* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:13] GOOD AFTERNOON [Item 1 - Call to order] EVERYONE, AND WELCOME TO THE HARLINGEN CITY COMMISSION MEETING. THE TIME IS NOW 5:35 PM WE'LL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER. IT HAS BEEN POSTED AS REQUIRED, UH, BY STATE LAW. WE HAVE A QUORUM OF THE COMMISSION. WE DO HAVE, COMMISSIONER MEMER HASN'T JOINED US, UM, YET, BUT WE DO HAVE A QUORUM AT THIS TIME. I'LL ASK FOR EVERYONE TO PLEASE RISE AS COMMISSIONER KINSLEY LEADS US IN OUR INVOCATION. UH, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AS WE APPROACH VETERANS DAY THIS EVENING, WE'RE GOING TO DO A PRAYER FOR OUR VETERANS, OH GOD, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. YOU HAVE BLESSED US WITH BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE WILLING TO DEFEND OUR FREEDOM. MAY YOUR PROTECTION AND GRACE SURROUND THEM EACH DAY. LET YOUR HEALING HAND BE UPON THOSE WHO SUFFER WOUNDS AND INJURIES. MAY THOSE WHO HAVE MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE REST FOREVER IN YOUR HOLY PRESENCE. COMFORT. THE FAMILIES WHO MOURN AND ARE LEFT TO REMEMBER THE PRECIOUS LIVES OF THEIR LOVED ONES. HELP US TO HONOR AND SUPPORT THEM. LET US EVER BE MINDFUL OF EACH SACRIFICE MADE ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BY OUR SONS, DAUGHTERS, HUSBANDS, WIVES, MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND FRIENDS. AMEN. AMEN. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE LIBERTY. TWO, UH, MARK. UNDER STATE LAW, [Item 2 - Conflict of Interest] A CONFLICT OF INTEREST EXISTS IF A CITY OF A COMMISSION MEMBER OR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THAT PERSON'S FAMILY HAS A QUALIFYING FINANCIAL INTEREST IN AN AGENDA ITEM. MEMBERS WITH A CONFLICT OF INTEREST CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN THE DISCUSSION NOR VOTE ON THE AGENDA ITEM. ARE THERE ANY NON CONFLICTS OF INTEREST TO DISCLOSE AT THIS TIME? NONE. NONE, NONE, NONE, NONE. ALRIGHT. MOVING ON. ITEM THREE ANNOUNCEMENTS. WITH RESPECT TO ITEMS NOT LISTED ELSEWHERE ON THIS AGENDA, THE CITY COMMISSION MAY REPORT ON ITEMS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST, INCLUDING ANNOUNCING COMMUNITY EVENTS, ANNOUNCING EMPLOYEE OR COMMUNITY RECOGNITIONS. ITEM THREE, A MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS. MAYOR, [Item 3 - Announcements] DO YOU HAVE ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS TO DISCLOSE? I DO HAVE A, A BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENT. NOVEMBER IS ADOPTION, A NATIONAL ADOPTION, UM, MONTH. AND I JUST WANNA ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO, IF YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY, WE DO HAVE SOME WONDERFUL ORGANIZATIONS HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY. WE HAVE FOSTER ANGELS OF SOUTH TEXAS AND THE HEART GALLERY OF SOUTH TEXAS. YOU CAN FIND THEM BOTH ONLINE, YOU CAN GOOGLE AND, AND, AND YOU'LL SEE THEIR WEBSITE. THERE ARE ARE OVER 250 CHILDREN HERE IN SOUTH TEXAS WAITING FOR THEIR FOREVER HOME. SO I ENCOURAGE YOU, IF YOU HAVE IT IN YOUR HEART, TO LOOK AT THAT WEBSITE, SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY, ANYONE THAT'S INTERESTED IN ADOPTION. THERE ARE CHILDREN OF ALL AGES. THERE ARE SO MANY MISCONCEPTIONS OUT THERE, UM, AND, AND BARRIERS OR, OR PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO ADOPTION. BUT IT, IT IS A VERY, UH, REASONABLE PROCESS. AND IT IS, IT IS ATTAINABLE FOR ANYONE THAT HAS A HOME THAT IS WILLING TO PROVIDE, UH, A LOVING HOME TO THESE CHILDREN. SO I ENCOURAGE YOU, AGAIN, TO ITS FOSTER ANGELS OF SOUTH TEXAS, OR THE HEART, UH, HEART GALLERY OF SOUTH TEXAS, AND YOU CAN FIND ALL THE INFORMATION ON THERE. UM, THEY DO A WONDERFUL JOB OF PORTRAYING THIS, THE, THE CHILDREN, A LITTLE SUMMARY OF EACH OF THE, OF THE KIDS THAT ARE WAITING FOR EITHER TO BE ADOPTED OR O OBVIOUSLY, UM, FOSTER AS WELL. SO I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO, TO DO THAT AND SHARE THAT INFORMATION. THANK YOU. ITEM THREE B, CITY MANAGERS ANNOUNCEMENTS. MR. GONZALEZ, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ANNOUNCE? UH, YES, I DO. UM, THIS WEEK IS A BIRDING FESTIVAL. UH, FOR THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE FESTIVAL, IT IS A PREMIER FESTIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES, NOT JUST TEXAS. UH, IT STARTED TODAY, BUT IT GOES THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. SO IF WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY, IT'LL BE AT THE, UH, HARLINGEN CONVENTION CENTER WITH LOTS OF TOURS OF, UH, BIRDS AROUND THE VALLEY. SO MAKE SURE YOU, YOU CAN ATTEND. AND ALSO THE, UH, THE MEXICAN COUNCIL WILL BE HERE ON SATURDAY, UH, NOVEMBER THE NINTH AT THE HILTON GARDEN INN FROM NINE TO TWO. UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT NEED ANY HELP FROM THE MEXICAN COUNCIL, MAKE, MAKE SURE YOU CAN STOP BY TO VISIT WITH THEM. THEY'RE GONNA HAVE THEIR MOBILE OFFICE HERE, SO, MM-HMM. . THAT'S ALL I HAVE. THANK YOU. OKAY. ITEM THREE C, CITY COMMISSION MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS. COMMISSIONERS, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ANNOUNCE? UH, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO RECOGNIZE AND THANK, UH, I KNOW WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE PERSON HERE WHO, UH, WORKED THE ELECTIONS, [00:05:01] UH, THE, OVER THE PAST TWO WEEKS. INCREDIBLE NUMBERS, MOST PROBABLY IN, OBVIOUSLY IN MY TIME HERE IN HAR FOR THE PAST 24 YEARS. BUT, UH, WELL DONE TO ALL OF THEM. I MEAN, HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLES LONG LINES, BUT, UH, EVERYBODY KEPT THEM MOVING AS FAST AS THEY COULD. AND I THINK IT WAS A, A GREAT EVENT FOR THE CITY AND FOR THE STATE AND FOR THE COUNTRY THAT WE HAD THE TURN OUT THAT WE HAD SO WELL DONE. VOTING IS CRITICAL. MM-HMM, . AND I'LL JUST ECHO, SORRY. ON, ON THAT NOTE THAT I, I SPOKE WITH REMY THIS MORNING IN REGARDS TO THE TURNOUT. 'CAUSE I WAS SO IMPRESSED WITH THE CAMERON COUNTY'S INITIATIVE OF ALLOWING FOLKS TO VOTE ANYWHERE WITHIN THE COUNTY. AND I THINK THAT THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE. THAT WAS HUGE. AND SO, OVER 20, I THINK IT'S SAID, 21,000 PEOPLE FROM THE CITY OF HARLINGEN VOTED IN THE HARLINGEN ELECTION. AND THAT, THAT IS HISTORIC. SO IT'S AMAZING. AND THAT, I THINK THAT PARTNERSHIP WITH CAMERON COUNTY. SO, AND I JUST WANNA COMMEND, UH, COMMISSIONER MORALE AND COMMISSIONER BETIS FOR HAVING, AND I DON'T THINK WE WERE HERE, BUT MOVING THE ELECTIONS OBVIOUSLY FROM MAY TO NOVEMBER. DID IT, IT COMES WITH ITS CHALLENGES. I WILL SAY THAT, OF COURSE. UM, HOWEVER, THAT, THAT ALSO, UH, CONTRIBUTED TO THE HIGH VOTER TURNOUT. SO, UH, THREE, THREE QUICK ANNOUNCEMENTS. I WANT TO THANK OSCAR AND MANNY, UH, OSCAR GARCIA AND MANNY, UH, WITH CODE ENFORCEMENT. WE DID OUR FIRST NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION WALK. UH, WE MADE SOME GREAT NOTES. I'M REALLY PUMPED. UH, WE'LL BE DOING A PRESENTATION, OUR CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT WE ARE PROPOSING. I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A MORE COMMUNITY INPUT, WHAT Y'ALL THINK WE NEED TO DO FOR, UH, YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS. SECOND IS, IF YOU GUYS SAW IT IN THE VALLEY MORNING STAR, I THINK LAST WEEK, THEY PROMOTED, UH, A LOCATION HERE IN ARLINGTON CALLED RE FILM CENTER. IF YOU GUYS HAVEN'T GONE, IT'S A FANTASTIC SPOT. IT'S ON JACKSON. IT'S A, IT'S A, LIKE AN ART CENTER, UH, WHERE THEY, UH, DIGITIZE YOUR OLD VIDEOS, LIKE YOUR FAMILY VIDEOS AND ALL THAT, AND REALLY ARE PROMOTING FILM AND HARLINGEN. AND LASTLY, I KNOW PEOPLE HAVE ASKED, BUT WE HAD A MEETING LAST WEEK ON COMMERCE STREET AND OUR IMPROVEMENTS IN JANUARY 23RD, 2025. THAT'S WHERE WE'LL BE HAVING A BIG MEETING FOR THE WHOLE COMMITTEE OR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY TO COME AND PARTICIPATE. SO I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ALL THERE. AND I HOPE TO HAVE SOME GOOD IDEAS FOR YOU GUYS, BECAUSE AS YOU GUYS CAN IMAGINE, THE INTERSECTION IN FRONT OF, UH, VALLEY MORNING STAR IS LIKE SWISS CHEESE. AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO FIX. UH, AND SO WE LOOK FORWARD TO PRESENTING SOME GOOD IDEAS FOR Y'ALL'S CONSIDERATION. JANUARY 23RD, 2025. IF THE DATE CHANGES, WE'LL LET Y'ALL KNOW. THANK YOU. SWISH CHEESE. IT'S CRAZY, BUT I LOVE IT. BUT YOU KNOW, AS LONG AS YOU GO LIKE THIS , COMMISSIONER NONE AT THIS TIME. THANK YOU. UM, YES. UM, I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A MOMENT TO REMEMBER THE PASSING OF A, OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN THAT PASSED AWAY JUST RECENTLY, THIS PAST SATURDAY. UM, HER NAME WAS, UH, DINA PUENTE. UM, SHE WAS A LONGTIME MEMBER OF OUR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, UM, BOARD. UM, SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF ONE OF OUR FORMER COMMISSIONERS, AND A MO AND AN AUNT OF ONE OF OUR CURRENT COMMISSIONERS. ME. UM, SHE WAS A WOMAN THAT LOVED LIFE. UM, SHE LOVED LIFE. SHE LOVED HARLINGEN. SHE WAS INVOLVED IN MANY DIFFERENT CHARIT CHARITABLE CAUSES IN HER CHURCH. AND, UM, SHE'S SOMEONE THAT SHE, WE MISS GREATLY. YEAH, SHE'LL BE MS. GREATLY. THAT'S IT. MOVING ON TO ITEM FOUR, PROCLAMATION, PRESENTATION OF AWARDS. [Item 4a - Harlingen Animal Shelter "Pet of the Week"] ITEM FOUR, A HARINGTON ANIMAL SHELTER, PET OF THE WEEK. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR CITY COMMISSION. TONIGHT WE HAVE BROUGHT WITH US ATHENA. ATHENA IS A HEALER MIX. UM, SHE'S ABOUT THREE TO FOUR YEARS OLD. SHE'S FULLY VACCINATED. WE'VE ALREADY HAD HER SPAYED. UM, SHE'S VERY ENERGETIC. UM, LOVES TO RUN AND PLAY IN THE SIDE YARD THERE AT THE SHELTER. AND SHE'S LOOKING FOR HER FOREVER HOME. ANYBODY, ANYBODY WHO IS LOOKING FOR A FOREVER PET FOR A LOVING PET IS WELCOME TO GO BY THE SHELTER AT 1106 MARKOWSKI. UH, OR GIVE THEM A CALL AT TWO ONE SIX FIFTY TWO FIFTY. UM, I WOULD ALSO JUST LIKE TO SAY THAT FRANKLIN HAS BEEN ADOPTED. OUR PET THAT WE HAD HERE TWO WEEKS AGO, HE HAS ALSO BEEN ADOPTED SO FAR. WE'VE, WE'VE GOT A REALLY GOOD TRACK RECORD WITH THE PETS THAT WE BRING TO COMMISSION MEETINGS. SO WE HOPE TO CONTINUE THAT TRADITION WITH ATHENA. ATHENA HAS BEEN WITH US SINCE AUGUST 5TH, SO SHE, SHE HAS BEEN WITH US FOR A GOOD LITTLE BIT. SO SHE IS LOOKING FOR HER FOR, FOR FOREVER HOME. THAT'S FANTASTIC, SHANNON. YES. CAN YOU ALSO MENTION ABOUT THIS SATURDAY? SO THIS SATURDAY WE, THE ANIMAL SHELTER WILL BE GOING OUT TO PETSMART [00:10:02] AND THEY WILL BE HOLDING AN OFFSITE ADOPTION EVENT. EVENT. THEY WILL HAVE 10 DOGS THERE. UH, THAT'LL ALL BE UP FOR ADOPTION, AND OUR GOAL IS TO COME BACK TO THE SHELTER WITH NONE. SO WE HOPE TO SEE EVERYBODY OUT THERE, UM, TO VISIT WITH THE DOGS AND, AND HOPEFULLY FIND YOUR NEXT BEST FRIEND. WHAT WERE THE TIMES AGAIN? I'M SORRY. UH, FOR SATURDAY IT WILL BE 12 TO THREE. WHICH 12? 