San Angelo City Council 9-21-21

[0:00:00] eat it is 8 30 a.m on the 21st day of september this meeting is called to order and we will start as usual with our chaplain prayer and pledges so if ralph dawkins would you please come forward and lead us in prayer and in pledges thank you is the microphone on for him good morning there we go good morning let us pray father thank you for the opportunity to invoke your word through prayer into this meeting today i thank you for those who are in authority in the city and i pray and lift up the mayor her staff the assistants the city council members the city manager and every person and department that is instrumental in leading and directing our city i pray that you would bless them today to work together in unity to tackle the agendas that are on on the agenda today you keep the vision and hidden agendas from among them and i pray that you would give them godly wisdom direction and instructions on how to lead and manage and operate this city in all of its departments we ask your blessings upon the people who have been called to lead in this community in which we live work and play i ask god that you would work with them mightily today let them come into this meeting in this room and have them have them to have a cause and make this a productive meeting lead each and every one of them to make fruitful contributions at this time enable them to think strategize and create ways to meet their goals and objectives today

[0:02:04] lastly i pray that you will purify their hearts and motives so that each one of them will enter into this meeting with desiring good things and the good pleasures for your people in our community it is in jesus name amen and honor the amen flag if you would please the american flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands honor the text flags our first proclamation this morning will be the proclamation of september 20th through 26 2021 is rail safety week i'm sure there's some people from the rail museum that are here and so please come forward good morning the railway museum of san angelo is a leader in supporting highway rail grade crossing and a pedestrian safety programs in partnership with operation lifesaver highway grade crossing crashes during the year 2020 resulted in 11 persons killed and another 67 injured

[0:04:07] in the state of texas a 35 percent and 54 percent decreased respectively compared to 2019. pedestrian railroad trespass incidents on rail road property during 2020 resulted in 31 persons killed and another 60 injured in the state of texas highway grade crossing crashes are more severe than highway collisions and are more likely to result in death and injury collisions between trains and motor vehicles or pedestrians can be prevented by increased public awareness of the dangers at crossings and around railroad property and knowledge of the appropriate safety laws operation lifesaver is the foremost public information and education program dedicated to preventing highway rail grade crossing crashes and pedestrian railroad trespass incidents september 20th through 26 2021 and throughout the year all citizens are encouraged to observe added caution of motorists and pedestrians near tracks or trains this important observance should lead to greater safety awareness and a reduction in highway rail grade crossing crashes and pedestrian railroad incidents try saying highway rail grade crossing crashes i made it through okay now therefore i brenda gunter mayor of the city of san angelo texas on behalf of the city council do hereby proclaim september 20th to september 6 26 as 2021 rail safety week and encourage all citizens to participate in activities to redrew to reduce crossing crashes and pedestrian railroad trespass incidents throughout the year would you girls like to speak yes come on thank you mayor thank you council i'm monica ramos vice president of the railway museum of san angelo rail safety is of utmost importance to us

[0:06:09] and it should be acknowledged not only during real safety week but at any time that you're at or near railroad crossings or tracks photo opportunities may seem like a wonderful opportunity on the railroad tracks however it is highly dangerous and it is not encouraged it could end in tragedy always remember never try to beat a train always take precautions as you're approaching railroad tracks be real smart always take the time to consider not only your own life but the lives of others if you are at the railway museum and enjoying your time at the museum we want you to take precaution know that a train can come at any time from any direction so please look listen and live thank you thank you i don't know if they still do it but i know when i was growing up in our little town they it was sort of a mandatory thing that you would see a film on crashes trains into automobiles so do they deal that still okay all right let's have a picture girls come on [Applause] we now have a proclamation of october 2nd 2021 as junior league of san angelo day and i know we've got some junior leaguers here come on up the junior league of san angelo is an

[0:08:13] organization of women committed to promoting volunteerism developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers their purpose is exclusively educational and charitable the junior league of san angelo contributes to the community through several initiatives such as the children's literacy project done in a day kids in the kitchen and the student closet which has served over 2025 students in san angelo by providing quality clothing to children and teenagers enabling them to succeed in all aspects of their lives over the past 75 years the junior league of san angelo has contributed over 1.3 million volunteer hours and has put more than 3.5 million back into the community through their legacy and service projects now therefore i brenda gunter mayor of the city of san angelo texas on behalf of the city council do hereby proclaim october 2nd 2021 as junior league of san angelo day in san angelo texas and recognize the positive impact the junior league of san angelo has had on our community and join with them as they celebrate their 75th anniversary congratulations come on [Applause] um hello i'm stacey graves the current president of the junior league of san angelo i just want to thank mayor brenda gunter and the council this morning and every one of you guys that have supported the league over the last 75 years it's a very special day for us today to be recognized as we have been in the community for so long but it feels like today we're actually being recognized for everything that we do so thank you all and we appreciate everything [Applause] we have folks from habitat for humanity

[0:10:36] here in the audience today come on good habitat for humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort on a community farm in southern georgia the christian housing organization has since become a leading global nonprofit working in more than 1 300 communities throughout the u.s and in more than 70 countries families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with habitat for humanity for a place they can call home habitat homeowners help build or improve their home alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage everyone can help families achieve strength stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves on monday october the 4th 2021 habitat for humanity of san angelo will join with partners around the world in raising awareness educating and mobilizing individuals and communities to take action on the current global housing crisis habitat for humanity of san angelo joins our partners to rededicate ourselves to recognizing the basic right of everyone to adequate shelter we ask everyone to join together as a global network in communicating the message that each one of us deserves the opportunity for a better future a decent place to live can remove barriers to opportunity health and success for growing families now and for generations to come now therefore i brenda gunter mayor of the city of san angelo texas on behalf of the city council do hereby proclaim monday october 4th 2021 as world habitat day 2021 an affordable housing day in san angelo texas and encourage our citizens to stand together with habitat of humanity in san angelo galilei community development

