San Angelo City Council 3-4-25

[0:00:00] March the 4th 2025 at 8:30 a.m. and as usual we will start with our chaplain prayer and pledges and today we're honored to have chaplain Talis here to lead us in both prayer first would will you join me please with a prayer Our Father As We Gather here uh this morning give us all an idea of why we're here to do what's best for our city and our community in that sense We join with one another in trying to bring about those ends please give our council members wisdom and guidance as they deliberate on the items before them grant us all the wisdom to work together effectively and the humility to Value each person's perspective save us from words hurtful words spoken in anger or grudges nurtured in silence guide our discussions and decisions that they may honor you and serve our shared goals Lord thank you for each person at this meeting be they Council or general public and their unique talents and abilities and perspectives we all bring together here above all we pray that the decisions we make the actions that are taken will be within your will in the Name of Christ we pray amen I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stand one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all honor the Texas

[0:02:26] flag we have one Proclamation today and it is is the with the St Angela Independent School District today so all of you that are here with the school district please come forward good morning I why don't you just stand around here and then um that way it'll be easy for you to come talk the Angelo Independent School District educators and staff impact the future of St 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 bra breakfast and lunch and throughout the day until the last bail and then beyond Educators and the entire saisd team make a difference in each child's life and with almost 13,000 students this is an incredible impact on our community today we acknowledge the special commitment our sisd 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 s angelin at sisd they often say our people make the difference and today we honor the S Angelo differen makers those who Inspire and prepare our students and support support their hopes and dreams therefore I Britt de Gunter mayor of the city of St Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council and together with St Angelo Independent School District do hereby recognize March 7th 2025 as sisd Difference Maker day and

[0:04:32] thank all sisd Educators and staff for their dedicated service to our students and families and urge all citizens to acknowledge the occasion of this day thank you mayor Gunter and city council members uh for the recognition we're honored to serve the students of St Angelo ISD um I believe God created every one of those kids in his image and we want to love them and care for them and educate them uh as they come through our doors uh we are thankful for the nearly 13,000 kids that we serve and the 17 to 1800 employees that we uh support and who serve our children day in and day out Dr Merl Brandon has joined us this morning soon Chaw uh Shannon Schwarz and Jack Wilcox are here representing the district and I just want to say on behalf of the community thank you all for the support you give the school district for the opportunity we have to serve you thank you EX we will now move into the public comment

[0:06:34] section of the agenda members of the public May raise issues or concerns not listed on the regular agenda during this time to participate please sign in with the city clerk prior to the beginning of the meeting speakers will be called in the order they signed in when speaking citizens must speak from the podium address all comments to the Das Begin by stating your name and address or single member district number and limit their remarks to 3 minutes or less Heather you want to start the public comment section yes ma'am Ashley sweer that was emailed in advance she may not have come Mary wils she's coming here okay perfect just start sorry good morning I'm Ashley from District 2 here in San Angelo the situation is absolutely unacceptable death penalties are being assigned to the only innocent party within the issue the decision that was made and signed off on last week is a permanent solution to a temporary problem space there was absolutely no warning that those dogs were going to be put down when they were those poor souls never stood a chance but the results of euthanasia lists this past year show that the community would have shown up to save those dogs had they had the chance I guarantee it paaws and other rescues in the area should have been a part of the decision prior to changing the policy I should point out that I am not against euthanasia overall they are necessary for animals with with health is issues ETC I am against euthanizing healthy animals for space in any case euthanasia should be the last resort euthanasia should only be used to end suffering that a vet can't fix despite what many will say there are solutions

[0:08:38] that don't involve Mass killing there should be improved visibility of adoptable dogs within the shelter including an updated website I have heard many say they can't figure out how to work the website to search for adoptable animals though owner surrenders can now be euthanized upon arrival they also deserve a chance to be seen and saved St Angelo has tried capture kill methods before not only did it not work our shelter had one of the highest rates of euthanasia in the state we are backtracking and repeating history with its policy change the city does does have laws in place that advocate for Animals however these laws are not enforced the way they should be people are dumping dogs abusing neglecting them with little to no punishment so they do it again and again dogs from hoarding neglectful and abusive households are almost always returned to the bad owner again with zero consequence that is unacceptable if we enforce the laws to the highest degree possible things will get better the true problem the awful heartless people will never stop or change their ways without incentive why should the dogs have to pay for the mistakes of an owner that they never chose thank you for your time Mary Wilson I'm Mary Wilson and I'm in uh single member district one the following comments are um directed to the mayor City Council Members city manager and assistant city manager but do not include the City animal shelter staff those people's have an impossible job to do and they have little support from the city I love s Angelo but today I'm ashamed I live here in the almost 60

[0:10:41] years I've lived here the city of s Angelo has never considered animal well welfare a priority you the duly elected or appointed stewards of the city have an obligation and a duty to provide the best and most humane shelter and Care possible the current animal shelter has outlived its efficiency and is an embarrassment to S Angelo the current shelter policy has already resulted in a senseless loss of life this policy was not well thought out and is a lazy attempt to Plate those concerned about the Stray Dog crisis in in fact this policy change will likely exasperate the issue because more people will choose to leave dogs roaming or let them go rather than surrender them to death advancement in animal welfare in s Angelo has been accomplished by kto Valley Paws and at their expense not the cities it is ptime for the city to care you can see by the the number of people here today this community cares about shelter animals and pets it's time the city of s Angelo does too some Dr Seuss wisdom unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better it's not it's pastime Jimmy black good morning good

[0:12:50] morning you know in the last two years there's not been one dog put down on euthanasia list and this time we weren't given a chance when the word went out that this was happening Not only was it a shocking experience for all of us we pulled over 50 dogs out of that shelter immediately immediately and yet they they put down 20 more I went down there for two of those sweetest dogs you ever saw on the face of the Earth and I was told they' already put them down under the guys that they were aggressive and that's always been a situation where they can come in and say well that dog is aggressive but there no there's no partnership with the community these are your real Rescuers right here it's not that vigilante group that's been posting your numbers on the on their on their accounts and stand call you guys and you know uh now what bothers me is there's no way for us to know who to pull you get a dog in a owner surrender astray what happens is that dog goes into a system where it can be put down in so many days and we have no way of knowing it the dogs that that's being posted right now that says pick up your dogs they're being posted past that date so that when I see it and I say I'm going to go get those three dogs they're already pass that day that may be euthanized I have there's no way to get in between the euthanasia and help you have a great partnership here we don't want to fight with the city our passion is animals now Proverbs 12:10 says that a righteous man takes care of his animals there hasn't been to much righteousness going on around here lately and another thing that bothers me is that the the uh on television it was said that the people that work down at that shelter were hurting because they're putting those animals down and and a counselor was brought in there to help them why would you do your employees that way especially when there is ability for us to come in all we got

