San Angelo City Council 5-7-24

[0:00:06] if everyone could start taking their seats we will shortly call this meeting to order good morning mayor good morning it is 8:33 a.m. on this May 7th um day welcome to St Angelo city council meeting as usual we will start with our chaplain prayer and pledges and of course today we have chaplains Gary and Marcela Jenkins to lead us in both good morning everybody will you join with us in a word of prayer precious Father in heaven in the name of Jesus we bow before you to say thank you for another day that you've made we thank you for this opportunity to come together to conduct the business of the city we ask you to endow the members of the city council and our mayor Lord with wisdom and the understanding to do that which is pleasing in thy sight to conduct this business in a way that glorifies you we thank you for every council member we thank you for the clerk and the assistant Clerk and our Le our Corporation Council and all of the officers of the city government we ask you to bless our First Responders both at the fire department and the City of St Angelo Police Department we thank you dear Lord for all of the citizens that are here today and we ask you to bless them and we pray that this meeting today will be one that will glorify you in Jesus name name amen amen to flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one

[0:02:12] nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all honor the Texas flag I pledge alance to the Texas one State under God one and indivisible thank you very much we have three proclamations today and the first one is going to be National trauma survivors day do I have people in the audience to receive this Proclamation would you please come forward how are you good good morning trauma survivors demonstrate unwavering courage resilience and pers persever perseverance in the face of adversity and spiring us all with their strength and determination their journeys of recovery serve as powerful reminders of the human spirit's capacity to endure and overcome even the most challenging circumstances the support and compassion shown to trauma Survivors by their families friends Health Care Providers and communities play a crucial role in their healing process by fostering hope and renewal through recognizing the importance of raising awareness regarding the physical emotional psychological impact of trauma the need for continued research education and advocacy is emphasized while improving trauma care and support services on this day we honor the resilience of trauma survivors and express our profound

[0:04:16] gratitude to all those who contribute to their recovery and well-being now therefore I Brenda Gunter mayor of the city of s angel on behalf of the city council here du hereby Proclaim May 15th 2024's National trauma survivors day and call upon all citizens organizations and communities to join in honoring the strength of trauma survivors and to promote awareness understanding and support for those affected by trauma would receive the conf woulde hello there my name is Hannah corbus I'm the trauma survivors Network coordinator at Shannon Medical Center and I just want to thank the council for taking time out of this meeting to honor our trauma survivors and to recognize National trauma survivors day it's a very beautiful cause for something that's really important and close to my heart so I just want to invite all of you to our event on May 15th from 11:00 a.m. to 1: p.m. at the Shannon Medical Center Concourse we'll just have some information about uh the trauma survivors Network and the resources that we offer and we'll have an opportunity to honor our trauma patients thank you guys very much next is our motorcycle safety awareness month and I know we have people in the audience for this so please come forward good morning girl how are you

[0:06:22] good to see you good to have you here good morning hi good to have you here good morning unfortunately as we meet here today I know that since we've last been here we've had a motorcycle death in our community so it's really important today that we understand about our motorcycle safety awareness thank you all for being here Ponderosa MC as members of the Texas Confederation of Clubs and independent riders in collaboration and support of the national Safety Council Tech do and local motorcycle Enthusiast we would like to remind all Road users that the month of May marks a national recognition of motorcycle safety Awareness Month Motors are reminded of the frequency of higher seasonal returns of motorcycle enthusiasts to Texas roadways during this month due to their smaller size motorcycles May easily be overlooked in regular traffic flow motorists are encouraged to always be aware of motorcycles on all roadways When approaching intersections when performing Lane changes as well as whenever motorists near or pass other vehicles including motorcycles motorcyclists are encouraged to operate their motorcycles in a defensive Manner and within the rules of the road motorcyclists ask that as motorists Drive they take a few extra seconds to look twice for motorcycles both during motorcycle safety a in this month and throughout the year to promote overall safety therefore I Brenda Gunter mayor of the city of s Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council do hereby Proclaim may as motorcycle safety Awareness Month in s Angelo Texas and encourage everyone to share the road safely who's going to speak would you this from me yes ma'am absolutely thank you thank you

[0:08:29] good morning Madame mayor ladies and gentlemen of the council and all present and watching today I'm Gypsy sedai on behalf of the motorcyclists in our community and all across the country I would like to thank you for this opportunity to share with you one of the most important days we look forward to each year in the hope that it will Rec that it will help to Save a Life today's recognition and Proclamation joins the national recognition across the US of May as Motorcycle Awareness Month for several years now I've had the honor and privilege to stand before this forum and remind our local community that those of us who choose to ride motorcycles are just like everyone else and that we all wish to return home safely from any destination whether riding to work school appointments errands trips or to and from wherever our greatest desire is to remain safe we are all daughters Sons mothers fathers sisters brothers grandmothers grandfathers Aunts Uncles family and friends of others who care for and worry about us and we all hope for the same as you to make it safely back to our families and Homes at the end of our ride while such a consideration for those who choose to drive a four-wheeled vehicle or larger often take this idea for granted we as motorcyclists cannot we all consider ourselves Brothers and Sisters of the roads and hold each other in such regard because we have watched and witnessed so many of us injured or even lose lives every year due to senseless and preventable actions that could have easily been avoided if only everyone could take a few extra moments to look twice for motorcycles this is why we take this time to remind everyone to imagine your family members or friends standing here in place for just a moment and then the next time you get into your vehicles please remind yourself and others to

[0:10:32] take those few extra seconds upon your arriving or upon your driving journey to be aware that there is a life riding on every motorcycle on the road and each life is surely loved by others just as you are loved and are loved by your family and friends so again we as motorcyclists ask you to please look twice for motorcycles particularly at intersections when changing lanes and before turn because it could mean the difference between life and death for a motorcyclist thank you than our last Proclamation is historic preservation month please come forward everyone for this Proclamation you're

[0:12:38] good Downtown St Angelo Inc recognizes the significance of our City's Rich history and the importance of preserving our cherished historic sites buildings and landmarks May is nationally recognized as historic preservation month a Time dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness about the value of preserving our cultural heritage for present and future Generations historic preservation month serves as an opportunity to honor the efforts of individuals organizations and communities who work tirelessly to safeguard the tangible reminders of our past which Fosters a deeper appreciation for our Collective history downtown C Angel Inc acknowledges that historic preservation contributes to the economic Vitality cultural identity and sense of place within our community by attracting visitors promoting civic pride and enhancing property values by preserving our historic resources we ensure that the stories of those who came before us are not lost but rather serve as a source of inspiration education and connection for future Generations downtown s Angel Inc recognizes the importance of collaborative efforts among government agencies nonprofit organizations businesses and citizens to protect and promote our historic assets we urge our community members to engage in activities such as Heritage Tours preservation workshops and volunteer opportunities to actively participate in the preservation of our built environment let us reaffirm our commitment to preserving the unique character and Heritage of downtown s Angelo ensuring that it remains a vibrant and thriving place for generations to come now therefore I Brenda Gunter mayor of the city of s Angelo Texas on behalf of the city council do hereby proclaim the month of May as historic preservation month and encourage all residents to join us in celebrating the diverse history of our city and enduring the legacy of its historic places Monica would you like to

[0:14:42] speak thank you mayor thank you Council um I would like to begin uh by introducing Downtown St Angelo's new assistant Desy hoso she's here with us today and I'd also like to express thanks to sha he is an Angelo State University student who completed his internship with us and he also helped us write this Proclamation and then thank you to Sher Bailey as well at the city of St Angelo she's a historic preservation officer thank you for being here today with us and I also want to give a little plug about s Angelo gives that is today's online giving day in downtown St Angelo is a nonprofit organization so when you think of giving your contributions today please think of us in St Angelo there are 70 properties buildings and homes that are Liv listed on the National Historic registry 39 of those are within our historic district and that's not to mention those that are not listed why is historic preservation so important to us well it helps us understand and really appreciate our cultural heritage they are historic areas that create vibrant cultural destinations that bring in art and events and festivities and in return it brings in investment revenue and economic growth historic tourism and Heritage tourism really is an economic driver just think about other cities who do preserve their cultural heritage like Bastrop and nadas and of course we're all familiar with Fredericksburg now think about St Angelo take a walk or a drive next time you're driving through downtown and take a look at our historic properties at our cultural heritage the ornate detail in the architecture the beauty that we have here in St Angelo that needs to be preserved and the way that we can preser reserve it is by restoration Rehabilitation or reconstruction of these properties please take pride and please take care of our cultural heritage thank you we want to remind everybody at 4:30