[0:12:39] corporation and the city of san angelo to help provide affordable housing throughout our community through shelter we empower who's going to speak are you going to please take this pam thank you thank you mayor gunter council members i really appreciate it stephanie hamby bob solis stephanie from galilee bob solis from the city uh very very important shelter is one of the most important things that you can have an affordable shelter is really really important there are more and more people who are working every day but can't they would never be able to go to the bank and get a traditional home loan we want our children to be able to grow up in a safe and secure environment be able to go home every day to do their homework and and a place to live and not have to choose on whether they're going to be able to eat where they're going to be able to afford a home with shelter if they're going to be able to go to the doctor this way we we are able to give them and a for for habitat a 20-year interest-free loan um the average mortgage payment's about 500 a month for a three-bedroom two-bath home no money down and that includes escrow so please please everybody think about what it means to people to be able to be and own their own home and have a place to go home to safe and affordable galilee city of san angelo we've worked together for a really long time here in san angelo texas habitat's been here in los angeles since 1996. we've built over 75 homes we are not government-funded united way funded we we raise our own money to be able to get there and to help all of all of our homeowners thank you very much we really appreciate you

[0:14:43] [Applause] i actually could have introduced matt healy he is our board president but you know you know give me a mic it is not the first time that i have been ignored um i wouldn't be doing habitat justice unless we let you know that it's through community donations that we're able to build these homes so covid has made it very very tough over the last couple of years if you have a few dollars to donate to habitat it goes right to building homes for very native families and we appreciate it thank you so much [Applause] we will now move into the public comment portion of the agenda today 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 dias begin by stating their name and address or single member district number and limit their remarks to less than three minutes at this point who would like to come

[0:16:45] forward and offer public comment dave looks like you want some good morning mayor council and city staff my name is dave erickson director of the asu small business development center i am here today to express gratitude to the kosa dc staff guy nora and team we have four values at the sbdc that we strive to uphold integrity service excellence and innovation and this is the first time we have offered a values in action to an entity outside of the sbdc or asu so we want to honor kocdc staff in recognition for the value of service and for their many hours and selfless contributions to make sure it's a great home for us and the incubator folks and others who come into the building and we couldn't do it without them so we want to present this certificate values and action to them and we'll hand this to guy when we get back to the office so thank you very much also with me today is a graduate assistant for the sbdc stella from vietnam and she's here with me today so thank you thank you very much [Applause] we are open for public comment would anybody like to come forward and add public comment thank you mayor thank you city council my name is donald moon i'm director at cv biblical counseling i live at 3069 champion circle tommy takes care of us in district 1 over there and today i want to tell you a true story a sad but true story in december the 18th uh after my wife being in the hospital for uh a few weeks

[0:18:48] we got the phone call my two kids and i that nobody ever wants to get and the phone call was my wife of 38 years had succumbed to kovid 19 and she died it was a rough day and a sad day i know some of y'all personally i know about all of y'all it's i feel like it's my civic duty to uh know who you are and i know without a doubt that if for some reason that the city council could vote out coveted 19 if it had to be at one o'clock in the morning each one of y'all here would get up because of the hurt and the pain that is going around and y'all would vote without a doubt inside the council to do away with covet 19. we know that's not realistic we know that that won't happen with that but there is one thing that we can vote and do away with and that is to pass here in the city where we cannot have an abortion here in san angelo so just like your heart is pooled and just like your heart without a doubt would do whatever it took you wouldn't wait to go to a vote for all of the town y'all would know the right thing to do is to vote out covet well i'm asking y'all today as a city council to put it on the agenda to be able to vote to outlaw abortion in this city so thank you all for all of your work and your consideration today thank you who else would like to come forward and offer comment my name is ryan buck i live at 10042

[0:20:56] floyd lane and i'm the senior pastor emmanuel baptist church and just three things first off thank you for more chairs uh in the galley it's uh we all appreciate it very much uh and then just two other quick things uh yesterday morning myself and our supporters held a press conference as to try to communicate to the city of san angelo who we are and why we're bringing this issue to the forefront we made some i made some comments in response to some public statements that may or you had made and some of those were very direct but i i want to reiterate the fact how much we appreciate you and pray for you even if we have differing views on one issue i know how difficult it is to be in public service and so i just i just want to start with that but then the other thing i just want to make mention uh there was a comment about if we were going to handle this abortion this this ordinance in the city that we want to go the way of lubbock that was a comment i just want to make a public statement that the way of lubbock was the city council on the mayor voting against this ordinance publicly so the citizens had to do a referendum and then it went on the agenda or it went on the ballot and overwhelmingly the citizens of lubbock passed it so that the council and the mayor were against the people and i just asked that that not be the case in san angelo i know there is a minority of people and i could be wrong i believe there are a minority population in san angelo that are against this ordinance that we're proposing um but i believe that is the right thing to do and i believe overwhelmingly the majority of our citizens are for this and i just want to ask to save san angelo eight months of outside influence coming in and bringing a world view contrary to what we hold here we're willing to walk through that as as

