San Angelo City Council 10-1-19

[0:00:00] get city council meeting going I want to remind everybody to put their cell phones on silent vibrate off whatever whatever the case may be we'll start out this morning with prayer Gary Jenkins from the police department would you please come forward good morning everyone giving honor to our mayor mayor the Honorable Brenda Gunther and to all the members of the City Council to our city manager to all of the city department heads and to everyone here in the council chambers I just say good morning to you and welcome let's pray father in heaven in the name of Jesus we bow before you to say thank you for this day we worship you and we give you glory and we seek your counsel in your face concerning all of the matters on the agenda today we ask you for wisdom for the City Council they may move and execute the business of the city in a way that will glorify you and honor you you have said in your word that we are to pray for kings and leaders of our nation and leaders of our community so that's why we're here to pray that you will give us divine favor that the city of San Angelo will continue to be the thriving and blessed community that it is this we ask in Jesus's name let everybody say Amen I'm at a stage in my life where I have to use these to read so today with he pledges we have Cornerstone Christian

[0:02:03] school third graders Presley Paxton and Paisley Rios and fourth grader Laurel I'm Brian if you'll come forward please honor the Texas flag I pledge allegiance to thee Texas once day under God Mayor Pro Tem I would just like to complement the ones that did our pledge this morning I don't usually do that but when I introduced that myself to them they made me aware that they're triplets and then that's their aunt so I just think that's pretty special so let's give them another hand we have a few proclamations this morning so we'll start Fire Prevention Week Santangelo is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living

[0:04:05] in and visiting in our city fire is a serious public safety concern both locally and nationally and homes are where people are at the greatest risk from fire homes kill two thousand six hundred and thirty people in the United States and 2017 according to the National Fire Protection Association the majority of fire deaths four out of five occur at home each year and a fire death rate per thousand home fires reported to the u.s. Fire Department was four percent higher in 2017 than in 1980 some of us around in 1980 when the smoke alarm sounds Santangelo arrests have less than two minutes to escape safety residents who have planned and practiced a home fire escape plan are more prepared and will be more likely to survive a fire residents should make a home escape plan drawing a map of each level of a home showing all doors and windows residents should practice the home fire state plan with everyone in the household at least twice a year during the day and at night practice using different ways out and in a real emergency residents should get low and go under the smoke to get out quickly Santangelo residents should teach children to escape on their own in case adults cannot help them and should make sure everyone in the home knows how to call 911 should get out and stay out never going back inside the home for people pets or belongings the 2019 Fire Prevention Week theme not every hero wears a cape plan an escape plan and practice your escape flexibly serves to remind us that we need to take personal steps to increase our safety from fire therefore I Harry Thomas Mayor Pro Tem of the city of San Angelo Texas on behalf of the City Council do here hereby proclaim October 6 to the 12th 2019 as fire prevention week and urge

[0:06:10] all citizens to be aware of their surroundings look for available ways out in the event of a fire and other emergency respond when smoke alarm sounds by exiting the building immediately and support the many public safety activities and efforts of the San Angelo fire emergency services during Fire Prevention Week so some words that have your proclamation [Laughter] thank you mayor pro-tem Thomas and the City Council people thank you to the city administration for allowing us this opportunity to come before the City Council and receive this proclamation and 1871 was the great fire in Chicago and it was such a tragedy that observation of Fire Prevention Week has been during that week that contains October 9th and we have programs that are occurring in the schools where we go out to try to teach the young people about fire safety and fire prevention because those are lessons that they can carry with them the rest of their lives and tragically the very young are often victims of fire so by teaching them early then they can have that knowledge to help protect their lives one thing that it showed us from 1871 one of the lessons is that fire prevention fire safety is a community effort and we should all work together it's though this year's theme is about not every hero wears a cape plan and practice your escape is an individual responsibility we all need to work together for fire prevention and life

[0:08:14] safety also with us today is the fire prevention administrator Ross Coleman he's in the room we're glad to have him here and thank you again mayor pro-tem Thomas [Applause] anacs proclamation is World habitat and affordable housing day come forward Monday October 7th 2019 Habitat for Humanity of San Angelo will join with his partners around the world in raising awareness educating and mobilizing individuals and communities to take action on the current global housing crisis Habitat for Humanity of San Angelo joins our partners and rededication ourselves to recognizing the basic right of everyone to adequate shelter we ask everyone to join together as one global network in communicating the message that every one of us deserves the opportunity for a better future a decent place to live can remove barriers to opportunity health and success for growing families now and for generations to come Habitat for Humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort on a community farm in southern Georgia the Christian housing organization has since become a leading global nonprofit working in more than 1300 communities throughout the US and in more than 70 countries families and individuals in need of a hand-up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place that they can call home

[0:10:17] Habitat homeowners helped build their home alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage everyone can help families achieve the strength stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves locally Habitat for Humanity of San Angelo galatea Community Development Corporation and the city of San Angelo stand together to ensure we can all provide affordable housing throughout the community through shelter we empower therefore I Harry Thomas Mayor Pro Tem of the city of San Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council do hereby proclaim Monday October 7th 2019 as world habitat day 2019 an affordable housing day in San Angelo Texas and call this observance in the attention to all of our citizens thank you so much I appreciate it mayor pro-tem Thomas and the city of San Angelo it's been very important to me since being at habitat to understand how housing helps our young future the kids of San Angelo and the kids of our nation in the future of our country depend on a affordable or a safe and decent environment to study and grow up in studies show that they do much better in school and that's very important and it just everybody deserves that decent place to live and in an affordable housing so it's my pleasure to be able to help people live their dream and it's and it's been a pleasure to work with galilee and the city of san angelo and helping us update homes and and keep the homes safe and then build new homes for people who have low income and they can live affordably so I appreciate it appreciate the time