10 TO TWO. 10 TO TWO, SORRY. . WE, WE'VE, WE'VE GOT A LOT OF THINGS PLANNED FOR NOVEMBER. OKAY. UM, SO THEY'RE KIND OF BLURRING TOGETHER RIGHT NOW. WE HAVE SOMETHING PLANNED FOR EVERY SATURDAY, JUST ABOUT EVERY SATURDAY THIS MONTH. SO DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER PET BEHIND YOU? THIS ONE'S BEING FOSTERED . OKAY. WITH, 'CAUSE I BRING HER TO WORK WITH ME AND SHE HANGS OUT WITH US. AND I DON'T WANNA LEAVE HER THERE BY HERSELF TODAY. SO SHE CAME OUT TO HANG OUT WITH US. OH, SO YOU'RE HER FOSTER MOM. . I DON'T WANNA FOSTER TO ADOPT, SO, AW. WELL, I WILL TELL YOU WHEN THAT, WHEN YOU FOSTER, RIGHT? THEY, THEY, THEY, UM, GUILTY, RIGHT? THEY, THEY END UP STAYING HOME. YEAH. WITH YOU. UM, OKAY. AWESOME. INCREDIBLE. UM, YOU GOT PHOTOS, CALISTA. YES. ATHENA, RIGHT? YES, I DID. AND SO WE HOPE THAT THOSE THAT ARE AT HOME WILL CONTACT THE SHELTER AND, UM, ADOPT ATHENA. SHE'S, SHE'S PRETTY. AND [Item 4b - Proclamation "National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week"] WE'LL ASK YOU TO STAY UP THERE 'CAUSE OUR NEXT, UM, PRESENTATION FROM CALISTA HAS TO DO WITH Y'ALL. ALRIGHT. SO THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BEING HERE WITH US TODAY. THIS WEEK WE ARE CELEBRATING NATIONAL ANIMAL SHELTER APPRECIATION WEEK, AND WE HAVE A PROCLAMATION, AND I WILL READ IT AS FOLLOWS. BEFORE I TURN IT BACK OVER TO SHANNON TO SAY A FEW WORDS. WHEREAS THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES FOUNDED NATIONAL ANIMAL SHELTER APPRECIATION WEEK IN 1996 THIS WEEK IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND PROMOTE THE ROLE OF ANIMAL SHELTERS IN COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. AND TO ENCOURAGE THE PUBLIC TO GET ACQUAINTED WITH THEIR LOCAL ANIMAL SHELTER, TO LEARN HOW THEY CAN SAVE LIVES OF ANIMALS. AND WHEREAS THE HARLEEN ANIMAL SHELTER HELPS BOTH ANIMALS AND PEOPLE, IN MANY WAYS, REUNITING LOST PETS WITH THEIR OWNERS, RE RESCUING ABANDONED ANIMALS, CARING FOR ANIMALS, EDUCATING THE PUBLIC, AND MATCHING UP THE FUR BABIES WITH THEIR FOREVER HOMES. AND WHEREAS THE, IN A SHORT PERIOD, THE HAN, THE HARLAN AND ANIMAL SHELTER STAFF, HAS WORKED TREMENDOUSLY WITH RESCUES, FOSTERS, AND COMMUNITY TO SERVICE THE ANIMALS LEFT BEHIND AND TURNED IN BY OWNERS AT THE SHELTER. WHEREAS THE CITY OF HARLINGEN RECOGNIZES THE HARLINGEN ANIMAL SHELTER STAFF FOR THEIR MANY DEDICATED HOURS OF SERVICE THEY PERFORM IN SERVING THE ANIMAL SHELTER ANIMALS, AND FOR FULFILLING THEIR COMMITMENT TO PROVIDING THE HIGHEST AND MOST EFFICIENT LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SERVICE. AND NOW, THEREFORE, I, NORMA , MAYOR OF THE CITY OF HARLINGEN, TEXAS, AND ON BEHALF OF THE CITY COMMISSION DUE, HEREBY PROCLAIM NOVEMBER 3RD THROUGH THE NINTH, 2024, AS A NATIONAL ANIMAL SHELTER APPRECIATION WEEK, SHANNON. UM, WE JUST, AGAIN, WANT TO THANK ALL THE STAFF, UM, THAT IT QUITE OFTEN GOES UNRECOGNIZED THE NUMBER OF HOURS THEY PUT IN, THE DEDICATION THAT THEY PUT IN. UM, THEIR HEART IS ON THE LINE EACH AND EVERY DAY FOR EVERY ONE OF THE ANIMALS IN THE SHELTER. AND THEY WANT THE ABSOLUTE BEST FOR THEM, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM, EVERY SINGLE DAY. UM, SO WE DEFINITELY WANNA GIVE THEM THIS RECOGNITION. WE WANT TO THANK THE COMMISSION AND THE MAYOR FOR ALL THE SUPPORT Y'ALL GIVE US. WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT, WE WOULDN'T BE WHERE WE ARE. UM, WE CONTINUE TO STRIVE TO IMPROVE EACH AND EVERY DAY. WE DON'T EVER FEEL ANYTHING IS EVER PERFECT. WE WANT TO IMPROVE EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME. AND WE WILL KEEP WORKING TO DO THAT EVERY SINGLE DAY. SO THANK YOU. WELL, SHANNON AND, AND STAFF, UH, WE, I, I THINK I SPEAK FOR EVERYONE IN THE COMMISSION. WE ARE JUST IN, IN, IN CONTINUE TO BE IMPRESSED WITH ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK. AND I KNOW THAT IT ISN'T ALWAYS EASY. UM, WE, WE ACKNOWLEDGE AND RECOGNIZE YOUR LONG HOURS, AND IT IS DIFFICULT TO BE IN THE POSITION SOMETIMES THAT Y'ALL ARE IN. AND SO WE APPRECIATE YOU. I KNOW THAT YOU PUT IN ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK AND YOUR HEART. I'VE, I'VE SPOKEN, I KNOW ELI, YOU JOINED US, UM, RATHER, UH, WHEN WAS IT, LIKE TWO MID AUGUST MID. AND, AND I WAS JUST REALLY BLOWN AWAY WITH ALL OF YOUR EXPERIENCE AND ALL OF THE DIFFERENT ROLES THAT YOU HAVE HAD IN DIFFERENT AREAS, AND YOU BRING A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE TO THE SHELTER. I THINK THE STAFF IS JUST DOING AMAZING. YOU HAVE AN INCREDIBLE TEAM, AND I THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK. I DON'T THINK PEOPLE REALIZE THAT WITHIN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, THERE'S BEEN OVER 300 ADOPTIONS IN, IN, OUT OF THE SHELTER. AND THAT GIVES MY, THAT NUMBER GIVES ME PAUSE, RIGHT? 'CAUSE WHY DO WE HAVE 300 PLUS ANIMALS THAT NEED TO BE ADOPTED IN SOUTH TEXAS? THAT'S [00:15:01] A BIG NUMBER. AND SO I, I REALLY HOPE THAT THE COMMUNITY COMES OUT AND SUPPORTS THE SHELTER, SO THAT WAY WE CAN START TO LOWER THOSE, THOSE NUMBERS. AND SO APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT YOU'RE DOING, UH, KNOW THAT WE HAVE YOUR, WE HAVE YOUR BACK, AND WE SUPPORT YOU A HUNDRED PERCENT. I ALSO WANNA MAKE A POINT THAT I'M VERY PROUD THAT ONE OF MY FORMER STUDENTS NOT GONNA MENTION WHERE SHE'S AT. I MEAN, BUT SHE, SHE, SHE NOW WORKS FOR THE HAUNTED ANIMAL SHELTER, AND I'M SUPER PROUD OF HER AND THANKS FOR BEING PART OF THE TEAM. AND, YOU KNOW, AND THE OTHER THING TOO, I THINK THE COMMUNITY, UM, THE SUPPORT THAT HAS FROM BUSINESSES, WE WANNA THANK THEM. AND I HOPE THAT, THAT Y'ALL ARE DOING THAT. I HAD A CONVERSATION, I THINK WITH HARLAN AND MEDICAL. THEY SAID THAT THEY HAD DONATED A TON OF FOOD, AND THAT THE ENTIRE STAFF WAS EXCITED ABOUT THAT OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO HELP THE SHELTER. AND THEY KIND OF MADE IT AS A COMPETITION AMONGST THE, THE STAFF. AND SO THERE IS A TON OF SUPPORT OUT THERE, BUT I KNOW SOMETIMES IT'S DIFFICULT WHEN, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU ARE WORKING. AND THERE MAY BE, I MEAN, JUST TO BE HONEST, THERE MAY BE SOME CRITICISM AND THERE'S, YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT ARE BEYOND YOUR CONTROL. BUT WE KNOW THAT YOU LOVE ANIMALS AND WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU. AND SO THIS IS YOUR MONTH, AND I'M GONNA STOP TALKING SO WE CAN TAKE A PICTURE WITH THE PROCLAMATION . ALL RIGHT. IF THE COMMISSION CAN JOIN ME THREE AND WANT TO GO HOME, WE, WE CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN. EXACTLY. I ALREADY HAVE TO. WE'RE HERE TO HELP. ALL RIGHT. MOVING ON. OKAY, [Item 5 - Citizen Communication] MOVING ON TO ITEM FIVE, CITIZEN COMMUNICATION. AT THIS TIME, THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO ADDRESS THE CITY COMMISSION AND SPEAK ON ANY MATTER NOT SPECIFICALLY LISTED FOR PUBLIC HEARING ELSEWHERE IN THIS AGENDA. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CITY COMMISSION MEMBERS MAY NOT RESPOND TO COMMENTS OR DELIBERATE ON TOPICS ADDRESSED. HERE WE HAVE A TOTAL OF FIVE, UH, SUBMISSIONS FOR TODAY. WE WILL BEGIN WITH MS. REBECCA KINGSLEY. OKAY. HELLO, UH, MY NAME'S REBECCA KINSLEY, AND I LIVE AT 34 0 1 WEST BUSINESS 83. UH, IT'S THE PALM GARDENS MOTOR HOME AND, UH, MOBILE HOME PARK IN HARLEEN. WE ARE HAVING AN ISSUE THAT JUST, WE CAN'T SEEM TO GET RESOLVED. THERE WAS A BUSINESS THAT OPENED RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FROM US CALLED THE DEEP END BAR. UM, I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE IN OUR PARK LIKE TO GO TO THIS ESTABLISHMENT. WE ARE ALL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT. THE PROBLEM THAT WE'RE HAVING IS THAT THEY HAVE A DJ ON THEIR PATIO THAT STARTS ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT BETWEEN 10 AND 11 O'CLOCK, AND PLAYS MUSIC UNTIL 2:00 AM THEY ALSO DO IT ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS. UM, AND IT DOESN'T GENERALLY START UNTIL ABOUT 11 O'CLOCK ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AND GOES TILL ABOUT 12 TO ONE, SOMEWHERE IN THERE. UM, IT IS SO LOUD THAT IT LITERALLY TOOK A PICTURE OFF OF THE WALL OF MY HOUSE. UH, WE ARE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE A 55 PLUS COMMUNITY. THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE, ELDERLY PEOPLE IN THERE. PLUS SIGHT OF THAT IS, A LOT OF 'EM ARE HARDER HEARING, HARD OF HEARING. SO IT'S NOT SO BOTHERSOME TO THAT TO THEM. BUT THERE ARE A HUGE NUMBER OF US IN THERE IN THE PARK THAT ARE JUST OUR, OUR QUALITY OF LIFE HAS JUST GONE DOWNHILL SINCE THIS ESTABLISHMENT HAS OPENED. UM, WE CALL THE, THE POLICE TO TRY TO GET, HELP THEM TO GO OUT THERE AND ASK THEM TO TURN DOWN THE VOLUME. SOME OF THE OFFICERS HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL ABOUT GOING IN AND TALKING TO THEM, AND IT'S GREATLY APPRECIATED. ALTHOUGH I WILL SAY GENERALLY WITHIN AN HOUR OF CALLING THEM, THEY MIGHT HAVE TURNED DOWN THE MUSIC, BUT THEY'LL TURN IT, THEN IT WILL COME BACK ON WITHIN THE HOUR, AND THE BASE GETS TURNED UP, [00:20:01] UH, DEEPER EVERY TIME. AND WE, THERE HAVE BEEN NIGHTS WHERE WE'VE CALLED, AND IT'S NOT JUST MYSELF AND MY WIFE, BUT OTHER PEOPLE IN THE, THE, UH, PARK THAT HAVE CALLED THREE, FOUR OR FIVE TIMES. AND AGAIN, IT'S THIS SAME CYCLE EVERY TIME. WE'VE ALSO BEEN TOLD BY SOME OFFICERS THAT THERE'S REALLY NOTHING THEY CAN DO. ALL THEY CAN DO IS GO AND ASK THEM TO TURN DOWN THE VOLUME BECAUSE THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO RUN THEIR BUSINESS. UM, FROM WHAT WE'VE DONE AS FAR AS READING IN THE CITY ORDINANCES, IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS A CITY NOISE ORDINANCE, UH, THAT WE WOULD THINK SHOULD STOP THE, THE MUSIC AT A CERTAIN TIME AT NIGHT. ALSO, READING IN THE, THE, UM, UH, TEXAS, THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE AND THE LIQUOR LAWS, UM, THE SECTION 4.4, CHAPTER FOUR, UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, THERE'S, UH, UH, IT SPECIFICALLY TALKS ABOUT ESTABLISHMENTS. IT SAW ALCOHOL NOT BEING ABLE TO AMPLIFY MUSIC AND DO DIFFERENT THINGS THAT, THAT AFFECTS THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THE, THE NEIGHBORHOODS AROUND THEM. UM, THE ONLY OTHER THING I WANNA SAY IS THERE'S, AND IT, IT'S, IT CAN'T JUST BE US, BETWEEN US AND WHERE THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS, THERE IS A LOW INCOME, UM, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT THAT IS FULL OF MOTHERS, FATHERS, CHILDREN THAT HAVE TO BE, YOU KNOW, IN SCHOOL ON THURSDAYS, HARDWORKING PEOPLE THAT ARE STILL OF WORKING AGE AND MUST BE UP AND, AND GOING TO WORK. SORRY, . SO IF WE COULD GET ANY HELP ON THIS, IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. MS. KINSLEY. WE HAVE YOUR, UM, PHONE NUMBER AND I'LL MAKE SURE THAT STAFF CHECK, CHECK THIS OUT. YES. THANK YOU. OKAY. THANK YOU. OKAY, NEXT WE HAVE RAYMOND REYES. RAYMOND REYES, 7 0 6 NANTUCKET DRIVE. UM, WELL, UM, I, I REALLY DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH, I NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH TO SAY. JUST, JUST A FEW THINGS THAT, UH, I FOUND A LITTLE BIT, UM, SOMEWHAT CONCERNING AND PROBABLY BECAUSE I'VE BEEN HERE A LONG TIME AND STUFF. AND, UH, OVER THE DECADES, LITERALLY, UH, ONE THING THAT CAUGHT MY EYE WAS THIS THING GOING ON WITH THE MALL. AND APPARENTLY WE HIRED SOME LAW FIRM TO DO SOME RESEARCH OR WHATEVER IT IS THEY DO. UM, AND I'M GOING BACK TO THE DAYS WHEN I WORKED A LOT WITH MR. UH, BILBY, YOU KNOW, VERY GOOD ATTORNEY, CITY ATTORNEY. WE WERE ABLE TO HAMMER OUT A LOT OF THINGS WHEN WE WERE GOING INTO SOME LITIGATION ISSUES WITH THE CITY. AND, UH, I'M WONDERING WHAT WAS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO GO THAT ROUTE OR, YOU KNOW, I'M MAYBE A LITTLE BIT CONFUSED OR NOT UP TO DATE, UH, ON WHAT EXACTLY THE CITY ATTORNEY'S ROLE IS AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, LOOKING INTO THE CURRENT SITUATION. I KNOW SOME BUSINESS OWNERS THAT HAVE ACTUALLY TOOK A HARD HIT BECAUSE OF WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THEM ALL. IT'S REALLY A BAD SITUATION. ANOTHER THING THAT I WANTED TO MENTION IS, UH, SINCE I HAVE A LOT OF BUSINESS ASSOCIATES UP AND DOWN THE VALLEY, ALL OVER THE STATE, BASICALLY IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT PLACES, HONESTLY, UH, I DO KNOW THAT BRONZEVILLE, UH, FOR THE DOWNTOWN MERCHANTS, THEY PROVIDE CERTAIN INCENTIVES FOR ASSISTING THOSE BUSINESSES THAT ARE STRUGGLING. AND I DON'T KNOW IF THEIR FUNDINGS COME FROM THE EDC OR FROM WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE. UH, I THINK THE EDC SHOULD BE MORE INVOLVED