[00:00:01]
WITH CITIZEN COMMON.DO WE HAVE ANYONE SIGN UP TO SPEAK? NO.
[a. Complete Annual Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence as required by the State of Texas.]
A POINT OF PRIVILEGE AND WE'RE GONNA MOVE THE TRAINING UP TO GET IT OUT OF THE WAY.SO WE'RE GONNA TAKE FOUR A RIGHT NOW AND COMPLETE OUR ANNUAL CYBERSECURITY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AS REQUIRED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS, MR. ARTIFICIAL INTENT, THAT'S NEW AND CYBERSECURITY.
AND SO THIS IS A, UNDER TEXAS STATE LAW EMPLOYEES AND ELECTED OFFICIALS HAVE TO MEET A CYBERSECURITY TRAINING AND AI TRAINING ANNUALLY.
THE AI PIECE WAS OUT OF THIS PAST LEGISLATION SESSION.
SO THIS VIDEO WILL COVER EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM FOR THE COVERAGE PURPOSES OF THIS REPORTING TO THE STATE, I'M GONNA PASS AROUND A SEAT, A SHEET FOR YOU TO SIGN, PRINT YOUR NAME, AND THEN WE'LL, I'LL CAPTURE THOSE AT THE END JUST SO WE CAN MEET OUR COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS AND FULFILL WHAT THE STATE HAS ASKED US TO DO.
SO I'LL GO AHEAD AND PLAY THIS.
IT IS A 28 TO 30 MINUTE VIDEO, JUST
[a. Discuss budget related items for Fiscal Year 2026 - 2027.]
DISCUSS BUDGET RELATED ITEMS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026 AND 2027.ALRIGHT, MAYOR, COUNSEL, I DO THE WOLFFER.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY HANDS.
UH, THANK YOU FOR COMING OUT AND TALKING ABOUT THE BUDGET.
UM, I, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY, UM, JOEY, THAT TRAINING
SO THANK Y'ALL FOR WHAT Y'ALL DO.
VERY MUCH GRATEFUL FOR HOW Y'ALL TRAIN.
AND, UH, THAT WAS ROUGH, BUT I'M GLAD IT'S DONE.
WELL, I, I ACTUALLY TOLD BRIAN AND I SAID I WAS LOOKING DOWN, I WAS DOING SOMETHING, THEN I LOOK UP AND I HONESTLY THOUGHT THEY ATE AI CALDER IN THERE WITH THE FLOWERY SHIRT.
AND THEN I REALIZED THAT IT WAS PART OF THE VIDEO
SO WE WON'T HAVE TO DO THAT UNTIL NEXT BUDGET MEETING.
ALRIGHT, SO, UM, THINGS ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT UP HERE.
YOU'LL SEE THAT WE HAVE OUR IAP TWO SPECTRUM UP HERE.
I, WE BROUGHT THIS TO THE FOREFRONT, UH, BEFORE WE GET STARTED WITH THE BUDGET BECAUSE THIS IS A DELIBERATE MOVE THAT THE COUNCIL AND STAFF TOOK THIS YEAR, UH, BECAUSE WE WANT CITIZENS TO KNOW HOW WE ARE COMMUNICATING WITH THEM ON, UH, ON NUMEROUS PROJECTS.
AND SO THERE WILL BE THINGS THAT WE ARE INFORMING, THINGS THAT WE'RE CONSULTING ON THINGS THAT WE'RE, UM, UH, INVOLVING COLLABORATE AND EMPOWERING.
AND IT'S ONE WAY THAT, AS WE DISCUSSED BEFORE, IS GETTING THE CITIZENS INVOLVED WHERE WE CAN, NOT EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE TO COLLABORATE WITH EVERYTHING, EVERY DECISION THAT COUNCIL HAS TO MAKE, BUT WE WANT TO BRING IT TO THE FOREFRONT.
AND WE WANT TO KEEP THIS WITH EVERYTHING THAT WE ARE DOING SO CITIZENS KNOW THE INTENT BEFORE WE GET STARTED.
SO, WITH THAT, I WANNA SWITCH OVER TO OUR, OUR FORMULA.
UH, COUNSEL, I KNOW THAT YOU MAY GET TIRED OF THIS, BUT IF WE STAY CONSISTENT WITH HOW WE'RE SPEAKING, IT HELPS BUILD THAT CULTURE IN THE ORGANIZATION AND HELPS BUILD THAT, UH, THE CULTURE WITH OUR CITIZENS AND THEY UNDERSTAND HOW OUR BUDGET CONVERSATION GOES.
AND WITH OUR, WITH OUR BUDGET FORMULA, WE'VE MADE IT, WE'VE SIMPLIFIED IT TO SAY THAT A BUDGET IS NOTHING MORE THAN A MATH PROBLEM.
AND IF WE BREAK DOWN EACH OF THOSE SECTIONS OF THE BUDGET FORMULA, WE WERE ABLE TO SEE WHERE THE POLICY DECISIONS COME IN FOR COUNCIL TO MAKE AND WE'RE THE DECISIONS FOR STAFF TO MAKE.
AND WE CAN BREAK THOSE DOWN IN EACH ONE OF THESE CATEGORIES.
AND SO TODAY WE'RE VERY THANKFUL.
OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE A HECK OF A JOB RE REWORKING THE BUDGET.
AND, UH, AS PART OF THAT, IT'S REALLY NARROWED THE CONVERSATIONS BECAUSE AS WE DO THIS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR WHEN IT'S TIME TO ACTUALLY HAVE THE BUDGET CONVERSATION, IT'S, IT'S ALMOST READY TO GO.
IF Y'ALL REMEMBER LAST JUNE, THE BUDGET WAS READY TO BE ADOPTED.
WE WERE JUST WAITING ON THE TAX RATE TO BE FINISHED UP IN, IN JULY.
AND TODAY WE'RE GONNA WORK JUST THROUGH A FEW POLICY PIECES THAT Y'ALL, THAT WE NEED DIRECTION ON SO THAT WE CAN FINALIZE THE BUDGET AND BRING IT BACK TO YOU AFTER WE GET THE TAX RATE INFORMATION, UH, LATER IN JULY.
SO THE, GO TO THE NEXT ONE, IF YOU DON'T MIND.
WHAT WE'VE NEVER DONE IS TALK OR SHOW WHAT THE BUDGET IS.
THE BUDGET FORMULA IS IN ACTION.
AND SO YOU'RE GETTING A COPY OF THIS.
[00:05:01]
THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS IS, THIS IS WHAT THE BUDGET CURRENTLY LOOKS LIKE.AND ONE THING THAT WE WILL TALK ABOUT BY AND LARGE IS THE TAX RATE, RIGHT? THAT'S PART OF THE FORMULA.
YOU CAN SEE UP AT THE TOP, EVERYTHING THERE IS DRIVEN BY TAXES.
AND ONE OF THE CONVERSATION POINTS THAT WE'VE HAD, AND WE WILL HERE IN JUST A SECOND, IS THAT THE TAX PORTION OF THE BUDGET IS RELATIVELY FLAT, OKAY? RELATIVELY FOR HOW LARGE IT IS.
IT, IT DOESN'T GROW MUCH ON THE PROPERTY TAX PIECE OR ON, ON JUST TAXES IN GENERAL.
PAR PROPERTY AND SELL TAX, TOTAL REVENUES OVERALL ARE PRETTY STAGNANT AS WELL.
ONE THING THAT WE DON'T CONTROL VERY MUCH IS THIS PIECE.
NOW YOU DO MAKE POLICY DECISIONS.
THOSE ARE THE REVENUE ACUTE, RIGHT? THOSE ARE THE FEES AND THINGS THAT, THAT Y'ALL MAKE POLICY DECISIONS ON.
AND PART OF THE CHANGE IS MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE DOING COST RECOVERY.
THAT WAS THE, THE OVERALL THEME WITH THAT.
THESE ARE BUILT ON TREND LINES.
AND SO BECAUSE THEY'RE BUILT ON TRENDS, UM, WE GET PLUSES AND MINUSES EACH YEAR.
SO THEY, THEY'RE, THEY DO VARY EACH AND EVERY YEAR.
AND, UM, EXCEPT FOR THE TRANSFER ENDS, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DO CONTROL INTERNALLY.
UH, BUT LIKE THIS INTERGOVERNMENTAL, IT'S SHOT UP AND YOU'RE LIKE, HEY, WHY DID IT SHOOT UP SO MUCH? WELL, THAT'S A, THAT'S A GRANT TRANSFER FROM FEMA THAT WE DON'T KNOW THAT WE'RE GONNA GET UNTIL WE GET IT RIGHT? THAT IS ACTUALLY A REIMBURSEMENT FROM, AND SO TWO YEARS LATER WE FINALLY GOT SOME MONEY IN, IF WE MOVE DOWN, THE BIG THING FOR THE CITIZENS AND FOR COUNCIL TO STOP RIGHT THERE, PLEASE FOR COUNCIL TO SEE IS THAT OUR TOTAL REVENUE FOR FY 27 ON THE FAR RIGHT SIDE IS 1 49.
AND THIS IS FOR GENERAL FUND ONLY.
THIS IS JUST FOR GENERAL FUND.
1 46 IS OUR TOTAL MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION COST.
OKAY? SO THIS IS, THAT'S, WE'RE WORKING LEFT AND RIGHT ON, ON OUR FORMULA STILL.
THIS IS THE EXPENSE CATEGORY ON THAT SIDE OR THE X AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT FOR CITIZENS TO KNOW THAT WE, THE REVENUE THAT WE BRING IN IS MORE THAN OUR ONGOING MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION EXPENSES.
AND THEN BELOW THE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION PIECE, WE THEN HAVE, UM, CAPITAL PIECES, WE HAVE TRANSFER OUTS, AND THEN WE HAVE A CONTINGENCY.
THE REASON THOSE ARE BELOW THE LINE IS BECAUSE THOSE DON'T HAVE TO BE SPENT, SO TO SPEAK.
THE TRANSFER OUTS, THAT'S A, THAT'S A TALKING POINT BECAUSE THOSE ARE USED TO FUND OTHER, OTHER FUNDS IN THE BUDGET, RIGHT? THEY SUPPORT AQUATICS, THEY, THEY SUPPORT, UH, THE GARAGE FUND.
THEY SUPPORT, UH, WATER SEWER, THEY SUPPORT WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE.
ALRIGHT? THOSE TRANSFER OUTS, THEY DO VARY EACH AND EVERY YEAR, BUT THEY AREN'T NECESSARILY, THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE DONE.
AND JUST LIKE THE CONTINGENCY.
AND SO WHEN YOU HAVE THAT, YOU SAY THE REVENUE IS 1 49, BUT OUR TOTAL EXPENSES ARE 1 54.
YOU'RE LIKE, WELL, HOW IS THAT, HOW ARE WE SPENDING MORE THAN WHAT WE MAKE? IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE BOTTOM, SABRINA, AND THE REASON IS, IS THAT WE HAVE A RESERVE, IF Y'ALL REMEMBER THIS WAS LOW, AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT LATER.
OKAY? THIS WAS LOW BEFORE ACTUALLY IT'S ON THERE.
UM, AND WE'VE DONE A REALLY GOOD JOB CONTROLLING OUR EXPENSES, UM, AND BUILDING UP THAT RESERVE AGAIN.
AND WE'VE MADE A LOT OF CHANGES OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS.
THE POLICY DECISION THAT COUNCIL HAS GIVEN US IS THAT THIS NEEDS TO BE ABOVE 90.
THE OTHER POLICY DECISION THAT Y'ALL MAKE IS ANYTHING THAT Y'ALL HAVE MADE IN THE PAST IS ANYTHING OVER 90.
IT NEEDS TO BE USED FOR CAPITAL OR IT NEEDS TO BE RESERVED FOR DEBT, RIGHT? TO REDUCE FUTURE DEBT.
THOSE ARE THE POLICY DECISIONS THAT Y'ALL HAVE THAT Y'ALL HAVE GIVEN TO ME.
AND SO THAT WAY WE AREN'T JUST ADDING NEW PROJECTS, WE AREN'T, UH, DOING ANYTHING CRAZY WITH THE MONEY AND PEOPLE CAN HAVE IT.
THEY CAN SEE THAT IT IS A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT WITH THE EXTRA MONEY THAT IS COMING IN.
AND WHEN I SAY EXTRA, I DON'T MEAN EXTRA, IT'S JUST WE GET STUFF FROM FEES THAT WE AREN'T NECESSARILY PROJECTING.
WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE SPENDING OUR PROPERTY TAXES ON.
AND SO WE JUST WANTED TO SHOW Y'ALL WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE IN ACTION, LIKE TAKING THE FORMULA AND TRANSFERRING IT INTO THE NUMBERS.
OVERALL, WE ARE IN A GOOD SPOT.
WE'VE, WE'VE REALLY STARTED COURSE CORRECTING THIS.
AND THE IMPORTANT THING IS WE DON'T JUST START CELEBRATING AND SAYING, HEY, NOW THAT WE'VE, WE'VE MADE IT, LET'S START SPENDING IT DOWN.
RIGHT? WE STILL HAVE TO, WE DON'T WANNA BE IN THE SAME COURSE THAT WE WERE JUST, UH, A FEW YEARS AGO.
SO WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO TAKING THE FORMULA
[00:10:01]
FROM LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS, THANK YOU SPRING MM-HMMAND THEN GETTING BACK INTO WHAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT TODAY.
YOU SAW THAT WE'RE STARTING THE YEAR AT 117 DAYS IN RESERVES AND THIS, REMEMBER THIS FORMULA, YOU KIND OF WORD BACKWARDS.
WE KNOW THAT WE, WE WANT TO END ABOVE 90 DAYS.
THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO END ABOVE 90 DAYS.
THAT'S THE POLICY DECISION Y'ALL HAVE GIVEN US.
SO EVERYTHING FROM HERE TO THERE NEEDS TO MAKE IT SO THAT THE REVENUE COMING IN KEEPS US ABOVE 90 AND THE EXPENSES THAT WE HAVE THAT GO OUT KEEP US ABOVE 90.
SO LET'S WORK ON THAT MATH PROBLEM.
WE'LL GO AND TALK ABOUT PROPERTY TAX ONE TIME REVENUES, WATER RATES, UM, HOW TRANSFER ENDS HAVE, HAVE HELPED US, BUT ALSO THEY ARE NOT SOMETHING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT GOING FORWARD.
BUT WE DO NEED TO COURSE CORRECT ON SOME OF THOSE PIECES, OUR ONGOING EXPENSES AND SOME OF THE POLICY PIECES THAT WE NEED DIRECTION ON TODAY FROM Y'ALL, UH, SPECIFICALLY AROUND GRAFFITI AND TAPS BAY.
AND THEN, UH, WHAT WE ARE USING SOME OF THE EXTRA FUNDS FORWARD TO TAKE US DOWN FROM ONE 17 TO 99.
AND THAT IS WHAT WE'RE GONNA COVER TODAY.
THE FIRST ONE WE HAVE IS OUR TAX RATE.
SO, UM, I'VE TALKED TO Y'ALL NUMEROUS TIMES ABOUT THE TAX RATE AND I'M GONNA ASK Y'ALL TO ENTERTAIN ME FOR A MINUTE BECAUSE THE NEXT FEW GRAPHS ARE NOT ABOUT, IT'S NOTHING NEW THAT WE HAVEN'T DISCUSSED ALREADY, OKAY? IT'S FOR THE CITIZENS TO SEE BECAUSE I'VE, Y'ALL COME TO TALK TO ME A FEW TIMES ABOUT WHAT THE TAX RATE IS.
WE'VE BUILT THE ENTIRE BUDGET OVER THE TAX RATE STAYING AT 69 8 0 3.
OKAY? THAT'S WHERE IT CURRENTLY IS.
THE, THE, THE PIECE TO SAY RIGHT NOW IS THAT WILL MOST LIKELY BE ABOVE THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE, BUT BELOW THE VOTER APPROVAL RATE.
OKAY? AND FOR OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS, WE'VE DONE FOUR TO FIVE YEARS, WE'VE DONE NOTHING BUT THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE.
AND I WANNA SHOW WHAT THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE HAS DONE TO THE ORGANIZATION.
I KNOW WE ALL, I KNOW Y'ALL KNOW THIS ALREADY, OKAY? BUT I HAVE STARTED TO HEAR MURMURS AGAIN ABOUT GOING BACK TO THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE.
AND SO I JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE BUDGET THAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU IS BUILT ON 69 8 0 3 AND NOT ON THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE.
SO THE FIRST GRAPH THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS HOW MUCH THE CITY HAS GROWN IN REVENUE, REVENUE RISE, REVENUE WISE, OVER WITH ALL REVENUE THAT WE HAVE.
OKAY? SO WHEN WE LOOK AT ALL THE REVENUE THAT WE HAVE, YOU CAN SEE FROM 20 TO 21, WE GREW OVER 6%.
AND THEN IT'S BEEN A DOWNWARD TREND SINCE IT'S BEEN A COMPRESSION, RIGHT? THIS IS BASICALLY SHOWING A COMPRESSION.
WE ARE, WE ARE NOT GROWING VERY MUCH YEAR OVER YEAR FOR 27, WE'RE AT 0.59%, RIGHT? SO WE CONTINUE TO COMPRESS AND COMPRESS AND COMPRESS.
SO WITH OUR TAXES, WHEN YOU LOOK AT ALL OF IT, IT'S JUST, HEY, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO DO MORE WITH LESS RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT? AND THAT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT I PERSONALLY BELIEVE IN AND I'M NOT GONNA ASK THE STAFF.
AND THAT'S WHY WE'VE TALKED ABOUT SERVICE DELIVERY CHANGES BECAUSE WE'RE NOT TRYING TO DO MORE WITH LESS.
WE'RE TRYING TO DO WHAT WE CAN WELL WITH THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE.
SO IF I TAKE OUT, UM, THE FULL TOTAL REVENUE AND LOOK AT JUST PROPERTY TAXES, OKAY? OR TAXES AND UH, UH, PROPERTY TAXES.
THIS IS JUST PROPERTY TAXES, LIKE HOUSEHOLD PROPERTY TAX, COMMERCIAL PROPERTY TAX.
AND IDAS THE FIRST THING, THERE'S TWO THINGS THAT YOU SEE HERE.
THAT DOWNWARD TREND ON THE, ON THE GROWTH YEAR OVER YEAR IS GOING DOWN.
SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A, A SMALLER AND SMALLER GROWTH.
THAT'S ALL THAT THAT'S SHOWING.
BUT PEOPLE MAY SAY, HEY, WHAT DOES IT MATTER? WE'RE GETTING A LOWER TAX RATE, BUT OUR REVENUE CONTINUES TO GO UP.
OUR REVENUE LOOKS GREAT, RIGHT? LIKE THE BLUE LINE BEHIND, IT'S LIKE, HEY, THAT REVENUE'S GOING UP.
WHAT ARE WE COMPLAINING ABOUT OUR TAX RATE GOING DOWN FOR? WELL, I DO WANT YOU TO NOTICE THAT THAT GOES FROM ROUGHLY 85 MILLION TO 97 MILLION, ROUGHLY A $12 MILLION GAP, OKAY? THAT HAS GROWN SINCE 2020.
THAT'S $2 MILLION ROUGHLY A YEAR.
OKAY? THE NEXT SLIDE, AND IF I TAKE THAT TOTAL PROPERTY TAX, THAT GROWTH OF 12 MILLION A YEAR, YOU CAN SEE THAT IDAS HAVE NOT GROWN AT ALL.
THEY'VE GROWN MAYBE 1 MILLION.
SO OF THAT 12 MILLION, 11 MILLION HAS COME FROM YOUR PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES.
SO IN AN EFFORT TO CREATE A LOWER TAX RATE, WHAT, WHAT IT'S DONE TO THE CITIZENS OF BAYTOWN IS IT'S FORCED, FORCED THAT GROWTH ON ALL THE RESIDENTS.
[00:15:01]
IT HAS NOT FORCED IT ON INDUSTRY WHEN INDUSTRY WAS OUR BIGGEST PAYING PIECE FOR, FOR BAYTOWN.SO IN AN EFFORT TO DO BETTER FOR OUR RESIDENTS, WE'VE ACTUALLY MADE IT A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPLICATED FOR OUR RESIDENTS BECAUSE THEY'RE THE ONE FOOTING THE BILL AT THIS POINT.
THIS THE ORANGE IS THE, THE TOP.
SO I THINK THAT'S ORANGE UP TOP, UH, OR YELLOW.
UM, AND THEN THESE OTHER ONES, SO THE TOP ONE IS THE IDA MONEY.
YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S PLATEAUED AS OUR TAX RATE HAS GONE DOWN.
UM, THE PROPERTY TAXES CONTINUE TO GO UP FOR, FOR HOMEOWNERS.
AND THEN THE, THE ONE BIG THING THAT A SEMI BIG THING THAT'S BEEN HELPING US IS SALES TAX.
SALES TAX ON THE BOTTOM HAS GONE UP, BUT I WOULD ARGUE THAT IT'S STARTING TO PLATEAU A LITTLE BIT RIGHT NOW.
WE WILL BE HELPED OUT WITH, UH, BUCKY'S.
THE BUCKY'S THREE 80 AGREEMENT WILL START COMING OFF VERY SOON.
THAT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT HELPS US.
BUT SAN JATO MARKETPLACE, THERE WILL BE A MIGRATION TO SAN JACINTO MARKETPLACE WHERE PEOPLE ARE SHOPPING THERE.
THAT WILL PROBABLY PLATEAU US FOR PROBABLY 10 YEARS WHILE THAT, WHILE THAT THREE 80 AGREEMENT IS IN PLACE.
SO I, I DON'T WANT TO COUNT ON SALES TAX BEING THE BIGGEST DRIVER OR GROWTH FORCE FOR US RIGHT NOW.
WE HAVE GREAT THINGS GOING, BUT ANOTHER DECISION THAT WE MADE WAS PUTTING, UM, SWITCH, SWITCHING THE ASSISTANT CITY MANAGERS AROUND AND HAVING BRANT REALLY FOCUS ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE WE DO BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE FOUND WAYS TO GROW THIS WHILE STILL MEETING OUR TAX RATE NEEDS.
OKAY? AND LIKE I SAID BEFORE, WE'VE, WE'VE IDENTIFIED UP TO 10 MILLION EXTRA DOLLARS THAT CAN COME WITH IDAS.
YOU'RE POINTING TO IDA, RIGHT? YES.
I WAS POINTING TO IDA THE ORANGE, YELLOW, YES.
UM, SO WE, WE THINK THAT WE HAVE FOUND A WAY TO TO, TO MANEUVER THAT THROUGH THE MDD AND THROUGH THE EDF AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THEY ARE ENTIRELY FOCUSED ON.
SO WITH THAT, I'M JUST GONNA ASK, WE'RE BUILDING AT 6 9, 8 0 3, IS THAT THE DIRECTION THAT WE NEED TO STAY THE COURSE OR DO WE NEED TO LOOK AT NO NEW REVENUE READ? LET'S, I I ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THAT PROPOSED, WELL THE 10 MILLION WE COULD GET, WHAT ARE THE ODDS THAT WE, WHEN WE TALK TO THESE, UM, BUSINESSES THAT WE ACTUALLY GET THE FULL 10, 10 MILLION? I HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT WE WILL GET TWO TO 4 MILLION EXTRA A YEAR.
I, THAT'S WHAT I HONESTLY BELIEVE.
UM, THE MAYOR AND I WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE IN A MEETING YESTERDAY, UH, WITH THE EDF AND THE EDF IS HELPING US GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
ONE THING THAT, THAT BAYTOWN WILL GET CREDIT FOR IS WE BROUGHT THIS PROBLEM TO THE EDF AND WHAT WE REALIZED IS THAT THIS IS NOT JUST A PROBLEM FOR US.
IT'S A PROBLEM FOR ALL OF CHAMBERS COUNTY.
IT'S A PROBLEM FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
AND SO AS WE CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON THIS, IT WILL COURSE CORRECT NOT JUST FOR US BUT FOR OUR REGION.
AND SO IT DOES LOOK LIKE A WIN RIGHT NOW.
WE BELIEVE THAT IT'S GONNA BE AROUND TWO TO 4 MILLION THAT WILL BE COMING INTO THE CITY AFTER WE GO THROUGH THE LEGAL MAMA JUMBO TO, TO CORRECT THE IDAS.
SO NOT NECESSARILY THE FULL 10 MILLION NOT FULL, NOT THE FULL 10 MILLION.
AND THAT'S WHAT I WANTED PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND IS MAY NOT, IT'S A POTENTIAL OF 10 MILLION, BUT MORE THAN LIKELY IT WON'T BE THAT.
NOT TO SAY IT WON'T, IT IT'LL BE TWO TO FOUR.
IT COULD BE I WANT TO BE YEAH, I WANNA BE CONSERVATIVE ON PUTTING A NUMBER OUT THERE.
'CAUSE MATT HOLLIS GOT HIS, HIS RECORDER UP AND AS SOON AS I SAY WE GOT 10 MILLION, YEAH, I'M ON VIDEO
AS SOON AS I SAY WE'RE GETTING 10 MILLION, UM, SOMEBODY WILL HOLD ME TO THAT.
SO I'M, I'M TRYING TO BE CONSERVATIVE THAT WE'RE GETTING TWO TO 4 MILLION ON THIS.
UH, BUT LET'S BE OPTIMISTIC THAT WE GET THE FULL 10 MILLION.
WE ALSO HAVE A LEGISLATIVE SESSION THAT'S COMING UP.
UM, AND SO, UH, I I THINK FOR ME, I WANNA CONTINUE MOVING FORWARD 'CAUSE UH, WE KEEP GETTING THREATENED AND I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ALL OF THAT.
SO FOR ME, KEEP MOVING FORWARD.
UM, YOU SAID IT WAS SO RIGHT NOW BEING BUILT AT, SAY IT AGAIN? 60 69, 8 0 360 9.
SO JUST HOLD AND STEADY HOLD AND STEADY.
UM, I GUESS, UH, I MEAN I'M FINE WITH MOVING FORWARD WITH THAT IN SHORT, BUT I'D LIKE TO SEE,
[00:20:01]
AND I GUESS WE WON'T REALLY KNOW UNTIL WE GET THE, WHAT THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE WOULD BE.I'M CURIOUS TO SEE LIKE WHAT THAT DELTA IS, WHAT UM, AND LIKE WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S THAT IMPACT FOR JUST THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD, RIGHT? UM, AND THEN WE LOOK AT HOW WE CAN OFFSET BY THAT AMOUNT, RIGHT? ELSEWHERE.
AND THE DELTA IS STILL GONNA BECAUSE OF THE DELTA FROM INDUSTRY, RIGHT? RIGHT.
WE STILL GET ADDITIONAL REVENUE, BUT WE COULD SAY THAT THE, THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD IS GONNA STAY THE SAME, RIGHT? RIGHT.
MAYBE WE GIVE THAT BACK THROUGH THE WATER OR TRASH OR WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THINGS LIKE THAT IN THE PAST.
UM, SO I, YEAH, I THINK THAT'S, WE'VE HELD IT TO NO NEW REVENUE FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
AND I MEAN, I, I WAS ONE THAT, THAT HELD PRETTY TIGHT TO THAT.
BUT WE CAN SEE THE EFFECTS IT'S HAVING AND I THINK, UM, YEAH, WE CAN LOOK BIGGER PICTURE AND SEE NOT JUST NO REVENUE ON, ON ON PROPERTY TAXES, BUT WHAT IS THE TOTAL BURDEN ON THE, ON THE RESIDENT, RIGHT? BECAUSE IF WE CONTINUE TO, WE COULD KEEP HOLDING STEADY, BUT WE KNOW WATER RATES ARE GONNA GO THROUGH THE ROOF.
I MEAN, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO CONTINUE GOING ON THE WATER AND TRY EVERYWHERE ELSE, RIGHT? AND SO, I MEAN TO SAY, WELL WE HELD PROPERTY TAXES STEADY, BUT THEY'RE STILL PAYING MORE ELSEWHERE.
IS THAT ACTUALLY A WIN? RIGHT? UM, SO YEAH.
AS, AS WE GET FURTHER AND GET, WHAT WOULD THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE BE? I'D JUST LIKE TO SEE WHAT THAT OKAY.
YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS BEHIND THAT.
BUT I'M FINE MOVING FORWARD WHERE WE'RE WHERE WE'RE AT NOW.
ALRIGHT, WELL MAYOR AND COUNSEL, THAT'S ALL I HAVE ON THE TAX RATE.
UH, ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY.
SO THE NEXT ONE JACOB, I, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU READ OUR SLIDES BEFORE, BUT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT WATER RATES AND I'M GONNA CALL UP THERESA AND SHE'S GONNA TELL Y'ALL THE FANTASTIC, UH, INFORMATION SHE HAS ON WATER RATES.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, THE CITY OF BAYTOWN WATER SYSTEM IS, WE DON'T KNOW YET THE QUALITY OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND AS STEWARDS OF THAT SYSTEM, THE CITY HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT OUR RATES ARE SET AT LEVELS THAT SUSTAIN RELIABLE SERVICE AND MEET FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AND PLAN RESPONSIBLY FOR THE FUTURE.
SO TODAY, COUNCIL'S BEING ASKED TO CONSIDER AND DISCUSS THE FY 27 RATE ADJUSTMENT FOR WATER AND SEW.
LAST YEAR, UM, THE, THE COUNT THE CITY ENGAGED COROLLA TO CONDUCT A COMPREHENSIVE WATER STUDY AND THAT STUDY PRIMARY OBJECTIVE WAS TO EVALUATE PROJECTED ANNUAL CUSTOMER GROWTH AND SYSTEM DEMAND.
AND THIS ASSESS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT REQUIREMENTS AS THEY RELATE TO DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE OBLIGATIONS AND ENSURE THAT THE MAINTENANCE OF THE MINIMUM OPERATED RESERVES IS NO LESS THAN 60 DAYS.
SO FOR FY 26, COROLLO PRESENTED A PRESENTATION ON WHAT THEY WERE PROPOSING THAT THE RATES WOULD BE, AND THE CITY UPDATE ADOPTED RATE ADJUSTMENTS FOR FY 26 FOR 4.5% AND FOR 12.4 FOR WATER AND SEWER.
SO 4.5 WAS FOR WATER AND 12.4 WITH WATER AND SEWER RESULTING IN A COMBINED BLENDED RATE OF 7.9%.
SO THESE RATES WERE STRUCTURED TO ACHIEVE A DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE OF 1.75, UH, TIMES THE DEBT COVERAGE RESERVE CONSISTENT WITH OUR BOND COVENANT REQUIREMENTS, WHICH IS SOMETHING WE HAVE TO DO.
SO THE ADAPTIVE RATE STRUCTURE, THE WHOLE GOAL WAS TO REFLECT A FULL COST RECOVERY, ENSURING THAT THESE RATES WERE SUFFICIENT TO COVER OUR OPERATING EXPENSES, ONGOING MAINTENANCE AND OUR OBLIGATIONS.
SO FOR 27, BASED ON THOSE ASSUMPTIONS, OUR FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS ESTABLISHED THE RATE STUDY SHOULD, THE RATES WOULD SUSTAIN THE SAME LEVEL FOR 27.
AND IF WE ADOPTED THESE RATES, IT WOULD RESULT IN A DEAD SERVICE COVERAGE OF 1.34 TIMES COVERAGE.
SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE CITY MUST BE MINDFUL OF ANTICIPATED THE SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW COMPLIANCE COSTS IN FUTURE BUDGET CYCLE.
SSO RELATED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND REGULATORY OBLIGATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO PLACE ADDITIONAL PRESSURE ON THE WATER SEWER FUND IN FY 28 AND BEYOND.
REINFORCING THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING DISCIPLINE RATE SETTING PRACTICES NOW TO PRESERVE FISCAL FLEXIBILITY IN THE TERM, IN THE NEAR TERM.
SO THE WATER IMPACTS TO A CUSTOMER WOULD BE, UM, $3.30 AND 30 CENTS PER BILLING CYCLE.
IT'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE $41
[00:25:01]
AND 57 CENTS TO 44 87.AND THIS IS BASED ON 5,000 GALLONS FOR, UH, A CUSTOMER.
THE SEWER, UM, IMPACT WILL BE $5.50 AND 68 CENTS A MONTH.
UM, GOING FROM $45 AND 79 CENTS TO $51 AND 47 CENTS.
AND THE COMBINED IMPACT WILL BE $8 AND 98 CENTS FOR A TYPICAL CUSTOMER WITH A 5,000 UM, GALLON USAGE.
SO THIS, AS YOU CAN SEE, WE DID A COMPARISON WITH THE OTHER CITIES AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE CITY OF BAYTON, EVEN WITH THE PROPOSED RATE, WOULD STILL BE IN THE MIDDLE SPECTRUM OF ALL THE OTHER CITIES.
SO WE ARE STILL BEING FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE AND, UM, BEING COMPETITIVE IN THIS SPACE.
UM, SO WITH THAT, UM, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, THIS, I WOULD SAY THAT THE FY 27 RATE ADJUSTMENTS REPRESENT A CONTINUED APPROACH TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE MEETING OUR FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AND WE'RE CONSIDERING OUR FUTURE SSO COMPLIANCE.
AND SO THAT WE, UM, ARE ALSO ENSURING THAT OUR BOND HOLDERS, UH, WILL BE ABLE TO BE, UH, PAID.
AND SO WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO DISCUSS AND HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
IS OUR TRASH SERVICE GOING, UH, NEXT YEAR? ISN'T THAT WILL BE LIKE A TRIFECTA, SO, OR IS IT STAYING THE SAME? I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT OUR TRACK RATE, IT'S ALL GONNA GO UP.
DO WE KNOW HOW MUCH? I BELIEVE THEY HAVE ONE YEAR LEFT ON THEIR CONTRACT AND I THINK IT WAS LIKE A 3% OFF THE TOP.
