Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to City Council Chambers.

We're going to get started.

Miss Prime.

Good morning, Mayor, and good morning, everyone.

Welcome to the presentation of the mayor's proclamations.

We begin this morning with a pledge of allegiance.

And to lead us this morning, we have students from Canutio High School and Northwest Early College High School at the invitation of Mayor Pro Tem Alejandra Chavez.

This morning we have Mason Gossett, Elias Ocon, Mia Valle, Moises Aguirre, Lee Nazam, and Bianca Macias.

Okay, Miss Prime, we're ready for the first proclamation.

Yes, sir.

That brings us to the mayor's proclamations.

For those of you receiving a proclamation this morning, your group will have up to six minutes collectively to come up to the podium and receive your proclamation.

The first proclamation is one hundredth anniversary of Cathedral High School.

Thank you, Mayor, for the opportunity to do this proclamation.

It's always an honor to work with schools in our city, especially exceptional schools like Cathedral High School is.

And it's always nice to see our friend Spanky, principal, former assistant principal at Eastwood High School, trained very, very well.

And our friend Irene Pistela over here and sees four outstanding young men.

The proclamation reads as follows.

Established by the Christian Brothers.

And whereas Cathedral first shared facilities with the El Paso Community Center until 1940, when the high school assumed the entire building.

It's home to this day.

And whereas Cathedral opened in 1925 with 45 students and celebrated its first graduating class in 1927 with seven young men.

Since then, Cathedral has graduated more than 8,700 students who have gone on to serve their community with distinction.

And whereas Cathedral is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso and remains the only private boys' preparatory school in this binational region, conducted in the Lesalian tradition.

Whereas a La Salian education seeks to enrich each student's cultural, intellectual, physical, social, and spiritual development, preparing them for leadership and service.

Whereas Cathedral was among the first schools in El Paso and in Texas to offer early admissions dual credit college courses through the El Paso Community College, and continues to lead the way in producing Gates Millennium Scholars and other distinguished graduates.

And whereas from its humble beginnings in 1925, Cathedral High School now enters its second century with the same enduring mission to help young men become the best version of themselves.

And whereas recognize and come in Cathedral High School on its 100 years of excellence, faith and brother brotherhood, and honor its lasting contributions to the people of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that September 3, 2025, shall be known as Cathedral High School 100th anniversary, signed by the Honorable Mayor Bernard Johnson.

Good morning.

Good morning, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lily, for those kind words.

Good morning, Mayor Johnson and members of the City Council.

On behalf of Cathedral High School, we'd like to thank you for this very special honor.

It was back on September 8th, 1925, that Cathedral opened its doors to the El Paso community by the Christian brothers and the Catholic diocese.

Our first graduating class graduated seven students in 1927.

Since that time, we have proudly graduated 8,730 students.

These graduates have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, judges, educators, businessmen, as well as many other successful careers.

What truly sets Cathedral apart is a profound sense of brotherhood that defines our community.

Our young men grow together, not just academically, but personally and spiritually.

At Cathedral High School, students just don't receive an education.

They become part of a lifelong family.

It's a place to thrive, to lead, and most importantly, a place to grow.

Cathedral continues to mold young men to be the best versions of themselves.

They enter the lure and they leave to serve.

This year, Cathedral continue to celebrate the many traditions that define our campus.

Next week we have the homecoming celebration week with the lighting ceremony and the burning of the sea.

We will honor our golden grads, our 50-year honors, class of 1975, the Damalada, which is a dinner dance, a dinner celebration given by our alumni.

The Cathedral Bazaar on October 10th, 11th, and 12th.

Our annual Irish run will be done in March with a culmination in the 100-year gala on January 24, 2026 at the Starlight Ballroom.

At this time, I'd like to I'd like uh my four young men to introduce themselves.

Hello, my name is Jackson Ivey.

I'm a senior at Cathedral.

Good morning.

My name is Anteo Ceballos.

I'm also a senior.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is O'Cornel Soto, and I'm a junior.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Julian Escalante, and I'm a junior as well.

Good morning.

Thank you very much for this word, Mayor.

Congratulations, you guys.

Thank you very much.

Representative.

Thank you, Mayor.

First and foremost, um, Principal Sanchez.

I don't know what what Lily keeps calling you, but Principal Sanchez.

Thank you so much for what you do for the cathedral community.

Um, it's amazing.

And Mayor, if you hadn't had the opportunity, you need to attend one of the graduations.

It is the most touching um spiritual leadership.

You leave there feeling I felt taller when I left.

That's absolutely but but you know what?

Jordan, my nephew just graduated last year, along with um the mayor pro Tim's uh nephew.

And I he should have been held back a year, so he could have been in the hundredth class.

Thank you so much for all you do for the our community and for these young people.

Thank you.

Yeah, Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good morning.

Welcome to City Hall.

I just wanted to mention that I had a brother and three nephews that have graduated from cathedral.

So uh Viva Lagate.

Well, good morning again, and and thank you guys and congratulations on one hundred years.

And uh and and principal, I think I need to hear again when is the lighting ceremony and what time and all that good stuff.

The lighting ceremony will be next Wednesday, a week from the night at uh six o'clock in the uh our cafeteria.

And then the burning of the sea will be right afterwards, about seven thirty.

We wait till the sun goes down.

Now the lighting ceremony is when one of our seniors will pass on the torch to a freshman.

Okay.

And that's a week that they get the be the freshmen get the beanies, and there's you know it's a whole ritual.

It's a great it's a great uh week of uh celebration.

Fantastic.

And again, thank you guys for all that you do for this community and the deep impact that you've had.

And I I think it's worth noting um a few of your alumni though that have gone to Cathedral and have done you know great things, and these are just a few, and these are not all of them, but you know, the current Texas House Speaker, Pro Temp Joe Moody is an alumnus of uh Cathedral, as well as Dr.

Manny Della Rosa, um Sal Levis, and of course, Gary Potas.

So you guys have a uh uh lineage that has just been tremendous for El Paso and the state and and for the nation.

So congratulations on what you do, and let's go get another hundred years.

Mayor.

I would just like to represent the I would just like to recognize our two seniors, of course.

Being a senior, my question is always where are you going to college?

And one has already decided, and the second one is working on a campus.

So will you share with us what you're thinking about?

Um my hope is to go to Notre Dame.

Go Irish.

So my brother graduated class of 2022, and he's currently attending Cornell University.

So I hope to follow in his steps.

Wow, that's great.

Congratulations, you guys, I'm not sure what I'm saying.

Representative Chavez.

Thank you to the next proclamation.

And this is Josie Karam Day.

Rep Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor.

If everyone.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Josie Caram.

I'm the president and founder of Second Chance Wildlife Rescue.

We founded our organization in 2012.

I'll I'll read the proclamation, Josie, and then you're going to be able to do that first.

Yes, thank you.

Good morning.

Thank you.

Very happy to see you here.

I would like to say I met Josie when I was campaigning.

I knocked on her door, and I've since then discovered all the wonderful things that she's doing for our community.

So let me read this so we can celebrate you today, Josie.

Whereas the city of El Paso takes immense pride in recognizing an extraordinary individual whose compassion, vision, and tireless dedication reflect the very best of our community.

And whereas Josie Caram, founder and president of Second Chance Wildlife Rescue, has devoted over three decades of her life to rescuing and rehabilitating El Paso's wildlife, serving as the only certified wildlife rehabilitator in the West Texas region, with recognition extending into New Mexico and Central Texas.

And whereas with a special passion for birds, Miss Caram has cared for countless native species, hand feeding baby birds, tending to injured hawks, and nurturing her beloved dear Habib, demonstrating a rare commitment to the protection and preservation of our natural heritage.

And whereas, under her leadership, Second Chance Wildlife Rescue has grown to include two facilities in West Texas, including a newly established seven-acre Bosque wetland property, both of which depend on the generosity of community support to fulfill their mission.

And whereas Ms.

Caram's tireless efforts supported by her team of dedicated volunteers have enabled the rehabilitation and release of countless animals back into the wild, with every $100 raised, helping to save one more life, and her compassion continues to inspire our community to care for and protect our wildlife.

And whereas the City of El Paso is honored to recognize Josie Caram's lifelong dedication, her immeasurable impact on local wildlife, and her unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship and community service.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the City of El Paso, recognizing Josie Caram for her exceptional service, inspiring contributions to our community, and her enduring commitment to the rehabilitation and preservation of our region's wildlife.

Uh September third, 2025 shall be known as Jer Josie Caram's Day, signed by the Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson.

Congratulations, Josie I am humbled and I am appreciative of your recognition.

Wow.

We have some of our board members back here.

In the 30 years I've been doing this, 31 now, it's been unbelievable the numbers of animals we have taken in.

The injured birds, the injured mammals, the orphan animals and birds.

Five straight months during the summer.

We're open year round.

We never close.

We don't get a holiday.

So I have to have volunteers.

They are the strength of our organization.

And all of these behind me here are volunteers and board members.

So I I appreciate that.

The city probably has not known about us at all, even though we've been doing it for a long time.

My predecessors did it for a long time.

And we're basically the only ones left in El Paso that help the wildlife help.

And we get a lot of injured ones.

Car impacts, cat caught, uh window impacts.

There are a lot of injuries that the wildlife come into.

And then we have all those little babies that come in that have to be tube fed, that have to be bottle fed.

So our job is very important for this county, and I appreciate you all giving me the opportunity to introduce what we do.

Alejandra has been to my facility.

She's been wonderful, she's been a great support because I think she has seen what we do.

We she has seen those babies that we take care of.

So I thank you, and my board thanks you also.

Congratulations, Ms.

Caram.

Thank you.

Yeah.

And you does the board want to introduce themselves?

Lisa Malave, I'm the vice president of Second Chance Wildlife Rescue.

Good morning.

I'm Joe Fulkerson.

I'm the treasurer.

Good morning.

I'm Iris Carwin, and I'm one of the board members.

Good morning, I'm Brian Carter, and I am a board member, but I'm also the vice governor of district of the District 2 T3 of the Lions of the State of Texas.

We are all the way from uh as far west as Odessa all the way up to the New Mexico border.

And we have uh just in what we are inducting the members of this board uh to become lions.

They've joined, they've formed their own lions club so that we can support them with our other clubs, our other 13 clubs in El Paso and 33 clubs in West Texas.

Uh so they will be chartered on the 20th, uh excuse me, on the 12th of September as a new lions club.

Well, Miss Caram, uh represent us a bitl.

Is this you?

I'm sorry, Representative Rocha.

I'm sorry.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you all for everything that you do.

I when I saw your your name on the proclamation, um, it's something that people like me, uh citizen here in El Paso, don't know that your services are available.

And several years ago you helped me nurse a hawk back to health, and you released re-released it in in my in at my home because that's where it got injured.

And very recently, you all helped me with an owl at another home.

And so I'm just so grateful that you have the services that are available where there are other resources that are not, and you still have it to be able to save those lives.

It's so impactful, and I'm so grateful for the service that you all provide.

And you're right, there used to be several, several others that that would be able to help in this situation.

And fortunately, there's not any more, but I'm so grateful that that we still have you.

So thank you for everything you do.

And Miss Caram, congratulations on on this this resolution that uh proclamation that the city's given you.

And thank you to the entire team that supports you uh to make this uh uh job that you guys do.

We know that it's not easy.

You know, you you said you work 15, 14, 15 hours a day, seven days a week, and you you're not able to turn this off.

So we thank you for all that you do for this community, and and we I mean, we're just so proud of you.

But I do have a question for you.

I heard during the the reading of the proclamation that nurturing her beloved deer, Habib.

Can you Habibi?

Oh, you're asking about Habib?

Yeah, can you tell me about Habib?

Uh deer that came to me as a one-year-old, I mean a one-week old fawn.

The state game wardens found him at a woman's home.

She had taken him in her house and kept him for a few days, and unfortunately, he got very sick because she was feeding him cow's milk, which deer don't drink, and she was letting the children play with him like he was a puppy.

So when the great game warden finally got to her, which was about three or four days later, a neighbor called it in, said that she had a baby deer, which is against the law, and he took it from her and he brought it to me.

And this man was a mountain of a man, he a big guy, and he was crying.

And he said, I cannot shoot this animal, because that's what they do.

If they there was nobody to take care of deer.

So he said, please take him.

Well, I didn't know anything about raising a deer, but I had to find out really, really quickly.

And the state vet helped me get him on the right diet, uh, cure his diarrhoea, and so we raised him, and now he's eight years old.

He's a full-grown male.

Sometimes he's very gentle, and sometimes he doesn't like certain people.

So we have to be very careful who mingles with him.

My volunteers are very good with him.

They all love him.

He's got a great personality.

And the first year I had him, he became very depressed because he was basically alone.

I was the mother.

So every time I went into the house, he would cry and cry and cry.

So I'd have to go back out, give him a bottle of milk and calm him down.

Uh then I decided I would get a goat because goats are used to calm stallions.

Goat's name is Bella, and they have been inseparable.

A very odd couple, but they have been inseparable for eight years.

And they help each other.

When one doesn't feel well, the other never leaves her side.

Uh he doesn't leave her side, she doesn't leave his side until they're up and running around again.

So anytime you want to visit my facility, give me a call, and I'll give you a personal card, and you can call me, and I'll be glad to take you on a tour of what we have.

I think you would be awakened by what you see.

Not only the deer and the goat, not too many people get that close to a deer, but the work we do is so valuable in this county, and we're so alone.

We get supporters, but we are alone in what we do.

Other rescue groups have several all over town, and there are never, never enough rescue groups for animals.

But we are the only ones that do wildlife now.

And we have to be certified by the state and by the federal government to do what we do.

So it's not something that anybody can just do.

We have to be certified, and we are watched carefully by those entities.

So thank you.

Appreciate your help.

You're very welcome, Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor.

I I just want to thank you again for your dedication to our community.

Uh, may we all be as compassionate as you are, Josie.

You are an inspiration.

And just so that council knows, can you please tell them if Habby liked me or not?

Say that again.

So counsel so council will know.

Can you tell them if Habby liked me or not?

Oh yes, he liked you a lot.

And I like me a lot.

He wasn't pushing on you.

He wasn't rejecting you.

Sometimes he can be kind of uh mischievous.

I call it mischievous.

Other people call it scary.

Thank you.

Well, maybe well, maybe next time, since uh Habib liked Representative Chavez so much, we can bring him to City Council.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

And the next proclamation is El Paso International City of Peace Day.

Representative Rocha is this Yes, sir, I'm ready.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good morning.

I'm so glad you all brought a piece of artwork.

Thank you, Lori.

And let me read hi.

Let me read the proclamation.

I'm seeing some familiar faces.

I love that.

Where Paso is a city defined by resilience, diversity, and compassion, and choosing peace in our community allows us to honor these values and continue to build a future that ensures a safe and welcoming city for all.

And whereas the city of El Paso continues affirming our commitment to a culture of kindness, resilience, and shared responsibility, and in doing so, we strive to promote innovation, social equity, environmental stewardship, and the dignity of every resident while serving as a global model of peace.

Recognizing that true peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of compassion, collaboration, and inclusion for all.

We all work together to not only have El Paso as an international city of peace, which is an organization of 440 cities around the planet that have peace as part of their primal identity.

And we are also working on the International Day of Peace Symposium on September 20th and 21st, which honors the UN's national International Day of Peace, a 42-year-old celebration.

And last year, 55 million people around the world celebrated the International Day of Peace.

I bet none of you knew that.

Because it doesn't bleed and lead.

We have Orlin Lux, who is a former UTEP professor.

We have Pat Delgado from Pax Christie.

We have Mary Leipold, Dr.

Mary Leepold, who is a Franciscan service mission volunteer.

We have Fernanda Lugo, who is a UTEP PhD student and on the board of Eco El Paso, which I am as well.

And we have Jesse Brown, who is a veteran of the U.S.

Army and Desert Storm and a government employee.

We have Patty Reyes, who is the founder of the Isaac Art and Wellness Center in Socorro.

We have Melissa Atkins Worty, who is now the director of the candleligters, an organization that supports children with cancer, and we're very happy to share the same day that the children's hospital is here.

And we have Rachel Quintana, who is a board member of Unity Through Creativity and a former city council member.

We want to let you know that the International Day of Peace celebration is going to be at UTEP's Thomas Rivera Center.

And Unity Through Creativity has a signature project called the Singing Tree Project.

And this painting is the 130th painting in a series of paintings that were inspired when an eight-year-old girl said, What if the whole world made a painting together?

And we've been inviting the whole world using the model of forests and trees to make a painting together.