[0:14:53] to do is have some knowledge and get those dogs and get them pulled out of there and the answer is all around us but yet we're not looking any place else I uh you have and I'm going to close with this dogs have the ability to feel grief joy happiness and you have the power of life and death and in this situation you've chose death and not life and that saddens me to no end saddens me to no end and thank you Christopher Moran mayor thank you uh for allowing me to speak this morning City Council Members it's an honor to speak before you uh my name is Chris Moran with st angel ISD 1621 University Avenue um and this morning my comments are specific to the S Angelo ISD bond election for May 3rd as you know I can neither Advocate or oppose the measure and so today I just hope to share factual information with you as you know our board has called a bond election to address old and failing facilities Safety and Security and deferred maintenance and my goal is to provide the factual information to our community and really Point them to the resources they need to learn the facts uh the Board of Trustees heard from more than 60 community members in the fall who evaluated our facilities and then spoke to the board in December and recommended U consideration for projects anyone residing in saisd School boundary and who's eligible to vote should note the deadline to register is April 3rd voting starts early April 22nd through the 29th and election day is Saturday May the 3D factual information about our

[0:16:58] school bond can be found at www.sd.org b2025 this is a community decision about the future of our public school system and I appreciate your time this morning thank you ciney Flores hi my name is Cy Flores and I'm single member district 5 I just want to express my disappointment at the change in the policy or reverting back to capture kill that is not fair to the partner working with the city I believe in an email to you I and we have invited everybody here to come out and do their due diligence and learn the city manager in an email to me said he was aware of the programs that PA provided obviously that is not the case because if so you would know the benefit of some of those problems we cannot work on a three-day timeline it is not fair we have provided Solutions numerous times of um a revision to the Breeders ordinance that has been ignored but then you went in and changed the timeline on a dog that is chipped from seven business days to 5 days without telling anybody you guys can change what you want but you're not addressing the problem enforcement enforcement enforcement is all I've got to say and that has not happened to the level that it needs to happen that is the only way you cannot kill your way out of this you cannot adopt your way out of this you cannot transport your way out of this the root of the problem is spay neuter and that has not been enforced like it should have you guys need to communicate with the partner pause has

[0:19:04] spent more than $200,000 in a year on making the life of those shelter animals better and this is what happens that's not that's not fair I encourage you all to do your due diligence and get out there and see what we offer and see what the programs are firsthand not second or third hand thank you Donell Miller good morning mayor and Council my name is Donell I live in district 6 I've been a San Angelo resident for 23 years I believe my voice matters and I have faith that my concerns will not fall on deaf ears I am concerned about the sudden changes that took place last week at the animal shelter I am concerned with the lack of transparency and honesty regarding those changes I am concerned that the decision to change the policies was made unilaterally by the city manager instead of by our elected representatives by vote I am concerned that the public was made to believe that a specific committee would be formed and their findings would be discussed before changes were to be made but that was not the case it concerns me that paus was circumvented in making this decision as well I'm upset that the policy changes allowed immediate killing of numerous dogs in anticipation of overcrowding and now kennels sit empty I'm upset and saddened that because of the Haste The Shelter mistakenly killed a dog that was to be adopted I'm upset that while paw and the citizens of San Angelo worked hard to save the latest euthanasia euthanasia list the city killed numerous dogs in

[0:21:07] what seemed to be secret it is also upsetting that no one on the council met with the task force that paus brought in to evaluate and help with the shelter issues in the 23 years that I lived in San Angelo I have seen Improvement in the welfare of our pet population due to the no kill policies I've witnessed firsthand the programs and policies that were in place before last week truly work and make a difference so I ask that in the future the city be transparent and honest I ask that the the decisions that involve the lives of our pet population be made by vote by elected officials I ask that the city renew open communication with pause and meet with their task force or Consultants I do not agree with the policy changes that have been made I do understand some youth in Asia is necessary I understand that there are no easy answers and that your job is hard but these policies I feel they undo all the good work that has been done and all the progress that has been made I ask the city to Halt them immediately and open the issue back up for a discussion a real discussion I ask that the city enforce its Bayan neuter ordinances I know there are no easy answers but the lives of the animals in this city matter and they should matter to you the good Lord entrusted their welfare to us from the beginning the right rightous care for their animals Proverbs 12:10 ask the animals and they will teach you job 12 verse 7 through 10 thank you for your time and God bless K Brown morning good morning I've spoke before I've been to the animal advisory committees and this is a tragic sad day I want to remind you that every time the Stray issue came up to the city to enforce the ordinances that are in place

[0:23:09] your ordinances your ordinances that you were voted in to take and enforce you quickly diverted the conversation down a rabbit hole blaming best friends guess what best friends isn't in this city they are not on your payroll and they are not to blame for this problem you are it falls fully on your shoulders you do not send out public education announcements about the ordinances you do not enforce them that is all on your shoulders every one of your shoulders I'm as yet to show or tell us the truth of what happened this past week whose final decision was was the task force this supposedly expert task force thrown under the bus and decisions made around them we don't know that but guess what folks it will come come out we will understand that and again spay neuter the enforcement of those uh ordinance are the thing to go so let me remind you a bit of a time frame here so in 2022 the issue came up about the uh roach issue at the shelter the decay of that building and it was bought it was made public it went national news uh but it took a whistleblower to bring that out the city didn't own up to it the city didn't know what was happening uh in 2002 the funding was uh approved to make repairs to that shelter 2022 today we're 2025 in 2022 or early 23 the loan was paid back no repairs made but I'll bet there was a loss of financial dollars for interest of that loan again no repairs made in 2023 the city council meeting had a stray issue on the agenda and the status and questions were brought up about the spay ordinances and one answer was that it was hard to enforce them because pets are considered property in Texas but there's no move to

