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City hears county jail plans
Posted: Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 - 08:33:12 am CDT
by Kaitlyn Crawford - Staff writer
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Staff photo by Margaret Palermo
RESCUE EFFORT - A vehicle lies in on its roof in a cement culvert on the west side of Grove Street Sunday, after attempting to pass two vehicles at a high speed while approaching a curve. “Passing within city limits is very unsafe,” said Arvind Isaac of the City of Uvalde Police Department. He reminds motorists that speed limits are set and enforced in the community to maintain overall safety. The vehicle’s two occupants were transported by Airlife to University Hospital.
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Uvalde County Judge Bill Mitchell presented members of the Uvalde City Council at their regular meeting Tuesday with the outline of a project that calls for building a new 144-bed county jail on the city fairgrounds property.
The proposal, which was made public earlier this month, calls for the city to receive the current downtown county jail property in return for the 54-acre fairgrounds property located just west of the city on Hwy. 90.
Mitchell said the county hopes to go in and clean the fairgrounds property and build the jail facility on the south side. The county would construct a dedicated street, separated by a fence and trees, so that no part of the jail would commingle with the fairgrounds. A fence or wall would serve as a barrier to totally separate the two facilities, Mitchell said.
“I really feel like if you're out at a function at the fairgrounds, you wouldn't be able to tell the jail was out there,” said Mitchell.
As for the ground's current buildings, Mitchell said the county would like to tear down the barns, which are “in pretty bad shape,” and in their place construct a covered rodeo arena that would allow for events to be hosted year-round, rain or shine.
In the open area now used for parking, the county proposes to build a multi-use facility that could be used for weddings, dances, or quinceneras. “Something like what you have at the Civic Center,” Mitchell said.
Near the Hwy. 90 entrance, the county proposes to construct a building to house the JP and County Extension office. Mitchell said they are running out of space at the Court House and this would allow for them to do more at the downtown building.
Where the current horse racing track is located, the county would like to construct an outdoor amphitheatre that could be a venue for concerts. “I think it would attract a lot more out there,” the judge said.
Mitchell asked the city to consider giving the piece of property to the county, and to get City Attorney Rudy Flores to meet with County Attorney John Dodson if interested.
Mitchell said the county is not looking to increase revenue for the county. He said that if the project materializes like they think it will, and attracts more activities to the fairgrounds, the city's merchants will be the ones who win, as more people will enter the city and consequently more purchases will be made.
Mayor Cody Smith said he believed the project would “make for a safer community.” Members agreed that it was the city's responsibility to help with the jail, as “we are all tax-paying members of the county.”
The council said that city would build a parking lot in place of the existing jail. “Accessibility and convenience is the only way we're going to get people to shop downtown again,” said council member John Yeackle.
No action was scheduled to be taken on Mitchell's presentation.
Bids were opened for the city of Uvalde swimming pool upgrade project by Public Works Director Joe Jarosek and Purchasing Agent Rudy Steinbruck. The first was from Aquatic Commercial Solutions Inc. for $29,675. This includes four new filters and a new monitoring system for aid and chlorine, similar to the work recently done at the Junior College.
The second bid was by Interpool at $32,133. The bids will be reviewed before further discussion.
The council then approved the appointment of Joe Cardenas, assistant city manager, as a nominee to the TML-IEBP board of trustees election for Region 7. Cardenas is the incumbent board member for Region 7. City Manager John Harrell expressed how proud the city was of Cardenas and believes his appointment will be “a great benefit to the city.” The city currently pays about $1 million to TML each year.
The council also approved a request by Clean Environments, Inc., on behalf of Westex Capital Ltd. to install four monitoring wells on city of Uvalde property to monitor groundwater gasoline concentrations after a spill that occurred in the past. Westex is the responsible party and will bear all associated costs. Hydrogeologist Lee H. Schnelle spoke on behalf of Clean Environments and explained that the state requires spills to be monitored.
