San Angelo City Council 5-4-23

[0:00:00] 4th 2022 we will start the meeting with chaplain prayer and pledges but I want to make an announcement in case anyone is in the audience today who is here to make public comment on item 6 C which happens to be a short-term rental we will not be discussing that today it is being pulled from the agenda because the appropriate notices were not sent out by the city so it cannot be discussed today so just in case if you want to leave after the prayer and pledges know that 6C is being pulled and will not be discussed today with that we will move into our chaplain prayer and pledges and we have today police chaplain Ralph Dawkins here good morning everyone today is the National Day of Prayer did you know that let's pray father on this day declared to be the National Day of Prayer we thank you for the opportunity to invoke prayer and your word into this Gathering of city leaders officials and concerned citizens Lord your word declares that we should acknowledge you in all of our ways and you would direct our paths you said that if we Delight ourselves in you that you would give us the desires of our heart and then your word declares over in Jeremiah 29 and 11 that you already know the plans that you have for us plans to prosper us and not for evil plans that will give us a future and a hope we ask your blessings upon the people who have been called to lead this community in which we live work and pray and so I lift up the mayor her staff and assistants the city council members the city manager in every apartment and person that is instrumental in leading and directing our city I pray for the police chief and the entire police

[0:02:03] department the sheriff's department that they will continue to protect and serve the residents of our city and I pray for the fire chief and the entire fire department and all First Responders who serve our city and lastly I pray that you would bless our city with economic prosperity you may draw in and attract to our city industry businesses and corporations that will produce jobs and revenue and help us to grow and prosper in Jesus name I pray let's pledge allegiance of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all honor the Texas flag pledge allegiance to the Texas one state about four speeches we have a lot of proclamations today and so please be patient as we honor these organizations and their events and today we're going to start with our s-a-i-s-d our our difference makers day so all of those who are here today to celebrate the s a i s d Difference Maker

[0:04:10] day please come forward thank you and please turn off all your cell phones okay San Angelo Independent School District Educators and staff impact the future of San Angelo daily through their care for and dedication and commitment to the children of our city their impact happens from the moment a child steps on a bus walks through the school door is fed a nourishing breakfast and throughout the day until the last bell and Beyond Educators and the entire saisd team make a difference in each child's life and with nearly 14 000 students this is an incredible impact on our community today we acknowledge the special commitment our saisd Educators and staff have on the well-being of our children they provide a relevant and inspiring education preparing Future Ready graduates these graduates May one day care for your loved ones as a nurse or doctor at a local hospital address cyber security threats that impact our community create beautiful artwork or music for others to enjoy or go on to teach the next generation of San angelines at sa ISD they often say our people make the difference and today we honor the San Angelo difference makers those who Inspire and prepare our students and support their hopes and dreams therefore I Brenda Gunter mayor of the city of San Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council and together with San Angelo Independent School District do hereby recognize May 5th

[0:06:13] 2022 3 as s-a-isd Difference Maker day and thank all s-a-i-s-d Educators and staff for their dedicated service to our students and families and urge all citizens to acknowledge the occasion of this special day thank you mayor Gunner also thank you council members and I want to First tell me something good and let me tell you something good uh one Difference Maker that we have here today Are the officers that were present as we entered the building I have flown recently and I can tell you that the officers in this building are much more efficient than Airlines getting a large number of people through the gate in time so thank you for for being difference makers too so mayor Gunner um you know we are just pleased and honored to to be here this morning um I think it's it's Difference Maker day and it's a time to celebrate all of our Educators you know we all chose this profession because the Difference Maker in our life one of my former professors Dr Rick Rigsby always said make an impact not just an impression and our difference makers do that our local educators are phenomenal in what they do to serve our families in this community you know difference makers for me and our board and team have heard this story but one of the reasons that I chose this profession is uh coach Horace Schaefer a sixth grade PE coach who through his health and wellness unit helped my father quit smoking he said Henry Carl's really concerned about you smoking my dad threw his cigarette on the floor that day and never smoked again for 50 years those are difference makers I also remember my Algebra 2 teacher Mrs Jones who I considered the meanest person on the planet however she came to my out of town basketball game and I said what are

[0:08:17] you doing here is your grandson playing and she said no I'm here for you I'm going to make a sandwich for you tomorrow at lunch and you're going to come in and we're going to review quadratic equations and vectors those are difference makers and here locally in San Angelo there are so many examples let me give you an example of a Difference Maker that doesn't have to be in a classroom but that can be in a system that Difference Maker is Max Parker behind me our board president Max Parker I'm trying not to get emotional Max Parker has served for 18 and a half years as a volunteer in our school system to help communities and families 18 and a half years as a volunteer he's done an incredible job of working through some challenging and difficult and tough uh subjects and challenges that come through our school system and the whole time he adheres to values in our community and he's helped to help shape those values help mend those values so that people can feel good about our public school system so it's difference makers like Max Parker our other board members Amy Mozilla Flint is here today Taylor Cayman is here those are difference makers we also have difference makers that are in the classrooms and in the counseling positions and in principal positions we've had stories here in my 14 years here where we and this this is a recent story where we have a teacher that a student felt they didn't want to wear glasses so that teacher out of her own pocket purchased through their optometrist they purchased contact lens and had it delivered via Amazon a year's supply of contact lens on their front doorstep for the student those things you don't hear about we have difference makers we have principles that realized a family didn't have beds and they went out and purchased beds for that family these are people that make a difference in our community I don't know why I'm getting so

[0:10:20] emotional up here I might also want to what it was about because it definitely was about difference makers and a dramatic change in a school and they've been honored and I think sure should know that sure our schools to watch at Lincoln Middle School they'll be honored in Washington D.C uh you talking about a change they've made a tremendous change academically and in their culture and they truly are they're one of only 66 schools in the nation that are honored and they'll be honored in Washington D.C uh this week too so we've got a ton of difference makers all over the place we've got principals that are purchasing beds for families we've got counselors that that they don't get the recognition because the saves that our counselors make aren't published in the newspaper they make saves that aren't published in the newspaper they talk kids down from not harming themselves they talk kids into staying in school but you don't hear about those because they're never published so our counselors do an incredible job too of making an impact uh through throughout our system so I just want to say thank you uh to all of our elected officials thank you to our our Educators our teachers those those serious difference makers that impact the lives of students and thank you to our First Responders and elected officials uh who through their time and commitment try to make Saint Angelo better and it's not easy but they do an incredible job so I just want to say thank you uh I probably am a little emotional because my mother passed away and I I recently attended her funeral so forgive this sappiness and uh I will let you carry on throughout the day so thank you [Applause] yeah I forgot yeah come on

[0:12:30] thank you very much our next Proclamation is Community Action month so I know there's individuals here in the audience today to receive this Proclamation so please come forward well half of the audiences are here good job come on around here because we're going to do it anyway Mike so come on because you're probably going to speak at the end yes okay I won't take as much time established as part of Lyndon B Johnson's war on poverty through the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act Community Action agencies have provided essential services to address and alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty for our community's most vulnerable Neighbors founded in 1966 Concho Valley Community Action Agency has a nearly six decade history of providing assistance and promoting self-sufficiency for citizens of limited income Concho Valley Community Action Agency has been serving our communities through impactful services such as access to safe and affordable housing Financial