And for the International Day of Peace Symposium, we are making the singing tree of the light in the darkness, and it will benefit the candlelighters.

And people will get to add their imagery of the light in the dark on leaves and birds and candles at the International Day of Peace.

Did I forget anything, gang?

That is outstanding, and congratulations.

And that is such a beautiful piece.

And I was reading through this particular proclamation, and there's so many words that we could highlight that represents this community.

But a few that I pulled out that exemplify El Paso is kindness, dignity, building a community where all are welcome and valued.

And then you you said something else.

You said peace is a practice.

Yeah.

I think we can all use that in today's time.

So that was something that you just said that kind of stuck with me as well.

You also mentioned the International Day of Peace at the UTEP Thomas Rivera Center coming up.

What day and what time is it?

It's on Saturday, September 20th, from 8:30 to 9 is registration, and from 9 to 4 is uh a wonderful day filled with speakers and people talking to each other and creating art and singing.

Um then Sunday, which is the actual International Day of Peace celebrated around the world.

It's from one till four till five, and uh the registration is from 1230 to 1.

And we also will be the Saturday will focus on taking action.

I'm I'm sorry, Sunday will be focusing on how to take action.

Um and we wanted to share your three goals, Mayor, of um economic development, uh quality of life, and helping the infrastructure.

When we have the kind of support for everyone's genius in El Paso to contribute their talents, uh we have more economic prosperity.

When we learn how to solve our conflicts instead of having them stop us, we're able to work on the infrastructure and focus on that instead of on people harming each other because they don't know how to express their pain.

And the quality of life is so improved when we connect to the creativity that is in all of us instead of focusing on the differences and trying to control each other.

Wow.

Oh very impressive.

Well, thank you guys so much.

And we could all use some of that kindness that you guys are sharing.

And congratulations on today.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

Oh, oh, yeah.

Thank you.

Yes, that's class right.

And the next proclamation is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Representative Acevedo.

Thank you, Mayor.

It's great to see everyone from the El Paso Children's Hospital here and others.

Thank you for being here.

I'm going to read the proclamation while everybody gets settled.

Proclamation City of El Paso, Texas, whereas El Paso Children's Hospital provides the highest level of pediatric care in West Texas and Southern New Mexico.

And whereas close to ten thousand new cases of cancer will be diagnosed nationwide among children this year alone.

And many infants, children, and teens will suffer from long-term effects of comprehensive treatment, including secondary cancers.

And whereas thousands of children across the country will lose their battle with cancer, and many medical providers and medical professionals race against time to provide life-saving treatment and medical breakthroughs to prevent this tragic loss of life.

And whereas the Southwest University Pediatric Blood and Cancer at El Paso Children's Hospital is the only certified children's oncology group center in a 270-mile radius, which provides quality clinical trials to treat many types of pediatric cancer.

And whereas that means that children are able to stay right here at home to receive the best care, the latest research and protocols in a multi-specialty environment designed just for kids where they receive the very same protocols as some of the top hospitals in the world.

And whereas the Southwest University Pediatric Blood and Cancer Center at El Paso Children's Hospital has been able to help hundreds of families affected by childhood cancer.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that the month of September 2025 shall be known as El Paso Children's Hospital Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, signed the Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson.

Good morning.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Daniel Ville.

I'm the Director of Marketing and Public Information Officer for El Paso Children's Hospital.

We really are grateful for you all having us today, Mayor Johnson and always Representative Acevedo.

You all do so many great things for this community.

The hospital's pretty much gotten work with each of the districts here in various capacities around the community as we continue to grow our footprint here in the El Paso region.

But first, it's not about us today, it's about the kids.

So we want to introduce some of our team members versus our director of the Southwest University Blood and Cancer Center, Miss Ali Valdespino, to begin to begin today.

Good morning.

Good morning, everybody.

I'm Ali Valdespino.

I'm the nursing director for El Paso Children's.

And I just wanted to say thank you to Mayor Johnson and also Representative Acevedo and everyone on the City Council.

If I can just talk a little bit about the importance of uh childhood cancer and September specifically, which brings awareness to everything that we do.

We are a member of children's oncology group.

And what that is is a research uh manner of where we can uh we can participate in many research uh avenues to provide treatment to these kids that would be provided all around the world, and we can do this here in El Paso.

We unfortunately diagnose 70 to 80 patients a year, and that allows us to provide treatment for them that we would be able to provide um anywhere around the world, and they're able to stay here in El Paso.

I am truly honored to work alongside Dr.

Carcamo, Dr.

Benjamin Carcamo, he works tirelessly seven days a week, no break, to make sure that he provides the best care for our patients.

I also have the privilege to work with Amanda French, Katie Joe Goss, and Celine Lopez, who are nurse practitioners who are working at the hospital very hard right now and cannot be here with us.

And most importantly, my child life team, Nicole and Danielle, who are here, and if I can introduce my nurses, and this is Adriana Diaz, Jasmine Batanzas, and Gabby Lata.

They are so important because they provide tireless support as well to our families and to the patients.

And I don't want to take too much time, I do want to concentrate on what's important.

I would like to introduce Adler Gardner and his mom, Megan.

And he is one of our patients who is currently receiving treatment for leukemia.

Good morning.

Good morning.

We're so grateful for El Paso Children's Hospital.

It's been sorry.

Excellent.

Um, childhood cancer is probably one of the most difficult things a family can go through.

But the providers and the nurses and the staff at the hospital have made it so much easier.

Um we know we're getting world-class care.

And now there's thriving.

So we're just we're very grateful for the hospital, and that is here in El Paso, and to support the people here in the city and delight to say, Oh, thank you.

And I would like Dr.

Carcamo to say a couple of words.

Thank you.

Um, Johnson uh uh and uh the the whole um city of um El Paso uh for all the support that you are providing to El Paso Children and specifically our program of pediatric oncology.

About uh 28 years ago, even before El Paso Children open doors.

Uh when we started, there was nothing in El Paso.

It was uh nobody really um uh uh taking uh care in an organized uh research manner uh the children of El Paso.

Um also the children have to go out uh of El Paso to receive their care.

And they will uh that will give uh the parents uh a lot of difficulties and and struggle, uh having to travel uh uh very frequently to uh uh other cities uh to receive the care that they needed.

And um that put them also at risk because uh these children they cannot be treated from long distance.

They have to be treated uh, you know, uh uh side by side, uh so they can be um uh protected from all the complications of cancer and from the complications of uh chemotherapy.

Uh so it was um uh an incredible step for uh pediatric oncology when El Paso Children's open doors and uh we finally had uh um uh uh a home uh to take care of our pediatric uh oncology cancer uh patients.

Um Paso Children brought uh not only um uh a building uh but also be uh brought uh uh you know the uh equipment uh uh the expertise uh the doctors, the specialties, uh that we needed to better care of these uh children.

And um we were thankful that after two years of hard work uh uh we became members of children's oncology group, uh which is uh the um organization that has been responsible uh for improving the uh survival of pediatric cancer uh from about 30 percent when I started my career to about 85 percent uh at this time for all children that come uh to us uh every day.

So when a child crosses uh our doors, uh he comes already with a possibility of an 85% cure.

Okay.

And we are talking about cure, no, we're not talking about remission.

Okay.

And um uh you know, the song uh cancers uh we are doing a lot better.

Uh we are reaching that 100%, uh, but some cancer we are still struggling and we are still uh you know fighting to to save these kids.

And um uh we cannot do uh any of that uh without the support of uh research uh uh protocols.

So at this time we have about uh 45 studies uh open at El Paso Children's uh for uh the advancement of the uh knowledge of pediatric cancer and that we have uh five grams uh that we are participating on.

Uh so this is uh something big uh for uh El Paso, something that we can couldn't even imagine that was going to happen 28 years ago, and uh El Paso Children's and the City of El Paso made it happen.

Thank you.

Wow, congratulations.

Lastly, we do wanted to just quickly introduce we have our chief administrative officer, Ms.

Terry Jordan here joining us today, and our chief financial officer, Omar Garza, who allows us to make all this happen.

And our marketing team over here as well.

So uh thank you all so much for having us.

You know that there we've got some little little guys here holding up signs and what is what is their what are their names?

Megan?

They uh they had the coolest names.

I asked this earlier.

This you want to share their names?

Or you can say too.

Say your name.

Introduce yourself.

Sorry, Dr.

Hi.

My name is Adler.

My name's Daxton.

My name is Silas Garner.

Can you see you name?

No.

And the younger three are Tavish, Cedric, and Hollis.

Wow, beautiful names.

Beautiful.

Well, congratulations on you know this uh proclamation and it is heartbreaking to know that 10,000 new cases of cancer uh will be diagnosed nationwide.

That is just uh unbelievable.

And and as a parent and any family member, I can't begin uh to imagine the unthinkable news to hear that your child has cancer.

Um we are so grateful to the doctor and the entire oncology team for uh giving us a space here in El Paso where we can keep our our kids and our families together and keep them at home because we know that is very instrumental in in their in their uh their their uh path to being healthy.

But you know, uh 270 mile radius doctor that you guys have created this this facility.

Uh congratulations.

And you know, but today we're going to celebrate and we're going to celebrate the lives of everyone that is doing well and the young man that is doing all the marketing there for the hospital.

But you know, yeah, he's he's got it on camera, he's got it positioned perfectly.

So again, yeah, congratulations, you guys, and keep up the the outstanding work.

Thank you, Mayor Johnson.

Come on over yours.

All right, guys, front and center, front and center.

Adler, you and your brothers.

And the final proclamation is El Paso Startup Week.

And the proclamation reads, whereas entrepreneurial ecosystems are places characterized by inclusive environments which support connections, creativity, innovation, and collaboration.

And whereas a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem is critical for El Paso's growth and prosperity to be a local wealth, allow more individuals an opportunity to participate in the economy, and diversify our regional economy.

And whereas small businesses are a key driver of economic vitality across the El Paso region, accounting for eighty-four percent of our local economy.

And whereas the City of El Paso directly supports entrepreneurs, innovators, and small businesses through a number of programs and platforms, including the business one stop shop, economic development liaisons, by El Paso Rewards, supply El Paso, and the administration of over fifty million dollars in grant funding.

And whereas a network of over thirty entrepreneurial support organizations reinforce our dynamic local startup ecosystem by providing the resources, connections, knowledge, and mentorship needed to help entrepreneurs explore creativity, grow and scale businesses and thrive in our region.

And whereas El Paso Startup Week is an annual celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth, and expand human welfare.

And whereas the third annual El Paso Startup Week, accelerating regional entrepreneurship will showcase cross-border interdisciplinary collaborative events designed to foster and accelerate innovation and economic impact.

Now, therefore, be a proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso, encouraging residents, businesses, institutions, and organizations to support and participate in this inspiring celebration of entrepreneurship.

September 21st through September 27th, 2025 shall be known as El Paso Startup Week.

Signed by the Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'll let I know we're a little bit over time for proclamations, but I'll let a few of our partners say some words, but I just want to give a shout out.

We've got if you are an entrepreneur, if you are a business owner, if you are local, this is only a portion of the support services we have and the folks working on this.

And so please, if you're watching, turn out for startup week, come into our office, uh work with us.

We would love to have you, and we'd love to see how we can help.

But I'll turn it over to Nancy, who's really the kind of head of this whole thing.

Good morning, Nancy.

Good morning.

It is a community effort.

Uh I just want to say thank you.

This is our third year, the city of El Paso, economic and international development, Sun Metro.

You've supported us uh tirelessly these last several years, and we really appreciate it.

Uh, we couldn't do it without you, but really, this is about the entrepreneurs in our community and celebrating them and the organizations that support them.

Now I'm going to turn it over to our ESOs.

Uh good morning, Mayor, Mayor, Council members, and community leaders.

I'm honored to speak on behalf of STT Foundation, the greater startup community, as we celebrate El Paso Startup Week 2025.

El Paso Startup Week is more than just a series of events.

It's really a celebration of innovation, resilience, and our collaborative spirit.

Um, since its inception, um, the annual event has grown significantly.

In 2024, we hosted over 12 events, including hackathons, speaker workshops, and um and different workshops this year with support from over 20 ESOs.

We are now looking at hosting over 35 events during El Paso Startup Week.

Um, you can check out the full lineup at startupep.org.

Um, thank you so much for honoring our city's entrepreneurial energy and helping us write the next chapter of innovation.

Good morning.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Ruby Aguayo.

I am a business development coordinator with the Rio Grande Colonias Regional Food Business Center, a program led by Texas AM AgriLife Research Center here in El Paso.

Thank you so much for allowing me to share about El Paso Startup Week 2025.

This year, our focus is bigger than ever.

We are not only celebrating El Paso's entrepreneurs, but also intentionally reaching out beyond city limits to Socorro, San Elisario, Horizon, Ganotillo, and Doñana County, because we know that innovation does not stop at city borders.

The talent, creativity, and determination that drive our economy are found across our entire borderland.

By connecting these communities through El Paso Startup Week, we are building a regional network of opportunity where a founder from San Elisario can find mentorship here in El Paso.

An entrepreneur from Doñana can collaborate with partners across state lines.

Together, we can position El Paso as the hub of a united, resilient, and thriving entrepreneurial region.

Let's ensure that the energy of startup week extends beyond a single week of events, and instead becomes a catalyst for a stronger regional economy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning.

And thank you for hanging around and listening to all of us.

Yes.

Pioneers21, I'm Laura Butler, CEO and Executive Director of Pioneers 21.

Pioneers 21 invites City Council to join all of us for all of our events.

So we hope that you all take turns and join us.

But uh for P21, we want you to join us for high impact evening launching El Paso's uh one of El Paso Startup Week's events, spotlighting uh regional innovation.

Our event also marks the debut of Capital Edge, a nine-week accelerator designed to advance startups and dual-use innovation, government tech, aerospace and defense manufacturing and technology.

A selected company will receive a ten thousand dollars uh grant in non-dilutive seed funding, and all participants gain access to financial experts, investors, and strategic partners.

Startup weeks are more than events, they resemble a regional momentum, a platform for collaboration, and a springboard for investment.

Startup week and events like these represent months of research, development, and coalition building, bringing together public and private stakeholders to elevate El Paso's innovation capacity.

P21 will host three anchor events and welcome eight partners from across Texas and New Mexico to support El Paso's entrepreneurial growth.

These efforts align with the city's goals for economic development, workforce advancement, and investment attraction.

As said in the proclamation, it contributes so much to our local economic growth, development, and diversity.

So thank you for supporting us, and I will be very brief, but I do want to mention that during startup week we will have one million cups on the streetcar, and immediately after we'll have streetcar conversations.

So we'll be on the streetcar from uh nine to noon on Wednesday, September 24th.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Buenos días.

I am the founder of the League of Business, and I would like to express my excitement and how pride how proud I am of being part of the ESO's, the entrepreneurial support organizations, not only because I am an active entrepreneur myself, but because I am an advocate for entrepreneurship in our community.

It takes a lot of people work and effort, but we have a mission, and together we will make this celebration better by the year.

Muchas gracias.

Thank you.

And the last shout out to our partners at El Paso County who have also joined us today.

Um and none of this would be possible without the work of all these organizations, uh yourself, City Council, our government partners.

We've got uh over 40 folks in the network.

So again, thank you so much for this recognition, and uh we'll see you out there in September.

Wow.

Uh a big congratulations to each and every one of you.

We see that it takes so many different organizations to continue to work with the our startups and our small businesses, and I see the SBAs here as the Hispanic Chamber and a number of agencies that uh were very instrumental in in the growth of my company.

So uh to a lot of the organizations that are there again.

You know, it's so important the work that you do to help small businesses, our one-stop shop here at the city and in our economic development department.

But just here in El Paso, if my numbers could be off a little bit, but I want to say there's about 70,000 small businesses here in the El Paso community, and uh they are the backbone of everything that we do, so and they're the backbone of the United States.

So congratulations on this week and keep up the great work that you guys are doing.

We really really appreciate all the hard work that you do.

Thank you.

Yeah.

You're working on it.

Yes, thank you.

Okay, good morning again, Miss Brian.

I think we are ready to go to work.

Yes, sir, good morning.

This is a meeting of the El Paso City Council for Wednesday, September third, twenty twenty-five.

Mayor Johnson is present and presiding along with Mayor Pote Chavez, Representative Acevedo, Representative Boyar Trejo, Representative Nino, Alternate Mayor Potem Piero, Representative Limon, and Representative Canales.

Through you authorities rightly administered.

Laws are enacted and policies are decreed.

Assist with your spirit of counsel and fortitude.

The mayor and the city council's members and all who lead our city.