[0:25:13] change those or get them written better in 2024 the mayor says she will not approve any additional funding for Animal Services no additional funding for extra Animal Control Officers no additional funding for for front office help to help um follow up on ordinances that weren't being followed she said she'd already approved the building shelter funds and repairs but again there hasn't been one repair done later in 24 when the the mayor did ask what was happening to the shelter repairs that she wanted immediate answers Morgan's answerers said the repairs were on hold be asking for additional funding to retrofit a building to move the dogs to so again no cares you guys can turn this bus around and follow for the animals with education and enforcement of the ordinances that you were elected for thank you yes as as the next people come to the microphone can we get them to talk into the microphone and remind them to State their name and address or single member district this young lady did not do that so I didn't know where she was froming I didn't do that okay Heather alcantar good morning city council my name is Heather alcantar and I am living in precinct number to I am here to express my concern and disappointment regarding the current state of the S Angelo City animal shelter and animal services as as a compassionate which you can all see Community I know that we can

[0:27:18] do better much better we must do better in supporting the most vulnerable citizens of this city which are the animals the policy changes that were recently made are not in alignment with the work and the progress that cono Valley Paws employees volunteers as well as other nonprofit organizations have worked so hard to achieve as a matter of fact these policies are a slap in the face to all of those people I urge City Council to re-evaluate reallocate funds to help the animal shelter and related agencies create more programs to help the citizens that are lowincome and the animals that suffer because of the lack of resources that they cannot seem to find I understand that the city manager um and animal services department are trying to address the issue but I strongly believe that this was the incorrect move and I believe that more can be done in a more appropriate manner specifically I would like to request that city council consider allocating more funding to the programs that support low-income families in accessing veterinary care which can prevent illness suffering and more animals in the shelters this could be achieved through Partnerships with local veterinarians city-funded initiatives and community outreach programs by working together I believe we can create a more compassionate and supportive Community for all I urge the mayor and the city manager to learn from Midlands Fixit West Texas because they've been extremely successful and if Midland can do better so can you so can we the secret meetings with the task

[0:29:23] force that we know nothing about is unacceptable and appropriate and especially for the uh City animal shelter director not to be allowed to attend these meetings makes absolutely no sense do better do more do right thank you Jenny Wilson good morning I'm Jenny Wilson I'm with K Valley Paw I'm very address or single member district I don't live in the city limits but I represent a contracted vendor we have enjoyed our working relationship with the city and by far it's been um a very professional um and beneficial relationship what has changed well what we focused that relationship on was the fact that we had a common goal and that was to save lives no one at the shelter wants to euthanize healthy animals and of course we don't want to see that happen as long as we could work on that goal together we were able to achieve great things it seems like the direction of the city has changed and that was done by one unilateral decision that we did not were not given a seat at the table for discussion on and I told Mr Valenzuela and Mr DNE in a couple of meetings on animal issues I will unapologetically demand a seat at the table when you talk about Animal Welfare especially when the organization I represent is investing almost a million dollars of resources in this partnership our entire mission is to save shelter PS the city contract allows us for $70,000 which covers the cost and doesn't truly but goes covers in part the cost of adoption coordinators because our contract is to facilitate

[0:31:26] the adoption of Shelter Pet however we do much more we have provided for the medical care of all the shelter animals when the animals were poisoned we were there when there was a distemper outbreak we are there providing those treatments providing that support at our cost not yours we deserved a seat at the table to have this discussion and we were denied that it was unprofessional and it was unethical there are so many options to consider us instead of euthanasia we reached out to every single one of you and the city manager's office and invited you to choose a time that was convenient for you during a weeklong visit that we had from our national partner best best friends to discuss options to discuss models to address misinformation not a single one of you made the time to attend not one only one of you had the courtesy to deny our invitation when I come out publicly I know it does not make me popular among this group and that's okay I'm not here to be your friend I'm here to see that my mission with contra Valley Paws that that is our driving force that is what we do we are here to advocate for these animals because no one else is going to you have made a unilateral decision to appease a couple of people who are telling you that you have a huge stray problem why don't we really take advantage of that task force that you were set to appoint Mr Valenzuela and let them look and see after a comprehensive view of what the issues really are thank you Daniel Valenzuela first of all thank you for all the comments I do appreciate that I do want to make uh actually read my statement and then make a few comments as well as city manager my priority is ensuring the health and safety of the

[0:33:30] residents of this community while also maintaining Humane and responsible Animal Control policies now due to the increasing number as stray and Abandoned Dogs in our city and Miss Wilson I'm sorry disagree with you you can drive around and see the the Stray animals um we are taking necessary steps to address this issue included opening fold intake at the city operated animal shelter unfortunately this does mean that a s euthanasia will be a measure of Last Resort to manage shelter overpopulation ensure Public Safety city ordinance requires that stray dogs be held in the animal shelter for 3 days before they can be euthanized or adopted out this holding period allows time for owners to reclaim their lost pets however uh this time frame may vary if the animal is seriously ill injured or deemed dangerous I can assure you that the city has no intention of euthanizing immediately after the the prescribed time and if that is the issue that's going to be closely reviewed and sure that that is not happening that way every effort will be made for replacement in a home especially for ad animals when dogs roam freely in our neighborhoods they pose a significant threat to Residents packs of stray dogs can become aggressive leading to attacks or spreading diseases such as rabies additionally traffic accidents involving stray animals are are increasing are an increasing concern by ensuring that all Strays are brought into the shelter we can prevent these risks and work toward responsible Animal Control the city shelter has been operating at near capacity for an extended period leading to difficult decisions regarding Animal Care while the city is committed to working with animal rescue groups fostering programs and adoption initiatives these resources are also stretched thin simply closing intake or limiting it to is not a viable solution when that when the number of straightened dogs continues to grow if the shelter becomes overcrowded it negatively impacts the health and