WITH HELPING THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE STRUGGLING. BECAUSE, AGAIN, LAST TIME I MENTIONED THAT I KNEW OF EIGHT SMALL BUSINESSES THAT WERE GETTING READY TO, TO CLOSE SHOP AND FOLD. UM, THEY DON'T HAVE THE SAME SUPPORT THAT CORPORATE ENTITIES DO. CORPORATE AMERICA, JUST RIGHT OFF THE LOSSES FIRE A COUPLE OF HUNDRED PEOPLE AND THEY'RE GOOD TO GO. I'VE SEEN IT HAPPEN ALL THE TIME. BUT SMALL BUSINESSES LIKE MYSELF, UM, WE TAKE HARD HITS. UM, FORTUNATELY I'M VERY WELL DIVERSIFIED SO I CAN SUSTAIN. BUT I OWN MOST OF THE STUFF WHERE I'M AT, SO I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PAYING RENT. AND, UH, WE GOT A LOT OF GOOD, UH, SMALL BUSINESSES TRYING TO MAKE A GO AT IT HERE IN HAREN. I ALWAYS HEAR HOW HARD IT IS TO DO BUSINESS HERE IN HAREN. AND BACK IN THE DAY, I WOULD TEND TO AGREE, BUT I THINK WE'RE ROUNDING THAT CORNER WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO ATTRACT THE RIGHT BUSINESSES TO GET THE RIGHT THINGS GOING. AND WE DON'T WANT TO BECOME STAGNANT IN THAT. SO ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO HELP THE SMALL BUSINESSES, UH, AND THE COMMUNITY IN GENERAL IS ALWAYS A, A POSITIVE THING. UM, WE DON'T WANT PEOPLE LEAVING. WE WANT PEOPLE STAYING, AND [00:25:01] WE WANT TO KEEP THAT MOMENTUM GOING. AND, UH, I THINK I BEAT THE BUSTER 'CAUSE UH, I, I HAVE TO GO. SO, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. Y'ALL HAVE A GOOD EVENING. THANK YOU, . HAVE A GOOD EVENING. YOU WELCOME. UH, NEXT WE HAVE ROBERT A LEWI. ROBERT LEWI, NOT ON NINE EAST PARKWOOD. I JUST WANTED TO COME TODAY BECAUSE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE JUST HAD SOME ELECTIONS AND WE'VE HAD SOME FORUMS WHERE SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE INCUMBENT CANDIDATES ARE STILL GIVING THE PUBLIC THE SAME MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE TAXES, ABOUT THE PROPERTY TAXES. WE KNOW THAT THE STATE LEGISLATION HAS PASSED THE, WHAT THEY CALL THE TAX, THE TRUTH IN TAXATION. AND THEREFORE THE CITY OFFICIAL NOTICE IT SAYS NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON TAX INCREASE. AND THEN AT THE BOTTOM IT TELLS YOU, WELL, THAT THE TAX INCREASE WAS $2.5 MILLION FOR THIS LAST YEAR, THIS LAST YEAR. SO WE KEEP HEARING AND WE KEEP SEEING THIS DOCUMENT PROVIDED BY THE CITY. THE MAYOR INCLUDED, UH, SOME OF THE INCUMBENT COMMISSIONERS. WELL, WE LOWERED THE RATES THE LOWEST RATE IN 24 YEARS. WELL, LET'S LOOK AT THE SAME DOCUMENT. AND I'M NOT GONNA DISAGREE WITH THAT, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, OUR C CERTIFIED TOTALS HAVE GONE FROM 3.7 BILLION TO 5.2 BILLION. SO ISN'T THAT DISINGENUOUS WHEN YOU SAY, WELL, WE'VE LOWERED THE RATE AND WE ALL KNOW WE DON'T PAY THE RATE. RIGHT? WE DON'T PAY THE RATE. WE PAY A LEVY, WE PAY A TAX LEVY. RIGHT? WE KNOW THAT. AND GUESS WHO SETS THE CERTIFIED TAX TOTALS? THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT. RIGHT? BUT THEY DON'T SPEND THE MONEY, MR. MISER, MR. PETS. Y'ALL DO, RIGHT? Y'ALL SPEND THE MONEY. SO WHAT'S THE NEW LEVY? THE LEVY IS INCREASED BY $2.5 MILLION FOR THIS YEAR BECAUSE MR. PETTI, SINCE YOU'VE BEEN IN OFFICE, THE LEVY HAS GONE UP $6 MILLION. SURE, YOU'VE LOWERED THE RATE, BUT THE CERTIFIED TAX RULES HAVE GONE UP. LOOK, THIS IS TRUTH IN TAXATION. IF THE, IF THE CITY'S REQUIRED TO OFFICIALLY DECLARE THAT AS A TAX INCREASE WHEN YOU'RE ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, HAVE SOME INTEGRITY, IDENTIFY AND OWN THE TAX INCREASE. DON'T TELL PEOPLE THAT THE FORMS THAT YOU GO TO OR THE DOORS THAT YOU KNOCK ON, THAT YOU LOOK, THIS IS THE LOWEST RATE IN 24 YEARS. MR. MESMER IS THE LOWEST, IT'S THE LOWEST RATING. COMMISSIONER, 16 YEARS. I HAVE A FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO SAY THAT. YES. WHAT I'M GONNA SAY YES, MAKE MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE ADDRESSING THAT YOUR COMMENTS TO THE ENTIRE COMMISSION. I AM, WELL, JUST, JUST TO THE COMMISSION. I WILL, I'LL PUT ALL THE COMMISSION ON NOTICE WHEN YOU'ALL RUN NEXT YEAR. DON'T DO WHAT, WHAT PEOPLE ARE DOING, WHAT YOUR INCUMBENT FELLOW COMMISSIONERS ARE DOING THIS YEAR OWN THE $6 MILLION TAX INCREASE. I HEARD IT, I HEARD SOMETHING ELSE THAT CAME OUT LAST WEEK IN ONE OF THE FORMS ABOUT THE OPERATIONAL EXPENSES OF THE HUMANE SOCIETY. THERE WAS A QUESTION AT THE FORUM BY U-T-R-G-R-G-V, UH, MODERATOR THAT SAID, HEY, WELL, FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS SAY THAT THE ESTIMATED OP MONTHLY OPERATIONAL EXPENSE IS $60,000 A MONTH. UH, COMMISSIONER PET, I THINK YOU DENIED THAT WAS ACCURATE, BUT YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS. DO Y DO Y'ALL NOT KNOW WHAT THE COSTS ARE OF THIS NEW SHELTER, THE MONTHLY COST OR THE COMPARATIVE COST FROM WHAT THE, THE RGV HUMANE SOCIETY WAS COSTING? I CAN IMAGINE THAT IT'S A LOT MORE CONSIDERING THAT THE UTR, THE RGV HUMANE SOCIETY WAS, WAS MATCHED WITH A $600,000 PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION FROM DONATIONS THAT THEY HAD THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND THROUGH THEIR ANNUAL GALA. THERE'S NO WAY I'M Y'ALL THAT Y'ALL ARE UNDER SPENDING WHAT YOU WERE. AND WE ARE SEEING THAT IN THE TAX INCREASE. THANK YOU. NEXT WE HAVE DESI MARTINEZ. HI, GOOD EVENING. IT'S NOT FLYER. GIVE THOSE TO ME. NINE, HAND 'EM OUT. DO I ASK ON THE, ON THE AGENDA ? I CAN CALL YOU ON THE ITEM. YEAH. YOU WANT, YOU WANNA DO THIS AND THE ITEM, OR YOU WANNA BE CALLED ON THE ITEM ITSELF, OR YOU WANNA DO IT NOW? JOE, I CAN SEND [00:30:02] WHAT WANNA DO THREE TO FOUR TO FIVE MINUTES AND I'M OKAY. GO AHEAD. OKAY. YEAH, THAT'S A LOT OF GOOD, GOOD INFO GOING. MAYOR, I, I'D LIKE TO ADDRESS THREE OR FOUR POINTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE TIMING OF, AS IT WAS SAID, SPENDING AND DEVELOPING PROJECTS START OCTOBER 1ST, SO JUST SCRATCH AND ET CETERA. AND, AND THEN YOU DO ALL THESE PROJECTS AND THEN IN APRIL YOU START THE BUDGET AGAIN. AND I KNOW THE PROCESS, I, I'VE WORKED FOR PEOPLE IN THIS AREA OF WORK, BUT I WANNA TALK IN ONE PARTICULAR AND, AND NOT DIRECTING TO ANY IN INDIVIDUAL, BUT BECAUSE IT'S ON THE AGENDA SUBMITTED BY THE CITY MANAGER ON THE LOGO, HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, TE, UM, OCCUPANCY TAX OVERVIEW BY THE CONTROLLER AND THEIR STATE STATUTES THAT SAYS THEY ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES. I COULD HAVE TOLD HIM, YES, YOU CAN DO THE CASA, BUT THAT'S WHAT THIS, THE WHOLE BASIS OF PUTTING A MILLION DOLLARS VERSUS COMPARING TO WHAT WE'RE DOING IN A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN RIGHT NOW FOR DOWNTOWN, THAT WE NEED MORE INPUT. A FEW WEEKS, A COUPLE OF MONTHS WITH OUR INPUT. THOSE OF US HAVE DONE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OR ORGANIZATIONS THAT KNOW BETTER. THE PROBLEM WITH DOWNTOWN, FOR EXAMPLE, IT'S NOT A PROBLEM, IT'S JUST THE ECONOMY, IS THAT YOU HAVE A CENSUS TRACK. MR. LOPEZ, THE MAIN CENSUS TRACK IN THE AREA, IT'S 27,400. IT'S SLOWER THAN SANTO AT 35,000 LOS FRESNO, DOWNTOWN AT 46,000 BROWN, ET CETERA. X THOUSAND MORE. IT'S ONE OF THE LOWEST COMPARED TO ALMOST THE COLONIALS. WHAT IS DOWNTOWN PROMISE ECONOMICS. BY UTILIZING OTHER METHODS AND OTHER IMP IMPORTANT GRANTS THAT ARE OUT THERE TO MATCH AN EBC FOUR B TO MATCH AND BRING IN MORE TRAFFIC. THE PROBLEM IS TRAFFIC. MM-HMM. AND CUSTOMERS. AND THAT'S WHAT IT'S THOUGHT. WHY CVS LEFT. THAT'S WHERE THE BANK, TAYLOR LEFT, ET CETERA. SO IB, C LEFT, ET CETERA. WE GOTTA BUILD THE ECONOMY. I KNOW YOU'RE DOING THE REVITALIZATION TALK, TALK, TALK DOWN THE STREETS, BUT THERE ARE BETTER METHODS. I'VE DONE THEM AND I HOPE TO HELP IN THAT REGARD. I HOPE YOU TABLE THIS AGAIN AND WE SEND IT TO THE AD HOC COMMITTEE AND I CAN VOLUNTEER MY TIME AND OTHERS THAT DO IN THIS BUSINESS. THAT'S ONE. THE SECOND ONE IS, OF COURSE, THE REPORT THAT ORLANDO WILL BRING TO YOU OF THE EDC. AS YOU CAN SEE, I, I REVIEWED QUICKLY 'CAUSE I DID, IT WASN'T CLOSE. THE INCIDENT INFORMATION AND REPORTS WASN'T POSTED UNTIL YESTERDAY AT NOON. AND I WAS WORKING AND I STILL WORK AT 72 GOING ON 73. THAT'S RIGHT. AND THE POINT IS THIS, HE'S, I APPRECIATE ORLANDO'S EFFORT AND YOU ALL MEETING, BUT THERE'S OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO BRING PRIMARY JOBS. IS THAT MAIN GOAL. I WAS IN THE EDC, I'M NEVER INVITED TO PARTICIPATE OR WHAT HAVE YOU. PRIMARY JOBS IN AGRI, AGRI BUSINESS IN MANUFACTURING, WHOLESALE TRANSPORTATION. YOU CAN READ IT RIGHT HERE. CALL CENTERS. AND WE HAD FOUR CALL CENTERS REFUNDED BACK 15 YEARS AGO, AND WE NOW GOT TWO. WE HAVEN'T EVEN MADE AN ASSESSMENT OF THAT. AND TWO EMPTY BUILDINGS. SO WE NEED TO, PART OF OUR CAMPUS PLAN IS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. WE NEED TO DO THAT BEFORE WE START SPENDING MONEY. AND THE SAID THE SOIL CAN BE USED INTO ANOTHER MODEL. TRANSPORTATION. YOU HAVE LAND OVER THERE THAT YOU BOUGHT, UH, BY THE, BY THE EXPRESSWAY. WHY DID WE MOVE IT OUT FROM DOWNTOWN? THAT'S THE ORIGINAL TRANSPORTATION HUB. WE MOVED WORKFORCE FROM DOWN HARRISON STREET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN, LOOKED LIKE A BIG OLD SHED. AND WE MOVE SOCIAL SECURITY OUT. WE MOVE TRAFFIC OUT. AS AN ECONOMIST, WE SHOULD BE MOVING TRAFFIC IN AND ACCOMMODATING TRAFFIC CUSTOMERS AND DOING REVITALIZATION OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS AROUND AND PROVIDING PRIMARY JOBS SO THAT PEOPLE CAN HAVE MORE INCOME. NOT AS IN THE, IN THE REPORT THAT HE PROVIDES THAT SAYS MORE SALES TAX. WE ALREADY ARE A REGIONAL CENTER. WHEN WE BROUGHT IN SAM'S, UH, BAS PRO [00:35:01] HAS ITS GOODS AND BADS, BUT IT, IT HAPPENED AND IT'S DONE AND IT'S WORKING. THAT'S WHY THE WEST SIDE IS DEVELOPING. NOW, WE ECONOMISTS, WE'RE NOT HISTORIANS, WE'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT IN THE EDUCATION BRIDGE, ET CETERA. WE'RE NOT ATTORNEYS. WE WORK ON NUMBERS. AND I ASKED, UH, GERALDO TO PLEASE GIMME SOME INFO TO BREAK IT DOWN. WHAT IS THE DEMAND? THE NUMBERS YOU GAVE IN THE REPORT. IT'S JUST A BLOG. I DON'T NEED PRIVATE INFORMATION. I, MR. ONE MORE MINUTE, IF I MAY THE LAST ONE. HARD AND WATER WORKS IS SO IMPORTANT THAT HARINGTON WIRE WORKS. WHAT IS ON THE AGENDA TODAY THAT YOU PASS IT? OF COURSE. NECESSARY THING OF ELIGIBILITY OF WATER AND SEWER AND DRAINAGE, PARTICULAR WATER AND SEWER. THAT'S ONE OF OUR BIGGEST HITS. THAT'S COMING 120 MILLION IN THREE PROJECTS. THEY, THEY HAVE ON THE DOCKET. THIS IS 25 OF THEM. IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU, YOUR LOBBYISTS. IT'S THE CRITERIA THAT'S CREATING THE PROBLEM OF US NOT GETTING MORE GRANT AND, AND THEREFORE MORE LOAN, OUR LOBBYIST HAS TO KICK IN WITH ALL OF US, WITH OUR NEW SENATOR TO GET THAT CRITERIA CHANGED SO WE COULD GET MORE GRANT FOR OUR PROJECTS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU MR. MR. OH, AND YOU ALL HAVE A GOOD THANKS. SEE, NEXT WE HAVE MS. JOYCE HAMILTON. HELLO MADAM MAYOR AND ALL COMMISSIONERS. UM, I'M JOYCE HAMILTON. I LIVE AT 1617 SUNNYSIDE DRIVE HERE IN HARLINGEN. I'M JUST HERE TO TALK VERY BRIEFLY. I WON'T TAKE THE WHOLE TIME. UM, GIVEN, UH, REGARDING THE DRAINAGE PROJECT, THE CITY DRAINAGE PROJECT THAT'S GOING ON IN MY HOME AND THE HOME NEXT TO ME ARE IN THE SACRIFICE ZONE FOR THAT. I'LL JUST PUT IT THAT WAY. UM, BUT HERE'S MY MESSAGE. UH, IT'S NOT A, I'M NOT COMPLAINING AT ALL. UM, IT HAS BEEN, IT, IT HAS BEEN A LOT OF WORK DEALING WITH HAVING TREES MOVED. MY YARD IS A CERTIFIED, UM, WILDLIFE HABITAT. IT'S A CERTIFIED UNDER, UH, TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE AND THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION. SO FOR 20 YEARS SINCE I MOVED INTO THE BRAND NEW HOUSE ON A DIRT LOT, I'VE CREATED, UM, A CERTIFIED WILDLIFE HABITAT. AND IT'S BEEN A LOT OF WORK AND MY PLANTS ARE REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME. SO, UH, WHAT