Helotes City Council Meeting – September 24, 2009
The City Council meeting was opened at 7 p.m. The first item of business was a public hearing on the City’s FY 2010 budget. There was no one present wanting to speak, and the hearing was closed at 7:03 p.m.
There were no citizens present wanting to speak during Citizens to be Heard.
The Mayor reported that the foundation for the Fire Station had been poured on September 4 at 3:30 a.m. If you’d like a tour of the construction, just go to the job trailer, and they’ll give you a hard hat and show you around. According to the Mayor, the construction is pretty much on schedule.
Last Sunday, the Mayor and several of the Council members worked on the Helotes City Park and Playground that is being build on municipal grounds. One of Council member Gary Johnson’s skills is welding, and he put in about 6 hours providing that service to the City. The Mayor urged anyone wanting to volunteer to work on the City Park to call City Hall and let them know.
The following items were on the Consent Agenda. They were not discussed; they were all approved unanimously:
Blair Weaver was appointed to the Ethics Commission (nominated by Council member Johnson).
Drue Helms, Ardie Garner, and Billy Barker were re-appointed to the Economic Development Corporation’s (EDC) Board of Directors for another 2-year term ending September 30, 2011.
The EDC’s FY 2010 budget was approved.
An ordinance was approved amending the speed limit on Highway 16, as requested by the State.
Mayor Schoolcraft was authorized to negotiate and execute a contract with Bexar County Emergency Services District #7 for FY 2010 emergency services and assistance to be performed by the Helotes Fire Department
The FY 2010 Fee Schedule was approved establishing and amending fees, costs, and fines charged by the City.
Items actually discussed and voted on were:
The Mormon Church is requesting a variance of the plat requirement on their land near the intersection of FM 1560 and Antonio Drive. They feel that State law does not require them to plat the land because the tract is more than 5 acres and no public improvements are being dedicated.
Council member Johnson asked the engineer presenting this request to Council why they did not want to have a plat done. Was it just the cost? He said it was not just about the cost, even though their money comes from the tithes of its members and they are very careful how they spend it. The main reason is that they feel they have a right not to have it platted.
There was some concern on Council that if there is no plat and no dedication of a 25 foot right-of-way easement to the State (FM 1560 is a State road), and at some point in the future the State wants to widen FM 1560, the City will have to buy the easement from the owner of the land and give it to the State. There was also a question of drainage improvements requiring a plat.
Council member Whitehead brought up the fact that the law requires a plat if the land is being subdivided, and this tract is not being subdivided. The City Attorney, Steve Pena, suggested that this item be postponed until the next Council meeting so he could review the law and the variance request. That motion was made and unanimously approved.
The next agenda item was the approval of the City’s FY 2010 budget. The City Administrator, Rick Schroder, reported that there will be a surplus from the current fiscal year budget, but he won’t know how much until the end of September. He stated that there is “lots of wiggle room in this budget.”
Council member Whitehead, while saying that he was “not going to beat a dead horse,” once again tried to convince the other Council members to approve an additional increase in salaries for City employees. He asked Council member Legendre to develop a salary survey so Council could review salaries during the coming fiscal year and consider raising the salaries of City employees. Whitehead feels that the City staff does a fantastic job, and they have lost some excellent employees. He said that in the last 12 months, the City has lost 33% of its fire fighters.
Legendre stated that plenty of surveys have already been done. He is opposed to taking money from the budget and giving it to the police and fire departments. Increases in salaries should be done professionally and not given across the board.
Whitehead then made a motion to amend the budget to add $5,000 to the Police Department budget and $5,000 to the Fire Department budget, to be used at the discretion of the two Chiefs for merit increases or bonuses for their employees. He suggested that the $10,000 could be deducted from the year-end surplus. Rick Schroder also suggested that they could increase the projected revenues by $10,000. There was no second for his motion.
Council member Johnson said that he would rather see the Chiefs make that recommendation, not Whitehead. Schoolcraft said that tonight that was not an option. He also stated (again) that this issue can be addressed later in the year after their on-going study is completed.
A motion to approve the budget as presented was made and approved by a vote of 4 to 1; Whitehead voted against the motion.
Next, apparently if the City is raising more revenue than in the previous year, even though the tax rate is staying the same, Council is required to ratify it. It was approved unanimously.
The last item was the approval of an ordinance levying a tax rate for the tax year 2009 that is the same as 2008 (the property tax rate is remaining at $.363651 per $100 valuation); approved unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:57 p.m.