[0:14:34] Empowerment and education reducing energy burden with Energy savings and utility payment programs educational support advocacy and contributing to the economic Vitality of the Concho Valley Concho Valley Community Action Agency makes essential contributions to individuals and families across the Concho Valley by stabilizing and strengthening communities in times of extraordinary economic challenges natural and human disasters and exceptional Health crises with the mission of helping people and changing lives Concho Valley Community Action Agency has helped to make our region a better place to live work and play Community Action changes people's lives embodies the Spirit of Hope improves communities and makes America a better place to live they care about the entire community and they are dedicated to helping people help themselves and each other therefore I Brenda Gunter mayor of the city of San Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council do hereby Proclaim May 2023 as Community Action month in San Angelo Texas and urge all citizens to support their continued efforts together we can work towards a brighter future for our great City thank you mayor and thank you city council thank you for recognizing the work of Community Action today cvcaa is working on the front lines of combating poverty not only in San Angelo but in all corners of our service areas 14 counties so with over 30 agencies in Texas and more than a thousand across the country Community Action agencies stand at the ready to help those who work hard to take care of themselves and their families but just need a little extra help to get the dollars to stretch to the end of the month we are the Safeguard for Citizens whose income hasn't kept up with the rising costs of housing utilities and food we are there for those who might just need a little bit of help because they lost their job due to an unexpected illness

[0:16:37] we work to keep households stabilized and provide resources and guidance to move our neighbors closer to self-sufficiency Sergeant Shriver the architect of Community Action once said what can change the world today is the same thing that has changed it in the past an idea and the service of dedicated committed individuals to that idea cvcaa is committed to the idea that communities should provide opportunities to every citizen regardless of their socioeconomic status together with the city our neighbors and other partner service agencies we can fulfill our mission of helping people and changing lives thank you foreign next Proclamation is for mental health awareness month so those of you who are in the audience to receive this Proclamation please come forward are you by yourself today I was going to say that never happens good come on since 1949 the month of May has been recognized as mental health awareness month to raise awareness about the importance of mental health care and its

[0:18:40] impact on the well-being of everyone in the community in Texas one in five adults experience a mental health challenge each year mental health is essential to the health and wellness of each person in San Angelo and with the proper support and resources those with mental illness can recover and Lead productive in positive lives all citizens experience times of stress and difficulty in their lives and they should feel empowered to seek help and resources to manage these times the rate of depression across the country has more than tripled compared to rates in 2019 and people need support now more than ever person has an important role to play in supporting those with mental illnesses by learning warning signs talking to affected loved ones and fighting negative stereotypes that come with mental health diagnosis in collaboration with MHMR Concho Valley the local mental health authority or LMHA we dedicate May to raising awareness about mental health and working to diminish the stigma that surrounds it therefore I Brenda Gunter mayor of the city of San Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council do hereby proclaim the month of May as mental health awareness month in San Angelo Texas and encourage everyone to treat those with mental illnesses with compassion and to create an open and honest dialogue about mental health with family and friends together we can help everyone get the mental health support needed to get well mayor and thank you city council you mentioned Mark couldn't do what we do without the city's support and what we do is try to move people from into a recovery mental health is a very as in the proclamation important subject right now in our country uh in in our community and what we do is try to help people move to recovery and that's through clinical supports uh case

[0:20:43] management Psychiatric Services counseling and a whole array of supports for folks in the community and also addressing crisis supports for folks in our community but we couldn't do it without everybody and you know we've had saisd here they're a great partner we have to work with and we loved working with our local school districts and Community Action Agency who helps us with housing the city who helps us not only with funding but also with housing supports for our folks because another big piece of what we do is can connect people and get people into housing because you can't address your mental illness unless you have a place a support a sporty place to live so there's a whole lot of things we do and we greatly appreciate the support one of the things we we have is a San Angelo Clubhouse and we're it's a great program I'm going to let Amy she gets to double dip today with the with the sesd and with us let her talk a little bit but one last thing I do within the month of May mental health awareness is a week of children's awareness and this Friday is we're having a children's Fair it's over at our Oaks Family Youth guidance center it's right across from uh the Fine Arts Museum 4 30 to 6 30. kids anybody is welcome to attend and we sure would like to see a whole lot of folks coming in lots of activities lots of fun games things to do so thank you very much I'm gonna let Amy say a couple things hi everybody um I'm Amy Michelle Flint from the San Angelo Clubhouse and I have some members and staff with me today and I always I was excited about this Proclamation being today and then I was even more excited when I realized that the school district was having their Proclamation today because of the intersection of between into between mental health and education in our especially in our country right now and so I thought it was really important that the two combined today to honor our Educators and honor Mental Health Awareness Month just a couple quick things

[0:22:47] um the first thing is we call mental health awareness or mental health a or mental illness a no casserole disease and that's because in if you know somebody who is diagnosed with cancer or diagnosed with diabetes the first thing you do is set up a meal train right bring them casseroles make their help them clean their house mow their lawn for them and if you find out that somebody in your life has schizophrenia or bipolar or severe anxiety and they can't get out of bed you kind of it's people tend to kind of Judge and ask why can't they get out of bed and go to work like everybody else and so MHMR and the clubhouse and all the organizations in San Angelo and around our country that do all that work for people living with mental illness try to break that stigma and make people realize that mental illness is an illness just like any other and so please keep that in mind as we enter mental health awareness month and then just one more thing we have our 0.5 K the race that anyone can finish on Saturday May this Saturday May the 6th it starts at Celebration Bridge 10 o'clock registrations at nine we'd love to see you there thank you I see a lot of new faces in the audience right now and if you weren't here when the meeting started we announced that we would not be discussion discussing 6C the short-term rental so if you're here to voice an opinion on that no we're not going to take that up today the appropriate notices were not sent

[0:24:49] out and so we can't discuss it today so if you are here for that no we're not going to discuss it we are now going to move into motorcycle safety Awareness Month paderosa MC as members of the Region 5 Texas council of clubs and independents oh come on forward I got lost there for a minute ponderosa's MC as members of the Region 5 Texas council of clubs and independents in collaboration and support of the national Safety Council TxDOT and local motorcycle enthusiasts would like to remind all Road users that the month of May marks a national recognition of motorcycle safety Awareness Month motorists are reminded of the frequency of higher seasonal returns of motorcycle enthusiasts to Texas to Texas's roadways during this month due to their smaller size motorcycles May easily be overlooked in regular traffic flow motorists are encouraged to always be aware of motorcycles on all roadways When approaching intersections when performing Lane changes as well as whenever motorists near or pass other vehicles including motorcycles motorcycles are motorcyclists are encouraged to operate their motorcycles in a defensive Manner and within the rules of the row motorcyclists ask that his motorists Drive they take a few extra seconds to look twice for motorcycles both during motorcycle safety awareness month and throughout the year to promote overall safety therefore I Brenda Gunter mayor of the city of San Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council do hereby Proclaim may as motorcycle safety Awareness Month in San Angelo Texas and encourage everyone to share the road safely