[0:12:20] appreciate the proclamation thank you very much [Applause] make it real quick comment along with that I've got a couple of young people that come to the Boys and Girls Club almost every day that they do not have permanent housing and so I understand that what it takes to get people into a home or an apartment permanent type shelter because these particulars young people do not have the same advantages that my kids had or my grandkids had so I think it's very important that we support getting people into houses so the next one is recognition of the 75th anniversary of the Goodyear Santangelo proving grounds as you folks will come forward Steve and Greg if you'll come Walsall any brayer is the local of proving grounds manager Greg Colorado is director of technical and Steve pres Larry is your manager for development for the Americas yeah thank you Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company is a worldwide leader in development testing manufacture distribution and sales of multiple lines of tires for passenger vehicles commercial trucks aircraft off highway mining and racing applications they manufacture and develop products in 48 facilities in 22 countries and have a global sales of more than 15 billion dollars Goodyear Tire testing operations were first established in San Angelo in 1944 and Goodyear has invested several hundred million dollars in the local economy over the last 75 years goodyear

[0:14:23] san angelo proving grounds associates will celebrate 70 75th anniversary in october 20 19 therefore i Harry Thomas Pro Tem Mayor Pro Tem of the city of San Angelo Texas on behalf of the City Council to hereby recognize applaud Goodyear san angelo proving grounds for its 75th anniversary and it's positive determination to make a difference in our community good morning on behalf of all the associates working out at the proving grounds I'd like to thank City Council for this recognition for the 75th anniversary but also this week not only are we celebrating our 75th anniversary but we have a we're celebrating a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new test track at the proving grounds in addition to that we also have a groundbreaking ceremony for a construction of a new test facility for testing large earthmover mining tires a lot to celebrate this week shows good years commitment to the proving grounds the combined investment in these recent construction projects totals in the area of 50 million dollars in the facility so I think it shows a commitment to the proving grounds and to the San Angelo community going forward thank you all yeah it's been my pleasure I've been visiting San Angelo since the early 80s when I first started at Goodyear and it was hard to believe it was 75 years and we're very proud of the the people we have here and the work that gets done and as Randy mentioned this type of an investment is really a sign of our corporations investment into this community as well we thank everybody in this chamber thank you very much one of the things that I really take a lot of pride in with the San Angelo proving

[0:16:26] grounds is the people right the people that we have working for us at the facility are second to none very dedicated very proud workers want to do the right thing all the time so that's a tribute to everybody in this room and it's a tribute to all the elected officials as well in the educational process as you have in place here to be able to produce the type people that were able to hire and work for us and then do the job that they do for us so thank you very much [Applause] it's certainly a better pleasure for me because I spent 40 years at Goodyear so having the opportunity to present this proclamation was doubly pleasing for me we have one more proclamation this morning and that is the n-double-a-cp national convention welcome I believe is actually the state convention is that right surely everybody else that wants to come forward great thank you I appreciate that whereas since its inception nearly a century ago the n-double-a-cp he has continued to fight for voting rights economic equality and educational opportunities and has worked to advance the social political and economic condition of ethnic people of color and whereas our nation has benefited from the n-double-a-cp s unwavering dedication to the objective of securing full citizenship rights justice in all courts and equality of opportunity for all and

[0:18:31] whereas all have benefited from the commitment of to these principles on the part of the members of the n-double a-c-p now therefore I Harry Thomas Mayor Pro Tem of the city of San Angelo hereby welcome the n-double-a-cp state convention to the city of san angelo and ask that all of our citizens continue to work for the principles they have dedicated themselves to uphold good morning Thank You mayor pro-tem and to the City Council we appreciate this distinction this morning we're very proud to be the local chapter and we're welcoming the membership across the state of Texas that will begin on Thursday through Sunday morning so we're excited we've been established locally since 1946 it was started by La Rabin whom many of you recall mr. Rabin being around and about in the community this is our first opportunity ever in our local history the n-double a-c-p is celebrating 110 years since 1909 and so we're very proud to welcome our guests here this week and I'm sure you'll see them around and about so please show them a good West Texas Oasis welcome and thank you very much Thank You mayor pro-tem Thomas I just want to say I was a direct beneficiary of the founder la Ravens efforts to integrate the San Angelo community he was responsible for me getting my very first job when I was a senior in high school at West Texas Utilities when we had the office here he actually went down talked to them and told them y'all need a look color in here y'all need to hire a minority and they call Central and asked if there were any african-americans in there distributive education program I was the only one so that was my first opportunity so I can

[0:20:36] say personally what the n-double-a-cp has meant for me and for my family and for this community so I just am so grateful that we're able to host the 82nd state a Texas state convention here in San Angelo so we're looking forward to a grand time there are some events that are open to the public at no cost we encourage you to come out and support thank you morning I'm Deborah Butler I'm the vice president of our local chapter past president back in my early in my late 20s and this is so exciting and so good for San Angelo to be able to host this convention I will go along with everyone else and say anyone that has a chance please come out this weekend thank you good morning my name is Mitchell Reid I probably know me back in the day in 77 played football for central n-double-a-cp had to fight for me during the times of things that was happening at Central and our theme this week is that when we fight we win we go to fight we're not just fighting for the Equality of black people or Hispanic or white we're fighting for all people we're fighting for the in justices for every human being so I just want you guys to know that in this fight that we're fighting we cannot win without you god bless you [Music] [Applause] we'll move on to the rest of the agenda

