CITY OF ALAMO HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL February 24, 2025 A regular meeting of the City Council ofthe City of Alamo Heights, Texas was held at the Council Chamber, located at 6116 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas, at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, February 24 2025. A teleconference was held via Zoom; staff and meeting attendees were welcomed in the Council Chamber. Composing a quorum were: Mayor Bobby Rosenthal Councilmember Lawson Jessee Councilmember Karl P. Baker Councilmember Blake M. Bonner Also attending were: City Manager Buddy Kuhn Assistant City Manager Phillip Laney City Attorney Jessie Lopez City Secretary Elsa T. Robles Director of Finance Robert Galindo Police Chief Rick Pruitt Fire Chief Allen Ottmers Public Works Director Frank Orta Deputy Police Chief Cindy Pruitt Community Development Services Director Lety Hernandez Not attending: Mayor Pro Tem Lynda Bills Burke Council member Trey Jacobson Assistant to City Manager Jennifer Reyna Mayor Bobby Rosenthal opened the meeting at 5:37 p.m. and recognized a Boy Scout in the audience. Item # I Approval ofMinutes Mayor Rosenthal asked the City Council for a motion on the February 10, 2025 City Council Meeting minutes. Councilmember Blake M. Bonner moved to approve the minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Karl P. Baker and passed by unanimous vote. Item # 2 Announcements Mayor Rosenthal read the following caption. a. 35th Annual Alamo Heights High School Band Run to the Beat 5K on 03/01/2025 Community Development Services Director Lety Hernandez announced the 35th annual Alamo Heights High School band run 5K on March 1St starting at 8:30 AM and ending at 11:00 AM. February 24, 2025 City Council Meeting Ms. Hernandez took the opportunity to announce a second 5K event, the 3rd Annual Ben Dash run also on March 1st starting at 4:00 PM and ending at 6:30 PM at the Alamo Heights Pool. b. Recyeling Awareness Campaign Kickoff Director of Public Works Frank Orta announced the kickoff campaign for recycling awareness in the city. The campaign is part of a goal set by City Council during the transition from Waste Management to Balcones Recycling. Beginning March 3td, staff will send email blasts and social media posts to introduce the campaign to residents. In addition, a "Dos and Don'ts" decal will be placed on recycling bins illustrating what is and what is not allowed for recycling. Friendly Reminder" tags will be plaçed on out-of-compliance bins to help educate and enhance resident experience. Mr. Orta noted Public Works will continue to work with Balçones Recycling to engage the community, through schools, work projects and events like National Night Out. The city's website will be updated to reflect the latest trash/recycling information, holiday schedules, contacts, and policy changes. It will also allow new residents to request new bins and look up their service day by address. City Manager Buddy Kuhn confirmed glass is accepted for recycling through the new vendor, Balcones Recycling. Item #. 3 Citizens to be Heard Mr. Jay Scholz, resident, stated he wanted to share concerns with the upcoming project at Cambridge Elementary School. He desired to meet with the Alamo Heights Independent School District (AHISD) regarding the proposed construction to give the neighbors the opportunity to voice their concerns; however, he was told it was not necessary since there was no demolition involved. Mr. Scholz commented the Architectural Review Board (ARB) had not addressed some important items, such as the portable buildings being placed behind his residence, and parking issues. Mr. Kuhn shared he had communicated with AHISD and was informed they would be presenting the project to the Parent Teacher Organization and would bring in neighbors for their input at that time. Mrs. Belinda Scholz, resident, stated she had contacted Mr. Mike Hagar from AHISD who asked her to send her concers/questions directly to him; however, she noted several neighbors also have questions/concers regarding the project and hoped AHISD would seek community input. She was also concerned with the portable buildings behind her residence and potential added nuisance from neighborhood kids skateboardingjumping from ADA ramps outside the portable buildings. Items for Individual Consideration 2 February 24, 2025 City Council Meeting Item # 4 Mayor Rosenthal read the following caption. Architectural Review Board Case No. 970F, a request of Clayton Smaistrala of Alamo Heights Pool, LLC, applicant, representing City of Alamo Heights for the final design review of the proposed improvements on the property located at 250 Viesca Ave, Alamo Heights Pool, in order to build three (3) pickleball courts with dark sky compliant lighting. Ms. Hernandez stated the Single-Family B (SF-B) property is located at 250 Viesca Ave. on the south side between Alamo Heights Blvd and Greely St. The applicant requests approval of the final design review in order to build three (3) pickleball courts with dark sky compliant lighting. Ms. Hernandez reviewed existing conditions and stated the applicant will remove a slab that is currently on the property to install the proposed courts. She stated plan proposals had not been submitted by the applicant; however, they