[0:35:32] well-being of all animals in our care leading to Greater suffering the key to addressing the issue lies in responsible pet ownership and and I think that we stressed that a lot I know the mayor's talked about that a lot in the past city ordinances require residents to spay or new to their pets as well as ensure they are microchipped and vaccinated additionally pet owners must secure securely contain their animals to prevent them from rowing freely the challenges we face with shelter overcrowding stem largely from irresponsible pet ownership abandonment and failure to properly contain pets while City staff Works diligently to enforce these regulations enforcement alone is not a comprehensive solution depending on Staffing staff performance between 6,000 to 10,000 enforcement hours per year some citizens have suggested hiring additional Animal Services officers to strengthen ordinance enforcement while an increase in Asos will be discussed in the upcoming budget Workshop the responsibility to comply with current Animal Control ordinances Li squarely on local pet owners I remain hopeful that through Community involvement responsible pet ownership strongly enforced ordinances education volunteerism adoptions fostering and partnership Partnerships with animal rescue groups we can significantly reduce the number of animals euthanized our shelter staff is dedicated to rehoming as many dogs as possible but most but we must also acknowledge the reality of limited resources and the need to balance Public Safety and Human Animal Control Humane Animal Control this is not a decision taken lightly I encourage all citizens to be a part of the solution by adopting fostering donating and advocating for responsible pet ownership the thing that I call for is that the intake not be closed if individuals showed up to the animal shelter and had a pet a stray pet that they picked up that yes we still follow through with the whole we would prefer that you Foster the animal but if in

[0:37:35] fact that individual that came with that with that stray dog that they found uh they want to still turn it into the shelter we can't turn that dog away we won't turn that dog away we won't tell him go take him back where you found him maybe it's lost from its home we're not going to be doing that anything that uh you have somebody else as far as when those when those situations do happen at s our Asos are called out to deal with the same animal again on our end uh I'm making sure that we're doing everything we can to reduce the number of Strays out in the public out in the neighborhoods certain neighborhoods are more susceptible to other neighborhoods but I just want to make sure that we are not just closing intake uh because we are pull up at the at the animal shelter I don't want to do that any longer again if uh people are I mean if a dog is brought to the animal shelter we will take it in if we have an owner a pet owner that wants to come to the animal shelter and turn in their pet um yes we will go through the whole counseling process we will do everything we possibly can to really assist that that homeowner or the pet owner but again if that pet owner wants us to leave the animal we are not going to stop them from doing that we will accept them at the animal shelter speak we'll ask you to leave the room so okay so again um we respected your your we respected your comments and so my end hold it down a little longer again it is now I think testing okay again the only policy that was changed is that the fact that we will not be closing intake and we will be accepting anal that come in I want to make sure again that our streets are safe for our citizens I want to make sure that the calls that we get in at the city hall that there are PS running loose that we're taking care of that situation so uh we will be uh getting a report back to youall as far as information I know a lot of you asked

[0:39:36] about the task force the task force is working on issues that will be coming back with recommendations to city council here probably within the next three weeks so that'll be coming forth there that's coming this is not a this is not a back and forth this is the comment thank you appreciate it thank you m' yeah any further public comments Heather all right with that we will end the public comment section of the agenda and we will move into the consent agenda I will ask each council member if there's an item they would like to have pulled from the agenda starting with Larry no ma'am Karen no ma'am Lucy no ma'am Harry no ma'am Tommy no ma'am then may I have a motion for approval of the consent agenda so move so move by Harry second second by Tommy public comment on any on public on the consent agenda none with that we'll take a vote all those in favor of approving the consent agenda please say I I I any opposed motion passes 60 consent agenda is approved we will move into the regular agenda comments regarding items on the regular agenda may be made by the public when each item is discussed as outlined above to participate please sign in with the city clerk prior to the beginning of the meeting speakers will be called in the order they signed in comments are limited to less than three minutes applicants proponents and appellants are exempt from the time limit above and instead must limit their remarks to less than five minutes item a consider approving a quote not to exceed r r M proposal for the bill AER senior Memorial River Stage modifications from basic idiq in the amount of 1, 320,000 for new and remodel Construction Services and related site work and

[0:41:41] authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute all related documents this contract is a Cooperative purchase through by Board number 728 d24 RS means J and Al you are on good morning mayor council members Mr Valenzuela Al Tores construction manager city of St Angelo um I don't have a presentation because I think by now everybody's familiar with what we're doing at the river stage uh basically just wanted to come up here see if you had any specific questions this is to award uh the the a contract we can get a contract going with the contractor and get this project started with the approval of this contract what's the time frame uh from approval of the contract to actual work beginning we'll work with the contractor when through the contract process but I'm guessing 6 months before we start no no no no no I'm like what to Total construction time I'm asking from the moment this is approved today we approve this when do we see action taking place it depends on how quickly we can get through purchasing but I would guess less than a month so you're telling me by the time we get to April 1st there will be work done that's what I'm hoping okay question right I can't I can't guarantee that because depends on contracts but we've been waiting yes let's get it going yes Lucy uh Al let me ask you whenever we're going through the construction during that time will everything cease any events that are scheduled for that no ma'am we and I've been visiting with a contractor and we're going to sit down with Sid he's already given me a list of a couple of events that of course Pops concert and some others that we have to work around and we're going to make sure that things that do affect seating areas um if you know if we have have to shut the bathrooms down for any reason that those happen when there's not events going on okay thank you other questions for yes Larry uh we spoke earlier I had about a million questions and Mr Torres uh assuaged my thoughts on on most of them um my concern let me say the good things

[0:43:46] the inside of the restrooms is they've done a good job of uh renovating those so that people with disabilities have an opportunity to use facilities and I spoke to also about the slope on one of the ramps and uh as you told me it's a 1 to6 which is the preferred ratio for uh Ada uh but my concern is the entrance ways to the facility uh I would like to see those done with all due haste because as I understand it that facility predates ad the Ada act and uh I'm I'm almost positive that the plat form there to get into the ladies and men's room is is too small and it's difficult for someone with a wheelchair to get in there or a walker or a lady that is pushing a a baby stroller it it's just extremely difficult and for Life me I don't know why they put those concrete block uh sides on it that you know really severely limits the ability of people to use that facility we'll be talking yes sir I would like I'll do haste on phase two because uh I'm not sure that you're you're planning on including that uh restroom uh entrance way well the phase two design includ includes not only a large restroom down at the stage level uh which is going to have I don't remember 50 or 60 new bathrooms down there but we're also going to build another bathroom facility adjacent to the existing one it'll be strictly women's and then the one that's there will be all strictly men's uh so that way you have more bathrooms up at the ticketing level and and and Concession level and then the big one down at the stage level and and of course those will be new so there won't be any issues Ada issues on those we'll make sure of that uh but we are working to take care of

