San Angelo City Council 1-7-25

[0:00:00] 8:34 a.m. on this incredible January the 7th 2025 happy New Year and welcome to Winter and as usual we're going to start with our chaplain prayer and pledges and today we have chaplain art M mava MAV Ro Roa welcome shall we pray father we come before you this morning in humility and we thank you for all that youve given us and the many things in our lives that we cherish we ask for your guidance and strength as our leaders conduct the business of our community show each gathered here the way and fill them with courage and wisdom help us to remember your love and grace and be faithful in our service to you and give us the patience and understanding to face lives challenges with Grace and hope we ask these things in your name amen amen IED Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all the Texas flag I pledge aliance to the Texas one State under God one and indivisible today we have one Proclamation recognition which is the school board recognition month so would all school board members please come forward as well as Dr Moran I think you should be up here too didn't mean to eliminate

[0:02:10] you the mission of public schools is to meet the diverse educational needs of all children and to empower them to become competent productive contributors to our society and an everchanging World ouren Angel ISD board members are committed to the children of St Angelo and believe all children can be successful lifelong Learners and that the best education is tailored to each child's individual needs to support their hopes and dreams this distinguished group of servant leaders includes board president Dr Taylor Kingman vice president Mrs Amy Melle flam secretary Mr Gerard Galos treasure Mr Bill dindle Mrs Pam Duncan Dr Kyle Mills and Mrs leita aroya St Angel ISD board members work closely with parents educational professionals and other community members to create the educational Vision we want for our students they are responsible for ensuring the structure that provides a solid foundation for our school system and dedicate numerous unpaid personal hours to support and Lead our s Angelo schools our s Angelo ISD school board members are strong advocates for public education and are responsible for communicating the needs of the school district to the public and the Public's expectations to the district therefore I Brenda Gunter mayor of the city of s Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council declare our appreciation to the members of the S Angelo Independent School Board and proclaim the month of January 2025 as school board recognition month in s Angelo Texas and urge all citizens to join us in s Angel ISD in recognizing the dedication and hard work of the sangel ISD school board members and to sorry and to partner with them to mold an education system that meets the needs of both today's and tomorrow's children and produces Future Ready graduates Taylor would you Dr Taylor Kingman would you like to come forward receive uh thank you to the city um

[0:04:15] obviously it's our goal as a group and as a district to provide um the best education for kids in this city and be the district that everyone wants to be and help promote this city and this great town so uh thank you all for having us and appreciating us today let's get a photograph that was easy and simple can we can we get some of those first city we will now move into the public comment section of our agenda members of the public May raise issues or concerns not listed on the regular agenda during this time to participate please sign sign in with the city clerk prior to the beginning of the meeting you still have time right Heather if they do it in the next 30 seconds no the answer is no speakers will be called in the order they signed in when speaking citizens must speak from the podium address all comments to the Diaz Begin by stating

[0:06:18] your name and address or single member district number and limit their remarks to three minutes or less do we have public comment today yes mayor Renee Lacy good morning Council Renee Lacy single member district 3 um I had attempted to volunteer myself uh for the animal crisis task force by emailing Mr Valenzuela on December 3rd and I cced my single member district member as well so I'll just uh I didn't hear back or anything so I don't even know if you've read it but um I'll just go ahead and present it for everybody here and I said um that was interested in working with multiple people to create and enforce change in our animal crisis issue to cut straight to my idea I was suggesting a breeding permit in Tom Green County uh with citations for unregistered owners uh that would I'd assume be with something like uh animal services by imposing maybe some kind of online database creating also a new role for the Animal Service advising committee to report and monitor the statistics um this would be uh this would create better control of the over over population crisis as well as easier tracking and legal uh enforcement within our County and City and I realize that there are property legalities issues but um I would presume that an ordinance in our area would allow the enforcement of citations and give uh law enforcement and the Court's proper Authority um we would be able to rely on reports from citizens in the area to site and register lits while deterring breeding or careless ownership and encouraging SL enforcing spay and neuter by the owners I have more ideas to make this possible and effective and I ask them to reach reach out to me directly whenever um and I had cc to Tommy har uh sorry Harry Thomas since I wanted to also say that upon rewatching the most recent animal service advisory committee meetings I had and having discussions with local citizens uh we believe that there needs to be better establishment of the

[0:08:20] committee uh the committee doesn't seem to know what their objective or capabilities or responsibilities are and the citizens don't know how to get involved and this is where we could work with all the Animal Service organizations to educate and start making constructive changes um animal services and local law enforcement should be in agreement to tackle this help I mean to tackle this issue with the help of the citizens and that is all thank you thank you Mike Bernett good morning council members City staff and fellow community members members I'm Mike Bernett single member district 1 Executive Director of cono Valley Community Action Agency and chair of the Homeless Coalition would like to speak about the winter weather how it affects our homeless neighbors and the upcoming point in time count also known as the pit count as you know this week winter is finally hit and later this week we have possible precipitation uh services for those in need during the inclement weather include uh the Salvation Army emergency shelter checkin is at 5:00 P PM uh through 5:00 P p.m. through 10 p.m. daily it does fill up it is first come first served uh they have showers food a place to sleep in non- inclement weather checkout time is 7:00 a.m. uh but they will let folks stay longer during the cold weather but that depends on the conditions of the day uh during the day there are meals at rust Street and Trinity soup kitchen uh some folks have been finding warmth at the Tom Green County Library the library has been a great partner in allowing folks to stay there provided they follow the rules uh their mission is different than most of the other Coalition partners and we want to make sure that that we're not overwhelming them at the library at St Paul Presbyterian Church uh the Oasis Day shelter is open daily uh weekday starting at 1:30 individuals uh get a hot meal and other assistance there we realize this does leave holes in coverage um and hopefully we can get something figured out to to provide more services especially during the day uh donations of blankets sheets food finances are always welcome at any of

[0:10:23] the Coalition partner agencies and as you can expect the Coalition agency's uh hours of service are limited by available funding uh to operate so donations are always welcome turning to the point in time count also known as the pit count the 2025 pit count will be on Thursday January 23rd that day we also have a homeless navigation day at First Presbyterian gym uh we need volunteers for both and information can be found at cvc.org the point in time count is more than just a data collection exercise it's a powerful tool for change the count provides a snapshot of how many people in our community are experiencing homelessness on a night but beyond the numbers it reveals stories stories of families veterans Youth and individuals who are navigating unimaginable changes every person counted represents a life a story and hope for better future federal and state resources are uh for housing assistance shelters and supportive services are often allocated on these numbers the pit count holds us accountable as a community it shows us where we're making progress and where we're falling short it's a mirror held up to our city reminding us of our shared responsibility to care for our most vulnerable neighbors cvcaa and the Coalition are working on a much larger plan to address the needs of our homeless NE neighbors later in the spring we hope to share more about that plan with the public but we'd like to thank uh you the council the mayor city manager and City staff for your continued support in the of the Coalition together we can use this data not just to measure homelessness but to demonstrate our commitment to compassion equity and meaningful change thank you you thank you thank you that was fast that was a lot you did good well you kept it running you did good Evelyn Smith morning Evelyn Smith smd5 and uh I agree with what the lady said from smd3 about the animals um situation I did email each of you in regards some

[0:12:28] ideas that I had CU I did attend the last meeting you had about the animal situation and um I don't know if she had this on her report I heard her say something about that maybe um maybe there should be some kind of policy or something where the veterinarians would automatically just whatever somebody bring in an animal do it for free and then they can they could take that off their taxes just like a donation if they would do that so if we can just handle the situation with keeping them from breeding at some point sooner or later you know we will have probably less animals on the street if that's one of the situations but um I end up now I got like four or five cats in my area and started out with started out with one and then when I call the animal shelter they're like we're just going to pick them up make sure they're spay n or whatever and let them back out in your neighborhood I'm like I'm trying to get them out of my neighborhood I don't want them in my neighbor neighborhood one cat jumped on my leg and bit me but he didn't it wasn't bad because I had on had on pants but so this is a this is a city problem and even people on the highway on the streets and stuff I almost hit somebody the other day because they stopped the key from hitting a dog so it's causing traffic jams people are in the neighborhoods are afraid and walk up and down their neighborhoods so I don't know exactly just like you all what all needs to be done but something needs to be done there was a a fox last year in my mother-in-law's yard I called them to come get the fox no I had to trap the fox myself they wanted me to pay $25 to get a little cage trap him and then they come get I'm like I'm afraid of him what am I I don't get paid to do this you know I'm afraid that's why I'm calling you and so those kind of situations and the lady was very rude when I called her about the cats come you know I said well if I call you to come pick the cats up what are you going to do they're going