May their leadership be conducted in righteousness and be eminently useful to your people in our community, which they represent and serve.

May they encourage due respect for virtue and dialogue.

May they be guided by your Holy Spirit in all city proceedings where laws are framed to preserve peace and promote the public good in our community.

We ask you, Lord our God, to grant that conflicts be overcome by the power of love, that opposition give way to reconciliation, and that desire to dominate be transformed into the desire for forgiveness for justice and peace.

May peace be in our hearts, so that we are open to the actions of your grace in our midst.

May all members of our community, especially the children, the elderly, those who are sick, the wickest.

Feel the warmth of your providence today.

We ask your blessing on our leaders and on all of us gathered here.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bishop.

That brings us to public comment on agenda items.

Okay.

And this morning we have a few folks that signed up to speak on item 36.

We have Semili Dyatzlan.

Semile Dyatzlan.

Brittany Medegi.

And Miss Prime, just so I'm in order here.

Uh we're not doing the call to the public on non-agenda items now.

Or we do agenda items and then we do call to the public out.

Gotcha.

Okay.

Yes.

Ms.

Medei.

Good morning.

You have three minutes.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Um I'm part of the Comité de Familia Sunidas and Chamisal.

We are a group of residents organizing to defend our community against being pushed out due to gentrification and displacement.

Developers, landlords, and property owners don't ask us if we are going to be able to pay rent.

We'll be homeless, or why we want to stay in our community.

Nobody asks us, but we have been asking for protections for our community against displacement and gentrification since the passing of Onward Alameda and even before that.

These protections need to recognize that gentrification looks different in different areas, especially in a community like ours, where 93% of us are renters.

We are not just low income, we are extremely poor.

Protections are especially critical because other plans under the Involve, such as the future land use map, affordable housing plans for the city, have been in planning stages for months.

And yet months in we are considering whether to have protections or not for communities like mine.

We have been participating in these workshops and sessions.

We sound like broken records.

Our input and reality is not reflective in what is already being fleshed out and will soon be proposed to city council.

In the Affordable Housing Working Group, we continue to be lumped into areas like current place and El Paso High, areas that have a starkally different than Barrio Chamisal when it comes to income, investment, and demographics.

Watering down the urgency and necessity of affordable housing in the barrio.

In the future land use map, we continue to see language such as mixed use, giving developers free reign and encouraged to open up coffee shops, breweries, and buy out housing.

We are already having to do the city of El Paso's planning and inspections job and keeping an eye on businesses opening up without the necessary permits.

For decades, Barrio Chamisal has been the place where developer predators go to and take advantage of the lack of oversight, accountability, and the erasure of my community.

Anti-displacement and anti-gentrification protections is the first step, and is also what has been stated in previously approved city of El Paso plans as necessary preventative measures.

Anti-displacement and anti-gentrification protection should not just be considered.

Women, children, and elders who already do so much work to improve the conditions of our neighborhood so that our kids and future generations can have a safe community to grow and develop, and so that families and elders can live in a safe and dignified community.

Thank you.

Semile de Aslan.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Semely, and I'm with Familia Sunidas al Chamisal.

I'm here to speak about the rezoning and anti-displacement protections that are long overdue.

Barrio Chamisal has been used as a dumping ground for decades.

The danger and health risks that we are um facing every day are beyond human.

Not only polluters, predators.

Brittany talked about the smoke shops that are popping up in every corner, and our kids are being lured into and then reprimanded in school into a prison, school or prison pipeline.

Come on.

My daughters getting text messages from old men in night because we're surrounded by a homeless shelter that gets busloads of pedophiles dumped there on the daily.

This is our barrio.

7,000 community members.

The poorest of your whole city, beyond poor.

If you displace them, there's nowhere else for them to go.

The most Spanish speaking, the most walkable is what you all want.

They don't have cars.

There's a digital divide.

If you want an anti-displacement plan, have the people lead it.

The barrio lead it.

We've been leading it for two years.

Look at this binder full of examples and history of what El Paso has tried to do to our neighborhood.

An anti-displacement plan coming right now after you already tried your hoopla with the zoning.

Is not this is like an apology after infidelity.

You want to talk about homelessness?

Talk about the women and children that are being pushed out.

Priced out.

I went to one of those supposed you all hired them to consult with the poor people so they could buy their casitas.

You know, they told me I'm too poor.

I'm too poor to afford a shack in the poorest neighborhood in the nation.

Your methods, as Brittany cited to diside where to invest, is a zone of racism replicated by EPISD recently.

You might remember we took them to federal civil rights court for doing it.

Don't lump us up with the with your moderate and high class people, okay.

This needs to be people driven.

We drove the change that we needed.

We got Salazar open.

We got the trucks out, we got our community center after decades of fighting.

Don't let the Texas loopholes dictate what you're doing moving forward on this anti-displacement plan.

There's examples and good ones that you can say.

Surya.

Good morning, sir.

You have three minutes.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Raymond Suriya, and I'm also a member of Familia Snias de Chamisal.

But as my compañeras have said, Barrio Chamisal is one of the most or the most vulnerable community in El Paso.

And when we see that it's getting lumped up with other neighborhoods like, oh, like all of Central, that includes current place and Sunset Heights and all and the area by El Paso High.

But that's very that feels very unjust to us, and it feels like because you're not listening to us, you're not hearing us.

And we're seeing gentrification right now.

We've been seeing it.

We've we've been seeing rents rising, we've been seeing new businesses open up that sell coffee for like six dollars and things that like no one in our neighborhood would even go to because we don't have that kind of money.

And so when you see like these businesses popping up and attracting people from outside the neighborhood, because you know that they're going to next come after the residents.

And with the rents rising, we have nowhere else to go.

As you see by our maps, like there's no there's no barrio cheaper than Barrio Chamisal.

And so, as y'all go about what medium income.

We're poorer than them, we're poorer than the medium medium income.

And so, as y'all, as y'all go around like creating this anti-displacement plan, put come to us, ask us not to tell us, oh hey, we've made a plan.

What do you all think about it?

Come to us and say, hey, we are going to make a plan based on your needs.

Come to us first because we as a community have been organizing for decades and we have the solutions.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Also signed up to speak at 10 on item 36.

Is Nadia Antoine is onto one star six, please to unmute your microphone.

Good morning.

You have three minutes.

Hi, um, good morning.

I just wanted to speak against this um proposition, not so much um to study the information, but really just the previous funding that we're doing on these items.

I don't know if if there's a need there, it seems like the people that would be affected, are not interested in having this um deparation, and I just wonder if we're just picking things out of the air and studying them for the sake of studying them and saying that you haven't uh agenda item to do.

Um I I would like if something does pass, I would like it to be capped at a certain uh amount so that we're not spending in excess dollars and also um doing further spending with our with our um with our staff.

So when it comes to these items, if they truly a need, great, but it needs to be capped.

We can't just keep chasing things that are not necessarily things that we need in the city, and it seems that um again we haven't really talked to the people that it would affect, and we're just coming up with these concepts that really don't benefit people.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And then changing to item 42, we have Marco Grajeda signed up to speak on item 42, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the city of Sunland Park, New Mexico.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Morning.

Uh I'm joined by uh a council member for uh City of Sunland Park, uh Mr.

Jaramillo, but I have a quick message here from the uh city of Sunland Park commemorating this historic uh agreement between our communities.

Uh good morning, mayor and council members.

My name is Marco Grajeda, and I have the pleasure of serving as deputy city manager for the city of Sullen Park.

For over 16 years, I've dedicated my career to improving the lives of our residents here in the borderland.

In that time, there is one lesson that is always stuck with me, and it's this our boundaries do not define us, our people do.

When we think of El Paso and Sunland Park, some people will see two cities divided by a state line.

But those of us who live here know better.

We are one community, we're neighbors, we're friends, we're co-workers, and in many ways, we're a family.

Like brothers and sisters, we share the same culture, traditions, and values.

We share food, faith, and family ties that cross boundaries every single day.

And like a family, we may have our differences, but we tackle them together.

This memorandum of understanding being considered today is a reflection of that bond.

It ensures that growth near our shared border is thoughtful, coordinated, and that both of our communities benefit from these improvements, whether it be a regional trail system, say for roads, reliable infrastructure, or smart developments.

Beyond a coordinated approach to infrastructure improvements, this agreement serves as a reminder that says your success is my success.

The Southern Park City Council approved this long overdue agreement late last month, and we were honored to have been joined by key people and your staff.

And El Paso City Councilor Mayor Pro Tem Alejandra Chavez.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And speaking on item 43 is George Savala.

Yeah, you still got a little time on this one.

Okay.

Good morning, Mayor Johnson.

It's an honor to just a moment, Mr.

Savala.

We'll come back to you.

Sir, if you'll state your name for the record.

Yes, my name is Alberto Jaramillo.

Go ahead, sir.

Thank you.

It is an honor to stand before this honorable honorable city uh council and the honorable mayor of the city of El Paso.

My name is Alberto Jaramillo, and I serve as a representative of District 4 of the City of Sullen Park.

So remarks an important milestone.

As we formalize a memorandum of understanding between the city of Sunland Park and El Paso.

This agreement is more than a document.

It is a commitment to cooperation, responsible growth, and a stronger future for both of our communities.

By working together, we are ensuring the development along our shared border is safe, sustainable, and beneficial for residents on both sides.

This partnership strengthens the economic opportunities support responsible planning.

And bills long-term stability between our two cities.

I would like to acknowledge Representative Chavez for her vision and dedication.

As we all, as well as support of staff of El Paso, City of El Paso.

Their efforts combined with leadership of the city manager of Sunland Park, the deputy city manager, and myself provided the foundation to move this agreement forward.

Together, we have taken a step that not only strengths regional collaboration, but also sets the stage for meaningful and lasting progress for our communities.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now speaking on item 43 is Mr.

George Savala.

Item 43 is a resolution authorizing budget transfers as part of the fiscal year 2025 year and closing process.

Good morning, Mr.

Savala.

You have three minutes.

Good morning, Mayor Johnson and City Council members.

Good morning.

My name is George Saraba.

I'm uh board president and also co-founder of House of Vision Terminal and Blind Spirits.

Um I come in front of you just for understanding and clarification regarding language of 1.9 million dollars of the ATA on demand program being transferred to community development.

I guess uh clarification would be is this money once this money is transferred.

Would you stand alone in that funding or would it be incorporated to community development?

We want to make sure that any money that is uh allocated to us should be used for us uh because we need to understand that money that's used for our uh to uh make it equal for us to access services and products to the city is not any good customer service because also required by law.

And I'll close with this uh just to let you know yesterday when I try to access the agenda that it was inaccessible to me.

And this is going on for years, not weeks, not months, years.

And so myself, I had a real hard time accessing uh the agenda yesterday, and I have to get a side assistant, whereas someone decided that I have to do that.

I just want to make sure we understand that when it comes to uh addressing ADA needs, it's not only a structural impediment, but also that digital impediment.

So, with that being said, I just hope that we understand that when the money is transferred that is standalone and it's not incorporated into other funding that is used for what we need, and just saying 1.9 has been unspent is concerning itself, but that's for another day.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That brings us to call to the public for the record.

Representative Malona de Rocha also joined the meeting at 1037.

On call to the public, the El Paso City Council is local government body charged with serving the citizens of the city, and the meetings must be focused on the meetings at chart.

The city council meetings are public meetings under the Texas Helping Meetings Act.

Public comment is an accommodation and not a requirement of city council.

All persons in attendance are expected to display civility and decorum that is respectful to other persons without the use of insulting, profane, threatening, or abusive language.

Public com public comment will not be used for personal attacks, nor may any member of the public use this form for political statements or campaigning.

Please note that during call to the public, the city council may not deliberate or decide any subject that is not on the agenda.

However, council may propose that a topic brought forth be posted on a future agenda.

This morning we have 10 members of the public that signed up to speak.

The first person is Elizabeth Crawford.

Her topic is abortion and 9-11.

Good morning, Miss Crawford.

Star 6, please to unmute your microphone.

You have three minutes.

Good morning.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning.

As we know that good morning.

As we know, this month it's 24 years since 9-11 happened.

In many ways, when we think back, it seems like a different lifetime for me.

The memories I I have.

I just left the bridge a month before, and my mom would tell me over the phone what was going on, how very sad it was to look from New Jersey over the river and see the smoke rising day after day, the smoke rising from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

As these years have passed, I've had opportunity to hear accounts of how the Lord has brought good things in people's lives, even out of the rubble of that horrendous day.

Indeed, the God of the Bible is a God who specializes in creating beauty in a place of rubble.

I like to speak about situations, other situations in which the Lord creates beauty out of ashes.

A few weeks ago, I caught up with a family I had served with in Jackson, Mississippi.

I noticed that they have a new little addition to their family.

And I was correct in my assumption.

She was adopted.

I later learned the story.

The boys whom God has blessed with financial means means and with a large plot of land outside of Jackson had taken a 13-year-old girl who had been raped and invited her to stay with them during her pregnancy.

She gave birth to this beautiful little girl who they then were able to adopt.

This precious baby girl who would even by many so-called pro-life politicians have been slated for abortion as an exception, Clause is today alive through the mercy of those who believe that life, no matter how conceived, is precious in the eyes of God.

When we look at scripture as a genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ, God used an ancestral line deeply scarred by human sin, ugly sin, including adultery, a former prostitute, quasi incest, father-in-law with daughter-in-law.

Through this very messy genealogy, God brought the Christ child into the world through the incarnation as the Virgin Mary gave birth to her firstborn son, the Lord Jesus.

The God of the Bible specializes in bringing beauty out of rubble.

As a Jewish prophet Jeremiah looked out over the ruins of Jerusalem centuries before the advent of Jesus, a city lying in ruins because God had judged them for their sin.

We read these precious words about God's compassion.

They are new every morning.

Great is thy faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion, says my soul.

Therefore will I hope in him.

This God who specializes in bringing beauty out of ashes is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The so-called exception c case is an abortion, rape or incest are opportunities for God to show the glory of what he is able to do.

If instead of running in panic to the nearest abortion center or plant parenthood, people will run in desperation to the holy God, the one who is more than able to bring beauty out of ashes.

Thank you, and hope you have a very good day.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Claudia Contreras Siller.

Ms.

Siller's topic is TNR trap neuter return program for homeless cats.

Ms.

Sailor Star 6.

Good morning.

You have three minutes.

Good morning.

I want good morning.

I wanna say happy birthday to our wonderful series clerk, Laura Pine.

Her birthday was a few days ago.

Also I wanna say thanks to our Congresswoman, Veronica Govard, for introducing the supporting our shelters act.

Animal Services, as we know, is very uh loaded with work.

And I wanna tell everybody to please incorporate the trapmuter return program in the plants for this upcoming fund.

The TNR program, we we cannot do it alone.

It's based on volunteers.

And I wanna ask for more fun to hire uh people to do the trapmuter return.

It's many steps.

Um traps are needed.

Uh the animal needs to be trapped, wholes for about 12 hours before going into surgery, and it's already happening that it's volunteer-based.

Um a how do I say it?

Like it has to be uh in the agenda, but like sometimes we cannot trap the cats, and it will need more organization.

Also, if animal services is present at a cat colony location, it helps a lot to stop animal cruelty.

Also, I wanna say that the straight cats need our help because they do also contribute to the ecosystem controlling the rodent plagues.

And I want to invite everybody to always report animal cruelty to stand up for the ones that don't have a voice.

Uh, the animal cruelty unit needs more funds.

If you call the animal cruelty unit, which is 915, 212080, the voicemail eight tall all the time because they're loaded with words.

It's like to call 911 whenever you're reporting animal cruelty in troubles.

So that's the other number to call and also 311 Monday through Friday from 7 a.m.

to 11 p.m.

That's the number to call to report animal cruelty.

Also running by the judges to always take these cases very seriously, because not everybody reports animal cruelty.

And but them to volunteer with the police officers to have a better idea of what's going on in the street.

And I wanna uh send a huge shout out to the animal cruelty unit, Sagin Pharma, uh officer with Pierre and the investigator because they do a wonderful job all the time.

Please, everybody use your um creativity, and I'm sure the media is going to help out the animals in everything.

Thank you, Miss Silly.

Thank you for that.

Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Ron Como.

Mr.

Como's topic is exercising his constitutional rights to the rescue in 1983 animal services.

He will be followed by Chris Veles, Barbara Valencia, Marisol Sanchez, Darlene Rincon, also speaking regarding animal services.

Good morning, sir.

You have three minutes.

Good morning.

Good morning, ma'am.

Happy birthday.