[0:22:55] right export portion of the agenda is public comment issues or concerns not on the regular agenda may be raised by the public at any time citizens should speak from the podium address all comments to the disk begin by stating their name and address on the single-member district therefrom and limit remarks to less than three minutes I know we have at least one person out there that has public comment Joe good morning Mayor Pro temp Council mr. Valenzuela Joe Spano manager municipal services for the public and here with great news so I wanted to introduce the new general manager for business unit 215 is what we're called so bu 215 encompasses abilene division and the San Angelo division and so I have here Brittany recognized she's our new general manager and so Brittany is is tasked with overseeing the operations of 150 employees and two divisions to landfills forty municipal we have 40 city contracts in our division and thousands of open market customers that we service every single day so Brittany has been with us for 10 years she has been our finance manager so she should be a familiar face and she is very approachable and very accessible so I would encourage you to get to know Britni and she is much more likable than me so kudos to you you have somebody who is a very approachable - to deal with whenever needs arise of course I'm always here for you but again I just

[0:24:59] wanted to let you know the good news we appreciate the business that San Angelo brings us and it's a pleasure to serve this community and I just wanted to let you know about the change we're super excited about it thank you Oh would you bring Brittany to the microphone and I know I know that she probably does not speak as often as you do but I want to give her the chance so the citizens know the new face and Santangelo Brittany mayor pro-tem Thomas and City Council thank you so much for your support I'm very excited in this new role and I look forward to continuing to partner with you and servicing this wonderful city I've been here for over 17 years and I love the city and I love being a part of it and making it better so thank you thank you very much thanks Joe any other public comment this morning Chamber of Commerce good morning I am Bruce parts hanging the president CEO of the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce Thank You Mayor Pro Tem Thomas and council I just want to remind everyone that one week from today in this building will be the Business Expo the 28th annual business expo from the chamber of commerce we have a really great group of exhibitors that are lined up if you're interested in who's coming check out san angelo RG we have we've divided it into four discrete parts this year so we think that's pretty exciting on the evening of Monday October 7th will be our buyers meat suppliers so we're inviting procurement specialists supply chain specialists to come on out and meet the exhibitors sort of in a preview from 5:15 to 6:15 on Monday October 7th then we'll kick the day off early about 9 o'clock here in the main exhibit hall inviting business people specifically to come and visit with us until about 11:30 and so that'll be just bring a business card free entrance with

[0:27:01] that and then from about 11:30 til 1:00 well probably 12:45 we have added in the famous State of the City luncheon with an address by mayor Brenda Gunther and city manager Daniel Valenzuela and then from that point on we've invited an extra about 20 nonprofits to join us so you'll see a lot of your favorite nonprofits exhibiting in the hall and then these the general public is invited to come at that point through about 3:30 so we really look forward to October 8th the Business Expo said Angelo ort and we appreciate very much your port Thank You mercy any other public comment this morning with that will close public comment and we'll go into the consent agenda I'll start with the Councilwoman do it do we have anything that you want to pull no sir um nothing to pull well with that I'd entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented we got a motion and a second any public comment all those in favor aye aye any opposed that's 5-0 okay so then we'll move right directly into the regular agenda this morning and we'll start with item a consider awarding apo 219 runway 18/36 and commercial apron rehabilitation to american road maintenance in the amount of 1 million two hundred and sixty thousand dollars seven hundred two hundred sixty thousand to seven hundred and thirty two dollars for the airport improvement project 39 and authorizing

[0:29:05] the city manager to negotiate and execute all related documents airport manager jeremy balance morning thanks for having me Brian do I got slides there they are thank you so this is our entitlement grant if you're not aware we have the opportunity to accept a grant from the FAA for a million dollars every year to put towards capital improvement projects at the airport the project for this year is to rehabilitate runway 1 8 and 3 6 and that will the scope of that is rubber removal crack seal seal coat it's a GSB 88 material it's actually the only material left in the FAA spec that the FAA will tolerate we know what we can no longer use coal tar and then we're gonna repaint the runway in all the hold bars once we're done with that we'll move over to the commercial apron which is the concrete apron out in front of the terminal we're gonna replace all the joints ill with new joint sealer and replace some broken concrete slabs the timeline is expected to take 60 working days so here's a diagram of the project runway 1 836 is the one that parallels the terminal it's the one that gets most use in fact if you look at it from Google Earth that looks like a concrete runway but it's just because the asphalt so oxidized that it's turned white so that GSB a day will get in and rejuvenate the the asphalt hopefully extend the life of that runway these are just some pictures we took you can see the black down the center line that's the rubber we get the military jets that like to come in and and beat up the runway and leave and so they leave their mark there's just another close-up picture so that that white line in the center that's our centerline but the pilots try and aim for it it's just it's hard to see because of all the rubber deposits we get over to the commercial ramp we're gonna replace the joint sill

[0:31:12] and all the blue section and then in the red section you can see that's where the new American Airlines aircraft enters gate 1 there and the Embraer 175 it's got those really low hanging engines and we don't want ROC to get sucked up in those engines because the concrete slabs over there starting to break so the FAA has agreed to throw that and part of the scope to get those slabs repaired we had three bidders American Road maintenance from Tucson Maxwell asphalt from Salt Lake and Vance brothers from Kansas City Missouri unfortunately we didn't have any local bidders for this project the FAA has given us the grant for one million one hundred thousand six hundred dollars so our match is going to be 120 mm 289 and that's going to be using PFC funds so the total amount that we're eligible to use million two hundred and twenty two thousand eight hundred and eighty nine dollars bids came in a little bit high the construction portion alone is 1 million two hundred and sixty thousand seven hundred and thirty two and the engineer that we have on retainer for this is KSA so there Porsche though it's gonna be a hundred and nine thousand three sixty two it makes a total project cost 1 million three hundred seventy thousand and ninety four and ninety four so you can see we've got a shortfall of one hundred and forty seven thousand two hundred and five dollars so fortunately the FAA is gonna work with us and they're willing to give some of our 2020 entitlement grants to make up for that shortfall so we'll probably get two grants issued to us next fiscal year before you move on I probably should know this but I don't PSC what does that stand for I'm sorry PFC is a passenger facility charge so that's a passenger facility charge I'll okay so it's four dollars and fifty cents for every ticket that's purchased out of our Airport yes American Road maintenance was a little bitter in 1 million two hundred sixty thousand seven hundred and thirty two so what I'm looking for is us to be able to