[0:26:59] thank you Mary mayor Madame mayor ladies and gentlemen council members my name is Sarah Gypsy Saturday and be on behalf of motorcyclists in our community and all across the country I want to thank you for the opportunity this morning to share with you one of the most important days I look forward to every year by receiving this Proclamation recognizing that may is National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month for the last several years I've had the great honor and privilege to stand here and remind our local community that those of us who choose to ride motorcycles are just like everyone else we all want to return home safely from any destination we set out upon whether it be to work school appointments errands trips or for wherever we've set out we always want to return home safely we are all daughters Sons sisters brothers mothers fathers grandmothers grandfathers Aunts Uncles friends to others and we all want what everyone wants to make it safely back to our families and Homes at the end of our ride this is a consideration that so many who choose to drive in a four-wheeled vehicle or more often take for granted but we cannot we who consider ourselves to be brothers and sisters of the roads respect each other and all other vehicles on the roads because we've watched so many of us be injured or even lose their lives every year due to senseless and preventable actions that could have easily been avoided as we take this time to remind everyone ask that you take a few seconds just to scan the room in that same amount of time that's how long it takes for you to look twice for us remember there's a life writing on every motorcycle on the road and those lives are surely loved by others just as you are loved by your family and friends so we ask of you

[0:29:03] please look twice for us because it could mean the difference between life and death for motorcyclists on the road thank you our last Proclamation is stop the bleed month so all of you who are here today for this Proclamation please come forward stop the bleed is a nationwide campaign to empower individuals to act quickly and save lives no matter how rapid the arrival of professional emergency responders bystanders will always be the first on scene victims can die from blood loss within minutes therefore it is important to recognize life-threatening bleeding and to intervene effectively the public must learn proper bleeding control techniques including how to use their hands dressings and tourniquets victims can die quickly from uncontrolled bleeding in under a minute in some circumstances

[0:31:07] stop the bleedtexas.org and CV rac.org have resources that can help prepare you in the event you are a witness to one of those unspeakable events trauma services at Shanna Medical Center airmed s-a-f-d DPS sapd Tom Green County Sheriff's Office staked Plains emergency Nurses Association and the Concho Valley Regional advisory Council all provide stop the bleed training in San Angelo and and the surrounding areas of the Concho Valley free training is offered and can be set up by emailing trauma at shannonhealth.org therefore I Brenda Gunter mayor of the city of San Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council do hereby proclaim the month of May as stop the bleed month in San Angelo Texas and urge all citizens to be aware of the significant importance that bleeding control practices play in saving lives in our community um we just want to say thank you so much for the proclamation I am going to pass it to Mason Matthews because he does tons of training for the city of San Angelo but this is a huge injury prevention push for all the agencies that were listed not only in the month of May but throughout the entire year because of its importance so um you know this is about building a resiliency within our community and you know when you think of First Responders people think of professional First Responders you know pde and fire and EMS but really this is about the bystanders like the proclamation set um when these injuries happen stop the bleed uh the entire campaign was built out of we live in a world now where um violence happens and intentional violence happens and the reality is is after that violence happens people are going to be hurt but it's not just violence there's accidents we have accidents every day all over San Angelo all over our region uh so through contrability uh Regional advisory Council all the EMS and Hospital

[0:33:11] agencies you know we go out and we teach these classes we train over a thousand people a year we teach these classes in schools in churches uh in businesses in Bunko groups um we teach it right here at the city so all city employees city of San Angelo employees are trained and stop the bleed and I routinely teach new hire employees there's a lot of not only do you have a lot of officers and EMS and fire walking around with tourniquets in their pockets there's a lot of citizens now walking around with tourniquets in their pockets that's the whole point of this is when the injury happens the number one cause of preventable death after injury is bleeding and the only thing more tragic than a death is a death that could have been prevented so that's the whole point of stoppable you'd reach out to us for a class we'd love to come and train us and build a resilient community so we're all safer so foreign speech you did what

[0:35:14] is it ringing it was but it's on silent it is now I thought that was the highlight of my name oh yeah I wish I don't know if they got that on film but I need to save that yeah get rid of this all right we will now move into public comment so issues are concerns not on the regular agenda may be raised by the public at this time citizens should speak from the podium address all comments to the Deus Begin by stating their name and address or single member district number and limit their remarks to less than three minutes do we have individuals in the audience who would like to offer public comment come forward Charlotte good morning Charlotte Anderson keeps San Angelo beautiful and we just wanted to give you a brief recap of our Don't Mess with Texas trash off which was April 1st we had approximately 175 participants 33 businesses and organizations 525 volunteer hours at a value of right at sixteen thousand dollars uh in labor to the community just so excited about that number 210 bags of trash were collected 2700 pounds the most interesting item was a birthday cake we found pretty much a whole birthday cake with a couple of slices out a few ants and bugs and we actually had a birthday at our event as well so we sang um uh several members of the community joined us again Harry was with us and we sure appreciate that Mr Thomas joining us just a phenomenal remarkable event great engagement this event had about a 300 percent increase over our last Don't Mess with Texas trash off so a fantastic

[0:37:17] event and then would also like to remind you of our household hazardous waste that is this Saturday May the 6th you can drive through from 8 to about 11 30. if you're interested in volunteer would love to have you join us we have a lot of different stations and activities that we could use help with and we'd appreciate that and lastly we were just notified that we received the keep Texas beautiful beautify Texas award for public education and awareness so we're very very proud of that we competed with over 300 keep Texas beautiful Affiliates and different organizations within the state of Texas could apply for this award so we're real proud of that we're continuing our work and excited to represent city council mayor we appreciate all of your support and all the things we do to keep San Angelo beautiful and we've included with you some more pollinator packs for our monarchs and there is a laundry detergent sheet pack it's a sample so you don't have to buy your laundry detergent in a plastic jug anymore you just put a sheet in with your wash it's all biodegradable I did give you a scented one but they come in no sense if you have allergies but just a great way to rethink reimagine how we do our laundry when it comes with common sense we're working on that Charlotte remind the public the I guess more common items that you will be accepting this coming Saturday yes sir so your first stop will be with Ella from Ella saves the oceans she takes plastic bags and actually she's taking all forms of plastic wrap she's working on a project with net tracks if she can collect 500 pounds of plastics so if you've got like a bird seed plastic bag or a dog food bag that's plastic or your cereal plastic she can take all of that at this event she's going to get a a

[0:39:22] bench that's recycled made out of recycled plastic that we will put in the community somewhere so she's real excited and she's always reached her goal and broken her world record or our events so plastics for Ella will be shredding documents up to four boxes of shredded documents we'll take cardboard we'll take car batteries Electronics we will have an oil station so you can bring your oil and then of course our large just collection is of paints we get about 90 percent of paint buckets I would encourage you if you just have a little bit of paint take the lid off let it dry out that can go to the landfill in your regular trash but if you have a larger quantity we'd be more than happy to take that so we've got pesticides um herbicides any type of oil or latex and it can be spray paints or in the cans pool chemicals batteries oil filters peroxide any type of corrosive liquids things that we will not take we will not take any business agriculture or chemical waste no Sharps no meds no ammunition no explosives no trailers and at this event we will have no tires so no tires at this event will see tires in November November 11th will be doing tires but say Electronics Charlotte any electronic item yes so if you've got a keyboard if you have a flat screen monitor um cannot take those big CRT monitors but um other than that we're taking any type of electronics if you got a little CPU tower and we'll be taking that Big Country Recycling will be on hand to take the electronics so we've got a great host of inventors that are helping us out this year and providing services at no cost and then our vendor comes from San Antonio which takes the majority of the budget so we're really happy to see them and it looks like on the weather report or Saturday just may be clear I think it'll start out really cool and Breezy in the morning and wrap

