The Kyle Report

The Kyle Report

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Charter changes, annexations top council agenda items

The City Council will consider (and almost certainly ultimately pass) an ordinance Tuesday establishing an election May 7 to vote on proposed changes to the city’s charter and take the first steps in annexing five areas of land currently in its extra-territorial jurisdiction, including the 2,253-acre Blanco River Ranch, the site of a planned high-end subdivision.

If all goes as currently planned, the May 7 ballot will contain, along with a pair of council elections, these 11 proposed changes to the charter:

1. Shall Sections 4.03 (g) (o) (p), 5.11 of the City Charter be amended to require submission to the qualified voters of the City to eliminate provisions which have become inoperative because they have been superseded by state law; replace obsolete references; update terminology to current legal usage, and to eliminate obsolete transitional provisions?

2. Shall Sections 3.05 of the City Charter be amended to require submission to the qualified voters of the City to add causes to remove any elected officer to also include habitual substance abuse and conviction of a misdemeanor involving a crime of moral turpitude which are crimes involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, deliberate violence, or that reflect adversely on an elected official’s honesty, trustworthiness?

3. Shall sections 4.01 and 4.03 of the City Charter be amended to authorize the City Council to recommend and approve appointments to all City Boards and Commissions?

4. Shall section 4.03 (a) of the City Charter be amended to eliminate the requirement of Council confirmation on the dismissal of the Director of Finance?

5. Shall section 4.05 of the City Charter be amended to clarify that neither the Mayor or (sic) Council shall instruct the City Manager or any city employee to hire or terminate any city employee and require the mayor and council to go through the City Manager for administrative and management functions of the City?

6. Shall sections 5.02 of the City Charter be amended to move the City’s general election date for the Mayor and Councilmembers from May to November and approve a transitional provision extending terms in May 2017 and May 2018 to November 2017 and 2018?

7. Shall section 7.10 of the City Charter be amended to clarify that the City Attorney shall report to the City Manager but remain appointed by the Mayor and City Council?

8. Shall section 8.09 of the City Charter be amended to require two authorized signatures, one must be either the City Manager or Finance Director, for checks, vouchers, warrants or withdrawal of funds from city depositories?

9. Shall section 8.11 (e) of the City Charter be added so that any issuance of debt not have a repayment period greater than the life of the asset(s) being funded?

10. Shall section 8.11 (f) of the City Charter be added so that any issuance of debt or instrument of obligation exceeding 5% of the annual assessed valuation of the city shall only be issued with a binding referendum being placed on the ballot and such expenditure approved by the voters?

11. Shall section 13.10 of the City Charter be added so that all meetings, hearings and workshops of the Council, any Board, Commission or Committee of the City shall comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act and shall provide a time for public comment?

It remains to be seen if any of these proposals will engender any serious debate or controversy, although it stands to reason that any candidate running on the ballot will be asked where he or she stands on them.

The council will also vote whether to schedule public hearings March 1 and again March 15 on a proposal to annex between one to five areas of land into the city, including the Blanco River Ranch, which is almost twice as large as the other four areas combined and which, if developed as planned, would place far more stress on the city’s infrastructure than the proposed 1-acre town-home development that was rejected by the council last week because it placed too much stress on the city’s infrastructure.

The other four areas being considered for annexation border South Stagecoach Road, from the current city limits down to Yarrington Road. The other four are labeled (1) the Davenport/Bullock/Old Town area, 590 acres; (2) Driskel, North Roland Lane area, 325 acres; (3) Graef Ranch area, 169 acres; and (4) Scott Street area, 60 acres.

As usual, a citizens comment section is scheduled at the beginning of Tuesday's 7 p.m. meeting, but none of the items on the agenda include a public hearing. The complete agenda can be found here.

1 comment:

  1. We can not afford to take on more property and more bad roads. Whose bad idea was this?

    ReplyDelete