'CAUSE THEY THEY'RE CAPPED, THEY'RE CAPPED PRETTY CLOSE TO THEY HIT THEIR CAP.
I MEAN, WE HAVE TO GET SSO DONE.
SO YEAH, IT'S JUST IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS WILL PROBABLY BE EVERY YEAR AT THIS RATE GOING FORWARD.
YEAH, I MEAN, AND WE'VE ALREADY PREPARED FOLKS FOR THE STICKER SHOCK WITH THE NEW, UM, METERS MM-HMM
UM, AND SO I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE IMPORTANT FOR US TO DELINEATE THAT IF THEY GET A HIGH WATER BILL, THEY MAY ATTRIBUTE IT TO THE NEW RATES.
UM, AND SO IF WE CAN JUST WORK WITH THOSE INDIVIDUALS, UM, WHO ARE HAVING A HIGH WATER SPIKE WITH THE NEW METERS AND THEY UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE.
UM, SO I, I THINK FOR ME, I I DON'T HAVE ANY REAL HEARTBURN OVER THIS, SO I'D BE OKAY WITH IT.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP MOVING TOWARDS THE COST RECOVERY ON THIS ONE ON WATER.
MAINLY BECAUSE WE HAVE OUT OF, WE HAVE OUT OF CITY CUSTOMERS, RIGHT? CORRECT.
AND SO WHEN WE WERE, WHEN WE WERE OFFSETTING WATER RATES USING GENERAL FUND, WE WERE REALLY USING PROPERTY TAXES PAID BY RESIDENTS TO HELP OUT OF CITY, YOU KNOW, OUT, OUT OF CITY RESIDENTS.
SO I'D LIKE WATER SEWER TO STAY IT THE COST RECOVERY.
AND IF WE LOOK FOR WAYS TO OFFSET, I WOULD WANT TO LOOK FOR WAYS TO SPEC SPECIFICALLY HELP, YOU KNOW, IN CITY RESIDENTS LIKE TRASH, YOU KNOW, LIKE WE'RE NOT PICKING UP TRASH OUTSIDE OF THE CITY, RIGHT? NO.
SO I DON'T THINK WE'RE, SHOULD, I THINK THE BASE I'D LOOK TO DO THINGS THAT HELP IN CITY IF, IF WE STAY THE COURSE WITH OUR RATES.
UH, FROM, IN MY OPINION, I BELIEVE THAT WHERE COUNSEL CAN MAKE A BIGGER IMPACT IS IN THE FUTURE WITH SSO, UM, WHERE THE GENERAL FUND IS CAN HELP PAY FOR SOME OF THE PIECES OF THE SSO.
UM, AND THAT DOESN'T GO TOWARDS JUST THE ONGOING REALLY THE M AND O OF WATER RATES AT THIS POINT, THAT THAT'S FIXING SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIXED A LONG TIME AGO.
AND WE'RE NOT ARBITRARILY JUST, IT'S NOT ARBITRARY, IT'S JUST WE'RE HEAVILY RAISING THE, THE, THE FEES AT THAT POINT.
SO WE CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE BY REDUCING THE DEBT NECESSARY WITH THE SO IF WE USE, UM, GENERAL FUND MONEY.
Y'ALL HAVE TO ASK HER MORE QUESTIONS.
I MEAN, SHE'S, SHE WANTED Y'ALL TO LIKE, GOOD.
WELL LET ME, LET ME BREAK IT UP AND MAKE SOMEBODY UNCOMFORTABLE HERE.
UH, NATE IS OUR NEW BUDGET GUY.
SO NATE, HELLO? UH, I WAS GONNA HAVE YOU COME UP HERE, BUT THEN I WAS LIKE, NAH, NEVERMIND.
BUDGET GUY IS HIS OFFICIAL TITLE.
I THINK HE HAS TO BUDGET GUY, I THINK BUDGET, BUDGET ANALYST.
IS THAT THE, IS THAT THE TITLE? AND SO HE'S BEEN DOING A GREAT JOB.
HE'S GOT, HE'S UH, HE CAME RIGHT IN WHEN BUDGET KICKED
[00:30:01]
OFF.AND SO HE'S, UH, HELPING PUT ALL THIS TOGETHER AND HAS BEEN A GREAT RESOURCE.
AND HAPPY YOU'RE HERE MAN, AND HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING IT.
I DID THIS ALL BUDGET MEETINGS LIBRARY.
HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR LIBRARY PARK YET? PARK OKAY.
MAKE SURE MAYOR'S NOT HOLD S**T.
ALRIGHT, SO, UM, I WANT TO TALK A PIECE OF THE FORMULA THAT YOU SEE IS OUR TRANSFER ENDS.
IT'S A REVENUE PORTION OF THE FORMULA AND IT'S, IT'S ABOUT TRANSFERS.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE'VE ACTUALLY HAD IN-DEPTH CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW WE USE TRANSFERS AS PART OF THE BUDGET FORMULA TO BALANCE OUR BUDGET.
AND, UM, WHEN IT ALL COMES DOWN TO IT, THE, WE, WE ROUGHLY HAVE $500 MILLION THAT WE WERE TAKING CARE OF YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT.
OKAY? AND IT ALL COMES TO THE SAME BUCKET.
NOW, IN THAT BUCKET, THERE ARE DIFFERENT SLOTS OF THE BUCKET AND HOW THINGS ARE DIVIDED.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT BUILDING THE BUDGET, WE HAVE HAD SHORTFALLS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS WITH REVENUE, WITH THE DECREASING OF THE TAX RATE.
IT'S CREATED SOME GAPS FOR US.
AND WE AS A, AS A BODY WANTED TO TAKE IT SLOW ON MAKING OUR SERVICE DELIVERY CHANGES.
AND BECAUSE WE WANTED TO MAKE, WE WANTED TO TAKE OR PACE IT APPROPRIATELY, UM, WE NEEDED TO FIND DIFFERENT REVENUE TO HELP BRING IN SOMETHING ABOVE THE TOP SO THAT OUR EXPENSES WERE BELOW THE REVENUE.
AS YOU CAN SEE, IT'S DECREASED YEAR OVER YEAR.
AND THE FIRST THING THAT I WANT TO DO IS APPLAUD EVERYBODY THAT HAS WORKED ON THIS COUNCIL STAFF TO GET TO THIS POINT.
BECAUSE FOR US TO BE ABLE TO DECREASE IT THAT MUCH MEANS THAT WE'VE MADE SOME HARD CHOICES OVER THE YEARS.
WE'VE ALSO CORRECTED THINGS THAT THAT JUST NEEDED TO BE ADDRESSED.
AND, UM, BUT WE CAME OUT ON TOP, RIGHT? WE, WE'VE HAD SOME, SOME EMOTIONS FLY, WE'VE HAD SOME TOUGH CONVERSATIONS AND WE'VE HAD SOME OTHER WINS THAT WENT WITH WITH THIS.
BUT OVERALL, WE'VE GOT THROUGH IT ALL AND WE'VE DONE WELL.
THE ISSUE HERE, THIS WAS A ROUGH YEAR, FY 25, WE TOOK $9 MILLION FROM OTHER FUNDS IN THE CITY TO PUT US ABOVE THE LINE TO BE ABLE TO PAY FOR MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION.
OKAY? 9 MILLION THAT DEPLETED ALMOST THE ENTIRETY OF THE CAPITAL REPLACEMENT FUND.
IF Y'ALL REMEMBER, UH, BACK IN 22, WE TOOK 25 MILLION OUT OF THE CAPITAL FUND TO OFFSET THE DEBT, IF Y'ALL REMEMBER THAT.
WE DIDN'T WANT TO GO OUT FOR DEBT.
SO WE USED, WE SPENT DOWN THE CAPITAL REPLACEMENT FUND AND IT WAS 25 MILLION GONE LIKE THAT, OR IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN 16 MILLION.
I, I FORGET WHAT IT WAS AT THIS POINT, BUT IT, IT WAS JUST BOOM GONE, RESERVES PLUMMETED.
AND THIS GOES BACK TO LIKE 23, 22.
THIS, THIS GOES BACK, WE'RE JUST SHOWING THREE YEARS RIGHT NOW.
UM, THE CAPITAL REPLACEMENT FUND WAS $16 MILLION WHEN WE STARTED THIS PROCESS, UH, FOUR YEARS AGO.
OKAY? SO FOR LACK OF BETTER WORDS, WE HAD TO ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL TO KEEP THINGS OPERATING IN THE CITY.
IT DOESN'T, IT DID NOT, IT DOES NOT NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE CUSTOMER OR THE CITIZEN, RIGHT? IT DOES NOT NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE CITIZEN.
I'M GONNA MAKE THAT VERY CLEAR.
IT'S ALL PART OF THE SAME BIG BUCKET.
IT'S JUST REPRIORITIZING THINGS, OKAY? AND WE HAD, UM, OTHER FUNDS THROUGHOUT THE CITY THAT HAD A, A HEALTHY RESERVE THAT WERE ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS AS WELL.
THE POINT OF THE STORY IS THAT WE'RE DOWN TO $2 MILLION AND THIS 2 MILLION IS NOT OUR OPERATING FUNDS NECESSARY.
IT'S THE TURS AND THE TURS PAYS US FOR WORK THAT'S BEING DONE FOR THE TURS, IT'S THE MDD.
THEY ALSO ARE PAYING US FOR WORK THAT'S BEING DONE.
IT'S WATER SEWER TO A SMALL EXTENT
[00:35:01]
BECAUSE WE ARE DOING THE ADMINISTRATIVE WORK, UH, LIKE ALL THE SUPPORT SYSTEMS IN THE CITY ARE DOING THE WORK FOR THEM.UM, AND I FORGET THE OTHER ONE OFF, I, I THINK THERE'S FOUR OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
BUT, UM, THOSE CONTRIBUTE ROUGHLY THE $2 MILLION THAT WE'RE SEEING.
THOSE ARE VALID REASONS TO TRANSFER THE MONEY IN.
AND SO IT'S NOT HAVING TO GO TO OTHER FUNDS AND REALLY UTILIZE THEM TO HELP SUPPORT THE GENERAL FUND AT THIS POINT.
AND SO I JUST WANT, I WANT TO BRING THAT AWARENESS TO YOU TO SEE IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR, OR WANNA HAVE A CONVERSATION ON THAT.
HOW MUCH IS BEING USED BY MDD? I THINK 450,500.
MDD IS DIFFERENT BECAUSE IT ALSO PAYS FOR HARRIS COUNTY TRANSIT.
SO THAT'S BEING TRANSFERRED IN WITH THAT AS WELL.
AND HOW MUCH URS? 3 50, 9600 9390 6,000 MM-HMM
BUT IT'S BASICALLY ALL, I MEAN IT'S ALL VALID ADMINISTRATIVE TYPE REIMBURSEMENTS.
IT'S NOT MAKING UP FOR SHORTFALLS.
THAT'S WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO GET TO.
RIGHT? THAT'S WHY I WANNA CELEBRATE IT.
WE'VE DONE A GOOD JOB GETTING TO THIS POINT OF GETTING THE REVENUE, UH, ABOVE THE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION.
WE MADE SOME HARD CHOICES OVER THE YEARS.
AND, UM, BUT WE'RE IN A GOOD POSITION.
SO NOW GOING FORWARD, IT'LL STAY RELATIVELY CLOSE TO THAT NUMBER AS WE CONTINUE TO MONITOR OUR EXPENSES AND THAT OUR REVENUES ARE, IF WE STAY WITH WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW, STAY WITH A CONSTANT TAX RATE.
UM, WE APPEAR TO BE ON THE COURSE THAT NEEDS TO BE.
NOW IF WE GO BACK TO THE NO NEW REVENUE THAT IT MAY HAVE TO HAVE DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS TO HELP SUPPORT THIS.
SO AGAIN, STAYING AT THE 6, 9, 8 0 3 IS KIND OF YES, SIR.
SO WE SAY THE 6 9 0 3 AND WE CONTROL OUR DEBT.
THAT SHOULD BE HAVE A, A STABLE TRAJECTORY WHERE WE DON'T HAVE TO, THE REVENUE COMING IN SHOULD COVER EXPENSES, SHOULD UP THERE AT THIS POINT.
SO COULD THAT NUMBER INCREASE WITH TURS ACTIVITY? INCREASING IT, IT CAN INCREASE MM-HMM
SO YOU CAN USE THE TURS, YOU CAN USE THE MDD TO PAY FOR MORE THINGS, BUT I WOULD ARGUE THAT YOU NEED TO HAVE A REAL VALID EXCUSE FOR TRANSFERRING THAT MONEY IN, UH, IS FROM THE OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES LIKE OUR, OUR INTERNAL FUNDS.
THAT CAN BE MOVED AROUND AS NECESSARY.
BUT IF YOU'RE TAKING IT FROM THE TURS OR MDD, ANYTHING THAT HAS ITS OWN BODY, UM, YOU REALLY WANT TO SHOW WHAT IT'S ACTUALLY PAYING FOR TO TRANSFER THEM.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY HAVE HIS OWN BODY? SO THE TS IS A, IS A SEPARATE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY.
THE MDD IS A SEPARATE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY AND THEY HAVE THEIR OWN BOARDS THAT CONTROL THEIR BUDGET.
SO ANY OF THOSE PIECES, YOU HAVE TO, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A VALID EXPENSE ASSOCIATED WITH WHAT THEY'RE TRANSFERRING MONEY.
JUST WANT THE PEOPLE WATCHING TO HEAR THAT SOUNDS GOOD.
DO I NEED TO DANCE OR ANYTHING? GREAT.
NOTHING GOOD? NO, WE ALREADY TOOK A BREAK EARLY AND WE, THINGS ARE OUTTA ORDER.
WE GOT ANY MORE TRAININGS? WE ACTUALLY, WELL MAYOR, I'LL, I'LL LEAVE IT UP TO YOU.
WE'RE GONNA GO TO FROM THE REVENUE TO THE EXPENSES.
DO YOU WANT A SMALL BREAK BEFORE WE GO TO THE EXPENSES OR YEAH, I NEED A BREAK.
MS. ISAAC, YOU NEED A BREAK? UM,
COUNSEL, MOVING ON FROM THE REVENUE PIECES, WE ARE GONNA GO INTO A FEW POLICY PIECE, UH, A FEW POLICY DISCUSSIONS.
UM, THAT WHAT, WHAT DO I DO? NOTHING.
DO I NEED TO SIT DOWN? NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.
OH, I DON'T MIND DANCING ON NO, NO, NO.
NO, THIS BUDGET, WE GONNA HAVE A GOOD TIME.
YOU JUST SAID I CAN'T HAVE A GOOD TIME.
THEY DON'T WANT ME TO AD-LIB IS WHAT IT IS.
THEY WANT ME TO STAY ON SCRIPT 'CAUSE THEY'RE AFRAID.
I'M GONNA SAY SOMETHING AND I WILL RIGHT NOW.
SO, UH, I'M JUST KIDDING BECAUSE Y'ALL ARE SUPPOSED TO DO THIS, RIGHT? MM-HMM
WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT EXPENSES.
UM, SO WE ARE GONNA GO INTO SOME ONGOING EXPENSES.
AND THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE HAVE HEARD Y'ALL BRING
[00:40:01]
UP IN THE PAST THAT WE WANNA TAKE UNDER CONSIDERATION IS WE BUILD THE BUDGET WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS SOMETHING WE WANNA ADD IN.SO THE FIRST ONE THAT I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT IS THE GRAFFITI ABATEMENT PROGRAM.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS I WANT TO POINT OUT, FIRST OF ALL, OUR GOAL TODAY IS TO PRESENT YOU WITH SOME INFORMATION TO DIG A LITTLE DEEPER INTO WHAT THAT MEANS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT A GRAFFITI ABATEMENT PROGRAM.
SO THAT YOU CAN SAY EITHER, YEAH, WE THINK THERE'S ENOUGH POSITIVE OUTCOMES TO OUTWEIGH ANY OF THE KIND OF NEGATIVE THINGS THAT COME ALONG WITH THAT.
OR IF IT'S THE OPPOSITE, IF YOU SAY, YEAH, WE WANNA PURSUE THAT, THAT'S GREAT, THEN WE'LL CONTINUE TO DIG INTO IT AND THEN BRING SOMETHING BACK AT A LATER WORK SESSION WHEN WE FLUSHED IT OUT SOME MORE.
THE THING THAT I'LL POINT OUT IN TERMS OF TALKING ABOUT ONGOING EXPENSES, AS JAY HAS SAID OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, WE HAVE REALLY FOCUSED IN ON BUDGET CUTS REDUCING SOME OF OUR SERVICES.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING THAT Y'ALL REALLY GIVEN GUIDANCE ON IS MOVING TOWARDS COST RECOVERY MODELS, WHERE WHEREVER WE CAN, SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT GRAFFITI ABATEMENT, A THIS IS AN INCREASE IN SERVICES AND IT IS NOT A PLACE WHERE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A COST RECOVERY MODEL.
OKAY? AND I'M GONNA GO THROUGH THAT A LITTLE BIT SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
UM, SO FIRST OF ALL, WHAT IS OUR CURRENT STATE WITH GRAFFITI? WELL, WE'RE NOT REALLY DOING ANYTHING ABOUT GRAFFITI RIGHT NOW.
UH, WHEN IT COMES TO KIND OF THIS PRIVATE PROPERTY, IF IT'S ON PUBLIC SPACES, IF IT'S IN OUR PARK, ON OUR BUILDINGS IN THE RIGHT OF WAY, THAT SORT OF THING, EITHER OUR HEALTH DEPARTMENT OR, OR OUR PARKS TEAM CAN GO OUT AND DO THAT.
IF IT'S ON A TECH STOP PROPERTY, WE CONTACT CONTACT T THEY COME OUT, THEY TAKE CARE OF IT.
OUTSIDE OF THAT, WE DON'T DO GRAFFITI ABATEMENT RIGHT NOW.
OKAY? SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT WHAT COULD WE POTENTIALLY DO IN THE FUTURE, SO FIRST OF ALL, UM, WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE A VERY SPECIFIC GRAFFITI ORDINANCE.
THE REASON YOU HAVE TO DO THAT IS BECAUSE OF THE STATE LEGISLATION SAYS YES, YOU CAN DO THAT.
HOWEVER, YOU HAVE TO OFFER IT FOR FREE FIRST TO ALL PROPERTY OWNERS.
AND THEN YOU CAN GO THROUGH A NOTICE PROCESS LIKE WE DO WITH OTHER NUISANCE ABATEMENT, UM, PROCESSES.
AND THEN BECAUSE YOU ESTABLISH IT WITHIN YOUR ORDINANCE, YOU CAN THEN ACCESS PRIVATE PROPERTY TO DO THE GRAFFITI ABATEMENT.
UM, WHICH IS DIFFERENT FROM OUR OTHER ABATEMENT PROCESSES WHERE WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE COURT SYSTEM TO GET THE WARRANT TO GO ON PRIVATE PROPERTY TO OBEY, OKAY? SO THIS IS FOR ALL PROPERTY.
THERE'S NOT A SPLIT BETWEEN IF IT'S RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL PROPERTY.
IT HAS TO BE OFFERED FOR FREE ONCE YOU GET TO THE NOTICE PERIOD.
IF THE OWNER FAILS TO REMOVE IT AFTER YOU'VE GIVEN THEM NOTICE AND A TIME TO CORRECT THAT, WE CAN GO ON, WE CAN ABATE IT, WE CAN CHARGE IF WE WANT TO.
AGAIN, THAT BECOMES THE ISSUE THAT WE HAVE WITH OUR OTHER ABATEMENT ISSUES.
UH, THEN IF THEY DON'T PAY, THEN WE GO INTO A LIEN PROCESS.
AS Y'ALL KNOW, WE HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF LIENS RIGHT NOW THAT WE WILL NEVER RECOVER.
SO THOSE ARE KIND OF THE, THE PIECES OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
AGAIN, ANYTHING THAT'S PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE, SAME AS WE'RE DOING NOW, WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT.
SO IN TERMS OF THE THINGS THAT REALLY NEED TO BE CONSIDERED IN SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS IS, FIRST OF ALL, EVEN THOUGH WE KIND OF HAVE THIS RIGHT TO GO ON TO PRIVATE PROPERTY AND DO WORK AND EFFECTIVELY CHANGE THEIR PRIVATE PROPERTY, THAT IS AN ISSUE, RIGHT? NOT EVERYBODY'S GONNA BE HAPPY WITH THAT.
WE'RE NOT GONNA BE OUT THERE GETTING THE EXACT COLOR MATCH.
WE'RE NOT GONNA BE PAINTING LIKE THE ENTIRE SIDE OF THEIR BUILDING, RIGHT? SO, SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT Y'ALL COULD GET, UM, FEEDBACK ON, UM, WHEN THAT IS DONE.
SO THAT'S JUST ONE THING TO BE AWARE OF GOING INTO THIS.
LIKE I SAID, ONCE, IF WE GO AND WE SAY, HEY, PLEASE HAND YOU YOUR GRAFFITI, WE WILL COME AND DO IT FOR FREE.
THEY IGNORE US, THEY DON'T WANT US ON THEIR PROPERTY, WHATEVER IT IS.
IF IN FACT WE GO DOWN THE PROCESS, WE GIVE 'EM NOTICE AND WE DECIDE TO GO REMOVE IT, THEN WE HAVE TO DECIDE DO WE WANNA GO BACK AND CHARGE 'EM? DO WE JUST WANT TO OFFER THIS ALWAYS AS A FREE PROGRAM? YOU CAN GO EITHER WAY WITH THAT.
AGAIN, THAT'S COST TO THE CITY.
THE OTHER THINGS TO THINK ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE GO INTO THIS, DO WE WANNA BE PROACTIVE REACTIVE ON THAT?
[00:45:01]
ARE WE SURVEILLING FOR THIS AS WE DO WITH OTHER TYPES OF THINGS? IS IT JUST BASED ON COMPLAINTS THROUGH OUR BETTER BAYTOWN APP, THAT SORT OF THING THE STAFF IMPACTS? SO THIS IS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE IDEA OF REDUCING SERVICES AND THAT SORT OF THING.I WILL NOTE THIS PROCESS WILL HIT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PROTECTION GROUP AS WELL AS OUR CLEAN TEAM GROUP.
SO NEIGHBORHOOD PROTECTION WOULD BE THE ONES TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS.
THEY WOULD HAVE TO SEND OUT THE FIRST NOTICE AND THEN THE SECOND NOTICE AND DO ALL THE FOLLOW UPS TO CHECK AND VERIFY.
IF AT THE END IT HAS NOT BEEN RECTIFIED, THEN WE WOULD FORWARD THAT TO THE CLEAN TEAM AND THE CLEAN TEAM WOULD BE WHO GOES OUT AND ACTUALLY DOES THE WORK.
SO Y'ALL DID JUST ADD, UM, FOR THIS NEXT YEAR WITH THE PILOT PROGRAM WITH THE HOMELESS INTERVENTION, ANOTHER CLEAN TEAM.
UM, SO THERE PROBABLY IS SOME CAPACITY THERE FOR THE CLEAN TEAM TO GO OUT, UM, AND DO THIS WORK.
AGAIN, JUST NOTE THAT IF THEY'RE OUT DOING GRAFFITI ABATEMENT, SOME OF THESE OTHER THINGS THAT WE'VE ASKED THEM TO TARGET OR GO, THEY WILL SLOW DOWN, RIGHT? BECAUSE THE BUCKET OF WORK GOT BIGGER, IT HAS TO BE SPREAD OUT FURTHER.
AND THE SAME THING FOR OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PROTECTION GROUP.
WE ALREADY HAVE 'EM ASSIGNED INTO THE ZONES THAT THEY WORK THESE ZONES, MORE COMPLAINTS AND NOTICES TO BE ISSUED AND FOLLOW UP TO BE DONE.
IT COULD SLOW DOWN THEIR REGULAR ROUTINE PROCESSES AND EXTEND THOSE OUT A LITTLE BIT.
THAT IS ALL UNKNOWN BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH GRAFFITI'S OUT THERE, YOU KNOW? SO, UM, WOULD ANTICIPATE SOME SORT OF SPIKE IF WE STARTED THE PROGRAM AND THEN SOME SORT OF LEVELING OUT.
UM, SO THOSE ARE JUST THINGS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER IN TERMS OF THE ACTUAL COST, LIKE I SAID, SINCE WE'RE NOT ADDING STAFF, UM, AND WE WOULDN'T BE ADDING VEHICLES FOR PEOPLE TO DRIVE AROUND.
UM, THOSE ARE THE BIGGEST COSTS.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE STILL COSTS ASSOCIATED IN TERMS OF THE NOTICES STILL HAVE TO BE SENT, UM, CERTIFIED MAIL, WHICH FOR EVERY LETTER IS ABOUT EIGHT TO $10.
UM, SO DEPENDING ON THE VOLUME OF THAT, THAT'S NOT AN INSIGNIFICANT COST.
OBVIOUSLY THE SUPPLIES IN TERMS OF PAINT AND PAINT SUPPLIES AND PRESSURE WASHING AND CLEANING CHEMICALS, WHICH ARE EXPENSIVE, UM, THAT WOULD BE A COST IMPACT.
AND THEN THE EQUIPMENT TO DO, UM, POWER WASHING, KEEPING THOSE, UM, MACHINES UP AND RUNNING THE MAINTENANCE AND THAT SORT OF THING.
SO, SO THOSE ARE KIND OF THE PARTS AND PIECES, UM, OF THE GRAFFITI PROGRAM.
SO LIKE I SAID, WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO GET OUT OF Y'ALL IS OBVIOUSLY IF Y'ALL HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, HAPPY TO ANSWER THOSE.
OTHERWISE, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT Y'ALL LIKE, YEAH, IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S ENOUGH THERE THAT WE'RE WILLING TO GO IN THIS DIRECTION AND WE WANT SOME MORE INFORMATION.
OR IS IT ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE IT'S LIKE, UGH, OKAY, NOW THAT WE'VE DUG INTO IT A LITTLE BIT MORE, WE UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE CONCERNS AND THE, UM, HURDLES WE MAY HAVE TO CLEAR.
THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO DO AT THIS POINT.
I'M GONNA LEAN TOWARD TO GET MORE INFORMATION BECAUSE I HAVE SEVERAL QUESTIONS THAT YOU SAID THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE NUMBERS ON YET BEFORE I CAN MAKE A DECISION ON IT.
UM, HOW MANY COMPLAINTS ARE WE GETTING ABOUT THE GRAFFITI RIGHT NOW? WE ONLY HAVE 12 FOR THIS YEAR.
AND THEN MY NEXT QUESTION IS GONNA BE HOW MANY, UM, HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS, UM, HAVE WE, DID WE TAKE DOWN LAST YEAR? I KNOW WE HAD THAT, WE TALKED ABOUT THAT THE LAST WORK SESSION, BUT I DON'T HAVE THOSE NUMBERS WITH ME.
DO YOU HAPPEN TO REMEMBER OFF THE NOTE? NO, I DON'T REMEMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
NO, LIKE I SAID, I KNOW WE HAVE IT.
YES, I I DIDN'T THINK I WOULD NEED TO KNOW THAT FOR TODAY.
UM, AS FAR AS THE LIENS, DIDN'T WE PUT SOME OF THESE PROPERTIES UP FOR AUCTION OR, OR FOR SALE? SOME OF THE PROPERTIES THAT WERE, THAT WE HAD LIENS ON, THERE MAY BE PROPERTIES THAT GO THROUGH PROBABLY MORE OF THE TAX PROCESS THAT END UP FOR SALE AND THEY ALSO HAVE LIENS.
UM, WE DO NOT HAVE A PROCESS IN PLACE OR ANYTHING WHERE WE'RE ACTIVELY PURSUING THE PROPERTIES WITH LIENS TO SELL THEM.
WE SOLD OUR VACANT PROPERTIES, THE CITY SOLD OUR VACANT PROPERTIES.
AND SO THE CITY OWNED YEAH, CITY OWNED PROPERTIES.
RIGHT? BECAUSE THE LIEN PROPERTIES ARE STILL OWNED BY YEAH.
SO HOW MANY LIEN PROPERTIES DO WE HAVE? WHOLE CITY
LIKE SERIOUSLY, LIKE YEAH, BUT CAN WE GET IT? CAN I GET A NUMBER ON THAT? OH, IT'S DON'T, UNBELIEVABLE.
MAYOR, I, I WILL STILL LIKE A NUMBER ON IT IF WE CAN GET IT.
I'M NOT SAYING WE NEED IT TODAY, BUT IF Y'ALL COULD LOOK AT THAT, I'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT
[00:50:01]
PART OF THE PROBLEM IS GONNA BE SOME OF OUR LIENS ARE STILL PAPER BASED.YOU MAY HAVE COVERED THIS AND I APOLOGIZE, I JUST SAID BACK AHEAD.
THERE'S A DIFFERENCE IN A TAX LIEN PROPERTY AND AN ABATEMENT LIEN PROPERTY, RIGHT? AND, AND WE HAVE THOUSANDS ABATEMENT LIEN.
I DON'T, I DON'T, I DON'T, I MEAN, I'M NOT SURE THAT THE NUMBER OF LIENS FACTORS INTO, WELL, IT'S FACTOR INTO IT ABATEMENT GONNA FACTOR IF IT'S, IT IS GONNA, IT IS GONNA FACTOR INTO IT.
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT WE'LL NEVER RECOVER ANY OF THESE LIENS.
UM, I'M, I WANT TO, I WANT THIS INFORMATION TO LOOK AT THE NUMBERS.
UM, MY INITIAL THOUGHT WHEN IT COMES TO GR GRAFFITI ABATEMENT IS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE MORE OF THAT NEED ON PROBABLY IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS RATHER THAN OTHERS.
AND IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE IN THE DISTRICTS WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO GET MORE FOOT TRAFFIC THERE.
AND IF WE'RE TRYING TO GET MORE FOOT TRAFFIC THERE, IN MY OPINION, WE SHOULD DO WHAT WE CAN TO HELP IT LOOK NICER TO HELP PEOPLE WANT TO COME IN AND PUT A BUSINESS IN THERE.
UM, I KNOW THAT YOU ALL HAD DISCUSSIONS BEFORE I GOT BACK ON ABOUT PUTTING THINGS IN CERTAIN AREAS TO HELP IT, UM, TO BRING BUSINESSES IN THERE.
ONE OF THE REASONS WHY MAC IS GOING WHERE IT'S GOING.
BUT IF WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT AND PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE TRAVELING THAT SIDE OF TOWN, MY OPINION, WE SHOULD DO WHAT WE CAN TO HELP IT LOOK NICER, ESPECIALLY IF SOME OF THESE PROPERTIES ARE ABANDONED.
BUT BEFORE I MAKE THAT DECISION OR BEFORE I, I'M HARD SET ON IT.
I LIKE TO GET SOME MORE INFORMATION.
SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS ANSWERED THAT I ASKED.
Y'ALL HAVE ANYTHING? I, I, I KNOW YOU'RE WANNA GET SOME MORE A ANSWERS.
HONESTLY, I THINK, UM, TO LOOK, I LIKE THE IDEA OF, OF THIS PROGRAM AND WHAT IT COULD DO FOR A LOT OF THE CITY.
UH, I DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH HAVING A, UM, A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO IT.
MORE OF A REACTIVE, UH, THAT WILL ACTUALLY HELP HELP THE CITY TARGET THOSE BUILDINGS AT MORE PUBLIC PROPERTY.
I DON'T HAVE A, I DON'T LIKE THE IDEA OF, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD PATROLS, YOU KNOW, PAINTING PEOPLE'S HOUSES.
AND SO, UM, I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW THIS LOOKS AS A REACTIVE MEASURE TO, UH, SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE PROPERTIES ISSUES THAT WE'RE HAVING.
THERE'S, THERE'S GRAFFITI ALL OVER, SO I KNOW THERE'S, I KNOW ONE PROBLEM AREA THAT COMES TO MIND IS GARTH ROAD AND ROLLING BROOK, THAT A PROPERTY THERE THAT, THAT'S HAD ISSUES.
SO I, I DEFINITELY WANT TO SEE HOW THIS LOOKS MOVING FORWARD.
OF COURSE, HAVING YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
I THINK A LOT OF THOSE QUESTIONS ARE, ARE VALID.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE NEED NECESSARILY A ACCOUNT ON EVERY LIEN PROPERTY, A LIEN TO LIEN, UM, BUT, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A WAY WE COULD ABATE WHAT WE'RE DOING, UH, TO HOLD THOSE PROPERTY OWNERS ACCOUNTABLE TO KEEPING THEIR PROPERTY CLEAN.
SO DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF, SINCE WE, YOU SAID WE ONLY HAVE LIKE 12 RIGHT NOW, UH, IN TERMS OF GRAFFITI ABATEMENT, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW MANY ACTUALLY THERE ARE IN THE CITY? I MEAN, BECAUSE I, I DON'T WANNA GO PROACTIVE EITHER.
UM, I, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CONCENTRATE ON THE ACTUAL JOB THAT THESE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS HAVE AND PRIORITIZE THAT.
UM, FOR ME, THE NUMBER OF LIENS, I, I DON'T THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT TO ME, UH, BECAUSE IT'S HARD.
I KNOW IT'S HARD AND NOT JUST FOR OUR CITY, BUT EVERYWHERE TO TRY TO RECOVER LIENS.
UM, SOME PEOPLE JUST MOVE AWAY OR SOMEONE DIES AND IT JUST STAYS WITH THE PROPERTY.
UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE UNFORTUNATELY SOMETIMES CAN'T AVOID.
SO THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT TO ME.
I THINK FOR ME, I JUST WANNA BE A LITTLE BIT MORE REACTIVE.