Good morning.

Hello.

I can't see you with glasses on.

Okay, so last time I was here, we had a bunch of people here talking about the problems with a facility that we have.

And I found it interesting that the person that was so proud of putting the person in charge wasn't here.

So today we're going to discuss what the employees think of the shelter.

Oh, animal protection officer.

These are uh exit interviews, by the way, which we keep saying you should read.

Unprofessional would summarize animal services, excuse me, I'm reading it.

It ranged from hiring family to work under them to having extramarital affairs that would inevitably lead to better treatment and opportunities.

So you get an idea.

The supervisor that was hired were were not at all knowledgeable, experienced, or equipped to do handle to perform the tasks we are assigned to in my department.

The supervisors that know how to handle situations do not help at all either.

Another one, I applied to work in animal services because I wanted to work towards helping to make animals' lives better.

Unfortunately, the conditions of the shelters are pretty bad.

Hostile and uncomfortable environment, upper management, bully, and harass employees.

Employees are shown no respect.

Job went from caring for the animals to having no time and caring, even for the basic essentials of the animals management.

It's is more concerned with image of themselves and the company rather than the welfare of the animals and employees.

I think what we need to do is Cynthia and I need to meet over in human resources this morning after this after I leave here.

And let's get two years of exit interviews.

Let's see before these start disappearing now that we brought this out.

Let's get an idea of what's going on in this facility in the eyes of the people we're losing because of the issues with control.

And you know one of the things I'd like to bring up is maybe we can hire somebody's friends at the five o'clock club to eliminate the people that are causing the issues because the uh contrary to belief, this we're we're we don't have a fully functional facility.

We don't have a facility that gives us the information we need.

We don't need them protected by everybody, and we need it fixed.

People are in danger, shelters, danger, pets, strays, your employees.

Come on, guys.

Mr.

Johnson, I'm more than happy to go meet with Cynthia over in Human Resources.

Let's get a copy of that.

Thank you, Mr.

Como.

We're gonna do it.

The next speaker is Chris Veles, followed by Barbara Valencia, Marisol Sanchez, Darlene Rincon, also speaking on animal services.

Hi, good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Chris.

Um my passion for animals comes back from being a service member.

I retired after 20 years, six months, and 32 days.

Who's counting, right?

Yeah.

And I did three combat tours, three and a half because we did the 18 month, and then I also did two PC peacekeeping operations.

And one thing that I think that unifies myself with you guys is that we have a shared mission, meaning a value.

We we we go we just don't go through life, meaning that we believe we can do something for society.

And that's one thing I missed about being in the in the service anymore, is that I don't really have like a mission, like I'm out there saving lives.

I actually flew helicopters by the way, but I won't do it anymore because I don't want to do it.

It's fun though.

But uh looking at numbers, my favorite thing to do is look at numbers, okay?

And no the reason I'm big animal advocate is because they save my life.

I have PTSD, not all the way there in the head sometimes, and animals help me through it, and it helps a lot of veterans.

And I think animals, what connects us animals is they don't have a voice.

They can't articulate what they need, their needs, their wants, everything else, and they operate at a three-year-old level.

So they're basically not children, but they're like a children.

Um Mr.

Canales, I still haven't seen the ASAC meeting minutes.

They still haven't been posted from February to August.

So that was one of them.

And what I wanted to talk about was the live release rate.

We need to get rid of it.

The 90% is an unattainable value.

Basically, um the 2024, you guys released a 78% live release rate.

But when you remove the TNR and the return to owners, because they basically prop up your numbers, we were actually at 67% or 68%.

Which a lot of agencies have said to get rid of TNR and return to owner because they basically prop up your statistics.

That makes sense.

I've done statistics my whole life.

In my previous jobs, I've always done numbers, KPIs, that kind of thing.

And these are numbers that would prop it up.

Uh looking at your 2024, the strategic plan was to reduce the number of pets entering APAS, and that's what this does.

Your live release rate is what reduces it because you don't want intake because it ruins your numbers.

That makes sense.

So that's why we block block blocks because we don't want them in.

And uh social awareness, um, we did the make adoption great again, like adopt adopt, right?

But we didn't look at you guys.

Through adoption, right?

Free adoptions, adopt, adopt.

But last night I went on Craigslist and they have 202 ads for puppies for sale, puppies and kittens, right?

Then you go on Facebook and I can pull 70 ads right now on uh backyard breeders, but we're not doing anything about that.

So it doesn't help our problem.

Uh one thing we really do need to push on is spay and neuter.

If we could do a campaign on that, I think it would be very helpful.

Just spay and neuter, spay and neuter, spay and neuter.

But we're not doing it, and I think that would make a big difference.

Okay, I'm out of time again, but I'll bring you next numbers next time we talk.

And thank you for your service.

I like numbers.

Yeah, thank you for your service.

Thank you.

The next one for our service, your service to our city, because we need you all.

The next speaker is Barbara Valencia, followed by Marisola Sanchez.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, everybody.

Hope everybody had a good Labor Day weekend.

Yes.

Uh the rescue speak, but their voices remain unheard.

The advocates articulate their their concerns only to be dismissed.

The community offers its perspectives, yet the insights fall on deaf ears.

Even the employees of animal services share observations, but their feedback is overlooked.

And here's what some of the employees have been saying.

I'll just read a few.

Upper management.

Uminformed of the reality of inhumane standards, witnessing the constant inhumane treatment of animals and staff.

Hopefully, the care of the animals becomes the shelter's priority soon again, and not the social media standpoint.

Animals are dying unnecessarily as a result.

Here's one SR, animal care attendant.

Management was uneducated on the job being performed by their staff.

They picked favorites and mistreated staff, adopting out animals to people who have documented cruelty and neglect cases.

APO staff have been abused.

Animals in front of the kennel staff.

Then when it was reported, they get a slap on the wrist and then just do it again.

Next one here is SL, animal care attended.

No one in upper management knows what they want or how to run a shelter.

They care more about how they look instead of the well-being of the animals.

They play favorites and there were no standards on how to clean or do intakes.

Worst management I have ever experienced.

Here's one TA.

A shelter supervisor.

I felt compelled to act due to the ongoing challenges within the management structure and improper training.

Specifically, I have observed a pattern of passive aggressive behavior from several managers of upper management.

Furthermore, I have concerns regarding the use of authority to favor romantic partners within the organization.

These go on and on and on.

When speaking about upper management at the shelter, employees also stated they were affected by or witnessed harassment regarding race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and national origin.

Violence in the workplace, including use of excessive force around or on their person, and ethical breaches for misuse of time.

That includes sexual encounters at the workplace on company time and misuse of government property.

You have allocated taxpayer funds to an inexperienced consultant in Atlanta, Georgia, despite the fact that the dedicated staff at the shelter have been identifying critical issues for an extended period of time, yet you have refused to address and resolve these issues.

It is imperative for all of you to begin heeding the insights of those in El Paso who possess the experience, knowledge, and resources necessary to improve animal services for both our community and its animals, not a failed and inhumane recommendations from another best friend's entity.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Marisol Sanchez.

She will be followed by Darlene Rincon.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Marisol, and I want to talk to you about the animal welfare in our border, but I want to focus on what's happening across the border in Juarez.

For a while, I've been following what their Department of Animal Welfare has been doing.

They're known as GABA.

And I mean they've been doing amazing things for their animals and their community.

Their mayor, Cruz Pérez Cuellat, has stated that his administration will continue to work to ensure all beings are given the dignity and respect they deserve, and that includes animals.

So I want to point out what they have done this year so far.

In every one of these events I will mention, they always have free vaccines, uh, free take and flee protection, and food drives where the food collected is redistributed to local rescues.

All events are held in different points in the city, two at those with transportation issues.

And again, everything is completely free.

They've had this year so far 26 vaccines fares, vaccine fares, that's four per month.

Um everything's free, all vaccines and meds, three pet fairs with vaccines and everything mentioned, along with basic vet care, four runs for pets where the cost of registration is used to buy food, blankets, and items needed for rescues, and 12 major pet fairs where they have free sterilization along with everything else I mentioned, and that's twice a month.

And that's I mean twice a month of sterilization, all the animals in you know that comes to the event.

And they also have daily free microchips, vaccines, taking fleeme ads at their main office, and that's daily completely free to everyone who walks in with an animal.

They also have a way to report animals and animal cruelty cases through text.

And according to their website, they have sterilized 3,134 animals and implanted 2,480 microchips, and that's so far this year.

El Paso doesn't have any of these things.

Instead, we have our animals that are being turned away at the shelter and they're being dumped in the streets because the leadership doesn't see the urgency to act.

You know, if wildest can do it with fewer resources, El Paso has to do better.

You know, and it all comes down to leadership, hiring people with experience and actual care for their job, the community, and the animals.

Whoever is leading the city and animal services has to want to improve and actually take the steps necessary to get out of this animal crisis now.

We need to act now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Darlene Rincon.

Ms.

Rincon is also speaking on animal services.

She will be followed by Sylvia Tomboski, Gus Rhodes, and Patricia Osman.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Darlene Rincon, and I volunteer with some of the rescues here in El Paso.

Um, I went on the website for the facility we're talking about, and it states the goal is to make El Paso a life-saving no-kill community.

It also states their mission is to deliver exceptional services to support a high quality of life for our pets, ensuring their five freedoms, which are freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury or disease, freedom to express normal behavior, freedom from fear and distress.

That website also states their values, professionalism, accountability, willingness, and service.

Why are they not following these statements that are posted on their website?

They also state on the website what they are doing.

We strive to provide a safe, comfortable environment in their care and the community, and promote responsible pet ownership through outreach efforts and community and voluntary involvement.

My question to this statement, questions to the statement are where is the safe, comfortable environment when they are operating under managed intake?

How are they promoting responsible pet ownership when they do nothing to protect the community from vicious dogs by returning to response irresponsible owners and not punishing the owners?

Also on the website, six for six.

Six needs to achieve final six percent to reach no kill.

Number two, increasing physical capacity for care.

Why is Moorhead School not being utilized?

This facility was designated as a full-blown shelter by Mayor Leeser on 92523.

Number six on that, six of six.

Community and regional partner involvement and inclusion.

I would like to hear how the shelter believes they are doing this.

Couple recent posts are next door.

A dog was found, it was chipped.

This facility that we're talking about.

When Finder contacted that facility, she was told they are full, and if a space opens up and she turns dog in, she would need to pay 125 dollars.

Why would she have to pay if the dog is chipped to that facility?

It should be the facility's responsibility to locate whoever they adopted this dog to find out why this dog was out for four days.

Four days.

Why, you know, it doesn't make sense why we're trying to do their job, and the dog is registered to them under the chip.

You know who it was.

Another instance, find a rescue.

Okay.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Sylvia Tombowski.

Ms.

Tombowski's topic is licensing a fraudulent contractor.

Good morning.

You'll have three minutes.

Good morning.

My name is Sylvia, and I'm here to relay an experience and raise awareness about an incident that happened to me.

I uh contracted FCS Rodiron uh Aryan Marivani to come and uh fabricate some gates for me and move a privacy fence.

He requested a down payment of $1,700, and I gave him the down payment.

Uh he never fabricated anything.

He kept pushing the date back and giving me excuses for installation regarding weather, wind, rain, illnesses, so forth.

And uh finally he sent somebody and he brought something totally different, nothing that I had ordered.

And then he just told me he's he ceased communication, send me a communication saying that I needed to read my contract, where I found out that he placed a lien on my home and took me to small claims court, filed a lawsuit against me.

Uh I counter I filed a counterclaim, and yesterday we went to court, he didn't show up, and the judge uh rendered a judgment in my favor.

Upon doing research, I found that there are numerous reviews against him.

Uh, one is uh dated here from Carlos O, 25 days ago.

I filed a police report for deceptive business practices, promised five weeks of completion of fencing project, never completed the project.

Mr.

Marivani ghosted us and never returned any of the money that was put down.

My advice is to run.

Look elsewhere, don't make the same mistake I did.

Ruben F, four days ago, avoid at all costs, hired FCS Rodiron in March 2025 for a privacy fence in Pergola.

The owner, Aryan Marivani, promised multiple installation dates that never happened.

Each time he either blamed the weather or offered another excuse, yet the work was never started.

His last communication with me was July 31st.

Since then I have emailed, called and texted him with no response.

We asked for proof of any product or materials that had been produced as he claims he never provided it.

And it goes on and on and on and on.

And here's another one.

Anthony Paramo.

Please beware of FCS Rodiron and Fence.

My father contacted and contracted him in March to deliver and install order requested.

As per contractor, Ari mentioned three weeks to prep and promise to send pictures of the product when it was done.

And to this date, he is still always busy to take those pictures.

Company or Ari never takes responsibility.

He has failed in constantly changing dates and blaming the weather.

Family emergency, like all the workers are with him at the hospital holding hands and not knowing who his workers are.

He blames the workers for taking long contract states that the contractor and the client can come to agreement to a solution and they never do.

Thank you, Miss Tombowski.

Here we take three minutes.

Thank you.

Also speaking on the same topic is Gus Rhodes.

Good morning, sir.

You have three minutes.

Good morning, Mr.

Mayor City Council.

I'm here in support of Sylvia.

Um to raise awareness of fraudulent businessmen within the city.

We've been encountered numerous ones.

This is the most egregious so far.

Um question is why is businesses such as this continued to be granted business licenses to operate and commit more fraud and create more victims of the citizens of El Paso.

And what is the plan from the city council to address this?

That's my question.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Patricia Osman.

Ms.

Osman's topic is data centers, transparency, First Amendment civil rights of citizens, and undue influence of donors and vendors on elected officials.

Good morning, ma'am.

You have three minutes.

Hello, I hope you all can hear me.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes.

Okay.

Um the beginning of that was also with the data centers.

And I did send because it seems as though city council needs a lot of visuals and uh to be walked through by paraplans.

I thought some uh documentaries on YouTube would be very beneficial and easy for y'all to learn the effects of what happens when data centers enter community.

Already established effects across America.

So I hope that y'all did receive those emails.

If y'all could nod, whether you receive them, or if Mr.

Osameda could not, stating that he did, because they were sent to the mayor, all city council, city attorney, and Dion Max email that I have on record.

So aside from that, hopefully you all do take the time to watch them because it's your responsibility, or somebody else said a commitment to responsible growth in our community.

Aside from that, when anybody speaks, there's a little speech as far as respect and so forth.

But respect is not a right, it is earned.

Trust is handed to each and every one of you by the votes given to you, and it is up to you by your actions to make sure that you retain that public trust.

I am still yet to see that because I see a lot of representatives and those on the diet who have lied to the community.

There's a lot of performative prayer, which honestly is blasphemy.

It violates the constitution because quite frankly, we have a freedom of religion.

Yes, but it also is a freedom from religion.

Freedom of and a freedom from.

Thank you, Miss Osman.

You've read three minutes.

Thank you, ma'am.

Council, that concludes call to the public.

Okay, Miss Prime.

That brings us to the consent agenda.

All matters listed under the consent agenda will be considered by city council to be routine and will be enacted by one motion unless separate discussion is requested by council members.

Prior to the vote, members of the audience may ask questions regarding items on the consent agenda.

When the vote has been taken, if an item has not been called out for separate discussion, the item has been approved.

Council may, however, reconsider any item at any time during the meeting.

Mayor Pro Temp.

Thank you, Ms.

Prime.

I make a motion to approve the consent agenda with the following revisions.

Page 15, item 42, move to the forefront of the regular agenda after the public hearings.

Per Representative Alejandra Chavez, page 15, item 43.

Move to the forefront of the regular agenda after the public hearings per Mayor Johnson.

Okay.

Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

That was the motion.

That was motion second.

Okay.

Second.

There's a motion and second.

Any discussion on this?

Okay.

Ms.

Bryan.

Yes, sir.

The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded by alternate mayor pro Tempro to approve the consent agenda as revised.

On that motion, call for the vote.

And the voting session.

And that motion passes unanimously.

We now turn to page number six.

This is the first reading of ordinances.

These are items 16 to 27.

Representative Lamar.

I make a motion to move on the reading of the first ordinance.

Okay.

We have a motion and a second.

And we do have a speaker signed up for item 27.

Okay.

This is the introduction of an ordinance amending Title 13 to allow motor vehicles to drive and park at Lincoln Park for permitted cultural events.

We have Hector Gonzalez.

Good morning.

Good morning, sir.

You have three minutes.

Morning.

Mayor, Council.

We're here to talk about the uh change of ordinance.

Uh item 27.

We signed up to speak under item 27.

