Ed Puente, sports and recreation coordinator, and Tori Bellos, special events coordinator, unload office materials while movers bring in the furniture for the new parks and recreation department administrative office located at Adler Park. The historic house, on the former “Dooley Place” land was renovated to accommodate offices, a conference room, and storage for the city staff. The adjacent neighborhoods will be actively involved in the future development of the park site, which is the first new park purchased with the 2007 quality of life bonds. Courtesy photo

Boerne City Council and staff gathered for a budget workshop, followed by a regular council meeting on April 22.

Police Chief Gary Miller reviewed plans and budgeting for the new public safety building. Council members haggled over the necessity of LEED certification status for the building to verify its level of energy efficiency.

Parks and Recreation Director Linda Cornelius presented plans for four walking trails planned to connect the city. She said that the department is eyeing some land near Curington Elementary School as a site for the Boerne skatepark. She also announced that Boerne City Lake Park should get a security camera and manned entrance gate soon.

Sandy Mattick, director of finance, said that funds exist in the budget to start a pilot program instituting an AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) system that would streamline the process of gathering utilities information for city residents. She also said that a more advanced system called a AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) would allow remote control and inspection of utility systems.

Council and staff also discussed improvements to be made to the Boerne Animal Shelter. Miller said that animals from Kendall County and Fair Oaks Ranch are brought to the shelter and suggested that those governments foot some of the bill to improve the facility.

BISD project bond manager Jeff Haberstroh described to the council the Boerne-Samuel V. Champion High School rainwater harvesting system at the start of the regular meeting. He said the system might be the largest of its kind in North America. He also said the system will save BISD $35,000 per year in irrigation expenses.

Council members received a presentation asking Boerne to take part in welcome as members of the community the 338th Military Intelligence Battalion that will train at Camp Bullis. City officials graciously accepted the offer.

The council also heard recommendations from staff concerning investing in a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system that would give the city remote control and monitoring abilities over pumps stations.