I'M HERE TO, TO TALK ABOUT IS HOW SCIENCE CONSULTING, WELL NOT CONSULTING, SCIENCE, UTILITY CONTRACTING COMPANY HAS REALLY DONE A GOOD JOB. AND I, YOU KNOW, JUST REALLY THINK THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THE CITY COMMISSION SHOULD HEAR. I LIVE IN DISTRICT FIVE AND I ACTUALLY DID TALK WITH RENIE VERY BRIEFLY ON THE PHONE ONE DAY ABOUT, ABOUT THE PROJECT. AND, UH, WANTED TO JUST LET IT BE KNOWN THAT, UM, ALL THE CONCERNS I'VE HAD FROM THE VERY BEGINNING THAT HAD TO DO WITH A PALM TREE, A 20-YEAR-OLD PALM TREE THAT NEEDED TO BE MOVED BECAUSE IT WAS RIGHT AGAINST THE FENCE, NEEDED TO BE MOVED SIX FEET OVER. AND, UM, A PRETTY RARE, UH, NATIVE TREE CALLED AN VA A, UH, WHICH IS RAMSEY PARK HAS QUITE A FEW, BUT YOU DON'T SEE THEM MUCH OF ANYWHERE ELSE. AND I GREW THAT FOR 15 YEARS AND IT'S JUST A BEAUTIFUL SPECIMEN. IT WOULD'VE BEEN CHOPPED DOWN AND MOVED, CHOPPED, CHOPPED DOWN, OR WELL DESTROYED. AND SO, UM, UH, BELL SCIENCE IS THE PERSON, UH, FROM THE COMPANY WHO HAS BEEN OVERSEEING THIS ENTIRE PROJECT. AND EVERY TIME I'VE HAD A QUESTION OR A CONCERN, SHE HAS BEEN MORE THAN WILLING TO CALL ME RIGHT BACK IMMEDIATELY, OR EVEN COME OVER AND LOOK AT THE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE AND MAKE SURE THEY'RE DONE. AND, UM, I WAS AT THE BIRDING FESTIVAL TODAY DOING FOUR HOURS OF VOLUNTEER WORK. AND THANK YOU SOMEONE FOR MENTIONING THAT EARLIER TODAY. UH, RUSHED HOME, UH, BEFORE GETTING READY TO COME OVER HERE. AND I HAD CALLED MARIBELL EARLY THIS MORNING AND HERE'S ALL OF THIS EQUIPMENT MOVING ALL OF THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF BRUSH THAT HAS PILED UP OVER THE LAST THREE WEEKS. AND WE'RE TALKING TREES, WHOLE TREES, SHRUBS, EVERYTHING ALL ALONG THAT PROPERTY LINE THAT, UH, HAD BEEN DUG UP AND, YOU KNOW, PILED UP FOR QUITE A WHILE. AND I CALLED HER JUST TO FIND OUT WHAT'S THE TIMELINE ON THIS, BECAUSE THIS STUFF REALLY NEEDS TO MOVE. AND THERE WAS ALL THE EQUIPMENT MOVING IT WHEN I GOT HOME THIS AFTERNOON. SO I'M JUST HERE TO, TO THANK YOU FOR, UM, SELECTING A REALLY GOOD COMPANY. I THINK THEY'VE [00:40:01] DONE A GREAT JOB OF MANAGING THE DRAINAGE PROJECT, GOING THROUGH A RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD, LIKE RIGHT SMACK THROUGH A RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD. SO IT'LL SOON BE OVER. I WILL RELAX A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT THANK YOU FOR HAVING A GOOD COMPANY HANDLE THIS. THANK YOU MS. JOYCE. THAT CONCLUDES OUR CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS. THANK YOU. HAVE ONE MORE. YOU WANTS TO WAIT FOR SEVEN A ON THE CONSENT. OKAY. ALRIGHT, SO [Item 6 - Approval of Minutes] WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE TO ITEM SIX, APPROVAL OF MINUTES. ITEM SIX, A REGULAR MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2024, AND JOINT MEETING OF THE EDC BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND CITY COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2024. IS THERE ANY AMENDMENTS TO THE MINUTES? NOT, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? MOTION? SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. AND AS FOR ITEM A AND B, [Item 7 - Consent Agenda] OKAY, ITEM SEVEN, CONSENT AGENDA. NO DISCUSSION IS ANTICIPATED ON ANY OF THE ITEMS IN THIS SECTION BECAUSE THEY ARE ROUTINE BUSINESS. WERE INCLUDED IN THE BUDGET ADOPTION PROCESS OR HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED AS A STAFF REPORT OR DISCUSSION ITEM. THIS ITEMS WILL BE CONSIDERED COLLECTIVELY BY A SINGLE VOTE UNLESS A COMMISSION MEMBER REQUESTS AN ITEM BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA. SO THERE WAS A REQUEST TO REMOVE ITEM SEVEN A. IS THERE ANY OTHERS THAT NEED TO BE PULLED? SEVEN. EE SEVEN A AND SEVEN E. ANYTHING ELSE? NO. THANK YOU. OKAY. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE REMAINING UH, ITEMS? MOTION. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. ITEM SEVEN, A CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE ON SECOND AND FINAL READING FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE 2024 INTERNATIONAL CODES AND THE 2023 NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODES. APPLICANT, CITY OF HARLINGEN PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. AND WE DO HAVE MR. JULIO CARRANZA THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON THIS TOPIC. OKAY, MR. CARRANZA? GOOD EVENING, MADAM MAYOR AND, UH, UH, COMMISSION. MY NAME'S JULIO CARRANZA AND I DO, UM, A LITTLE BIT OF DEVELOPMENT HERE IN HARDEN. WE'VE GOT ABOUT 30 ACRES AND I'M A HOME BUILDER AS WELL. UM, AND I WANT TO COMMEND YOU FOR TRYING TO BE ON TOP OF, UM, THE MOST CURRENT CODES. BUT WITH CURRENT CODES COMES A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITY, ALTHOUGH WE WANT TO BE UP TO DATE WITH EVERYTHING. UM, THAT'S NEW. I DON'T THINK BOTH THE BUILDERS OR THE INSPECTORS ARE UP TO DATE. IT TAKES A LOT OF TRAINING. THE CITY OF HARINGTON HAS MADE HUGE, AND I WANNA EMPHASIZE THE WORD, HUGE MOVES AND HEADWAY IN THESE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND FEW YEARS WHERE YOU'VE SEEN MORE PEOPLE, MORE BUILDERS, BUILDING AND DEVELOPERS DEVELOPING. UM, THERE IS A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN MEETING WITH THE EDC. I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO ALSO DISCUSS THIS AND SEE WHAT OTHER INPUT THERE MAY BE FROM LOCAL BUILDERS AND THE STAFF AND WHAT TYPE OF TRAINING, HOW YOU'RE GONNA IMPLEMENT IT, MAYBE IN PHASES. UH, BUT IT'S VERY, VERY STRICT, RIGHT? THINGS THAT REQUIRE DIFFERENT TYPE OF MATERIAL THAT IS NOT READILY AVAILABLE. AND THEN THE COST TO YOUR CITIZENS. EVERYTHING IS GOING UP IF THE BUILDER PAYS MORE, JUST LIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESS WHO GETS THE COST? AND THAT'S THE HOME BUYER, YOUR CITIZENS. SO SOMETHING TO CONSIDER. SO THAT'S IT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU MR. CARRANZA. UM, BEFORE WE HAVE, UH, BEFORE WE HEAR FROM JAVIT, IF WE DO HEAR FROM JAVIT, IS THERE A MOTION TO TABLE THIS ITEM? UM, MAYOR, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY THAT, THAT THE REASON THIS IS ON THE AGENDA, UH, IS BECAUSE WE WERE VISITED BY THE ISO, UH, WHO CAME TO HARLE. WE WERE ACTUALLY THE FIRST CITY THAT THEY VISITED IN THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY. SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING, BUT WHO, WHO VISITED, I'M SORRY? WHO VISITED THE ISO? WHAT'S ISO, UH, THE INSURANCE SOCIETY ORGANIZATION OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT. UM, AND WE, WE GET MONITORED ON TWO DIFFERENT, UH, PRONGS. ONE IS THE FIRE PROTECTION, UH, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES THE WATER SUPPLY. AND THEN THE OTHER IS THE BUILDING CODES. AND WE WERE GIVEN A SUBPAR RATING ON THE ISO BASED ON OUR BUILDING CODES. AND SO, UM, THAT IN TURN WILL REFLECT ON HIGHER INSURANCE RATES FOR THE RESIDENTS OF HARINGTON TO HAVE TO BUY, UH, FIRE PROTECTION. AND SO THEY TOLD US THAT WE NEEDED TO INCREASE, [00:45:01] UM, THE, UH, BUILDING CODES THAT WE HAD TO THE NEWEST, UH, LEVEL, WHICH IS THE ONES THAT WE'RE ADOPTING. NOW, WE, THIS DIDN'T COME FROM STAFF, THIS CAME FROM THE ISO. SO IT, IT, IT, THERE, THIS IS NOT CITY GENERATED? NO. THAT WAS DONE BY THE ISO WHO SAID, LOOK, IN ORDER FOR YOU TO BRING YOUR ISO FROM SUBPAR RATING TO, UH, ACCEPTABLE LEVELS, YOU HAVE TO ADOPT THE LATEST FILLING CODES. AND SO I THINK THAT MAY HAVE BEEN EXPLAINED WHENEVER HAD CAME UP HERE. IT'S, IT DOESN'T TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY. I THINK THERE IS A, WHAT, SIX MONTH? SIX MONTHS? THERE'S A SIX MONTH WINDOW FROM TODAY IF THEY'RE ADOPTED TODAY BEFORE THEY'RE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED. AND THAT'S TO GET THE CONTRACTORS READY. AND IT'S NOT GONNA IMPACT ANY SUBDIVISION THAT HAS ALREADY BEGUN THE PROCESS OF SUBDIVIDING. AND ACTUALLY NO, ANY, ANYBODY THAT'S ALREADY BUILT THE, UH, OBTAINED THE BUILDING CODE OR HAS SUBMITTED PLANS FOR A PERMIT. SO, UM, THIS WON'T IMPACT EVERYBODY THAT'S CURRENTLY IN THE SYSTEM OR THE PIPELINE. IT'S ONLY FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION COMING UP AFTER THE SIX MONTH PERIOD. AFTER THE SIX MONTHS. RIGHT. AND SO, UM, IF, IF WE DON'T IMPLEMENT THEM NOW, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO THAT EVENTUALLY DOWN THE LINE. UH, OTHERWISE WE'RE GONNA GET DINGED, UH, FROM THE ISO ON OUR, AND SO WHAT IS THE PLAN HAVE YET TO, UM, IT LOOKS LIKE THAT'S SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO DO. AND SO WHAT IS THE PLAN TO, THE PLAN IS TO HAVE A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS OKAY. WHERE WE'RE GONNA INVITE THE CONTRACTORS TO MEET WITH US SO THAT WE CAN EXPLAIN THE CHANGES. UH, ANY PERMITS WITHIN THIS, UH, SIX MONTHS ARE STILL GONNA BE UNDER THE, THE, THE CURRENT CODES. MM-HMM. . UM, SO THEY'LL HAVE SIX MONTHS TO SUBMIT NEW PERMITS TO BE UNDER THE OLDER CODES. UH, BUT WE ARE GONNA HAVE SOME WORKSHOPS TO EXPLAIN TO THE CONTRACTORS WHAT THE CHANGES ARE. AND I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS TO POINT OUT IS THAT MOST CITIES IN THE VALLEY HAVE THE CODES THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE RIGHT NOW. CORRECT. AND SO AS THEY GET VISITED BY THE ISO, THERE'S GOING TO BE CHANGES FROM THOSE CITIES, UH, ADOPTING THE NEWER CODE. SO WE WERE THE FIRST ONE, UH, THAT WERE VISITED BY THE ISO. SO THAT'S, UH, ACTUALLY ONE SECOND. SANTO WAS FIRST. WERE FIRST. OKAY. AND SO THEY ALREADY ADOPTED THE 2024. OKAY. FOR THE SECOND. EVENTUALLY ALL THE OTHER CITIES WILL DO IT. THAT'S THE ISO PAYS THEM A VISIT. RIGHT. AND SO WE, WE ARE RECOMMENDING THAT WE ADOPT THEM BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO HAVE 'EM EVENTUALLY. AND SO OTHERWISE, EVERYBODY'S INSURANCE RATES THAT GO UP. UNDERSTOOD. EXCUSE ME. HOW FAST ARE WE? THE CITY'S GONNA BE CERTIFIED TO ADOPT THOSE CODES, NOT THE CONTRACTORS, THE CITY. SO THAT'S WHAT THIS IS FOR, TO ADOPT THE ORDINANCE, TO ADOPT THE NEW CODES. BUT IT'S IN THE ORDINANCE THAT IT WILL TAKE EFFECT IN SIX MONTHS FROM TODAY. DO YOU HAVE A PLAN SET UP FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS OR IS IT JUST OUT THERE? NO, SO WE DO HAVE PLANS TO HAVE SOME WORKSHOPS WHERE WE'RE GONNA INVITE THE CONTRACTORS TO MEET WITH US TO EXPLAIN THE CHANGES. DO YOU HAVE TENTATIVE DATES? UH, NOT YET. I'M WORKING ON THAT WITH THE BUILDING OFFICIAL. I'M LOOKING AT, UH, A WORKSHOP IN JANUARY, I THINK ONE IN FEBRUARY AND MAYBE ONE IN MARCH. AND WE WON'T DO ANYTHING IN THE NEXT MONTH. YEAH. WITH, WITH THE HOLIDAYS. IT'S GONNA BE DIFFICULT TO GET, UH, CONTRACTORS AND OUR STAFF IS CAPABLE OF IMPLEMENTING THE CHANGES. THEY'RE FAMILIAR WITH WHAT THE CODES REQUIRE. MATTER OF FACT, WE HAD A WORKSHOP BEFORE WE ADOPTED, UH, AND RECOMMENDED THE FIRST READING AND TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT WERE UPCOMING. SO STAFF HAS ALREADY HAD THE TRAINING. THEY, THEY'VE, UH, THEY GO THROUGH A SERIES OF TRAININGS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. UH, SO THERE, THESE ARE NOT THAT DRASTIC FROM WHAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN PLACE NOW. AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT I WAS TOLD BY, BY STAFF. YES. IT'S, IT IS NOTHING MAJOR, MAJOR. RIGHT. SO, SO WE THINK THAT THE TRANSITION SHOULD BE PRETTY EASY FOR EVERYBODY. AND IF IT TURNS OUT IT DOESN'T, IT'S NOT THAT EASY. IT TAKES LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS TO, TO, IT WON'T, IT WON'T, IT WON'T TAKE US LONGER THAN THAT TO, TO HAVE THE, THE YEAH. IT, BECAUSE ALL WE'RE GONNA BE DOING IS HAVING WORKSHOPS ON THE ACTUAL CODE ITSELF. AND SO, UH, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'LL BE INSPECTING FOR WHENEVER THEY COME IN FOR