[0:41:25] up with a fantastic day about noon anybody else with public comment today going once twice Times Public comment is now closed we will move into the consent agenda I will ask if there's any items that we would like to pull for further discussion and so I'm going to start with Larry Larry do you have an item you'd like to pull yes ma'am item e item e will be pulled Karen G and G will be pulled Lucy f f Erry no ma'am Tom I am good Tommy with that we will I would like a motion to approve the consent agenda items a b c d h and I mean I have that motion so I'm moved by Lucy second Karen Karen seconded by Tom any public comment concerning those items on the consent agenda seeing none will take a vote all those in favor approving those items please say aye aye passes seven zero we will now move into item e consider a resolution finding that AEP Texas Incorporated application to Amanda's distribution costs recovery factors to increase distribution rates within the city should be denied and authorizing the city to participate with other cities served by AEP to hire legal counsel with expenses to be reimbursed by AEP Teresa yes did you have a specific question

[0:43:26] councilman Miller yes the one I discussed with you concerning our obligations if the suit fails um these suits are a little bit different it's part of the rate making process so they file for bright increases and the cities have an ability to deny that increase and then it goes to a hearing where they present the information to the cities and we join with other cities and hire legal counsel jointly to review those increases and then generally what happens I think it's happened every time in my entire careers there's a settlement on what our actual costs that they can't be in reimbursed for and what they can't and so the amount that they're requesting is less than what they initially request I believe it's like 3.90 that they're requesting to increase everybody's residential rates so the process will happen that if you approve this resolution we will join with these other cities to have that evaluated and make sure that those rates are Justified what was that percent increase oh I don't remember the percent I'm not sure that that information was provided to me but let me look and it's 3.90 per kilowatt no per customer bill that's residential customer per month yes I don't see the percent increase on here it's um they're asking for 39.7 million dollars which is approximately a 1.63 1.63 increase um from the rates approved in the company's recent dcrf case and then there's another increase where they want to and and get 30.67 million dollars which would be an additional dollar 30 increase to the average customer's bill so it's two different increases they're asking for we're going to be objecting to both of them and when was the last time we had a rate increase request from them um we get one basically every year and we do this basically every year um there have been more freak they've been more frequent both with AEP and Atmos after the winter storm they're trying to

[0:45:28] recover some of those costs and that's why people's bills and these fees on their bills have been going up I should further note that under the statute as it is today we don't pay the attorney's cost that is paid by the company when these cases are pursued so there's no impact to the city other than potentially having less of an increase on our customers you're welcome how would that impact the city budget well the only information we have is the residential customers I can find out and send you information about whether or not the kind of class of customer that we're going to be we are if that would have an impact as well but I don't maybe Tina has information about that but I do not we haven't seen a commercial increase I have not but again Tina may have seen that I know that throughout the um since the winter storm there have been increases in the commercial rates as well but I'm not sure what they are any other questions Larry or comments Lucy go I have a question Theresa so when this goes uh to find out which one they're going to go with or what how long is that going to take or when will we find out um it takes I think generally about 90 days for that process to happen um and I sometimes we have to take action approving the settlement agreement I believe that we do that every time so there would be another thing that would come to you and they're related and sometimes people forget they feel like it's two increases but it's really not it's one that we denied and then one that we're approving through a settlement any other questions for Teresa on this item then Larry you want to make a motion for approval motion for approval is there a second second by Lucy any public comment concerning this item saying none we will take a vote all those in favor of approving item e please say aye aye aye non opposed motion passes seven zero we will move into item F public hearing impossible adoption of a resolution authorizing the Professional Services contract with Eland and bonnen PC Baron and Bud and cosic semic Paris parsiola and Taylor now those are interesting

[0:47:30] names represent the city of San Angelo in litigation to pursue claims for monetary damages declaratory relief and other legal remedies against manufacturers designers marketers Distributors formulators promoters and or sellers of firefighting foam products and or other products containing pfas including pfos and pfoa and related compounds contingent upon an approval of the fee contract by the office of Attorney General pursuant to the Texas government code section 2254 sub chapter C Theresa euron do you have a specific question Theresa all I wanted was uh if you could please explain this in layman's terms would it all means well you're going to repeat those names I'm not gonna I'm not gonna try to attempt to to say what those chemical names are but pfas and pfos are what are people here referred to as forever chemicals they were in firefighting Foams that were used by our fire department and fire departments across the country until 2016 at that time they stopped using this particular pofa PFA and they have a different kind of foam that they use but since they're forever chemicals they contaminate the environment and they kind of linger and they go into groundwater into surface water and so we were contacted actually by um folks seeing if we were interested in pursuing this litigation what's happened at the EPA level is these were always like constituents of concern before but recently I think it was March the end of last month or the end of March um the EPA came out and said probably in December they're going to start setting actual limits for cities to start testing four of these chemicals and they'll require remediation if we exceed those levels of these chemicals which would come to a cost these cannot be removed from particularly water with our traditional treatment methods so

[0:49:32] um these this litigation is Nationwide there's a big case in South Carolina what we're anticipating is that they will test our soils and our Waters to see if we have an issue and if we do then we will join the litigation by filing suit first in Texas and then that lawsuit would be removed to a multi-jurisdictional lawsuit that's taking place in South Carolina and what we're hoping to recover is the cost of remediation that we're going to be saying if these substances are identified in San Angelo have we not already had soil samples tested here in San Angelo that showed high levels of these city of San Angelo has not had testing done I know there are other entities in San Angelo that also had firefighting Foams on their facilities that did show this level of contamination the areas we're looking for are we going to be looking at initially are at the airport where a lot of firefighting training and activities take place because that's one of those areas where those Foams are prevalent as well as by our old training facility which of course is right by the river which is why we added groundwater and surface water to the litigation to make sure if our water has been contaminated we can recoup some of those costs as well further questions for Teresa or comments that you'd like to make considering this item okay Lucy you want to make a motion I move to approve taken by Karen all right so any public comment concerning these items all right seeing none will take a vote all in favor of approving item F please say aye aye motion is approved seven zero we will now move into item G second reading of an ordinance to rezone property from the neighborhood commercial zoning District to a planned development pd23-02 to allow a base zoning of General commercial also allowing a welding shop and Outdoor Storage being 4.651 Acres located at 20 25 East Houston heart Express week here and I