provided an example with dark sky compliant lighting on 18ft poles and two modules. Ms. Hernandez noted the project is required to complete the plan review process to ensure compliance with current regulations. The ARB considered the request at their February 18, 2025 meeting and voted unanimously to recommend approval of the proposed improvements as requested. Ms. Hernandez stated public notifications were mailed to property owners within a 200- foot radius. Notices were posted on the City's website and on the property. Staff received two responses in support, four in opposition, and three neutral responses. Additionally, staff received four responses in support outside ofthe 200-foot radius. She noted the applicant was present for questions. Mr. Clayton Smaistrala addressed City Council and stated the plan was to keep the exact same hours of operation at the pool. In the summer, the pool will close at 8:30 p.m. Under the amended lease, they propose to close the pickleball courts at 9:00 p.m. Mr. Smaistrala explained they want to keep the peace and tranquility ofthe neighborhood and have designed the lighting to dojust that. He stated most courts, have four custom 18-foot light poles surrounding it; however, they propose a design that will have sufficient lighting only using two poles and two light modules per court to minimize lighting a much as possible. After a brief discussion on desired vegetation fencing, Councilmember Lawson Jessee moved to approve ARB Case No. 970F as presented. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Baker and passed by unanimous vote. Item # 5 Mayor Rosenthal read the following caption. ORDINANCE NO. 2238 AN ORDINANCE DECLARING UNOPPOSED CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICES OF MAYOR, CITY COUNCILMEMBER PLACE #1, COUNCILMEMBER PLACE #2, AND COUNCILMEMBER PLACE #5 IN THE MAY 3, 2025 GENERAL ELECTION ELECTED TO OFFICE; PROVIDING THAT THE MAY 3, 2025 GENERAL 3 February 24, 2025 City Council Meeting MUNICIPAL ELECTION SHALL NOT BE HELD; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT THEREWITH; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Secretary Elsa T. Robles stated she was presenting an ordinance to cancel the May 3, 2025 General Election. The candidate filing period started January 15, 2025 and ended February 14, 2025. She informed Council four applications were received, one for each ofthe open positions from: Al Honigblum = Mayor Lawson Jessee - Councilmember, Place 1 Karl P. Baker Councilmember, Place 2 Trey Jacobson - Councilmember, Place 5 As City Secretary, Ms. Robles certified there were no write-in candidates, and each candidate was unopposed for election to office. As required by the Election Code, a copy of the ordinance canceling the general election and certificate certifying the cancellation will be posted at City Hall and the city's website. A copy of the ordinance will be forwarded to Elections Administrator for posting at Bexar County polling sites on Election Day, May 3, 2025. She noted the City would not incur costs for canceling the general election. Ms. Robles informed City Council that per the Texas Election Code, because the city is having a special election for the reauthorization of a local and sales use tax, the unopposed candidates would also be on the ballot on May 3rd. Councilmember Jessee moved to approve Ordinance No. 2238 cancelling the May 3, 2025 General Election and declaring unopposed candidates. Motion was seconded by Councilmember Bonner and passed by unanimous vote. Staff Reports Item # 6 Mayor Rosenthal read the following caption. Briefing on the 2024 Racial Profiling Annual Report prepared in compliance with the Texas Racial Profiling Law Police Chief Rick Pruitt presented the 2024 Racial Profiling Annual Report. The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 2.132 was created in 2001 with the passage of Senate Bill 1074. This began the racial profiling effort to document officer activities and how it impacts the different demographics in the neighborhoods. It was amended in May 2017 as Senate Bill 1849 (Sandra Bland Act) which requires a statistical analysis to be conducted. All these laws created Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) Articles 2.131 through 2.134 of which the Alamo Heights Police Department (AHPD) complies. An annual racial profiling report must be provided to City Council before March 1st. Police Chief Pruitt briefly explained Senate Bill 1849 expanded data collection requirements toinclude: all traffic stops or pedestrian contacts resulting in a warning citation, çourt citation or an arrest, gender, ethnicity, contact reason, description of contraband discovered, 4 February 24, 2025 City Council Meeting offense description, roadway description, physical force resulting in injury. He noted AHPD has electronic ticket writers which gather all the required data and help generate the annual report. A comprehensive analysis of enforcement action data relating to ethnicity and gender is compiled. The Alamo Heights Police Department (AHPD) complies with CCP Article 2.134. The annual report also contains information relevant to AHPD policies such as prohibiting racial profiling and addressing citizen complaints, training/education mandates, and requires video and voice