CITY OF SCHULENBURG SCHULENBURG, TX September 7, 2021 The City Council of the City of Schulenburg met in regular session on Tuesday, September7, 2021, at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers located at 607 Upton Avenue, Schulenburg, Texas. The elected officials present included Mayor, Elaine Kocian, Aldermen, Gregg Thomas, Wendy Fietsam, Larry Veselka, Ben Herzik, and Clarence Ahlschlager. City Staff present were City Administrator, Tami Walker, Chief of Police, Troy Brenek, Operations Manager, Darryl Moeller, Visitors included, Darrell Vyvjala oft the Schulenburg Sticker, Loretta Baumgarten, Jeremy Baumgarten, Holly Hutchins Irwin, Shawn Irwin, Brian Lux, and Ivan Velasquez. Mayor Kocian called role and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mason Florus said a prayer over the Under Presentations by Citizens, Jeremy Baumgarten passed out packets to each Council Member and addressed the group. Baumgarten stated that he wishes to be put on the agenda for the next Council Meeting so he can explain the discrepancies he's found between the City Codes and the Texan Truck Stop. Baumgarten invited Council to contact him if they had any Alderman Veselka made a motion, seconded by Alderman Herzik, to accept Consent Agenda (A) The minutes of the Regular Scheduled Meeting held on August 16, 2021 (B) The minutes of the Special Meeting held on August 23, 2021 and Human Resources Officer, Mason Florus. meeting and its members. questions and thanked them for their time. Items A, B, and C. The motion passed unanimously. (C) The payment of current bills Mrs. Walker led discussion on adopting the 2021 Tax Rate. Mrs. Walker informed Council that the City hosted a public hearing 15 minutes before the regularly scheduled Council Meeting. Mrs. Walker said that no citizens wished to speak at the hearing, and is recommending that the tax rate shall be .2187 and will generate more revenue than last year's budget by $35,445 or Mrs. Walker stated that we have been in agreement that Schulenburg is considered to be behind other communities in relation tot the tax rate. Citizens deserve and expect the City to provide services to them and in order to accomplish this, she recommends this increase to the Alderman Thomas made a motion, seconded by Alderman Veselka, to adopt the proposed tax Mrs. Walker led discussion on setting a Budget Public Hearing Date for the FY2021-2022. Mrs. Walker proposed Monday, September 20th at 5:45 P.M. before the regularly scheduled Council Alderman Herzik made a motion, seconded by Alderman Fietsam, to set the Budget Public Hearing date for Monday September 20th at 5:45 P.M. The motion passed unanimously. 4.14 %. ad valorem tax. rate. The motion passed unanimously. Meeting. Mrs. Walker led discussion on revising and setting rates for Water and Sewer rates for the City. City Ordinance states that the first 3,000 gallons is the minimum. The new Residential Minimum Water Rates will be $21 for water and $19 for sewer (based on three-month winter averaging). Commercial rates will be $24 for water and $26.75 for sewer (based on three-month winter Mrs. Walker said the ordinance also states that starting October 1, 2021, the water and sewer minimum charge will be increased a rate of $1.00 per year for a five-year term unless the Alderman Thomas made a motion, seconded by Alderman Ahlschlager, to adopt the revised Mrs. Walker led discussion on adopting Appendix A - Schedule of Fees in addition toi the City's core services. The changes were noted as increasing the water and sewer rates. The only addition was the rental oft the Big Fans under the Pavilion. They are $10/1 Hour with a minimum Mrs. Walker also raised the question about possibly renting out the Council Chambers. Alderman Fietsam asked if we have ever rented them out before. Mrs. Walker replied no it's primary use is PD and or Employee training, EDC meetings, and other City related organization meetings. Council agreed that if we have not rented out in the past there is no need to start Alderman Fietsam stated that she was fine with the City continuing to utilize the Council Alderman Fietsam made a motion, seconded by Alderman Thomas, to adopt Appendix A Municipal Court Judge, Kayla Peters, and Library Director, Thadious Polasek's reports were Chief Brenek reported that he and Sergeants McFadden and Roggenkamp have been attending training. This training will allow PD to comb through the data int the incident reports and give PD better feedback on where auto accidents, vehicle burglaries, and code enforcement violations Chief also stated that the officers are averaging 160 calls a week. This system will make it Chief wanted to thank County Attorney Peggy Supak, who has agreed to pay for additional online training for our officers. Once the Commissioners' Court approves, our officers will be Operations Manager, Darryl Moeller, was asked by Alderman Veselka about a sycamore tree on Loop 222. Moeller said yes it needs to be trimmed. Alderman Herzik mentioned another spot with low hanging limbs by the Welborn property. Moeller answered that that will be a winter project. He said that the guys will go around town with the lift and trim trees like we did several averaging). Heavy Industrial minimum will be $20 for water. governing body changes and/or discontinues the rate schedule. water and sewer fees. The motion passed unanimously. of 4 hours. now. Chambers like we have been. Schedule of Fees. The motion passed unanimously. presented in Council's packets. occur. easier to enter data. allowed to receive the online training. years ago. Moeller then reported the following on Public' Works: The Wastewater Department had three lift stations go down. Ben Jahn welded a part and saved the City money on having to order parts to fix the problem. They also assisted the Water Department in repairing a fire hydrant at the corner of The Electric Department had multiple outages, ran services, trimmed trees, replace The Water Department repaired a X inch line on Russek, worked on a leak on Summit, repaired an 8-inch line at Baumgarten and Wolters. Moeller wanted to welcome back Travis "Bubba" Wagner. Wagner left on great terms and was gone for about a month but returned back to Public Works and the Water Department The Street Department put all the flags out around town, patched in Meadowcreek, cleaned up the corner of Demel and Summit, hauled fill dirt from La Grange, and Baumgarten and' Williams street lights repaired the gate rails at Wolters Park City Administrator, Tami Walker, reported the following to Council: Met with Fayette County Emergency Management Coordinator, Craig Moereau Mason and I attended the TMCA Legislative Update in San Marcos Had a phone conference with grant writer, Judy Langford Met with City Staff about the County Barn Lift Station Rode around town with Mayor and Alderman Veselka to determine where the flags Have been working with a surveyor on the Brenda Shelby property by the Expo Center should be displayed End of the month transfers Have been working with the attorney on the Employee Handbook At6:27, Council adjourned into Executive Session to discuss the following pursuant to Government Code, Section 551.072 Deliberation about Real Property. No action was taken in Executive Session. Alderman Veselka made a motion, seconded by Alderman Thomas, to adjourn out of Executive Session at 8:07 P.M. The motion passed Unanimously.