INSPECTION, DEALING WITH, UH, ELECTRICAL. ANY OTHER CODE THAT WAS CHANGED. SO HOW MANY WORKSHOPS ARE YOU GONNA HAVE FOR THE, UH, CONTRACTORS? SO WE'RE PLANNING ONE IN JANUARY, ONE IN FEBRUARY, AND ONE IN MARCH. SO THREE, CORRECT. AND EVERYBODY WILL BE ON BOARD, ALL THE CONTRACTORS? WELL, IT'S, UH, SO THE WORKSHOP IS TO GUIDE THEM ON THE CHANGES. UH, THE ORDINANCE WILL BE IN PLACE AND IT WILL TAKE EFFECT, UH, SIX MONTHS TO FROM TODAY IF ADOPTED. SO IF I JUST, AND JUST, UH, IF SO THAT I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY, THIS IS REQUIRED, IT'S NOT COMING FROM STAFF. UM, NO, IT'S, IT'S THE ISO. THE ISO IS TELLING US, IF YOU DON'T DO THIS, EVERYBODY'S [00:50:01] INSURANCE RATES WILL GO UP BECAUSE YOU WERE GONNA GIVE YOU A NEGATIVE RATING FOR, FOR, FOR THE FIRE COMPONENT ONLY. IS THAT CORRECT? WELL, FOR, FOR YOUR HOME, HOME AND BUSINESS INSURANCE. FOR YOUR, FOR YOUR STRUCTURES. OKAY. YOU KNOW, WE ALL, YOU KNOW, MOST OF US HAVE, UH, INSURANCE FOR OUR BUILDINGS. MM-HMM. . SO OUR COST OF THAT INSURANCE, UH, MAY INCREASE IF THIS IS NOT ADOPTED. AND ON, ON THE FIRE SIDE, IF YOU MAY RECALL, WE JUST WENT FROM A THREE TO A TWO, UH, EARLIER THIS YEAR. AND SO AT ONE POINT, ONLY MACALLAN WAS, WAS THE ONLY TWO. NOW IT'S MACALLAN, HARLINGEN MISSION, AND I THINK THERE'S ONE MORE AND TWO IS A GOOD THING. YES. TWO IS A GREAT THING. YES. YEAH. THE LOWER THE NUMBER THE BETTER. YEAH. MATTER OF FACT. AND I THINK THE ONLY ONE THAT'S CLOSEST TO US IS OUTSIDE OF NORTH OF CORPUS. CORRECT. I, I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY ONE IN, IN THE R GRANDE VALLEY. HEY, DUSTIN, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? WHY DON'T YOU POP UP HERE? YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA GET AWAY WITH NO COMMENT. I SAW THAT HERE. NO, WE, WE REALLY HAVE NO SUB. ONCE THE ROADS ARE PAVED, WE REALLY HAVE NO INPUT AFTER THAT. SO, LIKE I SAID, I'M OUTTA MY DEPTH ON ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS, THIS SUBDIVISIONS, THIS IS, THIS IS BUILDING, THIS IS ONLY FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION. NO, AND, AND, AND I, UH, I, I APPRECIATE, I KNOW THAT THIS SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO ADOPT, BUT I THINK PROBABLY BEST PRACTICES MOVING FORWARD IS TO, BEFORE IT COMES TO THE COMMISSION, UH, FOR ADOPTION, MAYBE REACHING OUT TO THE BUILDERS AND GETTING THEIR INPUT AND EDUCATING, UM, THE COMMUNITY, RIGHT? AND, AND TO THAT THIS IS COMING. SO THAT WAY WE HAVE MORE, MORE, MORE INPUT AND, YOU KNOW, WE WANNA CONTINUE THAT REPUTATION OF A POSITIVE PLACE. YOU KNOW, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT FOLKS KNOW THAT WE WANT TO BE, THAT WE ARE PRO DEVELOPMENT. I KNOW MR. GANZA HAS INVESTED A LOT IN OUR, IN OUR COMMUNITY. WE WANNA BE GOOD PARTNERS. UH, AND I THINK IT, IT WOULDN'T HURT FOR US TO REACH OUT IN ADVANCE AND LETTING THEM KNOW THAT THIS ISN'T SOMETHING THAT'S JUST FOCUSED ON HARLINGEN. UH, AND, AND IT'S GOING TO BE KIND OF A REGIONWIDE OR STATEWIDE, UH, CHANGE. AND SO THAT WAY AT LEAST THEY CAN PLAN ACCORDINGLY. 'CAUSE OBVIOUSLY THIS IS, I I, I TRULY BELIEVE THAT ADDITIONAL COST TO THE BUILDERS MEANS ADDITIONAL COST TO OUR RESIDENTS. AND SO WE WANNA MINIMIZE THAT WHEREVER WE CAN. AND, AND SO HOPEFULLY THESE WORKSHOPS, WE CAN ANNOUNCE THEM IN A WAY WHERE WE REACH EVERYONE AND TAKE ATTENDANCE. UM, SO THAT WAY WE KNOW WHO'S GONE TO THE WORKSHOP. AND THEN IF YOU HAVE SOME BUILDERS THAT DON'T MAKE THE WORKSHOP AND THAT, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE YOU'RE THE ONES THAT ARE MOST, UH, FAMILIAR WITH THE ONES THAT ARE IN OUR COMMUNITY, REACHING OUT AND, AND, AND A PERSONAL INVITATION MIGHT, MIGHT, MIGHT GO A LONG WAY AND, AND ENSURING THAT ALL PLATFORMS ARE USED TO, TO SEND OUT THAT INVITATION. WHAT, WHAT I WOULD DO ALSO IS ANYBODY THAT'S PULLED A BUILDING PERMIT IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS, GIVE THEM A NOTICE, SEND 'EM A NOTICE OF, OF THE UPCOMING WORKSHOPS. AND THEN ANYBODY THAT PULLS A PERMIT NOW GIVE THEM A, A COPY. SO BY, OR WE REQUIRE, UH, CONTRACTORS TO GET A A ONE YEAR LICENSE LICENSE. SO BASICALLY WE'RE GONNA NOTIFY EVERYBODY THAT HAS A CURRENT LICENSE TOO. OKAY. YES. ALL, ALL OF THEM. THAT'S, THAT'S A GOOD IDEA. AND IT WOULDN'T HURT TO PUT AN AD IN THE PAPER SAYING, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE FUTURE, BECAUSE THEY, PEOPLE ARE LOOKING INTO HARLAND. ACTUALLY, THERE'S A, THERE'S A BUILDERS ASSOCIATION, SO I'M GONNA MAKE SURE TO ADVERTISE THERE. PERFECT. OKAY. WELL, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THIS. IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? OPPOSED. MOTION CARRIES. AND, UH, MELINDA. OKAY. ITEM E CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO APPROVE THE INSTALLATION OF SPEED HOMES IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS. THIS ITEM WAS REQUESTED BY COMMISSIONER FRANK MORALES AND MAYOR PROAM REINI PEREZ. IT'S A 500 BLOCK OF WEST LINCOLN STREET. IS THERE ADDITIONS, GENTLEMEN? YES. I WANTED TO ADD, UM, HAVERFORD, UM, BOULEVARD BETWEEN MID LANE AND DIXIELAND, UM, ROAD, WEST SIDE OF LITTLE CREEK. DIDN'T YOU ALREADY DO THAT ONE? UH, THE EAST SIDE HAD BEEN DONE. I GOT A REQUEST FOR THE WEST SIDE. OKAY. DO YOU MAKE, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE WITH, UH, THE TWO AMENDMENTS OR THE TWO SUPPLEMENTAL. NOW THE TWO AMENDMENTS AREN'T GUARANTEED, RIGHT? CORRECT. THE CITY NEEDS TO RESEARCH THESE CORRECT? TO ADDRESSES. MM-HMM, . OKAY, SO THERE'S A MOTION. IS THERE A SECOND? A SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. OKAY, MOVING ON TO ITEM EIGHT, STAFF REPORTS AND OTHER DISCUSSION ITEMS. ITEMS IN THIS SECTION ARE NOT EXPECTED TO REQUIRE ACTION BY THE CITY COMMISSION AND ARE GENERALLY FOR INFORMATION ONLY. HOWEVER, [00:55:01] ANY ITEM LISTED IN THIS SECTION MAY BECOME AN ACTION ITEM WITH A REQUEST OF THE MAYOR OR AFTER THE, THE REQUEST OF ANY TWO COMMISSION MEMBERS OR THE CITY MANAGER. ITEM EIGHT, A CITY MANAGER'S REPORT. I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING. WE HAVE NONE TO TWO. OKAY. MOVING [Item 8b - Staff Reports] ON TO ITEM B. STAFF REPORTS INVESTMENT REPORT FOR THE CITY OF HAREN FOR THE QUARTER ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 20, 24, AND FOR THE YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 20, 24 BY ROBERT RODRIGUEZ, FINANCE DIRECTOR. GOOD EVENING MAYOR. UH, CITY COMMISSIONERS AND STAFF. UH, THIS IS THE, UH, QUARTERLY INVESTMENT REPORT AND THE ANNUAL REPORT. SO IT INCLUDES THE, UM, THE LAST MONTH'S, JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER. AND ALSO A REPORT, UM, FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN YOUR PACKET. I'LL GIVE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE ENTIRE YEAR. SO, UM, OUR BOOK VALUE COMPARATIVE, UM, SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2023 TO 2024. UH, FOR SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2023. WE HAD 74,008,797 COMPARED TO 7 MILLION 37 2 27, UH, FOR THE YEAR. THE, UH, YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2024. UM, WE HAD, UH, INTEREST INCOME EARNINGS FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR OF 3 MILLION 774 9 39 61. UM, AND BECAUSE WE DO INVEST IN, UH, TREASURIES, WE HAD NET ACCRETION OF 460,224, BRINGING OUR TOTAL NET INCOME WITH INTEREST INCOME AND ACCRETION OF 4 MILLION 235 163 65. OUR YIELD, UH, FOR THE YEAR, THE AVERAGE, UM, 5.095% FOR THE YEAR ENDED, UH, SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2023 COMPARED TO 5.134%, UH, FOR THE YEAR ENDED, UH, SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2024. UM, OUR ASSET ALLOCATION, WE HAVE ABOUT 4.16% IN BANK DEPOSITS. THAT IS AT PLAINS CAPITAL. WE HAVE, UM, 13.4% AT THIS TIME, UH, IN US TREASURIES AND 82.45 IN, UM, INVESTMENT POOLS, WHICH ARE AT TAX POOL. UM, OUR RATINGS FOR, FOR THE DEPOSITS, OF COURSE, THE DE DEMAND DEPOSITS, UM, WE HAD ABOUT 3,000,078 IN DEMAND DEPOSITS. OUR AAA RATING FOR THE POOLS, WE HAD 61 MILLION, UH, 40,784 AND AAA IN OUR, UH, TREASURIES, UH, FOR 9 MILLION 918, 343 FOR A TOTAL 74,000,037. SO 95.84% OF OUR DEPOSITS ARE AAA. AND THE 4.16% IS IN OUR, UH, DEMAND DEPOSITS. UH, THIS IS THE, UH, THE CURVE OF THE INTEREST RATES STARTING BACK IN 2022. YOU CAN SEE THEM RISE. UM, AND COME TO, UH, 5.6, UH, ACTUALLY THE CITY, THE AVERAGE 5.13% AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, 2024. AND THAT, THAT'S A QUICK RECAP OF OUR DEPOSITS AND OUR INVESTMENTS. ANY QUESTIONS FOR ROBERT? I'LL JUST MAKE A COMMENT THAT THE FEDERAL RESERVE IS THREATENED TO LOWER INTEREST RATES ONE OR TWO MORE TIMES, NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. SO, UM, OUR INTEREST WILL GO DOWN, UM, THAT WE'LL BE MAKING. YES SIR. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT. I KNEW ONCE, BUT I DIDN'T THINK NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. WELL, OR SO THEY SAY IT RIGHT? THAT'S WHAT THEY SAY. NOW THE ANSWER IS DON'T FIGHT THE FED. YEAH, THAT'S CORRECT. I LIKE THE THREATENS TOO. . YEAH. RIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH, ROBERT. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT. MOVING ON. ITEM NINE, [Item 9 - Public Hearings] PUBLIC HEARINGS. AT THIS TIME, THE MAYOR MAY INVITE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO HAVE FILLED OUT THE PUBLIC HEARING AND THE CITIZEN COMMUNICATION FORM. TO ADDRESS EACH ITEM LISTED IN THIS SECTION, PLEASE LIMIT YOUR COMMENTS TO THE TOPIC OF THAT PUBLIC HEARING. IF MORE THAN ONE PUBLIC HEARING IS BEING HELD, YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO SPEAK DURING EACH TOPIC, PROVIDED YOU HAVE FILLED OUT THE PUBLIC HEARING, AND YOU WILL BE A, OOPS, EXCUSE ME, CITIZEN COMMUNICATION FORM FOR THE APPROPRIATE TOPIC. IF YOU'RE SIGNED UP FOR TWO OR MORE PUBLIC HEARINGS, YOU WILL BE LIMITED TO FIVE MINUTES FOR ALL TOPICS. THERE WERE NO SUBMISSIONS FOR PUBLIC HEARING COMMENTS, MA'AM. OKAY, SO WE'LL JUST, UM, GO THROUGH THESE FOR THE RECORD. UM, ITEM NINE, A PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION OF A 12.45 ACRE TRACK OF LAND OUT OF BLOCK 68 PALMETTO COMPANY SUBDIVISION LOCATED ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF FM 1 0 6, APPROXIMATELY 1,295 FEET EAST OF FM 5 0 9. AT THIS TIME, WE'LL OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING ON THIS ITEM, [01:00:01] HAVING NO ONE HERE TO SPEAK FOR OR AGAINST, OR NO ONE SIGNED UP. WE WILL CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING ITEM NINE B PUBLIC HEARING FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR ONSITE CONSUMPTION IN A GENERAL RETAIL DISTRICT. LOCATED AT 24 26 EAST LOOP 4 99, BEARING A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF LOT ONE BLOCK ONE CBA SUBDIVISION. AT THIS TIME, WE'LL OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING, HAVING NO ONE HERE TO SPEAK FOR OR AGAINST THIS ITEM. WE'LL CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING ITEM NINE C PUBLIC HEARING FOR A SUP TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION IN A GENERAL RETAIL DISTRICT. LOCATED AT 2305 WEST LOOP 4 99, BEARING A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF PARTS OF LOTS, ONE A, ONE B, AND TWO A AND ALL OF LOTS. THREE A, THREE B, AND LOT FOUR BLOCK FOUR AVONDALE SUBDIVISION. THIS TIME WE'LL OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING, HAVING NO ONE HERE TO SPEAK FOR OR AGAINST THE, THIS ITEM. WE'LL CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AT THIS TIME. ITEM NINE D PUBLIC HEARING FOR AN SUP TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR ONSITE CONSUMPTION IN A GENERAL RETAIL DISTRICT. LOCATED AT 24 23 EAST TYLER AVENUE, BEARING ILLEGAL DESCRIPTION OF LOT ONE BLOCK ONE, TEXT MART NUMBER 35. AT THIS TIME, WE'LL OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING, HAVING NO ONE HERE TO SPEAK FOR OR AGAINST THIS ITEM. WE WILL CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AND THAT IS ALL OF THE PUBLIC HEARINGS. MELINDA. MOVING ON TO ITEM 10. ACTION ITEMS CITY COMMISSION WILL DISCUSS, CONSIDER, AND TAKE ANY ACTION DEEMED NECESSARY ON ITEMS LISTED IN THIS SECTION, INCLUDING THE ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION OR AN ORDINANCE. [Item 10a - Consideration and possible action to adopt an ordinance on first reading for the voluntary annexation of a 12.45-acre tract of land out of Block 68, Palmetal Company Subdivision, located along the North side of FM 106 approximately 1,295 feet east of FM 509. Applicant: Whiting Investments, LTD. Attachment] ITEM 10, A CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE ON FIRST READING FOR THE VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION OF A 12.45 ACRE TRACK OF LAND OUT OF BLOCK 68 PALMETTO COMPANY SUBDIVISION LOCATED ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF FARM ROAD 1 0 6, APPROXIMATELY 1,295 FEET EAST OF FARM ROAD 5 0 9. APPLICANT WEDDING INVESTMENTS, LTD PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY HAS THEIR PACKET. IS THERE, DO WE NEED THE PRESENTATION OR IS THERE A MOTION READING? DO YOU NEED TO READ, READ OH, READ THE CAPTION. SORRY. I DO HAVE A QUESTION. OKAY. WHENEVER YOU'RE DONE READING, READ THE CAPTION IN ORDINANCE TO EXTENDING THE, THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF HARLINGEN BY ANNEXING FOR FULL PURPOSE, A 12.45 ACRE TRACT OF LAND AT A BLOCK. AT A BLOCK BLOCK, 68 PALM METAL COMPANY SUBDIVISION LOCATED ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF FM 1 0 6, APPROX APPROXIMATELY 1,295 FEET EAST OF FM 5 0 9, BINDING THE LAND TO ALL OF THE ACTS, ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND REGULATIONS OF THE CITY, APPROVING AN ANNEXATION SERVICES AGREEMENT, PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. ALRIGHT. UH, JU JUST A PRACTICAL QUESTION, RIGHT? SO THE PURPOSE YOU WANT TO GET ANNEXED IS BECAUSE YOU WANT POLICE AND FIRE AND YOU WANT, UH, TRASH PICKUP AND ALL THAT. RIGHT? AND SO LET'S SAY IN ONE OF THOSE FOURPLEXES OR OR WHATEVER THOSE BUILDINGS ARE IN BETWEEN, THERE'S A BREAK IN SHERIFF'S OFFICE STILL IS GONNA HAVE TO REPLACE IT WOULDN'T BE, IT WOULDN'T BE HARLING AND JURISDICTION. YES. THERE IS A PORTION OF, UH, MR. HAM'S PROPERTY THAT WILL STAY IN THE COUNTY, WHICH IS THIS PORTION HERE, THE SLIVER. YEAH. SO IF ANYTHING HAPPENS THERE, IT WILL BE THE JURISDICTION OF THE COUNTY. OF THE COUNTY AND NOT THE CITY. AND SO WITH LIKE THE 9 1 1, THE 9 1 1 BOARD AND ALL THAT, HOW ARE THEY GONNA KNOW? LIKE, SO WE SAID 9 1 1 GIS, ALL THOSE PEOPLE, BECAUSE I DON'T WANT THERE TO BE AN ISSUE WHERE THERE'S A BREAK IN AND THEN YOU'RE GONNA HAVE, AND PD WILL TELL YOU AND, AND, AND THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL TELL YOU LIKE, WELL, NOPE, THAT'S YOUR CALL. THAT'S YOUR CALL. THAT'S YOUR CALL. RIGHT. AND I, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE DON'T WANNA HAVE ISSUES WITH JURISDICTION LATER. YES. UM, HPD ACCIDENTALLY TAKES THE CALL AND WE HAVE ISSUES WITH ARREST AND WE HAVE ISSUES WITH ALL THAT STUFF LATER. YES. UH, WE SEND THE, THE ANNEXATION ORDINANCES TO, TO PD, BUT, UH, I NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE LATEST, UH, SALE LIMIT BOUNDARIES BECAUSE YES. SOMETIMES THERE'S SOME CONFUSION. YEAH. CAN WE GET SOME CONFIRMATION AT THE NEXT MEETING? UM, IF THIS IS IN OTHER, UH, IN OTHER TIME YOU'RE SAYING THAT POTENTIALLY OTHERS THAT WE ANNEX THAT HASN'T BEEN UPDATED, I, I KNOW THEY HAVEN'T DEVELOPED YET, BUT WE, WE SEND THE ORDINANCES TO, UH, OUR ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT. THEY'RE, THEY ARE THE OFFICIAL KEEPERS OF OUR CITY LIMIT, UH, BOUNDARIES. OUR, OUR CITY LIMIT MAPS. MM-HMM. . UM, I JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE DISPATCHERS HAVE THE, THE LATEST, UH, MAPS TO AVOID, UH, CONFUSION. THINK THAT'S A VALID, UH, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE. YEAH. UH, AND WE GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT WE NOTIFY THE CAMERON COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICT THAT THE ANNEXATION IS HAPPENING BECAUSE OF TAX PURPOSES. AND THERE'S, AND THERE'S [01:05:01] CHAPTER 7, 7 5 OF THE TEXAS HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE. THERE'S A VERY SPECIFIC WAY ABOUT HOW THE ESD NEEDS TO BE NOTIFIED. JUST FYI THANK YOU. I I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION. AND IF YOU CAN JUST CONFIRM FOR US ONCE THAT THAT'S DONE SO THAT WAY WE KNOW YES. THAT IT'S BEEN DONE. YES, I WILL. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. UM, THERE'S A SECOND BY MR. MR. LOPEZ, COMMISSIONER LOPEZ. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. ITEM [Item 10b - Consideration and possible action to adopt an ordinance on first reading for a Special Use Permit (SUP) to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption, in a General Retail District (“GR”) located at 2426 E. Loop 499, bearing a legal description of Lot 1, Block 1, C.B.A. Subdivision.] B CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE ON FIRST READING FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE CELL OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR ONSITE CONSUMPTION IN A GENERAL RETAIL DISTRICT. LOCATED AT 24 26 EAST LOOP 4 99, BEARING A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF LOT ONE BLOCK ONE CBA SUBDIVISION PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN ORDINANCE, SUBMITTING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF HARLINGEN, A SPECIAL USE PERMIT ISSUED TO SEVEN 11 TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR ONSITE CONSUMPTION IN A GENERAL RETAIL GR DISTRICT LOCATED AT 24 26 EAST LOOP 4 99, BEARING A LEGAL SUBDIVISION OF LOT ONE BLOCK ONE CBA SUBDIVISION PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION AND ORDAINING OTHER MATTERS FOR RELATED TO THE FOREGOING MOTION. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES ITEM [Item 10c - Consideration and possible action to approve an ordinance on first reading for a Special Use Permit (SUP) to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premise consumption in a General Retail (“GR”) District, located at 2305 W. Loop 499, bearing a legal description of Parts of Lots 1A, 1B, and 2A, and all of Lots 3A, 3B, and Lot 4, Block 4, Avondale Subdivision. Applicant: Tim Ilaoa c/o 7-Eleven Inc.] C, CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO APPROVE AN ORDINANCE ON FIRST READING FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR ON-PREMISE CONCEPT IN A GENERAL RETAIL DISTRICT LOCATED AT 2305 WEST LOOP 4 99, BEARING A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF PARTS OF LOTS, ONE A, ONE B, AND TWO A AND ALL OF LOTS. THREE A, THREE B, AND LOT FOUR. BLOCK FOUR. AVONDALE SUBDIVISION APPLICANT TEAM YAA PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN ORDER SUBMITTING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF HARLINGEN, A SPECIAL USE PERMIT ISSUED TO SEVEN 11 INC. TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR ONSITE CONSUMPTION IN A GENERAL RETAIL GR DISTRICT LOCATED AT 2305 WEST LOOP 4 99 DURING A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF PART PARTS OF LOTS. ONE A, ONE B, AND TWO A AND ALL OF LOTS. THREE A, THREE B, AND LOT FOUR BLOCK FOUR AVONDALE SUBDIVISION PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION AND ORDAINING. OTHER MATTERS RELATED TO THE FOREGOING MOTION TO APPROVE. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. [Item 10d - Consideration and possible action to adopt an ordinance on first reading for a Special Use Permit (SUP) to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption, in a General Retail District (“GR”) located at 2423 E. Tyler Avenue, bearing a legal description of Lot 1, Block 1, Tex-Mart #35 Subdivision. Applicant: Tim Ilaoa c/o 7-Eleven Inc.] ITEM D CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO ADOPT AN ORDINANCE ON FIRST READING FOR A SPECIAL USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR ONSITE CONSUMPTION IN A GENERAL RETAIL DISTRICT. LOCATED AT 24 23 EAST TYLER AVENUE, BEARING A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF LOT ONE BLOCK ONE. TEXT MART NUMBER 35. APPLICANT TEAM YAA PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN ORDINANCE. SUBMITTING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF HARLINGEN, UH, TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES FOR ON-PREMISES CONSUMPTION IN A GENERAL RETAIL GR DISTRICT LOCATED AT 24 23 EAST TYLER AVENUE, BEARING A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF LOT ONE BLOCK ONE TEXMEX 35 SUBDIVISION THERE. MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. ITEM EAM. MAYOR, WE WANT, WE WANNA PASS ON ITEM E, CORRECT. PASS. YES. OKAY. SORRY, MELINDA. THAT'S OKAY. [Item 10f - Consideration and possible action to approve the preliminary construction plans and final plat of the proposed Skyline District Subdivision, bearing a legal description of 10.13 acres of land out of Block 19, Cunningham’s Subdivision, located at the southeast corner of Primera Road and US Expressway 77. Applicant: Moore Land Surveying, LLC c/o CJE Construction.] OKAY. ITEM F. CONS, CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO APPROVE THE PRELIMINARY CONSTRUCTION PLANS AND FINAL PLAT OF THE PROPOSED SKYLINE DISTRICT SUBDIVISION BEARING A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF 10 POINT 13 ACRES OF LAND OUT OF BLOCK 19 CUNNINGHAM SUBDIVISION LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF PRIMEA ROAD AND US EXPRESSWAY 77. APPLICANT MORELAND SURVEYING PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. IS THERE? MOTION. MOTION. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. ITEM [Item 10g - Consideration and possible action to approve the preliminary construction plans and final plat of the proposed Dixieland Crossing Subdivision, bearing a legal description of 9.65 acres of land out of Blocks 43, 44, and Canal ROW, Howard’s Dixieland Heights #1 Subdivision, located along the southwest corner of Garrett and Dixieland Roads. Applicant: Moore Land Surveying, LLC c/o CJE Construction.] G, CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO APPROVE THE PRELIMINARY CONSTRUCTION PLANS AND FINAL PLAT OF THE PROPOSED DIXIELAND CROSSING SUBDIVISION BEARING A LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF 9.65 ACRES OF LAND OUT OF BLOCKS THIRD, 43 44, AND CANAL ROAD POWERS, DIXIELAND HEIGHTS, NUMBER ONE SUBDIVISION LOCATED ALONG THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF GARRETT AND DIXIELAND ROADS APPLICANT MORELAND SURVEYING PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. AND WHAT WILL BE GOING IN HERE. SO AS PRESENTED DURING THE REZONING AT THE CORNER THERE, AT THE VERY CORNER IS GONNA BE A COMMERCIAL PLAZA, AND THEN THE REST ARE GONNA BE SINGLE FAMILY, UH, LOTS. IT'S GONNA BE A GATED SUBDIVISION. AND THEN ON THE WEST SIDE, IT'S GONNA BE THE, THE ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY THAT WAS, THAT WAS PRESENTED DURING THE REZONING. AND THE PLA NOTE IS, IS THERE, AS PER THE AGREEMENT FROM THE DEVELOPER, NO. UH, APARTMENTS, NO DUPLEXES, NO FOURPLEXES. MOTION APPROVE. SECOND. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. I JUST [01:10:01] WANNA COMMEND, UM, MR. CARRANZA FOR ALL OF YOUR COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EVERYTHING THAT YOU DID IN THAT AREA TO ENSURE THAT THE COMMUNITY UNDERSTOOD, UM, WHAT YOUR VISION WAS. AND, AND I KNOW THAT A LOT OF THEM WERE BLOWN AWAY WHEN THEY WERE ABLE TO SEE, UH, EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAD AND, AND, YOU KNOW, IN STORE FOR THAT AREA. SO WE LOOK FORWARD TO THAT. SO THANK YOU. AND I KNOW THIS WAS VOLUNTARILY PLACED, UH, TO GIVE THEM MORE REASSURANCE. SO, SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR DOING THAT. WE GOT MORE AREA IN DISTRICT FIVE. IF YOU WANNA BUILD SOME MORE STUFF. , ANYWHERE IN THE CITY WOULD BE FINE. DISTRICT FIVE ? YES. OKAY. ITEM [Item 10h - Consideration and possible action to approve a resolution establishing the 38th Annual Lighting of the Arroyo to be held on December 5, 2024, at McKelvey Park and request from TxDot a temporary partial road closure of Business 77 Sunshine Strip for the safety of the public during the event from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and authorize the city manager to sign the agreement.] H, CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO APPROVE A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A 38TH ANNUAL LIGHTING OF THE ARROYO TO BE HELD ON DECEMBER 5TH, 2024 AT MCKELVY PARK. AND REQUEST FOR TEXDOT, A TEMPORARY PARTIAL ROAD CLOSURE OF BUSINESS 77 SUNSHINE STRIP FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PUBLIC DURING THE EVENT FROM 5:00 PM TO 10:00 PM AND AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT. PARKS AND RECREATION MOTION APPROVE. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIED. THANK YOU. ITEM [Item 10i - Consideration and possible action to approve the proposed list of streets for the 2025 Street Improvement Program Project.] AYE. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO APPROVE THE PROPOSED LIST OF STREETS FOR THE 2025 STREET IMPROVEMENT PRO PROGRAM PROJECT ENGINEERING MOTION APPROVE. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. ITEM [Item 10j - Consideration and possible action to authorize the filing of an application for financial assistance with the Texas Water Development Board for funding the construction of Priority Wastewater Capital Improvement Projects.] J CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO AUTHORIZE THE FILING OF AN APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE WITH THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD FOR FUNDING THE CONSTRUCTION OF PRIORITY WASTEWATER, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS ING AND WATER WORKS. MOTION PER SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES A GOOD EVENING. THANK YOU. ITEM KATE. PRESENTATION ON FISCAL YEAR 20. OH, REAL QUICK, GABE. HI GABRIEL. WE, WE HAD THAT CONVERSATION ABOUT THE ARPA MONEY AND WATERWORKS, HAVE YOU HAD CORRECT? YES. HAVE YOU RESOLVED EVERYTHING THERE? I, OH, I BELIEVE SO, BUT I'LL, I'LL GO WRONG IN THE MORNING. PLEASE DO. THANK YOU. OKAY. ITEM [Item 10k - Presentation on FY 23-24 Program of Work year-end report and consideration of approval of Program of Work For FY 24-25.] K, PRESENTATION ON FISCAL YEAR 2324, PROGRAM OF WORK, YEAR END REPORT AND CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF PROGRAM OF WORK FOR FISCAL YEAR 24 25. ORLANDO CAMPOS COUNCIL, HONORABLE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE, UH, CITY COMMISSION FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IS THE ADOPTION OF THE, UM, FISCAL YEAR 2025, UH, PROGRAM OF WORK FOR THE, UH, HARLAN AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. UH, BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, I'VE ADDED, UH, OR RATHER YOU'LL FIND THAT PROGRAM OF WORK, UH, IN YOUR PACKAGES. UM, BUT I, EXCUSE ME. IN ADDITION TO THAT, I'VE, I'VE ALSO PROVIDED A, UH, FINAL REPORT OF OUR ANNUAL WORK PLAN FOR 20 23, 20 24, UH, FISCAL YEAR. I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE AND OR I'M HAPPY TO GO THROUGH THE, UH, FINAL REPORT, UH, AS WELL AS THE, UH, ANNUAL WORK PLAN THAT IS PROPOSED FOR FFY 2025. MAKE A MOTION APPROVE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. IT'S JUST A PRESENTATION, RIGHT? YES. AND CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF YES. MOTION APPROVE. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. ITEM [Item 10l - Consideration and possible action to allocate $1,000,000 from the HOT Fund Balance for the Casa Del Sol Renovation Project.] L CONSIDERATION IF POSSIBLE, ACTION TO ALLOCATE 1 MILLION FROM THE HOT FUND BALANCE FOR THE RENOVATION PROJECT. THIS ITEM WAS TABLED AT THE REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 24TH, 2024. CITY MANAGER. MAYOR, WE NEED TO TAKE THIS OFF THE TABLE BEFORE WE OKAY. IS THERE A MOTION? MOTION? SECOND. OKAY. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. THE ITEM IS OFF THE TABLE. UM, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT CAME UP DURING THE LAST DISCUSSION WAS THE CLAWBACK FOR THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT FOR THE $1 MILLION. UH, SINCE THAT TIME, UH, WE HAD A MEETING WITH SCOTT JOOF, WHO IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE, UH, HOTEL MOTEL ASSOCIATION. UH, MARK CY WAS IN ON THAT CONVERSATION, AND WE ASKED HIM ABOUT THE CLAWBACK FOR THIS PROJECT. AND BECAUSE IT IS A HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROJECT PROJECT, UH, THERE IS NO CLAWBACK PROVISION FOR THE, UH, THE $1 MILLION IN HOTEL FUNDS ARE BEING SPENT ON THIS. AND I THINK MARK SENT OUT A LETTER TO THE MAYOR AND COMMISSION. MM-HMM. , THE ONLY CLAWBACK IN THAT SECTION APPLIES TO SPORTS VENUES, SPORT, YEAH, EXACTLY. RIGHT. NOT TO HISTORIC RENOVATIONS. SO THAT WOULD NOT, THE CITY WOULD NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT IN TERMS OF ANY KIND OF CLAWBACK. SO I THINK MY MEMORY SERVED ME WELL. IT WAS JUST, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT TENNIS AND SOCCER AND ALL THAT OTHER STUFF. I THINK YOU GUYS HAD TALKED ABOUT BRINGING IN LIKE A SOCCER TEAM RIGHT THERE. SO, YEAH. MM-HMM. . SO IS THERE, UM, I KNOW WE'VE, THIS, WE'VE, WE'VE TABLED THIS MORE THAN ONCE. UM, IS THERE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? WHO'S GONNA PICK UP THE, THE COST OF THE, UH, THE RE THE REMAINING? WELL, [01:15:01] THAT I NEED TO TALK TO THE COMMISSION ABOUT THAT. UH, I DON'T HAVE, UH, PRESENTATION FOR THAT YET, BUT I AM WORKING ON ONE. UM, BUT IT'S GONNA HAVE TO BE THE CITY. UH, WE, WE HAVE APPLIED FOR FUNDING. WE HAVE IDENTIFIED SOME OTHER FUNDS THAT ARE AVAILABLE, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THEY'RE REALLY SMALL. I MEAN, 70,000, I THINK THE HIGHEST GRANT THAT WE DISCOVERED WAS ABOUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. UM, AND TO TRY TO PUT TOGETHER, UH, FUNDING FROM SMALL POTS OF MONEY LIKE THAT IS GONNA BE, UM, INEFFICIENT. SO, AND LIKE, I'M IN FA I'M IN FAVOR OF IT, BUT I JUST, I HAD A QUESTION. SO ARE WE GONNA GO OUT FOR BIDS FOR THAT OR HOW IS THAT GOING TO WORK? NO. YES. WE, WE DO, WHAT WE HAVE TO DO NOW IS THERE'S, THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS WE NEED TO DO RIGHT AWAY. ONE IS, UH, THE ENGINEERING DESIGN. THE OTHER IS THAT THE, THE BUILDING CAME BACK POSITIVE FOR ASBESTOS. SO WE NEED TO REMOVE THAT. AND SO THAT HAS TO BE DONE. AND WE ALSO GO OUT FOR, UM, VENDORS TO ACTUALLY DO THAT FOR US. SO WE HAVE TO GET QUOTES FOR THAT. IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE A LITTLE BIT MORE, IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE A LOT MORE. ISN'T THAT WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE DID BUILDING THAT WE, UH, WE DIDN'T ANTICIPATE THE ASBESTOS AND THEN IT TURNED OUT TO BE WE, WE DID, UH, I, ALL I KNOW IS THAT IT CAME BACK POSITIVE FOR ASBESTOS. I'M NOT SURE EXACTLY WHERE IT'S LOCATED, BUT I THINK THAT, UH, STAFF IS AWARE. SO WE'LL HAVE TO COME UP WITH A GAME PLAN TO ACTUALLY ADDRESS THAT. AND THERE AND THERE ARE COMPANIES SPECIFICALLY FOR ASBESTOS YES. REMOVAL IN THE BASEMENT. YES. HAVE YOU TALKED TO THE, UH, BROWN, BROWN FIELD, UH, BROWN FIELDS PEOPLE? YES. WHAT DID THEY SAY? THEY SAID THIS WOULDN'T APPLY BECAUSE WHEN I TALKED TO THEM IN DALLAS, THEY WERE THE WHOLE PROCESS THROUGH. SO THE TCEQ HAS A PROGRAM CALLED BROWNFIELD. RIGHT. AND IF THE CITY'S GONNA BUY A PIECE OF PROPERTY, LET'S SAY A FORMER GAS STATION, TCEQ WILL GO IN AND THEY WILL DO THE ANALYSIS FOR WHETHER THERE'S GROUND CONTAMINATION, THEY'LL DO REMEDIATIONS AND ALL THAT. BUT IT'S ALWAYS A FIELD IS NOT ANY ACTUAL FACILITY BUILDING, THINGS LIKE THAT. THAT, THAT, THAT'S IN FACT, I HAVE ALREADY SHARED AN EMAIL WITH, WITH THE STAFF. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU GOT IT, BUT I, I SENT IT TO THE STAFF FOR US TO START IDENTIFYING. AND I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU GUYS TO IDENTIFY IN Y'ALL'S OWN DISTRICT'S, BROWN POTENTIAL BROWNFIELDS THAT WOULD THEN WE CAN USE THIS PROGRAM TO THEN, UH, GET THE BENEFIT OF IT. AND THE KEY FOR BROWNFIELDS IS THAT THE SITE HAS TO BE CONTAMINATED. CORRECT. UH, THE CASA DELTO IS NOT CONSIDERED A CONTAMINATION SITE. SO, AND THE WOMAN, 'CAUSE I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT SPECIFICALLY FOR, REMEMBER HOW WE'RE LOOKING AT GETTING THE GAS TANKS FOR COMMERCE STREET AND THEN THE ONE OVER THERE FOR THE, AND I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT AND SHE WAS LIKE, NO, 'CAUSE YOU ALREADY OWN THE PROPERTY. RIGHT. SHE WAS LIKE, IT'S A PROPERTY THAT YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING AT BUYING. RIGHT? RIGHT. THAT WAS, UH, THE HOOK THERE. SO THE CITY WILL PICK UP THE TAB OF OVER 2 MILLION, CORRECT. RIGHT. BUT FOR TONIGHT, WE'RE JUST DISCUSSING THE 1 MILLION. YEAH. AND THAT'LL COME BACK LATER. THAT'LL BE ANOTHER DISCUSSION. YEAH. BUT IT'S, WE, WE SPEND A MILLION AND THEN WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA BE ON THE HOOK FOR THE REMAINDER, WHICH WILL BE TWO POINT SOMETHING. UH, THE $3 MILLION WOULD GET THE FACILITY TO WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE BEFORE. UH, WE CAN SPEND A LOT LESS THAN THAT JUST TO FIX WHAT IS THERE NOW. UH, BUT IT'S GONNA LOOK THE WAY IT DOES NOW. UM, WHEN IT WAS INITIALLY BUILT, IT HAD A LOT MORE GLASS, UH, WINDOWS. UH, BUT FOR SOME REASON THEY WERE COVERED UP WITH BRICK. AND SO, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY THOUGH IS THAT THE ROOF HAD, UH, BUILT IN DRAINAGE INTO THE ROOF STRUCTURE. KIND OF LIKE, LIKE, UM, LIKE A SOFFIT, BUT IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOF. AND FOR SOME REASON IT WAS, IT WAS COVERED OVER SO THAT THE WATER WOULDN'T DRAIN, IT WOULD JUST COLLECT THERE. AND SO OVER THE YEARS THAT WATER COLLECTING THERE KIND OF SEEPED THROUGH THE, UH, THE CONCRETE AND THE OTHER BARRIERS THAT WERE THERE AND PENETRATED THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING. AND THAT'S WHAT STARTED TO CHIP AWAY AND FALL INTO THE, THE STRUCTURE. AND SO WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM THAT WAS INITIALLY CONSTRUCTED IS REBUILT AND REINSTALLED TO ALLOW FOR THE WATER TO CONTINUE TO SEEP OUT, UM, THE WAY IT WAS INTENDED WHEN IT WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT. SO, SO THE ALTERNATIVE IS, IS JUST BULLDOZED THE WHOLE BUILDING DOWN. YEAH. IF THAT'S THE ROUTE YOU WANT TO GO THAT WAY. WELL, YOU, YOU SAID WE COULD FIX IT BACK TO THE WAY IT, WHEN YOU SAY WE COULD FIX IT TO THE, THE WAY IT WAS, I MEAN, THE WAY IT WAS RECENTLY NO, NO. WHEN IT WAS FIRST BUILT. OH. WHEN IT WAS FIRST BUILT FULL HISTORIC RE UH, RESTORATION. DIDN'T IT HAVE GLASS? YEAH, EXACTLY. IT HAD GLASS. SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING. PUTTING THE GLASS BACK AND ALL THAT. WELL, NOT, NOT WITH THE MILLION DOLLARS. NO, NO, NO. BUT WITH THE ULTIMATELY WHEN THE, ALL THE FUNDING YEAH. THAT, THAT IS, REMEMBER I THINK JOHN PEARCY SAID THAT, UH, RIGHT NOW IT WOULD COST US 3 MILLION [01:20:01] TO BRING IT BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL GLORY. IF WE, UH, RAISE IT AND THEN RECONSTRUCT, IT'LL TAKE ABOUT 6 MILLION TO DO THE EXACT SAME THING. AND DOES THE GLASS MAKE A, THE, WELL, I'M ASSUMING IT DOES, BUT DOES THE GLASS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE COST? YES. 