We were told that we would be moved to public comment, and we would only be allowed these three minutes, so I hope we can get in our point.

We were here a couple of weeks ago, had a length lengthy discussion about the wording and the change of ordinance.

Uh Representative Acevedo has been working with us.

Uh we received the uh paperwork, the agenda, the documents, and we notice that there's a clause that has been added to this that was not agreed to that we were never informed about.

And it's in section one uh number two.

And it's uh it states that uh a list of participating vehicles that will be allowed at these events after all the other requirements and the criteria are met, uh, be provided to the city manager, which is uh logistically a little tough, but maybe something we could do.

But the thing we're more concerned with was uh the clause that states that we would have to provide proof of automobile liability for each vehicle.

This is something that concerns us first and foremost.

Is this something that's required at other city events?

Uh there's similar events at the Museum of Art, uh, at the Civic Center.

Uh we have participated in many of those.

We've never been asked to provide proof of insurance to simply go and park.

Uh our group, are we even authorized to take that kind of personal information from citizens and and to hold that information?

There's record keeping, huh?

Uh are people gonna provide me their policy numbers and all that, and then for me to just keep them and and how you know what if I use them in a negative way.

So uh the the our point is that this clause we feel is uh unnecessary.

Part of the discussion we had two weeks ago was that we would provide insurance.

We provided the document, uh, I think this is a million dollars uh insurance that we provide every year for our event, and uh we feel that that was enough.

We understood that that was to cover the damages to the park, uh to the grass, to if we break a bench, things of that nature.

Uh this added uh clause uh providing the insurance from each vehicle, we feel is unnecessary and uh something that is kind of been used before uh the Sunbowl parade now provides uh now uh requires proof of insurance, and that is to kind of steer away the lowriders and and certain groups.

So this is a tool that has been used in the past in a negative light, and uh we don't need to open that can of worms here.

We don't feel that that's the intent here.

I think it was just something that was added, uh legal or somebody put it in there, but we just want to show that uh we are concerned with this and we feel it is unnecessary.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Representative Laman.

Mayor, I am I'm really I am disappointed to hear about this this late in the process.

And I'm wondering if we could get a response on this.

I know it's a first reading, but we do have a public um comment, and I'm wondering where this came from.

Uh hello, representative uh council uh Hasuski and Tania from the city attorney's office for the record.

Um I did draft uh this ordinance amendment.

Um I uh worked with uh parks and uh risk management to craft the kind of language and protection that we feel uh council was requesting, and this was simply um just a reflection of that.

Um it wasn't uh our office's intention to um to create any kind of specific burden on uh the event organizers, but this was just a means of procuring um protection for the parks.

He did not request it.

Is it necessary?

So, ma'am, all vehicles in the state of Texas are required to carry it's it in fully under I fully understand that.

It's now you're asking them to provide a listing and to keep record keeping.

I think that once they were into this um event or project, we know that all vehicles have to have this insurance and liability insurance.

Why are we tasking them to provide list and list of these cars?

We're talking about three to four hundred vehicles.

Is it necessary?

So was um parks department requiring this as additional and let me ask this.

Was this done last year?

No.

It's never been done in 21 years uh of the history of the event, and it's never been done at any similar event anywhere in the city to our knowledge, things that we participate in all the time.

So, mayor, if I can't required at the park on a Sunday afternoon, nobody's out there checking uh proof of insurance of people parking at Alban Park or the same.

If I may verify Mayor, the the what is the exception to the rule is that these vehicles will be permitted to park on the turf.

So these are vehicles that are entering as an exception to all of our other parks.

We all visit parks, but we don't drive our vehicles into the grass.

So this is the exception that the council has requested that we come back with is a result of repeated requests by various organizers at Lincoln Park.

That was what we came back with and are asking that we have proof of insurance in regards to damage in the future.

Okay, representative.

I I guess uh Miss Seaman, I know this is a first reading, and I don't know if we would have to wait till the second reading, or if we could because typically we don't discuss that, so I wasn't gonna say anything.

So you all are allowing the member of the public to speak at this time, but we can have a further discussion also because it's a first reading and gives the public an opportunity to meet with parks department to talk about their concerns and then see what they can work out as opposed to having a conversation at the first reading.

Okay, so any amendments to it would be in two weeks?

Correct.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, and and sorry, and one more one more thing.

I think the the idea here is also these vehicles are not being driven every day.

A lot of them are towed in from Al Paso or from other places, so they're just used for the day of the event, and and I think that's what um Hector's trying to say, so I just wanted to state that too.

Okay, representative Lemon.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just want to make sure that we don't fall out of the sequence to make sure that we are in operation for Lincoln Park Day.

Want to make sure that we're not held back in any shape or form, and certainly um I I am I'm surprised with that this was added on there, and I would certainly like to see how we can remove that and leave it what it's been for the 21 years.

Thank you, Mayor.

All right, so we have a motion and a second, and this will give you guys an opportunity to work with our parks and legal to see when it comes back to us in two weeks what what it looks like.

We appreciate that, Mayor.

And uh we passed out some flyers, and we'd like to invite the mayor and the council to uh join us for the celebration at Lincoln Park and to experience it for yourself.

All right, thank you very much.

Thank you.

So we have a motion in the second on the first readings.

Yes, sir.

The motion was made by Representative Limon, secondary by Mayor Pro Tim Chavez to introduce the first reading of ordinances items 16 to 27 on that motion.

Call for the vote.

Representative.

Aye, thank you.

And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously.

We now turn to page number 10 to item number 28.

Item 28 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning from RF branch and farm to GMU general mixed use and approving a master zoning plan and imposing conditions.

This is at the property generally north of Talbot Avenue and west of South Desert Boulevard.

Ms.

Pryne, I thought we were going to move items 42 and 43 to the forefront.

Those are have come after the public hearings, Mayor, per the rules of order.

Got you.

Okay.

Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor.

And and Ms.

Prime, I had a conversation with some constituents.

I'd like to see the the short presentations on these on item 28.

Yes.

Thank you.

Hi, good morning, Mayor.

Good morning.

Luis Samora with planning inspections.

Okay, here we have the presentation.

Item 28.

It's a rezoning for property located generally north Talbot Avenue and West of South Desert Boulevard.

So the property is currently vacant.

Currently it's zone RF, French and Farm.

So the proposal is to rezone to C3 commercial.

I mean to the GMU, general mixed use.

So a lot for mixed use development.

This is a future land use map.

Designates the area G4 suburban walkable.

It is an area suitable for mixed use development.

Here we have the conceptual plan.

Demonstrates the proposed development of multi-family townhomes, apartments.

There's also a retail component, restaurants, as part of this development.

This plan is binding.

So the developer will have to comply with this.

This is the that side plan superimposed on aerial imagery showing more or less uh how it would look at the end of the day.

Uh there's two access points, one uh to the north on La Mesa Avenue, and then the other one comes from uh Talbot uh through a an existing uh driveway to the outlets.

This is the subject property, which is again currently vacant.

Uh obviously surrounding development to the north is is vacant land.

To the east, we have the outlet mall, to the south we have more vacant land, to the west we have uh single family homes across the uh the property.

We did stand public notice.

Obviously, uh before a city plan commission, we're in 200 feet uh of the subject property.

Uh I mean surrounding the property.

We received at the time hadn't received any communication support uh position.

Now during the C plan Commission, we did get some people in opposition to it.

Uh some of the concerns were traffic, uh, and then access to one of the local streets that exist to the west of this development.

Uh so staff and city plan commission recommendation was approval with conditions.

Uh and summarizing this, this conditions they are for a landscape buffer.

Um the 500 foot distance between establishment selling alcohol and including amplified outdoor sound and a six-foot uh high masonry rock walk to protect the residential properties to the west.

And with this, that concludes my presentation.

Motion to approve.

Okay, thank you.

Is there a second on second?

Okay, there's a motion and a second.

Any further discussion on agenda item number 28.

All right, hearing and seeing then, Miss Pryne.

Yes, so the motion was made by Mayor Pub Tim Chavez, seconded by Representative Canales, and this is to adopt the ordinance on item 28 on that motion.

Call for the vote.

And the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously.

Mayor, the next two items are related if I may read them together.

Yes, please.

Item 29 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning of lot six and a portion of lot five at 3101 North Lee Trevino Drive from C1 SC commercial special contract to C2SC spec commercial special contract.

And this again is at 3101 North Lee Trevino Drive.

Okay.

Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor.

I I'd like to see the the presentations on those two, please.

I know it's the same one, right?

For both.

Thanks.

So Luis Amora, we're planning inspections for the record.

So item 29 and 30 are related.

Therefore, the same property.

29 is a rezoning for the property and 29 and 30 is the special permit request.

So properly it's an there's an existing building on this property.

The proposed use is for a ballroom.

The current zoning is C1.

So the proposal is to resonate to C2 commercial.

It will stay the same use, well, same zoning of commercial.

Typically, the C2 will allow a ballroom, but only via special permit.

So there's the request for the special permit to allow a ballroom use.

Also for mixed use development, uh, including retail and housing if needed.

So it is appropriate for the development.

Uh this is the detailed site plan.

Uh, this is gonna be binding, uh, and it obviously the applicant is proposing to use the existing building uh for the proposed ballroom.

Uh you see the parking areas that are existing.

Uh staff is recommending to uh request a uh as a condition on the special permit to provide some last landscaping along Lee Trevino and Pebble Hills just to provide some uh buffer from the sidewalk for pedestrians from the parking.

Uh this is the height, maximum height is 18 feet and four inches.

Again, all this is existing.

Uh this is superimposed on aerial, so you can see how it will look like.

Uh existing pictures of the building.

So it's already uh uh marketed as a barroom.

Uh, as far as we know, hasn't been used yet.

Um, and again, it will need some uh changes still.

Uh this is picture surrounding the development.

To the north, we have a an existing um car dealership uh operating there.

Uh to the east, we have a shopping center uh as well as to the south, and then to the west we have some other uh like restaurants and another uh barroom, the firefighters hall.

We did send notice a second to property owners we're in 300 feet of the subject property.

Uh at the time we received one person coming uh in opposition to the simple city plan commission, and this came from the adjacent uh firefighters hall uh with concerns about overflowing parking into their property as well.

Uh city staff and city plan commission recommendation were approval of the zoning request, and then also approval of the uh special permit request with a condition and that's as I stated previously that five foot landscape buffer is to protect pedestrians along Lit Torinho and Pebble Hills.

This concludes my presentation.

Okay.

Is there a motion to approve this?

Motion to approve this.

Okay.

All right, Representative Brocha.

Thank you, Mayor, and and thank you for the for allowing me to see the presentation.

I went over it, and I know Miss Summerford, uh, the owner is is in attendance today.

Um, she owns this property with the with the the one that's next door to that, which we're talking about next.

Um, I know that there is a concern about the overflow of um of parking, and I know that that the restaurant that's right next door has agreed, if I'm not mistaken, to allow for some type of overflow parking.

Um I do also know that the firefighters union is is concerned about um having it in close proximity to ballrooms, so I want to make sure that I that I uh I put that out there as well.

I appreciate that there's going to be uh recommendations to to provide the landscape buffer for it.

Um, and I know that the staff and CPC have both recommended approval of this, so I'm very appreciative.

I think it's very important for us to see this so that we understand that the CPC has a say, and staff also has the recommendations that come along with that.

So I just wanted to make sure that I um I voiced those concerns.

I know that there was a letter of opposition in regards to this, however, it does um follow through with recommendations from staff and CPC, and so that's why I uh made the motion to approve.

So thank you for that.

Thank you.

All right, there's a motion and a second on the floor.

Is there any further discussion?

All right, Miss Prime, call for the vote.

Yes, sir.

The motion was made by Representative Maldonado Rocha, seconded by Representative Boya Trejo to adopt the ordinances on items 29 and 30 on that motion.

Call for the vote.

And the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously.

Stay up there.

Item 31 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning of a portion of lot five at 3113 North Lee Torino Drive from C1 Commercial Special Contract to C3 SC commercial special contract and imposing conditions.

Again.

Okay.

Again for the record, Luis Samurai planning on expectants.

This is next door from the previous one, the north, uh 3113.

So here shows the aerial showing an existing uh out of sales uh use.

Uh this has been operating illegally for a while.

Uh the applicant submitted an application last year to try to legalize it.

So existing zoning is C1.

Uh the proposal is to reson to C3 to allow the the use.

Uh Future Landes map is in established G4.

Uh this again looks into providing missing retail and and housing uh options to this area.

Uh fortunately we don't uh stop doesn't think this is really a suitable for the auto sales.

Uh here we have the conceptual plan.

We chose the an existing mobile office uh on the property.

Uh obviously uh the the auto sales they're gonna just be parked in the area.

Uh there's no requirements about where to park, so they're just have uh generally uh uh storage areas in the in the property.

So these are pictures from the existing property shows uh the outer sales already happening, uh the mobile office all the way to the back surrounding development, just as the previous one.

So we have the the ballrooms, uh the proposed ballroom that's like on to the south that just went through the rezoning to the west we have the fire hole and restaurant.

Um to the ease we have the shopping center, and to the north we have on our uh restaurant.

So we did send notices again to property owners.

We did receive one comment in of in support of the city plan commission.

This came from the business owner that is currently leasing the property.

Uh staff recommendation was denial.

Uh we don't believe this is in um goes in character with the surrounding neighborhood.

Uh again, going back citing the future line use map doesn't go along with that one.

Uh moreover, the C plan Commission during the public hearing, they did recommend approval on a vote 5 to 2 of the rezoning request.

So that's city plan recommendation.

So at this time that concludes my presentation.

Okay, is there a motion to approve this?

Motion to approve.

Second.

Okay.

Uh Representative Rocha.

Thank you.

And and thank you for for the information on that.

I just wanted it um and I know that uh again the the owners or part of the owners are are in chambers today, but this one I have been struggling with, and I had several conversations with uh with uh planning and inspection on this particular one.

Um I I find I'm a little torn because it is a staff recommendation for denial.

And the thing that I'm the reason that I'm torn about that is because no matter how we cut it, the the uh business has been operating illegally, not for a little while, but for several years because I'm a neighbor in that in that neighborhood.

And so um, so I have been struggling with this because of the fact that I I encourage businesses and I want the right businesses in in all the neighborhoods, but I don't agree with the fact that it has been operating in this fashion.

I know that there's been significant improvements that have been made to the property by including water and electricity, I believe, are the two that have been included in there.

Um, but I definitely don't want to send a message to the public saying that you can operate illegally and then come come and say let's let's get you approved.

I admire the the actions of the owners that have come forth to correct this.

Um I think we need to revisit it at some point to talk with the CPC and those that represent it in recommend in respects to what staff recommends, and I wanted to make sure that I put my comments on the record to um to know that that this has been very difficult.

And I know that they are the same owners from the ballroom that we just approved next door, and so um I still recommend to approve, but this has been very difficult for me for those reasons.

in respects to what staff recommends and I wanted to make sure that I put my comments on the record to um to know that that this this has been very difficult and I know that they are the same owners from the ballroom that we just approved next door and so um I still recommend to approve but this has been very difficult for me for those reasons but I appreciate everything that staff provided and I appreciate the owners as well to uh who have reached out and provided detailed information on what improvements have been done I even contemplated approving with some penalties associated with it and after discussion um we decided against that but uh but I want to make sure that those that those comments are are publicly made so that you don't think that this is something that should be happening.

So thank you for that representative thank you mayor so let me see if I can track this um item 29 is for a ballroom correct okay and 30 is for what uh so item 29 is the resoning to C2 commercial uh so the ballroom uh use is not permitted by right in the C2 so item 30 is a special permit that will allow the the use of ball room under the C2 which was approved so 29 and 30 are for the ballrooms different applications that are needed for for them to operate.

Okay and 31 31 this is the adjacent property to the north and this is to allow the auto sales on that property.

So this is resonant from C one to C3 as someone whose district is just marred with so many um car lots up and down the street um I will go with staff recommendation thank you thank you represent canales thank you mayor um in the case well okay the the business has been operating uh yes uh illegally and you know contributing the zoning uh have they had other correct licensure permitting to to operate the business so I'm not aware of licensing the city cannot provide them a license because it doesn't allow the use so as far as I know the city has an issue a license for them to operate now there's a license from the state that one I'm not sure if they acquire or not yeah I would imagine the state is probably not looking at our correct our zoning uh when they're issuing theirs but they wouldn't have the the license to operate from the city no there's no license from bar of the city if the zoning is changed here to allow them to operate would they uh have to pay triple fee on that on that license is that one of our established penalty and we have a lot of situations where we charge triple fee I don't know if this is one of them I'm not sure about that one we can check on that one and provide the response oh sorry I think Mr Atiway is coming up good morning good morning mayor counsel Philip it's where planning inspections there will be no triple fee so if you do um a building without a permit that we can triple fee you but with state license we're not allowed to do that.