[0:33:18] issue that notice of award to American Road maintenance for that amount any questions here you wish is my good yes Jeremy this comes with a recommendation from your correct yep this this has been through airport board and they recommend we issue the notice of award to American Road maintenance thank you questions from Council move to approve we got a motion to approve in a second any further discussion any public comment all those in favor say aye any opposed same sign motion passes 5-0 she probably mentioned before we get into any further public comment make sure that when you come to the podium you state your name and address or your single-member district each citizen can speak just once per item unless asked comment by a city council person public comment is three minutes and less extended by the council or if we have anybody that needs translation services the proponent or opponent is up to five minutes and less extended by a council person so just a reminder that the council has no obligation to respond to comments or questions from the public so with that we're gonna move into the the next item and that's consider consider approving the purchase of public safety equipment from axon enterprises incorporated in the amount of 1 million six hundred and eighty one thousand eight hundred and ninety four dollars and twenty nine pennies somebody should tell me where that twenty nine pennies comes in through by board contract number five six eight dash 18 and authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute all related documents chief Carter or somebody from the police department good morning Mayor Pro Tem council members chief Carter

[0:35:24] with a standalone Police Department got a brief PowerPoint here on axon and body cameras after the completion of the PowerPoint if you have any questions we certainly entertain that a San Angelo Police Department purchase request the Centennial Police Department quest Council authorization to award the purchase of public safety equipment of axon Enterprises LLC in the amount of close to 1,000 $1,700,000 Exxon enterprises a member Texas by board and cooperative through by board contract 568 - 1/8 here you'll see a slide is the three components the axon body which is the actual body camera the axon fleet is the cameras that actually go into the vehicles and then the axon interview rooms which there's three of those what's not included in this this also includes 62 pages for each officer benefits of implementation unified system for all digital evidence including car video body worn and enter you run footage equipment replacement proposed pricing arrangement includes upgrades throughout the project to ensure SCPD utilizes state of the art equipment as technology advances officer safety program includes upgrades and replacement of tasers and cartridges throughout the term of the contract improve that CPD's capacity to positively contribute to the criminal justice process by facilitating dissemination of evidence to all prosecutors SAPD purchase request the actual total cost was a little over two million dollars at discount of 19 percent brings it to just under 1.7 million the funding options you can have five equal payments at three hundred thirty six thousand annually or forty percent upfront which would be six hundred seventy two thousand and then each year after that two hundred fifty two thousand again that's very quick will entertain any questions you may

[0:37:28] have at this time counsel we have a motion on the floor to approve is presented in a second any other discussion from the council any public comment no public comment we'll take a vote all in favor say aye aye any opposed same sign motion passes five Sarah Thank You counsel item C on the regular agenda is a second reading in public hearing of an ordinance approving the environment of approximately 105 school thousand square feet of the East Avenue D public right-of-way generally located between South Oak Street and Russ Street and the Fort Concho audition someone John are you going to come forward with this thank you yes since this is second reading we don't have a PowerPoint presentation or anything to present but our practice is typically to put it on the regular agenda when there was not a unanimous vote on first reading so this comes to you on second reading for your discussion very good and thank you I have a statement to make which I typically wouldn't do sitting in this chair before I had the other council people coming to the microphone but so let me do this those of you that know me know safety is extremely important to me and some of the organizations that I belong to safety is number one closing of this portion of Avenue D has been something I have been interested in ever since I saw a child nearly get hit trying to cross the street to get to the vehicle that was picking him up for the safety of the kids from Fort Concho Elementary and the safety of staff guests from Fort Concho national historic museum I have looked for ways to help with this process I will continue to work with the school Fort Concho and Russ Street ministries to look at possible additional parking to alleviate the necessity of parents having to park on Avenue D to pick up

[0:39:31] their children we will also be working with a San Angelo Police Department to ensure traffic speeds are enforced in this neighborhood I still think that closing this portion of Avenue D through Fort Concho is important however the citizens of this neighborhood have spoken they are concerned about the closing of this portion of Avenue D with that I will make a motion to deny the closure do I have a second I will second that motion there put him upon me excuse me our mayor Brenda Gunter's out of town today don't you sorry she couldn't beat him she dead state that of course she's at a transportation meeting representing the city right now but she did want me to read a statement from her as mayor of the city of San Angelo I have a responsibility to listen to these citizens and make a decision based on their input I feel at this point that closing Avenue D is not the right decision it's from Airbender Gunther very good I know that there is at least that could be some input from some other council people so I want to open it up Tom do you have a comment absolutely I've got phone calls and this is not in my district it's Harry's district Eileen for Harry's direction on this but I went and my kids went to Fort Concho for several years I was in that traffic line for many I never used to have a nudey my son attends young life two nights a week write down the same street I've watched people nearly get run over watch three girls nearly get run over the other night and I see the point I think it's a safety and clarification issue there I think what we have now is an issue of convenience versus safety I get that I see the part I mean I've had people from my church call up and say well you know just because you didn't use Avenue D I well you know I get that and I understand but I want people say I think