[0:45:48] any existing Ada issues with this project and you'll be seeing that phase B Design coming back to you in the next couple of meetings any other questions may I have a motion for approval to approve Lucy made a motion to approve may I have a second second second by Harry public comment Nelda Nan good morning my name is Nelda Nan and I reside in Tommy Hebert's District I want to thank the C city council from the depths of my heart I have seen changes over the last two and a half years with Ada in St Angelo that I didn't think was ever going to happen so I want to thank Mr Valena mayor and the city council members I really really appreciate it I'm so anxious for this to come to pass with the river stage but I would like to know today because the most impact for my daughter being able to attend events there will come in stage two so when do you see stage to coming and how much money is involved in that so I can have a even though this is going to be an improvement it will not take care of all of our problems when we attend thank you mayor I can answer that a little bit but you'll see the design aspect of that coming in the next meeting or two and we're hoping that the funding is in place for that design work and that's our first step so once we get the full design complete then that will come back to council to review for the actual funding then for implementation of implementation of the project so

[0:47:52] hopefully right now you'll see it in two weeks for them to award the design to be done and the funding we hope will already be there for the design work and then once that's done we'll have more of an idea of what the actual cost will be for construction and then we'll come back to them at that time if you need if you're going to speak please come with the microphone I got that timeline my question is how long are your projections to start phase two for construction I can't answer that right now because the design work's not done but the design work will as we bring it back in the next two meetings they will most likely award us to proceed with the actual construction drawings to be drawn up for phase two okay and then after we get those construction drawings complete then we'll have a better idea of what sort of cost we're looking at for implementation of that we'll bring it back to council to say yes we like these drawings and we'll bring at that point a a idea of how they might go about funing that so thank you for addressing that I appreciate it question thank you I have one other statement if you don't mind um and going yes Larry you may speak did I do that again I'm sorry ma'am um Shannon Hospital uh every facility they have has a push button entrance way the people in the clientele they have are our citizens who also use City functions and uh we seriously need to think about having those kinds of does that pertain to the river stage if not we can't talk about it this is a river stage conversation thank you thank you ma'am you're welcome all right so we've had a motion and a second and no more public comment we'll take a vote all those in favor of approving item a i i i i motion passes 60 we'll move on to Item B consider

[0:49:59] accepting an annexation petition for the following one 9.71 2 acres of land from abstract A- 8211 survey a wilky s-2 located west of Pendleton Parkway and south of wilky Drive created an extension of trippton way that sounds exciting trippton way and setting a public hearing for April 15 2025 and two 7. 2 acres of land from abstract A- 8211 survey a wilky s-2 located west of Pendleton Parkway creating an extension of a minor collector P Peno Ridge Drive and setting a public hearing for April 15 2025 Aaron you're on thank you mayor city council Mr Valenzuela we do have an annexation over here in the Prestonwood Edition um this is going to be uh once it's annexed in this is the petition to um hear an annexation but it's these areas right in here you can just barely see the pins uh on the map but as you can see um this is the boulevard off of Highway 67 heading towards meron uh our Sam's Retail Store and this is Southland uh Boulevard over there and so again these areas are here at the top of the Prestonwood um addition and at the bottom where trippton way which I think is a great name for a street and then Pinon Ridge comes across here uh as well yes um so this these are two areas uh within the same survey but we are just taking them as two separate annexations just because they're not connected to each other um this area does have a preliminary plant you can see that the preliminary plant was adopted um back in uh 2021 by Planning Commission and you can see the area is projected to be residential they do have some detention there and some detention there um that will be part of the annexation to deal

[0:52:01] with storm water runoff so here's the northern portion just a more zoomed in area you can see trippton way that's coming in through there that will continue to go across this is the area behind the boulevard that is a drainage area and their detention Basin will be there uh they will be moving forward probably with a final plat in the next month or two to Planning Commission to Plat out the actual Lots this is a southern area again Pinon Ridge coming across here where they'll have some housing on the the South and the North and their detention area here at one of the edges of uh the re Royal that comes across that area that will then slowly drain into the re Royal and then eventually into the South Concho River with that um the staff does request to adopt the the petition for annexation and to hold a hearing for these two properties uh it's 9.71 two acres of land and 7.12 acres of land and we asked to hold the first public hearing on April the 15th 2025 how many is going to show up on April the 15th how many what ma'am how many people are going to show up on April the 15th tax day well that's a great question um as as we're moving forward with this residential annexation um we're not sure that there would be very much uh non support I think folks will support this very strongly um again that gives us time to go through and work on the service plan and uh work through all the uh necessary notices okay thanks questions for Aaron I know the would you like to speak yes ma'am okay thank you we'll get this down that's yeah I know we don't have the parks dedication ordinance done yet and every time I see these things I see the houses stacked up and and we go through the again uh for information purposes it's over 2 miles from the Bluffs to the nearest park you know and I just imagine

[0:54:05] some child pedaling a bike across the shwood way to get to a park and here we are again with the a Housing Development and we're not looking about Green Space this is an annexation only right this is an annexation and the preliminary plat has already been accepted um as you notice there are some detention areas there's discussion going on about those areas and and what the possibilities could be U but I think that's for future discussion uh for that area um and and see how this develops thank you other questions or comments from Council then I would like a motion who would like to offer a motion for approval Mo to approve is presented a motion and a second by Tommy public comment Rocky templin morning Council Rocky templin s member district 5 I just ask that yall accept it as presented thank you is that all the public comment may we take a vote all those in favor say I I motion pass is 60 all right we'll move into item C discussion and direction for possible action on the following amendments to section 311 the Cultural District overlay zone of the zoning ordinance two amendments to article 12.04 signs of the planning and development ordinance and three consider a resolution calling a joint public hearing of city council and the Planning Commission regarding amendments to section 311 cult Cultural District overlay zone of the zoning ordinance section 313 use table of the zoning ordinance section 304 commercial District intent statements article 12.04 signs of the planning and development ordinance and

