Copperas Cove city council to discuss chamber funding, rezoning, HOTDA agreement, barbecue grills
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove city council is holding a workshop and meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 18, with the workshop starting at 5 p.m. and the meeting starting at 6 p.m.
The meeting will take place at the council chambers located at 508 S. 2nd St. and will be live streamed on the city’s YouTube channel and on local Spectrum Channel 10.
On Tuesday, the council will hear a request from the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce, for $32,210 in hotel occupancy tax (HOT) funding which it didn’t request for 2020-2021.
The city has reimbursed the chamber for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2021, for October 2020 –March 2021.
However, the chamber didn’t request HOT fund reimbursement for July-September 2021 during the required 60-day time period, according to the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax Policy. That time period expired on Nov. 29, 2021, according to the agenda item—hence the leftover $32,210.
The chamber is asking for these monies to go to “support the operations of the Visitors Bureau during fiscal year 2022-2023", the current year.
According to the chamber, its board of directors was “not aware” that its president/CEO at the time, Silvia Spires, hadn’t submitted a reimbursement request to the city.
In fact, the Chamber’s last quarterly report and reimbursement request took place one year ago, in October 2021, when Spires made her first and only presentation to the council, for April-June 2021, for expenses of $17,611, which the council approved.
The decision for that funding allocation would be up to the city council.
The chamber has another HOT fund request on the agenda, for expenses reimbursement for October-December 2021, the first quarter of fiscal year 2021-2022.
The chamber also had a 60-day deadline to submit for this reimbursement, according to HOT policy, by the end of February 2022. This payment request is $23,521.93.
In July 2022, the city council earmarked a total of $93,121 in HOT funds to the chamber for its visitor bureau operations for 2022-2023, with a total of $37,689 toward Krist Kindl Markt 2022 and Rabbit Fest 2023.
The rezoning of nearly 29 acres just south of U.S. 190 and along F.M. 3046, from Low Density Residential) to MD (Medium Density Residential) and Public (Public & Institutional) is also on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting. The 29 acres is to be developed into duplex apartments.
The city’s agreement with the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance is also on the agenda, with the city paying $17,000 annually to the organization.
The city’s agreement with Comal Transportation, LLC, for transporting solid waste and recyclables is on the agenda for Tuesday. This agreement has a proposed amendment, that a minimum of two drivers will be available for transportation, due to the increased volume of solid waste the city has seen over the past five years.
The council will also be discussing allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CLFRF) from the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), including eligible public safety uses.
The city is also presenting a resolution to the council to deny Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC’s application to increase rates.
City Manager Ryan Haverlah is also scheduled to report to the council on the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) agreement with Coryell County, U.S. Business 190 project, the F.M. 116/SH-9 overpass, Veterans Avenue sidewalk, Constitution Drive reconstruction, Rattlesnake Mountain water elevated storage tank, and residential/commercial developments update.
During the workshop which begins at 5 p.m., Bobby Lewis, the city’s Developmental Services Director, will be giving an update on the zoning ordinance update project, and there will be discussion on the storage of the Military Affairs Committee’s barbecue drills at the Civic Center.