[0:41:33] what you have to look at is convenience versus safety and I'm gonna lean on the edge of safety with my vote I get that nothing against anybody I just think that's a long-term concern we have to keep in mind their input from Council I would just like to say that I will continue to vote the way I did last time and that is to keep it open I believe that that Street is accessible to these citizens that live in that neighborhood and I think we need to listen to them when they speak and ask us to leave that Street open so my vote would still be to leave the street open any other council I would just like to echo what has been said already I do think it is convenience versus safety but I do not change my vote one of the commitments that I made when I campaigned for the City Council was that I would listen to the citizens of the city and vote in their best interest whenever I could and because of the loud outcry and particularly the citizens that said I'm ill someone in my family is ill we need a quick easily accessible way for emergency vehicles to get to us and we did hear from the fire department and the police department that there would not be any delay in people getting to them but we know that our perceptions drive a lot about a lot of our emotions and so I am glad that Mayor Pro Tem Thomas is going to continue to work with the school and work with rust Street ministry in finding an alternative way that we can make sure that our citizens feel safe feel comfortable in their homes and that we care about them so I appreciate the

[0:43:36] opportunity to speak on that I thank you Mayor Pro Tem Thomas for your willingness to say let's take a step back on this because sometimes I think that's what we have to do we have to step back take a look at the realities of the situation how the public feels about it and make some decisions based on that so I think this was the right move I'm glad that the mayor you know felt the same way and so I think it just makes me feel better about who we are sitting up here thank you the same perspective this Tom safety is a concern of mine I'll continue to support my vote from last time I do think there needs to be a little bit of relook on this it doesn't look like it will be closing based on what I've heard today but that'll give us time to step back take a look to see how we can make it better for maybe a future enclosure the way soon they're still gonna have events down there so what's going to be the procedure four days of events I mean certainly I think Bob is here Bob what you can please come to the microphone speak to that err counsel we have had a policy for many years of petitioning the Planning Division to close the street for events and I would anticipate that we would do that for the future my board shares the safety issues and they have instructed me to file those paperwork's to close the street anytime we have a major event in which safety would be an issue any questions from op with that one thank you thank you any public comment on this particular item artists good morning

[0:45:47] ladies and gentlemen of the council my name is Daniel Carolyn else I'm an ex city council member for 12 years served three years in the school board and eight years on the Zoning Board of adjustments I have a lot of experience in this field but the main issue here was the children but there's two main issues that children and the neighborhood okay it's not just a school it's the neighborhood demonstrate to you my interest in my concern I've been working with a serpentine of the sons and I just and it had been a school district for the past six months we've walked the school district area of our being pushing for them to buy all the homes on Highland there are adjacent to Washington at Washington Drive so I'm a door am I out there doing my work you know so it's not like I became concerned about this yesterday no it's been there Avenue D is very important to be stay open we've never had a problem with a Ford utilizing the street or closing the street for their activities we have always supported them but Mike my concern has always been the neighborhood okay the neighborhood the school we got cheated out of a grounds the encroached us into less than two acres for us when today they talk about to build a brand new elementary school talking about 12 to 15 acres come on we have to stand up for what's right I have always had up a my philosophy has always been plus popular it's not always right like what's right you know what's proper it's not always right okay I forgot my head but what pupper it's not always buy it right what's right it's not always popular and I hope and I appreciate you guys for it take them take a special consideration on this issue and I'll

[0:47:51] continue fighting for issues that concern my district and the people in my district and again every new D is very important it is for you to say open for the safety of the neighborhood thank you so much god bless any other public comment mr. mayor members of the council I'm Marc Brown I live behind Fort Concho on Baker Street and I appreciate the council listening to the comments of folks who live behind the for east of the fort west of the concho River the Consul Rivers basically form a moat on the east side of that neighborhood and Avenue D is the most direct way to get out or get in I know what the fire and police folks have said they can still get in there they certainly can but I've been living there and driving in there for 15 years and when I want to get home quickly I go down to Avenue D that is the fastest way to get back there so from the standpoint of safety for the neighborhood I think it should stay open I appreciate that the school children problem but I and I welcome the working on trying to address that because if that is a concern but I think there's another way besides closing the street maybe you put up a tall white picket fence between the school so kids can't even get over there Avenue D or you get more land as the Daniel talked about but I don't think that justifies closing this the street apparently I missed the memo that this was going on somebody just told me yesterday Avenue DS about to be closed I want to show you the sign that was put up to notify the public of this I didn't take this sign down this has been laying on the ground flat for at least 10 days

[0:49:53] and I went and picked it up this morning before the hearing I don't know if you can read that when I drove about I saw the zoning request this was at the corner of Oaks and Avenue D I saw selling requests I drove back multiple times well that's not anything affecting me certainly never ever dreamed it meant closing a street well somebody with a black magic marker I don't know if you can read it it actually says at the top ro W abandonment I never saw that from my car and this is the only notice I posted on the ground that I know of and I'll give this back to the planning department if they won't do it I'll go back and lay it on the ground again it's been laying down but I just think this is as a practical matter this is defective notice I went and talked to some neighbors yesterday and they said they received a flyer they were driving home down Avenue D and the city handed out flyers to people and that's okay but I never got a flyer and had no other notice of it so I'm extremely appreciative today that y'all are looking at leaving it open because if you close it you've got about a 7 block stretch there between Highland and Byrd where there's no direct access into the neighborhood so it really is from the safety of the neighborhood I think an important thing to leave open thank you any other probably comment good morning city council my name is Fred Dietz I live 602 Powell Street behind Fort Concho and we are concerned about the children safety but you know you can't close the street just cause kids run across the street they had a child hit in Lakeview last week are we going to close that streets we can't do that I think one thing they can do is make parking on the

