public forum. 

Anna is a nearby resident and she spoke out against this. She and her neighbors are fine with it being an office space because then they would only be there during normal office hours, there would be no increase in crime, and traffic wouldn't be affected. The roads nearby aren't wide enough to handle big delivery trucks or a lot of traffic and they have had 5 hit and run accidents recently to prove it. There's not enough parking here, the building doesn't have enough square footage, and she saw mention of this needing a generator as an office building, so as a convenience store with all those cold beverages, it would need an even bigger generator which would be loud and smelly from all the gas they use! There's not enough room in the back for a privacy wall, bushes, and sidewalk as required by the city. There's not enough sidewalks in the area so kids would be walking in the streets being a hazard to traffic, or walking on peoples lawns, damaging property. Since 2013, there have been 31 code violations to this property and on average they take 1 month to resolve the issues. On top of that, the property is a construction mess that should be closed off because people are getting hurt on it as well as stuck, needing help from Cove PD to get them off the property. There's also a fire hydrant right next to the parking spots which isn't allowed, too small of a loading zone, and the city setback lines aren't met. Lastly, they have a fear of reduced property values, which their values have already been dropping in recent years because of this building. 

Ginger is also a nearby resident and spoke out against this. Cove prides itself on being a community built on family living, so they need to keep citizens where they belong and businesses where they belong - not mixed together. 

Mr A finally had his chance to speak up. He argued that they have complied with every city and ADA condition thrown at him. He's also on the corner of a residential, not mixed in it, and there's other convenience stores around town that are actually IN the residential areas, such as the Family Food Mart on S 23rd and Urbantke. Furthermore, there has never been any discussion about him needing an external generator for his business because they will be using city water, power lines, and everything else typically supplied to a business via service carrier. No shrubs will be needed in the back because of the fence he's putting up which leaves plenty of room for the sidewalk and fence. The fire hydrant not only isn't in the way, but he's already gotten the fire marshal to approve its location in relation to parking. The new building will be better than what was there before and will actually raise property values once it's done because it will look very nice and be nearby shopping. Trucks won't ever need to be on Megg Street, so the tight spots aren't a concern, and in fact his impact on extra traffic is 0%. Nobody is coming across town just to use a convenience store. They have met all city requests and have had no code violations, so he's not sure where this 31 number came from. When this is done, not only will the building be very clean, but it will also be run by a property management company - not him. So there should never be any code violations. This project complies with all ADA, Federal, and City codes. The sidewalk in the back will have a back door from the building as required by fire code, but there will be a gate with a one way latch on it so you can only open the gate from the inside to keep trouble makers out. 

Dan Yancey said that in June 2013, this was approved for a conditional use permit issued for commercial office use - not a store. Why did you not complete that office space? Mr A stated he was told by the city planner that he could lease the space instead to make a store. He provided papers that I am assuming were backing up this claim. 

Marc Payne proposed that the original use of the term "High Volume Generator" when describing the property may be where the generator confusion came from. The proposed parking use is doubling use of the loading zone/handicap zone. The area that should be allowed for vans to unload wheel chairs is also marked as a loading zone, so if a delivery truck is there, that driver may not be able to get in their van for at least 15 minutes. Mr A stated that the loading zone for vans is actually on the other side of the parking spot and is plenty of room, as dictated by the ADA standards. 

Mr A's Son came up after some slight deliberation among council members and stated that he was also available for any questions they may have. Their family has convenience stores all around the area so they're used to doing things right. 

Siggi spoke up and said she stands with the local residents. If they don't want it, she doesn't approve either. This sentiment was met with support from other Cove residents supporting the neighborhood residents directly affected. One resident stated "This store can't be there to support the community when the community doesn't support the store". 

With that, this went to vote and was REJECTED by the council - with no votes approving.

Action Items:

H-1 On the west side of town, the owner of the land by the SE Bypass and Dollar Tree wants to develop his land for commercial purposes. Before it can be developed, water issues need to be ironed out. The Certificates of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) belongs to KWSC (Kempner Water Supply Corporation) and they can supply the water for the Copperas Cove property but they can't supply the 1500gpm for for fire flow to fire hydrants. That is the city standard in order to supply fire suppression from hydrants. If it can't be provided then you can't build. The Interim City Manager offered three options to the council. Option one, let KWSC provide everything (they can't). Option 2, Let KWSC provide water and Copperas Cove provide fire suppression (many concerns of long term maintenance and right of way). Option 3, Copperas Cove purchases the entire CCN for $810 per acre and does it all. The council chose Option three, unanimously. This was a very wise vote because we needed this to spur development on the west side, of Copperas Cove.

H-2 Darrell, with The HOP presented a summary of it's operations the past 6 months, since the last time it was before the council asking for funding. This funding is to cover operational costs such as fuel, insurance, maintenance, salaries, etc... They have a goal of 10 passengers per service hour, and have been averaging out at around 11.5 passengers per service hour. They run Monday - Friday from 6:45 - 5:45 and recently had cut back an hour to adjust for this fiscal years budget. Jay Manning says he remembers them from their last presentation. It's not very often they get someone up there asking for 3x more than their normal asking funding like the HOP did last fall. With all these increases in funding requests, have they increased their fee schedule? Darrell stated they have not yet, but they are working towards that point. Jay responded with it's unfair to ask tax payers to increase how much they are funding the HOP if the HOP isn't going to reflect the raise on their riders. Right now, tax payers are paying about $4 per ride. Darrell responded that their fairs only cover about 4% of their operating costs right now. Additionally, the more business they get, the more federal dollars they can bring in. The less business they get, the fewer Federal dollars they bring in which in turn makes them rely on local communities more. So if they raise fairs up too much and people stop riding because of that, then that will affect how much they come to their local community for. 