'CAUSE YOU HAVE TO REMOVE THE, THE WALL AND THEN REBUILD THE STRUCTURE TO INSTALL THE GLASS. SO IF WE, JUST, LIKE, WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET TO IS, SO IF WE MAY, IF WE JUST BUILD IT BACK TO THE WAY IT IS RIGHT NOW AND JUST FIX THE ROOF, WE NEED TO FIX A ROOF. UM, THERE'S A FEW OTHER THINGS THAT NEED TO BE FIXED. YEAH, YEAH. BUT I'M TALKING ABOUT WITHOUT TAKING IT BACK TO ITS GLORY YEAH. AND STUFF LIKE THAT. BUT IF WE JUST GET IT TO LIKE, 'CAUSE LIKE RIGHT NOW IT'S BASICALLY USED LIKE AS A, AS AN EVENT CENTER FOR LIKE A QUINCEANERA KIND OF THING. SO IF WE WERE TO GET IT BACK TO THE, TO ITS ABILITY TO JUST HOLD EVENTS, HOW MUCH WOULD THAT BE? UM, I NEED TO GET BACK WITH JOHN. I THINK IT WAS LIKE 1.2, 1.5. YEAH, THAT'S THE WAY I REMEMBER IT. IT WAS ABOUT HALF. SO DO I BUT I I I, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE BEFORE I TELL YOU A NUMBER. SO COULD YOU USE HOT FUNDS TO DO JUST THAT? UM, IS, IS, OR IS IT HOT FUNDS? UM, WERE ABLE TO USE IT BECAUSE OF PRES PRESERVATION. 'CAUSE WE'RE DOING HISTORIC PRESERVATION. RIGHT. SO, SO NOT RENOVATION. OKAY. SO IF YOU WERE JUST TO FIX THE ROOF AND MAKE THE CHANGES, COULD YOU STILL USE THE FUNDS, I GUESS IS THE QUESTION I GAVE IT FIFTH. YEAH. 'CAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT EVEN THE THING THAT DESI GAVE US, BULLET 0.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, NO FIVE, IT SAYS HISTORICAL PRESERVATION. RIGHT? THAT'S, THAT'S HOW I UNDERSTOOD IT. SO THEN, SO THEN THE, IF, IF THE, IF THE COMMISSION WANTS TO GO TO THE DIRECTION OF THE LEAST COST, UM, THAT WOULD HAVE TO COME OUTTA THE GENERAL FUND OR OTHER BUCKETS, MAYBE THE FOUR B, UM, BUT NOT THE HOT FUNDS. AND SO, UM, RIGHT. IF WE'RE GOING TO USE, TRYING TO WRAP MY HEAD AROUND THIS, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE IF WE GO THE RIGHT ROUTE OF HOT TAX, AND THAT'S THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT YOU'RE GONNA SPEND FROM THE GENERAL FUND, UM, AND THEN YOU GET IT BACK TO WHERE IT NEEDED TO, WHERE IT WAS BEFORE. AND IF YOU DON'T DO THAT, THEN YOU STILL SPEND THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY IN THE GENERAL FUND TO, TO DO THE REPAIRS. RIGHT. AND, AND, AND RIGHT NOW THE HOT, UH, GENERAL FUND, UH, HAS A BALANCE OF 2 MILLION MM-HMM. , WE'RE ONLY PROPOSING TO TAKE A MILLION DOLLARS FOR THAT. LEAVE THE OTHER MILLION THERE FOR OTHER, OTHER PROJECTS THAT THE COMMISSIONER WANTS TO DO. MM-HMM. PERHAPS, UH, SPORTS, UH, UH, PICKLEBALL EVENTS. MM-HMM. , THINGS LIKE THAT. SO I REALLY THINK WE NEED TO WORK ON, UM, AND I GUESS WE'RE KIND OF DEVIATING, BUT JUST, UH, AN ACTUAL, UH, SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA BRING PEOPLE IN. SO A LEAGUE OF SOME SORT OF, FOR HARLINGEN WOULD BE NICE, BUT TODAY'S FOCUS IS THIS ITEM. SO IS THERE, IS THERE ANY OTHER, ANY OTHER DISCUSSION, MIKE? YES. UM, MY REASONING FOR OPPOSING THIS ONE IS NOT PRACTICAL. TWO, WE'RE GONNA BE COMPETING AGAINST OURSELVES BECAUSE THE CONVENTION CENTER BELONGS TO US. AND WE'RE, WE STILL, WE'RE IN DEBT OF 9.6 MILLION PLUS. SO I DON'T SEE HOW WE'RE GOING TO BE, I CANNOT JUSTIFY THAT TO MYSELF TO TRY TO WORK ON THE AND THEN COMPETE AGAINST THE CONVENTION CENTER. SOME OF THOSE HOT TAX FUNDS SHOULD BE APPLIED TO THE CONVENTION CENTER TO WHERE WE, THE CITY CAN PROMOTE THE CONVENTION CENTER AND FEEL THAT THE CONVENTION CENTER WITH, WITH CONVENTIONS WITH ACTIVITY MONTH AFTER MONTH. AND I DON'T SEE US DOING THAT. WE HAVE YET TO BRING IN A STATE CONVENTION OF ANY SORT INTO THAT. WE'VE HAD SOME BOXING EVENTS. WE HAD THAT, UH, THE INTERNATIONAL MARATHON. UH, BUT THOSE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. BUT WE, WE HAD A, UM, A STATE, A PUBLIC WORKS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR THE KIM TENOR, BUT WE HAD TO, UM, RELINQUISH THAT EVENT BECAUSE OF COVID AND THE NATIONAL GUARD, UH, WAS TAKING UP EVERY SINGLE ROOM AVAILABLE IN THE HILTON GARDEN INN, UH, AND INCLUDING THE REST OF THE TOWN. SO WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY SPACE TO, TO HOUSE ALL THE DELEGATES THAT WERE GOING TO BE TURNING. SO THAT, UH, THAT HAPPENED. AND THEN WE'VE ALREADY SECURED, UH, A STATEWIDE TELFER CONFERENCE IN 2026 IN THE COMMAND CENTER. SO WE ARE WORKING ON A FEW, BUT NOT, NOT, UH, WE NEED TO DO A LOT BETTER. OH, I AGREE. AND MATTER OF FACT, UH, BRENDAN RAINEY FROM, UH, BC LYNN WILL BE HERE NEXT WEEK TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN PARTNER TOGETHER TO ACTUALLY GET MORE CONFERENCES THERE. COULD WE AT LEAST SPEND A COUPLE OF HUNDRED BUCKS ON PUTTING OUT [01:25:01] LITTLE SIGNS THAT SAYS CONVENTION CENTER THAT WAY OR THIS WAY? 'CAUSE I DON'T THINK WE'VE SEEN IT. I DON'T THINK I'VE NOTICED ANYTHING THROUGHOUT THE CITY. I, I TALKED TO JAVIER SA GOOD ABOUT THAT, UM, LAST WEEK. AND SO, UM, WE, UH, WE'RE GONNA CHECK WITH TDOT BECAUSE THOSE SIGNS WOULD BE ON THE EXPRESSWAY AND SO THEY CONTROL ACCESS TO ALL THOSE SIGNS. SO WE'RE TRYING TO GET THEM TO ACTUALLY WORK WITH US TO GET THAT DONE. YOU KNOW, I JUST WORKED WITH U-T-R-G-V, I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE KNOWS, UM, BUT AT THE HARLINGEN CONVENTION CENTER, THEY JUST PUT ON A BIG, UH, CONVENTION FOR NONPROFITS. AND SO MM-HMM. , UM, I WORKED REALLY CLOSELY WITH THEM AND THEY HAD IN ATTENDANCE 250, UH, ATTENDEES AT THE CONVENTION CENTER, AND IT WAS STATEWIDE, SO LOCAL NONPROFITS AND THOSE THROUGHOUT THE STATE. AND IT WAS A VERY, VERY SUCCESSFUL EVENT. THAT WAS ON WEDNESDAY OF LAST WEEK. I, AND I TRY, I I SWUNG BY QUICKLY. UM, BUT IT WAS, IT WAS AT, IT WAS FULL AND IT WAS A WONDERFUL EVENT. AND SO THE CONVENTION CENTER IS DOING THINGS THAT JUST, SOMETIMES I THINK THAT IF YOU'RE NOT IN THAT SPACE, YOU MAY NOT KNOW WHAT'S, WHAT'S GOING ON. BUT IT'S, IT'S BEEN PRETTY BUSY OVER THERE. I'VE BEEN IMPRESSED WITH WHAT THEY'VE BEEN ABLE TO, WHAT, WHAT THEY'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO. BUT WE CAN ALWAYS, UM, DO MORE. SO MY QUESTION WOULD BE, UH, COMMISSIONER MORALE IS WHAT, WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE THAT WE DO WITH THE CASA THE SOIL? IF IT'S, THIS IS NOT THE, THE PATH, WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? YOU WANT A SOLUTION IN TWO SECONDS? IF THE ONLY SOLUTION IS TO DESTROY IT AND SAVE OURSELVES SOME, SOME MORE DEBT, I WOULD BE IN FAVOR OF THAT BECAUSE WE'RE COMPETING AGAINST OURSELVES. OKAY. AND WE'RE GOING TO GO FURTHER INTO DEBT. WE OWE 9.6, WE'RE GONNA END UP DOING, WHAT, 6 MILLION AND WE'RE GONNA RESTORE THAT TO ITS HEYDAY OF BACK OF THE SIXTIES OR SEVENTIES. AND THAT'S, YOU'RE LOOKING AT NINE PLUS ANOTHER SIX POTENTIALLY JUST, JUST ONE PIECE OF INFORMATION THAT YOU PROBABLY SHOULD KNOW. UH, IF YOU RENT THE CASTLE TO YOU RENT THE FACILITY, YOU CAN BRING IN YOUR OWN FOOD, YOUR OWN, UH, REFRESHMENTS, ADULT, UH, OR NOT. UH, AND, AND IF YOU RENT THE, UH, COMMAND CENTER, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO BRING IN YOUR OWN ALCOHOL OR YOUR OWN FOOD. YOU HAVE TO BUY IT FROM THERE. SO I THINK THAT THE, THE, THE USES OF THOSE TWO FACILITIES IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. BUT YOU JUST SAID IT. IF THE CONVENTION CENTER BY REGULATIONS OR WHATEVER, OR STATE LAW OR, OR WHATEVER THEY HAVE GOING ON, THEY HAVE TO SELL THEIR ALCOHOL AND THEY HAVE TO SELL THEIR OWN FOOD AND THEY'RE COMPETING AGAINST SOME, AN ENTITY THAT YOU CAN BRING IN ON. ALL THEY DO IS RENT OUT, LEASE OUT THE, THE SPACE AND LEASE OUT, UH, AND SELL THE, UH, THE DRINKS, SOFT DRINKS AND NICE. SO YOU CAN BRING IN YOUR OWN LIQUOR. NOT AT THE HUNDRED CENTER, NO . YES. CAN THAT LAAN WHEN YOU'RE COMPETING AGAINST THAT, THEY HAVE LESS CHANCE OF SECURING AND, AND DOING EVENTS. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I'M OPPOSED TO. OKAY. YEAH, I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO INTERRUPT YOU. I APOLOGIZE. SO THAT'S MY ARGUMENT. I THINK IT MAY BE WORTHWHILE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH GATE WHEN WE'RE OFFLINE ABOUT THE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES AND HOW THE, THE MAYOR HAS COME UP WITH A PRETTY GOOD PLAN ON HOW TO RESOLVE YOUR UNDERLYING CONCERN OF THE CONVENTION CENTER. THAT MAY BE A CONVERSATION YOU NEED TO HAVE, WHICH WILL RESOLVE THAT CONCERN. SO YEAH, I, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE, UH, THE ALLOCATION OF A MILLION DOLLARS OF THE HOT TAX FUND TO COST. SO IS THERE A SECOND? YEAH, I'LL SECOND THAT. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? OPPOSED. OKAY, SO MOVING ON. ITEM 11, BOARD APPOINTMENT. IT DID, IT DID NOT PASS A YEAH. OPPOSED? YES. SO OPPOSED? OPPOSED. OH, YOU WERE OPPOSED TO NO, I VOTED YES. OH, I SAID AYE. OH, OKAY. I HAD UNDERSTOOD THAT INCORRECTLY THEN. SO IT PASSED. IT PASSED. OKAY. ITEM 11, [Item 11 - Board Appointments] BOARD APPOINTMENTS. SPECIFICALLY APPOINTMENT OR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO INCLUDE APPOINTMENT AND OR REMOVAL OF ANY POSITION SUBJECT TO APPOINTMENT OR REMOVAL BY STATUTE, ORDINANCE OR BYLAWS. ALRIGHT. I HAVE NONE. NONE, NONE. COMMISSIONER NONE. ALL RIGHT. OKAY, MOVING ON. OKAY, ITEM 12, [Item 12 - Executive Session] EXECUTIVE SESSION. ALL ITEMS LISTED IN THIS SECTION WILL BE DELIBERATED IN A CLOSED SESSION. MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE NOT GENERALLY PERMITTED TO ATTEND A CLOSED SESSION. EXECUTIVE SESSION ITEMS MAY BE CONSIDERED AS AN ACTION ITEM AT THE DISCRETION OF THE MAYOR, HOWEVER, CITY COMMISSION WILL NOT TAKE ANY ACTION IN CLOSED SESSION. ITEM 12 A PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.071. [01:30:01] ATTORNEY CONSULTATION AND CONTEMPLATED LITIGATION SECTION 1 1 5 5 1 0.072 DELIBERATION REGARDING REAL ESTATE AND SECTION 5 5 1 0.087 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT RELATING TO THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS, PROJECT BEACH PROJECT EMERALD GREEN PROJECT DISTILLERY PROJECT SPEC BUILDING THREE. AND THEN ITEM 12 B PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.072 ATTORNEY CONSULTATION REGARDING SALE PURCHASE OF REAL ESTATE. IS THERE A MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION MOTION? SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. THE TIME IS NOW 7:05 PM AND WE WILL RETIRE TO EXECUTIVE SESSION. BE OUT SHORTLY. ALL RIGHT. THE TIME IS NOW 7:51 PM AND WE ARE OUT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION. AND MELINDA, ITEM 13, ACTION ON EXECUTIVE SESSION ITEMS, THE CITY COMMISSION WILL RECONVENE IN OPEN SESSION AND MAY TAKE ACTION ON ANY ITEM LISTED IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION SECTION OF THIS AGENDA. ITEM [Item 13a - Consideration and possible action on Items 12(a) 1,2,3, & 4, as discussed in executive session.] 13, A CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE A POSSIBLE ACTION ON ITEMS 12, A 1, 2, 3, AND FOUR AS DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, MAKE A MOTION TO ACKNOWLEDGE REPORT AND PROCEED AS DISCUSSED. SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. AND THAT IS ALL WE HAVE. WE ARE NO WE. ITEM B, SORRY. ITEM [Item 13b - Consideration and possible action on Item 12(b), as discussed in executive session.] 13 B, CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON ITEMS 12 B AS DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, ACKNOWLEDGE REPORT. I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO ACKNOWLEDGE REPORT. SECOND, PROCEED TO DISCUSSED. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES CARES. AND NOW WE ARE ADJOURNED. , I FORGOT THE SECOND. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.