[0:51:57] side side of the street only during the hours what they release the kids from school only because if you closed out on your D they have a lot of functions there weddings and different things reunions and stuff and those barracks there and people won't be able to get those barracks and as they walk from Oak Street to the middle of the barracks there that's gonna cut the revenue down for a Fort Concho belief but we are concerned about the kids but every every school in town has kids crossing streets so you can't close the streets for that that's my opinion thank y'all for listening to us we oppose it and we're not the only ones opposing it all the people that pick up the kids there are opposing it because it's terrible right now they have to wait a long time the line is all the way to Oak Street and down south from there if you pose Avenue D it's gonna cause problems there and problems for the the ones that eat there at that other deal at Fort Concho thank you very much any other public comment I'm a Wayland cook see I live on Baker Street so I'm a resident of the neighborhood and I'm also on the Fort Concho Board and I want to thank the council for taking the time to look at this seriously I don't envy y'all's position you got a decision with mutually exclusive motivators you're putting logic up against emotions logically it's been a goal of the court for a long time to close that Street it would help the Ford with the collection of entrance fees it would allow the fort to offer additional guests as for guest services in the form of transportation for elderly because we could use golf carts at that point it would also help the fort collect fees

[0:53:59] because a lot of people come in on Avenue D go to the fort and never actually pay their fees to get in you've heard from your your hired employees the police department Fire Department and they believe it's the Zoning Commission or the Planning Commission all say they're in favor of it so you your paid employees that you pay for their expertise have all said that this is the right decision to make then on the emotional side you have and I understand people wanted to pick up their kids from schools I'll happen to worked in schools for a lot of years and have been in that neighborhood I've driven through there a lot of times that's not an official pickup spot and the reason it is unsafe is because it's not an official pickup spot schools are constantly constantly trying to make their pickup zones safer and parents for the sake of convenience are constantly going to non-authorized pickup zones as I went through a couple of times isn't this since our last council meeting say people pick up the kids and then make a u-turn on Avenue D so besides hitting kids I'm surprised we haven't had wrecks there it's an unsafe situation also living in that neighborhood and I've done a non scientific investigation really the only people that should be hindered much are the people who actually live on Avenue D if they're living on one of the other side streets they're still gonna have to make a 90-degree turn at some point to get to their street thank you oh one more thing by the way mr. Thomas he's my counseling and every time I've sent him an email he's been very responsive and very open and very helpful so thank you thank you any other public coming good morning my name is Lou I live in the cactus hotel here in downtown San Angelo I'm not from San Angelo I moved here at the turn of the century in the year 2000 actually the first place I live in San Angelo was at the cactus hotel one of my favorite things to do would be on a Sunday evening to walk over to the fort and feel the energy in the history of that place I'm on the Fort Concho museum board which I thought

[0:56:04] about that what does that mean what is Fort Concho Fort Concho is a National Historic Landmark it's also a museum it's also a public park or pleasuring ground I had the pleasure to serve as a National Park Service seasonal Ranger I have a degree in recreation resources management from the University of Montana and a degree in history from the University of Texas I think that it's good that y'all are taking a step back because I agree I don't think you've heard enough of the citizens of San Angelo and how they truly feel about this issue but don't step too far back even when the streets closed it's not safe I've been there at Christmas at Old Fort Concho talking to friends walking along and stepped off that curb and almost broke my ankle more than once because I'm a ditzy redhead so it's not safe even when it's closed the city engineer would have been prepared if asked to note that the removal of the street and rebuilding through missed the missing portion of the playground would not push more water into that neighborhood it would in fact draw water away from the historic structures and it would improve drainage onto the parade ground which would help because as we know grass needs water and so water would go there too to make the playground more beautiful I've done what many people do the first time I came to the fort was in the mid-80s my brothers brother lived here before I came here unfortunately moved away when I moved here but anyway we went to the fort and we parked on Avenue D like a lot of people do and we got out and we looked at the beautiful officer quarters we snapped a couple of photos and we left so we didn't go to the visitors center we didn't make a donation we didn't make an entry fee that's something that would happen I think if you would restore the parade ground and make that one unit when you're walking on the opposite side where the barracks are and you look over there and there's a street you think well is that part of the fort I don't know why is this street here I think it's also somebody mentioned the Alamo and on October 18th of 2018 the City Council at San Antonio did vote to close

[0:58:06] streets in San you know they are closing right of way on Alamo Street Alamo Plaza Houston Street and limiting sections of right away located on Alamo Plaza Alamo Street bum Street Crockett Street and East Houston Street this is not unprecedented I know that you're taking a step back and I appreciate that and I want you to hear more voices from the citizens of San Angelo this impacts visitors from around the world please don't step too far back look at this see the good that's there for the majority of the people and vote for abandoning that Street in the future please and thank you my name is Pat Quint I live at 602 East Avenue D we have resided there for 45 years and I thank you for stepping back that Street needs to be open on the way here this morning I had my husband go to Oakes we went down to Byrd Street we turned on Byrd Street Bird Street is a dead end Baker comes off of Byrd Street there are apartment houses on Bird Street if there was an emergency those people need to get out as well as us the other entrance is Highland granted Baker circles down goes around and somewhere connects to Highland then Highland comes around and there's the school to it there's so much that is in there that couldn't possibly get out if there was an emergency at 3 o'clock and all those people are coming to pick up their children there's no way you could get in there maybe at that crosswalk on Avenue D they could put up people like they do it all the other schools to see to it where they need to walk Granite when you step down on the street from the scene everything I just think maybe signs need to be set there

[1:00:09] step down I'm praying that you do not close it Washington is a dead end so that's not a good thing the wisdom of the prayer is I'm happy that there is wisdom and y'all are there your our wisdom Saturday I was in Granberry and my doorbell rang on my phone I answered the phone and I said hello and the phone was hi I'm Brenda Gunther and I changed my vote I want the street to stay open I thanked her she left now that was really um I mean I can't tell you what that did to me that she does care she was against it but she changed her mind that's all we're asking please keep it open any other public comment and my name is Shirley Spears and I am a small business owner here in San Angelo and I am the secretary of the board at Fort Concho Museum I am in favor of getting the street closed for several reasons and I'll try not to spend too much time before I'm buzzed to stop talking but I wanted to make sure that I reiterated something that someone mentioned earlier that Avenue D has never been and is not unauthorized or supervised pickup or drop-off point for the school and that's very important now the Fort engages with the school on various occasions it's accessible to them they have various programs there and it's always something that the fort has always done to participate with the school I'd also like to say that when you look at it not being as a parent of course my child is grown but when you look at it not being a drop-off point then you've just created potentially a