[0:16:48] today there will be a ribbon cutting to uh celebrate art and uncommon places a million-dollar investment and art projects um in Historic downtown and that's at 4 129 South chadburn come on we will now open up the meeting for public public comment issues or concerns not on the regular agenda may be raised by the public at this time citizens should speak from the podium address all comments to the Das Begin by stating their name and address or single member district number and limit their remarks to less than three minutes those wanting to make public comment please come forward I'm GNA adjust my picture before I start I think I am is it mov I can't get it what button do I push to move it that's the only I should have 10 pictures there it goes oh thank you that's the one I'm Buton my button's not

[0:19:12] working right try to thank you trauma elder abuse and financial exploitation which has been occurring to me now for 3 years and8 months in this city and this County and continues to date it took my husband's life in the past three weeks I've been threatened with death four times I've been told to move I've been told I'm surprised I'm not dead at my age and that when I please shut up I've been told by the sheriff and told out of three public meetings and told to shut up we have a problem in this community I'm going to read my husband's obituary who I got back from Johnson's Funeral Home dead they wanted to bury him without even calling me weighing 85 pounds having no legs and no brain and had been starved to death and kept captive for me for 14 months Dennis Al he was never given the privilege of this because he had to lay in the freezer for four months before I finally got him back and can place him at our Ranch where he was supposed to have been Dennis Alfred Robinson of nickach Texas a brilliant loving creative Man passed away on December 10th 2021 our 27th wedding anniversary AR in Shannon hospital without me Dennis was born in Stan Angelo Texas to Bill Robinson and Aubrey Lee Robinson Sanders on October 30th 1946 he attended Angelo State University and later on went to own his own business Consolidated

[0:21:16] contractors during his career here as a general contractor spanning over 40 years Dennis built hundreds of buildings in St Angelo and the surrounding communities some of the most Mo most notable projects are the Rio cono Sports Complex Texas Bank the porter Henderson Library 20 other buildings on Angelo State University Restorations to the Fort Concho and railroad Depot the poo and the celebration Bridge the Texas Workforce Commission MHMR the gymnasiums on every sa campus in this town the leright dental office building which won national awards ranchers lamb Kirby Park Christoval Middle School Homeland security along with FBI office along with hundreds of other projects before closing our business in 18 due to Dennis's dementia and other medical issues with me after 45 years of dedicated service to our community the last project we completed together was the renovation of the Cathedral at the sa Sacred Heart Church here in this town Dennis and our's Legacy will continue throughout history with the projects we've completed I'm handing over to you this and I'm having you look at these pictures this is our lovely West Lake Hardware bathroom facility to which I was told I would just live with and not shop there thank you for being here today Jackie am further public comment if so please come forward mayor yes I just wanted to make a comment sure I wanted to thank the city of s Angelo staff for going out there and cleaning up the tent city that they're starting to do out there Bob took me for a little tour of it yesterday so they're really hard at work and I just want to say thank you very much that is one hard job to do Daniel do you want to make any comments

[0:23:19] concerning the um work and the efforts that went on yesterday and I suspect going on today yes ma'am the cleaning will continue uh probably for the next couple of days uh we have been working with the Homeless Coalition I know we've had calls and questions about uh the homeless individuals um the city has been working with the Homeless Coalition uh to uh have a a piece of property where they could be relocated and that's being worked through but right now uh we have responded uh I know that there were several concerns that we had received from business owners and residential owners there near that area uh we have we're doing everything we can to make sure that everything in that whole area is cleaned up and uh again uh looking at the future uh ensuring that that work continues with the Homeless Coalition and that uh the issues with the homeless continue to be addressed thank you further public comment come on forward come forward mayor Gunter and City Council Members my name is Michael McDonald I live at 2618 Sleepy Hollow Road which is least property from the city I've resided at that area for 35 years now uh transferred here from Odessa Texas in a law enforcement agency I was sent here to open an enforcement office very unexpectedly found a home on the lake which I purchased in 1989 when I purchased the home I was given a 30-year lease of which I paid I think it was $480 a year at that time the property did go up for sale unfortunately at the time I was starting a brand new business and could not afford that uh what they were asking in hindsight I wish I would have bought it in hindsight I wish I would have invested in Microsoft but fact of the matter is my lease ran out and although I continually thought

[0:25:24] about buying the property I thought I'm going to be in my 70s when this lease runs out well here I am the leases run out the city decided uh after some debate to continue my lease on a year-to-year schedule uh my first year and again I was paying 480 which I know is ridiculously low and I appreciated that my first year $2,428 a year second year $485 a year from that point the third year the lease fee went up to $7,250 a year as I'm now retired living on a fixed income it would take over half of my monthly income to be set aside to live in a home that I paid off over 15 years ago I love the home I've done so much improvement last year I put the home on the market and it did not sell when I thought it would my new lease came up so I paid the 7,284 took it off the market to live there another year and then put it back on the market that property went in five years it's the value of the property went from 110,000 two years later it went to 200,000 put my home back on the market this year for the same price I had put it on last year only to find the appraisal for $200,000 was no longer in effect because it was 14 months ex 14 months prior the property went up $39,000 in just over a year I'm priced out of the market what I sell that home for is what I'm going to live my wife and I for the rest of our lives over half of what I'm selling the house for has to come to the city

[0:27:29] I'm disputing the amount of the recent appraisal thank you you need to go to Tom Green County Appraisal District that's man you will need to go to the Tom Green County Appraisal District that's who manages the appraisals not the city we're also working with him I believe on this particular issue regarding the appraisal and we'll continue to do so to we get resolution the uh but that's on the land not the house yes on the land my house has not gone up in value although it's totally remodeled and and I'm told it's just absolutely beautiful from people that look on it online thank you very much thank you further public comment hello good morning good morning my name is Cassie Harper um I am his realtor so I just wanted to kind of tell you some facts about the least Lake properties on Lake nasworthy um so I kind of checked into why leases are going up so fast like in 2019 his appraisal just to purchase the lot from the city um it doesn't value the house at all it's just the raw land value um his appraisal was 121 today he just got it like last week a new appraisal paid $900 to get a new appraisal and it's $239,000 so it's doubled since 2019 well the value of houses has doubled but what we're not looking at is that if you had like a lease lot it was vacant and you owned a lot out there right and you wanted to sell the lease to somebody else would you just give it away you wouldn't because you're kind of selling the rights to that lease as well right so we're the city's not factoring in that portion of it and then also I wanted to talk about um let me get my note out real quick sorry oh I wanted to talk about the

[0:29:31] possibility of maybe putting like a cap like on homesteaded properties maybe we can put on the agenda that like maybe we don't um increase the value of the appraisal over like 10% because that's what the county does with our property tax appraisals right if it's homesteaded they don't increase the the value of 10% year after year so I was thinking maybe we could look at maybe doing something like that for these home property owners okay thank you thank you more public comment good morning ton Yeezy District 5 I Drove all night to get here I was in Oklahoma yesterday and so I'm tired I'm just going to read so hopefully you missed all the tornadoes that's why we went I have a son who likes the Chase and I it's was his birthday and we go I go with him then I go with him other times but that's what we went and did to chase I think there were too many prayers for tornadoes to happen I think that's what happen so it's a good thing all right we talked about U all the improvements in the city trying to bring it in and we still have the dogs running around and it's not really changed um I'm here asking the city to consider giving $25,000 to the Critter Shack and Cassie's Place sponsored spay neuter voucher program I sent all city council persons the mayor the city manager the assistant city manager the information on our program that includes every aspect of the pricing what the vouchers include how easy it is for us to separate the S Angelo citizens versus non-citizens to ensure that the city tax dollars are not being spent on non-citizens if the city would go in thir the the cost to the city would be an average of 19 under $19 per animal to get them spayed or

