The Sandy Oaks City Council violated the Texas Open Meetings Act on September 2, 2015 when it held a meeting without announcing its location to the public 72 hours in advance. 4 of the 5 Aldermen were present for the meeting which was led by Mayor Pro Tempore Earnest Gay. Accomplice to the illegal meeting […]
The Sandy Oaks City Council has announced a budget hearing for September 2, 2015. The hearing will start at 6:30 pm and will be held at the Braunig Lake RV Resort Meeting Hall, 13550 Donop Road, Elmendorf, Tx, 78112. Texas law requires cities to produce an itemized budget to “cover the proposed expenditures of the […]
After being in office for over a year, the members of the Sandy Oaks City Council admitted on August 13, 2015 that they still don’t know who owns the roads. Mayor Pro Tempore Earnest Gay introduced the topic at the August 13th City Council meeting. There’s always been some contention as to whether certain streets […]
On August 13, 2015, the Sandy Oaks City Council held a meeting 8 miles outside of the city limits. The location of the meeting was the Braunig Lake RV Resort near the I37 and Southton Road intersection. The resort was the first location to have a City Council meeting besides the WPPOA clubhouse located in […]
Since the transfer of maintenance responsibilities transferred from the Waterwood Development Company to the WPPOA, the Waterwood community has had an increase in signs that have stayed posted at intersections and on poles throughout the neighborhood. Jim Clement, who claims to be the WPPOA president, did not retain any of the Waterwood Development Company’s workers […]
At the corner of Priest and Mathis, the newly built Dollar General opened at 7:30pm July 15, 2015. The convenience store is the first business to move to the area since Mr W Fireworks moved in a stand in the summer of 2014. Salina Morales, the temporary general manager of the store, told Sandy Oaks […]
At a meeting on June 11, 2016 the City Council received an update on the CDBG process by Alma Perez, a Community and Housing Development Manager. Perez was invited by Alderman Doug Tomasini. She handed out a power point presentation and a timeline of the process for the city to get a Community Development Block […]
At its July 9, 2015 regular meeting the City Council accepted the resignation of Jim Clement as Mayor of Sandy Oaks. Clement was not present at the meeting, but had given his letter of resignation to Alderman Earnest Gay, who read the letter to the Council towards the end of the meeting. Before reading the […]
Mayor Jim Clement told a citizen of Sandy Oaks on July 1, 2015 that it wasn’t necessary for the City Council to have a Budget Hearing. The reason Clement gave for not needing a Budget Hearing was that the city’s revenue would be less than $500,000 Texas Tax Hearing Law With regards to a […]
A book exchange has been started in the City of Sandy Oaks. The first exchange was held on June 27, 2015 at the home of Catherine Rendahl. Rendahl is one of the organizers who helped create the Good Neighbors group, an organization in Sandy Oaks with the goal of building a stronger community in the […]
On June 11, 2015, the City Council approved an election for 3 Alderman positions. The election will be part of the general election held on November 3, 2015. The 3 positions include Alderman Places 1, 3, and 5. At the start of becoming a city, the City Council had decided the elections of Council positions […]
On June 11, 2015 the Sandy Oaks City Council approved Jesse Gutierrez to be the City Marshal. Gutierrez is a resident of Waterwood and works in law enforcement in Floresville, Texas. He had volunteered to be City Marshal and work for free in December of 2014. At a previous City Council meeting on December 11, […]
For the City Council meeting on June 11, 2015, the Council had on the agenda to discuss documents needed by the Bexar County Tax Assessor Collector’s office and the Bexar County Appraisal District. Documents needed by the Tax Assessor Collector included who the City of Sandy Oaks had as a Tax Attorney. The City, however, […]
The two most common trees in the area of Sandy Oaks (both the city and the community named Sandy Oaks 3 miles away) are hickories and Black Jack Oaks. Anyone who has lived in the area for a few years would have noticed that a large number of the oak trees are dying on a […]
SAWS has announced a boil water notice for the area just south of the southern part of 1604. The area effected spans as far West as Elchman Road past State Highway 16 S, and as far East as FM2579, and includes the City of Sandy Oaks. The cause for the boil notice is because a […]