[1:02:11] problem for you and your child when you're going around barriers or around areas that have been a setup for supervision for the safety of your children I want to say that perhaps the convenience is an overriding factor here but I also want to make sure that we realize that we have laws in place such as with the school district and policies to make sure that the children are always protected and this area is not an approved drop-off point I want to also talk about the contributions of the fort we see people from around the world the country the state the city there are even people in this area who still don't even know about the beauty of Fort Concho and what it has to offer but we've about 55,000 guests a year and it seems to me that if that Street were closed that it would allow us to extend the parade ground so that as has been mentioned there is just a continuity for the whole fort and everyone can see the beauty of the fort and it's not like walking through or driving through a museum in the middle of whatever the display is and so the whole fort is the full display it is a National Historic Landmark and I think that we need to connect it together so that it continues to be the beauty and the gym that it is for the Santangelo community thank you additional public comment counsel my name is Javier Morales I live on every day as well now one of the the points that you were pointing out it was a safety for the kids out there or never daddy now I'm gonna deviate a little bit away from the Avenue D term there my concern as a as a parent you know if we're talking safety here I see a lot of

[1:04:16] central students going from central in groups of 20 sometimes going towards McDonald's making you know restaurant purchases there I wish you guys could consider you know if you really care about kid safety to consider maybe something for them you know as well I know we're talking about our neighborhood and I appreciate all the you know all my neighbors you know coming out here and and I hope you're listening but what I'm saying is there is a problem central you know with those kids crossing I'm concerned some we're gonna lose a kid one day so I'm I'm just trying to open up some eyes here I don't know if he if you're the only ones that don't see it or or if I'm the only one that's seen the problem there sooner or later you know appreciate your comments about central but we want to concentrate on Avenue D I understand yeah that's fine I just want to open eyes since we had the opportunity talking about kids safety this morning okay thank you so much for this it's no public comment you get back to the microphone morning my name is Cinderella this I live in 7:30 Powell Street I would like for 58 years okay I've seen everything there and I everybody is the street that we should save lives okay I've been there when Highland Street has drains a lot you can't get out I mean the water goes about one foot high there's no way you're gonna get out now people that come to here and say for Tyson it's a real nice place ya know it's a nice place people come from all over the world to see for culture yes they do but those people come from all over the world are they gonna save in his hearing God prevent if it's a cool case fire at three o'clock from the Fuhrer is now who's gonna turn out the

[1:06:20] fire are the people from all over the world concern off the fire we live there and not only us that the neighborhood people that don't live there if they can come over and say for them whatever they please you know so I'm just saying that we all decide which way to go you know do the best thing you can do for our neighborhood and for the school Thank You Lonnie additional public comment my name is Michele Malone I live on Kenley Lane in Chris dovell but my family lives on Avenue D they've been there 45 years and what nobody is even paying attention everybody wants the fort to be beautiful and historic and that's great but that road is so important because it is the only one shot in and they're right about when Highland when it rains it completely floods you can't get in it I also own a business on Oak Street so getting over Oak Street and Highland it floods there a lot of times traffic has to be rerouted that way so there is an emergency Baker Street or bird would be the only way also I don't think what anybody realizes the parade grounds are over 10 acres somebody said that the the parade grounds are an actual polo field size that's five football fields so that's I mean the Ford already has so much property it's beautiful as it is and I get all of more but they closed

[1:08:26] the road that should be enough they only do the events for the fort that row should only need to be closed for that because it's the neighbors the kids are only in school from 8:00 to 4:00 then the neighborhood we're here 24 hours seven days a week we need to be able to get in that's all I want to say it's no public comment I think this gentleman up fronts been trying to come for a while on Fenton and I have two grandchildren they go to Fort Concho Elementary I mainly have a question have y'all considered or have y'all of taken a poll from school teachers and from the parents that use that school if not why not take a poll why not get something in the mail see what they have to say about it I find this tree very useful I think the street he allows people to get into the fort without having a walk I have football field I think the street could be very pretty it could be a pretty street with a little decoration a little bit of this and that and there's all kinds of artsy people in this town and Quebec I street nice but I think it needs to stay open I think I need to take a poll of the teachers and parents of those students appreciate your comments I think if you'll have a conversation with the principal lit at Fort Concho she will tell you that one of her concerns is the safety of the kids so I don't know what the PTA said or what any of the other parents said but I think that's that was one of the one of her concern that's one person that's one person feels responsibility in a certain area I think you need to talk to her are

[1:10:29] people still public comment do you have to I want to ring in as being in favor of what you're doing is for postponing but I think it ought to be like you set it up on a schedule of maybe five years reviewing this I know you're going to tear down that you're in the process of beautifying beautification around that area and I think that's great I think you you need to proceed with that but you also need to I think the signage on this on this situation was poor and but it's probably better than many of them have been as far as changing zone zoning in whatever you everybody complains about the same thing so maybe we need to address that but the the fort needs to be and to move forward to and I think it could be more than what it is but it's going to take a revaluation of the traffic in that area maybe the school system needs to demagnetize if you will the that for a concho school and and put and put it somewhere else and maybe minimize that that school as much as possible but these things take time and but it needs to be worked towards and everybody has to be there were a lot of elderly people concerned about having access to medical treatment via the ambulance and if you go you go in one side but you can't get out the other side because it's a maze and has a potential like other streets in in your area filling full of water and I've witnessed when we had that four-year four inch rain and that that place becomes a torrid across there and and I