[0:31:35] neutered and vaccinated I have also sent a study comparing the price of to have animals spayed and neutered to the expenses that the shelter incurs for every animal please tell me how the shelter can pick up an Animal House them feed them vaccinate them spay neuter them promote them to be adopted then possibly euthanize and dispose of them them all for under less than $19 we just we have to wake up to this problem it's not going away um please don't tell me that you hear less about our pet overpopulation or that you think it's improved I've heard that comment before and I don't know if people are calling and y'all aren't getting y'all's messages or if they're just so tired of calling because nothing's getting done that they've given up um last month in may we chose not to sell vouchers because we have to donate money to to match that to to the vets the Vets get a fair price and we are out of funds and Angelo giz is will help us but we have to have funds also if we KN need new equipment for our Spain Neuter Clinic we can't do all of it to that um and we had a sign up with everybody's phone numbers except for yours I think was wrong Mr Thompson we had your somebody else's down duplicated on yours U but all the people that we've talked to uh told us that they haven't had any kind of response to their calls that they've called in um nobody and when I sent this information uh last month I had one response saying that they'd received it and the other one and one telling me that it went to spam so I sent another text asking for people to check their spam but I have a copy of that here today thank you very much for being explaining that do y'all want these hand them to the City attorney or the city clerk further public

[0:33:47] comment uh Jamal Sher single member district 2 um I came up here to discuss what we discussed yesterday but after hearing this woman talk uh I just wanted to let you guys know I made some comments at the animal shelter advisory committee that you might need to look at it it probably would require you guys tapping into some Community Fund project funds uh to to accomplish but I believe that that that might be necessary because there are dogs all over my neighborhood uh people don't even own these dogs they're sitting on their porches as if that're that's their home but I believe people are dumping dogs in my neighborhood uh that's this is not the reason why I came to talk to you today but she brought up a great point for me I came to talk to you guys today because U what you suggested last week I kind of thought was out of line a little inappropriate uh given that there be no need to change the Zone just so that you can subvert the 500t distance so I brought with you a living wage calculator which uh kind ofal I'm sorry to interrupt you are you speaking on the Str Str ordinance no I'm actually speaking on their neighborhood Rev neighborhood revitalization program just want to be clear all right thank you so looking at the the factors uh because it's it's stirred from that conversation uh I was looking at this living wage calculator made by massachusett Institute of Technology it's also supported by National Education Association um some of these things some of these statistics on here we're blowing some of our competitors out the water like avalene Tyler Long great job but when it comes to living here why is it more expensive if you have a kid to live here if we're a family friend Town family friendly town so we if we dive into these living wge calculators it will explain to us that maybe we've given out too much tax money to corporations that don't give back the money to the people working there so that they can afford the homes in that area so it's always a circular thing of money going around that's how Economics

[0:35:52] work uh I made a comment at The Economic Development Corporation talking about that how we gave our money to L duck Alberta Canada uh nothing wrong with spurring incentives but I think just their second round of getting some uh half since sales tax money so if we really temp down and look at statistics we can really make a difference in a lot of places like the water department water and SE Department animal shelter Economic Development it's quite quite a few places we can make a difference in thank you thank you further public comment one last request for any public comment all right we will close the public comment section of the agenda and we will move on into the consent agenda at this point I am going to pull item G it will not be discussed today so item G if you're here to speak about item item G it will not be discussed today so I will ask Larry do you have any item you'd like to pull from the consent agenda ma'am I'd like to abstain abstain from item e and I'll be on mute because we're running a ship girl here okay so item e will be pulled Karen I item I Lucy nothing Harry Tom Tommy all right all right with that may I have a motion to approve the consent to agenda with the exception of item e and I having pulled G may I have that motion so move so move by Harry seconded by Karen public comment on the consent agenda with the exception of g e and I to clarify ma'am this is yes yes yes

[0:37:56] Larry uh I was not pulling the item I was simply abstaining from the vote on item e yes ma'am okay so item e is considered a part of this consent agenda vote and G just goes to the regular agenda is what I think they're asking oh you want it to the regular agenda that you didn't discuss with me sorry for that clarification it goes to the regular agenda okay then what we are doing is asking to vote on the consent agenda on all items except G and I public comment I'll ask for again seeing none we'll take a vote all those in favor of all items on the consent please say I I consent agenda passes we will now move um and that is I'm not sure it will be 70 vote but Larry excluded himself from E so I don't know how we record that but item e would be a 60 vote and the rest would be a 7 Z vote huh sounds like a Heather problem yeah counting heads there okay item I second reading of an ordinance amending chapter 12 Planning and Development exhibit a zoning ordinance Article 4 specific use standard section 406 bed and breakfast establishments and short-term rentals regarding approved renewal and revocation of it conditional uses authorizing bed and breakfast and short-term rental establishments and Wells as revising distance limitations with respect to short-term rentals Karen do you have a question or a comment good morning first I'd like to commend everyone that works so hard to accomplish the creation of an extraordinary Str Str or ordinance for our city it's historic and it was quite wonderful however I have to report this morning that I've had several folks call

[0:40:01] contact me pardon me contact me with concern regarding the protective Zone around schools and so their request was that we continue to discuss that and reconsider the amendment to that particular sub item and expand it to 1,000 ft rather than 500 ft so not opposed to the 500 as a but want it further restricted to 1,000 correct only around schools um further comment or comments from Council yes Tom I mean we we talked about that specifically at the meeting and we we almost talked about 500 was almost too far because of commercial development that would be close to a a school and and it's hard to regulate that because somebody can put in a school scho you know a church can put on school things like that it was it was kind of a moving Target we recognize 500 I mean tell me a little bit more Karen I mean well I want to say no but I want to say we we discussed 500 and we were all good with it and I think a thousand boy when you start drawing a thousand foot circle around stuff Karen we're we're getting out quite a ways I would say the following we haven't even gotone into effect yet how aboutum the 500 ft see if there's any issues or complications with it see if there's any violations that would be concerning within the thousand feet and then relook at it but this hasn't even gone into effect so we did discuss it we had conversation about it and decided the 500 ft would seem to be the correct number is it is it not I don't know it's not in effect let's get it in effect and let's see what happens well back to Karen I mean did some people provide you some background I mean some info on on why they wanted it to go out I was provided information that indicates there's precedent for that and again I'm just representing

[0:42:03] Community opinion it's it's not necessarily my own I like the mayor's solution that we give it a try and see if if there's push back to the extent um that we need that we do indeed need to reconsider of course where children are concerned there's always a risk that we take a chance that that there's an incident that's disturbing and don't want to have regrets after the fact obviously but my obligation today was to bring before you the concerns of of several community members that brought that to my attention we have also received emails from the Airbnb Association who want us to have no restrictions so there's people on both sides of the fence here again I say let's get it in effect let's see what happens let's see if there's any issues I think as we discussed and voted on last time it's a good policy I'd like to see us put it into action and go from there any other comments questions for Aaron concerning it um I had to say a word all right then may I have a motion for approval of item I so move so move by Tom second second by Lucy public comment seeing none what we got one U Jamal Sher single member District number two uh for Miss hessie Smith just so we're clear the Tom Green County do does parole in probation and they set a th000 foot distance from schools for their parolis and probationers so u i mean it kind of could help in that respect um but if that's already in effect well it it's not really in effect if we're not there enforcing it and and we we don't hardly enforce much on short-term rentals anyway so if go ahead and put it out there this is going to be one more thing we're not enforcing and one more thing we're going to have to look up uh I don't think we should be so careless with our children they are our