[0:56:07] section 420 offsite signs of the zoning ordinance and establishing alternative notice procedures Aaron you're on thank you mayor again uh city council and Mr Valenzuela mayor I I hope to have shorter captions for you in the future that was a long one yes ma'am uh so today we're uh just talking about uh the plans for our Cultural District expansion and adopting the sign ordinance amendments and setting a alternative method of public notice so I've got some PowerPoints uh or a slideshow here that kind of just describe both of those areas and then I will make the request that we set a a joint meeting date as well as an alternative notification for our citizens for when they can come for public hearings on those items so this here uh is our is our proposed Cultural District expansion currently our Cultural District just kind of encompasses the Fine Arts Museum uh right in that area just this small little area here we have over the years and through our uh comprehensive plans and our cooperation with the Fine Arts Museum Fort Concho uh the chamber uh the Railroad Museum said we need to have an actual cultural District that protects our cultural um items for our community and again of course helps support our historic downtown and all of those things and so let me just kind of go through the boundaries of which the committee has come together and said this is what we believe the boundaries should be so here on the West Side this is AB street right here at um the Concho River it comes down to Highland it goes from Highland all the way across to rust Street and what I will mention is that the properties on the inside of this red boundaries are the ones that would be within the district the ones that are across the street are not within the district this is rust Street and it would turn north and then as it goes under the the railroad crossing there uh it turns into Allen Street it comes here and then goes right behind uh or down the property

[0:58:10] line between the hotel there and uh some uh property that uh will be developed in the future goes back to the uh Concho River and then just follows the Concho River around so what this Cultural District overlay expansion will do um um is allow the zoning to be opened up for more flexibility um and it will also protect the the history the integrity and celebrate our cultural differences in those areas to bring areas together like the river stage like the Railroad Museum and Fort Concho all of these wonderful amenities that our communities has that we can celebrate our our history so in this area you can see what the current zoning is there's some light manufacturing some heavy commercial some General commercial heavy commercial and so forth what we're trying to do is create a CD overlay Zone very similar to the central business district which is in the downtown area but this would just be a a Cultural District overlay that would allow General commercial neighborhood commercial office warehouse uh and all the residential districts that are that could be offered in that area primarily uh the district is is the areas in District 3 uh Mr Harry Thomas right here on coim and that's not the best straight line actually is the end of District 5 uh M Mrs Karen hessie Smith and so to the east is the Fort koncho area to the West is the Santa Rita area so here you see the mix of zoning uh you can see the fort has a very large plan development uh what this zoning would do would allow that plan development to go away and would still allow all the activities that the museum currently does and would not create another layer that they'd have to go to to amend something it makes it a little simpler for them um you can see some of the areas that are cgc these would transition to General commercial we have been working with those uh property owners and we do have a town hall meeting uh that we're meeting with some of those folks today

[1:00:13] and letting them understand the majority of those uses are currently General commercial even if they're heavy commercial they will continue to be allowed to be heavy commercial until they become uh vacant for a 2-year period period so if the property goes vacant then it would revert back to General commercial at that time same with the light manufacturing and things like that what we have learned is in the light manufacturing areas most of those are acting as warehousing not actual light manufacturing and so changing it to office warehousing actually gives them some more benefit um to to do some things there you can see here closer to the um ab and coim area there's just kind of a a patchwork of different things from Office commercial neighborhood uh commercial and then a large area of rs2 um that would continue to allow them to have those uses and allow an expansion of the residential uses as well if someone wanted to do short-term rentals if they wanted to add an accessory dwelling if they wanted to be uh like an rs2 that they have two dwellings on a larger lot here's the vision plan you can see here this this area is designed to be just like Central business or downtown area so we made that um a a conscious effort you can see where we have the red is commercial you can see the commercial areas the blue of course is um actually institutional which again is Fort Concho the green is open space and of course anything that's yellow is actually neighborhood and then this over here is lighter commercial and so by moving this to the central business district overlay it allows all of those uses and is congruent with our comprehensive plan that is active today here we just have some of the the photos of some of the the great amenities that our community has that we want to protect uh that we want to enhance that we want to know that our community celebrates these not just locally but with tourism that comes in and if we can create a Cultural District that our tourists not only visit the historic

[1:02:15] downtown but also we know they visit our Cultural District and how can we continue to help support those areas to thrive how can we help support some small business owners in those areas to to start businesses that support that Cultural District again our Welcome Center number one Welcome Center in the state of Texas uh the Poo our Railroad Museum uh I really like our our pool now that's just a picture of our pool but when you see the actual front side the facade of the pool and things we have one of the best municipal pools in West Texas I mean it is our our team that takes care of it does a great job they've uh preserved the historic uh por of the pool and of the structures and it's just to me it's a great piece of architecture for our community so again our rational uh for the expansion is preserve protect and celebrate and brings our St Angelo Community together the area again will be very similar to the central business district zoning it will Al allow the office warehouse and all allow all residential zonings with smaller lots and the goal is for the area to help support the plac making icons uh in St Angelo and the historic downtown with history Arts cultural events music and housing for St Angel oans and their visitors the next steps tonight we do have a town hall meeting at the stt Angelo Fine Arts Museum anyone from the public is welcome to attend we have sent notices to all of those properties in that area that they're welcome to attend to ask questions of Staff it will be at number one love Street at 6 pm tonight we have drafted the ordinance and it is posted online so citizens can see that and we have made sure that citizens can comment via email phone and at the town hall meeting and through this process we propose a joint meeting with Planning Commission and city council to hear the ordinance on April the 1st with that mayor I do have the sign one to go through or do you want to ask questions on this this we ask for questions on this first and simplify it so we don't get too far ahead so ma'am