On May 14, 2015, the Sandy Oaks City Council created property tax exemptions for senior citizens and those disabled. The Council had previously discussed these tax exemptions on March 21, 2015. At that meeting the City Attorney, Art Martinez de Vara, suggested to the Council that they hold a workshop with a representative from Bexar […]
The Sandy Oaks City Council violated the Texas Open Meetings Act again at its regularly scheduled meeting May 14, 2015. The Council discussed a topic that was not posted on the meeting’s agenda, a requirement by state law to give citizens the opportunity to know in advance what is to be discussed. The violation occurred […]
A meeting was held on May 6, 2015 at the WPPOA clubhouse for the purpose of starting a new community centered organization inside Sandy Oaks. The event was organized by BJ Gillespie and Catherine Rendahl. The 2 obtained access to the WPPOA clubhouse from Jim Clement, who claims to be the WPPOA president and has […]
Mayor Jim Clement has scheduled a Tax Hearing for May 11, 2015. He announced the Tax Hearing on May 8th by posting the meeting agenda at the WPPOA park gate. Included on the agenda is the presence of Bexar County Tax Assessor Collector Albert Uresti as well as a Carlos Gutierrez. The agenda states they […]
The majority of the houses in and around the City of Sandy Oaks (and the community of Sandy Oaks 3 miles away) are mobile homes. These homes vary in manufacturing quality, but all older mobile homes have something in common: Polybutylene pipes. Polybutylene Polybutylene is a type of plastic resin. It was used from the […]
On April 27, 2015, the City Council held a meeting at the WPPOA clubhouse. The only item on the agenda was to discuss and consider the Mayor’s nominee for the position of City Attorney. Related: SOPAC Protects Martinez de Vara Clement stated that if his nominee wasn’t chosen then the Council would move on to […]
In the early hours of April 25, 2016, Sandy Oaks and surrounding areas were hit by a hail storm that lasted for a few hours. The average size of the hail was 1.25″ in diameter, but some reached up to 2″. This is the first major hail storm to hit the new City of Sandy […]
On April 9, 2015, the Sandy Oaks City Council accepted an agreement with the Waterwood Park Property Owner’s Association for use of the WPPOA clubhouse for City Council meetings. The city has never had an approved contract with either the WPPOA or with Waterwood Development Corporation for use of the park or clubhouse. Instead, the […]
At its April 9, 2015 meeting, the City Council discussed the Mayor’s nomination for City Attorney. At the start of the conversation, Mayor Jim Clement pointed out, for the first time in the meeting, that because Alderman Joel Ortega was absent there might be a tie on a vote and that he would be the […]
On March 28, 2015 the City Council held an Animal Control Hearing at the WPPOA clubhouse. The meeting had originally been planned at a prior City Council meeting to be be an Animal Control Workshop. At that same meeting, Mayor Clement was tasked to hold a public hearing on fireworks. Clement has not yet planned […]
At the City Council meeting on March 21, 2015, the City Council discussed the transfer of assets of the Waterwood Park Property Owner’s Association to the City of Sandy Oaks. Jim Clement, who claims to be the president of the WPPOA, was giving over land, assets, and anything that belonged to the WPPOA. To discuss […]
March 21, 2015 the City Council met for a special meeting after having cancelled the meeting it had planned for Thursday, March 19th. The 12th item on the agenda was to “Discuss and consider a proposal from the WPPOA on the transfer of assets of the WPPOA to the City Of Sandy Oaks, Texas.” The […]
A home owner in Waterwood sent the Waterwood Park Propert Owner’s Association an official request to view POA records on March 4, 2014. She sent the request individually to Pedro Orduno, Jim Clement, and Charlotte Rabe by certified mail. Each WPPOA board member had to sign to receive the letter, which provided a date in […]
On March 14, 2015, City Attorney Art Martinez de Vara announced what the City of Sandy Oaks was paying him as City Attorney. Martinez de Vara was hired as the City Attorney back in August of 2014, but his pay had never been released to the public. Because payment comes from public funds, the Texas […]
On March 14, 2015, the Sandy Oaks City Council used money intended for roads to pay off city debt. The debt included approximately $8,140 to Bexar County Elections Division, $1,100 to the La Prensa newspaper, and nearly $7,000 to Art Martinez de Vara for City Attorney fees. The money being used came from revenue generated […]