[0:44:06] future thank you further public comment good seeing none let's take a vote all those in favor say I I I Larry I okay so that passes 70 right we will now move into our regular agenda comments regarding items on the agenda may be made by the public when each item is discussed as outlined above applicants proponents and appellants are exempt from the time limit above and instead must limit their remarks to less than five minutes I am going to ask that item G be first since it was pulled from consent agenda so item G is a resolution of the city of St Angelo city council amending the schedule of fees and charges related to Parks and Recreation fees for the addition of BOS fees and removal of nature Center fees Tina you are on mayor Tina I don't know if that's on Tina derki Director of Finance um Carl has met with his board since this was put onto the agenda and they requested a couple of minor changes to what was presented in your background so he wanted to come forward and ask you to approve this item with those uh changes please yes our Parks and Recreation Advisory Board disc us this late Wednesday afternoon they had a few adjustments three on food items and one on an activity uh if if this is passed the resolution allows the city manager or his or her designity to approve adjustments in fees but um the adjustments they had on the food items was um Ring Pops going from $150 to $1 uh prepackaged popcorn from a larger bag of5 to a smaller bag of $3 and adding a a new food item on the list of um Cheetos and hot cheese serve it up

[0:46:14] the there is one activity that they wanted to consider adjusting uh the miniature golf uh we're basically going with the same rate that was charged by St Angelo host down there uh and low lowering the the get in free age of under 5 years old but they wanted to add a group rate um so instead of charging $5 a person no matter how many people showed up if you have a group of six or more that are above the age of five then it would be $3 a person so those are the adjustments that the board wanted um Council to consider tell us the history on on on that how many people is it popular is it not popular are we talking about something that doesn't matter one way or the other because it's not being used talk to me well the boss guess I know it was run by St Angela host our city concessionaire at the last amendment that we the city council approved that that property was taken out of their um Services their exclusive right to provide services for and so now the city is picking up that responsibility to run the Bosque under Recreation and so we wanted to continue the same services um pretty much charge the same things some of the activities are going to be a little bit lower than what the local Market's charging and we base that off of what s Angela host was charging at the Bosque as well as some of the boat rentals at water dogs which is at uh Lake nasworthy um the Bosque is popular it depends on when if the school is in or out depends on the weather if it's hot or not uh we do intend to have some more activities down there to bring in some more folks uh some more events to get it get it more popular again we need to be U it doesn't seem to be utilized a lot it's the reason I ask about participation what I do know is there's a lot of fishing going on and when you drive by there fishing is the number one activity and lots of people are enjoying it for the purposes of fishing which is great

[0:48:17] so I just want to make sure that we're looking at as we talk about fees that we understand use is it being used is it activity that people want down there do we need to rethink and you can't we're not going to vote on that today or whatever but I think we need to be looking at is this popular is miniature golf popular I think what this will offer is once Recreation takes it over which we have never run it before it's always been contracted out he gives them the opportunity to look at those options what might be trendy might might be happening and how they use that so I think they'll be watching that now that we're we're over it we need to make use of that incredible facility so we need to be alert to what is or isn't working I agree and we're glad you're running it thank you okay any questions from Council Tom uh Tommy please she ring it's the hot Cheetos that I'm interested in Oh Oh I thought you're I called on you no I'm I'm I'm messing with Tom um do we have any idea the reason that um the the vendor gave up I guess the opportunity to run this and gave it back to us did we request it back do we know if if was it a huge money loser for them yeah I don't think they were making they weren't making a profit off of it I believe they were having a hard time Staffing it Tommy so having someone there to operate it was a big challenge so to to a a bigger fee discussion that we've had before which is not I'm not intending to open that discussion today at all but let's just watch that to see how we do in terms of profit loss Etc so yes okay and whether there's other activities that would bring more to the table so um it's our opportunity to look at what the public wants and needs out

[0:50:20] of that area and to re-evaluate what we offer so okay good all right then is there a motion for approval of what was item G on the consent agenda which is item C on the regular agenda now so move so move by Harry I'll second mayor second by Tommy public comment seeing none we'll take a vote all those in favor say I I I okay motion passes 70 thank you Carl all right we'll move into item a of the regular agenda which is consider accepting the the C City's fiscal year 2023 annual comprehensive financial report and single audit the presentation is going to be made by Armstrong Bas and Company LLC partner Gayla Thorton I know she's in the audience good morning mayor council morning on behalf of Armstrong bis and company thank you for engaging us one more year for the audit of the city of St Angelo um and thank you to the finance staff for helping us get this audit done um the purpose of an audit so when we go in and audit the city we don't look at everything we are very risk spaced we look at items that are material riskier to the public and the city and we perform tests to determine whether your financial statements as a whole are reasonably stated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and then as a result we issue opinions on all the um opinion units of your financial statements and those opinions that we issued were what we call Un modified which is a clean opinion so it was a good audit this year um the reporting in is that opposed to other years when it's not a good a good audit no ma'am no just asking no ma'am it's been good

[0:52:23] um you have a very large packet which is your financial statements and in that we break it down into uh the primary government and then your your CDC is presented as a discretly presented component unit all of that's included in the basic financial statements the major funds because they're material presented are the general fund and the intergovernmental fund the water fund and the SE fund all the other funds are combined into what we call aggregate other and so they're not presented separately in the first part of the report but they're presented individually in combining statements at the back so you can see all the details of all the funds in there somewhere but the focus is on those four major material funds General intergovernmental water sewer and as I mentioned we issued a clean opinion some significant events that happened in 2023 that had a financial impact to your financial statements we had a new accounting standard issued and effective for fiscal year 23 and that was gby 96 which focuses on subscription based Information Technology agreements so your cloud-based agreements that you have to pay for month to month those are now reported as assets and liabilities on your financial statements which is different from years past last year we had to put leases on there this year we put what we call sidas on there so is that why there's a $1.7 million increase in information technology yes ma'am uh you also had $82 million in infrastructure and construction and process um positive movement for the city you have continued your Hickory Expansion Project with new debt and added construction and process and then you had a significant increase in your pension liabilities and those are all actuar determined and that increase is due to change and assumptions on the actuary liability and the interest rate it makes it go up or down

[0:54:29] as a whole the entire government not including Costa DC you had total assets of 815 million total liabilities of 59 million your total net position or your Equity is 329 million as of September 30th 2023 your increase to your net position was $24 million so a very positive year for the city of San Angelo and that just show shows how it's trended over the last 5 years and your total not position just continues to increase and why is that uh adding assets um and then not spending as much as you budget that's the key that's the key in addition to this report we also issue what's called a single audit this is required when you spend $750,000 or more in federal Awards um you had $13.2 million in federal Awards spent during 2023 so we go in and we test the internal control and compliance over those expenditures and we issue a separate report on that um this is how your grants or your federal expenditures have trended over the last five years it's back up in 2023 mainly due to covid funds that came in this year um that were awarded in Prior years spent this year so very positive for the city of St Angelo any questions I have a lot sorry on the whole book all right all right um starting with page 18 so um page 18 I think it gives us a great recap of really what happened in this year and it's important to note that the interest rates gave us one of the greatest increases in terms of um additional money so the interest rate produced 12 12% increase where sales tax was only 88.5% increase so our growth came in interest payments High interest

[0:56:31] rates which had changed from low interest rates so that's important to note what's also important to note is that if you take a look on page 19 and you look at where the increase in expenses happened where we had an $1 million increase in revenues we had uh 26 million increase in expenses so we want to make sure our revenues increase greater than our expenses and this would indicate that in 2023 versus 2022 that would not be the case so expenses increase greater than Revenue we need to watch that um total revenues of 78.8 million increased 6.1 million from 2022 what was interesting was the lower Bild consumption revenues of $1.7 million less on Water and Sewer .5 so we collected 2.2 million less in water and sewer than the previous year the question would be is that because of the drought it's just a question question okay so that is concerning what also was concerning was a lower charges for services of Public Safety of $1 million for a change in recording uncollectable Revenue what is that that's on page 20 oh on S um and that is item well the first thing under program revenue is 4.9 million lower primarily due to quote $1.0 million for a change in recording un collectible revenue uncollectible revenue I'm G have to get back to you on that I don't remember that one okay um and as I said interest income was one of our greatest asset increases so with that then my concern on page 74 is that I don't see the lake nasworthy sewer project