[0:14:29] to release them back in the neighborhood she said that's the policy or law for uh cats are different than than dogs situation so we do have a real big problem here in s Angelo and I do what I can to volunteer but um I know it's it's bigger than me and I'm just want to impress upon y'all there's something that need to be done and I don't know where to start that these uh veterinarians can do this for free and maybe that would help a lot with getting all these animal spayed and neutered you know cuz I see dogs running up and down my street so should I call them have them take them over to the um veterinarian have the veterinarian Spade in new he gets a little paper saying he can deduct this off his taxes so that's just a thought that IE thanks thank you Daniel Valenzuela thank you ma'am uh first of all I do want to provide an update um on the task force that the city council give directive to kind of move move forward with that kind of to move forward with uh and I want to start off with really thanking the community because we've gotten plenty of emails people that are really interested in serving on this committee unfortunately I'm going to limit that committee to nine individuals uh the interest just speaks to me as far as the uh the need for what needs to be done uh to accomplish the the goals that we have and we do have some specific objectives and I'm going to kind of list them out real quick we want to reduce the free roaming dog population redu citizen dog bites increase spay neuter rates uh manage shelter capacity uh encourage responsible pet ownership create and enforce policies and ordinances and Foster collaboration with animal rescue groups there's a lot that can be done I have been interviewing uh different individuals for the possible membership into this committee as a matter of fact I want to finalize that list this week I have more interviews to do uh this week ma'am and I'll look you up as well to make sure that you get a call call and you you can come in and interview as

[0:16:30] well but I want to make sure that we have a good group uh with the knowledge necessary to make the changes to the proposed changes to the city council and we'll be moving forward my goal is to have the first meeting uh next week no later than the following we as far as um that first meeting so again uh I want to thank the community for that interest and those individuals who have submitted uh to to be on the committee thank you for that but again it is going to be limited to nine members and that list should be final by Friday this week thank you thank you for that update and then lastly mayor I just want to let citizens know that candidate packets for the upcoming May 3rd 2025 election are now available uh interested individuals can access the packets online at kosat tx.us elction or pick them up in person at the city clerk's office 72 West College s Suite 2 204 positions on the ballot include mayor and city council member for single member districts 2 4 and six completed applications um will be accepted starting January 15th and must be submitted no later than 5:00 pm on February 14th um the last day for citizens to register to vote is April 3rd and any additional information or questions um You can call the city clerk's office at 657 445 thank you you want to clarify those two issues one is the last day for uh actually uh filling out the documentation to run that's one issue and then second there's an issue in terms of when citizens can register to vote in that election so just make sure we clarify the difference between the February date and the April date yes the February 14th date is the last day an individual can file for a place on the ballot and April 3r third is the last day for a citizen to register to vote in the May

[0:18:33] election thank you any further public comment okay may I just say something very quickly uh I just want to make sure that everyone keep lar Miller in your thoughts and prayers he's undergoing another surgery he's doing quite a well he's in good spirits but I just want to make sure that you keep him in your in your thoughts and prayers as well thank you thank you we will move on to the consent agenda of the agenda and to start with we are going to pull item C and item e so they will not be discussed today they will be discussed at a future time period And so I'm going to start with um Tommy is there any other item you would like to pull for consideration and conversation no ma'am Tom no ma'am Harry no ma'am Lucy no ma'am Karen no ma'am with that we will I will ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda with the exception of items C and items e may I have that motion motion to approve second by Lucy and E public comment concerning the agenda items with the exception of c and e seeing none we will take or hearing that there are none listed to do that we will take a vote all those in favor please say I I the consent to agenda with the exception of items C and item e has been approved by a vote of 6 Z we will now 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 let than 3 minutes applicants proponents and appellants are exi from the time limit above and instead must

[0:20:35] limit their remarks to less than five minutes item a is consider approving TI incentive requests for the following items one North TI private project creating a duplex in rm-1 located at 215 West 19th Street totaling $775,000 two North cheers private project creating two retail Loc locations located at 2401 North chadburn Street toing $75,000 and that is the first item for discussion today yes thank you mayor AR director Planning Development Services that's on I apologize U Aaron Venoy director of Planning Development Services so we have two TI North projects uh in front of us this morning for incentives um the first one here is at 215 West uh 19th this is a property that you have seen uh before that they've gone through a rezoning in fact with the consent um agenda today they have secured their rm1 Zoning for lowrise multif family currently they're going to start with this lot right here uh where they're going to demo a current structure that um was very close to being on the dangerous building list and going to demo that and replace it with a duplex um so looking at the ti criteria you can see that we put together here on our slide uh for this case that this promotes a mixed use development uh we have commercial areas over here on the western side of MLK we have some multif family in some areas just along we have single family over in this area and then of course as you go to to chadburn um to the east there's continued uh uh more um commercial development um part of the tier funding is going to um help create some more pedestrian infrastructure so as you can see their property is right here we do

[0:22:37] have that uh great sidewalk that's on MLK that's been created in the past and they're going to create the sidewalk that comes along through here and create a um Ada ramp so that they can utilize that um this also helps eliminate some undesirable views as they're going to move forward and continue to demo some of those older structures uh and they do have an aggressive match by the applicant and this is in our high priority of housing creating housing in our tiers area and since it is rm1 zoning not single family zoning being an RS or an rs2 or three it is eligible for tiers funding and so that's that's the key criteria is that it is an rm1 uh project so this is in District 4 Miss Lucy Gonzalez in the Reagan neighborhood here you can see both of those um projects um that are requesting the 75,000 we'll talk more details on 241 North chadburn in just a moment uh so the total request between the two $150,000 out of the 2.8 um million do that are in the ti North currently so here's that funding uh request for uh 19th Street they do have a $75,000 request part of that is going to be for streetscape which also includes that pedestrian there also going to include some Landscaping uh and so we're going to evaluate that when they turn in their site plan for landscaping uh there's the possibility depending on what they provide but maybe we get a couple of Street trees or something like that to help out the Aesthetics of the area um they are proposing that their match is going to be up to 150 to 200,000 depending on how much it costs for this duplex to build that always is contingent on labor cost material costs U but the 75,000 is going to help and so they're we're projecting a match of 125,000 so it is very significant the ti dollars will help with the uh facade of the structure help with landscaping and the sidewalks and

[0:24:40] uh U improvements in that area and it will create a new duplex as you saw back on this slide right here they do have a number of properties there if they're successful with this one they propose to move forward uh with some other projects in that area uh all of it is zoned rm1 now and so depending on structure types and what they bring forward they may request more TI funding in the future um and that will be up for consideration at those times so here you can see that they're just right inside uh the ti uh boundary again that's the property that they're looking at today here's the some of the uh street views of structures that are there some of the area you can see the commercial area uh to the to the north and to the West some of the areas along n um 19th Street that still need some work they're still working on their rendering but this is their idea at the time again a traditional duplex um that they're going to have side by side be a two-story with a garage front um I think that will help improve the area and continue to develop the area as uh infill projects come along as well as continue to keep MLK very vibrant with that mayor I'm going to ask do you want to discuss this project or would you like me to move on to the next funding funded item well they're listed as separate items so um but on the other hand yeah let's make a vote let's take a vote on item A1 first and then move on to A2 let me get to staff's recommendation uh is to fund the 75,000 for the 215 West 19th Street this did go to the te board in uh December and te board did recommend approval with a 60 vote for the 2115 West 19th project Lucy would you like to add comment just comment that I'm totally for this and I'm so