[0:22:58] the majority of san angelo citizens i i think we are all willing to do that but i know how hard it will be and how divisive it could be in a culture that is already polarized so please put this on an agenda soon i hope and vote on it we pray for you thank you for the opportunity to speak any further public comment come forward if you if you plan to speak today please come line up on the wall so that i know who's coming up and we can can manage it from that perspective if you don't mind thank you come on thank you good morning my name is ashley leonards and i'm a legislative associate for texas right to life the largest and oldest pro-life organization in texas my current residence is in austin but san angelo is my hometown i love this town the values i have are from this town from my teachers pastors friends and family here i know each of you share this love of san angelo with me we care about this community and today i ask you to please protect the people that we love and place the sanctuary city for the unborn ordinance on your next city council agenda and vote to pass it as you've been well informed san angelo would not be breaking new ground by passing this ordinance but be following in the footsteps of roughly 35 other texas cities that have already passed this ordinance today i would like to clarify how this ordinance is both possible and valuable before roe v wade in 1973 texas law prohibited abortion accepting cases to save the life of the mother since roe v wade texas has been blocked from enforcing these protections but those protections were never revoked moreover criminal murder statutes in the texas penal code include intentionally or knowingly causing the death of an unborn child thus abortion is still illegal and defined as a crime in texas though no criminal enforcement is available however this is where the ordinance comes in the ordinance is carefully drafted within the bounds of current abortion jurisprudence by solely relying on civil

[0:25:01] remedies until roe is overruled at which time criminal remedies would go into effect similar to the new texas heartbeat act this civil enforcement of this ordinance allows any private citizen to bring a lawsuit against any person that performs aids or abets an abortion within the city limits even with the texas heartbeat act the new law of texas that is protecting pre-born it is still vital by invaluable for ordinances to be passed in cities this new law protects preborn children once their heart is detected but not before these younger babies and their mothers still need protection this ordinance also demonstrates to the state and federal government that we stand with not any longer allowing the abortion holocaust that is ravaging our country and has taken over 62 million babies lives lastly instead of promoting abortion which harms women and kills babies we would be saying that san angelo wants to encourage legitimate protections and help for women such as what is provided at the pregnancy resource center here in san angelo on two separate occasions the abortion industry has tried and failed to sue cities that have passed this ordinance actually in one of these cases the attorney general of texas filed a memo stating there is no inconsistency between the state and local abortion laws when referring to the ordinance in lubbock these successful legal fights show that the ordinance is strong enough to both withstand scrutiny but also physically save pre-born lives you all have a unique opportunity today to stand and promote justice for the vulnerable please stop the abortion industry from coming to the city we love thank you [Applause] good morning city council members and mayor gunter my name is anna martin from district five and i'm before you today to speak in opposition to the sanctuary city ordinance and on behalf of the citizens of san angelo for whom this law would create undue burden and create an

[0:27:04] unnecessary barrier to health care a barrier which is only increasingly widened with the closing of the only west texas planned parenthood in 2013 and the unconstitutional senate bill 8. you have heard from some citizens that all the people of san angelo want this ban this is untrue and what's worse they did not identify why this ban is dangerous with sba greg abbott effectively banned all abortions but the vague biological wording does allow some leeway as it concerns life and death situations and abortions to zygotes at early stages although it is improbable that a pregnant person would be able to meet the six-week timeline it does allow a person sometime and options this so-called sanctuary city ban is an ironically named ordinance at best it eliminates safe haven and merciful assistance for those with unwanted unhealthy unsustainable and forced pregnancies it allows for no exceptions in cases of rape incest forced insemination or extremely early stage pregnancies for which plan b could be a remedy in fact it outlaws plan b a pharmaceutical which by all accounts should be prescribed as a doctor sees fit this ban also prohibits providing transportation giving money to a person seeking an abortion and places the onus of responsibility for life-saving measures directly on the livelihood of doctors this is more likely than not going to lead to maternal deaths when doctors have to decide between life-saving measures and the legality fines loss of practice insurance and licensure and the endless paperwork to file for a medically necessary abortion this ban also makes doctors liable to both parents with no statute irrespective of their relationship and opens the door to allowing any male party decision making capabilities over the female this ban allows this ban allows any citizen to sue doctors who perform abortions people who

[0:29:08] give rides to appointments and people who give money to a person seeking one texas already places enormous hardship on abortion providers and their patients in fact there are only 21 clinics in texas for a population of 29 million to put that into perspective there are 602 walmarts and although unwanted and unsustainable pregnancies overwhelmingly occur in lower income brackets no federal dollars are used to subsidize the cost tax texas abortions are trending downwards but rather than praise a genuine effort is your sentence to increase the humane conditions of texas you should know this is a premeditated act [Applause] my name is jonah sandor my address is 8435 puma court and i am the director of administration at the contra valley biblical counseling center um i am here on behalf of our post abortion counselor lou mclemore who's out of town today and um she's a good friend of mine and i know she would like to be here to stand up for these women most of the pro-life argument is a woman's right to choose but what i have learned from lou is that women don't necessarily know the lifetime of pain that they are choosing when they have decide to have an abortion the sorrow is immense for them and not only them but also their families and they feel that their actions are shameful for these reasons healing though necessary is impeded because of their shame it is not usually even discussed and i'd like to comment on the

[0:31:09] previously mentioned need for abortion in cases of rape and incest this would only pile trauma on top of trauma instead of dealing with the initial trauma in the beginning so please vote for an ordinance today to make san angelo a sanctuary city for the unborn it is important for you to know that if you announce that instead this will go to on a ballot in november or another future date planned parenthood will open up shop immediately and start providing abortions to the concho valley and the surrounding areas then when we the people vote in to make san angelo sanctuary city there will immediately be a lawsuit between planned parenthood and the city both of which i know either of us want to have to deal with it is for this reason that you our voted in city council need to lead our city with a vote to make san angelo a sanctuary city for the unborn today thank you [Applause] my name is phyllis duboski i live one block north of the helicopter pad shannon um i'm i'm i'm speaking today in favor of making san angelo a sanctuary city i am i was adopted i don't know what age whether i was it was likely that maybe very early after i was born because we didn't have anything before birth we couldn't tell that it was you know where the baby was in development back in not back in 1948 when i was born