The council then approved a resolution presented by Economic Director Tom Austin authorizing the city of Uvalde to file a grant application with the Middle Rio Grande Development Council for a Regional Solid Waste Grants Program grant in order to fund the city's annual spring clean-up for 2009.
Director Joanne Nelson gave the second quarter report of the Uvalde Convention and Visitors Bureau. She said hotel/motel tax collections were down, due to the variance in make up of the groups compared to last quarter's. Total income was $38,639.22, but after expenses the net income was $1,052.71.
She also reported that the Bureau's total assets were too high for a non-profit organization, so they plan to commit $100,000 to the renovation of the civic center. The bureau is currently researching and gathering information for the project.
Harrell recognized several city employees at the meeting. Juan Zamora was recognized for his perfect score on a test administered by the Institute for Infrastructure and Environmental Development, as was Audrey Garza for her initiative and willingness to become a certified municipal clerk. Cardenas was honored for his TML appointment and the consolidation of this position as assistant city manager with that of financial director. Rodney Hermanson was recognized as the new General Services director and for his dedication to the city.
Yeackle then brought up the request for proposals for legal services. Smith found the consensus to be to leave out a set rate and allow for individual bidding by attorneys. They decided to advertise locally and on the city's Web site. Smith said he would prefer someone local to take the position.
Yeackle then moved on to discuss his proposals for capital improvement projects and how they can be paid for. He said that at this point, the city's estimated revenue for 2008-2009 is at $16,400,000, and proceeded to propose ways to increase that amount.
First, Yeackle said the city could increase the interest and sinking (I&S) portion in the tax rate by 3 percent. This would raise the current rate of 0.45 to 0.4635. Next, the city could raise its utility rates to the level of inflation.
Yeackle was upfront in admitting that he has voted against raising utilities in the past, but said it was because it was arbitrary and in a lump sum. A minimum inflationary increase of 1 percent would generate $68,000 for the city, while a maximum increase of 2 percent would generate $136,000.
The city will also generate $77,000 in savings after consolidating the assistant city manager position with the finance director position.
Yeackle also proposed eliminating the Economic Development position, to be replaced by a contracted grant writer, in order to save $52,000. Another $25,000 could be saved by elimination of the part time finance clerk.
Together, with the $600,000 increase in revenue over 2007-2008 fiscal year, these items total to $882,000 in new revenue ($950,000 with the 2 percent utility rate increase).
Following Yeackle's proposal, $754,000 will go toward new expenses. This includes $246,000 for a 5 percent raise for all city employees, and $432,000 for debt service on $6,000,000 in certificates of obligation for suggested capital improvements. Another $14,000 would pay for the consolidation of the Street and Parks superintendent with accompanying foreman increase, and $62,000 to cover the return to patrol of the School Resource officers.
This will leave a net difference of 128,000 ($196,000 with the 2 percent utility rate increase), which Yeackle believes will disappear quickly for budgetary priorities during the budget workshop.
Capital improvements suggested by Yeackle include street reconstruction and drainage improvements for the most neglected areas of the city ($2,500,000), and Civic Center renovation and landscaping ($2,000,000). He also proposed spending $1,500,000 on improvements to the athletic complex to provide irrigation throughout the entire complex, a third concession stand, two more baseball/softball fields, creation of a football field, and new and improved lighting. The total cost of the Athletic Complex improvements is around $3,000,000, but Yeackle said that could be cut in half by applying for a matching USDA grant.
Yeackle then brought up the enforcement of the 2008 National Electric Code. He said there has been much concern over how little people in the trade get together to make sure everyone is aware of the regulations. Electrician Joe Trevino said that they have had problems with the diversity of their group and getting members together, but said they would meet as soon as they have time to discuss the code.
Following the discussion was a budget work session for the City of Uvalde's 2008-2009 fiscal year. The work session will continue on Thursday and a full review of items will be reported in the Sunday edition of the Uvalde Leader-News.
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