[0:26:43] glad to see that that area slowly but surely we're coming along and making it look really nice so definitely approve as presented is there um another comment got a question yes please so this will be a taxable property property so the that that is their intent yes they they this is a it's not their intent it is what it is there's no intent here we saw what it is yes ma'am and they they plan to rent it out they may even do some short-term rentals they were actually in discussion with with Shannon of possibly doing it for nursing that may come in they may do it for different times of the year but it is going to be a rental property it will be a taxable property okay my second question when you when we back to went back to the zone change was there any objections by neighboring lots to no there was not okay cool I'm good do we have a second mayor I need a second second with that is there okay so I have a motion and a second you're a second no she wants com that's good question well let's just open it up for more comment Karen I noticed in our packets that the applicants submission for this project was exceptionally good and I I would just like to state that I really personally appreciated the quality of that application it very compelling in that format and I have a general question about tears and I'll hold that till the end I think but okay gratitude to that client for that good work I have some comments I'm going to add to it at the end because I think there needs to be some re uh thought process going into this based off of what tis is allowed to do or not do and I think we were a little narrow in our um perspective in terms of what they could have asked for maybe should have asked for and maybe what the teers board could have recommended to help the project move along and it is a taxable project so there's options there and I'll discuss

[0:28:46] that in a moment so there's a motion in a second no further public comment and may we take a vote all those in favor say I I motion passes 60 going on to number two yes ma'am um this is 2401 north chadburn um it is a commercial property on the west side of chadburn right here uh as you guys have seen this many times driving along chadburn I think it um used to have a sign that said Monte Carlo it's been fa vacant for a while um The Proposal is to create two retail spaces out of that um they're going to take the front facade off that little Portico uh area that where the entryway is take that off go back to the original facade and bring an awning over the top of it and I've got an image that will show that in just a moment um they're not exactly sure they've got one tenant that they're ready to bring in to lease to but they're not quite sure about the second tenant it is going to Pro uh promote mixed use development you can see this is the area that's got some residential behind it this area right behind it we just rezoned in the last um couple of months to rm1 so there is potential for some lowrise multif family to come in behind it um they are going to improve The Pedestrian and vehicle infrastructure and you'll see on an image in just a moment they proposed initially some parking uh in front of the building that would back out on chadburn we have talked with them and discussed with them that's not the the safest idea as chadburn is a heavily trafficked Street and so they're going to curb that and create a sidewalk there put the parking over here on the uh north parking lot and that's going to help that vehicular infrastructure and um The Pedestrian stuff it is going to eliminate an un undesirable view they're going to refresh the facade uh make that building much more viable uh and it is a high priority for building Aesthetics and facade improvements this is in District 4 Miss Lucy Gonzalez and in the Reagan

[0:30:47] neighborhood so their funding request is 75,000 their proposed budget cost is 130,000 um and if you see the match is only 13,000 and I put there that's qualified tiers improvements they plan on doing a lot of stuff inside and there's some additional program costs that are involved there but those don't qualify as TI match and I just there are things that have to be TI match qualified and so that's why you you see the difference there is there any Ada issues there they are and with the sidewalk they are going to be improving that to allow Ada access from the parking lot to the building as well well as along the sidewalk uh if there's something in the building that needs to be Ada uh improved they will be allowed to count that as part of their match uh if necessary uh at this time we haven't seen the floor plan quite yet to see if the bathrooms need to be upgraded or not and what occupancy would be but we have that ability and within that 75,000 be how old is the building I would say it's probably from the 40s or 50s so do you think maybe if it's some the 40s and 50s there might be some Ada issues inside there it could be it all depends on what their level of of reconstruction is um if they don't touch it they don't have to fix it but if they do touch portions of it they would have to bring it up to compliance with the state so the summary of work is exterior doors stuckle replacement awning and signage improvements and so here's just some of the pictures that you can see and you can see right here here's that little front entry way that they're going to be removing again from the north side view and then here's what it's going to turn into which I really like the design again this parking at the front they're going to move that over here to the side they are going to be allowed to have some parking over on this street as it's not as a heavily trafficked street we will encourage them to be further down just a little bit from the corner so

[0:32:50] that there's not any sight issues and backing out is not a major issue but they're going to put the Ada area over here they they will curb this off along the street and add a sidewalk along the street uh for connectivity but I do like the design it is going to be a refresh they are adding some stonework and some stucco to the building uh they are creating the separate doors and I really like the awning that's coming in that does reflect a lot of our Town's buildings and so we really do like that coming forward uh as they're their presentation again the you did approve the first project so the second project project 75,000 out of that two um 2.8 that will bring the fund down to the 2.7 and with that the 2401 north chadburn um was recommended at the 75,000 by staff as well as TI board recommended approval with a 6-0 vote Lucy comment please yes ma'am thank you uh like I said before that area is needs to start coming alive and starting looking really nice and the fact that you said how old that building in shows how neglected North tradan has been for so many years so I am glad to see that people are actually interested in wanting to bring it back to life so for that reason I definitely approve as pres motion yes ma'am I'm sorry motion to approve is there a second second second by Karen um any public comment including from um council member Tom Aaron so my question is when people get their tiers funding and so I'm going to bring up some properties we had on 29th Street in chav maybe they aren't aware some of them do this with that as part as their budget they don't understand what they have to complete before they can come get their reimbursement are we being clear with them on what needs to be done before you can get your 75,000 although there may

[0:34:54] be other things they have to do to completion those questions I have got and and it's complicated those people want to get those money to help decrease their payments their interests everything but they don't understand when or what they have to complete in a process or chronological order to get their funding are we just clear with them on that like here's how you here's what you can complete and then you can come get your reimbursement versus you know total completion before getting a reimbursement I believe we are in general I do think we could be much more specific at times uh I do think there are times that we need to certainly be in touch with those projects while they're going through the projects to make sure they're hitting some some benchmarks um as you know we've had kind of a transition over the last year to year and a half to where downtown St Angelo who's done a great job and you can see how many projects are coming forward of marketing getting this out there our internal staff uh has done a great job of working with those applicants when they come in getting through the application and getting the information and now really our next steps are are we being clear to you must finish this stage before you're eligible for reimbursement and so that that's very very clear to them because they it is a decision they have to make of okay can I afford to front this and then I'm going to get my reimbursement at the end um and so I think we can be much more clear with that with applicants and I think that's a goal that we need to focus on to continue to work with them and and make sure they understand what the rules are while yes we have it in writing and in our policies that doesn't mean everybody understands what that means and so I think we can do a better job of that I think what I'm referencing here and you're aware well of it I just need other council members to understand some people had done some tears projects that required very little structure before they got their their money back another one came through and they just weren't sure and they didn't understand what they had to do that second time around of the qual qualifications and what needed for requirements before their payment I think 90% of the phone calls I get are I thought I was eligible for it I went in I wasn't eligible I

[0:36:58] wasn't aware of this I try to pull that but if you've done all that up front we're all good to go maybe we should create the top five a list of top five issues number one you must do this in chronological order these things must happen in this sequence because most people aren't going to read a 30-page document to figure out what they need to do or not do they're just not that's correct and I think a great suggestion need to provide them here's the steps you take yeah step step one to step 10 if you have to but we must provide them with the list of steps they must take so no one gets halfway in through the project and figure out they don't have the money the Project's got to stop because the dollars aren't there and then we lost the opportunity to uh complete the project so we need to be clear with them the rules the rules if you will the expectations if you will yes ma'am I I agree with that and we have been encouraging more of them to come to a pre-development meeting to involve our pre-development team members in case because sometimes it's unknown whether it may trigger say a building permit or it may trigger something with a fire prevention team or it may trigger something with health or whatever and the sooner we can get those people in front of those applicants the better and so we are encouraging that because they may be doing just a simple facade and then they get behind the facade and realize there's some structural stuff and that triggers a whole different level of that need to be reped should clear up too as as Aaron mentioned downtown s Angelo started helping us do this and so part of that process was also educating them on exactly what all this is so they have been working with Downtown St Angelo to make sure they can answer those questions if they can't we're always available just you know send them to us but I think you'll see that process getting better because Downtown St Angelo is understanding exactly a lot better and they've come with great ideas for marketing and so forth but you'll