BUT IF IT STARTS TO BECOME A HUGE PROBLEM AND WE'RE GETTING SO MANY AND IT IS IMPACTING, UM, THE WORKLOAD, THEN I THINK I'D HAVE TO REVISIT THAT.
SO I, I, I THINK ONCE, ONCE WE'RE, IF WE GO THAT ROUTE, ONCE WE START OFFERING IT, IT'S GOING TO, THE REQUESTS ARE GOING TO INCREASE.
UM, AND I REALLY LOOKING AT WHAT WE ARE HIRING THE, THE EXTRA CLEAN TEAM TO DO, I DON'T WANT TO OVERBURDEN THEM BY THROWING THIS IN ON IT ALSO, BECAUSE, UM, WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA SEE THAT SOME OF THESE, SOME OF THIS GRAFFITI IS GOING, IS BEING DONE BY SOME HOMELESS PEOPLE.
AND IF WE WOULD FOCUS ON THAT, I'M NOT SAYING IT IS, BUT IF THAT'S
[00:55:01]
WHAT WE FIND AND WHEN WE FOCUS ON THE HOMELESS ISSUE, WE MAY SEE THE GRAFFITI NATURALLY GO DOWN ALSO.UM, BUT THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING WHAT I'M ASKING.
I DON'T NEED ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
I, I DON'T WANT TO SEE US EXPLORE THIS ANY FURTHER.
I THINK THERE'S TOO MANY CHALLENGES INVOLVED WITH IT, SO I'M OKAY.
I WOULD SAY TO THE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF UNKNOWNS IN TERMS OF BOTH THE FACT THAT WE'RE IMPLEMENTING THE HOMELESS INTERVENTION MM-HMM
SO IT'S, IT IS PART ENCAMPMENT THAT'S THE KIND OF THE, THE BIG PIECE OF THAT.
BUT THERE ARE OTHER SMALLER PIECES MM-HMM
UM, THAT THAT TEAM WILL BE REACTING TO IN ADDITION TO, IS IT GONNA BE FULL-TIME? PROBABLY NOT.
SO CAN THEY, YOU KNOW, UM, SPREAD THAT AND, AND PICK UP SOME OF THE GRAFFITI STUFF? I THINK SO THAT THE THING THAT WE DON'T KNOW IS WHAT, WHAT'S THE VOLUME OF ALL OF THOSE PIECES? WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? UM, AND AGAIN, BACK TO THE, THE LEAN THING, JUST REAL QUICK.
REMEMBER WE CAN GO THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS AND JUST SAY, IT IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE A NO CHARGE SERVICE, SO YOU DON'T GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
YOU KNOW, SO, SO IT'S, YOU KNOW, PART OF IT'S THE IDEA OF DO YOU WANT A, TO TRY TO COLLECT, WHICH MEANS COVER THE COST.
IN THIS CASES WHERE YOU DON'T COLLECT, YOU'RE GONNA END UP WITH LIENS.
UM, WHICH ULTIMATELY IS NO DIFFERENT THAN IF WE STARTED FROM THE BEGINNING SAYING WE'RE NOT GONNA CHARGE AT ANY POINT IN THE PROCESS HOW, HOWEVER, YOU MAY LOSE OUT ON SOME SMALL BIT OF, YOU KNOW, COST RECOVER.
UM, SO I HAVE KINDA LIKE MY COLLEAGUE, I I, I'VE GOT SOME CONCERNS HERE.
WE'RE USING GOVERNMENTAL RESOURCES, CITY RESOURCES TO UPGRADE AND FACILITATE PRIVATE PROPERTY.
UH, SO I'M OPPOSED TO THAT CONCEPT OF WE'RE NOT GONNA CHARGE, I MEAN, THERE'S THOSE LITTLE FUNKY RULES OUT THERE THAT WE CAN'T USE MUNICIPAL FUNDS FOR PRIVATE GAIN.
AND IF WE GO CLEAN SOMEBODY'S PROPERTY UP WITH THE INTENT OF WE'RE NOT GONNA CHARGE, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE DOING.
YOU WANT TO COME PAINT MY HOUSE EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS FOR FREE, BRING IT OFF MY OWN HOUSE.
ALL GRAFFITI AND Y'ALL COME PAINT IT.
SO, BUT IT'S ONLY ON GRAFFITI.
ALL GRAFFITI, THE WHOLE THING.
I HAVE CON CONCERNS WITH THE CONCEPT OF NO CHARGE.
THE IDEA OF LIEN ISSUES GETS INTO A WHOLE LITANY OF LEGAL ISSUES THAT WE WILL NEVER GET IT BACK.
SO I, I'M LEANING MORE TOWARDS, IT'S A PRIVATE PROPERTY ISSUE.
IF WE HAVE STANDARDS THAT, THAT THEY'RE FAILING TO MEET, THERE'S A CITATION LEGAL PROCESS TO FORCE THAT.
IF IT'S ABANDONED PROPERTY, SO FORTH AND SO ON, THAT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
BUT I, I WOULD BE OPPOSED TO SITTING UP ON THIS DIOCESE TO, TO ROUTINELY SAY, WELL, WE'RE GONNA TAKE PRIVATE OR PUBLIC FUNDS FOR PRIVATE GAIN AND NOT HAVE ANY AVENUE TO RECOUP.
WE, WE CAN'T GO DOWN THAT ROAD.
IF WE FORECLOSE ON CERTAIN LIEN PROPERTIES, WE'RE THE LAST PEOPLE THAT GET PAID.
AND NORMALLY YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY A THIRD OF EVERYBODY ELSE.
SO IT'S A ZERO SOMETHING GAME.
SAME WAY WITH, WITH PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LIENS OR CORRECTED LIENS.
WHEN IT GETS HIGH ENOUGH AND YOU FORECLOSE ON IT, IT GOES TO AUCTION.
AND THEN EVERYBODY ELSE HAS LIENS GETS PAID FIRST BEFORE THOSE ARE PAID OFF.
SO WE TYPICALLY DON'T ANYWAY, BUT IT'S A LEGAL PROCESS TO JUSTIFY SPENDING PUBLIC FUNDS FOR PRIVATE GAIN.
SO I AGREE WITH MY COLLEAGUE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A, WE CAN GET MORE INFORMATION, LOOK AT IT TO GET THE DETAILS SO EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS THOSE LEVELS.
BUT I'M, I'M NOT FOR JUST TAKING POSITION OF WELL WE'RE GONNA DO IT KNOWING WE'RE NOT GONNA CHARGE FOR IT.
THERE'S OTHER THINGS THAT WE DO THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA CHARGE FOR WILL BE MORE IMPACT TO OUR CITIZENS THAN THIS ACTIVITY.
SO CAN THE CITY IMPLEMENT A CITATION PROCESS? THAT'S THE ONE WHEN HE SAID THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO A POLICY POLICY ON IT.
WE CAN CITE AFTER WE OFFER THE SERVICE FOR FREE, CORRECT? YES, YOU HAVE TO, THE LEGISLATIVE THEY PUT IN VERY SPECIFIC TO GRAFFITI.
YOU HAVE TO OFFER IT FOR FREE FIRST BEFORE YOU CAN NOTICE THEM HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE PRICE.
I'M SURPRISED THAT THEY WERE WILLING TO DO THAT.
SO, ALRIGHT, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ON THE ENCAMPMENTS OR WERE 45 ENCAMP 45 ENCAMPMENTS IN THE LAST 18 MONTHS.
I THINK WE JUST LEAVE IT ALONE FOR NOW.
[01:00:05]
I STILL WOULD LIKE THAT INFORMATION.UH, ALL WE OWE IS THE LIEN INFORMATION.
THE LIEN INFORMATION IS ALL WE OWE.
YOU HAVE PUBLIC PRESSURE ON MOST BUSINESSES THAT HAVE OKAY.
ARE YOU READY? WHAT FUN THINGS DO YOU HAVE? GO, JAMIE.
NO, I DO HAVE A FUN PART, UH, BECAUSE I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT, UH, TABS BED.
ARE YOU SURE? ALRIGHT, I'LL KEEP YOU AWAY.
UH, I WANNA UPDATE, UH, YOU GUYS AND INFORM YOU ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF THE TABS BAY CLUBHOUSE, FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE CLUBHOUSE AT, UH, EVERGREEN.
UH, AND SO, SO THAT, I'M WANNA DO ONE, I'M GONNA GIVE YOU THE CURRENT STATE, BUT THEN THE PART I NEED FROM YOU IS JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A DIRECTION ON THE POTENTIAL FUTURE STATE, UH, AND MAYBE A LITTLE, UH, GUIDANCE ON BRANDING.
SO, FOR THE CURRENT STATE, AS YOU KNOW, UH, BEFORE T 36 CAME IN, THE EVERGREEN CLUBHOUSE WAS THE JEWEL, IF YOU WILL, IN THE CROWN OF THE PARKS RENTAL INVENTORY, RIGHT? IT WAS VERY POPULAR, UH, VERY WELL USED.
UH, IT HAD A LOT OF THINGS GOING FOR AT THE SIZE, THE LOCATION, IT'S PRETTY OUT THERE.
UH, IT FALLS UNDER OUR ALCOHOL ALLOWED POLICY.
THAT COUNCIL WENT BACK A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN T 36 CAME IN.
UH, THE BUILDING ITSELF WAS PRIMARILY USED AS THE, UH, PRO SHOP, RIGHT? AND NOW THAT THEY ARE GONE PARKS WOMEN, AND THEY LOOKED AT THE BUILDING AND THEY REALIZE THEY ARE THIS FAR FROM PUTTING IT BACK INTO THE RENTAL INVENTORY.
SO THE CURRENT STATE RIGHT NOW, WE'RE DOING VERY MINOR COSMETIC REPAIRS THAT WILL MAKE IT, AGAIN, AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC FOR RENTAL AWARENESS.
WHEN YOU GO INSIDE, IT DOESN'T LOOK QUITE LIKE IT DID BEFORE.
THAT BIG ROOM, THAT WAS KIND OF THE OPEN CONCEPT SPACE HAS BEEN CHOPPED UP A LITTLE BIT.
UH, THE PORCH HAS BEEN ENCLOSED.
UH, THE BATHROOMS, THEY'RE FANTASTICALLY UPGRADED, BUT THE CATERING KITCHEN IS NO LONGER INTACT.
SO IT'S NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT THE SAME, BUT WE STILL FEEL LIKE IT HAS A LOT OF POTENTIAL, UH, FOR RENTAL.
AND THAT IT, THE USES MAY CHANGE A LITTLE BIT, UM, BUT IT WILL STILL BE A POPULAR PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO GO.
SO OUR ANTICIPATION IS IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, IT WILL BE BACK ON THE PARKS RENTAL INVENTORY.
SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THOUGH, GOING FORWARD, UH, THAT SPACE HAS A LOT OF POTENTIAL.
THIS SAYS, UH, EXPENSES ONGOING.
I CALL IT POTENTIAL, UH, ONGOING BECAUSE THE SPACE, THE CLUBHOUSE, BUT PLUS THE ENTIRE CAMPUS, UH, HAS A LOT OF POTENTIAL TO BE BROUGHT BACK INTO USE, UH, BE BROUGHT BACK INTO A SPACE OR A VENUE THAT PEOPLE COULD USE FOR A VARIETY OF THINGS.
UH, ONE EASY EXAMPLE IS, UH, DISC GOLF.
I ALWAYS WANNA CALL IT FRISBEE.
UH, AND, UH, UH, THE GOLF YOU DO WITH YOUR FOOT, UH, FOOT GOLF, IS THAT WHAT IT'S CALLED? CLUE.
UH, BUT OTHER THINGS, THINGS THAT I WOULD'VE NEVER THOUGHT OF.
IT OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF BE A BLANK CANVAS.
UH, RENTAL, UM, CAN BE SET UP FOR A NUMBER OF THINGS.
ONE, UM, PERSON WHO'S CONTACTED US WANTS TO DO A WINE RUN.
ONE THING I LOVE, PUT 'EM TOGETHER.
OH, WHY? WHAT IS THAT? BUT, BUT BECAUSE, BECAUSE OF THE WAY IT'S SET UP AND WITH A BUILDING BACK IN USE, IT HAS THAT INDOOR POTENTIAL, UM, FOR PEOPLE TO DO REGISTRATIONS, COOL OFF WHATEVER, PLUS THE OUTDOOR.
UM, SO IT WE'RE AT THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG AND THINGS THAT COULD BE IMAGINED.
SO ONE THING WE NEED GUIDANCE ON IS WHETHER OR NOT WE SHOULD PROCEED WITH A FEASIBILITY STUDY THAT COULD GIVE US IDEAS, UH, FOR CREATIVE USES.
UM, THAT COULD BE REVENUE, COST RECOVERY.
UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE WE HOPE WOULD COME IN.
IT WOULD BE PART OF A, A TOURISM MARKETING PACKAGE TO BRING MORE PEOPLE TO OUR TOWN AND GIVE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE, UH, SOMETHING FUN TO DO.
UH, IT IS ALREADY, WE HAVE FUNDS IDENTIFIED FOR THE FEASIBILITY STUDY.
UH, IT'S KIND OF SAVINGS THAT WE HAD LEFT OVER FROM THE DOFF RENOVATIONS.
UH, WE, UH, HAD A LOT OF SAVINGS BECAUSE PARKS WAS VERY INNOVATIVE IN THE WAY THEY APPROACHED THAT.
WE NEED GUIDANCE OF, SHOULD WE DIG FURTHER AND EXPLORE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT COULD COME WITH BRINGING THAT WHOLE CAMPUS BACK, UH, TO LIFE.
UM, AND THE SECOND THING, UH, IT IS SORT OF, UH, GOING AN IDENTITY CRISIS.
UH, SOME OF US CALL IT EVERGREEN.
UH, AS WE GO FORWARD, EVEN JUST BRINGING THE RENTAL ONLINE, IT NEEDS TO BE CALLED ONE THING THAT WE KNOW WHAT IT IS.
UH, AND THEN IF WE EXPAND WITH OTHER THINGS, IT NEEDS A NAME.
UH, SO IF YOU GUYS HAVE AN IDENTITY PREFERENCE, UH, THE SIGN OUT THERE
[01:05:01]
RIGHT NOW SAYS TABS BAY.UH, THE STREET IS OBVIOUSLY EVERGREEN, BUT THE BAY IS RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET.
SO IT'S JUST, IF WE COULD GET SOME PREFERENCE, WE CAN EXPLORE A REBRAND.
SO I NEED TWO THINGS FROM YOU, COUNCIL.
LE WHAT, WHAT? THAT AIN'T TO IT.
'CAUSE I KNOW THE, WE HAD DISCUSSIONS ABOUT, I JUST REMEMBER COMMENTS ABOUT DOORS, OVENS, AND BENT HOODS.
SO THE KITCHEN, THE, THE CATERING KITCHEN IS NO LONGER INTACT.
IT FOR, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES.
IT DOESN'T HAVE A KITCHEN, UH, WHERE THERE'LL BE AN ICE MACHINE THERE.
SO IT CAN DO, UH, LIKE A COMMERCIAL ICE MACHINE CAN DO ICE TO KEEP DRINKS COLD.
UH, BUT NO, THERE AT THIS TIME, NO OVENS, NO REFRIGERATORS, NO HOODS AT ALL.
SO WHAT, WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR? TWO WIND.
WHEN TABS BAY DID IT? NO, IT WAS YOU, YOU WERE SAYING THAT WE'RE JUST DOING THE MINOR COSMETICS.
SOME DRYWALL PATCHES, SOME, SOME WIRING.
IT WAS 95%, UM, OCCUPIABLE HOSPITABLE, UH, TO BRING PEOPLE BACK IN.
SO WE'RE JUST PAINT REFRESH HOLES IN THE WALL.
WE'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING TO THE KITCHEN SPACE AT ALL.
I, I WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH WE'VE SPENT, BECAUSE LAST TIME WE DISCUSSED THIS, WE SAID, THAT'S WHERE I'M GOING AT.
AND IF WE'RE GOING IN AND DOING THINGS THAT WE'RE NOT AWARE OF, WE'RE ASTRAY WHERE THIS BODY SAID STOP.
SO, SO I WANT TO KNOW EXACTLY HOW MUCH HAS BEEN SPENT AND WHAT'S BEEN DONE.
THE BID ON THE COSMETIC WORK IS ABOUT $47,000.
I MEAN, THAT'S RIGHT BELOW THE 50,000 MARK.
BUT I, I'M NOT HAPPY TO HEAR THAT.
'CAUSE WE SAID STOP AND THEN WE GO BACK IN AND WE'RE CONTINUING TO WORK IT.
MY SIDE OF IT IS, I, I'M NOT REAL GAME FOR THIS.
WE NEED TO BE LOOKING AT IF, CAN WE SELL IT? THAT COULD BE SOMETHING TOO.
THE FEASIBILITY PEOPLE CAME BACK AND SAID, HEY, THIS WOULD MAKE A GREAT, YEAH.
SO, SO I, I TELL YOU, I I TAKE A BURNING ON THIS SITE ON BOTH SIDES, ALMOST WEEKLY.
SO THIS IS A REAL TOUCHY SUBJECT FOR ME.
SO AGAIN, NO, I, I'M NOT GAME TO TRY TO REINNOVATE, REACTIVATE, REBUILD, REBRAND, RE NO, WE, WE NEED TO BE DONE WITH THE FACILITY.
LET'S GET OUT FROM UNDERNEATH IT.
LET'S GET OUR MONEY OUT OF THE WHOLE PROPERTY AND PUT IT BACK INTO THE COFFERS.
UM, AND, AND, AND I, I KNOW I'LL HEAR SOME, SOME OF MY FOLKS IN EVERGREEN, ABOUT HALF OF 'EM THAT CALL ME WOULD BE MAD AT MY TA STATEMENT.
AND ABOUT HALF OF 'EM BE CELEBRATING MY STATEMENT.
BUT I TAKE A BURNING ON THIS SITE WEEKLY.
AND SO I'M REAL SENSITIVE TO IT.
BUT YEAH, IF WE'VE BEEN SPENDING MONEY, OTHER THAN JUST KEEPING THE DOORS PROPERLY CLOSED AND WINDOWS AND REPAIRED, IF PEOPLE ARE BREAKING 'EM OUT, I'M NOT PLEASED WITH THAT AT ALL.
I UNDERSTAND WE HAVE A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS SITE.
HAS THE SITE BEEN IZED WITH WINDOWS BROKEN AND THINGS LIKE THAT? I DON'T THINK SO.
I'M JUST SAYING, I'M JUST ASKING THAT THE ONLY, I'M JUST ASKING.
THAT I, I WOULD SEE, BUT OKAY.
IF THERE'S BEEN INTENT TO GO IN AND START FIXING IT UP WITH THE INTENT OF RESURRECTING IT, THAT HASN'T BEEN DISCUSS, DISCUSSED WITH THIS BODY.
I, I TAKE THE HEAT ON THIS ONE.
FOR ME, IT'S LOOKING AT THE FACILITIES THAT WE HAVE AND HOW WE CAN USE 'EM RIGHT NOW BEFORE WE START DOING ANYTHING FOR THE PUBLIC.
SO LIKE RIGHT NOW, WE STILL USE IT FOR THINGS.
AND FOR ME, I MADE A DECISION LIKE WE, LET'S GET IT JUST IN CASE WE CAN USE IT.
BECAUSE IF IT'S NOT SOLD, IT'S STILL A FACILITY THAT WE CAN USE.
BUT NOTHING ELSE HAS BEEN DONE ON THE GRASS OR I, OKAY.
I THINK THEY'VE, UM, KEEP IT MAINTAINED TO THIS POINT.
AND JUST AS A FACILITY THAT WE CAN USE, UM, THAT'S IT.
NOTHING, BUT WE'RE ASKING Y'ALL IF Y'ALL WANT ANYTHING ELSE WITH IT RIGHT NOW.
THAT'S A VERY EXPENSIVE FACILITY FOR US JUST TO USE.
I DUNNO WHAT ELSE TO DO WITH IT RIGHT NOW.
THAT'S, I'M SAYING WE CAN GET, SELL A WHOLE THING AND GET OUR FUNDING BACK OUT OF IT.
I, THE FEASIBILITY STUDY MAY PLAY INTO THAT.
IF THAT WAS, IF THEY DIG INTO IT AND THAT'S A RECOMMENDATION THAT THIS WOULD BE GREAT WITH THAT IT MAY HELP SELL.
WHAT'S THE FEASIBILITY STUDY GOING TO COST IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF A HUNDRED THOUSAND? OKAY.
SO I ASKED THAT QUESTION BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I REMEMBER.
THAT'S WHY I TALKED ABOUT OVENS, BED HOODS AND DOORS.
UH, MAJORITY OF COUNCIL, EVEN THOUGH I WAS NOT ONE OF THEM, I WAS ACTUALLY ADVOCATING THAT WE DO THAT SO THAT WE COULD SELL IT.
UM, BUT STICKING WITH WHAT MAJORITY OF COUNCIL WANTED, MAJORITY OF COUNCIL DIDN'T WANT IT TO BE TOUCHED.
UM, ON THE FLIP SIDE OF IT, A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A FEASIBILITY STUDY.
IF YOU'RE GONNA GET THAT DONE, YOU'RE GONNA NEED WORK DONE TO IT SO THAT YOU CAN GET IT THE RIGHT INFORMATION.
IN A FEASIBILITY STUDY, YOU DON'T WANNA DO A STUDY
[01:10:01]
AND IT'S NOT, IT LOOKS BAD.YOU KNOW, YOU SEE WHAT I'M SAYING? RIGHT.
UM, WHAT, WHAT THIS CAME FROM THE FEBRUARY FEBRUARY RETREAT WHERE COUNCIL ASKED CAN WE GET DIRECTION ON WHAT TO DO WITH TABS BAY? AND SO LIKE THIS IS, WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT DIRECTION WE NEED TO GO WITH IT.
IF, IF WE DON'T KNOW WHAT Y'ALL WANT TO DO, WE'RE MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS TO, FOR THE BEST USE OF IT.
'CAUSE PART, PART OF MY DECISION OF UPGRADING IS DO WE MOVE STAFF OVER THERE? 'CAUSE WE'RE RUNNING OUTTA SPACE.
I I KNOW WE'RE NOT GONNA AUTHORIZE BUILDING ANOTHER CITY HALL.
WE'RE NOT GONNA AUTHORIZE BUILDING MORE FACILITIES.
THAT'S A BUILDING THAT WE HAVE.
IT'S JUST, IT'S AWKWARD TO HAVE ANY STAFF OVER THERE BECAUSE IT'S FAR AWAY FROM EVERYTHING.
AND SO, BUT IT'S STILL A FACILITY THAT WE OWN.
AND SO THAT'S MY, THAT'S THE REASONING FOR MY DECISION.
BUT WE ARE STILL TRYING TO GET DIRECTION ON EVEN WHAT TO DO WITH THE WHOLE PLACE AFTER THAT.
IT'S THIS CLOSE TO BEING HABITABLE FOR WHETHER WE PUT STAFF THERE, WHETHER WE HAVE IT ON THE RENTAL THING.
IT'S, IT'S JUST VERY, VERY MINOR FIX UPS.
IF WE HAVE THE FUNDS A AVAIL, LIKE IF WE HAVE FOUND THE FUNDS AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE WITHIN PARKS AND REC, I'M, I'M FINE WITH THE FEASIBILITY STUDY.
I'D LIKE TO SEE WHAT WHAT WE WOULD DO WITH IT.
I MEAN, IT IS, IT WAS A VERY NICE PARK BEFORE.
I MEAN, I WENT OVER THERE AND PLAYED FOOT GOLF AND OTHER STUFF.
UM, I I, I'D LIKE TO SEE WHAT POSSIBILITIES THERE ARE, WHETHER WE SELL IT OR WHATEVER IT, BUT I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT COULD BE.
ARE YOU SAYING OKAY, WITH A HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE OR JUST WITHIN THE CURRENT BUDGET THAT'S ALREADY PROPOSED?
WELL, HE SAID, WHERE IS IT NOW? I I DON'T, BECAUSE YOU SAID WITHIN PARKS BUDGET SAID THERE WERE SOME SAVINGS ELSEWHERE AND FROM THE DIS FROM THE DISCOUNT.
TELL MEAN IF WE, IF WE HAVE THE, WE HAVE FUNDS AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR A FEASIBILITY SET.
IN THE CURRENT BUDGET, OR AGAIN, IT GOES TO HIS QUESTION, ARE WE ADDING A HUNDRED THOUSAND BUCKS FOR THIS OR IT'S ALREADY IN THE BUDGET FOR THIS? IT'S IN THE BUDGET.
NOT, NOT EVEN IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET IN A, IN A PAST BUDGET.
THAT'S SAVINGS FROM THE DIS GOLF.
SO WE HAVE FUNDING AVAILABLE, CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR THIS FEASIBILITY STUDY.
HOW MUCH MORE WORK, UM, ARE YOU THINKING NEEDS TO BE DONE TO IT WHEN IT COMES TO LITTLE? YOU SAID WE'RE THIS CLOSE.
WELL, WE UNDERSTOOD THAT Y'ALL DIDN'T WANNA DO THE KITCHEN.
SO THERE WAS NO WORK DONE ON THE KITCHEN.
UH, TO JAMIE'S POINT, IT'S JUST COSMETIC TO BE ABLE TO BE UTILIZED.
I MEAN, I, I KNOW THERE WERE LIKE, UH, SOME WIRES THAT WERE NOT FINISHED AND UM, SO YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT SAFE TO GET A FULL CO TO BE, TO GO IN THERE.
BUT WE WEREN'T TRYING TO REBUILD THE KITCHEN.
WE WEREN'T TRYING TO MAKE IT SOMETHING THAT IS JUST OUTSIDE OF WHAT Y'ALL'S INTENT WAS.
THE, YEAH, THE KITCHEN SPACE, WHERE THE KITCHEN WOULD BE, WOULD BE BLOCKED OFF.
IT WOULDN'T BE PART OF THE RENTAL.
IT WOULD BE, IT'S ANOTHER ROOM BACK THERE.
BUT I, I'M HEARING RIGHT NOW, LET'S NOT EVEN CONSIDER A RENTAL BECAUSE THAT'S STILL OUTSIDE OF WHAT Y'ALL'S ORIGINAL SCOPE WAS.
I FEEL I WOULD BE OKAY WITH THAT.
I, I THINK WE NEED TO START TO FEED THE ABILITY STUDY AND WE NEED TO WHERE, GO WHERE THE FEASIBILITY STUDY TAKES US AND, AND LISTEN TO THE, I MEAN, IF IT CAN BE RENTED, I'D GET IT ON THE BOOKS.
WHATEVER THE FEASIBILITY STUDY SAYS THAT'S REVENUE.
WE'RE NOT, IT'S REVENUE THAT WE'RE NOT GETTING RIGHT NOW.
BUT IF YOU'RE GONNA NEED IT RENTED, PEOPLE ARE GONNA WANT TO USE IT AND THEY'RE GONNA WANT A KITCHEN IN THERE.
WELL, IF THERE'S NOT A KITCHEN, THEN THEY CAN'T USE IT WITH A KITCHEN.
I MEAN, SO IT MAY NOT BE FOR LIKE A FULL CATERED WEDDING OR GATHER LIKE YEAH, BUT YOU COULD USE IT FOR SOMETHING.
IT ISN'T, IT'S LISTED WITHOUT A KITCHEN.
I MEAN THAT'S NO DIFFERENT FROM LIKE JENKINS.
I MEAN COMMUNITY CENTER, THERE'S NO, YEAH, I MEAN, SO TO SAY THEY'RE GONNA WANT A KITCHEN.
I MEAN, IT CHANGES, IT CHANGES THE IT'S NO DIFFERENT.
BUT IF WE'RE GONNA PUT IT OUT THERE AND WE WANT FULL REVENUE FOR IT, THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT WE CAN GET.
LET'S SEE WHAT THE FEASIBILITY STUDY SAYS.
I'M JUST SAYING, I'M THINKING PEOPLE ARE GOING TO, THE FEASIBILITY STUDY IS GONNA LEAD IT TOWARDS, IT'S GONNA NEED SOMETHING IN THERE.
SO MY HEAD, SO I'M GONNA JUMP IN 'CAUSE I'VE BEEN WANTING TO TALK AND JUMP IN.
SO
I'M ACTUALLY OKAY WITH JUST KEEPING IT TABS BAY.
I DON'T THINK THAT WE NEED TO REBRAND.
UM, AND I'M INTERESTED TO KNOW IF IN THE PARKS MASTER PLAN, WHEN THEY PUT ALL THAT TOGETHER, IF THERE WAS ALREADY MAYBE SOME THINGS THAT, SOME IDEAS THAT CAME OUT OF, UM, THAT PLAN THAT MAYBE WE DIDN'T IMPLEMENT OR WERE BREWING THAT I CAN SEE CLIFF THINKING ABOUT IT REAL QUICK WAS THAT IT WAS, IT WAS A, IT WAS FUNCTIONING AS A RENTAL DURING THE MASTER PLAN.
AND IT WAS ONE OF OUR BETTER RENTALS.
SO I DON'T THINK IT REALLY GAVE US A LOT OF, UH, GUIDANCE ON IMPROVEMENTS BECAUSE IT'S ALREADY ONE OF THE BEST ONE.
WAS IT CONSIDERED, WHAT WAS THAT A REGIONAL PARK? LIKE WHAT TYPE OF PARK WAS THAT? I BELIEVE IT WAS SPECIAL USE.
AND, AND IF I COULD JUST SAY ONE THING REAL QUICK, UH, KIND
[01:15:01]
OF THE START OF ALL THIS WAS BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN APPROACHED BY MULTIPLE GROUPS WANTING TO UTILIZE THE FACILITY.LIKE THEY DON'T KNOW THE INNER WORKINGS AND THEY DON'T KNOW ALL OF THIS.
AND MAYBE THEY EVEN LOOKED AT, UH, PAST DATA OR, OR PAST, UM, BROCHURES OR WHATEVER.
AND, UH, THAT WICKED WINE RUN, THERE'S A FOOT GOLF.
UH, AND NOW THAT TOURISM'S UNDER BA UH, UNDER PARKS AND REC, UM, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF, UH, UH, PEOPLE APPROACHING US TO BRING TOURNAMENTS IN, LIKE FOOTBALL TOURNAMENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND UM, YOU KNOW, WE, ONE OF OUR TOURISM COORDINATORS JUST SAID, BECAUSE BAYTOWN HAS A HARD TIME WITH AMENITIES, RIGHT? WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF AMENITIES THAT WE CAN SELL TO BRING PEOPLE TO BAYTOWN.
AND ONE OF OUR TOURISM COORDINATORS THAT, MAN, IF WE JUST HAD A BIG BLANK CANVAS WITH A PARKING LOT AND RESTROOMS ALREADY THERE, WE COULD REALLY SELL THAT TO GET THINGS COMING.
AND WE ALL KIND OF LOOKED AROUND AND WERE LIKE, WELL THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF WHAT EVERGREEN IS.
AND THEN IT KIND OF STARTED THE PROCESS OF, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF PUT BU IN OUR EARS.
AND SO WHEN WE GET, WHEN STAFF GETS QUESTIONED ABOUT EVERGREEN AND WE ALWAYS BRING IT UP AND TALK ABOUT IT.
AND SO IT'S KIND OF ORGANICALLY HAPPENED TO WHERE PEOPLE ARE ASKING US WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH IT? YEAH.
WE UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU SAID AND WE DON'T WANT TO STEP ON YOUR TOES AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF.
BUT I DO THINK IT, IT IS AN AWARENESS PIECE THAT, THAT YOU GUYS NEED TO KNOW THAT THE COMMUNITY IS ASKING US IF THERE'S A FACILITY STILL THERE THAT THEY CAN USE.
AND I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE PLAYING DISC GOLF, BUT THEY, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE JUST SAYING THE MOSQUITOES ARE BAD BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THE MOWING WASN'T AS INTENSE AS IT WAS BEFORE.
UM, AND SO I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN PURSU, INTERESTED IN PURSUING WHAT IT COULD BE.
AND MAYBE THE FEASIBILITY WILL SAY THAT, UM, I, I'D LIKE TO KEEP IT, UM, TO BRING IN REVENUE.
I TELL YOU, WHEN, WHEN WE WERE HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS, WHEN WE CLOSED IT DOWN, IT CAME DOWN TO ABOUT $150,000 DELTA TO KEEP IT, TO FINISH THE KITCHEN AND TO REOPEN IT AND TO FUNCTION AS A, AS A A LOCAL GOLF COURSE.
'CAUSE IT COST US ABOUT 200, 250,000 A YEAR TO MOW IT.
AND WE WERE LOOKING ABOUT ANOTHER A HUNDRED, $150,000 A YEAR JUST TO CONTINUE IT.
AND THEN WE COULD HAVE TRIED TO SELL IT OR RE-RENT IT AS A GOLF COURSE.
WE AS A BODY SAID, NO, WE'RE NOT GONNA SPEND THAT TIME.
AND WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT 150,000 BUCKS AS WE'RE SITTING HERE, WE COULD HAVE MAINTAINED THE FACILITY CONTINUED.
IT FINISHED THE, THE RESTAURANT HEADED A COMPLETELY VIABLE RESOURCE AND WE SAID NO.
BUT NOW, AFTER A YEAR OR SO, NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, WELL, LET'S SPEND A HUNDRED, 150,000 AND, AND DO A FEASIBILITY STUDY.
I, YOU KNOW, IT IS ONE OF THOSE, YOU'RE DAMNED IF YOU DO AND DAMNED IF YOU DON'T.
THIS IS, THIS IS INSANE TO ME.
WE BASICALLY HAD A FUNCTIONAL FACILITY THAT NEEDED TO BE COMPLETED AND WE DIDN'T SHUT IT DOWN.
AND NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SPENDING MORE MONEY TO DO SOMETHING THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO FUNCTION.