Okay and the existing structure at the property was permitted no nothing on this property has been permitted so we'll I once you take your action today we'll go back and access any fees or any uh penalties in terms of you know a bill and without um uh permits uh uh fees but right now um everything has been suspended it's been suspended for almost over two years now okay yeah I just I I don't like the precedent that someone can come in to to legalize a business operating against the zoning with an illegal structure uh unpermitted operation of the business like it's a lot of problems in one location it's a lot of problems created by one uh by one operator and um I I totally understand staff's uh recommendation to uh to deny uh I don't know well have a decision to make thank you mayor thank you represent uh Vierrow thank you mayor uh don't run vote this reminds me of an of an issue that we've been having conversations about in my district and um they were trying to operate or build without permitting um and our first meeting their debate was this is why we can this is why we should etc etc and Philip in all his wins wisdom said you can't do that because there's no fire safety for what you want to do there's no in in I'm hearing if I'm correct that this business was operating without water or gas for or electric or electricity is that correct I I believe so I I think the trailer was moved in illegally and um put on foundation so I'm not sure if they were able to connect electricity or connect water to it.

I I believe so I I think the trailer was moved in illegally and um put on foundation so I'm not sure if they were able to connect electricity or connect water to it thank you representative Acevedo thank you mayor and I I was I I see how complicated this is and I I understand Representative Maldonel Rochal's struggle with this and I wanted to kind of have an understanding of the five two vote at the CPC and how that conversation went honestly I can't remember the conversation that's been a while um but the vote stands as as it is as five two uh two of the commissioners were not in agreement with the rest of the commissioners so um that was the result of the uh vote uh by city the plan commission okay and in terms of precedent and setting a precedent today do you think there's other businesses that might be in the same situation and they might want to come and fix their issue and become more of a legal business and zoning and stuff like that?

I I think so I think we come across these maybe twice or three times a year.

Sometimes we make them go away and then if they don't go away we'll ask them uh to go through the um the rezoning process or the special permit process and our recommendation at that time may be uh denial uh but again CPC is a recommended body uh to city council city council and staff is also recommended body okay and historically have we done this before at council where we approve something like this or it's up to council uh council may see different differently from staff or from CPC uh you've can't previous council have made decisions uh that's consistent with staff recommendation and sometimes they looked at something completely different and made some uh different opinion and different action taking different action on it and so if this is denied today scenario correct the business will just continue to operate illegally or you're gonna shut it up they will have to give them some time to vacate the pri uh the property okay and what what does that process look like uh the process is just you know uh citation they've been cited several times so we'll follow up with citation to tell them to uh vacate the property uh within certain amount of time and then we'll take them to court if they don't leave the property and how long have they been operating like this I believe it's over two years maybe three years okay and they self-reported or we caught them or how caught them and we issue them a citation.

Okay and then they ended up getting utilities what other things do they need at this point well other than the the zoning and not being able to be there is there so they they sol this they also need to get a business license from the city as well okay to operate okay perfect thank you thank you represent Nino thank you mayor one quick question um you know besides getting the permits within the city to operate as a business when it comes to car dealership they're also required to do a GDN number which is a motor vehicle license number an independent dealer number do we know if they have that by any chance I can't speak to that that for us we're just looking at the uh land use on this property uh so all the other associated uh processes they have to go through that's not something that you know we were preview to okay yeah I was trying to do research I I went to the Texas DMV website trying to search them but I couldn't find an active license because they are you know any motor vehicle uh is required to have a dealer license but I just wanted to verify that prior to to me trying to make the decision but thank you for that representative chavez thank you mayor and uh representative Acevedo asked a lot of the questions that I was going to ask as well um so staff is recommending denial can you just go over the reasons why you're recommending denial uh I think the most overriding uh reasons that that's not an appropriate use for that location if you look at some of the um auto dealership they concentrated in an area so we don't want this to become in another a la meta where you have small car dealership popping up everywhere where they're not uh supposed to be and we start making this just uh zone change to allow them to be there so that's not the idea the idea again is to have the appropriate zoning and the the property already has an appropriate zoning by them being there that means we have to upzone the property to allow them to do so by uh you know illegal uh operation making it legal so if if we were to approve of this today and they were allowed to have sell cars in that specific area would then we have to allow other car dealerships to move into the area that's correct and we've had these uh in the Alameda corridor for years uh car dealership popping up and we just haven't had better control handle on that for years okay well I would just like to ask Representative Rocha um how she sees this street specifically and why she's recommending a motion to approve um if if that's possible I'll come back to you Representative Representative Trah thank you thank you

idea the idea again is to have the appropriate zoning and the the property already has an appropriate zoning by them being there that means we have to up zone the property to allow them to do so by uh you know the local uh operation making it legal so if if we were to approve of this today and they were allowed to have sell cars in that specific area would then we have to allow other car dealerships to move into the area that's correct and we've had these uh in the Alameda corridor for years uh car dealership popping up and we just haven't had better control handle on that for years okay well I would just like to ask Representative Rocha um how she sees this street specifically and why she's recommending a motion to approve um if if that's possible I'll come back to you Representative Rocha Representative Trah thank you thank you thank you mayor I I did some have some of the same questions that uh representative Chavez had but I have a additional questions uh do they own or are they renting the land?

I believe they list in the property okay and how long have they been operating as a as a dealership I have no idea how long they've been operating but I know the for this particular property they moved in probably about over almost three years ago okay and and when did when did you all become aware that this was uh about two and a half years ago so that case I'd been sitting and they kept coming back and we kept saying no eventually we told them you know if you want take a chance as CPC and city council to resign the property.

Okay I'm sorry how many years?

About two and a half years.

Two and a half years okay um so if it's denied today and I think somebody already asked this question what other options do they have to find another location that's correct okay is there an up uh would is there an opportunity here to correct what what's been done to correct by by approving this then that's giving them the opportunity to correct this no correction like Ms.

Tavis said so you opened the door you opened it up for everybody.

Right.

Okay.

What what is uh what is uh that area look like as far as having additional dealerships is that something that's even been considered in no ma'am okay thank you thank you representative uh fiero thank you mayor well first and foremost I I need to say that I'm not opposed to car dealerships I think their business and and if they're following permitting and and they're contributing to the tax base I I I'm a proponent my question is along with representative Amir Pro Tem Chavez and Asuero and Trejo if we vote no on this today they can come back fix their the issues and reapply without doing business is that it do I understand that correctly there's no coming back to this this site is not properly zoned for that use okay so that's the that's that's what you're considering today um Mr.

Fiero you've considered the fact that these properties properly zoned or not properly zoned so they have to find a location correct okay um thank you mayor okay represent canales thank you mayor I was just that pulled up the meaning the meeting minutes from the city plan commission meeting uh May 8th the question was asked I was curious as well uh there's no notation of any discussion um there was the public comment from one member of the public Mario Garza who I think you said is the the business owner um and then uh I see action motion made by Commissioner Hanson seconded by Commissioner Apolaca to approve the item to make the recommendation to the council and five eyes commissioners massood Hansen Uribe Apodaca and Reyes and two nays Commissioners Borego and Carrillo so no no record of a discussion in the minutes.

Thank you for that I chair it thank you mayor okay representative Rocha.

Thank you mayor and thank you all for for coming in I actually spoke um with uh Ms.

Hanson who represents district three within within uh CPC prior to even it going to this um to the CPC to the vote um and and I think one of the things that for me I understand that there's a fear right that that it could become another Alameda for example um it opens the door for that and I think more than anything I was I was looking to be supportive of the business and all the the updates that they've made because they've gone through what I remember millions of dollars of upgrades um within the within this little property I've had several discussions with with Philip as to um or Mrway excuse me um about denying this and going how would that look and I decided to go with the city plan commission based off of a conversation with that um with the person that represents the the my office and so I know that it's difficult I understand it's it's not an ISOR in the in the neighborhood you know it is very well kept um the the landscaping side that they have which is a small piece of land off of Lee Trevino is is very well kept there in between a restaurant and then you know it'll be the ballroom in between and so after that it's all residential area

And so I know that it's difficult.

I understand it.

Um it's not an ISOR in the in the neighborhood.

You know, it is very well kept.

Um the the landscaping side that they have, which is a small piece of land off of Lee Trevino, is is very well kept.

They're in between a restaurant and then you know it'll be the ballroom in between.

And so after that, it's all residential area within that area.

There's already a small dealership that's on the corner of Lee Trevino and Traywood, and that used to be an old bank, I believe.

Um, and so there's not a lot of areas in in the spaces within Lee Chavino that would be empty unless you consider possibly um the golf course, and that's separately owned at this time.

But those are the things that I took into consideration.

Um again, I I really worked uh mentally on this one because I thought, well, maybe I can do this with a penalty associated with it, because I I don't agree with the route that that how things went, right?

You operate and then you come back and you ask for the correct zoning for it.

Um, but I also don't want to discourage people from being in business, getting cited and then coming back in and looking for the correct zone.

I know these are few and far between.

That was the other piece that I understand.

Um, and so those those are the reasons that I use to um or that I'm I'm looking to approve this this particular item.

So maybe if I may uh yes sir if it's the wish of uh council to approve this, we do have some conditions imposed on the property.

So I will encourage you to make sure that those conditions are imposed on this property.

Yes.

Okay.

Any further discussion?

Uh and and um just want to make sure what is go back to the recommendation slide on page nine, just so they know what they're voting.

Okay.

All right.

Uh do you mean the what's the staff recommendation?

Yeah.

So the council would like to uh approve.

Uh and we did evaluate on their the C3 because it opens the door for other uh uses we don't want in the area, which you can have you have here on the screen.

Uh some conditions consider is uh not allowing parking within the 10 feet front of the property, just to uh keep it out of the sidewalk and uh the visibility on the street, uh not allowing maintenance repair or storage of vehicles on the property.

Uh obviously storage of the of the stock it will be permitted, uh, a side plan requirement so the city uh staff can review what they're proposed to develop in that property if obviously if they this will be applicable for the existing, they want to keep the same layout or they change the layout or any other new uh use, we will look into those.

I think that that's it.

That's all we have for now.

Okay.

Any uh representative canal?

Just one last question, Mayor.

That's we we have uh condition uh that's being placed to require the detailed site development plan prior to the issuance of any permits or licenses.

So if they're deficient on any current permits or licenses, they will have to come back with a detailed site development plan in order for that license to be issued.

So this will be applicable once they they want to develop anything else.

Uh I think right now if the mobile office is not permitted, they didn't get the appropriate permits, then staff will start reviewing that for that permit, but for the license, technically we don't require the the site plan.

That will be separate, but again, if the mobile office was placed there without permits and any other uh staff that was done without permits, and let's say uh any improvements to the property.

I again it was mentioned there was water and electricity, uh they will need permits on the city can then start reviewing for those and require the detailed side development plan.

Okay, but incl including a permit to legalize the existing structure.

Correct.

Okay.

So we'll expect to see them back here somewhat soon with the detailed site development plan.

The the application will be uh reviewed on their on their uh administrative review.

Uh there's some requirements, CPC can review if needed, depending on the size, there's some criteria.

Uh we typically want them to go through at least the city staff first.

So typically city council doesn't review this type of development unless you if you would like to impose that condition having you review those those uh detail side development plans.

Okay, understood.

Thank you.

All right, there's a motion and a second.

Ms.

Pry.

Yes, Mayor.

The motion was made by Representative Madonado Rocha.

Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, and this is to adopt the ordinance on item 31 on that motion.

Call for the vote.

And the voting session.

And that motion passes 62.

Representative Fierro Limon voting nay.

The remainder of council voting aye.

The motion does carry.

Okay.

Ms.

Brian, can we convene the uh Sun Metro Mass Transit meeting?

Yes, sir.

Is there a motion to recess?

So move.

Is there a motion to recess?

Council, is there a motion to resess?

Second.

There's a motion and a second to recess a regular city council meeting.

All in favor?

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

The meeting is in recess at 11 56 a.m.

Whatever we said.

Sun Metro.

During some move.

Second.

We have a motion to adjourn the mass transit department board meeting for September the third, 2025 at 12.02 p.m.

All those in favor?

Anyone opposed?

And the meeting has been adjourned.

All right to reconvene the regular city council meeting.

Motion and a second to reconvene.

There's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting.

All in favor?

Anyone opposed?

The meeting is back in session at 12.02 p.m.

I was gonna ask council to uh I would hopefully entertain a motion for 10 minute break.

Can we take one moment?

20 minutes.

Okay, let's do it.

We'll do we'll do a couple more, then we'll take a break.

Yes, Mayor.

Would you like to continue with item 32?

Yes.

Thank you.

Item 32 is a public hearing of an ordinance granting a special permit to allow for a planned residential development.

This is at 7233 and 7235 Dale Road.

I'd like to see the presentation.

Good afternoon now.

All right, let's see the presentation.

Thank you.

So item 32 is a special permit request for property at 2233 and 7235 Dell.

This is for our plan uh residential development.

Uh currently the property is vacant.

Zoning is A3, uh A2, an apartment zoning district.

Future land use map designates this area as G7, industrial annual or rail yards.

Uh it does call for whenever it's not uh necessitated anymore for industrial uses, it can be retrofitted to obviously uh mixed use development or uh other uses appropriate for the area.

So the request for this one is a again a planned residential development uh consisting of eight single family homes and two duplexes.

That means two buildings with two units each, so a total of uh ten units.

I mean 12 yeah, 12, sorry.

Uh so this is more or less the one or more or less.

It is the proposed layout.

This will be binding.

So this is what the applicant is proposing.

Uh they will go ahead and continue with the plotting to subdivide the property into this.

So there's a proposed uh road to connect to those homes and provide frontage.

Uh here we have the elevations for the proposed homes.

You can see there's one story and two stories.

Uh this is superimposed on the aerial imagery.

This is existing uh property as it stands right now, so it's obviously uh a wall and fence, but it is vacant.

Uh surrounding development consists of other single family homes in the area.

Uh we send notices to property owners with 300 feet.

Uh we have received one inquiry, but not really communication support or opposition to this request.

Uh well, actually, we did receive one phone call in support uh back then.

Um staff recommendation it's approval with a condition.

Uh City Plan Commission recommended also approval unanimously with that condition, and the condition is that the proposed private street uh will be subject to any modifications uh based on the subdivision plan.

So we'll see that uh once they come back, and that concludes the presentation.

Thank you.

Representative Roacher.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you again for the presentation.

Um I do make a motion to approve this.

Is there a second?

Okay, go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um this is a wonderful project, and I know that neighbors are very excited about this.

Uh it's it's beneficial to be able to have 12 units in this in this space where it's very much needed.

So thank you all, and thanks to the CPC for for the um straight approvals of of the project.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any further discussion on other we have public comment on this one?

Yes, we have Mr.

Ray Mansetta.

Okay.

Good afternoon, sir.

Good afternoon, Ray.

Excuse me.

Good morning and good afternoon.

My name is Ray Manzetta.

I'm here representing the property owner in accordance with the lobby ordinance.

And I just want to let you know that uh we appreciate the recommendation from the plan commission from the planning department, and we ask for your approval.

And indeed, one thing I do want to mention is that uh we we long time ago there was a concept called in field development.

The whole idea is to bring uh residential families back to the inner city.

And and uh for some reason it has I don't think I'm not sure if it has been that successful because one of the reasons because you all don't put an incentive out there, and I would just like to put on the record that uh to work with GEPAR that are here to uh come up with an idea to incentivize coming into the inner city, especially for residential.

And this is a good area, good example of what it is.

Uh it is zone apartment, they could have gone with apartments uh without any permit, no authorization, just outright uh the authority to build apartments, but they decided to do single family homes uh to uh have the ability for families to own a piece of land, uh a home.

So thank you so much, and I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any uh representative canales.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

I just want to clarify for the record.

We have for the last uh 10 plus years had uh pretty significant infill development uh incentive policy.

And lots of projects have taken advantage of it.

So anybody interested in developing uh in-fill development in properties inside the city, uh get in touch with us.

We're happy to work with people on the the infill incentives policy.

Thank you, Mr.

Montana.

Thank you, thank you, Mayor.

All right, any further discussion on agenda item number 32?

Ms.

Bryan.

Yes, sir.

The motion was made by Representative Malonado Rocha, seconded by Representative Boyatrejo to adopt the ordinance on item 32.