[0:39:00] see that aspect being better as well with him to be the list before you can get your money yes ma'am what has to happen and we do have a couple of meetings scheduled with some of our applicants that have received funding to find a way forward for them so they can get that funding okay so with that any further comment no ma'am we'll take a vote all those in favor say I I motion passes cro moving on to Item B discussion and possible action of North tier's nonprofit policy update you're on Aaron thank you mayor so as many of y'all U recall there's been kind of a a discussion back and forth of nonprofit policy for our North tiers in our South tiers the policy is very straightforward it is there are no applicants from a nonprofit organization iig for Te funding in our South in our North it's fairly open it says applicants are eligible to apply um there was a case and I want to say it's about 18 to 24 months ago that came forward from a church um TI board recommended funding uh came to city council the recommendation was not to fund it um which is y'all's purview to do and so through some of those conversations of well should we set up a criteria specifically for nonprofits the ti board did want to do that and so over the last year I've been providing them data of what that could look like and what that could mean and so that's what we have this morning is a proposal from the ti board to revise the nonprofit policy for the north TI board now I before I get into those I think we really have three options here we have the option of keeping it the same we have the option of taking non profit off the board for the north tiers or we have something in between which could be this what's

[0:41:03] proposed or something with modifications that are proposed by uh you guys as the city council so right now again the policy has allowed the nonprofit participation of the nor two projects have had applications only one made it to the tiar board the other project they decided to pull their project no nonprofits have been awarded funding other than a government agency uh there is a Desire by the nonprofit Community to participate in the tiers program we hear that often at our tiers board and sometimes through citizens that will call to the city staff um City staff have researched the program and and others around the state and really there's not many around the state that have any exclusions to nonprofits but trying to dig into have they given money to nonprofits it's hard to find if they've actually given money either and so there's not clear data uh to be honest with you um so what we have proposed to the to the um peer board and what they are bringing forward as a proposal is a nonprofit set aside that annually there is a dollar amount set aside right now the proposal is $100,000 there was discussion we we proposed City staff proposed 75,000 but they decided let's go to 100,000 because it does cost projects and if we're asking them to do some kind of public INF structure sidewalks or Street trees or whatever it may be that adds cost to their projects and so they their thought was all right let's do 100,000 not to exceed that on an annual basis and it would start the beginning of January and expire December 31st of that same year so to be eligible to apply the incentives uh for the north Zone could have one applicant up to 75,000 which is just like our private applicants currently or you could have multiple applicants you could have multiple nonprofits partner together and could get up to 100,000 and that may make a

[0:43:06] difference it may not because then you have to have some cooperation and you're depending on some other folks and so that makes a big difference um there was discussion about match no match 5% 10% ultimately it came down to no match for nonprofits and the payment of the funds would be standard reimbursement process they would not get funds up front it would be they'd have to complete the project and then they would get reimburse the funds the one of the things that I I really like that came forward is the tiers board shall make a finding that the project will make a significant Neighborhood Impact because I think that's key for our tii neighborhoods programs what is happening with property a that's really impacting the neighborhood now a lot of times we see our private incentives like the two before that uh the commercial one well it might make a huge impact there but it's also on a corner and it's probably going to make an impact to more properties on that corner we know the housing would probably will because they're looking at developing really a full neighborhood and so if a nonprofit comes forward what is that real impact is it simply just historic refurbishment is it neighborhood enhancement is it facade and building improvements to assist with an occupancy load which a lot of times we think about sprinkler systems just like we would for our private um uh private businesses or there's an other acceptable impacts determined by the tears board now ultimately these would still come to you guys to make that decision did they make the right finding did they make a finding that this really makes an impact in the neighborhood the other items are it must include some kind of public improvements which is including but not limited to public sidewalks Ada ramps in the rideway transit shelters Street scaping uh um we did put a caveat that there are some properties that have that already and so if they already have that requiring it again through this makes sense to allow the tear board or city council to say okay we can let's wave

[0:45:09] that one the annual funding does not roll over year toe so if that 100,000 say if there's $25,000 left that does not roll over into the nonprofit set aside that rolls back into the tear program for the north for private incent Ines to be given out through private incentives um it does not roll over year to year it does not accumulate to a large amount um we did put that currently it's a three4 vote by um city council and the te board to approve those they have requested to bring forward that it's just a simple majority vote if we have a set acide so it could just be a simple 3 to2 majority vote when not not a uh super majority number seven um is that government entities would not be allowed to request funding from the set aside so that 100,000 would not go towards something that the city has said we need funding for now they the advantage is the north TI has a lot of dollars but that doesn't always hold true and so number seven is is one that you have to really consider is that if there's something the city needs funded that is eligible for Tears does this limit Us in any way in decision- making of where those funds could come um and then the ti board said they would like to set an application window for funding requests so that they would just like they do in the South TI all right we're going to open up a window have the opportunity for nonprofits to apply if they choose to apply we bring those forward to the ti board and then ultimately city council so all of these there's no change in the process they still would apply they would still go to the tiers board they would look at this evaluation still use the criteria on how we would rank them within our policies they would make recommendations it would come back to city council and

[0:47:12] city council would then have the ultimate decision to say fund project a or don't fund project a so with that um the staff does recommend the the set aside annual described with the outline uh with the guidelines excuse me um the ti board did recommend with an approval of 6 to Zer vote um we would say it would start in 2025 that we would do the set aside and and move forward I'm sure several of you have questions and so I'm happy to answer any questions at this time I've got a lot of statements to make I've spent quite a few hours talking to the comp troller office the Texas government and I want to start with tax increment financing chapter 311 a TI project jump starts development to generate quote new tax revenue the benefits of a tiers include one building needed public infrastructure to draw businesses two boosting development which grows property values in long-term property tax collections property tax Collections and lessening the cost of private development by providing reimbursement for qualified public improvements how does it work future tax revenues from each participating taxing unit the taxing units are What defined as city of St Angelo the county and the school districts those are taxing units to pay for the cost of improvements to an area when the improvements result in quote additional tax revenue this revenue is referred to as

[0:49:16] the tax increment each taxing unit determines what percentage of its tax increment if any it will commit to repay the cost of the financial improvements Tiff projects or tax increment refinance projects can be used to fund one roads sidewalks and other public infrastructure two demolition three building facade preservation for remediation of contamination affordable housing Railroad and Transit facilities public buildings school buildings and other projects what public improvements can a city make in a tear Zone we are separating nonprofits versus a city we cannot lump the city of s Angelo into a nonprofit status equal to all other nonprofits or 5013 C's or other nonprofits there's a line and that line is called the city of s Angelo which is a taxing entity a City May acquire construct reconstruct or install Public Works facilities or sites of other public improvements including utilities streets street lights water and and Sewer facilities pedestrian malls and walkways Parks flood and drainage facilities and parking facilities let me go on to read the following statement and this is hard to read so a tiff project jump

[0:51:22] starts development so it can start quote generating additional tax revenue for the local government local governments that participate in a tiff project make an upfront commitment to creating Public public improvements these improvements encourage private investment in the zone such as new business growth that increases property values and generates new tax revenues let's be clear you cannot Loop the city of St Angelo Texas into the conversation of all nonprofits it is a taxing entity it separates itself from all others so the fact that you might have given approval to public Improvement projects does not open the door for other nonprofit conversations it's clear this is on the com controller's website if you have any questions about it go to their website it clearly defines it spent several hours visiting with the people who had up this program in Austin they were totally confused why there' even be a conversation about a nonprofit and the city is a taxing unit the city agreed the county agreed the school agreed to give up the monies that those tax revenues would have generated for them to help create economic development that would encourage private development the only conversation about

[0:53:26] about a nonprofit receiving money as in a church would be if that church building was being remodeled not to hold church but to turn it into a venue and that venue would then receive money but it cannot be used to redo a church for church services the city is not in the same box as a church as a nonprofit it is not when the tears was created City couldn't afford to pay the money to create the deer Zone private money had to be asked for to pay for this tiar fund to even be created back then in downtown s Angela 147 empty buildings existed 47 exist today and those tax revenues increased in property value are what funds continued growth when we start trying to rewrite what tears is because we're defining the city of St Angelo as a nonprofit just like a church we're offline they're not they're not one in the same we'll ask for City's attorney the difference between a nonprofit versus a city of St Angelo Texas well the city is a municipality so it's definitely I mean it's technically a home rule Municipal Corporation um but of course it's exempt from taxes it's not classified as a nonprofit ta does re it's a taxing entity that receives tax you got it and what kind of taxes do they receive uh property taxes you got it sales tax sales tax right what do other nonprofits not receive sales tax and property