THIS ONE JUST DRIVES ME CRAZY.
UH, AGAIN, I, I TAKE A BEATING AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE ISSUE.
AND SO I'M
UM, YOU MAY NEED TO GO BACK TO THE DOCTOR.
MY BLOOD PRESSURE'S SHOOTING THROUGH THE ROOF RIGHT NOW.
BUT AT MINIMUM WE HAVE THE BARE MINIMUM THE OPPORTUNITY TO BRING IT BACK AS A RENTAL BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT.
DID IT PAY FOR ITSELF AS A RENTAL? UTILITIES COST MAINTENANCE STAFF? I MEAN, SO, SO WE MAKE, HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO KEEP THAT FACILITY ALIVE? UH, I DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
SO THE, THE RENTAL COST COVER, THE STAFF, IT, IT'S ONLY A COUPLE STAFF OUT THERE WITH THE RENTALS.
UH, ANY ADDITIONAL SECURITY AND ALL THAT'S PAID FOR ON TOP OF THE RAILROAD.
IF WE MOVE IN THIS DIRECTION, I WANNA KNOW HOW MUCH TO THE PENNY IT COSTS A YEAR TO KEEP THAT FACILITY.
AND THE RENTALS BETTER PAY FOR IT.
WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SET PRICING BECAUSE IT'S BEEN OFFLINE.
PAST THAT, PAST THAT FOR THE FEASIBILITY STUDY.
I HEARD TWO FOR SURE WOULD BE INTERESTED.
AND WHEREVER THE FEASIBILITY STUDY TAKES US, THAT'S WHERE WE GO.
AND FOR THE TABS BAY, I HEARD TABS BAY BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S NOT JUST THE FACILITY, IT'S THE A HUNDRED ACRES.
IT'S THE YEAH, IT'S THE, SO, SO THAT'S 250,000 BUCKS A YEAR TO MOW IT.
THAT'S WHAT THE CONTRACT IS AROUND 250 TO MOW IT.
SO THAT RENTAL'S GONNA HAVE TO BE PRETTY GOOD TO COVER COST.
PUT WINNIE TO POOL ON THE SIGN.
EITHER WHAT? PUT WINNIE THE POOL ON THE SIDE.
[01:20:01]
I CLARIFY ONE THING? ARE WE OKAY WITH RENTALS UNTIL THE FEASIBILITY IS GONE? OR WAIT ON RENTAL UNTIL AFTER THE FEASIBILITY? 'CAUSE I DON'T THINK THAT WAS CLARIFIED.I'M OKAY WITH RENTALS UNTIL, IF IT CAN BE RENTED NOW YES.
IT'S A BUILDING WE OWN THAT'S SITTING THERE DOING NOTHING FOR US.
I WANNA KNOW WHAT THE COST TO GET IT TO THE POINT YOU GET RENTED.
THAT'S WHAT I'M, THAT WAS, THAT WAS ABOUT THE 48.
I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT WE HAD ALREADY SPENT.
THAT'S TO GET IT TO THE RENTAL.
THAT'S THE BID FOR THE RENTAL, I BELIEVE WORK'S STARTING IN, IT'S A 50,000 BUCKS JUST TO GET IT TO WHERE WE CAN RENT IT.
THAT'S A PRETTY HIGH RENTAL COST.
THAT'S AN ADDITION TO WHAT? NO, NO.
THE 48,000 TO GET IT TO, THAT'S TO GET IT THERE.
BUT I THOUGHT WE SAID WE ALREADY SPENT 47 ON THAT'S THE BID IS THERE.
IT'S SO WE HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO THE BUILDING.
THEY WERE GONNA START LAST WEEK.
LET'S TAKE A BREAK TO, LET'S COOL DOWN MIKES BLOOD.
YEAH, LET'S GET 10 MINUTES FROM MIKE.
IT'S PART OF THE EXPENSES STILL.
OKAY, WELL LOOK, LET'S GET BACK TO IT.
ALRIGHT, MAYOR, COUNSEL, THANK YOU.
UH, I, UH, APPRECIATE THE TRUST YOU PLACED IN ME AS YOUR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
AND, UH, I STILL WORK TOWARDS MAKING SURE EVERYONE IN THE WORLD HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FROM OR ABOUT THE CITY OF BAYTOWN.
AND WE DO THAT IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS WITH MANY DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIPS.
AND TODAY I WANNA HIGHLIGHT THREE RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE HAVE.
ONE AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, ONE AT THE STATE LEVEL, AND ONE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL BECAUSE THERE ARE, THERE'S RESOURCES ATTACHED TO THOSE AND ASSIGNED TO THEM.
AND SO WE NEED TO CHAT THROUGH NOT ONLY THE TIME COMMITMENT, BUT THE FINANCIAL COMMITMENT FOR EACH OF THESE.
THERE ARE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS THAT WE ARE A PART OF.
THREE THAT I WANNA HIGHLIGHT FOR YOU.
ONE IS NEW AND THAT'S THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
THERE ARE WAYS THAT YOU AS A COUNCIL CAN ATTEND THEIR MEETINGS.
AND THERE ARE WAYS THAT YOU AS A COUNCIL CAN PARTICIPATE IN THEIR COMMITTEE WORK AT A NATIONAL LEVEL.
YOU CAN ATTEND THE ANNUAL CITIES CONFERENCE IN NOVEMBER.
THINK OF TML, BUT FOR THE COUNTRY.
AND SO WE'RE TALKING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND IT'S QUITE A BIT OF AN EXPENSE THAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN JUST A MINUTE.
THAT'S THE, THAT'S THE EASIEST WAY TO ATTEND.
AND THAT'S THE BIGGEST ONE THAT THEY ENCOURAGE EVEN NEW MEMBERS TO ATTEND.
THEY ALSO HAVE A CONGRESSIONAL CONFERENCE IN MARCH IN DC AND THEN THE SUMMER BOARD AND LEADERSHIP COUNCIL, THOSE ARE NOT AS WELL ATTENDED.
THEY'RE SMALLER, BUT THEY'RE ALSO NOT ADVISED FOR A COMMUNITY LIKE US THAT'S JUST GETTING STARTED TO, IN PARTICIPATING WITH THEM.
THEY ALSO HAVE A, A REALLY ROBUST COMMITTEE STRUCTURE.
AND THEY HAVE THESE FEDERAL ADVOCACY COMMITTEES AND MEMBER COUNCILS.
THE TWO THAT HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED TO BAYTOWN ARE THE COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FEDERAL ADVOCACY COMMITTEE.
AND THE FIRST TIER SUBURBS COUNCIL.
AND THE FIRST TIER SUBURBS COUNCIL IS MADE UP OF CITIES THAT ARE SUBURBS OF BIG CITIES.
SO BAYTOWN IS REALLY CLEARLY A PART OF THAT, BEING A SUBURB OF HOUSTON.
AND SO THERE, ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THERE ARE THESE FIRST TIER SUBURB, UH, CITIES THAT MEET AND TALK ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF BEING THOSE SUBURB CITIES.
THERE IS AN APPLICATION PROCESS, I'M TOLD THAT IT'S NOT A DIFFICULT APPLICATION PROCESS, BUT IT'S NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT WE CAN AUTOMATICALLY PUSH ONE OF YOU ONTO WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THAT APPLICATION PROCESS.
AND THE REASON WHY THEY DO THAT IS BECAUSE THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE TIME COMMITMENT.
AND IF YOU DON'T PARTICIPATE, THEY POLITELY ASK YOU TO REMOVE YOURSELF.
SO THIS IS THE NATIONAL LEVEL, AND WE'LL GO BACK TO THESE IN JUST A COUPLE SLIDES.
AT THE STATE LEVEL, YOU'RE ALREADY VERY FAMILIAR WITH TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE.
THEIR ANNUAL CONFERENCE IS ALSO IN NOVEMBER.
THEIR MID-YEAR CONFERENCE IS ALSO IN MARCH.
AND THEN THEY HAVE REGIONAL MEETUPS.
I JUST SAW ONE, UH, THAT IS IN GALVESTON IN AUGUST.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF PARTICIPATION, THEY'VE GOT THE POLICY SUMMIT EVERY OTHER YEAR IN AUGUST AS A DELEGATE TO THAT.
I ATTEND THOSE AND REPRESENT BAYTOWN WITH OUR POLICY INTERESTS.
I HELP CREATE THE POLICIES THAT THEN GO TO THE FULL TML BOARD TO VOTE ON.
THERE'S VARIOUS OTHER POLICY COMMITTEES, BUT THEIR PO, THEIR COMMITTEE STRUCTURE ISN'T AS ROBUST AS THEIR NORMAL COMMITTEES ARE.
[01:25:01]
AND THEN THEIR ECONOMIC ALLIANCE AT A REGIONAL, LOCAL LEVEL, AS YOU KNOW, THEIR BIGGEST EVENT IS IN SEPTEMBER.THAT'S THE GULF COAST INDUSTRY FORUM.
WE ARE CERTAINLY WELCOME TO GO TO ALL OF THESE, THE MEMBERSHIP BANK WOULD IN FEBRUARY.
AND THEN THE LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW, EVERY OTHER FALL IS WHERE WE GO AND WE HEAR FROM VARIOUS STATE LEGISLATORS ABOUT THEIR GOALS FOR THE NEW SESSION.
AND SO I, I USUALLY ATTEND THOSE.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF PARTICIPATION, AS YOU KNOW, WE USUALLY GO ON OUR DC TRIP WITH THEM EVERY SPRING TO DC.
WE'RE ONE OF THE ONLY CITIES THAT NORMALLY PARTICIPATES ON THAT.
AND IT'S A GOOD WAY FOR US TO NETWORK WITH OTHER, UH, INDUSTRY PARTNERS AND OUR DC COLLEAGUES.
AND THEN THERE'S THE POLICY COMMITTEE.
UH, WE JUST HAD ONE, UH, THIS WEEK THAT BOTH COUNCIL MEMBER ALDO AND I PARTICIPATED IN.
SO LET'S TALK THROUGH THAT INVESTMENT BECAUSE IT IS CONSIDERABLE.
WE, AS A NEW MEMBER, NLC IS GONNA BE A NEW NAME FOR US.
NOW, BAYTOWN PARTICIPATED PREVIOUSLY YEARS AGO.
WE TOOK A BREAK FROM THAT AND NOW WE FEEL IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO PARTICIPATE AGAIN.
I MET WITH THEM WHEN WE WERE IN DC A COUPLE MONTHS AGO.
THERE IS VALUABLE VALUE IN PARTICIPATING.
THE MEMBERSHIP IS ROUGHLY $7,900.
BUT THE TRAVEL COST IS SIGNIFICANT AS, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, BECAUSE IT'S VARIOUS PLACES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
AND USUALLY THOSE ARE BIG MARKETS BECAUSE OF HOW MANY PEOPLE ATTEND.
THE WAY THAT THIS HAS BEEN DESCRIBED TO ME BY STAFF AT NLC IS THE APPLICATION PROCESS MEANS THAT YOU ARE SIGNALING THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN GOING ALL IN.
SO WITH THOSE COMMITTEES THAT I TALKED ABOUT A COUPLE SECONDS AGO, JUST KNOW THAT AS WE PARTICIPATE MORE, THERE IS MORE THAT'S REQUIRED OF US.
AND SO, UH, NOW WE, WE WILL LIKELY GET A RETURN ON THAT BECAUSE THE MORE WE PARTICIPATE, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THE MORE WE GET OUT OF IT.
TML MEMBERSHIP IS ROUGHLY THE SAME.
TRAVEL IS ALSO SIGNIFICANT ON THAT.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE NORMALLY MANY COUNCIL MEMBERS ATTEND.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT, UH, IN THE PAST, I THINK ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE ATTENDED AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER, AND SOMETIMES TOGETHER AT THE SAME CONFERENCE.
AND THEN, UH, TIMING WISE, IT'S NOT AS SIGNIFICANT AS A TIME FACTOR FOR COUNCIL IN TERMS OF TML.
THE ECONOMIC ALLIANCE MEMBERSHIP IS SUBSTANTIALLY MORE, BUT THE TRAVEL ON THE TIME IS A BIT LIGHTER.
IT, IT DOES NOT TAKE AS MUCH TRAVEL ON TIME FOR COUNCIL.
NOW I'VE, I'VE PUT A LITTLE NOTE HERE BECAUSE THIS IS NOT INCLUDE STAFF TIME.
THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT RESOURCE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FOR STAFF TIME BECAUSE WE DO PARTICIPATE.
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT IF WE ARE A MEMBER OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS, WE'RE GETTING SOMETHING OUT OF IT.
SO I REGULARLY COMMUNICATE WITH T-L-C-T-L-C-N-L-C-T-M-L AND THE ALLIANCE.
SO THE QUESTION TODAY FOR YOU IS BOTH ON THE ATTENDANCE FACTOR AND THE PARTICIPATION FACTOR IN TERMS OF ATTENDANCE.
AND THE REASON WHY WE HAVE THIS AS A DISCUSSION POINT FOR YOU TODAY IS BECAUSE THERE IS A BUDGET CONSIDERATION FOR THIS.
IN THE PAST, WE HAVE ONLY BEEN BUDGETING FOR TML AND THE ALLIANCE AND A COUPLE OF OTHER RANDOM THINGS THAT COUNCIL HAS TRADITIONALLY DONE.
NLC IS A NEW EXPENSE THAT WE FOUND VALUE IN, BUT IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT ALL COUNCIL HAS TO GO TO ALL OF THE CONFERENCES.
AND SO I THINK IT'S WORTH A DISCUSSION FOR YOU AND FOR THE, FOR THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL TO CONSIDER.
SO I'D LIKE YOUR PARTICIPATION IN CONSIDERING THE CONTINGENT OF COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO MIGHT WANT TO ATTEND THESE CONFERENCES.
AND THEN SEPARATELY, IF THERE ARE INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT FEEL CALLED TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY OF THE COMMITTEES THAT I JUST BROUGHT UP.
AND IT'S WORTH NOTING THAT FOR THE ALLIANCE, SOME OF THAT CONSIDERATION IS ALSO NEEDED FOR THE DC ADVOCACY TRIP BECAUSE WE DO GO TO DC EVERY YEAR.
AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER AS PART OF THIS CONVERSATION.
ARE THERE DIFFERENT CONTINGENTS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT GO TO EACH OF THESE? OR ARE YOU WILLING TO SAY NO? I THINK ALL OF US SHOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO TO ALL OF 'EM, AT WHICH CASE WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT WHERE THOSE RESOURCES WILL COME FROM BECAUSE IT'S NOT CURRENTLY IN THE BUDGET THAT'S BEING PRESENTED TO YOU.
SO I WILL LEAVE IT ON THIS SLIDE AND ASK FOR SOME HELP.
CAN I JUST LITTLE CONTEXT AS WELL, UH, JUST FOR COUNCIL AND, AND FOR CITIZENS, UM, WE TYPICALLY, BEFORE, UH, WE USED TO SPEND MORE THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ON LOBBYING, UM, EXPENSES FOR THE CITY.
THE STATE MADE CHANGES AND THE COUNCIL'S PHILOSOPHY WAS ALSO THAT WE WERE NOT SPENDING MONEY ON FIRMS TO LOBBY FOR THE CITY OR ON BEHALF OF
[01:30:01]
THE CITY.AND PART OF THE STATE'S, PART OF THE STATE'S, UM, ASK IS FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS TO BE INVOLVED AND DO MORE, UH, INTERACTION WITH, WITH LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS.
AND SO I FEEL THAT THIS STICKS WITHIN THOSE REALMS. IT'S, IT IS A, AN EXPENSE THAT WE HAD IN THE PAST.
WE, IT WAS PART OF OUR SERVICE DELIVERY CHANGES, UH, THROUGH THE, THROUGH THESE PREVIOUS YEARS.
UM, I'M NOT ADVOCATING FOR OR AGAINST ON HOW ALL THESE ARE PRESENTED.
I'M JUST GIVING CONTEXT TO THAT IS WHAT THE STATE WAS ASKING.
THAT'S WHAT THIS COUNCIL PHILOSOPHY WAS AT THE TIME.
AND IF YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED, THIS IS YOUR WAY TO BE INVOLVED INSTEAD OF HAVING THE, UH, THIRD PARTY LOBBYING ON BEHALF OF THE CITY.
WELL, I'LL JU I'LL JUMP IN AND, AND I'M GOING TO REACH BACK IN HISTORY AS, AS A STAFF MEMBER 20 YEARS AGO,
WITH BOTH TML AND, AND THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES.
UH, I DON'T KNOW HOW INVOLVED THEY WERE WITH THE NLC, BUT THEY, THE CITY WAS INVOLVED, BUT THEY WERE HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH TML.
AND I THINK THE CITY RECOUPED WHAT THEY PUT INTO IT FROM THAT.
I'VE SEEN OVER THE YEARS WHERE COUNCIL HAS, HAS GOTTEN, WHETHER IT'S BUDGETARILY OR WHATEVER, HAS GOTTEN LESS AND LESS AND LESS INVOLVED.
AND, AND WE RECEIVE LESS AND LESS AND LESS FROM THE OTHER SIDE, AS YOU INDICATED, THE MORE ACTIVE YOU ARE, THE MORE YOU GET.
SO I WOULD BE A PROPONENT OF, OF GETTING MORE INVOLVED, UH, NOT ONLY IN ALL THREE, BUT AS COUNCIL WE NEEDED TO MAKE A COMMITMENT TO DO THAT.
I, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY WITH THE LEGISLATIVE ISSUE ON LOBBYING.
SO WE CAN'T HIRE A FIRM TO, TO, TO DO THAT FOR US OR, OR WITH US.
BUT THAT PUTS THE ONUS ON US TO STEP FORWARD AND GO TO GO TO HEARINGS AND, AND TESTIFY.
UM, AS A STAFF MEMBER, I CAN'T TELL YOU ABOUT EVERY LEGISLATIVE YEAR.
I SPENT TWO OR THREE TRIPS IN AUSTIN TESTIFYING TO COMMITTEES.
COUNCIL WOULD ALSO DO THAT, UH, BECAUSE THAT, I TELL YOU, IT, IT HAS A HEAVY WEIGHT.
WHEN YOU HAVE AN ELECTED STATE REPRESENTATIVE SITTING THERE LISTENING TO A, A COUNCILMAN OR A MAYOR SAY THAT IT, THEY'RE EITHER FOR SOMETHING OR AGAINST SOMETHING.
AND WHY THAT, THAT CARRIED A LOT OF WEIGHT.
AND, AND WE'VE KIND OF GOTTEN AWAY FROM THAT.
SO I WOULD, I WOULD ADVOCATE REINVIGORATING THAT CONCEPT AND POSITION.
I, I THINK THE CITY WOULD BENEFIT FROM IT.
BUT IT TAKES A COMMITMENT ON OUR SIDE.
AND NOW THAT I'M RETIRED, I GOT PLENTY OF TIME WHEN YOU'RE NOT ACTING.
BUT YEAH, WHEN YOU'RE NOT, WHEN I'M NOT ACTIVE.
THAT WAS A GOOD ONE, HOLLYWOOD.
BUT, UH, IT, IT'S A COMMITMENT FOR, FOR, FOR ALL OF COUNCIL TO GET INVOLVED AT THAT LEVEL.
UM, I WAS ON, I WAS ON THE BOARD OF TML FOR FOUR YEARS, ACTUALLY SIX TOTAL.
UH, A BUSY ORGANIZATION AND THEY DESPERATELY WANT INPUT FROM COUNCILS, UH, THAT 'CAUSE THAT'S WHY THEY'RE THERE.
THEY'RE REPRESENTING CITIES AND, AND IF THEY DON'T HAVE GOOD, GOOD INFORMATION FLOW, GOOD PARTICIPATION, UM, IT, IT'S JUST NOT AS STRONG.
SO I'D ADVOCATE THAT, THAT, AGAIN, WE REINVIGORATED AT WHAT LEVEL THAT, AND AGAIN, I DON'T THINK ALL OF US NEED TO GO TO DC EVERY YEAR, BUT CONTINGENT OF THREE, MAYBE THE MAYOR AND TWO OTHERS, AND KIND OF CYCLE THAT AROUND.
UM, TML, THAT'S SOMETHING WE ALL ENJOY.
I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING FOR ALL COUNCIL AND THE ALLIANCE, AGAIN, THAT'S TYPICALLY LOCAL.
SO AGAIN, ALL COUNCIL, BUT, BUT, UH, I, I, I AGREE WITH, WITH THOMAS THAT WE'LL GET OUR BANG FOR THE BUCK IF WE GET INVOLVED.
IF WE JUST JOIN AND SIT BACK IN THE SHADOWS AND NOT PARTICIPATE, WHY DID WE JOIN? SO IT'S A COMMITMENT, BUT NOT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, THE MONEY'S NOT THAT MUCH.
IT'S NOT INSIGNIFICANT, BUT IT'S NOT THAT SIGNIFICANT.
I MEAN, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SPENDING A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ON A, ON A SURVEY MM-HMM
SO, BUT, UH, I THINK WE GET QUITE A BIT OUT OF IT.
THE MEMBERSHIP IS NOT AS SIGNIFICANT 'CAUSE WE'RE PAYING IT ONCE FOR THE CITY.
WHERE WE GET SIGNIFICANT COSTS AS THE TRAVEL.
SO I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE AND, AND PRETTY MUCH ECHO WHAT YOU HAVE SAID.
AND, AND I KNOW, UM, THOMAS HAS BEEN VERY INVOLVED WITH ALL OF THESE.
I'VE ALREADY BEEN PARTICIPATING, UH, WITH THE ALLIANCE, UM, WITH THEIR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OR THEIR POLICY ACTUALLY.
AND, UM, YOU HAVE ALL THE LE WHETHER IT'S THE LEGISLATOR OR REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LEGISLATORS PARTICIPATE IN THOSE AND ARE PRETTY MUCH THERE ALL THE TIME.
AND SO THAT'S, UH, CONTINUED FACETIME WITH THEM.
WELL, I, I JOINED THROUGH ZOOM, UH, WHEN I CAN, I, I COULD GO
[01:35:01]
IN PERSON.UM, BUT RIGHT NOW I'VE JUST BEEN JOINING THROUGH ZOOM MUCH AS OTHER PEOPLE DO AS WELL.
AND SO WE ARE PUTTING TOGETHER RIGHT NOW OUR LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES, UM, UH, IN PREPARATION FOR DC.
NOW THAT DOESN'T MEAN I WILL BE THE ONE GOING TO DC IT COULD JUST BE THOMAS, BUT AT LEAST WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW, UM, A INSIGHT AS TO WHAT'S HAPPENING.
UM, SO I'VE BEEN PRETTY REGULAR IN PARTICIPATING WITH THE ALLIANCE AND I DO SEE, UH, VALUE IN THAT.
TML IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, UM, ALL ALONG.
AND I DO REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE HEAVILY, HEAVILY, UM, INVOLVED WITH NLC AND, UH, IN THE PAST IT'S MAINLY BEEN RICK THAT WOULD GO AND PARTICIPATE AND HE WOULD ALWAYS BRING BACK A WEALTH OF INFORMATION, BUT IT DIDN'T REALLY STICK LIKE, YOU KNOW, WHAT OUR REAL INVESTMENT WAS.
AND, UM, UNTIL, YOU KNOW, YOU CAME ABOARD AND REALLY OUTLINED EVERYTHING.
AND I KNOW, UM, JASON HAS BEEN VERY INVOLVED WITH THAT AS WELL.
I TOOK A COUPLE COURSES FROM NLC IN THE PAST WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UM, AND THOSE WERE VERY, VERY VALUABLE.
WHAT DO THINK AND SPECIFIC I LIKE TO SEE AS WELL A ROTATION BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE SAME PERSON EVERY TIME.
AND I WOULD NOT WANNA SEE ALL OF COUNCIL EITHER BECAUSE IT IS, UM, AN IMPACT TO THE BUDGET.
AND, AND I'M GONNA ECHO ALL OF THAT.
UM, I JUST ASKED JASON WHAT HE THOUGHT ABOUT NLC BECAUSE WHEN WE WERE ON COUNCIL BACK IN 2016, UM, 17, I REMEMBER HEARING ABOUT SOME THINGS, BUT LIKE YOU, IT DIDN'T STICK.
YOU SAYING THAT IT'S IMPACTFUL.
UM, ANYONE, ANY COUNCIL MEMBER THAT WOULD HAVE THE TIME WORKING FULL-TIME JOBS, I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT.
UM, I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH HOW YOU ALL SET EVERYTHING UP WHEN WE WENT WITH THE ALLIANCE THIS PAST TIME.
AND I THINK THAT THAT WAS THE TIME OUT OF THE FEW TIMES I'VE WENT WHERE I THINK BAYTOWN ACTUALLY GOT, HAD SOME FOCUS AND WE GOT SOME THINGS DONE THAT WAS IMPORTANT TO US.
UH, SO I APPRECIATE YOU WHAT YOU ALL ARE DOING AND, AND BRINGING THIS UP.
TMLI THINK WE SHOULD BE HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH TML, UM, THE ALLIANCE.
BUT NLC, UM, I'M GOING TO, I'M GONNA GO OFF OF, I'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED IT, BUT IF YOU THINK THAT IT'S GONNA BRING VALUE TO US AND THEN LOOKING AT IT FROM THE POINT OF VIEW THAT WE DON'T HAVE LOBBYISTS, WE NEED TO PUT FORTH THE EFFORT TO REPRESENT OUR CITY AS WE WERE ELECTED TO DO.
SO I'LL ASK THE QUESTION, NOT INCLUDING STAFF.
'CAUSE I, I CAN PAY FOR STAFF TIME OUT OF OUR INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENT BUDGETS FOR COUNCIL THAT YOU HAVE A SEPARATE BUDGET.
SO LET'S TAKE NLC FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE WERE LOOKING JUST AT TRAVEL TO THEIR ANNUAL CONFERENCE, WOULD YOU ALL BE CON CON, UH, INTERESTED IN ONE OF YOU GOING, THREE OF YOU GOING, OR ALL SEVEN? I WAS GONNA SAY TWO OR THREE A I SO THE MAYOR AND TWO OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS, ONE, THAT WAY WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT QUORUM ISSUES, RIGHT? MM-HMM
SO I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A A, A GOOD NUMBER.
AND THEN LET'S TALK ABOUT THE COMMITTEE STRUCTURE.
THERE WERE TWO COMMITTEES THAT WERE RECOMMENDED.
THE COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FEDERAL ADVOCACY COMMITTEE, THEY MEET EITHER MONTHLY OR QUARTERLY AND FORGET IT THIS TIME.
AND IT'S ALL OBVIOUSLY ZOOM AND THEN THE FIRST TIER SUBURBS COUNCIL.
ANY INTEREST IN PARTICIPATING IN THOSE TWO COMMITTEES? YOU KNOW, WHAT EXACTLY GOES ON WITH FIRST TIER SUBURBS COUNCIL? THIS IS, THIS IS A GOOD NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY FOR BAYTOWN TO MEET WITH OTHER CITIES THAT ARE SUBURBS OF BIG CITIES.
WHAT ARE THEIR PROBLEMS? WHAT ARE THEIR SHARED VALUES? HOW ARE THEY GETTING OVER SOME INTERESTS AND, AND CHALLENGES, THAT TYPE OF THING.
SO FOR ME, WE'RE WHY WHILE I'M A, WHY I'M A PROPONENT FOR NLC IS BECAUSE Y'ALL DO HAVE GOOD NETWORKS IN TEXAS, RIGHT? AND THE THING ABOUT TEXAS IS THERE, THERE ARE NOT A LOT OF CITIES BAYTOWN SIZE THAT YOU CAN RELATE TO, RIGHT? AND THIS, AS A FIRST TIER SUBURB COMMITTEE, YOU'RE GOING TO BE MEETING CITIES THAT ARE ROUGHLY OUR SIZE AND YOU'RE GONNA HAVE NETWORKS AND TALK ABOUT PROBLEMS THAT Y'ALL CAN, UM, SEE, HEY, HOW DOES, HOW DOES THE COUNCIL HANDLE THIS POLICY DECISION? HAVE Y'ALL EXPERIENCED THIS? WHAT ARE Y'ALL DOING? UH, I WILL TELL YOU, LAURA AND I HAVE A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS.
SHE'S, UH, VERY INVOLVED WITH HER JOB.
UM, AND JUST ON OTHER PIECES OF, UH, POLICY WORK THAT SHE'S DONE, UH, AS COUNSEL.
[01:40:01]
WE HAVE A LOT OF THESE CONVERSATIONS, BUT IT'S LIMITED TO JUST WHAT TEXAS DOES.AND Y'ALL DON'T GET TO HEAR WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH OTHER CITIES AROUND THE NATION BECAUSE WHAT YOU WILL SEE, UH, YOU KNOW, MIKE, WHEN YOU WERE ON TML BOARD, YOU PROBABLY DID SEE, UH, IT ALL THE PROBLEMS ARE THE SAME IN EVERY SINGLE DAMN CITY, RIGHT? UH, BUT WHAT YOU DON'T GET TO HEAR IS DIFFERENT PATHS TO, UH, PROBLEM SOLVING FROM OTHER CITIES.
BECAUSE GOING FROM STATE TO STATE, YOU, IT'S, IT'S AMAZING THE DIFFERENCES THAT YOU HEAR.
AND, AND I'LL, I'LL JUMP IN THERE.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, THE MUNICIPALITY OPERATIONS AND, AND SET UP AND THE STATE OF TEXAS IS PRETTY UNIQUE.
YOU GO TO OTHER STATES, THE FUNDING SOURCES WILL BLOW YOU AWAY.
I MEAN, THERE, THERE'S SOME CITIES IN SOME STATES THAT THE STATE COMPLETELY FUNDS THE CITY MM-HMM
YOU KNOW, WE THINK, OH, WELL THIS IS THE WAY IT IS.
ACTUALLY, WE'RE SOMEWHAT UNIQUE.
AGAIN, AS JASON SAID, TML WAS A GREAT RESOURCE FOR NETWORKING WITH STATE CITIES AND SO FORTH.
BUT THEN NLC, YOU'RE GONNA VISIT WITH SUBURBS THAT DO THINGS AND YOU THINK, HOW IN THE WORLD CAN YOU DO THAT? THAT'S THEIR SYSTEMS AND IT'S TOTALLY ALIEN.
SO THAT REALLY GIVES A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.
SO I, I WOULD AGREE, I WOULD ADVOCATE THAT WE PARTICIPATED LEAST IN THE FIRST TIER COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
AGAIN, WE ARE SO FORTUNATE OR UNFORTUNATE OR BLESSED OR NOT BLESSED, HOWEVER, WHICHEVER SIDE OF THE ROAD YOU WANNA BE ON WITH OUR INDUSTRIES HERE.
WHEN I TRAVELED, I WOULD GO TO, TO OTHER STATES AND OTHER CITIES AND TALK ABOUT WHAT OUR INDUSTRY DOES FOR OUR CITY.
AND THEY WOULD LOOK AT ME LIKE I WAS FROM MARS.
IT'S LIKE, HOW, HOW CAN YOU GET EXXON TO DONATE MONEY? WE DON'T GET EXXON TO DONATE MONEY.
EXXON CALLS US AND SAYS, WHAT DO YOU NEED? AND THEY'RE GOING, THAT IS TOTALLY ALIEN CONCEPTS THAT HAPPENED IN ROCK HILL, REMEMBER? YEAH.
SO, SO, SO AGAIN, IT'S IT'S, IT'S JUST AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO GET MORE INVOLVED YEAH.
AND, AND BRING ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OR IDEAS TO US.
I THINK FOR ME, I WOULD, UH, I I WOULD WANT US TO OPERATE IN BOTH OF 'EM, BUT I'VE BEEN WORKING MORE IN THE REALM OF COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND, UM, THAT'S THE ONE THAT I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN.
ANY OTHER PARTICULAR INTEREST IN EITHER OR BOTH OF THESE? I I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WOULD CONSIDER HGAC IN, IN THIS PICTURE, OR IS THAT SOMETHING DIFFERENT? BECAUSE IT'S, I WOULD SAY IT'S DIFFERENT.
IT'S MORE OF A, IT'S A REGIONAL PIECE, UM, THAT WE ARE ALL TRYING TO PLAN THE REGION TOGETHER.
AND SO IT, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S ORGANICALLY BUILT FOR US TO JUST WORK TOGETHER.
AND IT'S, IT IS EXPANDING OUR NETWORK HERE, BUT IT'S HYPERFOCUSED ON HOUSTON.
THE COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STANDS OUT TO ME.
AND I KNOW MS. GRAHAM IS NOT HERE TODAY, BUT SHE DID EXPRESS INTEREST.
SHOULD THERE BE ANY COMM COMMITTEES IN THE FUTURE AROUND, UM, HEALTH OR EDUCATION, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT SHE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN.
UH, THE COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WAS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU ALL HIGHLIGHTED OR SOMETHING THAT THEY RECOMMENDED? BOTH.
WE EXPRESSED TO THEM INTEREST THAT I HAD HEARD THAT COUNCIL WAS INTERESTED IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MM-HMM
AND WE HAD COUNCIL MEMBERS PREVIOUSLY INVOLVED IN THAT COMMITTEE AS WELL.
WELL, AND I'M LIKING THAT, THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING.
AND I'LL HAVE TO ASK FOR DIRECTION THOUGH, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN PUT THREE COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THAT ONE COMMITTEE, BUT WE CAN COME BACK TO THAT ONE'S.
DO YOU NEED IT NOW? DO YOU WANT IT NOW? WE CAN PARTICIPATE WHENEVER YOU'RE READY.
SO IF WE'RE NOT READY TO CALL OUT NAMES AT THE MOMENT, THEN YEAH, WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE FURTHER DISCUSSION ON THAT.