[0:58:37] listed and that was a major investment we have to defer to Tina on that one um looking at it the one that cost us $44 million the sewer project yeah it's not on there I sure you I'll have to get back to you on that may you're right that should probably be on that list so it must be it was a big investment okay so I'm on page 89 the original budget for charges for services says it was 6.7 million the final number was 9.4 million that's a big jump from budget where would most of those increases come from those were budget amendments that yall made throughout the year to get from original to final the specific reason I'm not sure yeah so we need to better understand where those charges for that almost $3 million increase and charges for services came from how did that how' that break down then on page 14 let's see I think it must be 141 I was very concerned about um the principal property taxpayers and Sunset

[1:00:40] Mall which was on there in from 2013 to 2014 was omitted from this real estate list as well as Sam's East project why would they be omitted because those two assessed value in the 2314 were U $34 million and they're not even listed on here so the morta for hersfield I not on here but I guess that's AFCO steel so that became that Verizon was $20 million in 2314 there's nothing listed for that on here so it seemed to me that the assessed values are missing some Key Properties so these specific statistics they say unaudited at the top these are prepared by City staff and they um they have specific databases that they go in and get this information but I don't have that information those are just not they're still listed because they were there 10 years ago but they fell out of the top 10 and we only list the top 10 in the current year yes sir so we're asking a lot of questions here that should they be directed more at staff than at Armstrong and back is I'm not trying to defend it but I'm like we give her a set of data and they look at it but there's questions here that I think were questions that should be directed at staff and that's think Gayla is going to have a clue on some of these things what we're asking her she might not but this is the first time we've been given this booklet to review so and it's being presented today which it would have an impact on what she presents so we just we're not we just need to understand where some of these issues are I I get where we all got it last week before these meetings but I was just in defense of okay I mean we were asking some questions that I mean how many pages we got through and we've only had it a few

[1:02:43] days yet so I think those were staff questions but if we don't do it now when do we do it I think we can do that at any time but I get it go ahead yeah okay so again I think staff Gayla can't answer this one but on page 151 there's some issues I think as it relates to full-time equivalent employees by Department uh specifically great engineering is up dramatically from the 2314 which we know is important nursing immunization as well you speak your M pleas could you speak in make sure you speak in mic pleas I can't read and speak okay I got to look and speak anyway just looking at whether these are current and correct because I think we keep saying we can't hire Engineers but yet we've got 17 employed compared to eight in 23 2014 and we know we need them but I wasn't aware we had 17 employees now that could be not just Engineers but other employees within that thing but that's a positive thing to read and know we've got that much talent in our engineering department so I'm just going through looking at where our employees are and then in the operating indicators there's several things on page 115 worth interest being interested in I was surprised to find the number of Acres maintained by our parks department has decreased from 695 acres to 590 I was surprised to see 2314 we had 449 events at the convention center and the 2223 only 160 dramatic

[1:04:49] decrease and then most importantly I'm not sure where the page is I go back and find it oh it's page 149 and this is what was shocking to me okay in 2022 it shows that our population is 99,1 12 2020 was the census year and it's at 10,6 and 2013 it says we had $97,400 it said we had 10,450 so it would indicate we're losing population from 2015 down to 2022 and I don't think any of us feel like we're losing population again this is information provided to you I'm just looking at it going these numbers don't seem to be correct I don't think we have fewer people in 2022 living here than we did in 2013 and 2014 that was the information reported by the US Census Bureau how correct that information is we don't know I know you're only giv it but I think these are issues that because this is a document that many people look at and use so our census when we got the information in 2020 we were very surprised that we had less than a 100,000 based off of the numbers provided us right but this says we have a 100,000 and yet it says in 2022 we have fewer where' they go we think they're growing because we think we've built a lot more houses in the full of people so I'm just interested that was just one night's review so my apologies I didn't get through the whole thing well no Brenda you bring up a good point there's there's things we have questions here and we probably need to set up a time to staff to talk about them I know I'm just highlighting I'm not but it obviously they only have as good of information as they provide so some of this is from as she said the federal

[1:06:52] government some's from Tom Green County some's from whatever but this is the official document it needs to be right it needs to be reflective and if it's not right let's figure out how to make sure next year is correct or a little closer to it because I don't think anybody wants to see that we've lost population it's not the trend line even at we just I'm just saying thank you for your time and effort and a lot of information that you have to go through this is only as good as what you get and our information is only as good as what we get right but we need to understand that some of these numbers and I'm telling you there's probably more issues in here than I've brought up they're not your issues but they're internal in terms of what we get and are provided and we need to challenge them that's all I'm saying any other questions or comments from Council then I think we want to move to approve the work that you've done so move is there a second I'll second a couple of seconds on that any public comment we'll take a vote all those in favor say I I motion is approved 70 Item B is considered a request for an appeal of the planning commission's approval of conditional use cu24 d03 for short-term rental located at 2246 Joy Road good morning mayor city council my name's Aaron Venoy director of planning and development services today I bring forth to you as you just read mayor it's a an appeal a citizen appeal of the planning commission's decision to allow a

[1:08:54] conditional use at the property there on Joy Road at I believe that's 22 I'm going to read it here off of this because I can't see it there 226 2246 Joy Road um so it is a conditional use that was uh voted on in I believe it was March at the March Planning Commission and then what comes forward today as the appeal it's in district one uh councilman Tommy Hebert in the nasworthy neighborhood and it is rs1 zoning district and that is a a picture of the property there with the um dark garage door and you can see the lake behind it this is just an overhead view this doesn't have any of the uh for or against on it as of this moment but I wanted y all just to get a sense of Joy Road it is kind of a almost a block length uh I want to say there's around uh 30 to 40 homes uh give or take in that area I didn't do an exact count you notice there actually two homes that are on the water uh so it's a very unique uh area uh in one sense here within the 200 ft we did mail out 11 required notices we did get eight back in opposition this time for the appeal um as this slide shows at the time we made the slide there was 35 oppositions from outside the 200 ft uh we did have a uh list of names given to us uh from uh the complaining uh parties in the area uh that all live out in the nasworthy area um and I believe those numbers and I have that number right here U is 56 total that were against that were on here again we had Le 11 uh within that area of of the eight out of the 11 in the mail out area was in opposition so there is significant citizen opposition to this uh you Joy Road there um they are long Lots most of

[1:11:01] the homes as you see are towards the Waterfront most of the homes have docks um and so lake nasworthy is a very desirable place for short-term rentals but it's also a very desirable place for homeowners to own property on the water and that is as we all know that is a a major draw for our community uh and we understand that so here's just a larger view just so you get a sense of where this is on Lake nasworthy you see nicker Bacher to the South you see Fisherman's road that kind of uh goes off and goes around uh back to Spring Creek Marina and you're just south of the bridge that goes up there north of Mary elely Park here's the map of the neighborhoods you can see we are right down in this area right here um we do have scattered short-term rentals around the lake um currently we have six that have gone through the full process we have two that are actually working on their um U certificate of occupancies under the old rules and then there's been three that have been denied or expired would you go back to that again I just yes ma'am well they are pretty distributed around the lake at this time um I think as more and more tourism comes about uh as properties may change hands there are chances that there are more short-term rentals uh as you know with the action you took earlier today uh each of those do have a 500t buffer around them that is not going to be appealable um and so that makes a big impact of trying to conc limit the the concentration of short-term rentals uh in any one given area so again on March 18th the Planning Commission voted uh to approve with a request of of approval of 5 to one conditional uses are usually uh approved

[1:13:05] through the Planning Commission they do not rise to the city council level in most of our cases that go to Planning Commission either the applicant can appeal or a citizen can appeal in this case a citizen did appeal that is in the area they're within the 200 ft um we did staff does recommend approval still at this time that they maintained their off their two off street parking uh premises they obtained their certificate of occupancy and they obtain and comply with the annual in fire inspection now obviously those are the conditions as of right now the uh ordinance that you adopted today does not take effect until June 1 and so they would still be under these rules as their application came in under the old rules um we did mail out notices for the appeal we did ensure that those notices both went to to the neighbors as well as the operator and the owner and let them know that they are not able to operate the short-term rental until they get a conditional use approval right now since it's under appeal it is not fully approved and so they should not be operating as such we have had um a couple of calls out there I've got one uh that we have from the uh police department that was for a noise call uh it was on 420 of 2024 uh came in a Neighbor Next Door is an Airbnb and they're playing music really loud um and it's the statement was it was them being loud and children runed around and that was at 5:30 in the afternoon on April 20th um PD did respond and they said there was no report required at the time there are also three cases that our code enforcement officers have worked um they did one on March the 11th a report of a home being rented for the weekend um they went out checked the uh the home was not able to find any violations at that time they also had a complaint on