[0:55:32] tax let's be clear we're trying to muddy the waters to justify an action that someone wants to take it's clear it's very clear from the comp controller's office in terms of what the tear money can be used for and so when I go back and I look at these two projects that we just approved one of the things if we really want development to happen I would say the following that in order to help push their projects forward in order to help them be successful and have monies to develop other projects that perhaps we should have asked if the city could use some of that money to help do some of that infrastructure sidewalks Landscaping so that the private person investing in those projects might have more money to do the work that's needed to do to get that project in its entirety done I think those are all good suggestions no they are on the comp trollers website yes may these aren't suggestions I might add this is a basically a a conversation pertaining to the tiers and Council gets to set what that policy is for the tiers and how you want it administered currently it's is written in a way that allows certain things and certain things not one of the things that we were charged with was trying to clear up this issue pertaining to uh the nonprofits and so the ti board sent a recommendation um I don't I actually hear what the mayor's saying and I don't disagree with the city you know I I think public projects are important and this is a way to fund Landscaping Street improvements all those kind of things one of the controversies has been the nonprofits not the city but the other and whether you exclude the city or not is that that's where we need your guidance so

[0:57:33] here's a proposal sent um we if we want to change the entire tiers Pol you know what we're doing we can look at that and bring it back to you but we need your guidance on what that is so your points are well taken if those are areas that we want to adjust we're happy to do that so just give us a guidance and we'll go we need to be clear on what tears was created to do and I want to make sure we don't muddy the water here and I don't support doing a simple majority vote it has to be more than a simple majority vote and furthermore we've got to make sure we understand what the com controller defines as projects when I talk to the gentleman who heads up this program I had to explain it to him several times y mean a nonprofit who brings nothing in terms of increased property taxes to the table wants to take advantage of the program yes that's what I'm asking it clearly a comment mayor yes ma'am uh we I think we all understand what North tears was set up and how you need the money being brought in and everything and the last time we had this conversation I think a lot of people came up and and reminded us what nonprofits actually do for this community how many people they actually help and that's my stand is that as long as these people these nonprofit organizations are helping the people that are not as fortunate as other people in this community are being helped I do not see a problem when the north side has 2 point something million dollar and take out $100,000 set aside to help I don't see any problem in it it is when you feel that no this is the way it is and this is the rules and we can't so since the south side can't do it North Side

[0:59:38] shouldn't do it so I'm just saying that we are not taking into consideration what the nonprofit organizations actually do well I think we are and I would remind everyone guess what who pays for the police and fire like I said I understand what you're saying I'm just trying to make a point that these non organizations do help a lot of people in this community and they're created to do that but I also will say that's one of the reasons why they don't play property taxes why they don't have to pay sales tax and why other property owners in the private sector have to pay property taxes and sell tax to fund our police our fire and the infrastructure that is required to continue to provide a quality of life for the citizens of s Angelo taxes and all taxpayers are putting money into that pot to do that that's what that's what we happen to do lot and a lot of people that put money and pay their taxes have family members or relatives that cannot or do not pay property taxes and need help this program wasn't created for that purpose I understand that so it's not creative for that purpose and the com show is pretty clear about it yes I understand that I just hoping that the city would be different it's governed by the comp trer of the State of Texas heing I just to be clear I understand what the mayor has said what conversation what the com troller said we have not heard legal opinion from the city assistant City attorney acting City attorney I I would say that this on this particular item that we do some additional work on this

[1:01:43] and bring it back I I today I I think you got people up here that will vote one way or the other and this may or may not pass doesn't make any difference but I think this item today is not clear enough for people to make the decision that they need to make and I'd like to have some input from the acting City attorney so that's my input yes sir and I would like uh some time to do some research but just in what I have done in chapter 311 that the mayor mentioned it it doesn't say one way or another nonprofit in that chapter um but of course it does out line the various projects that you can do and I think part of the nonprofit discussion is that you know if you improve a building that may be owned by a nonprofit in a blighted area you're improving the surrounding area so I think that's how we uh Justified it in terms of the 311 but again I'd like to talk to the com controller and and research that further if uh the council would like that too so mayor yes I I will admit I am the least intelligent of these people at the dis I fully admit that I am totally confused honest to goodness so to Harry's request Brandon's request to do some more I'm not sure this is the time to do it maybe it is but I need a re-education on why tears was even created in the beginning by the state that then allowed cities again I am totally confused so I I need either I need to come visit with you um or you need to do do it for the whole Camp I'm not prepared to take a

[1:03:45] vote on this today at all I I am I am the state didn't we applied to create the tear zone so the city of St Angelo the county and the school district had to come together and decide that they would support the request sent to the comp controller's office to create a tears it's generated within our community the request to do it they then review the documents and upon approval of those documents the tear program was created but we generated the request and you had to get the county to sign up off on it you had to get the school district to sign off on it because all those three taxing unities either they tax or they receive funding had to agree in this areas these areas to give up their tax dollars to go into a fund to help regenerate blighted areas of which just in the downtown area long was 147 empty buildings and that was in 2006 in 2006 there were three businesses open after the hour 5:00 Blain's Pub fenty's restaurant and Miss Hattie's restaurant there was nobody else open after the hour 5:00 you could shoot a gun off corner of koncho and chadburn all the way up to the bus station you wouldn't hit anybody because there were no cars no traffic no anything don't let the chief know that yeah sorry Travis here did did did the state do something that said this can happen tears can happen the state enacted legislation that allowed cities to create two types of districts one being a tears the other being a tiff and those are acronyms acronyms for things but I I do take your suggestion as well as the Mayors and others of maybe we put together a presentation of what is what is tears

[1:05:50] what did we adopt in um back then and what do we what how is our polic policies changed because we have been we are one of the cities that have been very heavy on private incentives as opposed to public projects although we have spent significant dollars on public projects you look at South chadburn which has made a huge in my mind a huge difference on South chadburn and as we bring in the next project that creates that Loop that goes through the tiers District that goes down 29th and comes back and loops around through the aroyo area um those are significant public dollars public improvements that will generate private investment just as the mayor exp Roy was not a che project correct but the the way the connections that the funding that Patrick secured this year or this last year for through Tex do that all is connected for our community um but I you said something very important and we go back to what you started with and that was we are one of the few cities that have used the tear fund more for private investment than public infrastructure yes one of the few and you got to remember that because if you take a look again in terms of what tiar tax increment refinance zone or tax increment Finance one and the same program different names most of them are created to make the public improvements to generate economic development in a blighted area yes that is the number one reason you created and the timing of doing this was very paramont because you there was knowledge that the northern Walmart land had been purchased but no construction had started so we were under a window that we had to approve this concept the tear program before nail and

[1:07:54] Hammer started on that Walmart CU once the nail and Hammer started on the Walmart then you had to recapture a finished project called the Walmart store the timing on this was created so that the basis for that property tax valuation was based off of raw land the dollars were generated once the building was completed and that is where the revenue to fund the northern tears or the entire tears program came from of which the council that point in time made a decision to separate North versus South but that Walmart facility and then the rest of that development around there the strip malls and all that other stuff that was built there was in fact the increase in property tax values that have funded this dollar amount that we talk about yes ma'am so we'll bring this back we're not there yet yeah wait Tom so this may sound kind of harsh but it's it's my opinion and I will parallel a lot with what Brenda has brought up we put money into it to be taxable to get money out for commercial development I don't think I've seen any nonprofit development commercially that increases our taxes so all this is an expense it doesn't help grow the fund people talk about well it revitalizes the neighborhood well if you look at where those nonprofits are to revitalize some of those buildings is going to be a quar million half million dollar thing and they don't have the population the attendance to sustain them anyway all right so what we're doing is really putting on a Band-Aid if you go forward in my opinion on some of these nonprofit and trust me I worked with several nonprofits then