[0:51:37] think you asked to pull this one I did and I would just like to ask Mr James to review with us quickly that we are seeing the changes that we requested that's what we're approving uh change actually an amendment to the ordinance that leads us to Zone that area General commercial so that things are heard on a case-by-case basis can you review it that's correct that's what was approved last time the caption reads the way it does because that was the applicant's original request so technically you could change your mind and vote on what the applicant requested so if if we had rewarded this to say just General commercial it would have precluded that opportunity but but yes um unless you change your minds you would be voting on The General commercial that was approved on first reading thank you thank you I just want to make note that there have been several people who have responded to me concerning this item and specifically about the huge need for welding shops in the city of San Angelo it's one of those areas that has become a great need and as well as other things like Plumbing Etc but people are very concerned because they don't have available welding shops that are greatly needed in a manufacturing city a city that is has a lot of manufacturing facilities so I just want to put that out there that that has become an issue for many people and I understand that based off of what was decided here and talked about a welding shop cannot be put there is that correct that's correct for clarity because there was a little bit of confusion about the caption the report to council does identify which of the two options is the one that is approved and moving forward so if anybody's curious about that that's where you go to look to find out what was approved and what's moving forward all right so with that we will take a vote on item G second reading of an did I just read it already

[0:53:39] so I'm not going to reread it again okay so but I do need a motion I moved emotionally Karen in second by Lucy any public comment on this item say I I mean no come forward with none we'll take a vote those in favor say aye aye those opposed say nay nay nay it's past five to two H is second oh no that's it so we have completed the consent agenda I believe and approved all of the items that were pulled for further discussion and we will move forward now into our regular agenda comments regarding items on the regular agenda may be made by the public when each item is discussed as outlined above applicants proponents and a balance are exempt from the time limit above and instead must limit their remarks to less than five minutes the first item is a consider accepting the city's fiscal year 2022 annual comprehensive financial report and single audit and we have Gala Thornton I believe here maybe yeah and Tina dearsky Tina dear ski Director of Finance I'm just going to introduce Gayla Thornton from Armstrong Bacchus and company she's a partner there that governs our audit we just finished up this month's long process and so we're happy to bring our final Financial reports to you for a review today good morning at Marin City Council I appreciate the opportunity to be here again this year we are always thrilled to work with you we are bringing to you today the annual comprehensive financial report kind of a summary of what we discussed at audit committee last week um this year We performed the audit of your financial statement single audit and the passenger

[0:55:42] facility charge audit thank you the purpose of our audit is to express opinions on the city's financial statements in accordance with the U.S generally accepted accounting standards and government auditing standards those standards require that we plan and perform to obtain reasonable assurance that your financial statements are free from Material misstatement we don't look at everything we look at the big stuff we look at riskier areas we look at areas that have a lot of activity and really focus on those areas to make sure that your financial statements wouldn't have any material misstatements in them and that they're reasonably stated within this audit we present the primary government being the city of San Angelo and then there's a column in your financial statements for your discreetly presented component unit which is Cosa DC we determine major funds which are the ones with the largest balances largest amount of activity that would would include the general fund your intergovernmental fund Capital Improvement fund Debt Service fund water fun and serve funds and then all of the other funds within the city are combined into what we call aggregate other presentation and they're all reported together but towards the back of the report those are all reported separately in combining schedules that then tied to the beginning of the report so you can drill down and find the activity you want for those funds that are aggregate but we do our focus on those that are listed there so what you have engaged us to do is provide opinions on whether these are reasonable and our opinion states that they are reasonable so we are issuing a clean opinion this year on your financial statements when you say this year what happened last year it was a clean opinion every year we've been engaged you've had a clean opinion yes ma'am um some significant events to highlight

[0:57:44] for fiscal year 2022 we had a new lease standard that was issued by the government Accounting Standards Board which changes how leases are accounted for in your financial statements before you only had operating leases which were expensed each month as they were paid and now those leases are reported as right-of-use assets and then related liabilities for the future payments of those leases for that lease term so that's a difference with that implementation this year if you were to compare last year's report to this year as they would look different because of that um there was 31 million dollars in infrastructure and construction and process that was done throughout the year there was a lot of activity on the Hickory Expansion Project and then when I get into the numbers in a second you're going to see that you had a very positive net position increase for the year one of the primary reasons for that was your other post-employment benefits which is your retiree health benefits um had a significant decrease this year because there was a change in interest rate so that changed the assumptions going into that actually determined number and caused your expenses to decrease so you have a very positive effect for the year are you saying with increased interest costs this year we will see the opposite happen when it's audited impact was because we had low interest rates and interest rates have increased so what do we anticipate for next year ironically the higher the interest rate is for this Actuarial calculation the more that liability decreases it actually has the opposite effect so in summary with your government taken as a whole um this includes all of your funds both General funds water sewer all of them you had total assets of 740 million your total liabilities for the year were 383 million which ended in a net position of

[0:59:48] 304 million that net position increased almost 45 million for the year so very positive increase but a lot of that did have to do with that opeb decrease just to kind of show you how your net position is trended over the past four years it has steadily increased which is very positive and then the change in that position although slightly lower than last year is still very strong for the year in addition to auditing the funds we also have to do an audit of your federal Awards which is called a single audit and that's required when you spend more than 750 000 in a year of federal funds this year you spent right at eight million one so we that was required and we um through a single audit have to test your internal control and compliance over those Federal Awards we issue a separate report on that and there were no compliance findings this year so your grants were accounted for properly and then this is just a chart to show how your federal Awards have been spent the past five years so last year you were at 14 million because a lot of the covid funds came in uh this year you were at eight million which is still significantly higher than a normal year and that's also because of covid funds there are some remaining coveted funds this year yes ma'am and that is our presentation if you have any questions I'm going to start with Larry do you have any questions or comments see no ma'am Harry Tom so let me just throw this out if you do have something that throws a flag up what's your process we meet with um Staff first and then every year before we issue our final audit we meet with the audit committee and it's discussed there and Tommy with that do we need a is this just a presentation so I don't need to have a

[1:01:51] vote on this is that correct okay but God is accepting the fiscal audit so there will need to be a vote May I have a motion to accept this audit as presented motion has been made by Tommy seconded by Larry any public comment on this particular audit and the information attached none will take a vote all those in favor [Music] past seven zero thank you Item B discuss and consider adoption of an ordinance authorizing the issuance and the sale of city of San Angelo Texas Water Works and sewer system Improvement revenue bonds series 2023 establishing procedures for the cell and delivery of the bonds providing for the security for and the payment of such bonds and authorizing and enacting other matters and Provisions relating to the subject Gina you're on thank you mayor Tina Darcy Director of Finance you have seen this before about I think it was February of last year we came to you with a reimbursement resolution when we received the bids for the Hickory Expansion Project they came in higher than expected because there were some components that needed to be added and so at that point in time we knew that we needed an additional up to 14 million dollars which you approved at that time the state has taken this long to get this before the Texas water development board but they have finally approved this that issue to the city at a low interest rate loan and the term will be 22 years the interest rate at 2.345 percent the question I have is there have been several articles written about an additional 5 million I believe is that incorporated in this 13.4 million did we did the the additional 5 million that