[1:15:08] April the 12th of unsightly um matter uh there was garbage and trash around um they did go out and were not able to find uh junk and debris but they did they've noted that they said no violations observed and the last one um was also I I believe on 423 um a complaint of operating in Airbnb code enforcement contacted Mr Dylan burns the property owner uh and spoke with him about anyone that is living or staying at the property and Mr Burns on that time did say that he was allowing uh friends and family to stay at the home at that time I myself went out just this weekend uh Friday before the storms as well as Saturday twice just to see if there was any other activity that could be noticed for the weekend I did not notice anything there was one vehicle there uh but there was no nothing else that I could notice at the time uh that would have warranted some kind of verifiable violation um and so with that our recommendation from City staff is to move forward with the approval of the conditional use um for this property at 2246 Joy Road with that I'll be happy to answer any questions I can my question is is the hot tax money since we do not have any verified proof that they've actually rented it as a short-term rental there has not been any hot tax money redeemed at this time um last time we checked with Finance was about two weeks ago our staff team did uh our staff team has done a great job not just um planners but code enforcement PD as you can see they've really worked on making sure checking on this one to see if everything is going the way it should um our recommendation is based on every year with our new ordinance these folks are looked at staff is going to be looking at them every quarter to see if they're paying their hot taxes do they have any complaints is there any reason to bring forth a revocation of that conditional use and so I think we do will have more

[1:17:13] oversight um again it is a the challenge we have as you all know with this one or any short-term rental is verifiable proof but we have to have proof that a violation is happen to to make some kind of change Tommy do you want to I have a couple questions mayor uh Aaron I haven't heard the mention I've heard mention Mr Barn's name the owner of the property is he does he reside within Tom Green County he does not I believe he lives in lck area he does have a local operator that lives in Tom Green County just on the south side of town so has anyone had conversations with the operator do you know we sta City staff has had conversations with the operator as as well as Mr Burns uh but we have not to my knowledge I'm not sure if any of the um the residents have actually called the residents that live around saying hey I have this issue we need to to discuss it um they did not mention that but I'm not sure if that's taking place or not and silly question but as far as you know we have a good contact number for the operator and that that's the number at which the indiv idual was was contacted the one that they gave so they're reachable that is correct the operator is reachable they answered the times that the city called okay and are they aware uh do has has our staff had any conversation with them to make them aware of things that you know that they're going to have to live by uh assuming that they um approval is granted um they go through the full process get the CO Etc um is the operator aware of all those things before they begin renting as uh officially as a short term yes they are the city staff that runs that works the case talks with not only the property owner but the local operator of what the next steps are and what's required uh we also document that with email that we

[1:19:17] have sent that to both of those individuals and in this case since there was an appeal we also get the phone call and a documented email email saying you should not operate until you get your conditional use okay all right mayor right now that's all the questions I have I think Harry had a question I think this is more of a comment but I I will say it anyway Joy Road must be something special because we've had this conversation with properties on there for the last six months or so hope we can get a resolution one way or the other on this but I guess the only question I have is is this particular Road is evidently short enough that if we give this conditional use for St Str today for this property no one else in that neighborhood is going to be able to get one is that correct that's correct that red oval there represents a 500 foot barrier around that property so they would have it until that conditional use is revoked or they choose to release their conditional use and another short-term rental may be able to come in at that time thank you other questions yes Karen I have two questions uh the first one is whether or not your staff has investigated whether this particular property may be currently advertised on any popular Str sites we have seen it advertised um but that again all because you advertise it doesn't mean someone has used it and selected a short-term rental and paid for a short short-term rental that that's our limitations of verified proof and at this time we have not seen any usually those um entities collect a state hot tax and so we were able to go through and look to see if there's been any state hot tax collected and we have not been able to verify that there has been I asked that question specifically uh because of the mayor's question

[1:21:19] regarding hot tax and uh that combined with citizen reports that they've seen people renting it so it begs the question are they renting it are they advertising it and renting it and not reporting it um I'll just leave that there and then my second question has to do with the 43 objections against the approval of this certificate of O occup occupancy can you familiarize us with the nature of those objections please I would say the the vast majority of them um and those particularly on Joy Road this is a neighborhood to them this is a maybe for many of them a retirement investment for them to retire on lake nasworthy in West Texas and they want to preserve that neighborhood feel um and I would say that probably is echoed through many of the properties that have said this is not the place for a short-term rental I do know that there are some of the folks here in the audience today so I'll let them better explain their reasoning but I would say the majority is they they feel like this is a neighborhood area they want it to stay a neighborhood area I know they have fears that this is going to be rented out and be what we've all heard throughout the short-term Rental process as a party house and I think that's a second further discussion maybe in the budget process or beginning of next year of how do we police these these uh short-term rentals how do we go and do enforcement at some time in the future to ensure that the neighborhood are truly being protected mayor yes a couple other things occurred to me um TR I'm going to put you on the spot in a minute with respect to Zari case um do do we in fact uh well no let me go let me go a different direction um Karen to your to your question about the hot tax being paid I talked to our finance staff I believe it was Friday it was late last week May maybe it was it

[1:23:23] wasn't yesterday I believe it was Friday um asking them because if it is rented it is my if if it is rented through one of the rental sites that when they make that that payment that payment then goes to the state it doesn't come to us so I ask our staff to our finance staff to scour our um records with respect to had any tax been paid to the state that we could see and verify had been paid to the state as if it had been rented they could find nothing um so one thing now Teresa cash speaks sometimes who knows but there's no verifiable proof that it has been rented through one of the sites as a short-term rental just over the since this has been a topic over the past several months um I have been educated to uh I think understand and that there have been some court cases that directly affect us what we can what we cannot do and if I'm not mistaken it's the Zari case that the court of appeals out of Austin decided give us a highlevel summary and how that affects what we can and cannot do as a city I guess we can do it but is it setting ourselves up for a lawsuit that we'll just not be able to defend ourselves yeah at the risk of Prov in you guys legal counsel in a public forum I'm going to be very general in my language but basically the courts are siding on the side of um St Str owners generally across the state not just in Austin and um it all falls back onto the property rights of those people and their right to lease property um the courts tend to look at what is the difference between renting something 30 days and 31 days um and they're not finding there's a lot of difference and generally we are allowed to enact

[1:25:26] regulations that um address issues that cannot be addressed some other way so if our noise ordinance is not um effective in controlling noise complaints that are real noise complaints I mean our PD went out and they didn't find one and I think there's a misconception that people are entitled to silence people can make noise at properties but as an example if our ordinance is not effective in controlling that then we can enact other regulations that can help do that but we're pretty restricted in the kinds of regulations on Str strs that we can impose right now so Aron that would then cause me to pose a question to you at this point we have no verifiable information that they have done anything um out of bounds illegal with respect to short-term rental that is is that an accurate statement that's correct okay so um then to back to you Teresa that doesn't give us much grounds then it doesn't seem to me to deny this since the Planning Commission have already has already vetted this in a thorough fashion because I've watched that meeting several times um so we we might be skating out on thin ice were we to to to to to go a certain direction today yeah I would ask if you do want to deny the CU and approve the appeal that you do it with some findings of facts so we have a b to argue that it was a Justified denial okay thank you do we have a justifiable Denial in my staff opinion we have not found anything that would rise to the threshold that we would go back if we under our new ordinance that we would go back to Planning Commission for revocation thank you any other comment from City Council Members then may I have a motion from someone mayor um since this is my district um it frustrates me as a council person