[1:09:57] there's a second question of you know I have many of my friends that are business owners that are like I don't pay my tax dollars for you to decide to go give it to a nonprofit I make those decisions on my own I don't pay taxes for you to go give it to somebody else that I don't want to give it to I I understand that I see that one I take that one to heart um and I've always been against giving this uh giving funds to a nonprofit um they don't put money in we'll never have a chance to Reet it to pull it back out commercial development is where it's at and if you look at what happened what has happened in the North Zone it's been huge commercial development without the assistance of tear we can save some of those funds to go back into commercial I I just think the number of nonprofits that might look at putting a building in the north Zone could get it and then if you ever combine the north Zone and the South Zone well then you've got half of it that's already eligible so then this argument would come up again well do you extend if you combin into one zone I'm not for that but I could see people doing that in the next 8 12 years and all of a sudden that includes Shannon hospital that includes the school district it it's just a snowball of future effects we have to think 10 15 years down the line we just can't think today while there is a balance you know my question is if it didn't have any balance in the north Zone would they still be coming forward saying well hey you need to loosen up South funds to come help me I I don't think they would do it I think because of the balance we've created this issue of free money and that's you know why they've asked for it I will strongly go against ever allowing nonprofits to take money from somebody that pays taxes unless it's a voluntary donation by the person that paid the taxes um I just I don't know if if you want to bring this back I think we know why it's there I missed this in my first council meeting in 2017 when

[1:12:00] Brenda took nonprofits out of the South Zone I actually held it for the north Zone and I should have killed it them but it was my you know lack of knowledge at the time and it's been brought up several times I've spoke with Evelyn several times on the phone about this and she she knows my opinion but the nonprofits that are asking for I I don't think they have a future that's super far I realize there's lots of nonprofits that do things for lots of people there's Church up and down there there's a Methodist Church right there in Martin Luther King but whether they get and if a group of these people pulled up together to ask for money that would just even create a bigger fight amongst the nonprofits as far as who gets what share of the money I don't think the sustainability of nonprofits helping people relies on this decision and them being able to get tears funds right I don't so I I will base my opinion right now that I am strongly against ever awarding any nonprofit funds out of the tears pocketbook that's good to know well I I've stuck with that since 17 and I don't think and I get it there's people that are hey there's some things here that could but the ones that are working there are major nonprofits and Foundations in this city that donate to other nonprofits to help them sustain I don't think taxpayer funds are something that should be used there I I've always questioned what whether this was legal or not and and I just what you brought up today Brenda brings that forward that there's a question about that but it's it's to grow a tax base it's to grow a taxable entity it's not to help sustain something for a different purpose because I think when the commercial development comes in that will grow all will grow everything well I would make the comment I don't understand then why the state didn't specifically exclude nonprofits um if if going with Tom's and and Brenda's um side of the equation

[1:14:06] then it it confuses me why the state didn't just specifically call out nonprofits are not eligible for any funding from a tear I'll tell you why they probably didn't Tommy and it's very specific in terms of what they say a tears project jump starts development to generate new tax revenue it's very specific about new tax revenue nonprofits would not be generating new tax revenue and so by the language used of saying new tax revenue and it says it over and over again it's very clear the expectation on this program is to generate new tax rates revenue and specifically as Aaron mentioned most cities use these funds to support the city's infrastructure needs to create a to change a blighted area into an area that looks like private investment might be interested in development frequently asked questions on chapter 311 it's very specific a tiff project jump starts development so it can start quote generating additional tax revenue and it says this over and over and over again generating new tax revenue so by the nature of using that terminology it's basically saying this project is to generate new tax revenue of which nonprofits do not Brandon I would appreciate your in your conversations with the folks that you ultimately speak with e either be it the AG's office or the com controller's office why they didn't specifically exclude nonprofits um if it goes to the mayor's point that it the language used implies that um but I I can't believe

[1:16:11] they would eliminate um with specificity something like nonprofits if if their intent was to only uh Foster brand new t anyway I'm still thoroughly confused so I I will look forward to the to the further conversation and mayor as we we wrote The caption intentionally that for discussion and possible action so as I mentioned there was really kind of three choices it really is a fourth choice of no action um there's a choice of table and bring back information but that would be to y'all's decision of what you would want the next step currently in the north tier policies it say nonprofits can apply um we can keep that there we can take no action that is for y'all's decision today on what the next steps would be for staff to to go back to the tears board or or whatever it may be yeah I'm with Tom it very specifically says new tax revenue you know when I was speaking with the various persons and Austin they couldn't believe my question they were like what do you mean nonprofit they bring tax re property tax revenue why are you asking Mr BR I'll I'll Echo I think there's a there's a today topic and discussion and opinion throughout the board and you know what I think everybody needs to understand there's understand there's not a Caring Heart up here on this Council that doesn't understand all sides okay we all do we just have our opinions on which way it we should go and mostly mostly that's driven by a fund balance but I think the future of this has to be considered as what happens with further councils and if if somebody was to combine a Zone and then you've got nonprofits in half and then if it turns into one's Zone and I while I'm against that I'll reiterate again I've heard people bring that up there are things that just create snowballs that would

[1:18:14] allow people into this that shouldn't be and the fact that I I don't agree with several of these things I think it should be a a black and white balls and Strikes basically outline of what allows you to get money and not get money and I just think in the future this thing could become very very convoluted with a pool of nonprofits that could hold you legally feet to the fire and say you've got to give me this much money and then stretch on I I just think and with with it as it is today you know I would make a motion to not allow nonprofits in the north tier Zone to receive funding is that a motion that's a motion is there a second I'll second it we do have public comment mayor yes ma'am Mike Bernett you know I got something to say about this uh Mike Bernett single member district one speaking in support of the item as presented as a Community Action Agency cvcaa has a focus and a charge to help the entire Community while our primary focus is on allev ating the conditions and causes of poverty we also care and support efforts all across our 11 County service area uh the ti funding has been great at providing new opportunities and meeting challenges in our community businesses have been positively impacted which in turns allows for more opportunities in St Angelo it is important however to realize and recognize the valuable contributions of our nonprofit organizations these entities work tirelessly to address the needs of our citizens from feeding the hungry providing educational resources providing spiritual nourishment and supporting mental health by extending tax assistance funds to nonprofits we Empower these organizations to maximize their impact this support can translate into more services delivered in a more efficient manner it's an investment in our community's health well-being and

[1:20:18] future you consider that nonprofits often transform vacant launs into Community Gardens providing fresh produce beautifying our neighborhoods or after school programs that keep children safe and engaged boosting academic performance and life skills these are not just Services they are lifelines that strengthen our very fabric of community yes nonprofits don't pay property taxes I get it but I pay staff those staff pay property taxes they purchase items they pay uh sales tax and they buy services within our city which indirectly contributes financially while the tiers funded upgrades are performed uh when teers funded upgrades are performed local businesses who do pay property taxes doing the work are positively impacted so it's an indirect increase of the property tax it's an increase in taxes that are collected throughout the agent the the city not just in the tiar zone supporting nonprofits especially smaller nonprofits with ti funds is not just a financial decision it's a strong moral choice it reflects our Comm community's commitment to a more Equitable and compassionate Community let's recognize that by uplifting our nonprofits especially the small nonprofits we uplift every resident in our city you know as as an agency that receives 5 million in funding every year tears is not something I'm really interested in right I get it I doubt that Shannon would come up with a I can't speak for them but I don't see cvcaa going for this kind of money because we want to help the smaller nonprofits we want to help the churches the little community helpers that's where we lie we want to make sure that the whole Community is lifted up and then to speak on the tax funds uh being chosen to go where hot funds are regularly given to nonprofits as well and the people paying into the hotel tax aren't choosing that their money gets to support different Arts so thank you very much thank you okay so there's a motion and a second any further public comment Evelyn