[1:04:18] does council have any com Harry I just want to make a comment I appreciate the work that this particular task force uh did to get to this stage uh I think the Cultural District is very very important to this particular community and what we've done is protect those particular businesses and and homes in that particular area while allowing some things to happen uh for future expansions and I'll say this district is very very important for this section of the city so thank [Music] you Larry would you like I see that face it looks like he wants to say something yes you said you had mail outs apparently have you what kind of responses have you received already well we did receive a few responses very positive uh we did receive one response saying they weren't able to see the r the map and so we created some different maps and made sure that we sent those out as well so they could see street names as opposed to something like this that you know us staff not thinking oh we know what the overhead image looks like but we need street names uh so so far we have not had any negative comments um but we welcome any comments that will come in and we'll be uh sure to visit with people and try to address their comments so that we bring something forward uh unilateral to the uh Planning Commission and city council other questions comments on this portion do we need to take a vote on this portion first or just can do it as a whole no the only action is going to be on the resolution to call for a public hearing otherwise it's information only that's right okay proceed thank you mayor so the next section is about the signs as you guys know uh we've had some moratorium on designation of offsite signs and what we have in our community have changed to really is what is referred to uh around the state as a billboard sign um we are asking to change that temporary

[1:06:23] designation and Mak it a permanent uh fix to calling them uh billboard signs not offsite signs um the charge back in uh December from city council was let's please please bring this back in six months let's look at what we need to do to make this correct according to the Supreme Court rulings and um really not dive into too many other things in the sign ordinance because a lot of things just don't need to be changed at this time and our our time frame is very narrow so we have gone through and here on the left side U the committee has been working very hard to understand what are the impacts of billboards in particular here on the left side you can see these purple areas that's the actual corridors in our ordinance that allow uh Billboards and you can see most of them are on our highway or entrances exits of our community now you can see a couple of these little yellow dots up here and you say well that's not in the corridor well we also have certain zoning districts that allow Billboards by right uh and those two actually were in um light manufacturing districts that allow Billboards by right so they're also looking at that so within that definition that we're doing a billboard that it uh looks at the distance from residential areas distance from intersections and distance from each others making sure that we don't have a high concentration and as we know that some Billboards are starting to turn to electronic messaging and so if they're closer to residential areas how is that dimmed after the nighttime hours or how is it facing so it's not interacting with the residential areas so we have created also an electronic message definition uh and our goal is to protect our residential districts and our neighborhoods and the overall aesthetic of our community as people are coming in and enjoying St Angelo currently our height for signs are designated by zoning district and if you just think back to that uh image about cenim and Abe and you saw that Patchwork of zoning districts seemed like almost every other property has a

[1:08:25] different height and so it's better done by Street classification is it an arterial is it a collector is it a local Street and so that it's easier for our sign companies and businesses to understand this is the maximum height they could have for a sign and the last thing we're looking at is just trying to be congruent with our intentions from uh our design districts of how our banners looked in our historic district our River Corridor our Cultural District and our downtown area so I just have some images of signs there's no commentary necessarily with these signs um as you go through them obviously I was hungry that day because almost every sign has to do with food um I don't know why that was this one is just always interesting to me um as as all of you know that we have a boarded building here that might even be on the dangerous building and yet they have a a not a billboard sign it's not big enough to be a billboard sign but a sign that's advertising off-site items and so we would we would just call that a freestanding sign now but there the property is getting benefits from having a sign on their property um that's the only reason why we kind of P point that out um these again of course are signs here um a nice little uh shop in the uh south side of town um they have Wall signs they have these kind of freestanding signs that are air activated we are seeing more and more of those around our town and there's a section in our ordinance that already deals with those and so um just something uh to bring people attention to again here's a corridor Avenue L you can see right here Blue Agave is across the street but they actually have a a nice wall sign there based on the size of the wall but you can still see it on Avenue L it it serves its purpose you can see all these signage along there that you know we're starting to get a lot of things and that's coming up to a pretty significant intersection and so those are the reasons why we look at signage of is that a distraction for our drivers is it serving the purpose of trying to draw people to the business uh we do have Billboards we got

[1:10:28] Billboards this is a legal billboard in our community you can see it's got kind of four signs two facing down one way two kind of facing the other way you know this presentation is making signs look very unattractive what are you aware of that that was not the intent it was just more informational across that way I apologize okay well I'll do better at the a if we do April 1 I'll do better with that um and then we have you know we always have real estate signs um that are out there uh in fact I saw one in downtown this morning uh at one of the businesses they're trying to sell but it had five signs within about 50 ft and so while I appreciate they're trying to move the property at some point we also as a community say okay how many do we really need within 50 feet of each other um so that's just things to think about so our rationale again was at moratorium since 202 through the court cases that had some temporary changes and we're wanting to adopt them as permanent and make minor changes to sections um locations of billboards is important to our community for the major safety decisions as well as aesthetic for the quality of of life being the visual arts capital of Texas Heights will be uh we will propose that Heights will be classified by roadway as opposed to zoning district and will ensure that the size location and lighting of signs meets the necessary standards to protect the health wealthy wealth welfare and safety of public and preserves the values of adjacent properties and we want to be reasonable with our sign regulations we know signs are important to our uh commercial customers uh they are important to getting out information and so we want to be reasonable uh and so we want to make sure that they continue to have the ability to communicate to customers and know that those commercial businesses are bolstering our community so with that we do have a town hall meeting on schedule for March 13th at the Tom Green County Library downtown uh it will be at 6 p.m. we have mailed

[1:12:30] notices to over 60 sign companies that have pulled sign permits so that we will get direct feedback from them we will also be sending this to our friends at the Chamber of Commerce uh to our friends at the HBA that they also have signed companies and businesses and things that are interested we'll also send it to our Downtown St Angelo organization uh so that they are invited as well so that we can hear from a multitude of folks to find out if we are being reasonable um the draft ordinance will be posted on or is posted online and again citizens can comment via email phone and at the town hall meeting and again we will propose the April 1st as the joint meeting uh trying to knock out these two these two items with one one meeting with that um staff is requesting to adopt a resolution for a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and the city council to be held on April the 1st um at 8:30 a.m. here at the mnes uh Convention Center for to discuss and the first reading of the expansion of the Cultural District overlay Zone which will amend section 304 section 311 and section 313 of the zoning ordinance and two discussion and first reading of the sign amendments in article 12.04 of the planning and development ordinance and section 420 of the zoning ordinance and we request to establish an alternative notice procedure being a newspaper notice to the Community 15 days before both items uh for uh to the public for these items to be discussed at the Joint meeting I'm going to go back to the sign ordinance piece of it and ask if there's any questions or comments from anyone on the signed ordinance piece of it so if you'll go back yes ma'am to that portion of it Karen no ma'am okay so I think the the big issue is number one does this satisfy all of the issues from Austin state regulations and then if there's Federal Regulations but you know in the

