2009-10-22
City council – decisions & modicum of dissention
By Judith Pannebaker
Amazingly, a meeting of Bandera City Council held on Thursday, Oct. 15, went without incident and was blessedly short – clocking in at under an hour – mirroring a meeting held earlier in the month.
Aside from a brouhaha that erupted when Mayor Horst Pallaske appointed a representative to an ad hoc city-county government committee, the Thursday, Oct. 1, meeting was also relatively uneventful – and adjourned in a timely manner.
EDC accounts
On Oct. 15, Linda James, secretary and finance officer of the City of Bandera Economic Development Corporation, offered the organization’s annual report.
Completed EDC projects and costs included Bandera Honors Veterans event, $1,500; parking lot purchase, $118,950; Cowboys on Main events through the Frontier Times Museum, $10,000; Celebrate Bandera, $5,000; Medina River Clean-Up, $500; Cowboy Capital Rodeo Association, $5,000; road rehabiliatation in Bandera City Park, $4,000; street lights on Highway 173 North, $122,415; Christmas lights for City Park, $4,812; giant boots by Esther Benedict for city gateway, $3,000; container for Christmas lights, $3,300; and electricity upgrade in City Park, $4,500.
Through sales tax allocations, the EDC receives about $180,000 to $190,000 annually. The funds are earmarked for encouraging tourism and to a lesser extent for the health and safety of citizens.
To a question about the cost of some of the more extensive projects, Mayor Horst Pallaske, who also serves as EDC president, offered, “We have a large contingency fund in the EDC.”
Other members of the EDC include Vice President Joe Hearn and Directors Don Clark, Vonia Dyer and Robert Koimn.
“As always, we invite everyone to attend our meetings and become a part of the group,” James concluded. "We always listen to recommendations and keep an ear open to new projects.”
Paper v. paper
In other business, city council reached a consensus regarding the yearly ordeal of selecting an “official” city newspaper.
Rather than continuing the increasingly empty motions of “going out for bids,” everyone agreed it should be city policy to alternate the coveted designation yearly. “You always indicated you wanted to do it this way,” Pallaske pointed out. “This would not put the newspapers competing with each other each year.”
Council agreed to come up with a resolution that would allow this policy to go into effect and adopt the resolution at a future city council meeting.
Exterior & interior
Council asked City Administrator Gene Foerster to write specifications and seek bids for repairing the leaky roof of the municipal building.
“The roof is not in very good condition and there are several alternatives,” Foerster said. Asking council for input, he said the alternatives ranged from a $500 simple patch job to a major renovation that might cost over $25,000, but that would improve the look of the building considerably.
Since the problem only became apparent during relatively heavy rains after several years of hard drought, the necessary repairs had not been included in the 2009-2010 budget. “We need to do something in the next three months because it’s looking to be a wet fall,” Foerster said.
To Councilman Robert Koimn’s question, “Does the county have any obligation to maintain the building, Foerster replied, “No, the county owns the land, but the municipal building belongs to the city."
Plans are also in the hopper for reconfiguring the interior of the police department. Police clerk Pam Scharmen also serves as assistant municipal judge. Remodeling would essentially forestall any breaches of confidentiality regarding conversations and interviews that she might overhear that could relate to possible future court cases.
“Essentially, we plan to put Pam in a box with pocket doors and minimal construction,” noted Police Chief Jim Eigner.
“And we’ll create a separate interview room at the same time,” Foerster added.
The cost of remodeling and reconfiguring the interior of the station house had been included in the current budget.
Use votes wisely
On Oct. 1, council appointed Bob Thomasini, former public works director of Bexar County, as the city representative on the Central Appraisal District Board of Directors. They exhorted Thomasini to use his whooping 60 votes wisely.
Derelict property
During that same meeting, council also decided to allow Marion Alton Evans, owner of a derelict property on the corner of Cypress and 11th streets an additional 180 days – or until March 1 – to “get something done with the property.”
Two years ago, the apparently historic building on the site was identified as being substandard – along with other buildings throughout the city. Owners of the designated substandard buildings were given 90 days to repair or demolish them.
As a result, Evans did asbestos abatement on the property, but nothing more. “It’s now time for an update,” Pallaske noted. “It’s up to the council to take action, allow him more time to get the building into compliance or direct Gene to write a letter and ask about his plans for the building.”
Agreeing that while the building was an “eyesore” to a lot of visitors, City Administrator Gene Foerster also noted that perhaps the building had some historical significance.
‘Travesty’ to tear down
“It’s one of the oldest buildings in Bandera and has a lot of history,” said Councilman Maggie Schumacher. “We should encourage Evans in a positive way to restore it. It was be a travesty to tear it down.”
However, Mayor Pro Tem John Hegemier noted that the walls are now unsupported, making the building, now little more than a shell, dangerous.
Additionally, City Councilman Robert Koimn pointed out that while the building at Cypress and 11th streets “may be historical, it has not officially been designated as historical.” He also said that other buildings identified as not being in compliance several years ago had been sold and the new owners had restored them.
“The owners couldn’t afford to fix them up, so the buildings were sold,” Councilman Monica Halsey echoed.
Pallaske suggested that grants might be available to restore the building.
“The historical commission would have to have it designated as a historical building; however, if it’s deemed a historical building and there are no funds to restore it, it’s still an eyesore and nothing will be done,” Koimn said.
Council recommended giving Evans an additional 180 days to resolve the situation. “We’ll guide the man in the right direction, but we’re not going to do it for him,” Pallaske said.
New solid waste options
In other business, council unanimously approved terminating a contract, originally signed in January 2000 with Allied Waste, and soliciting bids for another solid waste provider for the city.
“Three other providers are interested in serving Bandera,” Foerster told the council. He also anticipated overseeing a “seamless changeover” after Allied’s contract concludes on Feb. 24.
He advocated, “cleaning up the contract” that would be offered to the new provider. “It’s going to be a task but we need to clean up this contract. It’s old and it’s not good business to work under this contract,” Foerster said.