[0:33:14] but if my parents had my grandparents had not come to come to the us and then they were able to settle and then adopt children because my mother was a teenager in the post-war baby boom so i speak for those of us who are adopted if abortion is made legal there are fewer adoptions because there are fewer babies to to be adopted also i speak on with information that is accurate about the development of the unborn child the the foundations for the brain are laid about 18 to 20 days after conception that's less than three weeks [Music] the heart begins beating 21 days after conception so that is three weeks so how can you say that the unborn child is not human or that it's not doesn't exist the baby should have no rights if this had been if this had been back in 1948 if the situation today in our society had been existing in 1948 i might not be here because i might not there might not have been a baby to adopt the by a week to 22 days after conception the eyes have started to form and the eye color is already determined that can't be changed so there's a lot there's a lot going on in early pregnancy even more even before you go to the doctor you have that's a two minute warning you have a minute to finish up okay so because the baby is already developing and because

[0:35:15] also because of the fact that there will be fewer babies available for adoption if um roe v wade continues to be it is made the final authority on laws in the state of texas if we still have abortion need to wrap it up okay thank you [Applause] good morning mayor council i'm glad to see you guys this morning my name is scott ferris i reside at 106. east 42nd i'm over in tom's district so i'm usually not wanting to get up in front of crowds if if any of you know me i served on the fire department here for 24 years i also served on the airmed one for a little over seven years during my career so i didn't know i was adopted until i was 26 years old my mom chose life she chose to allow me to give more back to the citizens so and i thank god every day for that you know now that i put that into perspective i thank god that she chose life back in 65 when i was born so to the comments that was made earlier one percent of abortions happen because of rape one percent less than 0.5 happened because of incest so i don't know what my circumstances were i don't care all i know is i'm here and i'm alive uh i've had the chance to serve as a tool for god if you would throughout my career i've had little women grab me around the neck while i'm trying to cut them out of a car begging them not to let them die i don't have i don't have that power that's god's will but i couldn't tell them that all i could do was do my job that i was trained to do i had

[0:37:17] a young man when i was on the air helicopter that his parents were begging me not to let him die he was burned so bad he should have already been bite i was putting a tube in his throat and i knew that he may never speak to his parents again and they were begging me not to let him die they had a voice we're speaking for those that don't have a voice we're up here for those that are alive that don't have a voice so i just wanted to share that with you guys today i've got a loved one that lives in the san antonio area and she's had eight abortions that's one for every seat that's up there on that city council and she uses them like birth control it's not because of rape or because of incest or because her life is in danger she's gonna die it's because of her sins and she chooses abortion that's her way of life i'm not okay with that i can't i can't sit back and not say anything else so in john 10 10 you know it tells us in scripture that the thief comes to steal kill and destroy and jesus says that i come that they i come that they may have abundant life so where do you stand today that's all i've got to ask thank you [Applause] good morning susie smith and i live on willowbrook and as usual i had not planned to speak i really am a very shy person and but i have been moved this morning by stories and by information and information much of which is not true very biased but

[0:39:25] and and i hope that you all have been moved as you've heard these stories because we are human we're people we're not machines even though some people are trying to make us machines but um my husband is 77 years old and he may not like the idea that i'm exposing some information this morning but i feel it's very relevant because abortion was not legal at that time and had it been we would not have shared 54 years of marriage and he was born of teenage parents who thankfully put him up for adoption and i've been very blessed our union has brought forth three wonderful young men and three beautiful daughters-in-law ten grandchildren and one great grand for which i'm very thankful that's a legacy of life and that's what we're talking about today we're talking about the defining issue here is are you going to vote for life or are you going to vote for death thank you [Applause] any further public comment good morning la laine mcclellan then i live in uh north angelo behind the coliseum

[0:41:27] i just wanted to say that um this is this is an important issue there's not any argument that i can say that hasn't already been more eloquently expressed and the multitudes that have come before you and then i'm sure that will continue to come before you until until this is actually put on the agenda as the council item to vote on and i would hope that you would vote for it and in the grand scheme of things we can't in our little city outlaw abortion statewide or nationwide but within our city we can you know put this in place this ordinance in place and make it a little more inconvenient for a woman he's wishing to seek an abortion we can make our city at least you know that um more respectful of life and as i said it just makes a little bit more inconvenient the abortion unfortunately would still be available for someone that wanted it but it just would not be within our city limits thank you [Applause] my name is norma perry i didn't intend to speak this morning i live on north adams what i'd like to address is the fact that we have 15 000 children in our welfare system waiting they are in foster care we can't take care of what we have i have been a child welfare worker i have been a person who has run child care not personally but for indigent people those who have no idea how to take care of children i have been a teacher

[0:43:31] i have seen in our school systems the effect of children who cannot go home at night safely and if their parents had a choice they would not have had them it is wrong for two children for the ones that exist and we have a responsibility if we have if we can't take care of what we have now my first thought is that everybody who signs a petition for this sanctuary city needs to be sued and needs to be sued for 18 years the life of the child that they the whoever brings into this world that they can't take care of then somebody needs to be responsible for it and i would say that would be the people who want to take care of all these kids that are not born when they're not even children that yeah you bring them into the world and then oh they're cute like puppies and then they grow up i there's just something that we need to do and that is liv let women make their own choices about their own bodies thank you very much [Applause] my name is nancy halcomb and i live on lasalle drive and i wasn't expecting to do this but i've heard a lot of comments this morning about the preciousness of life from people who won't even put on a mask to protect my life