[1:22:23] no she's not no no she you didn't sign up you can't speak sorry no not true they gave me the wrong information because I did sign up to speak about the animal thing it was not on the agenda and so I was told that this item was on the agenda so I didn't have to sign up it's not the policy change the policy because before I never signed up I don't write the that's Heather since October 1st we implemented that that's why there is a place on the public request form to sign up for items not on the agenda in addition to items that are on the agenda um as Mr Bernett did excuse me any further public comment okay so with that there's a motion there's a second we've had public comment um we'll take a vote all before you do sir reiterate the motion so that the rest of us understand you want to yes ma'am order but since I started this whole thing I think I need to speak and I I'm asking you to give Meg legal three minutes no it's not legal legal ell it's not maybe me and you can talk afterwards let's not put you or me or anybody in position to have anything I get it talk my question is when can I talk then if you're going to vote and shut the whole thing down when do I get to speak it won't be today there will be a chance maybe there there will have to be a second reading something else EV but it won't be today there's some discretion in the policy that the the mayor in her discretion could allow um is the comment but I'm going to stick with Tom I just want to I just want to say if we could leave it open and I think it should be discussed again is um Mr Tommy said that we should be able to do that

[1:24:27] again we should have another opportunity I'm sorry if I didn't read your items correctly that you change that you change the poliy up to sign up and I was told I asked the question this item is on the agenda do I get to speak I was so yes thank you Evelyn all right so um Tom you want to restate your motion please motion is to remove all nonprofits from the tear Zone there's that is the motion in TOS of that you're intending that the the current TI incentive policy will be amended to remove all nonprofit eligibility correct okay there's a motion there's a second there has been public comment we'll now take a vote we'll start with Tommy no meaning you do not support removing nonprofits I do I want more I've asked for more information I want more information um I'm not prepared to to vote one way or the other so I'm voting no Tom yay Harry uh I'm with Tommy I need more information so I'm voting no I'm voting yes Lucy no Karen yes the motion is one two three yeses and three or one no vote and then two no votes so three three three three we dead I believe it was three to three three so then does the mayor make the ultimate decision no ma'am does pass and you can either make another motion or you can give direction to bring it back at a later Council date bring it back Tom what would you like to do this thing will be deadlocked at 33 all day so I say you do what you need send it back to the tear board and maybe do some discussion further with it but at this point it's a

[1:26:28] deadlock at 33 for the other council members if if we bring it back with additional information based on what the state is telling us which is what I'm hearing what's legal what's not legal all of that kind of stuff would it be okay to bring that back to y'all in that format instead of taking it back to the ti board at this point I'm not sure that going back to the te point don't send it back toar we will bring it back with the information it would be good um if the three who voted I guess Lucy Harry and Tommy tell us get with Aaron Or I telling us more exactly what it is you're looking for we'll bring it back with that information and then y'all can decide whether you want to take another V that works for me I I want to brought back but I'd like to have some legal opinions from the acting City attorney too uh here I heard what the mayor said and she's done a lot of background on this but but I'm not going to I'm not going to vote one way or the other until I hear everything Aaron bring back I think based on what you've told Brandon then we can work for that that'll also give another opportunity for public comment at that time perhaps then that would allow Lucy Harry and myself to meet with Aaron and Brandon to ask further questions um for when it comes back for the entire Council and the public to hear as well and I just repeat what tears means you want to repeat or do you want me to what's it I think we heard it I think I'll repeat it yes ma'am tax increment refinance Zone meaning incremental tax increases go into a fund Revenue increased Revenue okay we'll bring that back after these meet and kind of give us guidance on when you want it brought back thank you okay so now we're going to move into item C consider approving an infill empowerment Zone request for

[1:28:33] infrastructure funding for up to 50% of the cost for the sewer main extension in an amount not to exceed 12,500 for a residential project at 16008 prizer Aaron thank you mayor this is an infill empowerment request as you know we do uh take funds out of the the general fund for an infill projects this one is for a sewer main extension you can see here at 1608 prer this property outlined in red right here on the corner of Bell Street and prizer um they are building a single family home you see that there is a sewer under Bell Street but as we all know Bell Street is the street that has been improved and it is a concrete Improvement for that street well done project very well done project and we want to Reserve that street pavement and not do a road cut trying to get to the Sewer um Main in that because that anytime you do a road cut that damages the road and causes problems over time so there is this sewer m in prizer and they are requesting uh 50% funding to assist in bringing that down to their property which really kind of would just be right there to their Corner property it would bring a sewer m in front of these other three properties this is in Fort Concho East neighborhood it's in District 3 Mr Harry Thomas the vision plan is neighborhood and this is rs1 single family residential and again that request is 50% funding for the sewer main extension the cost to actually cut the street and to connect to that sewer is higher than the sewer main extension because they have to replace back that concrete and do it and so this is actually the cheaper option uh for the uh property owner so this is just a little bit bigger area you can see the East Angelo draw running through there uh there's a few areas that uh could still have some buildable houses but extending this sewer m to the West is is potentially going to allow these properties to maybe redevelop if they're

[1:30:36] vacant um over time they may have septic systems right now or they may have just some old service lines that come in here that if we can alleviate that and get real sewer taps that makes a big difference so here you can see it's a small modest house that they're proposing on that lot uh I want to say it's around 1,200 square ft um but it is another single family structure uh within a district that would allow that so staff is recommending approval for the infill request um for the 12,500 and that is 50% of the estimated cost to extend the sewer that includes the engineers cost and the installation of the sewer down to that property I did check with uh Bob Solace and Morgan uh with Neighborhood Services uh in December and at that time there was $112,000 left in the infill funding program for this fiscal year so there is funding available and we're requesting 12,500 of that I'd sure hate to cut through that unbelievably beautiful concrete yes ma'am street that we just finished doing so um I certainly say yes but Harry it's in your District so comment please please uh had the opportunity I've been working with this this resident probably 68 weeks on this so find a resolution that allows them uh to connect to sewer M really makes makes good sense plus I think there's some opportunities there for those properties to the east to develop and so bringing that sewer M down will do it so I recommend approval of this particular item as presented thank you and there's there a second that second by Tommy I have some question wait a sorry honey I have question sorry i' be happy to be called honey um I I have some questions I'm looking at your slide and I can see what appears to be TAPS at or I could in a previous slide could what appeared to be

[1:32:39] Taps along Bell right we're looking at Bell yes ma'am those were installed when the surface was open and so they knew there was existing Taps to this existing structure here this existing structure down here and there may be others along Bell so before it was paved in concrete when they put in the new sewer M they made those tap connections at this time at that time that property was vacant and so they did not put in a sewer tap connection at that time and so therefore the really on on only excuse me only viable is to extend that sewer to the West so multiple properties that would B benefit from this project yes these properties Here We Believe will now they may have sewer taps we're just not aware of them based on the age of the structures that may come through this RightWay to that main but we we have not found those until they go and start digging up the dirt to see what's there then we will know that there is a possibility that they were granted septics way way back and they are on septic systems but the intent is to get them onto the public sewer system over time as Redevelopment happens implies that maybe it should have been considered when the street project was underway but that's a separate matter so this particular property developer will bear the cost for all of those properties basically to have access to that tap yes is is their cost equal to the infill benefit yes the total cost is right at 12 uh 25,000 and so they are they would be paying the other cost they actually pay it all upfront and then they get reimbursed the 12,500 is that a typical cost for a property

[1:34:40] developer to pay for a tap I don't know about a tap but a sewer main extension line EXT which that's the tap is just a piece of right yeah the sewerman extension and that's that's the challenge because it's not adjacent to their property so if you were thinking like a new subdivision those new developers put in all of the infrastructure and that's one of the challenges here is you're in an older part of town we hope there's infrastructure but we don't always have infrastructure and that's one of the components of the infill program was to help pay and that's great I realize I'm kind of discussing a separate matter it just seems like a heavy burden for that particular developer that I think probably wants to develop more if they were treated well um in this neighborhood they're interested in in housing of that sort uh including multif family um is it a particularly long line that they're going to be responsible for what makes the cost so great the cost of install the cost of installation it's not really the materials uh it's the cost of installation how deep does it has to be what's the engineering that has to go in to make sure that the the fall is correct correct you know where does this line what elevation under the ground does it start out and do they have the right fall all of those types of things that are that that cost um it just seems remarkably steep I think the cost to contractors is usually not that high but maybe I'm mistaken I well when it comes to utilities Public Utilities there is um you have to be I'm I'm going to say the wrong word here and Shane might be able to help me say the right word but I'm going to say you have to be an approved installer of our city Mains because there's TCEQ rules bonding rules and there's bonding rules and there's things like that um and so there's only certain installers not a general plumber cannot come and do the main they can do the service line but they can't do the main