BUT I AGREE THAT THOSE ARE TWO COMMITTEES WE SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE NEED THREE PEOPLE ON EACH COMMITTEE, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT WE DO, YOU KNOW, ONE ON EACH COMMITTEE? YEAH.
ONE ON EACH COMMITTEE AND THEY BRING BACK TO US.
IS THIS A FOR, FOR ATTENDING THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE? IS THIS A ONE, THREE OR SEVEN? SEVEN.
AND THEN FOR THE ALLIANCE, UH, I, I WILL LEAVE IT UP TO THE, THE INDUSTRY FORUM IS A CHEAP, EASY TO GO IF YOU, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, SOMETIMES WE GET INVITED TO TABLES WITH OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS ANYWAY, SO THAT, THAT ONE'S EASY.
THE BIGGEST THING IS THE ADVOCACY TRIP IN THE SPRING.
SO FAR IT'S BEEN THE MAYOR AND STAFF WITH
[01:45:01]
AN OCCASIONAL COUNCIL MEMBER HERE AND THERE.AND, AND I'VE ALWAYS WANTED OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE WITH THAT.
UM, LIKE I SAID, THIS YEAR WAS, WAS PROBABLY THE BEST YEAR OUT OF THE FEW, FEW YEARS THAT I'VE GONE THAT I FELT THAT THINGS WERE HOW DO YOU, HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? YEAH, IT WAS GOOD.
WE HAD SOME VERY BAYTOWN SPECIFIC MEETINGS MM-HMM
UM, SO YEAH, WE WERE ABLE TO KIND OF LEVERAGE THE ADVOCACY TRIP AS A WHOLE.
BUT THEN, YOU KNOW, WE MET WITH SPECIFIC INDUSTRY PARTNERS.
WE HAD SOME VERY SPECIFIC MEETINGS.
SO I, I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD THAT WE MADE THE MOST OF IT AND, AND MADE IT VERY BAYTOWN SPECIFIC WHILE WE WERE IN TOWN.
I WILL STATE MAYOR, IF YOU DON'T MIND, JUST FOR THE CITIZENS THAT, UM, DON'T TRY TO CRUCIFY US JUST FOR WANTING TO GO ON ANOTHER, ANOTHER TRIP, RIGHT.
THIS TRIP SPECIFICALLY WAS WHERE WE GOT $3 MILLION FOR THE, UM, UH, UH, EOC EXPANSION FROM, UH MM-HMM
AND SO IT WAS THIS TRIP THAT WE WENT AND ADVOCATED AND HE PUT HIS, UH, UH, TOUCH WITH THE PE OTHER PEOPLE.
AND THEN WE DID GET $3 MILLION FOR THE EXPANSION OF THE EOC.
WE'VE HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH COMMISSIONER GARCIA WHILE WE'RE THERE ABOUT GRANTS AND OTHER THINGS.
AND AS A CORRECTION, THIS IS THE, UH, ATTENDEES THAT WOULD GO WITH THE MAYOR.
IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE MAYOR PRO TEM THAT ATTENDS MM-HMM
UH, ADDITIONAL PEOPLE OR IF, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER GRIFFIN OR OR LUSTER WANT TO GO, OR EVEN GRAHAM.
UH, I'M OKAY STICKING WITH THE POLICY COMMITTEE SINCE I'VE BEEN ON THAT ONE FOR A WHILE.
UM, SO I'M OKAY JUST STICKING WITH THAT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE TRIP TO DC TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET DIFFERENT VOICES, DIFFERENT INPUT, UM, YOU KNOW, IF EVERYBODY DECIDES THAT JACOB CAN CONTINUE GOING, I'D BE OKAY.
IF SOMEONE ELSE WANTS TO TRY TO GO WITH THE MAYOR, I'D BE OKAY WITH THAT AS WELL.
SO WHAT I'M HEARING, JUST IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, MAYOR, I'M GONNA WORK WITH YOU DIRECTLY ON IT.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THREE FOR NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES UP TO ALL OF YOU FOR TML AND UP TO THREE FOR THE DC TRIP.
AND I'LL WORK DIRECTLY WITH YOU ON THE DESIRE OF COUNCIL ON WHO WOULD, WHO WOULD BE THE THREE.
DOES THAT WORK? YEAH, I, YEAH, THAT, THAT SOUNDS GOOD TO ME.
JUST GENERAL FEEDBACK ON THIS ONE.
I GUESS I'M KIND OF SURPRISED THAT THE DUES ARE 10 GRAND FOR ECONOMIC WHEN LIKE INDUSTRY PARTNERS ARE HALF THAT REALLY TYPICALLY THAT'S FLIPPED.
WHERE IS IT? I MEAN, LIKE TYPICALLY I WOULD THINK, LIKE I KNOW THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, I THINK THE CITY PAYS MUCH LESS THAN BUSINESS.
ECONOMIC ALLIANCE IS THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
LIKE EXXONMOBIL, COVESTRO, THEY PAY $5,000 TO BE IN.
I MEAN, I GUESS WE HAVE BOARD MEMBERS, UM, ALLIANCE WE DO, WE DO.
I WOULD GIVE THAT FEEDBACK THAT I GUESS THAT'S BACKWARDS IN MY OPINION.
UM, YOU'VE GOT INDUSTRY PARTNERS.
YOU'RE SPEAKING THOMAS' LANGUAGE RIGHT NOW.
HUGE BUDGET, PAYING HALF OF WHAT TAXPAYER FUNDED CITY IS PAYING.
SO IT JUST DOESN'T SOUND RIGHT TO ME.
JUST SO YOU KNOW,
I JUST HAPPENED TO, I WAS LOOKING AT SOME OF THEIR INFORMATION EARLIER THIS WEEK AND YEAH, I MEAN, THAT'S THE HIGHEST INDUSTRY.
LARGEST COMPANIES PAY 5,000 AND THEN SMALLER COMPANIES ARE PAYING 3000, 1000.
I MEAN, AND WE HAVE TO PAY 10 THAT'S SQUEEZING THE CITIES.
I MEAN, FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM.
I MEAN, IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.
I KNOW MAYBE WE CAN TALK TO THE OTHER CITIES THAT ARE ALSO MEMBERS AND WE CAN THOSE SWEEP PUBLIC KNOW, CREATE A, I MEAN, I CAN SENSE THIS AMONG THE C YEAH, I AM.
OH, I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU RUN AWAY, THOMAS.
LET'S, WE'RE STILL IN THE FORMULA.
DON'T FORGET, I KNOW THAT WAS A, A LITTLE DEVIATION THERE, BUT WE'RE STILL IN THE FORMULA AND, UH, WE APPRECIATE THE INVOLVEMENT OR, UM, AND SO MOVING ON TO THE EXPENSES NON-RECURRING, THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT, IF YOU LOOK AT YOUR FINANCE SHEET THAT YOU GOT AT THE BEGINNING HERE, UM, WE, WE TALKED ABOUT HOW WE'VE DONE ON RESERVES.
WE'VE DONE, WELL, WE WENT FROM 90 DAYS TO 117.
WE'RE PROJECTING TO END THE YEAR AT 117 THIS YEAR AND THEN BUDGETING TO END FY 27 AT 99.
SO AS PART OF THE FORMULA WE SPEND DOWN,
[01:50:01]
UH, FROM THOSE 117 DAYS FOR ONE TIME EXPENSES, OKAY? SO THE ONE TIME EXPENSES ARE NOT PART OF OUR ONGOING MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION.AND THAT'S WHY THEY ARE BELOW THE LINE.
AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO HIGHLIGHT THOSE THINGS, UH, BECAUSE WE DO TAKE LARGE SUMS OF MONEY TO HELP FUND SOME OF THE EXPENSES THAT NEED TO HAPPEN.
SO ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT HAPPENED WAS, OR TO SPENDING DOWN FROM THE ONE 17 EACH DAY OVER, UH, EACH DAY IN THE BUDGET IS ROUGHLY 350 TO $70,000 DEPENDING ON WHERE THE SPEND LINES UP.
AND SO TO SPEND DOWN AND STAY ABOVE THE 90 DAY POLICY THAT ROUGHLY GAVE US $10 MILLION, WELL, WE DIDN'T WANT TO SPEND THE ENTIRE 10 MILLION, RIGHT? THAT WAS PART OF OUR CONVERSATIONS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
WE, WE ADVOCATED THAT WE WILL PROBABLY SPEND 5 MILLION OF THAT 10 MILLION ABOVE THE 90 DAY LINE.
AND THE FIRST THING THAT COUNCIL HAS ALREADY GIVEN US DIRECTION ON WAS CREATING THE HOMELESS INTERVENTION, UH, TEAM.
OKAY? THAT HOMELESS INTERVENTION TEAM, $580,000 WAS TAKEN OUT OF THAT, OF THE 5 MILLION AND PUT INTO A SPECIAL LINE ITEM SO THAT IT CAN BE A PILOT PROGRAM TO SEE HOW IT OPERATES OR DOESN'T OPERATE.
UM, THE CHIEF AND THE TEAM HAVE MET, THEY HAVE A GOOD WORKING PERFORMANCE METRIC, UH, PLATFORM ON HOW TO JUDGE SUCCESS FOR Y'ALL.
THEY WILL BRING THAT BACK AND HAVE A FUTURE DISCUSSION WITH THE COUNCIL TO SHOW HOW THINGS ARE GOING OR NOT GOING.
SO WE START, WE START WORKING BACKWARDS FROM THAT 5 MILLION.
THE NEXT PIECE OF THAT IS 500,000.
THAT'S GOING TO GO TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO HELP FUND VEHICLES.
NOW, YOU MAY ASK YOURSELF, WHY ARE WE SPENDING MONEY ON POLICE VEHICLES WHEN THEY HAVE CCPD AND THAT'S PAYING FOR VEHICLES? THAT, THAT MAY BE A QUESTION FOR YOU, FOR YOU.
WELL, THE REASON IS, IS THAT WE SHIFTED RESOURCES, I BELIEVE IN 2022.
WE TOOK ALL PERSONNEL OUTTA CCPD AND PUT 'EM INTO THE GENERAL FUND.
AND THEN PD THROUGH THE LAST FEW YEARS HAS HAVE BEEN SHIFTING THEIR PRIORITIES AS WELL TO HELP CONTROL THE SPEND AS WE'VE, AS WE'VE WORKED DOWN OUR EXPENSES, UH, IN THE FORMULA.
AND THEY'VE MOVED SOME PIECES INTO CCPD TO HELP WITH, TO HELP WITH THAT.
WE WEREN'T FOCUSED ON VEHICLE REPLACEMENT AT THAT TIME IN CCPD.
AND THEN THERE'S ONE BIG PIECE IN C-C-C-P-D, WHICH IS THE AXON BODY CAMERAS, WHICH IS ROUGHLY A MILLION DOLLARS.
THAT MILLION DOLLARS DOES NOT NECESSARILY NEED, IT'S 1,000,900.
AND I KNOW AARON WILL CORRECT, GO ON JUST ROUGHLY A MILLION DOLLARS.
AND, UH, THAT MILLION DOLLARS, I WILL TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, IS GONNA TRANSFER BACK IN TO THE GENERAL FUND IN FY 28.
BECAUSE IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE IN THERE.
THAT IS A, THAT IS AN ONGOING OPERATIONAL EXPENSE.
CCC CCPD AND FIRE CONTROL ARE MEANT TO BE ASSET REPLACEMENT PROGRAMS. THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE DESIGNED TO ONCE WE SWITCHED THE PEOPLE OUT.
SO WORKING WITH PD, I GAVE THEM MY COMMITMENT THAT I'M GONNA TRY TO FUND WITH THE CAPITAL, THE, UH, CAPITAL OVERAGE THAT WE HAVE AT THIS POINT TO HELP GET THE VEHICLES BACK ONLINE.
NOW THEY ARE ALSO SPENDING 1.2 MILLION OUTTA CCPD.
SO THEY'RE SPENDING 1.7 MILLION TO REPLACE THEIR VEHICLES.
FYI, UH, JUST TO GET BACK ON, UH, ON TARGET.
AND SO NOW THEY ARE SETTING UP A REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE WHERE THE CCPD WILL BE SOLELY USED TO REPLACE THEIR FLEET GOING FORWARD ONCE THE AXON BODY CAMERAS MOVE BACK INTO THE GENERAL FUND BUDGET IN 28.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, JOHN, AM I MISSING ANYTHING ON THAT OR NO, SIR.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE HAD 400,000 THAT CAME.
THAT IS GOING TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
FIRE CONTROL, UM, HAS A REPLACEMENT PROGRAM WITH THEIR FLEET AS WELL.
THEY HAVE A PRETTY STRICT SCHEDULE TO REPLACE THINGS.
WE HAD TO, WE MADE THE DECISION TO BUY AN AMBULANCE EARLY, UH, BECAUSE OF THE NUMBERS.
IF Y'ALL REMEMBER THE CONVERSATION LAST YEAR, WE WERE RELYING TOO MUCH ON OUTSIDE, UH, AMBULANCES TO SUPPORT OUR SERVICES INSIDE.
SO WE BOUGHT AN AMBULANCE EARLY THAT SHIFTED THEIR SCHEDULE.
SO IT'S, IT'S ASKING FOR A LITTLE FLEXIBILITY IN HERE.
AND I BELIEVE THIS ONE IS GOING, THE 400,000 IS DEDICATED HERE IS TO THE BURN BUILDING ROOF.
AND THIS IS GONNA DO SOME, UH, UH, IMPROVEMENTS IN THE BURN BUILDING WITH THE FIRE TRAINING FACILITY THAT Y'ALL SAW LAST NIGHT.
[01:55:01]
THAT'S WHAT THAT IS.SO OF THE 5 MILLION, BEFORE WE EVEN GET STARTED LOOKING AT GENERAL FUND REPLACEMENT, WE'VE TAKEN ROUGHLY 1.5 MILLION OUT OF THAT 5 MILLION AND WE HAVE THREE AND A HALF MILLION LEFT OVER THESE LAST FOUR YEARS.
WE HAVE NOT DONE REPLACE EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT IN THE CITY OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS.
WE HAVE BEEN BARE BONES AND AT THIS POINT I WOULD BE FAILING MY EMPLOYEES IF I DID NOT ADVOCATE TO DO SUPPLEMENTAL RE REPLACEMENTS FOR EQUIPMENT AND OTHER PIECES SO THAT THEY CAN HAVE A, A, UH, HEALTHY AND SAFE ENVIRONMENT TO DO THE JOB THAT THEY NEED TO DO.
SO WE, I'M SUGGESTING THAT WE SPEND 3.5 MILLION ON THE SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST TO START REPLACING VEHICLES, START REPLACING UH, HEAVY, HEAVY HAUL VEHICLES.
AND I BELIEVE 2 MILLION OF THAT IS EVEN GENERATORS, RIGHT? 2 MILLION OF THE THREE AND A HALF IS JUST GETTING OUR GENERATORS REPLACED SO WE'RE NOT DUCT TAPE AND, AND, UH, AND BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPE ALL AROUND THESE GENERATORS ANYMORE.
WE NEED, WE NEED RELIABLE SYSTEMS. WE'RE STARTING TO SEE THESE THINGS FAIL TOO MUCH AND THEY'RE STARTING TO, IT'S STARTING TO BE CRITICAL NOW.
SO WE'LL GET THIS, WE'LL GET THE GENERATORS BACK UP.
AND THE OTHER 1.5 IS GOING TO CRITICAL REPLACEMENT NEEDS.
AND WE FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT THIS IS GETTING WHERE WE NEED TO BE FOR THE REPLACEMENT AT THIS POINT.
THE GENERATORS THAT'S MAINLY TARGETING LIFT STATIONS OR NO, THAT'S, UH, FIRE STATIONS, IT'S THREE FIRE STATIONS.
YEAH, IT'S THREE FIRE STATIONS, THE COURT, THE JAIL I BELIEVE, AND, AND CITY HALL.
JUST CRITICAL PLACES THAT WE MIGHT NEED TO AND TRAFFIC OPERATIONS.
UNLESS WE WANT OUR LIGHTS TO GO OUT, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, WE CAN GET RID OF 'EM.
'CAUSE THE, THE LIFT STATIONS ARE CRITICAL AS WELL.
LIFT STATIONS ARE CRITICAL AS WELL.
AND, UH, THAT WILL BE A SEPARATE CONVERSATION THAT WE HAVE WITH Y'ALL WHEN WE TALK WATER AND SEWER IN THE FUTURE.
UM, WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE ON THIS? IS THAT ALL I HAVE? YEAH.
UM, SO WITH ALL THAT SAID, WE'VE GONE THROUGH THE FORMULA AT THIS POINT, WE'RE STARTING OUT.
WE, WE PLAN TO START FY 27 WITH 117 DAYS.
UH, THE POLICY DIRECTION THAT I'VE GOT IS TO STAY AT 69 8 0 3, UH, FOR THE TAX RATE.
WE'VE APPROVED THE ONE-TIME REVENUES AND, UM, OR WE'VE DISCUSSED THE ONE-TIME REVENUES AND HOW THEY'VE, UH, COMING IN THE WATER RATES COUNCIL'S, GIVEN THE OKAY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT.
WE'VE TALKED ABOUT HOW WE'RE NO, HOW WE'VE DONE A GOOD JOB GETTING AWAY FROM THE TRANSFER INS FROM THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
Y'ALL GIVEN GOOD DIRECTION ON, ON OUR ONGOING EXPENSES HERE.
I WILL SAY THAT, UH, WE WILL BRING BACK TO Y'ALL, UH, WE ARE CONSIDERING POSITIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR.
UM, SO WE WILL BRING THAT BACK TO Y'ALL.
I'M NOT TRYING TO OVER PROMISE ANYTHING RIGHT NOW.
UM, BUT IF, IF IT WERE TO HAPPEN, IT WOULD BE UP TO 500,000, $500,000 OR, OR SO IF, IF THAT WERE TO, TO MOVE FORWARD.
UM, THEN OUR NON-RECURRING EXPENSES, UH, AND SPENDING 5 MILLION OF THE RESERVES DOWN, UH, TO ADDRESS SOME OF OUR CRITICAL NEEDS.
AND THAT LEAVES US WITH ROUGHLY 99 DAYS.
NOW, THE ENDING POLICY DECISION FOR Y'ALL WHEN IT COMES TO THIS IS, THIS IS STILL ROUGHLY $3 MILLION.
THE, THE, THE NINE DAYS OVER 90.
I WOULD ADVOCATE THAT WE DON'T JUST GO SPEND IT, RIGHT? Y'ALL'S DIRECTION TO ME IS ANYTHING OVER 90 THAT WE STILL KEEP, UH, TO REDUCE FUTURE DEBT.
WE KNOW THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE FIRE STATION FOUR TO PAY FOR VERY SOON.
WE KNOW THAT DANNY BENA NEEDS EXTRA MONEY, UH, FOR THE CIP.
THERE ARE THINGS THAT THIS CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO WITH THE CIP TO REDUCE FURTHER DEBT NEEDS.
IF, IF THAT IS THE WAY THAT WE NEED TO GO AS WELL.
BUT THIS KEEPS US IN A BALANCE WHERE WE HAVE MORE REVENUE COMING IN, JUST AS IN OTHER YEARS WE WILL PROBABLY GET ADDITIONAL REVENUE THAT'S NOT PLANNED FOR.
REMEMBER, THAT IS NOT IN THE TAXING AREA.
THAT'S IN, EXCUSE ME, THE FEES AND, UH, PERMITTING AREAS WHERE WE GET A LITTLE BIT EXTRA MONEY AND, AND SOME FROM INTERGOVERNMENTAL STUFF, BUT NOT FROM TAXES.
AND SO IF THAT HAPPENS, THAT MAY MAKE THAT NINE, NINE DAYS A LITTLE BIT LARGER.
BUT MY DIRECTION THAT I'M ASKING FOR FROM Y'ALL IS THAT THAT MONEY IS JUST SET ASIDE FOR FUTURE CIP NEEDS.
WELL, AND I DID THE QUICK MATH.
YOU'RE SAYING WE'RE ESTIMATED TO END UP AT 117.
THE 5 MILLION TURNS OUT TO BE ABOUT 15 DAYS.
[02:00:02]
THAT, SO THAT LEAVES A COUPLE OF DAYS TO A HUNDRED.SO THREE, THE THREE DAYS THAT ARE NOT ACCOUNTED FOR IN THERE ARE PART OF THE TRANSFER OUTS.
SO IF I, I KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE ALL OF IT 'CAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO BOMB Y'ALL.
I'M JUST WONDERING WHERE THAT THREE DAYS WENT.
IT WENT TO THE FLEET MAINTENANCE FUND.
UH, PART OF OUR TRANSFER IN CONVERSATION, MIKE, THAT WE'VE HAD BEFORE WAS THAT THERE, UM, I THINK BEFORE WE GOT BACK WE'RE, WE HAD MONEY COMING IN FROM OTHER FUNDS THROUGHOUT THE, TO HELP US SUSTAIN THROUGH THE SERVICE DELIVERY.
UM, ONE OF THOSE WAS NOT BEING ABLE TO SUPPORT OUR INTERNAL FUNDS AND ONE OF THOSE BEING FLEET.
AND SO IT RAN INTO A NEGATIVE BALANCE.
IT, IT, THE, WHEN IT COMES TO THE AUDIT, THE AUDIT SEES THAT AS PART OF OUR OVERALL FUND AND EVERYTHING IS NEUTRAL JUST FOR THE PUBLIC.
I NEED TO SAY, 'CAUSE I'M SAYING IT'S A NEGATIVE FUND, BUT ON PAPER IT'S A NEGATIVE FUND.
BUT I NEED TO ACTUALLY PUSH THAT MONEY BACK TO THAT FUND.
SO THAT 1.2 MILLION WENT TO THAT AND THERE'S, THERE'S NOTHING THAT COMES FROM IT.
AND, AND THAT WAS GONNA BE MY COMMENT, IS THAT IF YOU NEEDED ADDITIONAL FUNDS, 'CAUSE YOU SAID, YOU KNOW, THE, THE MONEY YOU TRANSFER TO FOR MAINTENANCE ISSUES OR FLEET ISSUES, THAT THERE'S NO THREE DAYS, BUT YOU'VE ALREADY COMPENSATED FOR THAT.
OH, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE COMING UP HERE.
BUT
SO LIKE I MAY WE HAVE TO READ ITEM.
ARE WE STILL ON IT? WE'RE STILL IN THE, THE BUDGET CONVERS.
YEAH, WE'RE STILL IN THE BUDGET CONVERSATION.
OH, THIS IS LIKE STRATEGIC INITIATIVE.
EVEN THOUGH THIS SAYS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES.
OH, THE, SORRY, I DIDN'T KNOW WHICH ONE.
OR NOT TWO B, I'M SHOWING TWO AA.
MAYBE THOUGHT IT WAS TOGETHER.
ANOTHER, BEFORE WE GO ON THEN, DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE BUDGET? BECAUSE TYPICALLY I, I KNOW I'LL DIVE RIGHT INTO THIS IN A STRATEGIC INITIATIVES A MINUTE, BUT SABRINA YES, I GOT IT.
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE ABOUT TO TALK ABOUT.
IF Y'ALL REMEMBER THE 99 DAYS, ANYTHING OVER WAS SOMETIME USED FOR STRATEGIC INITIATIVES OR COUNCIL'S PRIORITIES THAT ARE NOT BUDGETED FOR FROM STAFF.
IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT Y'ALL WANT TO CONSIDER.
I KNOW I'M OPENING PANDORA'S BOX, UM, BUT THE DIRECTION I GOT WAS JUST SAVE IT.
WELL WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONSIDER AS FAR AS WHAT? UH, ANYTHING YOU WANT.
REMEMBER USED ONE TEST TALKING ABOUT THE PANDORA'S BOX OCEAN FOR ME, KEN IS LIKE, YEAH, I, I I WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AT OUR, OUR MOSQUITO SPRING SERVICES AND PERHAPS
WELL, YOU KNOW, I GET A LOT OF CALLS FEELING FROM MY CONSTITUENTS LAKEWOOD FEELING THAT WE COULD DO IT A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UM, I JUST WANT TO SEE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
IF WE COULD, YOU KNOW, INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF TIMES WE SPRAY, UH, PARTICULARLY ALL OVER THE CITY.
BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, I MADE A PROMISE TO THE CONSTITUENTS, SO I WOULD LIKE TO THAT WE WILL FOLLOW UP WITH THAT AT THE NEXT BUDGET MEETING.
I KNOW SOMETIMES WHAT I SEE, ESPECIALLY IN MY DISTRICT, I, I THINK IT BOILS DOWN TO JUST EDUCATION.
UM, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE WE ALL WANNA STICK TO, YOU KNOW, FIRST HEAD STRAIGHT INTO, WE NEED MORE MOSQUITO SPRAY, BUT THERE'S A LOT THAT CONSTITUENTS CAN DO THEMSELVES.
UM, YOU KNOW, STANDING WATER, YOU KNOW, BUCKETS OUTSIDE THAT HAVE COLLECTED WATER AND SO ZAPPERS.
WELL YEAH, PEOPLE CAN USE BUG ZAPPERS, BUT I'M TALKING MORE OF PREVENTATIVE.
UM, AND SO I KNOW THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE, OR OUR CIVIC ASSOCIATION HAS BEEN DISCUSSING, UM, BECAUSE WE UNDERSTAND THERE IS A COST ASSOCIATED TO INCREASING SPRAYING AND THE NEW CHEMICALS AND ALL THAT STUFF.
AND SO I THINK WE PROBABLY MAY WANT TO GO MORE PREVENTATIVE AND WELL, I, I REALIZE THAT, BUT ALSO WHERE LIVE NEXT TO WATER, SO INCAPABLE, IT BECOMES A QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUE.
ESPECIALLY WHEN WE HAVE PARKS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, SO MM-HMM
AND IT'D BE INTERESTING TO, TO SEE THAT THE SKI PATROL ADULTICIDE APPLICATION IS HIGHLY REGULATED AND RESTRICTED.
THAT'S WHY MANY YEARS AGO, MOSQUITO CONTROL SHIFTED ITS FOCUS TO
[02:05:01]
LARVICIDING.'CAUSE IT'S NOT AS HEAVILY REGULATED OR RESTRICTIVE 'CAUSE IT'S TYPICALLY LESS TOXIC.
SO, AND I KNOW, I MEAN, WE EVEN HAVE A DRONE THAT THEY FLY OVER AND, UH, LARVICIDE TO AREAS THAT YOU CAN'T GET TO MM-HMM
BUT IT'D BE INTERESTING TO SEE ARE WE PUSHING THE LIMIT OR ARE WE REALLY BACK OFF THE LIMIT? BUT I, I KNOW THAT, THAT, THAT IT GOT TO A POINT THAT WE, WE STATED THE STATE MANDATED LIMIT ALMOST YEAR ROUND.
UM, AND THEN WE STARTED SHIFTING TO THE LARVA SIDE AND, AND THAT MAKES IT, YOU CAN KILL BILLIONS ON THE GROUND WHERE YOU KILL THOUSANDS IN THE AIR, BUT IT'S MORE EXPENSIVE, MORE TIME CONSUMING.
SO, BUT IT'D BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHERE, WHAT LEVEL WE'RE AT.
SO, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, I KNOW OUR, OUR CURRENT MOSQUITO SPRAY ONLY DEALS WITH OWN CONTACT.
THEY ONLY DEAL WITH ON, WELL, I MEAN, WELL, YEAH.
I MEAN, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE ADULT MOSQUITO, THE ADULT MOSQUITOES OWN CONTACT, THE TRUCK THAT GOES AROUND? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE IT ONLY DEALS WITH MOSQUITOES OR THAT'S CORRECT.
WELL, THE LARVICIDE CAN APPLY IT, IT CAN LAST, SOME OF IT'LL LAST UP TO 30 DAYS AND IT KEEPS THE LARVAE FROM DEVELOPING INTO ADULTS.
YEAH, WE COULD, I LIKE TO EXPLORE THAT.
THEY HAVE DRONES NOW THAT HAVE THE LITTLE BLUE ZAPPERS ON 'EM AND WE CAN APPLY THOSE AROUND, BUT THEY, THEY COME WITH FLOCK CAMERAS ON 'EM.
NEVERMIND, NEVERMIND, NEVERMIND.
I TOLD Y'ALL WE GOTTA HAVE FUN AT THESE THINGS.
WELL, IS IT IDENTIFY THE MOSQUITOES OR IDENTIFY I DON'T MOSQUITOES HAVE RIGHT.
WHAT ARE MOSQUITO SCREW? YEAH, THAT'S WHAT SOME AREA TO YEAH.
I MEAN I, I WOULDN'T, I WOULDN'T, UM, I MEAN, I'D BE OKAY LOOKING AT WHERE WE ARE, BUT I WILL DO, CAN I HEAR IF WE NEED TO, IF WE NEED TO BUMP UP THE MOSQUITO PROGRAM TO ENHANCE THE LARVA SIDE, I COULD SUPPORT THAT.
YEAH, THAT'S, THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE.
ANYTHING ELSE? OKAY, SO MOVING ON FROM THAT AND UM, NOW WE NEED TO GO FROM TWO A TO TWO B.
[b. Discuss Fiscal Year 2026 - 2027 Strategic Initiatives.]
WE'RE DONE WITH TWO A.WE'RE MOVING ON TO DISCUSS PHYSICAL 2026.
I, I HAVE A LITTLE SPEECH I'M GONNA KIND OF THEATER READ ON HERE IN A SECOND.
BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED, WHAT WAS PASSED OUT TO YOU? UH, AND SO FOR THE CITIZENS AT HOME IS THESE ARE OUR DEPARTMENTAL SERVICES.
WE WENT THROUGH THIS, UH, OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.
AND I, I BELIEVE Y'ALL SEEN THIS BEFORE.
UM, AND WE'LL, WE'LL TALK ABOUT IT HERE IN A SECOND.
ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THAT PART? NO, I WASN'T, BUT I CAN'T OKAY, I GOT IT.
YEAH, I'M NOT, I'M NOT AS CONFIDENT RIGHT NOW ON THIS ONE.
YOU WANT ME TO, UM, NO, I GOT IT.
SO DEPARTMENTAL SERVICES, THIS IS, UM, IF YOU LOOK THROUGH HERE, EACH DEPARTMENT IS HIGHLIGHTED AND THE BOLD RIGHT BELOW THE DEPARTMENT ARE THE DIFFERENT DIVISIONS INSIDE THE DEPARTMENT.
AND THOSE ARE THE MAIN SERVICES THAT EACH ONE OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS AND DIVISIONS OFFER TO THE CITY OF BAYTOWN.
AND THE REASON THAT THAT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND IS THE QUESTION THAT WE, THAT IS ASKED OVERALL IS HOW DO WE KNOW THAT WE'RE DOING THIS WELL? OKAY.
AND THAT'S WHAT THESE ARE IDENTIFYING OUR CORE SERVICES.
AND I JUST WANNA HIGHLIGHT THAT.
I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET LOST IN IT JUST YET, BUT I WANT YOU TO HAVE UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU.
AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO SAY THAT BECAUSE OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, UM, OUR ORGANIZATION HAS ESSENTIALLY JUST REFOCUSED ON CORE SERVICES WITH THE RESOURCES AND STAFF WE CURRENTLY HAVE.
OUR, OUR FIRST RESPONSIBILITY IS TO DELIVER BASIC SERVICES RELIABLY AND CONSISTENTLY AND TAKE CARE OF OUR PEOPLE WITH APPROPRIATE PAY EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT.
THIS HAS NOT JUST BEEN A BUDGET CHOICE, IT'S AN OPERATIONAL REALITY.
IF WE UNDERFUND OUR CORE, WE RISK DEGRADING THE SERVICES RESIDENTS RELY ON EVERY DAY, LIKE PUBLIC SAFETY AND MAINTENANCE AND GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE.
SO WHEN YOU SEE US PRIORITIZING OUR CORE SERVICES, IT'S NOT 'CAUSE WE DON'T VALUE AMENITIES OR NEW PROJECTS, IT'S BECAUSE WE ARE MAKING SURE THE FOUNDATION IS STRONG ENOUGH TO SUPPORT ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU MAY WANT TO ADD LATER.
[02:10:03]
I I WANT TO RECONNECT TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN THAT MANY OF YOU HELPED LAUNCH.AS Y'ALL KNOW, THAT'S IN PLAY FROM 22 TO 27 RIGHT NOW, WHEN WE ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY, WE, WE ASK A VERY OPEN AND BROAD QUESTION.
IF YOU WERE KING OR QUEEN FOR A DAY, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO SEE IN BAYTOWN? AND WE HEARD BIG VISIONARY IDEAS.
THOSE IDEAS BECAME VERY SPECIFIC PROJECTS, ESPECIALLY AROUND COMMUNITY AMENITIES AND ENHAN AND ENHANCEMENTS.
AND A FEW THINGS HAPPENED AND THEY CHANGED FOR US.
THE STATE HAD MANDATED, UH, BOUNDARIES FOR US TO OPERATE WITH OUR TAX RATE.
WE HAD AN AGGRESSIVE DOWNGRADE IN OUR TAX RATE AS, OR AS AN EXCESSIVE SHIFT IN OUR TAX RATE DOWNWARD.
WE ALSO HAD SSO POP UP ON THE HORIZON AS AN, UH, HORIZON EXPENSE.
AND THEN WE'VE HAD VERY HIGH INFLATION FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS.
THOSE CHANGES MEANT THAT MANY OF THE PROJECTS EMBEDDED IN THAT STRATEGIC PLAN BECAME FINANCIALLY UNATTAINABLE, AT LEAST IN THE NEAR TERM.
SO WE MADE A DELIBERATE PIVOT.
