Council Votes 3-2 to Move Ahead on $8 Bond Election

The Schulenburg City Council voted 3-2 Monday night to order an election over an $8 million bond proposal, with most of that money dedicated to rebuilding the former City Hall building on North Main St.

The Council previously authorized Certificates of Obligation (COs) to pay for the City Hall project. But a successful petition organized by a local property owner killed the COs. According to State law, the successful petition prohibits the City from seeking debt to pay for the City Hall project without voter approval for the next three years. If the Council wishes to proceed with the project, at least for the next three years, voters will need to approve it.

The person who organized the petition, Chad Zimmermann, urged the Council to take no action on the election Monday night.

“I consider it a mulligan, a second chance to do this the right way,” Zimmermann said during the meeting’s public comment period. “Seek public input, collect the data, crunch the numbers, develop the plan, present the plan to the public, and adjust it accordingly based on their feedback before putting a bond package together that the voters will likely approve because they were included in this process.”

Drew Whittington of the firm Governmental Capital Securities has been advising the City on bond financing for the project. Monday night, he told the Council that if voters reject the bond in the November election, the City could reformulate the project and present it to the public at another election next May.

“Think about your school bonds,” Whittington said. “Most of the time with school bonds, if you fail in November, you get a committee of (people) against and for, and put them together. What’s right, what’s wrong, rehash that out, and then you go out for an election in May.”

He warned that if the City waits too long, the Texas Legislature may change the rules for cities seeking debt financing. He said there has been a trend in the Legislature lately to restrict cities’ ability to borrow.

“My biggest concern is that I don’t think folks want $8 million,” said Alderman Frank Wick III. “I don’t see the bond passing.”

Whittington said that if it fails, the Council could change the scope of the project. He mentioned a previous idea the Council considered which called for a new municipal complex outside of downtown that would incorporate City Hall and the police station. A group of citizens pushed back on that idea. The Council subsequently decided to focus on keeping City Hall downtown.

“The majority of citizens want to see it go downtown,” said Alderman Kathy Kleiber.

Alderman Roger Moellenberndt warned about the rising cost of construction.

“The longer we wait, obviously its going to be more expensive,” Moellenberndt said.

Zimmermann argued that if the Council orders the November election and it fails, the City will have less time to reformulate the package and present it again to voters in May. If the City foregoes the November election, they could begin planning a May election immediately.

“I think we’re locked into thinking that this has to be City Hall,” Zimmermann said, pointing in the direction of the North Main Street building. “Just from the information I’ve gathered throughout this process, people who have called me, there are other options that we probably should listen to the citizens about. I encourage you to do a survey. But regardless of what you do tonight, get the input, because there are a lot of smart people in this community who have a lot of great ideas who can greatly benefit this town and potentially save us a lot of money on all of our taxes.”

Mayor Connie Koopmann mentioned a previous meeting in which a large group of citizens and business owners supported the City’s decision to abandon the municipal complex idea and focus on rebuilding City Hall downtown.

“They applauded us after that,” Koopmann said.

Zimmermann said that other ideas have been proposed since that time. For example, the City had an opportunity to purchase the building that housed their temporary offices on Upton Ave. next to the Police Station. Zimmermann said the City could have moved the Police Station into that building and remodeled the Police Station to serve as City Hall. The Police Station was, in fact, City Hall prior to its move to North Main St. in the early 2000s “That’s a lot of money for a building that doesn’t generate any property taxes or sales taxes,” Ziummermann said of the $8 million proposal. “You know, you’re currently operating City Hall in a 2,000-square-foot building. We don’t need 10,250 square feet to operate the business of the city.”

Zimmermann’s number was off. The downtown building is actually about 8,800 sq. ft., according to the Fayette County Appraisal District. Planning documents from the City state the existing square footage at 8,500. City Hall is currently housed in a 2,000 sq. ft. doublewide portable building that the City recently purchased for $118,000.

According to City Administrator Tami Walker, the portable houses seven employees. She said there is currently no space available for an office to house the Public Works Director, who instead works out of the City’s maintenance warehouse.

In the end, the Council voted 3-2 to order an election set for Nov. 3.