On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session, and that motion passes unanimously.

Okay, let's take item 33.

Yes, sir.

Item 33 is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning from R3 residential to PR2 plan residential too, and from R3 residential to C1 commercial and imposing conditions.

This is at the property north of Montoya Lane and west of Desert Boulevard.

Motion to approve.

Thank you.

Representative Chavez, would you like to see the presentation?

No, I've already been briefed on it.

Thank you, Mayor.

All right.

Any further discussion on item number 33?

We do have public comment, Mayor.

Okay.

We have Mr.

David Ballard.

Good morning or afternoon.

You have three minutes.

Good afternoon.

And I'm just here to representing the uh property owners or the developer.

And if there's any questions, be happy to address it.

All right, thank you.

So we have a motion and a second.

Seeing no further discussion, Ms.

Bryan.

Yes, sir.

The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, seconded by alternate mayor pro Tempiero to adopt the ordinance on item 33 on that motion.

Call for the vote.

And the voting session.

And that motion passes unanimously.

Thank you.

Let's take item 34.

Item 34 is a public hearing of an ordinance repealing ordinances 011469 and 019329 that created the Americor Senior Advisory Council of the City of Al Paso.

Can we take 34 and 35 together?

Yes, sir.

Item 35 is an ordinance repealing ordinance 015105 as amended by ordinance number 017990 to repeal references and language regarding the Greater El Paso Civic Convention and Tourism Advisory Board.

I make a motion to approve items 34 and 35.

This is a cleanup in the language.

All right, we have a motion and a second.

Is there any further discussion on this item?

These items Ms.

Bryan?

Yes, sir.

The motion was made by Representative Limon, seconded by alternate mayor Tempiero, and this is to adopt the ordinances on items 34 and 35 on that motion.

Call for the vote.

And the voting session.

And that motion passes unanimously.

Mayor, can we take a 10-minute recess?

Motion to take a 10-minute recess.

We have a motion and a second.

That is so kind.

There's a motion and a second to recess the meeting for 10 minutes.

All in favor?

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

To clarify Mayor 1222.

1222.

The meeting is in recess at 12 12 p.m.

and we'll reconvene at 1222.

Okay, Ms.

Prime.

Is there a motion to reconvene?

Is there a second?

Second.

There's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting.

All in favor?

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

The meeting is back in session at 1225 p.m.

We'll now move to the items that were moved to the forefront.

The first one is item 42, and this is discussion in action on a resolution authorizing the mayor of El Paso to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the city of Sutland Park, New Mexico, in order to coordinate and share development information along the shared boundaries of the two jurisdictions.

Okay.

Representative Chavez.

Motion to approve, but can we see the presentation?

Sure.

Thank you.

Okay.

Ms.

Prime, we do have a motion and a second.

Thank you.

Okay.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council.

Kevin Smith with Planning Inspections.

Before you on this item is a proposed resolution for the mayor to sign a memorandum of understanding our MOU between the cities of El Paso and Sunland Park in New Mexico.

The recommendation was as I as I mentioned to uh allow for this uh item to move forward.

A little bit of background on this item on July 8th of this year, the El Paso City Council uh directed staff to draft this MOU between our two cities.

And some of the goals that were identified include a mutual exchange of development information to uh protect proactively uh manage growth, maintain transparency uh between our two communities.

And just like any agreement, it takes two willing partners, and we I'd like to thank the city of Sunland Park for their partnership on this and their and their city council approved this MOU at their meeting on August 25th of uh a couple weeks ago.

Some of the key points of this MOU are within a thousand feet of the state line, the shared state line between El Paso and Sunland Park.

The cities will notify the other of any rezoning uh special permit or subdivision application for comments.

And when the application is appropriate and a traffic studies required or TIA, the other city will have the opportunity to review for comments.

We will also establish a quarterly coordination coordination meeting between our two communities, the staff to discuss various items that are relevant to both of us.

Uh land use items, quality of life, transportation related items, and see how we can help address those.

As well as the door is open for infrastructure coordination to consider joint coordination agreements for needed improvements.

This MOU does not bind the city council nor the Sutherland Park City Count City to um to agree into anything, but it opens the door for where partnerships do make sense to consider it, and that would be a separate item that would be brought before uh both city councils.

And as I'm alluding to right now, this uh agreement is non-binding, so it's not binding us in the future to agree to anything.

It has to be considered and vetted and debated at that time.

Uh the location is um as we're aware, between the uh Texas and New Mexico State Lines, between El Paso and Sunland Park.

It goes from roughly executive center um in El Paso to roughly borderland.

And the area that you're seeing there in uh the uh the hash mark is the uh the thousand-foot boundary that would be applicable to this MOU.

Um, I'd like to thank um Representative Chavez and rest of city council for putting this item on the agenda and look forward to your support.

And uh with that, that concludes my presentation.

Be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Okay.

I just want to add really quickly that some of the council members might recall a few years ago we were dealing with um some issues right along uh with new development happening, and it took a while for us to get some coordination around that, and I think this MOU is really gonna help us to ensure as we deal with any type of development issues or any type of collaboration that happens between people who live right along that line that we have a way of having those lines open.

So I congratulate the team and the staff and the hard work.

Very good.

Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, I would like to first recognize uh deputy city manager uh from Sunlin Park, uh Marco that's here.

Thank you for coming.

Uh Representative Jaramillo from the City of Sunland Park, thank you for being present.

Um I want to also thank you know uh planning and inspections, Kevin and Philip and the team for helping uh draft this MOU and putting all your thoughts and efforts behind it.

Uh the city manager, of course, was in a meeting with the city of Sunland Park earlier this year, and I want to thank her for her efforts as well.

Uh the legal team, um our um counsel, um Miss uh sorry, Ms.

Neiman and uh Russell who was a part of this.

I I really appreciate their efforts as well, and of course the mayor for you know uh engaging in this conversation and being willing to move forward with this important um initiative.

The city of Sutland Park was founded 44 years ago, um, as I learned last week when I was at their uh council meeting when they unanimously approved this MOU.

Nothing like this has ever been done before.

Um this is very unique.

You know, the borderplex in and of itself is unique.

It's three uh states, two countries, and multiple municipalities that are all intertwined.

And this MOU is an effort, a good uh faith effort to collaborate and communicate regarding developments, both residential and commercial developments, any new developments within a thousand feet of our borderline.

District one shares roughly about 10 miles of uh border with the city of Sunland Park, and anything that occurs on that side of the border we know directly impacts this side, both in terms of safety, quality of life, and there are also many traffic implications when there is development.

This is an opportunity for us to have conversations way before decisions are made to uh like Kevin was just mentioning, analyze uh traffic studies that might be needed because of these developments, and making sure that projects are not overwhelming our roads or our services on this side.

These are uh coordination efforts that uh will be uh with different departments at the city level.

These quarterly meetings will be very helpful so that we can ensure that we are having thoughtful discussions on how these changes will affect us, and that is an implication to many different departments.

It could be parks, it could be streets, it could be planning and inspections, and so this will give us ample opportunity to have those discussions in multiple ways.

Um I do want to make a point that this is a good faith agreement, it's not a legal contract.

We still have to abide by our own state laws on both sides of the border, and we understand that.

But we um are putting all of our efforts into being uh a good sister city to the city of Sunland Park.

I really like uh what uh deputy city manager Marco said that uh our border doesn't define it, our people defines us, and I agree with that.

And uh this is a reflection of a bond you also mentioned.

I I agree with that as well.

Um I uh want to talk about uh protecting residents on this side of the border in terms of what I said quality of life and safety, but it is also a way to support businesses because we also know that economic development is important to both of us on their side and ours as well.

So we are trying to build a stronger, a safer, and a more competitive region.

Um approving this MOU is an investment in our shared future, and we are partners, not just neighbors with the city of Sunland Park, and this is a demonstration of that by approving this MOU today.

So growth near the border uh shouldn't divide us, it should unite us, and we are here to create uh a more a more prosperous borderplex region uh with everybody.

Again, I am deeply grateful to the city of Sunland Park for being willing to have this conversation many months ago.

I know we've met regarding different uh things that have already occurred, and these conversations will now continue in a more thoughtful way.

Um I I want to say that uh constituents in District One expect and deserve this type of coordination because, like I just mentioned earlier, anything that happens in the city of Sunland Park directly affects us in multiple ways.

So thank you again, Mayor Johnson and city staff and the city of Sutland Park for all that you have done, and I look forward to uh starting a new day with the city of Sutland Park and moving forward with this MOU.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Representative Lima.

Thank you, Mayor.

Kevin, thank you.

Is this the first time we have had an MOU with Sunderland, New Mexico?

That is my understanding.

As uh Ms.

Chavez mentioned in her comments.

Um they have been incorporated about 44 years.

Uh for me.

This is the first time I'm aware actually of MOU crossing actually state lines as well.

Okay.

Um, at least for El Paso.

I I thought there had been one couple of years ago.

Yeah, I'm not aware of that.

Could be mistake.

Thank you.

Representative Canalis.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, yes, I'll start off by saying thank you to staff as well who worked hard in this, and thank you to uh Mayor Patem Chavez for uh being the the bold one to bring it forward.

This was something that uh you know I I started working uh here in this building before I was elected back in in 2017.

And uh I worked in the same office for my predecessor back then, District 8, our city of El Paso District 8 bordered districts one, two, three, four, and five in Sunland Park, and we had a lot of contact with Sunland Park as uh there were some development pressures, and I think we we've seen those over the last few years, and so um we had spoken with the you know there were some conversations between uh the then leadership here and the then leadership there, it's mostly different people involved now, and we never quite got to the stage of developing an MOU, and so I'm really happy to see it come around this time.

I only have now District 8, only has a boundary that's very small, uh only with District 5 in uh into the city of Sunland Park.

But uh I think it's very important that we're very conscious of what's happening on both sides of the state line and in both of our our jurisdictions.

Um there's a lot of development happening in these areas.

Uh New Mexico is looking to build a new highway that will connect through City of Sunland Park into City of El Paso, or you know, up I up to City of El Paso, and and so I think it's it's important that we're working on these kinds of collaborative approaches with our neighbors.

So thank you again.

Thank you, Mayor Proten.

I think this is a great thing.

Yeah, I just want to add my couple comments on this, and and you know, first I want to applaud the city of Sunland Park, uh, their city council, city manager, and certainly the mayor uh for the work that they did on getting this MOU to where we are today.

And you know, having this collaboration with uh a city that uh adjoins, you know, that butts up to El Paso and the coordination that we'll get by putting something like this in place is is very important.

I can tell you, you know uh New Mexico is gonna go through some significant growth here, and it's important that El Paso understands that growth and we can adjust on our side as they're growing on on their side.

Many of us have heard about Project Jupiter, which will be located adjacent to Sunland Park, but estimates are 165 billion dollars in development in that area, which most of the employees will come uh of that or that workforce will come from El Paso.

So we've got to make sure that we're coordinating and getting the region uh uh in a position for economic development.

So I also applaud uh representative uh Chavez for putting this together, and you know, I'm hearing that this may be the first along a border like this, uh an MOU.

So that is that is certainly history-making, and and I think this will only make us a stronger region.

So again, uh congratulations on on getting this done.

Okay.

And Ms.

Bryan, do we have comment on this?

Yes, sir.

We do have public comment from Mr.

Richard Dayu, followed by Susan Martinez.

Okay.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mayor, members of council for the record, Richard Deyub, a registered lobbyist with the city of El Paso who reports on a timely fashion.

A little snide remark there if you didn't pick it up.

Uh Marcos, congratulations.

Uh for the record, I just want to point out that I I am in support of this effort, but I would like to read some brief remarks to you.

I and the clients that I represent applaud applaud your efforts to enter into this proposed agreement.

That said, any agreement that is entered into between the two communities must address equity within the terms such as that both communities mutually benefit.

Most of you were not serving on council several years ago when the city, the MPO, and Techstott were considering the future mobility challenges, which have come to reality within the valley on both sides of the New Mexico-Texas border.

Then there were several well thought through recommendations on how to mitigate the growing congestion.

One of them was the extension of Red Road through the valley.

Through pressure from a grassroots organization, that plan was ignored.

Sunland Park has seen some very positive economic growth in the area, and they are to be applauded for those efforts.

Unfortunately, an unintended consequence has been the incredible congestion of Sutherland Park Drive in Donovan.

And this problem is certain to grow exponentially with the construction of the new highway connecting from excuse me, sanitary support of entry and McNutt Road, known as the Border Highway Connector.

At about the same time that the Red Road issue was being debated, plans were set to improve both Country Club and River Bend.

Instead of using civil engineering and common sense as a baseline for what needed to be improved, new urbanism was applied to both projects.

The result, Country Club Road is effectively a parking lot most of the day.

People who live on country club try to look to their best to use other routes to avoid sitting in long lines.

Once construction begins on the new highway, we will all be experiencing extensive congestion and delays that could have been avoided with better planning.

We strongly encourage City Council to incorporate into this agreement language that will assist both communities in achieving transportation improvements to aid in the development rather than hinder.

With economic development efforts, growth occurs, it's inevitable and must be addressed boldly and thoughtfully.

The devil's in the details.

Good afternoon.

You have three minutes.

Hello?

Go ahead, ma'am.

You have three minutes.

Yes.

I'm with the Quite Neighborhood Association, and we have lived in the area adjacent to Frontier Road for over 30 years.

Most of our neighbors have been here for that long.

And we agree that the MOU is a great tool for two communities, indeed two states, to uh understand future developments and prioritize uh safety and quality of life and respect for existing neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, uh as a member of the Aquite Neighborhood Association, I'm getting all kinds of uh rumors and they're rampant about the existence of the MOU.

So I would like to give Representative Chavez the opportunity to address these rumors today with facts.

And uh so these are my questions to her.

One, uh, what is the status of the uh ballards and the gates uh for the Frontier Road project, and what is the status of the $300,000 that was allocated for this project?

Two, what is the status of the traffic study that El Paso completed in 2024?

And three for planned New Mexico development of what we understand to be over 300 residences.

Well, El Paso Planning and DOMI uh departments have um have a say or be involved in identifying as well as mitigating potential hazards that will affect the El Paso neighborhoods like flood control and sewer lines.

Uh New Mexico has different zoning laws than El Paso does.

So we just want to make sure that those things are incorporated.

And also, uh, is the future New Mexico traffic plan for access and equals for the proposed residential developments in New Mexico known.

And if so, can you provide it to the public?

So I would like to give Representative Chavez a big applause for her work for hard work with all of our areas, but I would like to give her the opportunity to respond to my question.

Thank you very much.

All right, thank you.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

I think it's still morning for another 10 minutes or so, maybe.

No, it's not.

Joaquin Rodriguez with the Capital Improvement Department.

Um thank you, Ms.

Martinez, for your comments.

Um I wanted to just address a few of the things specific to the Frontera Road issue, um, which, as our city manager alluded to earlier, um, really helped kick off the uh you know, making it very apparent to us that uh an agreement like this was necessary.

Um, in terms of the specific design and construction and funding for the uh diagonal diverter and other volume management uh volume management improvements along the front of uh corridor and the Texas New Mexico border.

The design for those improvements is still planned.

We're working with uh design consultant to come up with an acceptable design fee for that um project to continue moving it forward.

The funding is still available.

I think one thing that um we are aware of and and coordinating internally um and closely with the Office of District One is that the existing permits for that development at the end of Frontera Road, which really spurred a lot of this, um those permits have expired, and at this time it's our understanding that new permits for that development have not been requested.

Um, in working with the city of Sunland Park, um I believe there have been some uh there has been some momentum to change the nature of that development to greatly reduce the number of residential units that was originally proposed.

Um I can't speak to you know the the specifics or or where that developer is in his time frame, um, only to what what I've seen and at this time we don't believe that that's moving forward.

Um so our strategy really is to continue to be prepared to respond to developments like that in the future, and this MOU really positions uh city staff and city council to be able to have a strong voice in that coordination at the time that new permits or uh new rezoning uh requests come through along that Texas New Mexico border.

I'm happy to answer any other questions uh council may have uh on those issues.

Okay, representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor, and uh thank you, Ms.

Martinez.

Thank you, Joaquin.

I know that some of those conversations uh were from before my time on council, so I appreciate you keeping me up to date.

And uh for the record, we have had uh some meetings regarding specifically this this concern for that neighborhood association.

And I know just like you mentioned, um, the funding is still there, um, and we are in in the design mode.

Um and I, for the record, I'm also seeing nods from uh leadership from the city of Sunland Park, uh just making sure that that development uh those permits have expired and that development is not moving forward.