[1:36:44] uh and as y'all know if yall vote on many CIP projects and what it cost to put in infrastructure infrastructure is a very high cost that I would say that's one of the three leading cost of housing affordability is infrastructure what's the status of this project at this time was this uh developer or contractor given a permit to proceed before this came to us they were given a permit to proceed they have um they're in construction they are awaiting this sewer main extension to connect the sewer line so when our staff looks at city maps they look for adj Adent utilities and City staff are trained if there's adjacent utilities they meet the threshold after evaluation and this goes to our city engineering department after we looked at it when they went to go do the tap the water utilities department they said oh we can't tap that street because of the cost of getting into Bell Street but they had already been permitted to begin begin their project is that correct correct yes because I met all the thresholds to be able to be issued a permit I have a quick question they certainly deserve the infield a infield award it just s it just sounds very awkward and the state restricts us from only being able to contribute to 50% um okay from the funds that were created for that project and my apologies for saying honey it's the leftover for the holiday right we got to get back into the mode of professionalism my public apology as a female you can call any of the three down here on this side hone well honey thank you for that I appreciate you opening that door for me thank you yeah so public apology and I see you're on thank you ma'am Erin I just wanted to ask because you said it while ago but I didn't hear it what was the balance in the fund 112,000 okay there's funds but they can

[1:38:49] only award half of the cost correct this kind correct cuz the idea in these infill neighborhoods is to broaden the development that can happen so we don't want to throw it at a project we want multiple projects to be presented because we want you know you've heard me say it again increased tax revenue we need the funds to do the infrastructure we need and to pay for police and fire to to be clear I think my line of questioning was just designed to make us consider whether not we are treating our contractors and developers with proper consideration so that we don't get the cart before the horse we don't end up in a situation that is costly to them that is possibly demotivational if they wish to go forward uh it may make them feel disinclined uh because as the mayor has said repeatedly this is the kind of housing we want and we want to encourage people to continue going with low-income housing and we are are working with operations and public works on projects like this that if there are lines that we would say want to be protected or Street surface that wants to be protected we're putting a buffer that would touch those properties that is on the map that would trigger some staff to say let me ask the question before a permit is issued um and so just like up here with the East Angelo draw being uh floodway and flood plane there's a there's a buffer there that hits prop properties and when they see that they ask they reach out to our Engineering Services Department and say please evaluate this application in this case we're going to do that over the Bell Street area because there are some other adjacent properties that are vacant and so if we ask that question up front that gives that Builder developer more lead time to make a decision of if that's a viable project instead of allowing to begin yes ma'am go back and so we certainly hear that and we want to give as much information as we can to our our

[1:40:52] local folks trying to do things to help neighborhoods thank you and the to your question honey so um so the Bell Street project had of this developer had desire at that point in time to have developed these projects there could have been consideration when we did Bell street but the horse before the cart the cart before the horse and that Bell Street project I don't know $24 million later this project wasn't on the table at all so it's really C before the horse it it goes beyond it it goes beyond my knowledge uh at this point but it just seems logical that it would be proactive and sensible to make sure that those lines were [Music] available going forward am I making sense so that so that if if you're going to tear up a road do a big $24 million project that would be the time to say do each does each cross street have access as needed for the future uh rather than it's just prudent rather than get into a pickle like this I have a motion and a second do I have a second and a second public comment none let's take a vote all those in favor of approving item C on the regular agenda say I I motion passes 60 that completes yes sir eron may I ask a favor of you yes sir how long have we had this infill program five years four years six years right at five years it began in 2019 do you have some kind of report you can give us just to see the value of the monies that we have um invested and wherever they may be who's it gone to um is it going to one in one person one whatever but just bring us an

[1:42:57] update on that but the reason I'm asking for Budget purposes this year maybe it's something we need to look at increasing or maybe it's something we need to look at De anyway if you can give us a report just not in the next even 30 days but as we start moving into budget season okay Tommy and and really if you drive up around the 38th 32 34 38 36 streets and you see the new development all those people people ask for infill money and you know we have asked and CAD DC has approved the funds to re-evaluate the housing study because some of the comments that come out are well there aren't available Lots now well there there is but some of the infill areas there's really not a lot of available Lots but in certain the lake view area there's still many available lots for development and so what we want to do and which is really important in terms of moving forward Ward is affordable housing is key right now it's huge every city in America is looking to figure out how to create housing there affordable relative to the incomes of the people who live in your city and so we want to have an update based off of all the development that's already happened what changes might have happened in that housing study relative to have we solved anything have we do we still have big holes the same holes we had last go around and so what is the that we need to put on development to ensure that the future Workforce has affordable housing and we call it accessible housing affordable misleads people thinking it's for income you know it's government no it's relative to income and based off of the income level in this community do we have accessible housing options because I always say the number one quality of life for everyone is that front door you walk through number one housing that front door you walk through and are we

[1:44:58] providing the housing that this city needs for our future and that's key and so yes to your point let's really relook at it and then decide what needs to be done because the success has been good and development in Lake View would have never happened without this infield program I look forward to whatever you can present to us Aon sure can we'll put that in Friday packet if that'll work as a report and then if youall want more information we can bring it yeah that's right there also an overlay in there of a map of where that's eligible yeah the five districts yes we can do that yeah the five district again I'm in no big rush I'd rather you have the time to to dig into this to the mayor's point just then but to dig into this to see you know maybe we need to double the money triple them whatever um Michael when is the um housing study um starting and when is it anticipated to be completed we received the first list from the vendor last week about what they had uh participated in the meetings and the documents and we're scheduled to go over that with them this week we're trying to get all the parties available for uh the meeting but early spring is what we're shooting for let's see spring starts in March is early spring March 22nd or 21st something like that there's your deadline early spring March 21st we're really kind of at their at their Mercy I got it but we need it I agree we're trying to replicate the exact same organizations the exact same groups yes so that we have reliable results yes thank you spring is coming fast it doesn't feel like it this week but it is okay no closed sessions so we're going to follow go to item eight which is followup and administrative issues uh

[1:47:01] item a nothing to discuss Item B consider approving various board nominations the Civic events Advisory Board John flint smd1 and Lord Dell smd3 to a second term ending December 2026 Civic Service Commission Leonard Lenny Christo city manager to first term ending January 20 28 Fort cono Museum board Tommy Ernest smd1 George B smd2 Monty Stanley smd4 and Penny Roberts smd5 to second term Yuki kuna Yuki smd3 to third term all ending January 2027 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Emily Jane Cowen smd1 Alicia ooni smd4 I'm really messed that one up to the second term ending December 2026 somebody pronounce it better than I did go right ahead Planning Commission candy pull smd3 to second term ending January 2027 Patrick bom bomman S&B 6 to non-expired term ending January 2026 tax increment reinvestment Zone Shirley Spears sd4 to second term ending July 2026 Brenda yes sir I need to pull my appointment of Julie erson okay on the Zoning Board of adjustment you got it so then you have Mason Brooks smd1 unexpired term ending January 2026 Richard Reas smd4 to First fullterm ending January 2027 may I have or if there's no if there's an objection would anybody like any of these board nominations to be pulled separately and voted on separately Tom Brenda and Heather y'all correct me if I'm wrong I don't think I think you skipped a line did you announce John Austin Stokes oh I I missed it I can't even see it on here Mr Stokes was removed that was the changes that was made to this um later okay so it's not on her so it's you're right you're absolutely right it's left on mine all righty so with that uh I hear no objections so we'll take a vote to

[1:49:05] approve all of the board nominations as just read and are on the agenda you need a official Motion in second right okay so Tommy I'm I'm approval Luc second or whatever yeah public comment none so with that let's take a vote all those in favor say I I board nominations good to have six0 with that a motion for adjournment would be appreciated so moveed second um any objections let's take a vote all those in favor say I I um it is adjourned officially at 10:23 and I will just remind everybody that the next city council meeting will be on January the 21st okay we're done

Captured 2026-07-26 · source: youtube.com/watch?v=thma4tvynRg