[1:03:55] the water development board approved for the city of San Angelo is that included in the 13 million I'm not aware of a five million dollar number I have seen this 13.4 million posted some not familiar with the a five million dollar number so when we approve this we are proving 13.415 million yes ma'am for these terms of years and this interest rate and it pays for all the expansion of the well fields at the Hickory aquifer is that correct yes in addition to a previous debt issue those two combined will pay for the expansion I think one of those two combined first one let me see if I have that information here I think it was 56 million but if Andy's here he probably this is the additions to 13-4 so it's the combined so what's the combined total come on so it's 56 million now plus 13 million four any comments questions and based off of how we pay back this money explain how it gets paid back it's paid from their capital projects fund The Debt Service payments are made out of The Debt Service fund but the capital project supports it through the rates right through the sewer rates or the water rates pardon me so and and this bid has already been awarded again we because of that reimbursement resolution we were able to use pay as you go Capital funds and now that we've received this loan we'll basically reimburse the water fund for for that amount so so we don't have to discuss higher water or sewer rates in order to approve this and pay for this not at this time no with that may I have a motion for

[1:06:02] approval don't move don't move by Tommy second by Lucy any public comment no further public comment we'll take a vote all those in favor say aye aye motion is approved you know or maybe Shane you're here can you tell us where we're at we are at on this process of the expansion of the wealth fields have we started not started waiting for this approval where are we uh he he's been waiting so I knew he needed to be here for some question I've got his haircut and everything I got a haircut and everything today so no uh the the Project's moving along well we awarded it about a year ago and so everything's moving along well they're working on the actually drilling the last well as we speak so the rest of the wells have already been drilled encased and uh all but uh the one they're doing now and one other one have been pump tested so uh that project's moving along really well out at the expansion and the other part of this was also the two nuclear Wells at the water treatment plant and they're oh they're probably within I'm gonna say 60 to 90 days of having the two clear Wells actually um clear Wells actually built and so at that point it'll be the piping and and then the upgrades to the Hickory um the Hickory processed plant so it's moving along well it's it's right on time it's on schedule and the length of the go ahead oh mayor I just wanted to ask a quick question was that Ford whales that were oh five Wells five Wells yep five Wells is what we expanded and so uh again from completion time uh we should be through in July with the well field uh or with drilling all of the wells and then they'll move in from there to do the tie-in uh the tie in the new wells into the system um to get them to our Pump Station and that will be finished up in late um late fall early winter and then everything

[1:08:05] should be totally tied up and completed around um this time um next year so everything should be 100 done thank you all right we'll move on to the last item which is item D on the regular agenda consider ratifying Coast DC authorization for the board president to negotiate and execute Amendment one to the 2023 Cosa DC Chamber of Commerce Professional Services performance agreement with ratification by city council Michael euron good morning mayor and Council Michael Dain interim economic development director bringing back to you the proposed amendment to the Costa DC chamber agreement for economic development recruiting um revised scope of services and a proposed change in the term or what's included so we'll go through those Just A Brief Review of the change in the scope of services requirements would be to maintain a cross-branded website provide Economic Development marketing and recruitment evaluate local business eligibility for Brett that's that's prep oriented coordinate responses to prospect leads we get leads from the state they get leads from the state and they're going to be the local lead group to follow up on those leads that's unfortunate wording I apologize lead response number five maintain Community current Community Information prospects and site selectors want to know about your community they're gonna they're gonna handle that for us um six provide background information to for use by staff the kosan EC board and the city council

[1:10:09] as we consider how to move forward or whether or not to move forward in the case of the board and Council on up on a project they will help gather that information item seven provide Cosa DC staff with summary of job creation taxable value and other economic indices help us evaluate give us the information we need to evaluate return on investment number eight participation in coastal DC meeting so have somebody there at the meetings that that's really it for the scope of services we tried to boil that down we actually wanted fewer items than that and we got down to fewer than we had but we didn't quite get down to four or five they do a lot term what the board proposed was a three-year extension at the end of the current term which expires in approximately six seven months almost seven months a little over six months um and then beyond that two optional one-year extensions total of five years we've we've heard that before talked about five years but that first extension would be a three-year extension at the end of this calendar year um the board's consensus was and remains that a multi-year agreement is preferable to a year-to-year approach I think that multi-year stability that multi-year mindset is the best way to go and that's why they made that recommendation they believe that commitment to economic development is consistent with council's established priorities remember Economic Development Planes Trains and Automobiles and economic development is one of your top priorities and I expect and hope that it will be as we go

[1:12:10] through the next meeting this month and the board allowed this to come forward even they knew even though they were uncertain about its prospects for approval because they believe that approach is the best it communicates to local folks and Outsiders the economic development is our priority and and it communicates stability and Prospects want both they won't be they want priority and stability and of course it aligns with Council objectives and so on that basis DC board's recommendation is prove this as presented with an automatic three-year extension at the end of the year with two optional one-year extensions thereafter and um my recommendation is that you approve it as presented and I would remind you if you have concerns about that that we still have the flexibility that goes with termination or re-negotiation if we want more or we want less of something um both parties have the option to bring that up at a future date and renegotiate those items but right now 3-1-1 is what's proposed for the term all right and go ahead now go ahead your your options again remember we went through this last time your options are to vote up or down Council for this type of item does not have the authority to say will approve something other than what's presented because of the way these items move forward your option is thumbs up or thumbs down all right I'm going to make a motion to deny these terms as presented today I think they're unrealistic I think the challenge of needing this to be approved because of stability and

[1:14:13] is not valid stability has always been there and hasn't been a question in terms of anybody that I'm aware of who's looked at San Angelo or talked to San Angelo about whether we believe in Economic Development there has been a very strong statement about our belief in Economic Development and that has not changed but I also know that in fact when we got ready to approve the contract perhaps last July or August whenever it was right that the work had not been done when it was presented in terms of reevaluating the work expected expected from that organization but that doesn't mean that they weren't working hard to deliver Economic Development but if we're going to approve a contract that contract plus all the addendums must be one big conversation and it wasn't done can't support this for combinations of reasons number one we still have not hired a replacement and the candidates we have talked to have very strongly said I want to be a part of that conversation I don't want to walk into a job and have everything already dictated to me in terms of what it is the length of the contract the expectations if you want me to be hired and be the person who helps direct Cosa DC in our economic development team I need to have a voice in it and I need to be involved in that process they all have had ideas they've all had some things that I think brought light to all of us in that room when we were interviewing them in terms of things we should think about things that haven't been thought about opportunities that we have not seen or addressed or looked at we need the

[1:16:18] person we hire to be involved in this contract negotiation with that said we the council voted last year to have a one-year contract to come back after Council voted to have a one-year contract with money attached to it the only challenge to that contract was in fact the addendums attached to it it's taken us how many months to come up with that addendum on time it was ready in February and ready to come to uh council at the first meeting in March so this my comment my challenge to this my denial is not based off of Michael Looney and he should not take it as an issue about Michael Looney it is not you've worked hard you put a lot of passion into the to the job so don't take this as a vote for or against you it is not what it is is a opportunity for us to hire somebody and let that somebody have some input with that said we're so far down the road already on this one year that we gave as our um point of view in terms of what the contract should be I think there can be some other discussions going forward but that's not what we get to do today today we either vote up or down these terms and I cannot support these terms it's so far removed from what council voted for and supported we can't do that and it sets us up for our ability to attract somebody to want to come take this job we can't be doing that we've already gone through that process of somebody being alienated from wanting to be here because of some of these things that we're talking about today