[0:45:34] so i kind of doubt their sincerity seeing no one else come forward i will expect that this will end our public comment if you are going to offer public comment please come up front so we can get as many people an opportunity to talk good morning mayor my name is randy koenig i lived at lake nasworthy i wasn't going to speak this morning i've been praying about it and uh i really don't know how to broach this i feel very strongly in my heart and i have for most of my life that god does not make mistakes god blesses us with our children and the other side has uh i guess they have something to say and they firmly believe in that and i don't think that i don't think that our children need to suffer but i think they have a right to life what i think as a country as a nation as godly people i think we need to change the way that we broach this i think that instead of abortion we need to put forth an effort for adoption there are so many families out there that can't have children my wife was adopted and she is truly a blessing to my life

[0:47:40] i have a beautiful son from her and i just truly believe that and all of it that god just doesn't make mistakes and if we i have talked to a friend of mine when she was in college she was raped she had an abortion five years later she said every year on my due date i have such horrible regret because i aborted that child and i look around and i see children that would be that child's age and wish that i could see that baby so i don't think any of us have the wrong ideas i think we just need to come together and figure out a solution for life thank you very much thank you [Applause] i'm vera kirkpatrick and i live off of southland i hear a lot of talk about the woman's choice excuse me and i wonder if they think about going to the to the planned parenthood and receiving the free birth control that they give away and the lady who said that my understanding is that the doctor does have a choice if the if it's the woman's life is at stake there are three things in the bill and also the ordinance that

[0:49:45] you talk about i understand that the lawyer who is going to do pro bono if there's any kind of lawsuits then we need to reconsider and go ahead i noticed there's ten ordinances on our agenda today were all of them put out for the public to decide on before they were put on the agenda so let's get this done you know god uh gives us the opportunity to make the right choices and we'll all be held together accountable someday for what choices we make so let's um about this and let's get it on the agenda and and save these babies and i'd agree with the man who said we need to do more about it helping people be able to adopt my nephew and his wife wanted to adopt it would have cost them over two hundred thousand dollars to adopt a baby their home had to be completely redone this is ridiculous we need to work on that and i know you all probably don't have anything to do with that but let's think about this and planned parenthood does like to tell the wrong story they like to to make it look like that you know that they can't do other things to help these women they do give them free birth control so let's think about that choice [Applause] good morning council mayor anna bartosz single member district one i want to reiterate what the fella said just a little bit ago i had uh one of my best friends we roomed together she had an abortion and every year just like he said on the

[0:51:49] due date she would remember and be very remorseful of her decision to have that abortion so it's not a one-time thing for women uh i have been in several um blunt acts and women that have come to acts who have had abortions this is a big deal after the abortion uh they wrestle with this decision that they have made uh they're very remorseful and it's not um something that they can get over easily it's not like you just go to the plant uh to the pregnancy or to to have it and then you're done one and done it's not that way uh for a lot of women uh and just i've never heard the number of walmarts compared to the uh abortion clinics in texas i've never heard that com comparison that we heard this morning but anyway just wanted to to uh reiterate that i i was thankfully blessed to grow up in a nice family no abortions anywhere but um that i know of but anyway anyway i was blessed to grow up with a nice a family and thank you for your consideration of putting this on the agenda we the people of san angelo elect you therefore you are our representatives so you could vote to put this on the agenda and put it to vote thank you is there any further public comment with no further public comment we will close the public comments section of the agenda today and we will move into the consent agenda i will ask each council member to

[0:53:53] if there's any item that they would like to have pulled from the consent agenda and i'll start with larry lane lucy no ma'am harry i don't need anything to pull but i would like to make this comment i'd like for this council to consider what we heard here today and possibly put this on a future agenda item for an ordinance and i may be terry you cannot you can carry at this point i may be in minority here but i think we ought to we ought to take a look at this thank you but we are on the consent agenda and there is a place on the agenda for those comments tom nothing to pull with that we will ask for a vote all in favor of approving the consent agenda please say aye aye the coast consent agenda is approved six zero we will move into the regular agenda and the regular agenda is comments regarding items on the regular agenda may be made by the public when each item is discussed as outlined above applicants proponents and appellants are accepted from the time limit above and must limit their remarks to less than five minutes item 6a is the first reading and public hearing of an ordinance amending the code of ordinances by amending chapter 2 administration and personnel article 2.08 classified service section 2.08.016 assignment pay to add pay for prescriptive training officers and the supervising sergeants frank are you going to present chief frank carter come forward good morning mayor good morning council chief carter also have president sergeant danny williams who's our field training coordinator supervisor we have a proposal today for an ad pay a stipend for our field training officers a short powerpoint and after the powerpoint we'll open up for any any