[1:12:36] was amazed that I didn't get involved in that but the Fort Bragg ground was pretty much involved so reasons to summarize move forward but let's that's planted out in phases thank you additional public comment morning mayor pro-tem council staff Kathy Keene our president was not able to be here today and she asked me if I would speak on behalf of the museum board I'm not going to take the time to litigate every issue that's been made doctor would you would you state your name sorry Roger Bank single-member district 6 but those issues that have been the neighborhood access Public Safety and response times all of those have been acknowledged and stated that it would not affect anything by by the assistant chief of police and fire departments rust Street ministries also provided a letter of support traffic on adjacent streets was studied by the street and bridge department and they also said that they would not be as adversely affected you have a letter in your council packages that stated that the school was in support of closing the D because of safety not only for the kids but because of the access from the street into the open campus from there it's often perceived as being convenient but it truthfully it is unsafe so additional points that I think have gotten lost in the discussion is that the fort has also proposed opening a cul-de-sac on the east end of a vanity by rest rate ministries for parents that

[1:14:39] still would like to pick their kids up even though it would not be enough an authorized place so that would be one thing I think there's also some negotiations going on in that area for additional parking drainage at the fort by regrading a property would be allowed to move water from a historic property towards the parade grounds so the water pooling around the historic foundations are causing you extra maintenance and problems as well two extra taxpayer dollars to clean some of that up guess services we've talked about by closing streets we can now provide services for seniors and folks with disabilities Drive offs as far as your loss of revenue could also be curtailed so by supporting this project you're who are continuing the restoration the program increasing the safety of schools tourists parents and staff you're improving the sight in school security improving drainage around the historic buildings we would be enhancing his services and increased revenue closing let me say for concho serves the entire city of San Angelo and thanks to bold efforts from City Council's over the last 65 years for Kanto has the distinction of being the one of the most preserved forts east of the Mississippi something that we're all proud of and we talk about our every chance that we get so on behalf of the museum board we thank you all for your continued support to our community and we look forward to working with this council to continue that legacy thank you very much additional public comment anyone else in the audience want to speak to this particular item that we please come forward good morning mayor pro-tem the City

[1:16:49] Council my name is Leroy Anderson I live at 618 Powell Street it's directly I'm back to the fort I'm one of the people that were handing out flyers yesterday when I was handing out flyers I handed out 49 of them I had one left in my hand policemen drove up policemen told me that there was a complaint by a passerby I was creating an unsafe condition by handing out flyers okay I'll stop doing that and he said well what were the Flyers for and I handed up a flyer he says you mean they want to close the street I said yeah he says he uses that Street all the time to get into Fort Concho so uh you know that's he says that's the best way for him to get into it the second issue I have is that my wife and I yesterday walked the the entire pickup zone area that included all of Highland there were hundreds of cars waiting to pick up students every one of them was running they're on both sides there they're on both sides of Washington there are no sidewalks on the other side of Washington so that means that all the students that have to get into the cars on it on the south side of Washington have to walk across the street there's no other way for them to do that and there's cars driving up down the middle of Washington Wall those people people are waiting so it's really a very bad situation as far as pickup and lay out of the way the school is set there the way the streets are and I see in the future an Avenue D may become an auxilary just just like airports have auxilary it's like you go to the Dallas's lots of little airports around Dallas that that's that help help out DFW the same would go here where Avenue D could become a a auxilary pickup zone for the rest of the school because that school only has pickup on the one side

[1:18:53] as opposed to other schools that have pickups all the way around their schools or at least the ability to do that so that's about it thank you yes no public comment anyone else in the audience want us to talk to this particular item please come forward I see no one approaching the microphones so I want to close public comment on this any further discussion from the council on this item Mayor Pro Tem FA I did get it had a conversation with mayor as well she did highly recommend that we work very closely as you mentioned we'll all go to mayor pro-tem worked very closely with a school district to address the safety concerns and safety issues I do want to of course mention and everybody knows this that we have a tremendous asset in Fort Concho it is something that for us is the source of pride but we also know that needs to be a balance when we started looking at closures of streets and what have you want to make sure that we're taking a look at all different aspects and making sure that we're addressing those so I think at this point they can step back is the right thing to do and hopefully in the future we can address this differently thank you any other staff needed you need to talk about this particular item we have a motion on the floor to deny this particular quest to closed Avenue dis portion of Avenue D we have a second I was like a vote all those in favor say aye neither request to deny the request to close the road all those in favor say aye so hands opposed motion today nine passes 3-2 I'm sorry and our charter

[1:21:04] calls for a vote of 4 to for a quorum votes so that item would fail do we have another motion you call for another motion then yes able cuz they will wouldn't it be just a reverse the votes you took haven't you haven't denied it but if you you don't you if you fail to improve it then that's in essence a denial it'll stand so right now there's not a denial because you don't have enough to deny it but you need to see if you have enough to approve it if you don't approve it then it is essentially denied it's basically been at this point absolute supercut you move to approve so we we need the most now we don't have enough counsel there's not enough to to deny them beyond because there was only I was only a 3-2 vote where the five of us are here it needs to be at least two vote for approval I make a motion to approve as presented all right we have a motion on the floor to approve as the staff presented then that is to close this portion of Avenue D through Fort Concho any further discussion from the council do I need to open back up public comment although so we have a motion on the floor and we have a second all those in favor okay those opposed

[1:23:15] so the this motion fails over all three - now Teresa this item does not come back is that correct this is already you cannot come back for six once it fails it remains open all right appreciate everybody's comments on this we do not have a closed session today so we have any announcements in consideration of future agenda items anybody from the council and I need a motion for a term eluted you have a motion and second for adjournment all those in favor aye

Captured 2026-07-26 · source: youtube.com/watch?v=oJ2JZ0dCx2w