[1:18:22] so I I can't so my motion would be to deny do I have a second I'll have a second and I'll tell you why this contract when we sent it back it was a 6-1 vote and I voted against it at that point for a one-year contract and there's several topics and things that go through there what's presented to us today goes all the way out into 2029. I mean if I read the time frame right it extends all that way and it has been many comments from this Council from this board we don't want to obligate further councils and obligate people beyond what the vision they have there because if this was to go through with this five six year extension it obligates to if not a full board coming behind us who may hear some new people new staff all the way in his contract I understand the option of a 30-day out that's it's my understanding that's always been in every contract but traditionally we've gone with a two-year contract have we not has it always been a two-year no there's one other year when it wasn't I believe in fact I can't remember a time when it's been one year except this time okay so what's the standard term three one one it's always been a 3-1-1 no he's the one one but usually three years okay now it's usually been a two-year contract Michael I'll be glad follow-up if you would report that to the board yeah this isn't again this is about not obligating the future people whether it's somebody new at the chamber office somebody new in Economic Development new board members council members new Cosa DC members we can't tie down everybody's hands and given them a 30-day window is is is not really the flexibility we need here this contract needs to come up and be

[1:20:24] discussed thoroughly and that's what happens when you have this contract come forward to council is a fine it opens the door for a conversation we need to have ongoing conversations we only have one economic development team that's all we have and we've got to make sure we're all behind it and all focused and have that open dialogue and conversation when you have a contract like this it's just done and over with that's not right Economic Development if you ask major corporations if they're doing their business today like they did 20 years ago or even 10 years ago most people would say no they have to adapt to the times and change with the times and make decisions based off of the environment that exists at the time we need to make sure we have the flexibility and the opportunity to open that conversation discuss it and make sure we're all on the same page it doesn't happen otherwise and this again is not a vote against the team not a vote against the team this is a vote to ensure that we keep the dialogue open that we keep the conversation going and that we have an opportunity to talk about those issues is city councilman Mr Mayor yes may I I have given this a lot of thought and what occurred to me are several things you all bear with me I'm going to give you a a little bit of History um when when the Development Corporation first came into being somebody that I know quite well and that I sleep with every night

[1:22:27] was on the original board of directors of the city of San Angelo Development Corporation my wife she was involved in putting this together from its very Inception I was I had the opportunity to be appointed to the coast of DC board back in 2004 by council person Devin Bates I served at that point for seven years was able to serve as chairman of the board and also during that same time I served on the Chamber of Commerce board and had the opportunity to chair the Chamber of Commerce board now I've had a second opportunity to serve on city council so I have been able to see this from all three sides the mayor is correct we did vote six to one to have a one-year term but I what I tell people from time to time I reserve the right to change my mind I have changed my mind I agree with what has come forward here with this 3-1-1 and let me tell you why I think the stability and the predictability is needed for our business community it's needed for the perception that we give off to any prospects that may be looking at San Angelo that may be watching this meeting right now unbeknownst to us um for me I can support a 3-1-1 because I can look at this from all three sides and see the good that comes from this so I'm going to take an opposite position of what the mayor has any other comments from Council

[1:24:30] Tom I want to go back in and just I could almost I would rather see this as a one one three I mean thank you if we go this takes us all the way out to 28-29 I would love to this year's half done Michael I mean this year just needs to be rolled in the next year and then an option for a year after that would be what I would want and I have told that to many people in this room that I think the initial vote my initial opinion was to go two years and I voted that way when I went 6-1 I didn't agree with the one year one was to give him two years it's bounced around back and forth but I'm going to stick with my second that it's not argument about the policy the results or anything there they've been outstanding they do a good job I just don't see it going all the way out to basically 2029 I don't want to obligate the person we'll sit in this seat in two years Beyond decisions I've made I get that I understand they're looking for somebody I don't know if those people have pursued or not pursued or decided to pursue this job because of our Behavior but I think everybody needs to have a voice involved and see it positioned differently I'm not against business not against development I want to see it we've done well we're obligating all the money and funds that we said we do I just don't see it going out to 2029. and remember today the vote is up or down on this it then goes back to Cosa DC board they can come back with another proposal which could be inclusive the comments from people today so this is really about up or down to this it's not about today we don't get a then put something else out to send it back to Cosa DC well we don't stop any money or funds we haven't we haven't we got to keep the but that's the what we're doing today so just keep in person a little more detail about some of the boards sentiment

[1:26:32] they are board members sabayos in a subcommittee meeting said how do we get more in touch with Council what their needs and uh wants are for these issues at the time we were talking about another issue uh we don't want to be at odds with Council we think we're on the same team and we want to send things to them that they are ready to approve I think that reflects that the sentiment across that board they want Harmony Unity they they want to see these things together on the other hand on this item they felt like letting it move forward as is was their best recommendation at this time so they are they they are both trying to work with Council but they also trying to send you their best recommendation and in in as as consensus their opinion on that was in February anyway the 3-1-1 so that's kind of the situation they have both supportive wanting to work with you but also wanting to send you their best recommendation you know interviewing the candidates that we interviewed which we had some really strong candidates that we had the opportunity to interview and consistently what we heard was the following your cocdc board should take a position of supporting the city council's vision and strategy their jobs would be to approve or not approve or add to the conversation about the vision and strategy that the city council has and that was pretty consistent with the people we visited with they're a big the community outside of that we interviewed that were from other large cities and some in Texas some not in Texas some from several other different states consistently said cocdc and at Point e should be supportive of

[1:28:36] City council's Direction and not try to work against them because that has created the turmoil which has not been Pleasant as in fact almost all the candidates that we talked to had watched the videos had seen how disruptive those board meetings were and all commented on it and said how did Cosa DC get to be at such odds against the city council they're supposed to be supportive they are appointed by city council again they're entitled to every opinion and conversation that they want to have at the same point in time you can have a city council who approves dollars and budgets doing one thing in coast of DC moving in a different direction that again does not mean people can't have an opinion an idea or an addition to that conversation it has to be about communicating it has to be about making sure that the the challenges that exist are explained and talked to and talked about so we understand what they are but again we need to make sure that a person that we want to hire feels like they have some sort of job and if we take all of that job away from them by approving a contract and doing all of this I don't think we're going to get very many candidates I think our candidate list is going to drop down pretty substantially because they don't want to walk in to an already determined you don't get to have an idea or input or mayor it could go the exact opposite the candidate May really appreciate having a contract in place so that they don't have to deal with what we've had to deal with up to this point so the ones we've interviewed Tommy never said that and there was never what they said

[1:30:38] just so you know maybe the next one feels that way so I I would I would go the other way mayor that says that you know I would rather have something in place when I get there and go to work on economic development may I ask a question yes um could you fill us in on where you are in this recruiting process please we interviewed four candidates brought forward by the search firm um a mix of candidates but none of none that were ready to move ahead with at this time and so another slate of candidates is going to be brought forward so the mayor has mentioned several times that we need to keep Focus do we need to maintain our focus on having a healthy conversation going forward about the process and how all the pieces fit together I would offer that there might be missing pieces for some of us sitting here I am not aware of the process of recruiting rejecting or being rejected that has been ongoing that is not something that we are aware of I I don't want to feel like I'm trying to make a decision with less information than is appropriate it's a big it's a big decision so I just offer that to the group for consideration remember again this is a vote up or down on what's in front of you that doesn't mean that there can't be other options brought to the table that better address those issues so there's a motion and a second we open it up for public comment those in the audience who would like to come forward please come forward now I'm Walt Koenig president and CEO of San