[1:27:32] not to be able to represent your District like uh like you would want to but it doesn't seem to me that we have any justifiable grounds to deny the St Str so having said that I'm going to make a motion to uphold the planning commission's approval and to deny deny the appeal of this approval so then somebody's going to have to tell us how that how that if we're in favor of upholding the Planning Commission and denying the appeal is that a vote in favor of that motion This is complicated language is well it is when you have an appeal and and so we're my motion is to uphold the planning commission's decision and deny the appeal if we're going to be in favor of allowing the planning commission's decision to stand we would vote in favor of that motion correct yes so what you are saying in other words in a simple form if you vote Yes the Str Str would be approved you vote no the Str strr is not approved it's that simple I I guess that's simple I'm going to go with it okay there you go all right so the motion is there is there a second a second by Lucy public comment please please come forward I'm Jerry Lancaster my wife and I own the home directly next door at 2250 Joy Road I did not realize that we could make complaints before now that uh regarding the existing rental uh it is being rented as a short-term rental it has been rented since March 8 uh periodically every week it is rented as of today as a short-term rental when you say rental can you verify that he's been receiving money in exchange for using

[1:29:37] that house uh or just the fact that people are there I've I can verify it from those those people some of the people not all of them uh there there may be some that have been employees the I seriously doubt it the there's a c there's a family there right now they arrived at 400 p.m. yesterday a lady drove up while I was outside she was very friendly and I have no doubt they they will be enjoyable neighbors their last name is oma and they are from Arizona she said they rented it through the Airbnb website for a week they have a son in college here although they are renting it illegally they are innocent and I would not want to see them asked to be to leave I've got 13 instances beginning on March 8th listed here as exhibit a of of the times that's been rented the another couple was Lexing Garner and her husband from Alpine and they're they're grown kids from New Mexico the Garners were good friends of ours our friends David and Jerry Cook who previously lived in Alpine they complained to Dylan by T texting because the gas grills had dried food and on both and no gas and very uncomfortable beds they demanded a partial refund because they uh they had purchased meat that they couldn't could not use Dylan has never responded as far as I I can tell uh and they specifically said that that they had rented it through the Airbnb website they have had that house listed on the Airbnb website as in L summer is the name of the place and and it has been rented pretty much continuously since March the 8th um how is it we're not finding this information I mean I would have given it to you daily if I had have known that

[1:31:40] was an option I didn't know that and I've if you've got my exhibit a it's listed um and I have got audio and video um proof of it on my security cameras I have cameras in the back and the front showing when people are arriving um and when they leave and and when the police were called the other day uh that didn't happen at 5:30 in the morning that happened after midnight and that party did not break up until 3:30 in the morning the my my video and audio is timestamped I um I'd have to have someone help me make break that out because it's continuous video 24/7 and I'd love for y'all to see it I just I'm not sure how to to break that out and make a copy for you but but we will do that if you if you want it I don't know how so somebody else would have to help you but to say that this has not um been used as a short-term rental is absolutely untrue we have proof of it we have video and audio proof of of it the on the the day that the party went on and on and on uh that audio is Extremely Loud and and that property is 15 ft from my back door so you're my my 97 year old mother is living with us right now and she sleeps right there within 15 ft of that property so it's going to restrict us from being a to use our own Lake home that we've owned for 10 years if if this is granted that and I I have this whole thing that I can read to you but y'all y'all may have have copies of it and I've I've signed it thank you okay thank you so much we are definitely opposed other public

[1:33:45] comment Brenda yes Teresa aren't there penalties that we discussed the last time about operating without the conditional use yeah there are penalties that we can investigate if we find that they've been operating without the conditional use we can certainly that's a violation of the zoning ordinance it can be $2,000 a day um and we can certainly look at that but on the other side we've talked as staff about denying because somebody's using um without a permit but really the only remedy for them is to come and get the appropriate conditional use permit so the fact that they're here is remedying at least going forward any future violations and should not be considered as a reason for denial but we can with that information go back and see if there have been pass violations I I would request you do so please good morning sir my name is West gaki I'm legal counsel for Dylan Burns and the actual owner of the property is B KERO LLC just want to correct that uh another correction uh Dylan Burns actually does live in wall he does not live in LC he's he's a local resident um I'm just here to uh represent Mr Burns he's out of the country right now um we agree with the Planning Commission we agree with Mr V assessment uh there have not been any there there's been a couple of complaints I guess but nothing that that we can hang our hat on to say he's definitely in violation of of any ordinance um so I'm just here to ask that you uh approve the scr and deny the appeal thank you I have a question has he been operating no uh he has friends and family all over the state all over the country that come and stay there um if there was an operation I'm not aware of it but then it would wouldn't be on Airbnb I'm thinking I would assume so that's kind of the red flag if it is I I don't know that it is I'm sorry I didn't catch your name sir Wes gaki G yes if just on on my behalf um there's been enough smoke around the proverbial fire

[1:35:49] here if you don't mind I'm I'm going to say on behalf of the council if any Council member objects to this they are certainly free free to do so but I'm disappointed in Mr Burns um GI Mr Lancaster said he has talked to these people that have stated they have rented it off of Airbnb um I have no way to verify that or not but the fact that it may be out there and this this has created such a stir out there I'm disappointed um I I would hope you would communicate to Mr Burns I hope he is a more responsible and responsive owner of that property than what it appears he has been and I say appears uh than what he appears to have been to this point um if you if you would pass that on to him I I would appreciate it absolutely I will and I will also submit my contact information so if anyone needs to get a hold of me uh I'm happy to help I'm I'm just here to are you local sir yes sir okay if if you would give that to the city clerk and the City attorney I will give it to both of them that would be appreciated thank you Mr G I think my question Teresa would be the following let's say the council approves this St Str request can there be a stipulation that says but if we have found all these violations as presented today truly exist are there penalties that can be put against or signed to this property because of the lack lack of honesty or for rightness in terms of information we would certainly go through the process of citation and moving that through our the judicial process we have in Municipal Court um beyond that again the remedy for failing to operate with the CU is to come in and get a CU which is what they've done so they're bringing their property into compliance by doing that today which sounds really good sounds nice the question mark is have they been

[1:37:54] operating and obviously there's enough comments about this property that says they have been operating because it wouldn't be on Airbnb if not or if so so I appreciate the coming forward and doing the right thing by getting them proper documents but I also want to make sure people understand we don't like lack of honesty that's all so with that thank you thank you further public comment Council Steve Hampton district 6 uh in light of this new information that's come forth at this meeting I think uh this uh uh vote should be tabled until the evidence uh uh that has been alluded to can be proven and uh uh uh confirmed at a later time Tommy are you willing to table or ask that this I'm not sure I'm not sure mayor because from what the City attorney has said we can go through the process of of assessing fines penalties citations Etc so I'm not sure that gains us anything because of of of before we find ourselves is that accurate Teresa I would say so unless you're willing to deny based on the fact that they've been operating prior which I would not advise but tabling it doesn't say yes or no it just says we we want to find out the truth and then we'll take a vote it doesn't mean we wouldn't vote in approval or denial of that it's a delay tactic if you'd like to do that but I mean unless you know that that would make a difference in your vote there's I mean it's just encouraging to continue to violate a law that he's to comply with okay further public

[1:40:03] comment hello I'm Ken Taylor 2810 Red Bluff Road um I just would like to uh follow up on several things we've discussed at this point I uh I'm also a real estate investor I have long-term rentals short-term rentals um 30-day rentals um I understand the component in system of Airbnb and BRBO and those type of systems and just because it's on the internet doesn't mean that rentals processed through the internet that is a way of finding renters and if the only proof that we have that it has been rented is the actual receipt through Airbnb um we're chasing a ghost correct I think uh as Tommy pointed out there's a lot of smoke here and we have to act on a legal basis but I think it's pretty clear to see what's been going going on um as far as precedent goes this property is very similar I won't use the term identical but very similar to the home I believe it's Three Doors Down that we addressed 6 months ago that Planning Commission um denied um came to y'all for an appeal and it was denied again um at the Planning Commission meeting when we discussed our concerns and how this was a very similar property um I was shocked at the attitude that the resid received from Planning Commission um they used the term that we were acting as as a vigilante group um they scolded Mr Lancaster for bringing evidence Mr Lancaster is a retired court reporter he understands what admissible and legal evidence is we are doing our best to show yall what's going on we would like to see the same set of rules and stipulations followed and I believe that this property is again very similar to what was denied um a moment ago Planning Commission said that because of the application time of this particular property um it follows the old set of rules and not the new ones that are