WE SLOWED THE PACE OF TAKING ON NEW COMMITMENTS, WE RESET OUR ORGANIZATIONAL DIRECTION, EMPHASIZING BASIC CORE SERVICES, AND WE BEGAN TO DOCUMENT OUR PERFORMANCE AT THE BASIC LEVEL THROUGH OUR DASHBOARDS.
SO YOU AND THE PUBLIC CAN SEE HOW WE'RE DOING ON OUR FUNDAMENTALS.
YOU'VE RIGHTLY NOTICED THAT WE HAVEN'T FULLY REENGAGED SOME OF OUR ADVISORY, OUR ADVISORY BOARDS SPECIFICALLY HERE, THE SPAC.
AND IT WASN'T DONE AT THE LEVEL OF COLLABORATION THAT WE PROMISED THEM.
THE REASON IS STRAIGHTFORWARD AND SOMEWHAT UNCOMFORTABLE.
THE HONEST MESSAGE TO THEM IS MOST OF THESE PROJECTS CANNOT BE STARTED OR COMPLETED WITHIN OUR CURRENT BUDGET AND TAX STRUCTURE.
AND THE ISSUE OF THAT IS, AS WE LOOK AT OUR IP TWO PIECES, THAT'S NOT A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH WITH THEM.
UM, THAT'S NOT A GOOD CONVERSATION.
IT'S JUST TELLING THEM IT'S A STATUS REPORT ON THINGS WE CAN'T DO.
SO BEFORE BRINGING BACK INTO INTO THAT CONVERSATION, WE NEED TO RESET THE EXPECTATIONS AROUND WHAT IS FINANCIALLY REALISTIC AND WHAT PACE OF IMPLEMENTATION OUR CURRENT STAFFING AND TAX RATE CAN ACTUALLY SUPPORT.
SO GOING FORWARD COUNCIL WILL SEE US USE STRATEGIC INITIATIVES THAT ARE DATA DRIVEN THAT COME OUT OF DEPARTMENTAL MASTER PLANS OR INTERNAL STRATEGIC PLANS AND HAVE A CLEAR OPERATIONAL IMPACT EITHER IN THE SHORT TERM OR LONG TERM.
SO IN PRACTICE, WE WILL BE SHOWING YOU TWO THINGS ON THE PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD OVER THE NEXT QUARTER.
CORE SERVICE PERFORMANCE, HOW WELL, HOW WELL WE ARE DOING ON THE BASICS AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES, FOCUSED, ACHIEVABLE EFFORTS THAT MOVE OPERATIONS FORWARD WITHOUT OVEREXTENDING OUR CAPACITY.
AND TO BRING US TO A A, A CORE POINT, THERE IS CURRENTLY A MISALIGNMENT BETWEEN WHAT THE COMMUNITY EXPECTS, ESPECIALLY AROUND STRATEGIC PLANS AND PROJECTS.
AND THE RESOURCES COUNCIL HAS TO, HAS CHOSEN TO ALLOCATE THROUGH THE BUDGET AND TAX RATE.
SO RESIDENTS NATURALLY FOCUS ON WHAT THEY CAN SEE.
NEW PARKS, FACILITIES, GRAND IMPROVEMENTS.
COUNCIL, HOWEVER, CARRIES A RESPONSIBILITY AND SOMEWHAT A BURDEN OF FUNDING WHAT IS NOT VISIBLE.
YOU HAVE TO FOCUS ON STAFFING LEVELS, MAINTENANCE BACKLOGS, REGULATORY COMPLIANCE, REPLACEMENT CYCLES, AND LONG TERM FINANCIAL STABILITY.
NONE OF THAT SEXY, RIGHT? NONE OF THAT GETS PEOPLE EXCITED.
SO THE STRATEGIC PLAN THAT COUNCIL DID ADOPT HAS GLOW AND GROW MOMENTS.
THERE ARE FIVE BUCKETS OF FOCUS AREAS THAT ARE GOOD AREAS.
I WILL TELL YOU THEY'RE PRETTY STANDARD ACROSS ALL CITIES.
UM, BUT FROM THE CITIZEN'S POINT OF VIEW, THAT PLAN LEANED HEAVILY TOWARDS THE BRIGHT AND SHINY PROJECTS.
OUR BUDGET REALITY HAS PULLED US BACK TOWARDS THE BASIC AND ESSENTIAL SIDE.
THIS ISN'T A FAILURE OF INTENT, OKAY? IT'S A GAP TO BE MANAGED AND EXPLAINED TRANSPARENT FOR STAFF TO REC FOR STAFF.
WE NEED A CLEAR BEACON FROM YOU.
AND THAT BEACON SHOULD REFLECT OUR POLICY DIRECTION FOR THE ORGANIZATION, BE INFORMED BY COMMUNITY INPUT,
[02:15:01]
AND BE GROUNDED IN A REALISTIC AND REALISTIC FINANCIAL PARAMETERS.AND WE WILL BE WORKING ON THAT IN THE FY 27 YEAR.
IN FACT, GIVEN WHAT WE'VE UH, EXPERIENCED OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS, IT SHOULDN'T BE STATIC.
BUT WE DO NEED SOMETHING THAT ORIENTS OUR DECISIONS OVER TIME SO THAT CHANGES IN DIRECTION GO, LIKE ADJUSTMENTS ON A KNOWN COURSE, NOT ABRUPT REVERSALS TO KEEP THAT BEACON ALIGNED WITH COMMUNITY EXPECTATIONS.
WE'RE PROPOSING A MORE STRUCTURED AND CYCLICAL APPROACH TO ENGAGEMENT RATHER THAN A ONE-TIME VISIONING EFFORT.
SPECIFICALLY, WE WANT TO IMPLEMENT A RECURRING SURVEY PROCESS, A CITYWIDE SURVEY, AND POSSIBLY TARGETED COMMUNITY SURVEYS ON A YEAR LONG ROTATION OR SIMILAR CADENCE.
WE WANT TO USE THOSE SURVEYS TO TRACK VISION TRENDS, WHAT REMAINS CONSISTENTLY IMPORTANT TO RESIDENTS, WHAT'S EMERGING AND WHAT'S LOSING PRIORITY.
AND WE WANNA BRING THAT INFORMATION BACK TO YOU ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE SO YOU CAN INCORPORATE IT INTO YOUR GOAL SETTING.
BUDGET DECISIONS AND STRATEGIC DIRECTION.
IT KEEPS US IN AN ONGOING CONVERSATION WITH A RESIDENTS RATHER THAN RELYING ON A SINGLE MOMENT IN TIME ENGAGEMENT.
IT GIVES COUNCIL A DATA INFORMED BASIS TO SAY, THIS IS WHAT THE COMMUNITY IS ASKING FOR, AND HERE'S WHAT WE CAN RESPONSIBLY SUPPORT WITHIN OUR CURRENT RESOURCES.
SO TO SUMMARIZE, WE'VE RE WE'VE RECENTERED OUR FOCUS ON DOING OUR CORE SERVICES WELL.
WE'RE SHIFTING TOWARDS ACHIEVABLE DATA DRIVEN STRATEGIC INITIATIVES.
WE'RE ROOTED, UH, INITIATIVES ROOTED IN DEPARTMENT PLANS AND OPERATIONAL CAPACITY.
THERE IS A REAL GAP BETWEEN WHAT RESIDENTS WERE INVITED TO DREAM ABOUT.
AND WHAT WE CAN CURRENTLY FUND ALREADY IN THE WORKS IS A RECURRING STRUCTURED SURVEY PROCESS TO KEEP COUNCIL CLEARLY INFORMED ABOUT COMMUNITY PRIORITIES OVER TIME FROM COUNCIL, WHAT WE NEED IS A VISION TREND.
YOUR UPDATED POLICY DIRECTION AND VISION THAT RECOGNIZES OUR CURRENT FISCAL CAPACITY AND SUPPORT FOR MORE ITERATIVE DATA INFORMED ENGAGEMENT MODEL.
SO WE CAN BETTER ALIGN EXPECTATIONS AND RESOURCE GROUPS.
OUR COMMITMENT AS STAFF IS TO BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT OUR CONSTRAINTS, HONEST ABOUT TRADE-OFFS AND DISCIPLINE AND HOW WE MOVE FROM VISION TO EXECUTION.
SO WITH THAT, I, I WILL PAUSE, KIND OF LIKE TALK ABOUT THIS BECAUSE THE INTENT, THIS IS OUR PURPOSE, RIGHT? THIS IS OUR PURPOSE.
AND SO AS WE LOOK AT WHAT OUR PURPOSE IS, WE ALIGN WHAT THAT BEACON IS AND WE'LL DO THAT THROUGH FY 27.
WE'LL CONSIDER THOSE FIVE PIECES THAT WERE BROUGHT UP IN THE STRATEGIC PLAN AS WELL.
AND WE'LL WORK ON WHAT COMM WHAT COMMUNITY SURVEYS SAY TO US SO THAT WHEN Y'ALL HAVE TIME, UH, IN OUR, IN OUR RETREATS, WE WILL HAVE SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED STUFF TO IDENTIFY THAT BEACON.
THAT WILL BE LONG TERM, RIGHT? THAT'LL BE A LONG TERM PIECE.
AND THEN WE'LL DEVELOP DIVISION TRENDS.
SO THAT AND FY 28, THE FY 28 BUDGET, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK OFF THOSE, BUT THE STAFF WILL BE DEVELOPING PLANS THAT ARE ALREADY IN THE ADOPTED MASTER PLANS THAT THEY HAVE FROM COUNCIL AS WELL.
UM, CAN YOU REMIND ME WHEN THIS STRATEGIC PLAN, LIKE WHEN IT STARTED AND WHEN WE WAS THAT LIKE IN IT'S 22 TO 27 2.
AND I, AND I THINK EARLY ON WE OPERATE IN THE ASSUMPTION THAT WE HAD THIS AMOUNT OF MEASURE.
WHICH IS ONE OF THE REASONS THAT THEY WERE HIGH VISION, UM, TOPICS.
AND EVEN THEN, AND JUST LIKE I SAID EARLIER, UM, IT WAS STILL A GUIDE, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE I KNOW WHEN WE WORKED, UH, LOOKED AT THE PRIORITY LEVEL THAT NOT JUST THE COMMITTEE, BUT UM, SURVEYS CAME THROUGH, SOME ITEMS THAT FELL LOW IN PRIORITY WERE SHIFTED HIGH UP, YOU KNOW, THE ANIMAL, UM, SHELTER MM-HMM
THAT WAS VERY LOW IN PRIORITY, BUT THEN CAME UP SUPER HIGH.
AND SO I THINK THAT WAS A HIGH BUDGET ITEM THAT WE HAD TO TAKE CARE OF, UH, BECAUSE IT, PEOPLE WANTED TO PUSH IT UP.
UM, AND SO, UH, I, I THINK I'M OKAY SHIFTING WITH THAT.
BUT, UM, PERHAPS SOME OF, OR THE BIG THING THAT WE MISSED OUT ON, AND I KNOW THAT YOU ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WAS JUST ROUNDING BACK, UM, TO THE FOLKS THAT WORKED HARD, UM, ON THAT STRATEGIC PLAN AND ACKNOWLEDGING WHAT THE NEXT STEPS WERE.
HOW ARE WE DOING? AND SO I THINK THAT WAS, THAT WAS A MISS ON ON OUR PART.
[02:20:01]
WERE IN A DIFFERENT CHAPTER.AND SO IT WASN'T FIRST IN MY MIND BECAUSE WE HAD TO SHIFT SUBSTANTIALLY, UH, DUE TO OUR BUDGET.
SO, UM, I DO RECOGNIZE THAT SHORTFALL AND I DO APOLOGIZE TO THE GROUP IN HOPES THAT WE CAN JUST WORK TOGETHER TO MOVE FORWARD.
AND, UM, IF WE CAN INCORPORATE THEM IN ANY, OUR FUTURE ENVISIONING, UM, AND ALL OF THAT, THEN WE CAN DEFINITELY DO THAT AND MAYBE REVISIT SOME OF THE, THE ITEMS THAT WERE IN THERE THAT COULD FALL WITHIN SOME OF THE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
THAT'S, UM, UM, FOR ME, I, I BELIEVE WHEN I INTERVIEWED, UM, FOR THIS, I TALKED ABOUT THE ENGAGEMENT AND YOU'RE RIGHT, IT WAS A SHIFT, IMMEDIATE SHIFT, UH, FOR THE COUNCIL.
AS SOON AS I GOT ON BOARD ON LOOKING AT THE, THE MONEY PIECE, AND THIS IS SOMEWHAT OF MY ATONEMENT TO NICK AND THE REST OF THE SPAC OF ACKNOWLEDGING, HEY, I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER ON REACHING OUT THROUGH THIS PROCESS JUST TO SAY, HEY, I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY.
I THERE, IT'S A WASTE OF OUR TIME TO EVEN MEET BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE MONEY TO EVEN LIKE, LOOK AT ANY OF THESE THINGS.
I KNOW DAVID CALLED ME OUT, UM, AT A COUNCIL MEETING AS WELL.
UM, AND I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS EARLIER.
AND THIS IS JUST A WAY TO RECOGNIZE, UM, THAT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, THAT WAS NOT A PRIORITY FOR US, OR YOU'RE CORRECT.
WE WERE JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CITY WAS STILL RUNNING WITH THE MONEY THAT WE HAD.
I DON'T, I DON'T THINK IT'S A WASTE OF TIME TO MEET WITH THEM.
UM, I DON'T THINK IT'S A WASTE OF TIME TO REENGAGE THEM.
IF WE TALKING ABOUT COLLABORATING, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WORDS LIKE TOGETHER.
UM, THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO MEET, UM, HOWEVER MANY WERE ON THE COMMITTEE.
I THINK IT WAS LIKE NINE OR SO, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
REACH BACK OUT TO THEM, BRING THEM IN, SIT DOWN WITH THEM.
WE UNDERSTOOD, OR YOU ALL UNDERSTOOD.
I WASN'T ON COUNCIL UP TO 2022, THE SITUATION THAT WAS GOING ON.
AND I'VE ALWAYS SAID WE, WE SHOULD GIVE OUR CITIZENS MORE CREDIT FOR UNDERSTANDING THINGS IF WE EDUCATE THEM.
AND THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO EDUCATE.
AND I'M GONNA SAY THIS COULD BE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO EDUCATE INSTEAD OF JUST, I DON'T MIND DOING SURVEYS.
I THINK SURVEYS ARE GREAT, BUT THOSE SURVEYS ARE GONNA HIT SOME OF THESE PEOPLE.
MAYBE ONE TIME WE, WE MAY NOT GET ALL THESE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, BUT THAT COMMITTEE, THAT GROUP OF PEOPLE, THEY'RE GONNA CONTINUALLY BE ENGAGED AND THEY COULD BE SOME, UH, ANOTHER TOOL FOR US TO USE TO REACH OUT TO INDIVIDUALS, OTHER INDIVIDUALS, OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES WHO MAY NOT HAVE THE TIME TO PARTICIPATE IN COMMITTEES, BUT TO GET THAT WORD OUT TO THEM AND SAYING, HEY, THINGS ARE CHANGING.
I KNOW THAT WE SAID WE WANTED TO DO THESE THINGS, WE LISTENED TO YOU, BUT THERE WAS A SHIFT BECAUSE WE WANTED A BALANCED BUDGET.
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PROVIDING CORE SERVICES.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING, MAKING SURE THE TOILET'S FLUSH.
I THINK WE COULD USE THEM AND I THINK WE COULD COLLABORATE A LITTLE BIT BETTER.
I DON'T WANNA SEE THEM JUST BE THROWN TO THE WAYSIDE.
UM, I DON'T WANNA SEE US JUST DEPEND ON SURVEYS.
UM, WHEN WE DO SURVEYS, WE DO MAIL OUTS.
WE DO WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO ONLINE.
AND WE DO THINGS THAT, SO THE SHIFT HERE IS WHAT THOMAS AND HIS TEAM ARE SETTING UP.
THE SURVEYS ARE INTEGRATED INTO THE COMMUNITY.
IT'S GOING TO THE GROCERY STORE AND MEETING WITH PEOPLE FACE TO FACE.
IT IS HAVING COMMUNITY MEETINGS AND HEARING THEM FACE TO FACE.
WE WILL HAVE THE ONLINE STUFF.
UM, WE DON'T WANT TO DO THIS IN A VACUUM WHATSOEVER.
AND THOMAS, IF I'M MISSTATING ANY OF THIS, THAT THIS IS HOW I UNDERSTAND IT TO BE.
IT'S, IT'S TO BE MORE THAN THAT.
'CAUSE WE, WE REALIZE THAT IT COULD BE THE SAME PEOPLE ONLINE FILLING OUT THE, WE, WE REALIZE THAT.
THE ISSUE WITH THE NINE PEOPLE ON, ON A COMMITTEE IS, IS THE SAME PROBLEM THAT'S STILL PRESENTED RIGHT NOW.
IF THOSE NINE PEOPLE SAY, HEY, I UNDERSTAND THOSE PARAMETERS THAT THE CITY'S WORKING IN MM-HMM
BUT I STILL WANT TO DO THESE THINGS AND THEN I BRING IT TO COUNCIL, AND YOU SAY, NO, I DON'T WANNA DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS.
AND THEN, THEN THEY'RE LIKE, AND, AND YOU MAY IT, LIKE YOU MAY TELL ME THAT ONE NEVER HAPPENED.
THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED ALREADY.
I UNDERSTAND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.
BUT I'M SAYING WE SHOULDN'T JUST DISCREDIT, I'M NOT GONNA SAY DISCREDIT.
WE SHOULDN'T JUST PUT THEM BY THE WAYSIDE BECAUSE THAT HAPPENED ONCE.
LIKE I SAID, I HAVE CONFIDENCE ENOUGH IN THEM TO WHERE WE EXPLAIN THESE THINGS TO THEM LIKE THEY'VE BEEN EXPLAINED TO US, GUESS WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN.
THEY'RE GONNA UNDERSTAND AND THEY'RE GONNA ACCEPT IT AND THEY'RE GONNA GO BACK AND TELL OTHER PEOPLE.
I'M NOT SAYING NOT TO DO THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE PLANNED.
[02:25:01]
I DON'T WANT TO SEE US GET AWAY FROM USING THOSE INDIVIDUALS OR, UM, VALUING THEIR OPINIONS AND, AND THE WORK THAT THEY HAVE DONE.I UNDERSTAND THAT IT HAPPENED ONCE.
I JUST DON'T BELIEVE IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN.
I THINK WE SHOULD TAKE MORE RESPONSIBILITY IN MAKING SURE THAT THEY UNDERSTAND IT WHENEVER OR NOT EVEN US STAFF OR WHOEVER'S GONNA SIT DOWN WITH THEM IF WE GO, IF THEY GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS, THIS IS WHAT IT IS.
SAME THING THAT HAPPENED WITH THE BOND COMMITTEE.
WE TOLD THEM WHAT THE AMOUNT WAS, THEY STAYED VERY CLOSE TO THAT AMOUNT AND THEY WERE HAPPY WITH THE PROCESS, WITH THE THINGS THAT PASSED.
AND WE REALIZED WE MADE SOME MISTAKES WITH THE BOND.
AND WE'RE LOOKING TO DO BETTER WITH THAT.
PEOPLE AREN'T TELLING US NOT TO DO IT AGAIN BECAUSE THEY DON'T TRUST US BECAUSE WE MADE SOME MISTAKES.
I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD DO THE SAME THING WITH THEM.
UH, I THINK THE SPAC DID A GREAT JOB.
THE CITY AS A WHOLE, WE DROPPED THE BALL.
BUT I LOOK AT AS WE TRANSITION OVER THE SPAC TO ME, AND I'D HAVE TO LOOK AT THEIR ACTUAL CHARGE, BUT WE COULD CHANGE THAT.
THE SPAC TO ME IS ALMOST A PRECURSOR TO A BOND COMMITTEE, CORRECT? MM-HMM
THIS IS WHAT A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT DO MEETINGS AND HAVE CITIZEN WIDE INPUT COME OUT AND SAY, WELL, WE WANT THESE STRATEGIC IDEAS OR, OR SHINY THINGS IN THE FUTURE.
YOU AS PART OF THIS COMMITTEE ARE GONNA MOVE INTO THE BOND COMMITTEE.
'CAUSE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO SELL IT TO THE CITIZENS.
AND OUR CORE SORT SERVICES, THERE'S A GAP AS YOU'VE INDICATED.
THERE'S A GAP BETWEEN WHAT IS ULTIMATELY EXPECTED FROM A CITIZEN.
AS A CITIZEN, I EXPECT MY STREETS TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE.
I EXPECT THE TRASH GET PICKED UP.
I WANT A BETTER MOSQUITO CONTROL.
I WANT A POLICE OFFICER TO SHOW UP WHEN I CALL.
AND I HOPE KENNY'S TEAM SHOWS UP WHEN THEY SEE SMOKE.
I DON'T THINK ABOUT THOSE THINGS.
AND THEN THERE'S A WANT, I WANT MY PARKS TO BE MOWED ON A REGULAR BASIS.
I WANT NEW TOY EQUIPMENT IN THE PARKS.
I WANT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TO, TO ENCOURAGE CONSTRUCTION AND BUSINESSES.
THERE'S A, BUT IT'S ALL CONSIDERED TO BE THE SAME THING.
AND, AND THERE'S A DIFFERENCE.
IF YOU WANT STUFF NEW, YOU GOTTA PAY FOR IT, RIGHT? MM-HMM
BECAUSE WE'VE HEARD THE CITIZENS WITH REDUCED TAXES TO THE POINT, YEAH, WE GOTTA HOLD THE LINE NOW.
WE DON'T HAVE THE OPEN CHECKBOOK, WHICH WHEN THE SPAC INITIALLY STARTED, THEY WERE TOLD, WE GOT MONEY, JUST SPEND IT.
NO, THIS GO TO TOWN HERE, HERE'S THE CREDIT CARD.
SO MAYBE WE NEED TO CHANGE THE CHARGE TO THE SPAC THAT WE WANT Y'ALL TO DO ON AN ANNUAL ROUTINE BASIS.
BUT Y'ALL ARE THE PRECURSORS TO THE BONDS.
AND, AND KIND OF BUILD THAT IN AND MAKE THEM PART OF THE BOND MEETING.
AND THEN AFTER THE BONDS ARE PASSED, YOU KNOW, WE'RE LOOKING AT CREATING A BOND REVIEW GROUP HERE, REVIEW GROUP.
THEY'RE THE ONES THAT CAME UP WITH THE IDEAS.
THEY'RE THE ONES THAT SOLD IT TO THE PUBLIC IN BONDS.
AND THEN THEY'RE GONNA MAKE SURE WE'RE ADHERING TO WHAT WE SAID WE WERE GONNA DO.
UNDERSTANDING THAT THAT COMMITTEE COULD CHANGE BECAUSE YEAH.
THERE DIFFERENT PEOPLE COULD, THEY END UP HAVING TO MOVE TO THAT NECK BONDS OVERSIGHT.
SO THERE, THERE'S A CONTINUED CONTINUITY TO THAT.
BUT YEAH, THAT'S, WE'RE COMING TO THE POINT NOW THAT WE'RE JUST GETTING OUR BASIC SERVICES IN GOOD SHAPE.
AND WE STILL NEED TO SPEND MORE MONEY TO, TO ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS.
BUT LET'S GET OUR CORE SERVICES.
WE'RE NOT HERE TO PROVIDE PRETTY NICE PARKS.
WE'RE HERE TO PROVIDE BASIC SERVICES.
THAT'S WHAT CITIES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.
THE AMENITIES COME BECAUSE WE'RE DOING WELL AND WE HAVE GREAT PARKS.
SO THAT WE JUST NEED TO FOCUS ON THAT.
AND THEN IF THE SPAC EETS, WE REENERGIZE 'EM AND WE SAY, LOOK, WE WE'RE LOOKING AT A BOND IN 27, WE'RE GONNA GIVE Y'ALL OR AN OPEN SLATE HERE.
Y'ALL COME UP WITH SOME GREAT IDEAS, BUT THEN Y'ALL ARE GONNA BE THE ONES TO SELL IT.
BECAUSE THE CITIZENS ARE GONNA HAVE TO PAY FOR IT.
AND THEN AFTER YOU SELL IT AND THE CITIZENS APPROVE IT, Y'ALL ARE GONNA BE THE ONES THAT HAVE OVERSIGHT.
WE'RE GONNA GIVE YOU QUARTERLY UPDATES.
THIS IS WHAT WE'VE BLOWN SPENT, THIS IS WHAT WE'RE DOING, THIS IS HOW WE'RE DOING IT.
AND THEN THEY CAN REPORT BACK TO SEE, YEAH, THE CITY'S DOING WHAT WE TOLD THEM TO DO MM-HMM
AND, AND I THINK THAT'S WHERE WE NEED TO GO WITH THAT.
BUT YEAH, WE DROPPED THE BALL, BUT THERE WAS A MASSIVE CHANGE IN COUNCIL'S PHILOSOPHY AS FAR AS FINANCES THAT OH WOW.
IT WAS A BLACK CARD, BUT NOBODY WAS PAYING THE BILL.
AND, AND THAT HURT US FOR A FEW YEARS.
ESPECIALLY WITH REDUCING THE TAX RATE AS WELL.
AND I THINK THOMAS'S TEAM IS, IS DOING A GREAT JOB AND, AND JUST GOING WHERE PEOPLE ARE, BECAUSE I THINK PEOPLE ARE
[02:30:01]
JUST SURVEYED OUT.AND WHEN YOU HAVE THE SAME PEOPLE OVER AND OVER, UM, THAT LEADS US TO BE JUST KIND OF IN A FUNNEL.
BUT, UM, THE MOST IMPORTANT PART ABOUT, UM, SURVEYING IS THAT WE FOLLOW UP ON THAT.
YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IF WE THROW OUT THE SURVEY AND THEN WE NEVER PROVIDED, YOU KNOW, AN UPDATE ON RESULTS OR HOW IT WENT AND ALL OF THAT, THEN THAT'S WHERE WE KEPT GETTING STUCK.
AND SO, UM, I BELIEVE WE'RE AT THAT POINT NOW WITH THOMAS AND ESTEEM THAT THEY CAN GIVE RESULTS.
THEY CAN SAY, THIS IS WHERE WE ARE.
THIS IS THE FEEDBACK, THIS IS WHAT WE'RE GONNA PRESENT TO COUNCIL, ET CETERA.
UM, BUT I, I THINK THAT'S WHAT FOLKS WOULD APPRECIATE IS LIKE NOT JUST ANOTHER SURVEY THAT NOT GONNA GO ANYWHERE.
THEY'RE NOT GONNA TAKE OUR INPUT, UH, ANYWAY.
AND SO I THINK WE, WE DEFINITELY NEED TO BE STRATEGIC ABOUT SURVEYS AND WHICH WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING.
OR ADD TO THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ASK PEOPLE, WELL, WHAT DO YOU WANT? WELL, I WANT X.
OKAY, WELL THEN WE DON'T DO IT.
IT'S KIND OF, WELL, WHY'D YOU ASK ME? WELL, WE FORGOT TO ASK YOU IF YOU'RE WILLING TO PAY FOR IT.
AGAIN, IT GOES BACK INTO THAT, WHATEVER.
BUT WE DECIDE, WE DECIDE LATER, UH, WE CAN'T AFFORD THAT.
WHY DIDN'T WE, WE TELL THE FOLKS IT WAS, OH, WE CAN GIVE YOU THAT, BUT WE GOTTA RAISE THE TAX RATE 2 CENTS.
THEN THAT'S, OR NO, I'M WILLING, I'M WILLING TO PAY THAT O OKAY, THEN LET'S DO IT.
I HEAR YOU WILL JUMP IN HERE REALLY QUICK THOUGH, IF THAT'S OKAY.
UM, WE DO HAVE SOME THINGS OUR TEAMS, UH, OUR DIRECTORS ARE WORKING ON AS FAR AS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES GO.
SO ON THE PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD, WE CURRENTLY DISPLAY OUR METRICS FOR OUR CORE SERVICES.
HOW WELL ARE WE DOING OUR BASIC THINGS? WE SAY WE'RE GONNA DO THE DOCUMENT YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU.
THIS LIST THAT I'M GIVING YOU IS SOMETHING THE DIRECTORS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON 4, 5, 6 MONTHS NOW.
UM, AS WE PREP FOR FY 27, THESE, I WANT TO, I WANNA SAY MOST OF THESE THINGS ARE ALREADY INCLUDED IN THEIR BUDGET AND THEY'RE SOMETHING THEY'RE MOVING THE CITY FORWARD WITH FOR THE NEXT YEAR TO TWO YEARS.
SO THIS IS WORK THAT IS FROM AN OPERATIONS PLAN.
UH, LIKE OPERATIONALLY, IT'LL HELP THEIR OR THEIR DEPARTMENT MOVE FORWARD, OR IT'S FROM COUNCIL DIRECTION FROM LAST DECEMBER, WHICH YOU GUYS LANDED ON LIKE STREETS, SIDEWALKS, AND DRAINAGE WAS YOUR THREE PRIORITIES.
SO YOU'LL SEE SOME OF THAT REFLECTED IN HERE.
YOU'LL ALSO SEE SOME THINGS THAT, THAT PULL FROM LIKE A DEPARTMENT MASTER PLAN OR A STRATEGIC PLAN THAT WAS, UM, CREATED FOR THEM.
SPECIFICALLY, THESE THINGS ARE BEING BUILT INTO INVISIO SO THAT YOU CAN RECEIVE NARRATIVE UPDATES ON THEM BY THE END OF THE SUMMER.
AND THEN WE'LL START OUR MONTHLY CADENCE AND YOU'LL GET, THIS WILL BE INCLUDED AS PART OF YOUR MONTHLY REPORT FROM JEN.
SO I DID WANT TO GIVE THESE TO YOU GUYS AS A PREVIEW TO WHAT'S COMING LATER THIS YEAR.
I, I HEARD YOUR FEEDBACK FROM A TREATMENT.
I COULD PROBABLY READ WITHOUT MY GLASSES.
JUST, IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS, WE DO HEAR Y'ALL.
WE'LL FIGURE OUT THE, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
I WILL PROBABLY MAKE A NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE A FINANCIAL IMPACT TO, TO ADDRESS REIN REINVIGORATING, UM, A PATH WITH THE SPAC.
WHAT'S UP? JUST, I WANT TO HARKEN BACK TO THE RETREAT TOO, WHERE WE TALKED ABOUT THE COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY SURVEY THAT'S COMING AND THE FACT THAT THE REASON WHY WE CALL IT COMPREHENSIVE IS THAT IT'S NOT JUST GONNA BE A DIGITAL SURVEY.
IT WILL BE FOCUS GROUPS AND INTERSECTS AT GROCERY STORES AND CONVERSATIONS.
AND SO IT'S, IT WILL BE IMPORTANT FOR US TO HEAR FROM LOTS OF DIFFERENT VOICES IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT SETTINGS.
AND CERTAINLY THIS, THE, THE SPAC CAN BE ONE OF THOSE GROUPS, BUT WE ALSO SHOULD BE CAUTIONED TO NOT HAVE SO MANY GROUPS THAT ARE ALL GIVING US THE DO THIS, DO THAT, DO THAT MM-HMM
SO, UH, JUST BE AWARE THAT THAT'S COMING AS WE TALKED ABOUT IN FEBRUARY AND, UH, THAT THAT WILL BE STARTING HERE PRETTY SOON.
NOT THAT JUST THE DIGITAL SURVEY, BUT ALSO THE INTERSECTS, WHICH ARE IMPORTANT PIECES TO HAVE THAT, UH, THAT CONVERSATION.
SO ONE GROUP SHOULDN'T FEEL LIKE THEY ARE THE ONE AND ONLY SOURCE OF DIRECTION TO COUNSEL.
I I I'M NOT SAYING THAT, THAT THEY WILL, I'M JUST SAYING, LIKE MIKE SAID, THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO MOVE THEM ALONG IN A PROCESS THAT'LL HELP US IN THE, THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
IF WE SET IT UP RIGHT, THE OTHER GROUPS FEED IN BULK INFORMATION AND IT'S FILTERED THROUGH THE SPAC.
I MEAN, THAT WAY THEY GET ALL KINDS OF INFORMATION.
[02:35:01]
ACTING AS, AS AN INDIVIDUAL ENTITY.THEY'RE GETTING ALL THE INFORMATION, THEY'RE FILTERING IT THROUGH AND THEN MOVING FORWARD.
'CAUSE AGAIN, MY CONCEPT WAS, OKAY, THEY DO THAT, THEN THEY'RE, THEY'RE GONNA BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NEXT STEP AS WELL.
I GUESS I'M CLEAR ON BECAUSE IT'S EASY TO GO.
LIKE, YOU WANT TO FILTER THAT THROUGH THE SPAC, BUT LIKE WHAT? I'M NOT FOLLOWING.
LIKE WHAT THE, WELL, IF WE GET A SURVEY, THE DELIVERABLE IS A THOUSAND RESIDENTS AND THEY WANT A THOUSAND DIFFERENT THINGS, IT, IT FILTERS THROUGH THE SPAC LOOKS AT IT GOES, WELL THIS IS IMPORTANT THAT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I, I DON'T KNOW, BUT I FEEL LIKE WE'RE STILL AT THE SAME POINT OF LIKE, THEY LOOK AT THE RESULTS AND THEY SAY, HEY, THIS IS IMPORTANT.
AND WE STILL ULTIMATELY HAVE TO SAY, YES, THERE'S FUNDING OR NO FUNDING.
I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT HAVING THEM IN THE MIDDLE IS GONNA CHANGE FROM THOMAS'S TEAM PRESENTING THOSE RESULTS TO US.
IT'S JUST GOT MORE CITIZEN INPUT.
I JUST THINK IT GETS, IT SHOULD, GETS FILTERED TO, TO THE CITY COUNCIL.