recordings. Police Chief Pruitt stated the 2024 Alamo Heights statistical data is compared to the City of San Antonio and Bexar County demographics. Most Police contacts are with people commuting through the City, not Alamo Heights residents. The total traffic contacts for AHPD were 6,438 with 8.20% being Black, 1.45% being Asian/Pacific Islander, 62.9% being White, 0.76% being Native American/Alaskan, and 26.65% being Hispanic/Latino. The content ofthe racial profiling annual report reaffirms AHPD's commitment to unbiased policing, reinforces public confidence, and mutual trust. It protects officers from unwarranted accusations of misconduct. Police ChiefPruitt summarized the 2024 Racial Profiling Report verifying AHPD complied with all the requirements. There were no public or internal complaints made suggesting racial profiling by any police officer. Analysis of all data collected verifies AHPD officers do not participate in racial profiling. The racial reporting data has been entered into the State database for public viewing. The 2024 Racial Profiling Report will be posted on the City's website, and copies will be available upon request. Item # 7 Mayor Rosenthal read the following caption. Presentation of Financial and Investment Report for the first quarter ending December 31, 2024 Finance Director Robert Galindo presented on the first quarter financial and investment report for FY2025. The report focused on the General Fund Revenues & Expenditures, Utility Fund Revenues & Expenditures, Capital Projects Fund, Investment Portfolio Update, and a Summary of City's Financial Position. The General Fund total revenue ended at $5.4M, equal to 40% of the budget revenue. Mr. Galindo noted property tax collections are at $3.5M and sales tax revenue is at $423,645. The permits and fees are at 49% due to the ongoing projects bond projects for the Alamo Heights ISD. Overall, the budget is at 40% of the revenues for the first quarter. Mr. Galindo reviewed the Property Tax Collections M&O and I&S for the first quarter, which ended at $4.25M compared to the previous year, $4.23M. The sales tax revenue increased about a 7.5% for the first quarter compared to last year. He noted it had been trending down the last couple of years but has now stabilized and ended the quarter at $637,496, an increase of7.5% compared to prior year first quarter total of$593,271. 5 February 24, 2025 City Council Meeting Mr. Galindo reviewed the General Fund expenditures and noted Community Development stands slightly higher at 36% due to the inspection contract for the AHISD projects. Overall, the General Fund expenditures stand at 25%. All other departments are at or slightly above budget. Mr. Galindo stated the Utility Fund is doing well. The total revenues were $1.3M or 24% of the budget and total expenditures were $854,922 or 16% of the budget. The Capital Projects Fund balance for the first quarter was $16,246,852 which includes the interest of $183,894 from the 2021 Bond proceeds. There are $567 in expenditures incurred this quarter. As part of the lower Broadway project, the fund balance was $16M which included $13,250,000 from the bond proceeds that has earned $1.7M ini interest. The current balance for the bond proceeds is $14,998,865. Mr. Galindo reviewed the investment portfolio which includes 0.7% of funds in a 3-month CD with Jefferson Bank which matures on March 28, 2025. He stated he recommended this account be closed at maturity due to the low interest rate and allocate funds into the investment pool or the U.S. Agency Bonds. There was a savings account with Jefferson Bank of$1,230 that was recently closed due to several years of inactivity. There is a non-interest-bearing operating account with Frost Bank, a total of 9%. Mr. Galindo reviewed the interest pool and stated the overall investment portfolio balance is $35,278,398. Frost Bank pledges securities for any amount over $250,000 in the name of the City to be in compliance with the Public Funds Investment Act (Chapter 2256). The average yield for the investment portfolio was 4.33% and is in line with the 90-Day U.S. Treasury benchmark of4.40%. The U.S. Agency Bonds were at 4.75% and CD was at 3.25%. The investment pools were at 4.83% and the operating accounts earn no interest. The weighted average maturity days for the portfolio is 79 days and the CD has 87 days to maturity. The report complies with the investment strategies established by the City of Alamo Heights Investment Policy and the Public Funds Investment Act (Chapter 2256). In closing, Mr. Galindo reviewed the 1st Quarter Performance Summary: % of Budget Current Quarter YTD Quarter GENERAL FUND Total Revenues 40% Positive Positive Total Expenditures 25% Positive Positive Total Property Tax Collections 52% Positive Positive Sales Tax Revenues 25% Positive Positive ENTERPRISE FUND Utility Fund Revenues 24% Negative Positive Utility Fund Expenditures 16% Positive Positive With no further business to consider, Councilmember Bonner moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:30 p.m. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Baker and passed by unanimous vote. 6 February 24, 2025 City Council Meeting PASSED AND APPROVED THIS 10th DAY OF MARCH, 2025. Mh/ Bobby Rosenthal Bfmw Mayor Elsa T. Robles/TRMC City Secretary h a : 7