[0:55:56] questions you may have upon graduation from the police academy trainees are required to complete 16 weeks of a training period with writing with a training officer that could be extended if they go into remedial it could be up to 20 weeks during the 16 weeks they ride with a prescripted training officer and receive training on a daily basis pcos are paid one hour over time each day they're assigned to a trainee pto pay is an additional paid officer that continually trains these new officers and also to the six sergeants to manage the pto program in an effort to attract the most experienced and qualified officers participate in the pto program we are requesting an ad pay to the pto stipend via ordinance for officers that are certified ptos that are training our officers currently the number of pto fluctuates between 13 and 15. each certified pto would receive 350 per month additional pay projected cost of 54 600 for 13 ptos and 100 for each sergeant at 7 200 which is a total of six sergeants that's one per shift currently what we're paying is uh seventy thousand two hundred nine dollars with overtime and that could be extended even more if they go under prescriptive training like i said extended beyond the 16 weeks with the stipend rate at 13 officers it'll be 54 6 54 600. the six sergeants were requesting would be 7 200. a savings from the stipend would be 80 400 less fica 47.28 so a net savings of our budget of 3 600 there's no increase to our current budget at this time to implement this city ordinance so very short if you have any questions are there questions for frank on this item frank i think everyone gets it

[0:57:58] understands it and supports it but we'll take a vote thank you move to prove by lane a second second by lucy any public comment on this item with none i will take a vote all in favor say aye aye with none opposed motion passes 6-0 thank you item b second public hearing of an ordinance of the city of san angelo approving and adopting the budget for the fiscal year beginning october 1 2021 and ending september 30th 2022 this budget will raise more property total property taxes than last year's budget by nine hundred forty three thousand eight hundred sixteen dollars and of that amount six hundred sixty one thousand three hundred forty six is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll thank you mayor tina dierski director of finance as you said this is the second public hearing of the ordinance to adopt the 2012 fiscal year 2022 budget this does include the city covering increases in health insurance raises for police and fire at five percent raises for other employees at three percent plus the implementation of loyalty pay and of course the three fte positions for black backflow prevention and the water fund this again just goes through what's included in the budget ordinance i'm not going to read through all of this again since you saw it last meeting but what we do need today is a record vote on the budget adopting the fiscal year 2022 budget as it's been presented we have the language that we need to use this one doesn't have specific language but we do need to include in the motion that we want this version of the budget to include item 6a that was just approved do i have a motion item 6a okay a second second a second by i'm not sure whose voice that was

[1:00:02] larry okay sorry with that is there any public comment concerning item six b and adding six a to the budget if we could just go uh one by one with the record vote all right larry elaine hi lucy aye brenda i harry tom motion passes six zero we'll move on to item six c final public hearing of an ordinance leveling property taxes for the city of san angelo texas for the 2021 tax year and ordinance fixing and leveling ad valorem taxes for the current tax year for use in support of the municipal government of the city of san angelo texas for the 2021-2022 budget year providing for the assessment and collection thereof providing when the tax shall become due providing when the tax shall become delinquent providing for exemptions providing for severability providing for publication on the city operated website and providing for an effective date and okay so we have specific language that we need to use and where is that language this is the language so each person will believe one person can read the language and then when you have a second everybody is that correct so i need emotion and that motion must read the language as written who is going to offer that motion i'll move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of 0.7760 per hundred dollars valuation which is effectively a 2.3 percent increase in the tax rate is there a second a second by harry i am going to reiterate that in fact our tax has been at 0.7760 for eight years so we are not increasing the rate this language is by state what we're required to read but we are not increasing the property tax

[1:02:06] rate with that i will take a vote larry lane lucy aye harry aye tom aye brenda gunter aye motion passes six zero thank you mayor item d first reading and public hearing of an ordinance requesting to approve the abandonment of a 2250 square foot 15 feet by 150 feet alley on the north side of east 46th street between travis street and oakland street john james you're on thank you john james director of planning and development services i'm gonna have to flip through some of these because the the first case actually ended up last on the slides so not too far all right so this is as you mentioned an alley abandonment as you can see on the map there that's this is an alley that was planted years ago never constructed there's no alley on the ground no garages carports anything like that in the area where there's the platted alley again you can see right there it is a single family neighborhood there's a picture there's actually a fence built across so obviously no use of that as an alley as i mentioned no no private utilities no use of the alley no traffic etc and no responses in opposition from the neighboring residents a staff recommendation is to approve the abandonment with our normal conditions paying the formula in the fee schedule recording the quick claim deed from the city and then a subdivision replat that would pull that alley into the adjacent property or properties this did go to the planning commission and they recommended unanimous approval at their august meeting i'd be happy to answer any questions any questions no questions may i have a motion move to approve is presented thanks tom a second

[1:04:09] by lucy any public comment with no public comment we'll take a vote all in favor say aye aye with none oppose motion passes 6-0 item g first reading and public hearing of an ordinance of cp 21-08 an amendment to the comprehensive plan changing certain lands from the commercial to the neighborhood center land use being approximately 3.053 acres located northeast of upton street and north archer street and two ordinance for z21-1 mayor i think we skipped item exe give you chichi uh let me back up first reading and public hearing of an ordinance for cp 21-06 an amendment to the comprehensive plan changing certain lands from the neighborhood to the neighborhood center land use being approximately 0.728 acres located at the southwest corner of lilly street and west 19th street an ordinance for z21-09 are rezoning from the single-family residential zoning district to the neighborhood commercial zoning district being approximately 0.728 acres located at the southwest corner of lilly street and west 19th street john euron thank you as you mentioned this is both a change to the comprehensive plan and a rezoning you can see here there are two lots right there this is 19th street and this is lilly street and you'll see a little bit better in a minute but these are vacant lots currently zoned residential and you can see there's some residential around but there's also some industrial and commercial type activity just uh to the west there yeah the west this is kind of a blow up of the area so you can see heavy heavy commercial right across the railroad tracks there's already some neighborhood commercial right across the street and so that's what's proposed for this corner as well neighborhood commercial and of course there is commercial