[1:32:51] Angelo Chamber of Commerce 418 B Street San Angelo Texas um as I'm listening to this discussion I'd like to bring it back to the impact it's having on my team for going on a year now I have two guys who are working for me who bring their a game every single day and right now it's apparent to me and to our community that they are Pawns in a conflict between two boards continued discussions around this issue is having a deleterious effect on their psychology let me tell you a little bit more about these guys many of you may not know this but they're fathers too they have families to support they competently even in light of the fact that this community is not showing them the kind of support that they deserve in terms of stability of employment they continue to bring Superior results and continue to bring their A-game every day and I'm Amazed at the resilience that they bring in light of the fact that they've getting so gotten so little respect now it was said that this is not a vote against my team it is a vote against my team I urge approval of this contract and I will note not a threat other communities are well aware of the quality of Staff we have our own difficulties in recruiting a staff member to take the Cosa dced's job speaks volumes to the fact that this particular skill set is in great demand

[1:34:55] and in very low Supply other communities will be coming after these guys for months through delays of agenda inclusion of this item this issue is languished the one-year upvote occurred in the very last council meeting of 2022. and it had been talked about for months prior so I apologize from my emotion around this but I worked with these guys every single day and I see the energy the skill the passion and the Loyalty that they bring to the situation and I'm appalled frankly with this process I'm appalled with this position I'm appalled by this lack of support for two guys who have nothing but the city's interests in mind thank you further public comment saying none will take a vote all of those in favor of up or down yay or nay so a the the motion that's on the floor is to deny this terms that have been presented today so if you don't support this but want to go back and have further discussion then you say no if you support these terms you say yes is that clear that's awesome so there you go so the motion on the floor is to deny these terms so if you vote Yes you're supporting the denial of these terms okay are we clear Larry no Karen I want I I'm still a little confused and I want to make very clear that while I

[1:36:57] would be willing to send it back for further conversation and discussion that I fully agree with what Mr kenick just said I understand that very clearly and that concerns me deeply concerns me so I want to make clear to the people in the audience that if I agree with denial that it that I am in support of what Mr kinnick said that I feel very very deeply strongly hugely how important it is that we retain these key people so I will agree with denial for those terms yes Harry no Tom yes Brenda Gunter mayor yes I get to vote and yes I'm sorry no all right so motion to deny is passed four to three back Dakota would you like to give the board advice about what you would be willing to approve Tom I'm Gonna Let You Lead that so several discussions and I've had these with members of Costa DC and all I would like to see a one in a you know include this into next year with an option to go on which gets to the end of basically several of his term here so it would be basically a two and a half year it'd be one and then a half with an option for the Third any other ideas from council members give direction to Coast DC I would support we've already approved one year so the 20 22 23 is approved that's done we will go into negotiations in July or August for 23 24.

[1:39:03] correct so with that we can then discuss already in the 24 fiscal year have we not done this yet so it's half of 23 24 in with 23 and then an option for 25. is the one that I was talking about so 23 and 24 together option for 25 and then that finishes out basically my turn if all goes well we will have somebody on board at that point in time and the again I want to make sure because Council supports Michael you know it you're smiling you know you have the support that's not the question and whenever you've made phone calls to anyone sitting up here or you've met with anyone sitting up here they have opened the door and the conversation to give you advice and support I don't believe you have any concerns about how much you are valued by this organization and again this isn't about you this is about how we set ourselves up for the future period it's not about personnel okay mayor I would like to see at a minimum of three-year contract and no no at this point let's keep this simple let's keep it clean three-year contract which has been more often than not in my memory and my involvement uh We've operated on a three-year contract that that's what I would like to see at a minimum well if if we're years and years this is good through the end of 23 I would say 24 25 26 contract expires 12 31 26 three-year contract beginning next January 1st um so we have two options you have the one Tom presented which would be a two-year extension starting with the new

[1:41:04] negotiations on the new budget with a one-year extension on it is that correct Tom 23 and 24 is one and then uh the which which is actually one and a half throws in the next year will get you to the end of 25. that's correct times then is a one plus one yes and Tommy's is a simple three plus three so you've got those two options to take back two Cosa DC board to discuss but there is nobody on this Council today who doesn't support the staff of Cosa DC on Tommy's timeline on yours okay if I knew exactly one years are you proposing through the end of 25 or the end of 26 into 26 is is my proposal which will obligate new city council members took one year basically is what it says because in 25 you'll have an election for Larry Me Lucy and Tom so they would go whoever gets elected because we're Tom's termed out I'm termed out Lucy's termed out so you basically would give a new Council one year to look at talk through understand and then learn and again we hope to have some new leadership at that point and that so you've heard options they're going to want to know because the what Tommy has talked about is substantially consistent with what is before what was before you today it was a 3-1-1 and if you wanted three and wanted to change something you didn't have to approve the one ones so it I think they're going to be confused if I come back with a council either wants a one plus one or a plus three because what we've got here is

[1:43:08] essentially a plus three plus one plus one subject to approval and so I I think the if you're not willing to go with the plus three today why would you in the future well taken all right I think it needs a full review every two or three years it has to be the extensions is kind of what gets me on this before it wasn't but the extensions are it just rolls on I think with anything most people do you're going to bring it and look at it I mean whether there's contracts that I've done personally with associations I've worked for very seldom did we go past one or two in very you know a few occasions we get three I think they just need to be looked at and if everything looks good it's no more than a simple hey we're bringing back the same contract is everybody good with this one but there's there's a force to look at it and review it and that allows everybody to have input and this really and remember and this is a key point we're not discussing whether there's going to be financial support for economic development just as we did this year there was no question whatsoever about committing to the dollars we said commit to the dollars next time the contract that comes by back has to have the addendums appropriate for that contract they weren't they weren't even looked at before the contract came forward that was wrong it's just taken a very long time to get these things put back in order but the but there's not a lack of support and that's the message from today's meeting there is support for economic development their support for the economic development team but we want to have back for opportunity to review and discuss you know most people in their jobs don't have contracts go to work every day believing if I do the best if I do the best I know if I give the most I can I don't have to worry about whether I have a job or not and we're committing to basically saying this isn't about the team this this is

[1:45:13] about having a council who has an opportunity to review but also to have who they will be working with going forward have an opportunity for review it is not a vote against the team at all and that's got to be clear all right thank you that concludes the agenda today so we'll move there's no closed session so we'll move into the follow-up and administrative issues since there was nothing executive session are there any announcements in consideration for future agenda items see none may I have a motion for a German second lots of seconds so let's take a vote all in favor all right motion passes meeting is officially adjourned at 10 17 A.M 18th of May

Captured 2026-07-26 · source: youtube.com/watch?v=J2_DE-entTI