PASS

H-3 Clarence with the National Mounted Warfare Museum presented a slide show and video showing how the new museum would affect the area, where it would go, and what it would look like. He then requested the $25,000 payment from the council. PASS  You can find out more about the museum here: http://nmwfoundation.org/

H4 and H5 were both having to do with approving some new homes coming in off of Lutheran Church Road as well as approving ordinances to do with Water Conservation and the Drought Contingency Plan. Both of those were a solid PASS. 

REPORTS:
Fred Chavez was recently at an event in Killeen where they were discussing I-14 and it's entirety. Since I-14 passes through Copperas Cove, he started asking how Cove could be a part of this "14 Forward" initiative. He was told we should continue expansion, and look into these 5G efforts. Get with CCISD because they are looking to bring fiber optic into their schools and we could implement that into the city. One attraction for a lot of people these days is moving to areas that are fiber equipped. When it comes to the rail head - joint use can be difficult because the Army is known for taking what they want when needed. But, don't let that shy us away because this can be very good for the area. The feasibility study was easy, finding partners and funding is the hard part. This will bring rail access to the local area that we haven't ever had. Our relationship with the Heart O Texas Defense Alliance is good to have. Don't get so focused on only us that we isolate our community. We are encouraged to keep regional cooperation and awareness going.

Future Agenda Items
Marc Payne would like to see a workshop on purchasing of CCN's.

Happy Birthday Copperas Cove, P and Z, Special City Council

Happy Birthday Copperas Cove, P and Z, Special City Council!



Happy 140th, Copperas Cove!

Mrs Linda Ledger was the guest speaker and gave the attendees about a 10 minute summary on the history of Copperas Cove. She said that we as the citizens of our city need to be prepared for the 150th (Sesquicentennial) birthday. 

Don Nicholas reads a proclamation to the city from US Representative Roger Williams. There were many other city and county elected officials, along with candidates for Mayor and Central Texas College Board of Trustees, at the celebration.

Councilman Dan Yancey cutting the cake.

Special City Council Meeting on March 25, 2019 (Before the birthday party)

The Council:

Joann Courtland-Present

Fred Chavez-Present

Dan Yancey-Present

Jay Manning-Present

Kirby Lack-Present

Marc Payne-Present

Charlie Youngs-Absent

Mayoral Candidates:

Bradi Dewald Diaz-Present

Ron Nelson-Present

Joey Acfalle-Present

Brandi Weiand-Absent

The Agenda:

The purpose of the special meeting was due to the late delivery of the city's Fiscal Year 2018 Comprehensive Financial Report. During the last council meeting wanted the opportunity to review the report in detail. Jay Manning was reassured that the grammatical errors would be corrected before publication. Marc Payne was busy thumbing through the manual the entire time. 

FY 2018 Comprehensive Financial Report

The vote was 5-1 (Payne opposed it).

Planning and Zone Commission for March 25, 2019

Commissioners:

Bob Martin-Present

Ken Thomas-Present

Rob Endter-Present

Adam Martin-Absent

Howard Hawk-Present

Dale Treadway-Present

Mayoral Candidates:

Bradi Dewald Diaz-Absent

Ron Nelson-Present

Joey Acfalle-Present

Brandi Weiand-Absent

The Agenda:

There were three public hearings for the meeting:

Public Hearing #1 dealt with a requested rezoning on 1501 Canyon Drive (Private Road). The owner  (who is presently overseas) is request that his property be completely zoned R-1 so he can build a home on it. He no representation at the hearing. It is presently zoned R-1 and B-4, which means a future business could possibly relocate there. Six speakers showed up to speak against the rezoning. They told the commission that he has placed the property for sale and don't believe he will build only one home on it or just outright sell it. There were concerns of vehicular access, power access, right of way, easement. The commissioners voted 5-0 to table for 30 days.

Public Hearing #2 dealt with the rezoning of 1006 S 9th Street, from B-2 to R-1. Kid's World Day Care closed and she wishes to return the property to a home. She tried to sell it for four years and one buyer backed out. Vote was 5-0.

Public Hearing #3 dealt with the rezoning of 605 S Main St from R-3 to B-3. When rezoned it would make the entire block B-3 and would be more attractive to future business. Vote was 5-0.

The action item is continued from the last meeting which was tabled. A Conditional Use Permit is being request for 504 S 1st for a convenience store. The owner revised his proposed site plan to get approval from the P and Z. He reduced the building size to 1750 square feet and has 7 parking spaces. He added fencing and fence high lighting for security. He also said delivery will not be an issue. Mr Martin told the owner he received four letters in opposition to the permit. There was a motion to forward to city council approval but it failed to get a 2nd and it died on the table. Then there was a motion to reject the Conditional Use Permit and send to council. It passed 3-2.

The last action item was for the Ranches at Live Oak. It is located in the Extra Territorial Jurisdiction of Copperas Cove. There are requesting a final Plat for nine lots on a 21.56 acre plot of land. Mr Dewald was present for questions. It passed 5-0.

This is your summary of almost three hours of city meetings and function on Monday.