IT JUST LIKE AN UNNECESSARY, LIKE, WE WANT TO BE USING THEIR TIME.
I MEAN, I DON'T WANT THEM TO BE WASTING THEIR TIME.
SO LIKE IF IT ULTIMATELY STILLS GONNA COME AND WE'RE GONNA, BUT JUST LIKE A BOND COMMITTEE GOES, CREATES THE BOND ISSUE.
IT COMES BACK TO US AND WE FILTER THROUGH IT.
SO, I MEAN, I FEEL LIKE THE BOND COMMITTEE IS, I MEAN, IT IS A BOND PROCESS.
THERE'S A DELIVERABLE AND I DON'T REALLY SEE WHAT THE DELIVERABLE OF THE SPAC WOULD BE.
IF, IF IT'S BECAUSE THIS, BECAUSE THEN WHAT WE'RE GONNA SAY, ALL RIGHT, NOW LET'S, THEN THAT GOES TOWARDS THE, THE BOND.
PUT THIS ON A POTENTIAL BOND THAT GOES TO A BOND COMMITTEE.
IT JUST SEEMS LIKE AN EXTRA BODY AND AN EXTRA STEP.
PULL THE BOND COMMITTEE OUT OF IT.
AND THE SPAC WOULD ACT AS THAT AS WELL, IN MY OPINION.
AGAIN, I'M, SO THEN THEY'RE A BOND COMMITTEE.
WELL, THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BE A BOND COMMITTEE WHERE WE DECIDE WE NEED ONE.
THERE'S THINGS THAT ARE GONNA COST.
WHEN IT COMES, IF IT'S JUST INITIATIVES THAT DON'T COST, THEN THEY'RE JUST MAKING A RECOMMENDATION AS MM-HMM
BUT IF THEY WANNA STAY AS A GROUP, UNNECESSARY MEETINGS WOULDN'T, BECAUSE WE, AGAIN, WE HAVE TO CYCLE THEM OUT.
WE COULD BRING A, A NEW ONE IN.
WE, WE, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET PEOPLE INVOLVED AND ENGAGED.
WE HAVE, WE ALREADY HAVE A PROBLEM FINDING COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
I THINK THEY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY.
BUT THESE PEOPLE, BUT THESE, THESE INDIVIDUALS HERE, YOU ARE ALLOWING THEM TO SEE THE PROCESS.
YOU ARE ALLOWING THEM TO PLAY A PART IN THE PROCESS.
WE SAY WE FAILED WITH THAT BOND BECAUSE WHAT, WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH.
WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE OR THE RIGHT PEOPLE OUT THERE ADVOCATING FOR IT.
THERE'S MULTIPLE REASONS FOR THE, WELL THIS, THAT, THAT WAS ONE OF THEM.
WHAT DO I THINK WE PUT ON BOND COMMITTEE? BUT GETTING THEM INVOLVED EARLY, GETTING THEM INVOLVED EARLY.
IT SEEMS LIKE AN EXTRA COMMITTEE THAT YOU'RE KIND OF SAYING THEY'RE THE BOND COMMITTEE, THEN LET'S JUST HAVE A BOND COMMITTEE.
BUT WE SAW I HAVE TWO THAT ARE DOING, YEAH, I DON'T HAVE TWO, MY FAULT.
WHOEVER'S ON THE SPAC WOULD, IF THERE'S STUFF THAT NEEDS TO GO TO A BOND, THEY WOULD JUST CARRY FORWARD AS THE BOND COMMITTEE.
AND THEN AFTER IT'S PASSED, THEY WOULD ACT AS THE, THE REVIEW, REVIEW, BOND REVIEW PROVIDER ADVISORY GROUP TO MAKE SURE WE'RE SPENDING THE MONEY THE WAY WE SAID WE WOULD MM-HMM
SO THAT'S ONE COMMITTEE, THE FUNDS THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS.
AND IF WE WANT TO CHANGE OUT INDIVIDUALS AS WE MOVE ALONG, THAT HAPPENS MM-HMM
BUT IT, THAT ONE COMMITTEE THEN WOULD GO THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS IS A CONTINUAL BASIS.
SO THEN AFTER THE BOND IS SOLD AND THEY'RE ADVISING ON IT, THEY CAN ALREADY BE THINKING OF THINGS FOR THE NEXT BOND.
AND WE, WE, WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THAT IS THAT YOU HAVE A SITTING BODY THAT'S SITTING IN PLACE MM-HMM
SO YOU'RE NOT SCRAMBLING TO THAT'S IT.
WE'RE NOT GETTING RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND THEN GOING TO THE BOND COMMITTEE.
THEN WE GOTTA, THEN WE GET BOND.
AND WE WE'RE TRYING TO DO IT UNDER A YEAR.
WE COMMITTED OURSELVES TO DEATH ALREADY.
SO, WHICH IS WHY THOMAS SAID THAT THEY WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THEIR SURVEY PROCESS WITH THEM.
THEY WOULD BE ONE OF THOSE FOCUS GROUPS.
AND IF THEY WANNA STAY TOGETHER THROUGHOUT EVERY TIME WE'RE GONNA DO SOME SORT OF, UH, FOCUS GROUP OR WHATEVER.
THEY WOULD STILL STAY TOGETHER.
IF THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE'RE HAVING A, A TO, TO FIND AND DIG FOR MEMBERS, AND SOME OF THOSE CAN FILL IN AS A COMMITTEE MEMBER IN ANY OF THE ONES THAT WE HAVE TROUBLE FILLING.
UM, BUT I AM OKAY WITH THEM CONTINUING ON AS A GROUP THAT WHETHER THEY GIVE, RECEIVE FEEDBACK AND HELP THOMAS WITH WHAT HE'S DOING AND HIS TEAM
SO PLAYING, PLAYING THIS BACK OUT.
I, I THINK WHAT THOMAS WAS SAYING AND, AND PART OF YOUR CONVERSATION OKAY.
LIKE ALL, ALL COLLABORATIVE OR ALL COMING TOGETHER, I THINK WHAT, WHAT HE WAS SAYING IS LIKE, WE'RE GONNA GET ALL THESE SURVEY RESULTS.
AND THEN ALL THOSE SURVEY RESULTS, EVEN THOUGH THIS FACT WOULD BE PART OF THE FOCUS GROUPS, THEY WOULD BE THE VERY FIRST ONES
[02:40:01]
TO GET ALL OF THE SURVEY RESULTS.AND THEN THEY WOULD GET THOSE SURVEY RESULTS AND THEN GIVE YOU A RECOMMENDATION THAT BY AND LARGE YOU ARE EMPOWERING THEM.
AND THEN YOU ARE COMMITTING TO YOURSELF TO SAYING, WE ARE GONNA DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAY.
BECAUSE IF WE, IF WE GO THROUGH THIS WHOLE PROCESS AND YOU GET THE RESULTS FIRST AS COUNSEL, WE GO THROUGH THE WHOLE SURVEY PROCESS.
WE, YOU AS COUNSEL, GET THE RESULTS FIRST AND YOU SAY, HEY, THOSE ARE ALL GOOD THINGS.
WE KNOW MORE INFORMATION THAN EVERYBODY ELSE KNOWS.
SO WE'RE GONNA FOCUS ON THESE THINGS BECAUSE THESE ARE STILL, THERE'S FIVE BIG THINGS THAT COME OUT OF IT.
AND YOU'RE LIKE, COUNSEL, WE ONLY WANNA FOCUS ON THESE THREE THINGS BECAUSE THAT'S ALL WE CAN AFFORD.
THAT WAY YOU'RE NOT SENDING ALL FIVE THINGS BACK TO THE SPAC.
AND THE SPAC IS CHOOSING FROM THESE FIVE THINGS, RIGHT.
BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO CHOOSE ON A FIRST AND THEN IT GOES BACK TO THE SPAC AND THEN THEY PRIORITIZE IT.
OR IT ALL COMES FROM THE SURVEY RESULTS GO TO THE SPAC.
AND THEN THE SPAC GIVES YOU ALL FIVE THINGS AT THAT POINT.
AND THEN YOU FILTER IT DOWN AND THEN IT, IT APPEARS THAT YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO THEM.
BECAUSE TO YOUR POINT, WELL, I'M NOT SAYING THEY WILL UNDERSTAND THAT.
HOW MANY THINGS, HOW MANY THINGS DID, DID WE BRING BEFORE THE BOND COMMITTEE ALTOGETHER? AND HOW MANY THINGS? WELL, THAT'S CAME DOWN TO THE BOND.
BECAUSE TO MR. LESSER'S POINT, COUNSEL GAVE THE BOND COMMITTEE DIRECTION AND THEY CAME BACK WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION THAN WHAT THEY WERE GIVING.
AND SO THEN IT CAUSED SOME LENGTHY CONVERSATION ON THE DICE.
SO THEY, WE STAFF GAVE THEM THE DIRECTION THAT Y'ALL GAVE US TO GIVE THEM.
AND THEN THEY CHOSE TO DO THEIR OWN THING.
THEY CHOSE TO SELECT THE THINGS.
WE GAVE THEM THE PARAMETERS OF A NUMBER.
WE GAVE THEM PROJECTS, BUT WE ALSO GAVE THEM A NUMBER AND SAID, PICK THE PROJECTS THAT WOULD EQUAL THE AMOUNT OF THIS NUMBER.
WE, WE GAVE 'EM A CERTAIN BRACKET OF PROJECTS.
AT FIRST, THEY WANTED ALL THE PROJECTS.
THEY WANTED ALL THE PROJECTS AND THE BOND COMMITTEE PROJECTS.
AND THIS IS WHERE WE GOT CROSS ON THE DIOCESE.
WE GAVE THEM A LIST FROM CIP 'CAUSE IT WAS A SHORT TERM.
WHEN THE BOND COMMITTEE MET, THEY WERE GIVEN THE FULL LIST INSTEAD OF THE ABBREVIATED LIST.
SO YOU CORRECT THAT BY SAYING, WE'RE JUST GONNA MAKE SURE THEY ONLY GET THAT LIST AND THAT'S IT.
WELL, THAT WAS THE DISCUSSION ON COUNCIL.
SO, BUT THAT'S WHAT OCCURRED IN THIS PAST FALL.
AND I'M NOT TRYING TO GO TO THAT, BUT IT IS IN YOUR INFERENCE.
IF THEY COME BACK AND THEY HAVE 10 ITEMS, WE AS, AS A COMMITTEE OR AS A COUNCIL COME IN AND SAYS, WELL, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE ALL GREAT, BUT WE KNOW MORE THAN THEY DO OR WHATEVER.
SO THESE ARE, THESE ARE THE FIVE THAT WE CAN DO.
AND THEN WE PUSH THAT BACK TO THEM.
SO NOW MOVE FORWARD AGAIN, IT'S ONE OF THE, IT'S FIVE OF THE 10 THAT YOU GAVE ME.
SO WE CRIMPED IT DOWN TO FIVE.
THEN YOU AS A COMMITTEE, NOW YOU GO TAKE IT AND SELL IT.
IF IT, IT TURNS INTO A BOND ISSUE, NOW YOU GO SELL IT TO THE PUBLIC TO PASS THE BOND BECAUSE IT IS FIVE OF THE 10 THAT YOU SELECTED.
AND THEN WE, AGAIN, WE STAY IN THE MIDDLE.
ULTIMATELY, AGAIN, NOT EMPOWER, BUT MORE BA BASICALLY FORM OR COLLABORATE.
AND IT'S LIKE WE, WE ULTIMATELY MADE THE DECISION FOR THE FINAL FIVE.
HOW CAN THE COMMITTEE, OR I WOULD BE UPSET WITH THE COMMITTEE.
THEY GO, OH, WELL IF YOU'RE NOT DOING ALL 10, WE'RE NOT GONNA PLAY.
NO, THAT'S NOT HOW THE GAME WORKS.
MOVE FORWARD WITH THE FIVE OF THE 10, AND THEN Y'ALL SELL IT AFTER IT'S SOLD, THREE PASSED, TWO DON'T.
WELL, THEN YOU STAY AND GIVE US OVERSIGHT AS TO WE'RE GONNA DO THE THREE THAT, THAT WERE VOTED ON AND PASSED AND MAKE SURE IT DOES TO HAVE US BACK AND GET ALL THIS OTHER INFORMATION.
AND THEN WE HAVE, OKAY, WELL THERE'S FIVE ITEMS THAT GOTTA GO TO BOND.
THEN WE GOTTA SELECT A BOND COMMITTEE.
THEN WE GO THROUGH THE BOND, THEN IT PASSES.
THEN WE HAVE TO HIRE OR RESELECT AN ADVISORY OR OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
WE'RE JUST BEATING OURSELVES TO DEATH.
I MEAN, THAT, THAT'S, IT'S, IT SANCTIONS.
IT'S JUST A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED.
AND I'M, I'M JUST TRYING TO PROCESS IT.
JUST, JUST, JUST LET THEM FOLLOW IT THROUGH THE PROCESS.
LET 'EM, I MEAN, Y'ALL CONTINUE WITH WHAT YOU HAD IN MIND.
I WAS JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT MORE CONTIGUOUS THAT HERE WE HAVE A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT SPEND A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT DEVELOPING SOMETHING.
THEY GET TO STAY INVOLVED AS, AS A COMMITTEE.
THEY GET TO STAY INVOLVED THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS.
EVEN IF STUFF DOESN'T GO TO BOND, WE CAN DO IT WITHOUT GOING TO BOND.
WELL, THEN THEY BECOME THE ADVISORY OR OVERSIGHT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE FOLLOWING THROUGH WHAT WE SAID WE'RE GONNA DO.
AND THAT'S, AND THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE ASKING FOR.
[02:45:01]
AND YOU SAID IT YOURSELF, THEY WANTED TO BE INFORMED.THIS IS AN EASY WAY TO KEEP THEM INVOLVED.
AND, AND IF IT'S A GROUP OF NINE, ONE PERSON SEARCH FOR A COUPLE YEARS, AND THEN JACOB SAYS, I'M GONNA REPLACE MY, MY CANDIDATE OF WHATEVER, I'VE DECIDED TO REPLACE MINE.
BUT THE COMMITTEE ITSELF CONTINUES.
AND ALL A SUDDEN YOU START, AFTER A COUPLE YEARS, YOU START BUILDING HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE.
AND IT'S KIND OF LIKE, OH, THREE YEARS FROM NOW, SOMETHING COMES UP, SAYS, OH YEAH, WE LOOKED AT THAT A COUPLE YEARS AGO AND HERE ARE THE DETAILS THAT WE GOTTA STAY AWAY FROM INSTEAD OF, INSTEAD OF RELEARNING THAT EVERY TIME WITH THE COMMITTEE.
AND WE DID SAY THAT WE HADN'T HAD ONE IN 17 YEARS.
AND THAT WAS PART OF THE REASON WHY WE THINK BECAUSE WE HAD A WHOLE, WHAT YOU SAID, TWO GENERATIONS.
TWO GENERATIONS THAT HAD NEVER EVEN HEARD OF A BOND, THOUGHT OF A BOND OR KNEW WHAT THE PROCESS WAS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
I THINK ULTIMATELY THE OLDEST IS ON COUNCIL TO, UM, BE CLEAR WITH THOSE, IF, IF WE'RE THE SELECTION TEAM, TO BE CLEAR WITH THOSE OF WHAT'S EXPECTED OF THEM.
AND ALSO THOSE WHO SHARE OUR VISION.
'CAUSE WE SEE THINGS THAT THEY DON'T SEE.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT COMMITTEE NEEDS CAREFUL CONSIDERATION AND CAREFUL COLLABORATION WITH THE PEOPLE WHO, DEPENDING ON THEIR, SO THEY DON'T GO STRAIGHT.
WELL, SOME OF THOSE MEMBERS THAT WERE ON SPAC ARE CURRENTLY, THEY WERE ON THE BOND AND THEY'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH MM-HMM
SO, SO ALREADY HAVE SOME OF THE, JUST REPLACE THEM YOU'LL USE.
SO AGAIN, SO WE TEND TO HAVE A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT WE JUST CALL 'EM THREE DIFFERENT THINGS THROUGHOUT THE CYCLE.
THOMAS, CAN YOU COME BACK UP? WHATEVER.
I MEAN, LIKE SHE JUST SAID, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR NAME.
A GOOD SEGUE TO JUST REMEMBER THE THREE-LEGGED STOOL THAT WE USE AS A GOOD MODEL.
SO WE, WE ALREADY HAVE A MODEL THAT WORKS WELL FOR US, WHICH IS THAT AS YOU MAKE DECISIONS, YOU TAKE IN THREE PIECES, THREE SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
ONE FROM YOURSELF AS THE ELECTED BODY.
ONE FROM STAFF AND EXPERTS, AND THEN TWO FROM THE PUBLIC, RIGHT.
THREE FROM THE PUBLIC, THREE LEGGED STOOL.
UH, AND, AND SO THE SPAC CAN CERTAINLY BE A PART OF THAT, AS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT.
BUT IT'S ALL ABOUT EXPECTATIONS.
BUT WE, WE, WE, WE'VE JUST DISCUSSED THIS AND WE'VE JUST SAID WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE.
WE'RE NOT TAKING ANYTHING AWAY FROM WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
WE LOVE, I LOVE WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
I LOVE THE FACT THAT YOU'RE GONNA BE GOING OUT.
'CAUSE I'M ALL ABOUT MEETING PEOPLE AT THE GROCERY STORE, DOING THINGS LIKE THAT.
LIKE I SAID, THIS GROUP OF PEOPLE, I'VE, I'VE BEEN CONTACTED BY A FEW OF THEM.
I'VE BEEN CONTACTED BY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ON IT, WHO WERE STARTED ASKING QUESTIONS, WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM.
UM, LIKE I SAID, LETTING THE PEOPLE KNOW, WE DON'T, I'M NOT GONNA SAY WE DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY.
WE DON'T HAVE ANY ROOM IN OUR BUDGET TO DO THE NICE SHINY THINGS.
LET LET THEM KNOW THAT, GIVE THEM DIRECTION AND LET THEM GO WITH IT.
SO IF YOU WANT DIRECTION, I'M OKAY.
STICKING WITH THOMAS'S PROCESS, I'M GOOD WITH THAT.
JUST A CONCEPT FOR DISCUSSION.
I THINK, UH, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE OTHERS, BUT YEAH, I'VE GOT TWO THERE.
SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT THOMAS'S PROCESS IS.
THE THREE LEGG IS THE, WHAT, WHAT WE'RE PRESENTING WITH THE VISION.
I THINK WHERE I WAS TRYING TO GO WITH THE SPAC WAS I WILL ABSOLUTELY UTILIZE THEM AS A RESOURCE, AS PART OF THE PUBLIC FEEDBACK THAT WE GET.
UH, IF, AND, AND, BUT I WANNA MAKE SURE THE EXPECTATION IS CLEAR TO THEM.
THAT, UH, WE WILL, WE'RE EMPOWERING YOU WITH, I GUESS I SHOULDN'T USE THAT WORD.
WE, WE WE'RE, WE NEED TO CONSULT WITH YOU AND, AND COLLABORATE PEOPLE USE YOU AS AND, BUT THEN ULTIMATELY IT'S STILL YOUR DECISION.
BUT, BUT, BUT I WANNA MAKE SURE THEIR EXPECTATION ISN'T THAT THEY'RE AT LIKE A CLEARING HOUSE OR A FILTER OR, YOU KNOW, WE'RE USING THEM TO RIGHT.
BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE THE ONLY LEG OF THE, OF THE STOOL IN THAT, IN THAT EXAMPLE, THEY WOULD BE THE ONLY LEG.
IF THEY'RE THE FILTER POINT, THEY'RE THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT THEY COULD DISREGARD ANYTHING ELSE THAT SOMEBODY SAID.
NO, BUT IT'S STILL GONNA COME BACK TO US.
IT WILL IT, BUT THEY MAY ONLY GIVE YOU INFORMATION THAT THEY WANT TO GIVE YOU.
THEY CAN ONLY GIVE US INFORMATION.
BUT THAT'S WHAT STAFF INFORMS US AND ANSWERS OUR QUESTIONS FOR.
WE SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE THE INFORMATION WE ASK FOR.
IT'S THE, THE SPAC IS NOT GOING TO BE THE END ALL BE ALL TO THIS.
WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, WE'RE THE ONES WHO MAKE THE FINAL SAY.
WE ARE THE, WE'RE GONNA BE THE ONES WITH ALL OF THE PERTINENT AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
THAT'S WHEN YOU HAVE THE THANK YOU NEXT.
THAT'S WHEN YOU HAVE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT AND GOING IN THIS DIRECTION.
[02:50:01]
THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING.SO IT'S NOT THAT IT'S GONNA BE A ONE-LEGGED STOOL, IT'S GONNA COME BACK TO US.
IT'S STAFF, UH, THE INPUT AND US.
SO JUST, I'M, I'M TRYING TO CLARIFY.
I I, I WILL SAY, I HEAR THE GUIDANCE ON THE SPAC TURNING INTO THE BOND COMMITTEE AND THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
I HEAR THAT THERE'S A POSSIBLE, THERE'S A POSSIBLE WAY WITH THAT.
AND I, I, I'M, I SEE PART OF THAT.
IF THE SPAC IS GETTING ALL OF THE INFORMATION FROM THE SURVEY, OKAY.
AND THEY ARE THE ONES THAT ARE GETTING ALL THE INFORMATION AND THEY IDENTIFY THE PRIORITIES OF ALL THE DA, ALL THE SURVEY INFORMATION, THEY ARE IN ESSENCE THE ONLY LEG OF THE STOOL.
BECAUSE COUNSEL WILL ONLY GET THE, THE PRIORITIES THAT THEY ARE GIVING TO YOU.
YOU COUNSEL WILL STILL HAVE DATA FROM STAFF.
AND COUNSEL WILL HAVE YOUR OWN, YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE.
BUT THE ONLY FEEDBACK YOU WILL GET FROM CITIZENS WILL BE THROUGH THAT SPAC BODY.
THAT'S, AND, AND WITH THAT, GO, GO TO THE CITIZENS' PERSPECTIVE.
SO WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IS NO OFFENSE TO ANYBODY, WE'RE GONNA HAVE STAFF COLLECT ALL THE CITIZEN INPUT, AND THEN STAFF IS GONNA FILTER THAT OUT.
YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO THE CITIZENS.
THAT THAT'S WHY I'M SAYING IF, IF THE SPAC IS THAT THIRD LEG, THEY CAN FILTER IN A THOUSAND DIFFERENT IDEAS.
THEY'RE THE CITIZEN SIDE OF THAT.
AND THEY COME UP WITH A HUNDRED IDEAS.
STAFF IS STILL LOOKING AT GOING, WE, WE LOOKED AT THE SAME THOUSAND IDEAS AND THIS IS OUR PERSPECTIVE ON THAT.
WE'RE GETTING TWO DIFFERENT PIECES OF INFORMATION.
I'M COMFORTABLE WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE.
I JUST BROUGHT IT UP AS A DISCUSSION POINT.
IT'S A GOOD CONVERSATION BECAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT COMMITTEES ALL THE TIME.
WE, WE NEED TO HAVE A, WE NEED TO CREATE A COMMITTEE TO LOOK AT COMMITTEE ISSUES.
I DID, I DID NOT MEAN THIS TO TURN INTO A HALF HOUR DISCUSSION.
I DO APPRECIATE I I'M FINE WITH THOMAS.
YEAH, I'M GOOD WITH THE WAY THE STATUS QUO IS.
I WAS JUST TRYING TO TWEAK IT.
I'M FINE WITH, YEAH, I'M FINE WITH, AND, AND I THINK JUST BY THE DISCUSSION, I'M, I'M LOOKING AT THOMAS.
I CAN SEE THAT BRIAN IS MOVING.
WELL, THAT'S, THAT'S WHY WE HAVE THESE DISCUSS SOME MOVEMENT HERE.
THAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THE PUBLIC MEETING.
YOU GOTTA, YOU GOTTA GO FROM TWO B TO THREE A.
LET'S GO TO THREE A OR CAN WE TAKE A SHORT BREAK? A BREAK? YEAH.
CAN WE GET LUNCH? A SHORT BREAK? THERE IS LUNCH ITEM THAT WE'RE GONNA DO A WORKING LUNCH SO WE CAN RUN, GET UP OUT ITEMS THAT WE HAVE.
SHORT LUNCH, WORKING LUNCH BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
NOW SHE'S LEAVING
[a. Consider an annual review of boards, commissions, and committees, to include dissolution of certain boards, commissions, or committees whose mission has been completed or that are no longer necessary to conduct the operation of city government.]
UM, TALK BRIEFLY, UM, ABOUT BOARD AND COMMISSIONS IN GENERAL.AND SO THE IDEA HERE IS, UM, LAURA AND SARAH, UH, DID SPENT A LOT OF TIME AND DID A LOT OF WORK ON TRYING TO CLEAN UP THE WHOLE LIST OF BOARD AND COMMISSIONS AND THAT SORT OF THING.
AND WE MOVED, WE HAVE STARTED TO MOVE IN A NEW DIRECTION OF WHEN THESE THINGS ARE FORMED THAT WE'RE MAKING SURE WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER SCOPE SUBMISSIONS AND TIMELINES AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
SO WHAT, UM, WE WANTED TO TAKE A MOMENT TO DO IS BECAUSE WE DON'T WANNA WAKE ANOTHER 20 YEARS AND WAKE UP AND BE LIKE, HEY, WE SHOULD REALLY CLEAN IT UP.
AND SO WE'RE PROPOSING EITHER PROBABLY AN ANNUAL OR MAYBE A BIANNUAL REVIEW JUST TO KIND OF BRING BACK IN FRONT OF YOU.
THESE ARE ALL OF THE ACTIVE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE I PUT IN KIND OF THEIR LAST MEETING DATES.
UM, THIS IS THE HOSPITALITY ONE.
UM, UH, AN OVERSIGHT ON MY PART.
YOU'LL ALSO NOTICE THE LAST THREE, THE SIGNED COMMITTEE, THE ETHICS COMMISSION, AND THE FAIR HOUSING COMMISSION.
[02:55:02]
SO THE ETHICS COMMISSION DID MEET, UM, RIGHT AT A YEAR AGO.THE OTHER ONES HAVE NOT MET IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS.
HOWEVER, THESE THREE ARE BOARDS THAT THEY HAVE TO STAY IN PLACE.
UM, AND SO OUR INTENT TODAY IS REALLY TO BRING FORWARD THOSE THINGS THAT HAVEN'T MET IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS.
TAKE A LOOK AT THOSE AND SAY, OKAY, ARE THESE THINGS STILL NEEDED? UM, AND TAKE AN APPROPRIATE ACTION.
SO THOSE THREE, THEY HAVE NOT REALLY MET IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, HOWEVER, WE NEED THOSE.
ALSO ACTIVE IS, WE DO HAVE TWO AD HOC COMMITTEES THAT ARE STILL ACTIVE.
UM, YOUR FINANCE COMMITTEE AND THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN COMMITTEE.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THEY ARE STILL MEETING AND ONGOING.
THE LAST SECTION HERE ARE THE SUNSET AND POTENTIALLY POTENTIAL TO DISSOLVE COMMITTEES.
SO YOUR 2025 BOND COMMITTEE, THIS IS JUST A NOTE THAT ONE WAS SET UP WITH AN AUTOMATIC SUNSET, SO IT DID AUTOMATICALLY DISSOLVE ON 11 FOUR OF 2025.
IT'S ON THE RECORD THAT HAPPENED.
THE OTHER TWO, THE YOUTH LEADERSHIP ACADEMY, UM, HAS NOT MET, UM, PROBABLY SINCE BACK IN 23 AT LEAST.
I'M GETTING HAND SIGNALS FROM THE BACK
UM, AND SO WE WOULD, UM, RECOMMEND FOR THIS ONE SPECIFICALLY, BECAUSE THAT DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE.
THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT HAVE CHANGED THAT WAS UNDER COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BACK WHEN IT WAS WITH THE LIBRARY.
UM, AS YOU'VE NOTICED, SABRINA AND SANDY, TWO OF THE KEY COMPONENTS THERE ARE NO LONGER OVER THERE.
AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS NO LONGER WITH THE LIBRARY.
SO, UM, WE WOULD RECOMMEND TO YOU, UM, TAKING AN ACTION TODAY TO DISSOLVE THAT ONE.
AND THEN THE OTHER, UH, COMMITTEE THAT HAS NOT REALLY MET IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, TECHNICALLY, WE'RE STILL A FEW DAYS AWAY FROM THAT, BUT, UM, IS THE EDAC.
UM, AND SO THAT ONE IS UP FOR Y'ALL'S DISCUSSION TO TAKE WHATEVER, UM, ACTION THAT Y'ALL DESIRE.
SO, UM, SO I HAVE TWO, I HAVE ONE ASK AND THEN Y'ALL HAVE DISCUSSION.
UH, MY ONE ASK IS, THIS IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
SO WE ARE TRYING, LIKE I SAID, TO KEEP UP WITH THIS, BRINGING THIS BACK ON A REGULAR ROTATION TO, Y'ALL WANNA MAKE SURE Y'ALL STILL WANT TO SEE THIS, UM, AND TAKE THIS.
AND THEN ALSO, IF YOU DESIRE TO TAKE ACTION, UM, ON THESE COMMITTEES, Y'ALL CAN HAVE THAT DISCUSSION AND MOTION AND TAKE ACTION.
OF, OF THE FIRST LIST YOU HAD THE ACTIVE AS NEEDED, THE BLUE MM-HMM
I KNOW A NUMBER OF THOSE ARE GONNA BE REQUIRED BY STATUTE OR CHARTER MM-HMM
BUT CAN YOU TELL ME WHICH ONES ARE WHICH? OR ALL OF THEM? BECAUSE THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE TO ME.
THAT WAS ACTUALLY GREAT COMMENT.
I HAD THE SAME THOUGHT ALREADY.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MAYBE A COLUMN ADDED FOR WHAT ARE WE, LIKE STATUTE? YEAH.
OBLIGATED TO REQUIRED BY STATUTE OR BY CHARTER.
I KNOW THE ANIMAL, LIKE ANIMAL CONTROL JUST REQUIRED BY STATUTE REQUIRED.
MAYBE IF WE COULD JUST MARK THOSE.
AND ALL OF THESE, SINCE THEY'VE BEEN ACTIVE, I WAS NOT COMING WITH Y'ALL A RECOMMENDATION TO CONSIDER DOING ANYTHING WITH THOSE.
BUT SINCE THEY'RE ACTIVE AND THEY'RE USED, AND YOU CAN SEE THERE AT LEAST ON THE QUARTERLY BASIS THAT THERE'S, UM, CONTINUE.
MOST OF ARE, BUT THERE'S SOMETHING, BUT CERTAINLY I WILL PUT TOGETHER THE LIST WITH, WITH THAT ON THERE.
IS THAT A CALL, IF IT'S STATUTE OF CHARTER REQUIRED MM-HMM
IF IT'S JUST SOMETHING THE COUNCIL IS MDD MADE UP, THEN WE'RE GOOD.
THEN WE KNOW THAT, LISTEN, THIS IS THE TAXING ENTITY.
I LIKE THE BAYTOWN LIBRARY BOARD.
I, I DON'T THINK THAT'S A STATUTE OR CHARTER REQUIREMENT.
THAT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT WAS CREATED OR THE PARTS BOARD THE SAME WAY.
THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE NOT STATUTORY.
I MEAN, THEY ARE, THEY ARE IN OUR ORDINANCE.
I WAS GONNA SAY THEY'RE IN THE ORDINANCE, BUT THERE'S NOT, IT'S NOT REQUIRED BY CHARTER OR BY STATUTE.
AND THAT'S WHY I WAS TRYING TO, UH, MOST OF THE OTHERS I THINK ARE, BUT I'LL GO BACK TO THAT.
IF IT'S ORDINANCE CREATED, THAT TO ME IS OPTIONAL.
WE CAN ORDINANCE UNCREATED, WE CAN, BUT IF IT'S A STATUTE OR REQUIRED BY CHARTER, THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ON THE, THE LIST OR THE IDEA OF AN ANNUAL BIANNUAL REVIEW? I LIKE THE, I LIKE THE IDEA OF A, OF A REVIEW.
I THINK ANNUAL WOULD BE A BIT MUCH, ESPECIALLY ONCE WE FIND OUT WHICH ONES ARE
[03:00:01]
BY STATUTE.BUT I, I, I LIKE BEING ABLE TO REVIEW IT.
HOW MANY DID YOU ALL, UH, SUNSET LAST TIME? OH MY GOSH.
DO YOU REMEMBER HOW MANY THEY WERE? IT WAS A LOT.
I THINK Y'ALL FOUND LIKE, WHAT WAS IT, FOUR? IT WAS MORE THAN 10.
YEAH, I WAS GONNA SAY, YEAH, I THINK IT WAS, YEAH.
SO, MAN, YEAH, WE HAD INITIALLY HAD LIKE OVER 40 THAT WE WANTED TO JUST, AND THEN THEY CAME BACK.
SO, BUT LIKE, THE SIGN COMMITTEE IS STATUTORY, BUT WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A SIGNED A, A SIGNED STAFF PERSON.
AND SO, I MEAN, WE HAVEN'T HAD A STAFF PERSON OVER OUR STAFF PERSON MM-HMM.
BUT WE COULDN'T SUNSET THAT ONE BECAUSE IT IS STATUTORY.
AND THAT WAS THE MAIN REASON WE WANTED TO SUNSET.
AND LIKE I SAID, IF Y'ALL WANNA TAKE ANY ACTION ON, UM, THE TWO THAT HAVE NOT MET, UM, THOSE WOULD BE UP FOR Y'S CONSIDERATION, UM, TO DO SUCH.