[1:42:05] passed the old set of rules did say that we had to have the 30 foot streets I know that's been argued I'm not trying to start a a debate here about that but that is a rule in effect and we're avoiding rules that are in place if I get a speeding ticket and go to judge Daniel and tell him the speed limit is lowering next week he's not going to take next week's speed limit into consideration he's going to find me based on what the rules are today and this property does not meet all the rules that were in effect when it was applied for the other thing that Planning Commission told us and specifically to Mr Lancaster they warned him not to talk to those people that could be dangerous is that what the city envisions for safe neighborhoods is that what we strive for to have a area where we can't go in our backyard because who's over there might not be safe the lake Community as a whole is not trying to exclude people from coming out there I feel it's exact opposite we have done a very good job of promoting the lake we've worked with Parks and Wildlife and the city to help get the fishing pier built we've invested our own monies into M wrap up finish your question finish your statement um we we've matched funds to help improve that fishing pier we distribute [Music] um the trash bags around the lake to help make up safer you much um we're not trying to keep people out but I do think there are very specific issues with this proposal that I would like to address thank you further public comment okay so with no further public comment the motion that is on the floor is to if you vote in support of giving this Co you vote yes if you're not in support of giving this Co you vote no is that correct can I ask yes you may Teresa going back to you I think we've got two different topics here one do they meet the guidelines of approval as it is

[1:44:09] today of a short-term rental and then number two have they been operating illegally correct all right so those to me there's a clear separation between the two to prevent one as Tommy has moved forward is almost like our own penalty I I get that but we hate for people to do that so clarify me we're talking about two different items here right we're going to move forward with investigating the information that was brought to us regarding past rentals and we can still issue citations on that information if we are able to find enough information to move that forward so we'll continue in that today is whether or not they're going to be licensed moving forward from the state forward so if we were to approve that in the license mooved forward can we come back and deny that on the basis that they have provided as they don't meet the guidelines and have not and have been operating illegally and not meeting the parameters of what we have today and I realize that puts you in a gr spot yeah well that's the question that we kicked around at staff and I mean to punish somebody when by following the remedy for their violation just I mean it's up to you guys you guys have the discretion to do that I don't feel very good that that's a real um puts us on really great ground that you say well the reason we're denying you is because you haven't been oper with the CU when they're trying to get a CU so we can still investigate P violations and he can move forward um with the proper U authorization if you approve it today and the nearest point that we could deny the reauthorization of a CU there is a point and under the current process I believe it could be at any point that that becomes we get a number of complaints that are sustained and those sorts of things I think that planning has the ability to bring that back at any point in time under the rules as they're currently written um I'd also like to address just as to educate maybe y'all and the public that every time we pass a um a code of ordinances you guys what you see and what we discuss are like this the things that are going to go in our written code but there's an acting language that goes with that that

[1:46:10] is never discussed at this meeting because it's just the legal ease that we need to make that effective and one of the um phrases that we use in all of our enacting ordinances is that if any portion of this ordinance is stricken down for any reason the remaining part of the ordinance still is in effect which is why when we say we can't enforce that provision but we're going to enforce the entirety of the remaining um portion of the ordinance that's why we can do that because we put that language whenever we're acting an ordinance in the first place so all of those things that the Austin case has struck down like the street width like the number of people Gathering those are no longer valid in our code of ordinances even though they're still written there based on that language that we put before for well this is a complicated I know conversation and would seem to be one one would want to table and move down the road a bit but I get it so with that motion and that second and having had public comment um I think we're obligated to take a vote and so we'll start with Tommy I Tom I Harry nay Lucy I Karen hey Brenda H oh Larry I so with that um I want to add just a comment so it's four to two but I want to make sure can we we don't know what your vote was we didn't I said I okay thank you but what I want to make sure happens is the following is that we Go full force into investigating this that every element that has been brought forward by various people is Thoroughly investigated we want to know the truth we are basing this off of what we believe the legal

[1:48:13] standing of this person is but we are all very upset about that go ahead and operate it and ask for forgiveness later concept it's very irritating and it basically says lack of respect and that's what it is is a lack of respect so what I want to make sure happens yes it is approved but I want everyone looking at every element of these accusations and that there's a red flag on that property going forward for any potential violation we're looking screw the wall $2,000 per day May what was that Larry Larry were you commenting on something because we heard you okay because we heard you say something about $2,000 just want to know if we're winning that some way or app I was just chatting with my wife momentarily so I guess she needed $2,000 today give her give her her daily shopping money all right are we uh we've taken the vote we have Direction and we have all eyes on this property is that correct correct okay I want to make one other comment before we move on to the closed session if I could and that is I want to make sure Gayla Thorton understands that we believe strongly in her analysis from Armstrong back to company and representing that company my challenges today to the report has nothing to do with what she has presented or the overall um of or their overall opinion they do a great job I have great faith in them but I certainly have questions and that is an important statement to make

[1:50:16] because I do have questions several and we need some information for provided to us on those questions okay and that means internally not externally all right mayor by May yes uh I do want to make sure and those are great great questions mayor we do have an awardwinning staff as far as the financials they've done an outstanding job and so our finance department works very CL closely with auditor uh so this information I know Tina took it kind of hard there because uh they take great pride in how they do the reporting so we'll definitely get those answers m i mean the questions that that you had very legitimate but we'll get that information put together get that I mean we can't help it if the federal the census people provide these numbers and that's what my point is yes ma'am but we got to point it out because if we don't do it and somebody's not looking we're going to continually get bad numbers we don't need somebody to think our community is is decreasing in population I agree with that and that leads to other things I mean if you take a look at the property taxes and you look at what the property tax value of residential was in 2013 2014 to what it is in 23 it's dramatically increased dramatically so how could we have less population the numbers don't match up and again you're only as good as the information you're given but we got to point it out and make sure we get good information and is not to make somebody not look like they're not doing their job but it is the purpose of a city council meeting to ask the questions yes ma'am and we'll get that information to you as well thank you it's not to downplay the job done by staff at any level okay with that we will move on to the Clos session of which there is there there is none right okay just reading what I have in front of me okay so the item a is followup and administrative issues um Item B is consider approving various board nominations the Planning Commission Britney Davis my appointee to

[1:52:18] a second term ending January 2026 the public housing authority Becky Fraser and Monette mulliner to a fourth term and Troy wil coock to a sixth term all ending April 2026 may I have a motion or any comments concerning those uh nominations to approve there's a motion to approve second a second by Harry any public comment on those seeing none we'll take a vote all those in favor say I thank you Larry and with that may I have a motion for mayor yes excuse me uh since the publication of the agenda we of course had an election on Saturday um for chief of police so we do need to schedule a time to Canvas those votes um that's recommended to be next Wednesday uh the 15th of May um the results of the election um is going to be a runoff there was not a uh 50% Plus One winner um so normally we would need two council members to Canvas the vote but because we immediately need to call a runoff election I will need four uh minimum for Quorum um to meet um at 8:30 on Wednesday May 15th so that we can canvas um the results and um call for I'll be there okay so Karen wants to Tommy Lucy and Harry you always do this Harry I'm I'm looking at my C looks like he's too busy not Costa Rica or uh actually will not be here I'll be town all right so Larry Larry either you volunteer or Tom or I will have to and Tom's going to be out of town Larry are you in town if not mayor Gunner we'll I won back then either okay so I guess it's going to be Karen Lucy Brenda and

[1:54:21] Tommy those four people will be here to campas it but you know the other thing I want to um say about the uh election office is you know there's been so many comments and so many issues over the past couple years about um the efficiency and voting and the honesty and all that goes with it when they uh recounted the votes in this last election and it was only off by I mean and there was a one person vote the difference between the county commissioner race and when they audited it I guess you say cus or audit it still came out exactly the same and I think that should give the public great confidence in knowing that our election office is running a good election system those recounts said it all and I just want to give them credit for what a great job they're doing over there so with that thank you okay I move we adjourn mayor and that is a vote of seven to zero I think okay thank you

Captured 2026-07-26 · source: youtube.com/watch?v=uyt7NxC12K4