[1:14:34] past we've had some of a the state come out with some issues that we had to accommodate so does this take care of those issues yeah so the final holding that came down was you actually could have a distinction between offsite and on-site signs we actually during the moratorium we deleted that distinction and have found that um we think that that works for us and it's really Billboards that we want to regulate um so yes this satisfies that because we're we're taking out anyways but even if we left it in um we would still be satisfying uh the latest holding that came down on that okay yes Larry there a real softball question uh banners and I saw some of them there kind of like the one at downtown um wants to put in those are great I wondered about uh banners across an entire Street does that fall into this well those are currently regulated in our sign ordinance there's a process for them to go and request how to do that uh and so you see those in I think it's Bor guard primarily that those go across there may be some other areas in town that they go across but there is a process already for that we are proposing no changes for that uh and so we we want to continue to allow those those entities to celebrate uh items and notify the public of some type of item that way uh we we feel like that kind of still gives us that small town feel um and so so far our sign committee has not recommended any changes in that area one of the questions I get a lot and comments on are those floppy men things that you know are out there on streets or locations to draw attention to whatever talk about that so currently our ordinance has a Prohibition of what's called air activated signs and I don't have a a picture of those guys that fling their arms but that's an air

[1:16:37] activated signs one may argue that these signs are air activated because they're designed is to have movement and catch people's eyes as they're driving by to oh what is that uh and when you see a corridor like this that you have Avenue L and um chadburn Street there's a lot of traffic there different times of day and our concern is does that cause distractions for drivers um and so I we believe our current ordinance addresses that so we're not changing our current ordinance but I think it comes also down to education and educating not only our sign companies but our commercial properties of what's appropriate and what's what's too many those types of things so I think that's just an education effort that as we move forward with this and and adopt uh potentially a new ordinance is how do we educate those people and make sure that we're helping them understand what the rules are so we're saying these are okay flapping in the wind air movement but the little man isn't and what I would say that these currently in our ordinance are not allowed so the little man can't be allowed if these aren't allowed right okay there's also and I know that y'all heard it it's probably been six months ago about um whether they're inflatable items or um animated types of items and those currently in our ordinance are prohibited we're not proposing any changes uh one item that was brought up by the sign committee was about neon signs and currently we do not prohibit those uh it's about brightness not about what type of material is it made out of uh we actually I think neon signs can be very helpful particularly maybe in our Cultural District area or maybe along shood way that used to have a lot of neon signs and again it's about I think they're far more attractive than the electronic Billboards a personal opinion I agree and so it's more about City staff does not want to be put in the position of reading a sign for interpretation we need to be put in the position of how many and location yeah

[1:18:39] you're not into what's on the sign that's your responsibility correct that that's correct so that that's our goal with this these ordinance changes is to come into compliance make sure we have something that works for our community and still protects the safety and integrity of what the sign ordinance should do questions I was I was going to make a motion okay go ahead I'll make a motion second by Larry well this is to adopt the resolution so we don't have to have a motion right no you do need a motion to approve the resol we have a motion and a second any public comment Heather no ma'am then we'll take a vote all those in favor of approving all of these items these this resolution say I I any opposed motion passes 60 we will now move into our closed session executive session under the provision of government code Title 5 open government ethics subtitle a open government chapter 551 open meeting sub chapter D exceptions to requirement that meetings be open under the following sections a section 55107 to deliberations about real property regarding one approximately 2.11 Acres out of survey 20 WC R comp corporate company abstract 8138 approximately 143.5 eight Acres out of survey 19 wc.com doco abstract 4018 and approximately 8.39 Acres out of survey 4 and a half JW Johnson abstract 8647 and to approximately 316 Acres out of Sarah R Robertson survey number 178 abstract 8478 we will now be um um leaving this room and going to our Clos session order at 10:34 a.m. on Tuesday March the 4th um we have come back from

[1:20:43] our uh Clos session I am going to ask for a motion authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute a non-binding letter of intent with Skype box data centers LLC regarding the possible s sale of city property being approximately 343.15 and 8138 and 8.39 Acres out of survey 4 and a half JW Johnson abstract 8647 with a proposed purchase of $50,000 per acre subject to City council's approval of a final contract cont of sale and an agreement under chapter 380 of the Texas local government code may I have a motion for approval move to approve we all want I I think everyone said yes so I'm going to take it as a motion by Council and a second by councel make that in the notes public comment please that's kind of wonderful okay Lucy got it the loudest voice I'm sorry guys any public comment Michael vice president of Economic Development with the stt Angelo Chamber of Commerce serving the kosa DC um thank you with that we'll take a vote all those in favor say I I any opposed motion passes set 60 we will now move into our followup in administrative issues uh which is what we just did and now we're going to consider approving various board nominations designer and historic review commission Chris Carter s before to second term ending in uh September 2026 the Development Corporation Jimmy Barton smd3 to first term ending February 2027 Carlos Rodriguez smd4 to second term ending in February 2027 and Steven mafy smd5 to a second term ending

[1:22:46] February 2027 and the Zoning Board of adjustment Charles young smd2 to first term ending January 2020 7 may I have a motion for approval of the uh board nominees uh please we're pretty unanimous here so I'm going to take it from Lucy in a second from Harry all those in favor say I I we have just affirmed all of the appointments and now are there announcements and consideration of future agenda items seeing none hearing none I'll ask for a motion for adjournment move we adjourn second all in favor I I 60 thank you

Captured 2026-07-26 · source: youtube.com/watch?v=WhgNI87JyVk