Notes From the Helotes City Council Meeting – June 10, 2010
The Helotes City Council met at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 10, 2010. The members present were Cynthia Massey, Gary Johnson, Ed Villanueva, and the Mayor, Tom Schoolcraft. David Legendre and Rich Whitehead were absent. There was no City Attorney present.
The Mayor reported that over 100 people have signed up to participate in the annual Volunteer Day, which is scheduled for June 12, 2010. These volunteers will fill potholes, trim trees, work on finishing the City Park playground, pick up trash, etc. Both breakfast and lunch will be provided to those participating.
“Movie Night at the Park” has returned for the summer. It is held on the municipal grounds on the third Friday of each month, beginning June 18, 2010, at dusk. Around 7 p.m., the City Band will perform. The movie this month will be “Shorts.”
The Police and Fire Stations are essentially completed. They are still working on a few minor items. Approximately 95% of the furniture has been delivered. The computers should be up and running by the end of June. A dedication ceremony has been scheduled for Sunday, July 11, 2010, at 2 p.m. There will be a City Band concert, and refreshments will be served. The City Park playground will be dedicated on the same day.
The following items were on the Consent Agenda and were unanimously approved by Council:
The minutes of the May 13, 2010, Council meeting.
The bi-weekly Revenue and Expenditure Report.
The final amended plat for Wind Gate Run Subdivision on Hausman Road. I think that this was just to correct errors or omissions on the original plat.
City Council liaisons to boards/committees/commissions:
Board of Adjustment: Gary Johnson
Ethics Commission: Rich Whitehead
Economic Development Corporation: Ed Villanueva
Parks and Recreation Committee: Cynthia Massey
Planning and Zoning Commission: David Legendre
The FY 2011 Budget Calendar (this calendar will be presented in another article on this site entitled “FY 2011 Budget Process.”)
Accepted the resignation of Scott Muenz, the Chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee. His resignation was submitted on April 12, 2010. I wonder why the delay in accepting it? If you are interested in serving on the Parks and Recreation Committee, now’s the time to apply.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) for Emergency Medical Services – Response and Transport. During the budget process, EMS services and available providers are routinely discussed. Every year Council considers contracting with someone other than the City of San Antonio, but there has never been enough information available to them to make an informed decision. They always say that “next year” they will have done more research. It looks like this is an attempt to have more data available for their consideration.
An amendment to the City’s Alcoholic Beverages permit fees ordinance changing the municipal alcoholic beverage permit from an annual to a biennial permit, establishing the same terms as those stipulated within State law.
A Dispatch Services Contract between the City of Helotes and the City of Leon Valley for police dispatching services payable on a month-to-month basis beginning October 1, 2010, in anticipation of commencing internal dispatching services during FY 2011. Mayor Schoolcraft was authorized to execute the contract.
A resolution authorizing the closure of a portion of Old Bandera Road (between Scenic Loop Road and the Helotes Creek bridge) from 3 p.m. on Friday, September 3, until 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 4, 2010, for The MarketPlace at Old Town Helotes and an associated barbeque cook-off. A letter that went out to all owners of property in Old Town Helotes stated, “Provisions will be made for businesses and residents to have access to their properties during the road closure.”
The first item on the agenda for individual consideration was discussion and action on rescheduling the Council meetings in November. The first meeting in November falls on Veterans Day and the second on Thanksgiving. Council voted to schedule only one meeting in November (which is what is done every year). It will be held on Thursday, November 18, 2010.
The second item for individual consideration was discussion and action on variance requests for BC’s Golf Ranch, which will be located at 16023 and 16097 E. Bandera Road. The owner has requested variances to the requirement for stormwater detention or fee-in-lieu of detention, the requirement for the dedication of right-of-way along Highway 16, and the requirement for municipal approval and recordation of a plat before the issuance of a building permit.
Because of the minimum amount of impervious cover, the City Engineer recommended that “the proposed improvements for BC’s Golf Ranch be exempt from the requirement for a detention facility or the payment of a fee-in-lieu of detention, which would have been approximately $87,000.
Typically, developments along Bandera Road are granted variances to the 20-foot right-of-way dedication because TXDoT already has sufficient right-of-way along Bandera Road for future expansion. City Staff recommended that this variance also be granted for BC’s Golf Ranch.
The third variance request states that BC’s Golf Ranch should be exempt from platting requirements because the Local Government Code states that “a division of land under this subsection does not include a division of land into parts greater than five acres, where each part has access and no public improvement is being dedicated.” In this case, both tracts of land are greater than 5 acres, each has access to Bandera Road, and no public improvement (such as a drainage facility) is required.
All three variance requests were unanimously approved by Council.
The last item on the agenda was the selection of a Mayor Pro Tem. David Legendre has been serving as the Mayor Pro Tem for the last year and told Mayor Schoolcraft that he would be interested in serving again during the next term. Ed Villanueva also announced that he would like to serve as the Mayor Pro Tem. Gary Johnson nominated Villanueva, and Cynthia Massey seconded the nomination. As stated above Whitehead and Legendre were absent, so there were no further nominations. Villanueva was elected by a unanimous vote and will serve as the Mayor Pro Tem until the next election in May/June 2011. I guess Legendre learned that he should not be absent.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:19 p.m. (Yes, 7:19 p.m. All of the above took place in 19 minutes.)