NOW, THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT WAS FIRST ESTABLISHED AS AN ALTERNATE FOR LIKE, I GUESS DISSOLVING THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE MDD, UM, I KNOW WE'RE GONNA DISSOLVE IT, BUT I KNOW WE DISCUSSED IN THE PAST IS, IS THERE A PATH FORWARD TO REESTABLISHING THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ON THE MDD THERE? AND HOW WOULD THAT LOOK? THERE IS A PATH.
UM, THE, THE EDAC WAS ESTABLISHED AS A CITIZEN OFFSHOOT OF THE MDD.
UM, THE PROBLEM WHEN IT WAS EVEN PRESENTED AT THE TIME WAS THAT THERE WASN'T GONNA BE ANYTHING REALLY FOR THE EDAC TO DO.
AND SO WE MANUFACTURED SOMETHING FOR THEM TO DO, BASICALLY.
UM, AND IT, IT DID NOT GO WELL.
UM, IT, IT JUST DIDN'T, I MEAN, PLAIN AND SIMPLE, IT DIDN'T GO WELL.
AND, UM, THE, EVEN IF YOU KEPT IT ON, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WOULD DO.
I, I GENUINELY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WOULD DO.
BUT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO THE EDAC OR THE MDD, UM, THE COUNCIL MADE THE DECISION TO MOVE THE CITIZENS OFF OF THE MDD BECAUSE THE MDD IS NOTHING MORE THAN A HYATT, UM, A HYATT BUDGET BOOK FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.
AND SO RIGHT NOW, THE MDD BUDGET THAT Y RECEIVED LAST NIGHT, UM, THE RESERVES WERE AT $3.9 MILLION.
COUNCIL'S GOAL WAS TO GET THAT TO AT LEAST $5 MILLION BEFORE WE, UH, TO GET THE RESERVES ON TOP OF A REGULAR RESERVES.
UM, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WE FEEL IS A SAFEGUARD FOR, UH, THE HYATT.
SHOULD SOMETHING POP UP, IF Y'ALL REMEMBER BARREL FROM A FEW YEARS AGO, UM, WE, THE MDD HAD TO DISTRIBUTE, I THINK ROUGHLY ALMOST A MILLION AND A HALF OR SO FOR THAT AS OUT OF THE RESERVE.
SO THE MDD CAN GET THERE, BUT COUNSEL'S DIRECTION WAS, UNTIL THE, UNTIL THE HOTEL IS FULLY BEING PAID FOR OUT OF ITS OPERATING FUNDS, ALL THE DEBT IS BEING PAID FOR OUTTA THE OPERATING FUNDS.
COUNSEL'S DIRECTION WAS TO STAY WITH THE MDD, JUST BEING PART OF THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, BECAUSE IT WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A A, A PASS THROUGH FOR THE HYATT.
THERE'S JUST NOT, I MEAN, IN THE PAST, THE MDD BOARD MADE DECISIONS ABOUT PARKS, OTHER PROJECTS.
WE HAD PARKS PROJECTS ON THERE AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND THERE'S JUST NOT REALLY THAT MARGIN IN THERE TO GO AFTER OTHER PROJECTS.
SO TO ASK CITIZENS TO SIT ON THERE WHEN THERE'S REALLY NO INPUT TO BE HAD, UM, I DON'T KNOW.
I MEAN, I KNOW A BIG CHUNK OF IT IS THE HYATT.
I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S STILL SOME AQUATICS, UH, AQUATICS DEBT, BAY AQUATICS, DEBT IS DEBT.
I DON'T KNOW WHEN THAT WILL ROLL OFF.
THAT WOULD FREE UP SOME, BUT I DON'T, I DON'T, IT.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY MORE YEARS WERE LEFT ON THAT, BUT SAME POINT, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S MOSTLY JUST PAYING OFF DEBT RIGHT NOW, SO THERE'S NOT MONEY LEFT OVER TO, AND, AND I'M ASKING THAT FOR CLARIFICATION, BECAUSE WE'RE TAKING A HIT, YOU KNOW, FOR THE PUBLIC, YOU KNOW, THE LOOK IS, WE, WE DISSOLVED THE PUBLIC INPUT OFF MDD
[03:05:01]
AND THEN WE CREATED THIS ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO SERVE, I GUESS, AS THAT ADVISORY TO THE MDD THAT WAS PART OF THE TALKS.AND IT DIDN'T ACTUALLY DO THAT.
IT WENT IN A LITTLE DIFFERENT DIRECTION, AND THEN THINGS WENT AWRY THERE, AND NOW WE'RE DISSOLVING IT, AND NOW THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S NOTHING NOW.
SO IT'S JUST SOMETHING WE, WE SHOULD CONSIDER AND KEEP OUR BACK POCKET MOVING FORWARD.
THANK YOU FOR THE, THE, UM, I THINK THERE'S A PATH FORWARD.
UH, BUT I, I, I AGREE WITH, WITH THE PATH OF MAKING SURE THAT THE MONEY IS THERE IN RESERVES, BUT THE MAIN REASON I ASK THE QUESTION IS JUST TRANSPARENCY FOR THE PEOPLE AT HOME TO SEE WHAT, WHY WE'RE DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AND, UH, UH, JUST ONE OTHER CLARIFICATION IS, IF YOU REMEMBER, PART OF WHAT THE EDAC WAS GONNA LOOK AT WAS WHEN WE HAD THE BIG GRANT ON THERE, THEY WERE GONNA KIND OF LOOK AT THE, THOSE PIECES, BUT AS STAFF PRESENTED THE COUNCIL, THERE APPEARED TO BE SOME MISUSES FROM THE BUSINESSES THAT WERE GETTING THE BIG GRANT.
AND SO IT, IT WAS JUST DETERMINED NOT TO HAVE THE BIG GRANT ANYMORE.
THAT TRANSFERRED INTO A, UM, WHAT'S IT CALLED? CATALYST.
UM, AND THE CATALYST GRANT, UM, STILL A, A GREAT IDEA, UM, AND USEFUL, BUT THE WAY, THIS IS PART OF, PART OF MY RESERVATION FROM THE EARLIER CONVERSATION OF WHEN YOU EMPOWER THOSE, THOSE GROUPS WITH SOME OF THE PIECES, UM, THAT THAT WAS, THAT WAS CHALLENGING YES.
TO, TO DEAL WITH THE, THE CATALYST GRANT.
AND SO THAT WAS DISSOLVED AS WELL.
AND THE, THE MONEY WAS JUST A, A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO MAKE SURE THAT ANY MONEY IN THE M DD WAS GONNA BE USED TO SUPPORT THE HYATT UNTIL IT STARTS PAYING FOR ITSELF.
UH, WAS HOT FUNDS USED IN MDD? NOT IN MD? NO, SIR.
IF WHEN, OR IF WE DISSOLVE THAT, DOES IT MEAN WE CAN'T IN THE FUTURE BRING SOMETHING BACK? RIGHT.
MAYBE RESTRUCTURE OR DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT WITH LESSONS LEARNED? UM, BUT JUST KNOWING THAT WE MAY DECIDE TO DISSOLVE, BUT IT MAY EVENTUALLY COME BACK.
SO DEPENDING ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND MONEY THAT WE HAVE ON HAND.
WHEN IT, AT THE, WITH THE EDAC, THAT WAS SOMETHING I WONDERED ABOUT BEFORE COMING BACK.
WHAT WERE, WHAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF, OF IT? UM, I LIKE HEARING THAT THERE MAY BE A, THAT THERE IS A PATH FORWARD TO BRING CITIZENS BACK ON MDD.
UM, I LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THAT DEBT IS FOR THE AQUATICS AND, UM, DIDN'T WE, WHAT DIDN'T WE FUND SOME PARTS OUT OF MDD ALSO, THERE ARE, I BELIEVE, THREE PIECES OF DEBT IN THE MDDI.
I'M TRYING TO GO, OH, I THINK I HAVE IT RIGHT HERE.
THERE'S A LIFT STATION, A MIX STATION.
THERE'S THE AQUATICS, MAYBE EVEN TWO PHASES OF THE AQUATIC.
THE HOTEL JUST ONE SINGLE LIFT STATION, OR THE PART I 10.
IT'S THE ONE THAT WAS ON I 10.
BECAUSE IT WAS AN ECONOMIC, I MEAN, WE WERE LIMITED THERE.
SO IT WAS AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PIECE.
I THINK THAT WENT BACK TO THE CONVERSATION IN 2022 WHEN COUNCIL SHIFTED THE MDD FROM FUNDING PARKS AND PUT THE PARKS BACK IN THE GENERAL FUND, UM, OR THE PARKS PROJECTS INTO THE GENERAL FUND.
PART OF THAT CONVERSATION WAS ALSO AROUND, UM, CAN WE, CAN WE SUBSIDIZE SOME OF THE WASTE, THE LIFT STATIONS AND STUFF SO THAT IT'S NOT HITTING THE WATER SEWER RATES AND THAT THEY ARE PUTTING, THAT THEY'RE UPGRADING THE LIFT STATIONS ALONG OUR MAJOR CORRIDORS THAT ARE SERVING SOME OF THE BUSINESSES BECAUSE IT DOES HAVE AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IMPACT.
AND SO WHEN YOU GET TO THAT POINT, THERE'S NOT REALLY AN INVOLVEMENT FOR THE CITIZENS TO, TO, WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT CITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND, UM, CITY FACILITIES, THERE'S NOT A POINT FOR CITIZENS TO BE ON THAT BOARD BECAUSE YOU'RE, IT'S THE MONEY NECESSARY FOR CITY FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND I BELIEVE THAT'S WHAT THE PHILOSOPHICAL CONVERSATION WAS BACK IN THE DAY.
WE SPENT A QUITE A BIT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT THE SPAC, SPACS NOT LISTED HERE.
YEAH, I I REALIZED THAT
UM, BECAUSE THAT IS NOT SOMETHING, UM, THAT WAS ON THE LIST.
SO, UH, HENCE WHY WE MIGHT WANT TO DO THIS ON A BIANNUAL BASIS AND MAKE SURE WE CAPTURE ALL CAROL AND THAT.
AND I DO HAVE TO SAY THAT WASN'T ON OUR LIST EITHER.
WHEN WE WERE LOOKING AT WHAT TO DISSOLVE, IT WAS NOT ON OUR LIST.
YEAH, THAT'S, THERE'S A COUPLE THAT, AGAIN,
[03:10:01]
IT'S JUST FROM, UH, I DON'T REMEMBER, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE DIFFERENT THINGS HAPPENING AND NOT HAVING, ALWAYS HAVING, I PULLED IT.I DON'T REMEMBER DOING, I PULLED IT OFF THE LIST.
I DON'T SEE IT IS JACOB'S FAULT.
I STILL APOLOGIZE TO THIS FACT.
I WOULD, I WOULD SAY TECHNICALLY SPEAKING AT THIS, THIS POINT, UM, SO THEY ARE NOT ON THERE.
THEY HAVE NOT MET AS, AS WE DISCUSSED FOR THE PAST 12 MONTHS.
HOWEVER, I PROBABLY WOULD'VE HAD THEM, UM, BACK, UM, MORE IN THIS AREA WHERE THEY, YOU KNOW, THEY PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN MEETING, THEY HAVEN'T BEEN MEETING, BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE RECOMMENDED TO DISSOLVE THEM YET.
THEY WERE TIED TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN THROUGH 27.
UM, SO THAT CERTAINLY, UM, IS SOMETHING THAT WILL GET ON THE LIST BECAUSE WHEN WE HIT THAT POINT, OR AT SOME POINT BEFORE THEN WE MAY WANT TO, UM, BRING THAT BACK AND FORMALLY DISSOLVE IT AS IT EXISTS AND RECREATE IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT WITH AN APPROPRIATE SCOPE GOING FORWARD.
SO, SO, UM, NEED TO DISSOLVE OR SUNSET THE LAST TWO SINCE THE BOND COMMITTEE IS ALREADY DONE.
SO I NEED A MOTION TO DO THAT TO DISSOLVE ALL THREE.
TO DISSOLVE THE LAST TWO LAST.
THE BOND COMMITTEE'S ALREADY DISSOLVED.
NOW WE'RE MOVING ON TO CONSIDER A
[b. Consider a resolution creating a General Obligation Bond Committee.]
RESOLUTION CREATING A GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND COMMITTEE.SHOULD THAT BE BOND REVIEW COMMITTEE OR BOND COMMITTEE? UH, WE CAN WORK ON THE SEMANTICS.
OVERSIGHT, UH, MAYOR AND COUNCIL, BASED ON THE DISCUSSION WE HAD BEFORE LUNCH ABOUT THE SPAC AND THE COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY SURVEY.
AND ALSO THEN THE NEW IDEAS ABOUT SPAC HAVING TO DO WITH THE GO BOND STAFF WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND THAT WE TABLE THIS ITEM SO THAT WE HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO COME BACK TO YOU WITH A BETTER IDEA AND PLAN FORWARD FOR HOW THOSE MIX AND INTERACT IF THEY IN FACT MIX AND INTERACT.
I, I, I HEAR THAT, BUT IF THIS IS SPECIFICALLY JUST OVERSIGHT FOR 25, WILL WE BE READY? WILL THIS COME BACK BEFORE FY 27 STARTS SO THAT THE, BECAUSE THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE NEEDS TO BE STARTING SOON MM-HMM
BECAUSE THE MONEY'S GETTING ON BOARD AND THE MONEY'S COMING ON BOARD AND THE PROJECTS ARE BEING PLANNED RIGHT NOW.
SO WILL IT BE COMING BACK SHORTLY? OR IT CAN, I, WE WERE JUST TAKING DIRECTION FROM WHAT WE HEARD THE CONVERSATION BEFORE ABOUT HOW I, I UNDERSTAND DESIRE TO HAVE SPAC.
I'M TRYING TO START THE CONVERSATION HERE.
WELL, WE CAN LOOK AT THE, UH, REVIEW AND COME BACK AND REVISIT THE SPAC LATER.
BUT IF WE NEED TO DO THIS NOW, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO GO AHEAD AND TALK ABOUT THE REVIEW COMMITTEE.
I JUST, I DIDN'T WANT TO PRESENT THIS TO YOU AND HAVE US VOTE ON THE CREATION OF THIS COMMITTEE AS IT'S PROPOSED, BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA BE IN PLAY FOR FIVE YEARS, ROUGHLY.
OH, WELL, IT'LL JUST BE THIS BOND THAT PASSED THE LAST PROJECT IS COMPLET, ESSENTIALLY.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T BLUR THE LINES BETWEEN WHAT I HAD HEARD WITH THE SPAC AND THIS.
SO AS YOU KNOW, THE, THE PREVIOUS BOND COMMITTEE WAS DISSOLVED AUTOMATICALLY WHEN THE ELECTION OCCURRED.
IT WAS A LARGER GROUP OF PEOPLE THEY MET TO CREATE THE PROJECTS.
PROJECTS WENT ON TO THE ELECTION, CERTAIN PROJECTS WERE VOTED IN.
AND SO NOW WE'RE WORKING ON THOSE PROJECTS.
WE'RE WAITING FOR THE MONEY TO COME IN SO THAT WE CAN WORK ON THE PROJECTS.
SO WE, WE HAVE TRIED TO TAKE SOME OF WHAT WE'VE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY AND FROM COUNCIL, AND I WOULD DRAW YOUR ATTENTION SPECIFICALLY TO THE INFORMED LEVEL OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT AT THE RETREAT, WHICH IS COUNCIL'S DESIRE FOR THE BOND REVIEW COMMITTEE OR OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE TO BE INFORMED COMMITTEE
[03:15:01]
TO WHERE WE ARE SIMPLY INFORMING THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE USE OF THOSE FUNDS, BOTH IN TERMS OF THE FINANCES THEMSELF, HOW MUCH WE'RE SPENDING, BUT ALSO WHEN, SO THE TIMELINE, WHEN WE'RE SPENDING THE MONEY, AND WHEN THE PROJECTS ARE COMPLETED.SO THOSE WERE THE MAJOR THEMES THAT WE TALKED ABOUT AT THE RETREAT IN TERMS OF THIS WORK OF THE COMMITTEE.
AND SO OUR HOPE IS THAT WE CAN SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS OF UTILIZING THIS NEW COMMITTEE FOR THAT PURPOSE.
AND SO I HAVE SIMPLY ONE SIDE SLIDE TO SHOW YOU, WHICH IS STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION.
WE DON'T HAVE TO FILL THE COMMITTEE TODAY.
IF YOU'RE NOT PREPARED TO DO THAT, WE CERTAINLY CAN STAND THE COMMITTEE UP SO THAT WE CAN GET THE BALL ROLLING TO GET INFORMATION IN FRONT OF YOU AND TO, TO GET EITHER YOUR DESIRE FOR APPOINTMENTS OR APPLICATION PROCESS, HOWEVER YOU DECIDE TO GO FORWARD WITH THAT.
SO THE CONCEPT IS SEVEN PUBLIC COMMITTEE MEMBERS, ONE PER COUNCIL MEMBER, QUARTERLY MEETINGS, AT LEAST AS NEEDED, BUT QUARTERLY, AT LEAST.
AND BIANNUAL REPORTS TO YOU ON THAT PROCESS.
AND THE PROGRESS WITH THE COMMITTEE AND THE PROJECTS.
HOW MUCH AND WHEN IS THE BOND REVENUE SPENT ON THE APPROVED PROJECTS AND THE TIMELINE FOR COMPLETION OF EACH PROJECT? THAT'S MY ONE SLIDE AND I'M GONNA STEP ASIDE AND LET YOU TELL ME HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT.
WELL, THE, THE BIANNUAL REPORTS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT EVERY OTHER YEAR? NO, THAT'S TWICE A YEAR.
I'M SECOND GUESSING MYSELF NOW.
IT'S, IT'S MY FIRST TIME WITH AN E AGO.
THAT'S LIKE, THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE BONDS.
BIWEEKLY CAN MEAN EVERY TWO WEEKS.
EVERY TWO WEEKS OR, BUT IT CAN ALSO MEAN TWICE A WEEK.
I THINK THEY'RE SPELLED DIFFERENTLY.
IT'S A HYPHENATED, BUT THAT WAS JUST CLARIFY.
SO LET'S, SO YOU WANT IT TWICE PER BE PER YEAR? TWICE A YEAR.
WITH AN E IS EVERY TWO YEARS BY ANNUALLY MEANS TWICE IN ONE YEAR.
WHERE'S THE AND YOU WANT IT TWICE IN A YEAR? EI, AND I THINK, I THINK WE SHOULD DO IT SEMI ANNUAL GOOD.
BUT DO WE NEED IT TWICE A YEAR? I DON'T KNOW.
WE ORIGINALLY STARTED WITH JUST AN ANNUAL REPORT TO COUNCIL AND THEN WE DIDN'T, WE DID TWO, OR I SUGGESTED TWO TO THOMAS JUST BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH Y'ALL NEED IT.
AND I DON'T WANT THEM TO FEEL THAT THEY'RE NOT.
SO HERE'S THE HARD PART FOR STAFF WITH THIS, RIGHT? WHAT WE HEARD FROM SOME OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS IS THAT THEY WERE GONNA COME IN HERE AND RECOMMEND WHICH PROJECTS THEY'RE GONNA BE WORKED ON.
THEY'RE GONNA RECOMMEND HOW MUCH IS SPENT EACH YEAR THAT THAT'S NOT WHAT THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE IS NEEDED FOR.
AND SO THEY'RE GONNA COME IN AND GET AN OVERVIEW.
HERE'S THE FIVE YEAR PLAN TO SPIN THIS DOWN.
HERE ARE THE PROJECTS THAT WE FORESEE TO HAPPEN.
HERE'S THE MONEY THAT'S, THAT'S PLANNED TO BE SPENT WITH THOSE, UH, ALIGNING WITH THOSE PROJECTS.
AND THEN Y'ALL ARE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE FOLLOWING THAT PROGRAM, RIGHT? MM-HMM
AND THEY COME AND GIVE YOU ALL AN UPDATE TO SAY, YES STAFF'S DOING RIGHT, OR STAFF'S NOT DOING RIGHT.
'CAUSE IF THEY DO IT TWICE A YEAR, THEN IT FORMALLY GOES TO THE PUBLIC TWICE YEAR.
AND THE REQUEST ACTUALLY, IT GOES TO THE PUBLIC MORE THAN THAT.
AND WE'LL HAVE IT ON THE WEBSITE EVERY MONTH.
BUT THERE'S A FORMAL PRESENTATION TWICE A YEAR.
I I GUESS IT'S, AND ACTUALLY THE PRESENTATION DOESN'T HAVE TO BE IN PERSON.
TECHNICALLY IT COULD BE IN WRITING ALSO, BUT THAT WE CAN GET WHOEVER, WHOEVER THEIR CHAIR IS WOULD MAKE A REPORT TO COUNCIL.
ARE WE GONNA PUT APPLICATIONS OUT FOR THIS? NO.
THAT'LL BE MY QUESTION TO Y'ALL.
WELL, UM, WE COULD PUT APPLICATIONS, BECAUSE REMEMBER I THINK WE HAD TWO PER COUNCIL.
UM, SO I KNOW SOMETIMES CONSISTENCY IS GOOD.
UH, MAYBE YOU KEEP THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS AS WE GET NEW APPLICATIONS.
AND IF YOU WANNA APPOINT THE SAME PERSON THAT WAS ON THE ORIGINAL BOND COMMITTEE, THEN THAT WOULD BE YOUR PURVIEW.
SO HOW MANY'S ON THE OH, IT'S LIKE 1515.
LIKE IF WE GO, IF WE ASK FOR MORE APPLICATIONS AND YOU WANT A TOTALLY NEW BOARD, THAT'S FINE.
[03:20:01]
IF YOU WANT TO INCLUDE OR TELL AT LEAST ONE OF YOUR PEOPLE, HEY, APPLY OR WE HONOR THEM AS AN APPLICANT, THEN THAT WAY THEY WOULDN'T HAVE TO REAPPLY.YOU CAN JUST SAY, I'M GONNA STICK WITH SUSIE Q 'CAUSE SHE WAS ON THE ORIGINAL BOND AND I ALREADY TALKED TO THE SECOND AS TO WHATEVER IT IS.
UM, BUT SO THAT COULD BE AN OPTION WILL BE DISTRICT SPECIFIC THEN? NO, IT'S AT LARGE.
DISTRICT APPOINTED, BUT AT LARGE.
AT LARGE YOU CAN PICK FROM ANYWHERE.
AND WE WILL KEEP THIS SCOPE AS I'VE, I'VE HEARD, BUT I, I WILL NEED A MOTION TO, TO STAND THIS COMMITTEE OUT.
SEE, I WAS LOOKING BEFORE YOU DO THAT, JUST REAL QUICK TO THOMAS'S NEW TO THE NUANCE OF THOMAS'S FIRST COMMENT.
IF WE'RE LIMITING MEMBERS TO TWO BOARDS, AND AS SOON AS WE CREATE THIS, THESE PEOPLE ARE SERVING FOR FIVE YEARS, THEY MOST LIKELY WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO SERVE ON THE NEXT BOND COMMITTEE.
SO IT'S JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
AS BEFORE Y'ALL MAKE THE MOTION TO CREATE THIS COMMITTEE.
SOME OF THESE ON HERE NOW, THIS IS THE FIRST AND ONLY THING THEY'VE EVER BEEN A PART OF.
SO A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE WERE NEW.
AND ORIGINALLY WE, UM, FOR THE BOND COMMITTEE, WE DIDN'T TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT.
WE CAN SAY, OKAY, YOU CAN STILL SERVE ON OTHERS 'CAUSE IT WAS JUST GONNA BE TEMPORARY.
UM, BUT FOR THIS, SINCE IT'S GONNA BE FOR THE LONG RUN, I AGREE THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO STICK TO THE TWO BOARDS.
AND, AND I AGREE WITH THE WAY THAT MR. REYNOLDS EXPLAINED THE SCOPE FOR THIS COMMITTEE.
UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE NOT GONNA GET TO PICK AND CHOOSE AND DELEGATE.
UH, THEY JUST GIVEN INFORMATION.
UM, THE ONLY, UH, AND I AGREE, MY COLLEAGUE, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE CHANGE IT TO THE, THE GENERAL BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
THAT ACTUALLY I'D BE MORE SPECIFIC.
WAS IT THE 25 BOND OR 26 BOND? THE 2025 BOND.
I MEAN, LET'S, LET'S MAKE SURE IT'S CLEAR.
IT'S A TOUGH ACRONYM, BUT YEAH.
YOU WAITING ON HIM? YEAH, THAT WAS STILL, UM, THE MOTION.
WE CREATE THE 2025 GOBA REALLY GEO BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
ANY OPPOSED? HAD TOO MANY GOBA G**K 2025.
I'M, I'M THINKING GOBOS IN MY MIND NOW.
[c. Consider a resolution creating a Legislative Ad-Hoc Committee.]
UM, CONSIDER A RESOLUTION CREATING A LEGISLATIVE AD HOC COMMITTEE, MR. RES.UH, AS YOU KNOW, WE HAD A LEGISLATIVE AD HOC COMMITTEE SEVERAL YEARS AGO.
IT WAS MYSTERIOUSLY DISSOLVED SEVERAL YEARS AGO.
HOWEVER, I HAVE STILL BEEN UTILIZING, UH, TWO OF THE THREE MEMBERS OF THAT COMMITTEE, UH, IN MY REVIEW AND, UH, TO ACT AS A SOUNDING BOARD.
SO I APPRECIATE THE WORK OF COUNCILMAN LESTER AND COUNCILMAN POWELL ON THIS HEAD OF BETTEN COURT WAS ALSO ALSO PART OF THAT COMMITTEE ORIGINALLY.
AND SO THE TIME HAS COME FOR US TO STAND THAT COMMITTEE BACK UP AGAIN AT YOUR DISCRETION.
BUT THE ESSENTIALLY VERY SIMPLE SCOPE OF THIS COMMITTEE.
I'M ASKING FOR THREE COUNCIL MEMBERS TO SERVE ON THIS AT AN AD HOC BASIS.
THERE WOULD BE NO REGULAR MEETINGS.
CERTAINLY THERE WOULD BE MEETINGS, BUT IT, IT WOULD BE AT THE DISCRETION OF THIS GROUP FOR THESE PURPOSES.
THE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM, WHICH IS BEING DRAFTED RIGHT NOW.
I WOULD LIKE THIS COMMITTEE TO BE USED AS A SOUNDING BOARD AND AS A PROOFREAD OF THIS PROGRAM SO THAT BEFORE COUNSEL GETS IT TO APPROVE IT AND ADOPT IT, IT GETS REVIEWED BY THIS SUBCOMMITTEE FIRST, THEN THROUGHOUT THE SESSION.
AND AS YOU KNOW, OUR 90TH STATE SESSION WILL START IN JANUARY THROUGHOUT THE SESSION, IF WE SEE THINGS THAT COME UP TO THE LEGISLATURE, NEW BILLS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT, CONCERNS ABOUT, HEY, DOES THIS ALIGN WITH THE PROGRAM? IS THIS OUTSIDE OF THE SCOPE OF WHAT I SHOULD BE LOOKING
[03:25:01]
AT? SHOULD WE OPPOSE THIS? SHOULD WE SUPPORT THIS? THAT COMMITTEE CAN ACT NIMBLY ENOUGH TO SIMPLY PICK UP THE PHONE AND CHAT WITH ME FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES OR RESPOND TO EMAILS.THAT'S WHAT I'M ASKING FOR WITH THIS COMMITTEE.
AND I THINK IT'S, IT'S VALUABLE TO HAVE THAT SOUNDING BOARD THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THE SESSION.
SO THAT'S SIMPLY WHAT I'M ASKING FOR TODAY.
CAN I EXPAND THIS AS WELL, GIVEN THE PREVIOUS CONVERSATION WITH THE N-L-C-T-M-L AND ECONOMIC ALLIANCE, IS THERE ANY WAY THAT THIS COMMITTEE IS NOT AN AD HOC COMMITTEE, BUT A WORKING COMMITTEE ON A CONSOLIDATION OF THOSE POLICY PIECES THAT COME FROM ALL THOSE SUBCOMMITTEES AND TO ACTUALLY MAKE USE OF IT AND IT'S, IT'S COME INTO A SINGLE PLACE NOW.
THE, THIS COMMITTEE CAN, THE MEMBERS WILL HAVE TO, THE MEMBERS THAT ARE ON THOSE OTHER LEGISLATIVE PIECES THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF THIS WILL HAVE TO REPORT TO, LIKE, GIVE YOU INFORMATION DIRECTLY.
UM, BUT THAT, THAT THIS COMMITTEE COULD TALK ABOUT WHAT'S PERTINENT OR NOT PERTINENT OR THEY CAN BE A FILTER FOR THE COUNCIL TO CONSIDER ALL THE OTHER POLICY PIECES.
BECAUSE LAURA AND I TALK A LOT ALREADY ON POLICY PIECES, AND IT'S NOT EVERYTHING IS BROUGHT TO COUNCIL, BUT SOME THINGS ARE BROUGHT TO COUNCIL MM-HMM
AND SO IF, IF WE'RE TRYING TO GET THE BEST USE OF THESE COMMITTEES AND OUR MONEY BEING SPENT, IS IT BETTER SERVED TO HAVE THIS COMMITTEE CONSIDERED ALL THOSE POLICY THINGS AS A, IT'S THE FIRST SOUNDING BOARD BEFORE COUNCIL GETS 'EM FOR BUILDING UP TO RETREATS AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WE HAVE.
I MEAN, IT JUST, I KNOW YOU'RE SURPRISED.
I'M, IT JUST HIT ME AS YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT IT.
I'M BLINDSIDING YOU RIGHT NOW.
YEAH, IT'S DEFINITELY A SURPRISE FACE.
IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A SIMPLE COMMITTEE.
I, I I CAN SEE WHERE THAT WOULD BE EFFECTIVE, BUT GENERAL POLICY DISCUSSIONS ARE A LITTLE, IN MY OPINION, ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN LEGISLATIVE ISSUES.
UM, I I COULD SEE YOUR POINT THERE.
I MEANT STUFF THAT WE'RE TRYING POLICY ON A NATIONAL LEVEL OR STATE LEVEL.
WELL, THAT MAKES SENSE TO COORDINATE THAT.
AND, AND, AND I LIKE THAT IDEA ACTUALLY.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT?
UH, I, I I THINK WE CAN DEVELOP WHAT THE CITY MANAGER IS TALKING ABOUT.
I'M, I'M CERTAIN THAT THAT PIECE CAN BE WORKED IN AS IT'S ALREADY WRITTEN HERE IN TERMS OF THE INTERPRETATION AND ALIGNMENT OF, OF THE POLICY AND LEGISLATION THAT WE REVIEW.
I MEAN, I, I THINK WHAT YOU'RE ASKING FOR IS INSTEAD OF IT JUST BEING AD HOC, IT JUST MEETS REGULARLY YEAH.
AND DISCUSS AND IT TAKES IN A BIGGER SCOPE OF WHAT WE'RE INTERPRETING AND ALIGNING.
BUT I, SO I DON'T THINK THAT'S NECESSARILY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED.
BECAUSE IT'S GONNA HELP WHEN WE GO TO DC TO SET UP THOSE MEETINGS.
I MEAN, WHEN WE WENT THIS LAST TIME, THAT HELP, THERE WERE A LOT OF MEETINGS THAT WE, THAT, THAT WERE SCHEDULED AND CAN REALLY, CAN REALLY LIKE PROVIDE A LITTLE GUIDANCE ON WHO WE GO MEET AND WHAT'S WORTHWHILE.
THE MEETING OR, OR NOT MEETING AND WHAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT.
SO I NEED A MOTION, MOTION TO APPROVE THIS LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE.
CAN I BE, BEFORE WE VOTE, CAN I ASK FOR THE MEMBERS ON THAT COMMITTEE ALSO? OH.
UM, BECAUSE THAT, THAT IS AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF THIS.
YEAH, I WAS GOING TO, I WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE SARAH.
LAURA, AND I'M GONNA TAKE YOUR IDEA AND GO WITH KEN.
SO IF THAT'S PART OF THE MOTION, I WOULD, YEAH, I WILL REAM AMEND MY MOTION, UM, TO HAVE, UH, LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE WITH, UH, DISTRICT ONE, TWO, AND THREE.
CAN I JUST GET A LITTLE BIT OF CLARIFICATION ON THE MOTION FROM YOU MS. ALVARADO? YES.
WE'RE JUST ASKING, UM, SO YOU'RE CREATING THAT WE MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WE'RE CREATING THE BOARD TODAY.
YOUR RULES REQUIRE THAT AND THAT THIS BOARD IS BEING CREATED TODAY.
AND THEN ALSO APPOINTING THAT WHO YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE
[03:30:01]
TO APPOINT.WE'RE AFFIRMING, WE'RE AFFIRMING THE MAYOR'S COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS BECAUSE IT'S THE MAYOR'S APPOINTMENT.
SO, SO WE'RE, WE'RE CREATING THE COMMITTEE AND AFFIRMING THE MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS AND THAT'S FINE.
SO I MAKE A MOTION, UM, TO CREATE THIS LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE AND CONFIRM THE APPOINTEES.
UH, SO SET BY THE MAYOR TODAY,
ALL THE ESTATE, ALL MATERIAL IS HAPPY.
ANY OPPOSED? THANK YOU SO MUCH.
AND EXCUSE ME, ONE MORE THING.
JUST FOR CLARIFICATION FOR THE RECORDS PURPOSES, YOU SAID, UH, DISTRICT ONE, TWO, AND THREE, IS THAT CORRECT? YES.
THANK ANYTHING ELSE HAVING EXHAUSTED EVERYTHING ON THIS AGENDA? YOU SURE WE DON'T DO SEPARATE TRAINING? ONE MORE TIME? UM, POSITIVE
I NOW ADJOURN THIS MEETING AT 1 36, 1 30 6:00 PM I.