[1:06:11] over back to the east as well but with this residential neighborhood in between it so it is some commercial moving closer to the residences in the neighborhood but it is in this uh intersection that already has three of the four quadrants of the intersection are already commercial you can see the current future land use of the area is neighborhood and it would change to neighborhood center which is our lowest intensity commercial zoning or planning and zoning districts the neighborhood commercial is we did send out our notices to the surrounding property owners did not receive any responses in favor or in opposition just a picture of that subject property you can see the home behind it with that screening fence already in place a couple more pictures down 19th and lilly you can see back in the distance on the picture on the left is that kind of heavy commercial type activity just across the railroad tracks as i mentioned this is a transition from that heavy commercial to the zoning the residential zoning area and so it is kind of a transition area which does make it compatible with kind of general planning principles there are no retail shopping areas although you saw a lot of commercial on that map there's not a lot of retail in this area so this would serve a need for that area staff does recommend approval of both cases and the planning commission also unanimously recommended approval with that i'd be happy to answer any questions there any questions lucy i had a question but you answered it because i was going to ask as far as what kind of businesses would there be i know that you said there would be a low kind of um but um no uh you didn't get any oppositions from anyone okay i move to approve a second a second from harry all in favor say aye oh wait a minute back up brenda public comment no public comment all in favor say aye

[1:08:13] aye with none oppose motion passes six zero because i've already read f i don't think i have to re read f unless you need me to go ahead and present okay this item is also a conference plan amendment and rezoning the comp plan will be changed from neighborhood to neighborhood center just like the last case the rezoning would be from ranch in a state to neighborhood commercial so again similar to the last case although this is currently ranching estate zoning you can see this property just to the east is the coliseum area i will note here the reason that x is on the property the applicant has had originally requested both of these lots be included in the rezoning now they're asking to remove the lot on the left and so it would only be this corner lot that is before you technically it comes to you since this went to the planning commission as both lots that's what we had to include in your packet but the applicant has requested to remove the one lot so now it's it's just the one lot that's being considered mayor yes i believe that when you were reading the caption earlier you were reading cp 2108 so just in case there's any future issues if you would just go ahead and read this first reading and public hearing of an ordinance for cp 21-07 an amendment to the comprehensive plan changing certain lands from the rural to the neighborhood center land use being approximately 4.310 acres located at the northwest corner of grape creek road and west 47th street and two an ordinance for z21-10 a rezoning from the ranch in a state zoning district to the neighborhood commercial zoning district being approximately 4.310 acres located at the northwest corner of grape creek road and west 47th street thank you as i mentioned this is currently zoned

[1:10:16] ranch in a state and you can see most of the area there is zone ranch in a state this you can't quite see off the screen here is chad burn and so that part of chadburn is a commercial corridor so this area sits kind of between that commercial corridor in chadburn and the coliseum there across grape creek road there to the east and so it would be the the intent is to create a small neighborhood commercial retail that could both serve that neighborhood but also folks that coming and going from the coliseum we did send out our notices i will note that when this went to the planning commission we had not received any notices of opposition we have since received and actually that should be eight now we received another one late yesterday eight in opposition still only two within the notification area but now that five should be six outside the notification area you can see a few on the screen there are a couple of others out here a little bit off the screen all of those of course are outside the notification area with the exception of these two that are within 200 feet we actually re-ran this calculation splitting that and only including the one lot as requested that pulls that 200 feet notice back i think both of these two lots still fall within the opposition within 200 feet but it's a smaller percentage as you know if if that percentage of opposed is over 20 percent it would trigger a super majority which in this case it it does not just a few pictures this is the house on the property that's the piece that's the lot that has been removed and so it's actually vacant property just to the right there off the screen you can see it a little better in these pictures and here's from where you're looking straight at the house if you turn to the right you can see the vacant part right there with

[1:12:18] the coliseum buildings in the background or the fairgrounds staff does recommend approval of both cases as did the planning commission and we also as i noted we're supportive of removing the one lot and making it just the single lot on the corner that i'd be happy to answer any questions um do you have any questions let me start and this one has become a very hot topic the past four or five days john one of the main concerns i have from constituents up and down the street there the meeks and some others is what's it do to property values so the first part is correct i'm glad we got that changed it was four acres to begin with and now it's down the two what protects the balance of the neighborhood from what they're going to put in an expected effect on property values positive or negative property values are hard to predict generally commercial development does not negatively affect property values if if anything the nearby presence of commercial can be a benefit because people like having places to go and shop nearby um it can be a negative to the people particularly you know right next door in this case it's the property owner selling the property to the developer that will be the house right next door and so again it's hard to say about property values we rarely see property values go down though property values continue to increase over time and especially a small scale neighborhood commercial type commercial activity here i wouldn't anticipate having a big negative impact as compared to if it was a more intensive commercial or industrial type use i will say one of the concerns that we've heard is traffic um and while it could see an increase in traffic we

[1:14:20] anticipate most of the traffic would be coming up and down grape creek um there may be some cut through on 47th you know coming over from chadburn but that wouldn't be the bulk of it i wouldn't think so what separation is there a fence i mean what have we got property-wise that goes between there that separates the property our ordinance does require if there's a commercial business next to residential there is screening required typically it would be a screen a six foot screening fence there's also some limitations on lighting for example parking lot lighting shouldn't be shining over into the residential property those kinds of things well historically as we've i've looked at this property for 15 18 years and driven by it all the time nobody's wanted to develop it all right because of its proximity to the stock showing rodeo and you have the sound coming from there you've got basically quinceaneras coming out of the first financial building every weekend so it's it's been one of those things that hasn't been developed and as the property owner is the west boundary of that he is assuming that as himself we've got the church on the north side of it and the street on the the south i'm i'm kind of sitting there to along the lines to go with planning at this point with their suggestion eric yeah i you know i've looked at this property on several occasions a lady that cuts my hair lives up in green acres and so i go on a regular basis uh i agree with tom i mean this isn't something that could be developed i think it's an opportunity as long as we you know screen from the neighborhood uh and and quite honestly the stocks are on rodeo and everything that goes on at the wells fargo building first financial building i mean there's there's traffic there every weekend so i can't think that traffic should be an issue with that i quite honestly think it's it's something that would benefit the neighborhood and i'd vote to approve it

