The Texarkana, Texas, City Council will decide at its meeting tonight if two churches, Landmark Pentecostal Church and Church on the Rock, will have electronic message signs on church property.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. inside the council chambers of Texas-side City Hall at 220 Texas Blvd. The meeting is open to the public. City Manager John Whitson said he expects the council will vote down the churches' requests for electronic signage.
"My interpretation is they are about to get a negative vote," Whitson said. "None of the council members have spoken to me, but I am basing this on comments and questions they have asked. I think it's a split council, but I don't know how it will be split."
First up on the agenda is Landmark Church's request to have a 0.9 acre tract of land rezoned in the M.A. Bassett HRS, A-91 property at 2905 Texas Boulevard. The ordinance would allow the section of land to go from single family-2 to office. Keith Culberson of Whatley Signs is representing the church.
According to agenda materials, the City's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommends approval for the request, and staff recommends approval of the request based on the city's comprehensive plan that designates the area where the church is as retail.
To have the electronic messaging sign, the council must also approve Landmark Pentecostal Church's request for a special-use permit to allow for its sign in ordinance No. 2015-130. If this permit is approved, the area will be rezoned to allow for the signage. The Planning and Zoning Commission approved this request by a vote of 3 to 2 with the stipulation that the electronic messaging on the sign will be turned off from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
"Staff has concerns about residential properties in this area being affected by the brightness of this sign at night," according to agenda materials. "Per the Zoning Ordinance for the (electronic) type signs, 'the maximum brightness during the day shall be 4,000 nits and at night 1,000 nits.' Nits are a measure of brightness."
Pastor Jason Calhoun has spoken to the council regarding the need for the sign and has said the church has already paid for the sign because they thought the Planning and Zoning Commission's approval would mean the city would also approve. Calhoun expressed frustration at the Jan. 11 meeting about how he felt some on the staff and council have insinuated that the church should have known more about the process of placing the sign.
"If you want to ask me about Peter, James and John, I would be happy to answer. But I'm not an expert on signs," Calhoun said at that meeting.
Also during the Jan. 11 meeting, Ward 3 Council member Tina Veal-Gooch said several Ward 3 residents have contacted her with concern about having an electronic sign at this location. Veal-Gooch also discussed monument-style signs as a preferred option when future signs are placed and said her constituents agree with her.
Also on tonight's agenda is an ordinance granting a specific-use permit to allow an electronic messaging sign at Church on the Rock, located on an approximate 7.39 acre tract at 1601 Mall Drive. Jason Offutt of Ace Co., is the agent representing the church and Pastor Mike Ulmer has represented the church at previous meetings.
According to agenda materials, the specific-user permit to allow the sign is necessary because the church is zoned in an area designated office. The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4 to 1 to recommend the church's request for a specific-use permit.
"The proposed sign is larger than an institution sign normally allowed for a church," according to agenda materials. "Staff has researched the City Inspection Department's permit files and determined that sign permit was issued in August 1994, that allowed the current size signage. Staff assumes this size signage was allowed because the property is on the I-30 corridor. Since the size signage was allowed by the City, staff has determined that the existing sign should be considered as a non-conforming sign. The applicant should be aware that since this is a non-conforming sign, the size of the sign cannot be increased in the future."
A later item on tonight's agenda also refers to electronic messaging signs, Ordinance. No-2016-60, which appears in the first briefings items of the agenda. The ordinance would establish a 90-day moratorium on the processing and approval of applications and permits for the placement of electronic signs within the city. Whitson said a public hearing on the item must first be conducted and the items must also be published in local newspapers before the council can vote on the item. The public hearing, the second briefing and council vote is scheduled for the council's next meeting on Feb. 8.
CITY WILL RESPOND TO FOREST POINT REPORT GIVEN JAN. 11
Tonight the council will also hear a report from Whitson on resolution No. 2015-140 that finds there is not a valid basis supporting claims made by Forest Point Apartment Homes of being overcharged for water and sewer services. The resolution would require Claire Jaynes, Forest Park manager, to pay Texarkana Water Utilities the $30,000 the city alleges she owes. Whitson's report states Forest Point's account has not been paid in full since December 2014, and Jaynes has instead been short-paying the account.
"I do have my presentation attachment (available online) and in that presentation I answer all the questions that she left hanging out there for the council," Whitson said. "I have tried to answer all the comments and questions and as you go through her slides, you can see our questions and any evidence supporting that reason on there."
Whitson said his opinion on the matter has not changed since he first heard about the claim from the apartment complex that it had been over-billed.
"I don't think there is a valid claim on her part. In my view and the evidence shows she owes $30,000 and she needs to pay it. I hope the council adopts this further to strengthen our ordinance to collect money. If the council says no you don't have to pay it, every other (apartment manager) will come and say I don't owe that, I owe this."
Whitson said a city ordinance allows the city to shut off water at the 104-unit residence on Kennedy Lane, but he has hesitated to do that because the residents have not done anything wrong. Residents at Forest Point pay for their water bill within their rent so it is up to the manager to pay what is owed to TWU. Whitson said no council member has asked him questions on the item since Jaynes made her report to the council on Jan. 11.
"I have been reluctant to shut off water for 104 tenants that didn't cause this, but we may reach a point that we do just that, and I want to make sure the council is standing behind us on the ordinance, which says pay us or we are going to shut the water off," Whitson said.
During her Jan. 11 presentation to the council, Jayne said bills have been inconsistent over the years, ranging from $3,000 to $12,000.
Jaynes said since 2008, Forest Point Park Apartments has been receiving bills that do not reflect the water being used at the complex. She presented a chronological list that began when she refused to pay a $14,000 bill from Texarkana Water Utilities. She said she told them she would file a lawsuit if they demanded she pay a bill carried over from a previous owner.
Jaynes presented a comprehensive report including copies of bills and other documents supporting her claim. She said the amount the complex has paid to TWU since 2008 is $590,879, which she said was $341,879 more than what they should have been billed.
According to the agenda, the City Council is set to vote on the item at its Feb. 8 meeting.
In other business tonight, the council will receive a first briefing on Resolution No. 2016-060, authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with Bowie County on a payment plan for the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone accounts receivable in arrears. According to agenda materials, Bowie County has deferred a number of TIRZ ad valorem payments to Texarkana in an accounts receivable arrears of $983,372. After meeting with county officials, the county has agreed to a payment plan wherein, over five years, the county will pay the balance of the account.
"The agreement includes the immediate payment of the FY15 TIRZ ad valorem in the amount of $248,122.71 and that the county will pay the current year's TIRZ ad valorem each year prior to January 31," according to agenda materials. "In additional to the annual TIRZ ad valorem the county will, for the next five years beginning in January 2017, pay equal annual installments of the remaining $628,060.38. The annual installment of $125,612.08 will be paid each year for the next five years beginning with the first payment due no later than January 31, 2017."
Whitson said he has been communicating with Bowie County Judge James Carlow about this and told Carlow that he would like them to get out in front of this issue before it came up on an audit. Whitson said the county got behind on transferring money collected in the TIRZ while former Judge Lacy Sterling was in office.
"I know there are auditors out there and they have not chosen to make a footnote or report on this, but I feel like the time is coming," Whitson said.
Also tonight there will be a first briefing establishing and adopting a policy related to citizen-submitted petitions. Whitson said this resolution will help establish clear policy on city petitions because such policy does not yet exist.
"What is important is that what the petition is asking for needs to be on each page where people are signing, Whitson said. "What happened at another job is a guy came in with a petition and other people came in and said they didn't sign it, so it was a bait-and-switch thing."