[1:16:23] do we know what's going to go in or can we say that is there a representative here there may be someone who can speak to that as from from a staff perspective you're approving a zoning that would allow anything that is allowed in that zoning district so um we're always hesitant to say even if we know what it might be because that could fall through and something else could so what you're actually approving is the zoning that would allow anything that's allowed in that zoning district let's go over neighborhood commercial quick definition of what can go in there commercially largely retail so it doesn't allow the heavier commercial things like you know car repair things that have a lot of noise it's limited in outdoor storage so again it's our least or most restrictive commercial district and on a lot this size you know the the setbacks and everything are going to limit it to a relatively small building that's my second question what's your setback requirement against great creek road if you remember off top of your head is 25 feet typically it's 25 feet i'd have to look um specifically on that but i believe on that zoning district it would be 25 feet so that limits it's a lot so with what we've got here um i go with motion to approve as percentage any public comment with no public comment we'll take a vote all in favor say aye motion passes 6-0 i have to leave the meeting for conference call so i we can either do one of two things we can adjourn and take a break for 20 minutes or you can continue on with the meeting good to continue on with the meeting all right tom will take over the meeting do you need me to sit over there i don't know that you have of course [Music]

[1:18:53] cool daniel just said this will be fun we're going to move on to item g the first reading and public hearing of one an ordinance for cp 2108 an amendment to the comprehensive plan changing certain lands from the commercial to the neighborhood center land use being approximately 3.053 acres located northeast of upton street and north archer street and item two an ordinance for z 21-11 are rezoning from the light manufacturing zoning district to the single man to the single family residential zoning district being approximately 0.44 acres located at 1502 upton street presentation made by john james john you're on thank you you can see here the location it's bell street there um and you'll see in a second while we're proposing the way we're doing it but it's a change to the comprehensive plan for the entire block but the rezoning request is only those two lots on the corner i'll talk a little bit more about why that is this whole area is in our future plans as lot manufacturing however it is not developed that way this whole block is residential but we were concerned about changing the plan and the zoning on just those two lots if the remainder was still designated long term as industrial and so what we had proposed is coming in and changing that entire block to that residential neighborhood future land use plan in looking at the surrounding area i think the idea was maybe this could become an industrial area back when this area was planned decades ago we just don't see that happening particularly on this block maybe a little bit farther to the west but given that this entire block is already residential they want to rezone it for more residential it just makes sense to pull in that that block as as the zoning for residential

[1:20:59] we did send out the notifications to the surrounding 200 feet property owners we did not receive any in opposition we did receive one in support so staff does recommend the change to the conference plan as well as the rezoning and the planning commission also recommended unanimously i'd be happy to answer any questions the information provided has anybody got any questions lucy your district now what decides this is harry hey are you good i'm good i've moved to approve is presented second public comment no problem public comment we'll take a vet a vote all in favor say aye aye aye opposed pass it 6-0 excuse me five o'clock all right with that we'll move to closed session executive session under the proposing provision of government code title v open government ethics subtitle a open government chapter 551 open meeting sub chapter d exceptions to requirement that meetings be open under the following sections a section 551071 consultation with the attorney regarding ward law etl versus city of san angelo and life point church with that we'll move to closed session we should reconvene in teresa 45 minutes all right okay bring us back into session we're through with uh closed session we need to make one motion um pertaining to item a and it is motion to extend the letter of engagement with amy emerson of allensworth law second on that let's take a vote all in favor say aye aye passes 5-0 with that we'll move to follow-up and administrative issues consideration and possible action regarding items discussed now wait a minute you wanted to read the consent agenda again yeah we did take a motion we did take a vote on the consent

[1:23:01] agenda but we never had a motion in a second so if we could just clear that up for our record can i get a motion for the consent agenda motion larry with the first a second harry thomas with a second all in favor say aye aye consent agenda passes 5-0 now we'll move to follow-up and administrative issues a consideration and possible action regarding items discussed in closed session if needed which we've already done b consideration of approving various board nominations design and historic review commission david missouri appointed by the mayor and lisa wallace smd5 to a second term and henry smith smd six to a third term all ending september 2023 fort concho museum board george valley smd 2 to an unexpired term ending january 2023 keep san angelo beautiful shannon mcmillan smd 4 to a full to a first full term emily lloyd smd 5 to a second term richard balako senior smd6 to a first term all ending september 2023 move to approve second by lucy all in favor say aye aye opposed with that 5.0 see any announcements and considerations for future agenda items with that we need to have some conversation about uh and i think teresa said that we might move this to the executive session in the future but we need to it has conversation on whether or not we need a resolution on sanctuary city for the unborn or putting an ordinance together so i would recommend that we move it to executive session for legal discussion and then when we come out we can make a decision based on how you want us to move forward legally on either a resolution setting for election like kerry said or an actual ordinance well thank you anything else with that we should now bring the meeting to a close motion to adjourn since tommy's not here all in favor say aye aye opposed

[1:25:06] we are closed you

Captured 2026-07-26 · source: youtube.com/watch?v=yesJ3Je9ePg