So uh again, this MOU is in a spirit of collaboration, making sure that we have these conversations way ahead of time so that we can you know definitely decide what the best uh path forward is once those permits, if ever, get approved or are requested again.

So thank you to everyone involved.

Joaquin, thank you for your efforts.

Um this is an important step in moving towards uh more collaboration and you know, better quality of life, more safety, um, better traffic mitigation, you know, all of the challenges that come with any type of growth.

Uh, this is the best step forward, and I uh think you know, just like Representative Canada's just mentioned, it's long overdue.

Um, and I and I appreciate um his support in this as well.

We did have a discussion prior to today uh regarding uh the this uh memorandum of understanding.

So thank you to everyone involved.

Okay.

Ms.

Brian here in no Joaquin.

If I I don't want Mr.

Dayub to feel left out for us not addressing his comment as well.

Um Doniana County is part of our regional metropolitan planning organization boundary.

Um so in terms of coordinating on traffic and transportation related issues, I think there's a lot of opportunity there for us.

Um he also mentioned the border highway connector.

I completely agree that there are going to be some serious uh transportation related issues that arise because of that project.

Luckily, working uh with the New Mexico Port Authority and the state of New Mexico, the MPO secured funding to do a phase two study specifically to look at the impact of that project on our local network of streets here on the Texas side of the border.

Um so hopefully those two things will sort of uh give you all some some comfort in you know that we are trying to address these at a broader level as well, not just through this stronger coordination between the local governments, but at the regional planning level as well.

Okay, thank you, Joaquin.

All right, Miss Bryant, no further discussion on this item.

Would you please call for the vote?

Yes, sir.

The motion was made by Mayor Tim Chavez, seconded by Representative Mallonado Rocha to approve the resolution on item 42 on that motion.

Call for the vote.

And the voting session.

And that motion passes unanimously.

Okay, let's take item number 43.

Yes, sir.

Item 43 is discussion in action on a resolution authorizing budget transfers as part of the fiscal year 2025 year end closing process in the estimated amount of $15.4 million comprised from investment earnings, unspent bond proceeds, and prior appropriations to be allocated to cover specified expenditures.

Good morning, Robert.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mayor City Council.

So this presentation is going to cover a couple of different things.

So one, we're going to go through what Ms.

Prime just read into the record.

And so one is going to be to utilize investment interest to cover a couple of different obligations to add some additional funding to a couple of areas.

The second part of the presentation will be related to some unspent bond proceeds.

And then the third portion will be in relation to what we heard a public comment earlier on the ADA on demand funding and what we're looking to do of consolidating that funding and transferring that over to the capital improvement department.

So as I mentioned, this is in relation to closing out the FY 2025.

These are the three items that I just spoke to, and we're going to go through each of these in individually here on the next few slides.

So one of the big things that I want to point out first before we get into the actual recommendation is you've seen on several council agendas recently the use of investment interest and how we've utilized those funds to be able to add additional funding to capital projects.

It's been critical.

Our strategies and the work that our Treasury section does has generated over 100 million dollars in the last few years.

And so that really helps us to be able to add additional funding where there may be operational shortfalls, or in this case, it's going to cover a couple of different things.

So one, a couple of obligations, but then two, it's going to add additional funding for some critical areas that we need to address.

Some of this we talked about during the budget process.

So again, one of the key things here that I'll point out this is non-general fund dollars, and so we always are looking to strategize to see how we can come up with additional funding.

Again, not to impact the taxpayers on the general fund side.

So this is going to come from a couple of different sources.

And this was related to the response to COVID.

And so the city allocated or received approximately 154 million dollars that we've allocated to various programs throughout multiple departments that are currently ongoing.

As a part of that allocation or the funding that we received, the city was able to invest these dollars.

We received all of that funding up front.

We've done so, and we've been able to generate over or about seven million dollars in the last few years related from the ARPA investment interest.

One of the great things about that funding again, not only not being non-general fund dollars, but also uh the requirements that came along with the ARPA funding do not apply to the investment interest that has been generated.

Um that's going to be about seven million dollars, and I'm gonna go through the the purposes here one by one and the next few slides.

Um, the second source of funding is gonna come from our internal capital fund.

Um so this is a fund that we have set up where we transfer all of our pay-go funding into, where we have our proceeds from the sale of city properties.

So again, we have a large amount of cash in that fund that we're investing as well, and so we've generated about 2.9 million in the FY2025 year.

So a total amount, 9.9 million coming from investment interest.

So I know we have 15.4 total listed on the posting.

9.9 is going to be in the investment interest.

Um I'm going to start with the ballpark.

So we have uh downtown development corporation meeting, which we'll you all heard just a few minutes.

Um the city council annually adopts a five-year CIP related to the capital improvement projects for the ballpark.

Um in the last three years, we've been utilizing again non-journal fund dollars.

We've been utilizing the ballpark revenue that were generating through the two percent hotel occupancy tax, the lease revenue, the parking, the ticket, and sales tax from the ballpark to be able to fund the capital projects.

That's been over the last three years.

Um seven years prior to that being the case, the general fund was actually subsidized in the debt payment.

So we reversed that negative trend of having to use taxpayer dollars to fund the debt.

Um the last three years, as I mentioned, we've had excess revenue from those sources to be able to fund the capital projects.

Unfortunately, the situation is is that that excess revenue that's restricted from the ballpark has not been enough to cover the capital improvement projects needed to uh maintain the ballpark to the level that it's at or needs to be at.

And so you're gonna hear a presentation from uh capital improvement department here in just a few minutes.

We have projects that have been completed as part of the five year CIP that's been approved previously.

So there's approximately about 2.4 million dollars of projects that have already been done that we need to essentially replenish the ballpark capital repairs fund.

So projects that have already been completed.

Again, one of the things that the Capital Improvement Department and Vet and her team have done that you'll see on again that presentation here in just a minute is really making sure that it's clear on the process going forward with that five-year CIP.

And so we have a policy in place.

We have a very close relationship and communication with Mount Star Sports Group, who's the tenant of the ballpark, what their obligations are, what the city's obligations are.

So going forward, it's going to be very, very clear on that five-year CIP.

And then one of the changes that we actually made this year, and you'll see again here in just a few minutes, is that you all will only be approving the first year allocation of funding.

So you're not approving a five-year pot of money, you're approving the first year allocation because one, we need to limit it to what we believe we're going to generate as far as the excess revenue from the ballpark.

We don't want to overcommit and put additional burden on the general fund.

However, that being said, and I don't want to jump too far ahead.

So as you look at that five-year CIP, we've limited to the million dollars in FY26, but as we look to outer years, we have a facility that's a city asset, it belongs to the city.

We do have a long-term tenant that's uh conducting the operating and maintenance cost.

All of the capital projects are the responsibility of the city.

So as I mentioned, it's about 12 years old now.

We need to make sure that we're taking care of and investing where we need to.

Again, we don't want to run into a situation where we're deferring obligations or deferring investing in that facility, particularly because it's in the downtown heart of our community.

We want to make sure that we're maintaining that facility to the standard that it's at.

The second item is related to animal services operating fund.

Um, animal services, primarily funded by the general fund.

The general fund makes the transfer into a special revenue fund for the animal services operating expenses.

They also generate some additional revenue through the rental locals and through the fees that they charge and collect.

A couple of different things driving the need to replenish about 2.3 million dollars for this particular fund.

Uh one, the revenue's been a little bit lower than expected.

Uh they had built up over the last several years, a little bit of fund balance.

That's now depleted.

Um, their expenses have been a little bit higher, and then the county of El Paso, which we have an interlocal agreement with, is a little bit in arrears on some of the payments that they owe the city.

So this $2.3 million would uh replenish the deficit currently in this fund again as we close out our FY 2025.

The next obligation that we have are economic development obligations.

So the city has economic incentive agreements.

Um we utilize various sources of funding to cover these agreements.

Uh you've heard us talk about the TED Fund, the Impact Fund, the Auxiliary Fund, all restricted funding that comes from the Paso Electric Franchise Agreement.

Uh but we also still do have property tax and sales tax rebates, which essentially come from the general fund.

We work very closely with the economic development department to try to time when we expect uh those reimbursements to come forward.

We have two that came forward this year that we weren't expecting to come forward for another year or two, uh, to the tune of about 2.3 million being driven by the MARMAX and the tenant facilities again.

The economic development compliance teams reviewed all of the information and the request as far as the reimbursement, and these are qualified expenditures that we need to again fulfill our obligation.

Again, the great thing, and I started with this.

The great thing about it is we're not having to utilize general fund dollars, we're able to utilize another revenue source to be able to take care of this obligation.

So the next two uses of the investment interest revenue.

Again, this is the 2.9 million coming from the internal capital fund.

Uh you all saw a presentation back in March.

We had some discussion about this in July with the information technology department as a part of the FY 2026 budget process.

The department requested about $5 million in capital expenditures, and none of that was approved.

So we did not allocate as part of the budget process any additional dollars for IT investments on the capital side.

Um so this recommendation would add an additional two million.

Uh, really the big cost being in our two data centers.

We need to upgrade some end-of-life equipment.

That's about 1.6 million.

Uh it would provide 250,000 for computer replacements, which the original request from the department was about 1.8 million.

So this would only provide again 250,000 for computers and then 150,000 for our phone system, which is a part of a licensing agreement, which will be moving to the cloud.

So that is all of the investment.

Oh, I'm sorry, one more.

And facility repair.

So a lot of discussion again as part of the budget process.

We know we have aging facilities.

We have a huge need for investment in our facilities.

As a part of the adopted budget, you all approved 4.9 million in annual pay-go funding, so that's annual revenue built into the budget for next year or for this year.

Now we're second day of the year, third day of the year.

This would add an additional 900,000 into that pot of funding to be allocated again to uh projects across the city that would again go towards facilities, repairs, and investments.

So that's all of the investment interest use in those uh five different areas.

Uh the next section we have is related to unspent bond proceeds.

Um this is the about 3.6 million dollars.

And this is the result of a project that was approved in 2018.

This is the railroad drive reconstruction project.

Um, originally is uh a part of that CAP.

The project was originally approved for over 13 million dollars.

Um a budget transfer was approved by city council in uh I believe late 2020 uh because it became an NPO project.

So we were gonna receive federal funding for that project, and so we only needed to have the city's portion and not the entire amount that uh originally was going to be needed for that project.

Um again, that was in 2018.

In 2021, the city actually issued bonds for this project, um certificates of obligation back in 2021.

Uh this project will not start construction until 2027 or 2028.

Therefore, we do not need that unspent bond proceeds that we've issued for this particular project since it won't be needed for another two or three years.

Uh you all approved again back in April of this year.

Uh moving forward with looking at how we're gonna fund the city's match related to our MPO projects, and so the railroad drive reconstruction project is included on that list as we get closer to the construction time frame.

Our capital improvement department will move forward with the application process to issue the state infrastructure bank uh loan, and then the construction dollars will be allocated.

We'll be able to move forward with this.

So, no impact of the project.

Again, all we're doing is we've identified another source of revenue to be able to fund the city's match, and again, these bond proceeds are not needed, and so our recommendation is to transfer these into the debt service fund and use it towards making uh a debt payment.

The third section on this uh particular item is related to the ADA on demand projects, and so you'll see on the budget column here.

We have multiple projects.

So the city's been allocating for the last several years funding into the annual budget to do ADA on demand type projects, and it's listed as Kerb cuts here.

That's just the project description and our our people soft system, but it's intended to be small scale ADA on demand type requests that we get.

Uh we've been doing this since 2015, I believe, and so overall in the annual budgets over the last several years, almost 4.8 million dollars have been budgeted.

You'll see the actual expenditures that coming in just under 2.9 million.

So that means we have almost 1.9 million of funds that we've been allocating over the last several years that we have not spent.

So that's not ideal.

And so we really wanted to make sure that we're improving the process.

Uh so the recommendation on this particular item is going to be to consolidate all of those projects of prior year allocations into one pot.

We're transferring the function as previously been in the streets of maintenance department, is where it's been budgeted.

We're going to transfer that funding into the capital improvement department, and it's going to be led by Joaquin and his team.

As you've heard him, he's the Vision Zero, the state process school, he's closely involved in a lot of those type of projects.

And I'm sure he's gonna get that 1.9 million dollars spent much quicker uh much more quickly than uh we have funding available for us.

I'm sure that we're probably gonna need to uh revisit this as well as we move into the future.

But all of this is doing is consolidating all that funding into one again to move it into the streets of maintenance department.

And so again, the recommendation is to move that ADA funding, consolidate it, move it to capital improvement department, and then again, finally, the recommendation is to utilize that 9.9 million of investment interest for those particular areas I described to transfer the 3.6 million of unspent bond proceeds to the debt service fund and then consolidate again the ADA on demand project and move it to the capital improvement department.

All righty, representative Rocha.

Oh, I'm sorry, Representative uh Trajo.

Thank you, Mayor.

I uh can I get a motion to approve this before we have discussion?

So move.

Second, okay, go ahead.

Okay, thank you.

So I I move to delete the transfer of the 3.6 million of unspent bond proceeds to allow more time to review the use of the of the CO funds and explore alternative uh allocations.

Representative, you make an amendment to this motion.

It's it's an amendment to delete the transfer of the 3.6 million.

Okay.

Yes.

And so if I can, so city council.

So when I briefed you all, I explained the reason why we're recommending to move those funds from the capital project fund into the debt service fund.

So there are yield restrictions that apply when you issue tax exempt bonds.

Uh, these particular bonds, as I mentioned, were issued in 2021.

Um there are there is a temporary exception that you're able to generate essentially unrestricted yield for three years.

We've exceeded the three years, and so we might now have yield restrictions on these particular bonds, um, which creates an issue for us.

And so we do calculations every year.

We have an outside agency that helps us do all of the arbitrage calculations.

Right now it's looking like we're gonna actually have to rebate to the IRS on funds related to the uh again the yield restrictions that we've exceeded on these particular bonds.

And then the final thing that we're really concerned about is hedge bonds.

And so what does that mean?

Well, the IRS additionally has um situations or calculations that you need to meet spending thresholds, really intended to limit um municipalities taking advantage of issuing taxes and bonds and generating unrestricted yield.

That's not the intent of tax exempt status.

Um hedge bonds means that if that were to be the case and we were to be audited by the IRS, then um ultimately we could be forced to instead of being tax exempt on those interests, it could become taxable.

So one of the things that we did several years ago, uh Ms.

Marine and myself, we sat down and the city did not have a post-issuance compliance policy.

We've developed that now.

So every year we go through the process of looking at our bonds, looking at the spin down to ensure that we're staying within the parameters of the spin down.

And if we're not, then ultimately it's my responsibility as the CFO to bring forth the recommendation.

So that's where we're at today.

Okay.

Okay, Representative Trevor.

So what I'd like to do is is um have this item delete it and bring it back for for the following council meeting so that I would have more time to review this.

And I know uh Robert, you and I have been in in communication.

So this came forth last week, late last week.

And I I really feel like I need more time to review this.

I have a lot of questions.

You and I have gone back and forth a few times.

Um because there is that possibility of extending it to five years.

And so I I just I really want some time to review this to have more time to have that conversation and see if there is something that can be done here.

And the reason why I'm asking is so we have uh we have an emergency project that has taken place in our district in District 4.

It's uh the veterans pool.

And so that pool is I don't know what 50, 50, 60 years old.

Uh it it um we have a leakage, and so uh Ms.

Mack has been able to identify some funding.

But there are some possible unforeseen issues that are coming up with the with the pool, including the showers and things like that.

And so what I want to do is is see if maybe we can take a portion of that uh CO funds to designate it towards Veterans Park.

And so what I'm asking for here is you know to delete it so that we can bring it back in the next council meeting so that I have more time to talk to Barbara and see what those possibilities are you have a motion to delete this item?

That that particular item, yes.

Okay, is there a first item is it representative threw?

Are you deleting there's seven items on the resolution?

Which item number are you?

It's the the item of transferring the 3.6 of unspend number six the to transfer the debt service fund in an amount of three point six million.

It's number six on the resolution, yes.

Is there a second?

Second.

Okay.

Representative.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um Scortiz.

First of all, thank you for being for fine for putting these dollars to great use for our community.

Um what you you always seem to have a uh a magic calculator.

But in regards to the the resolution, I'm very nervous.

What what happens if I guess the IRS is not somebody we can play with.

And what if we exceed potentially the three-year threshold?

What could happen?

Um what could happen?

Let me let me take this one first, though.

Well, but yeah, but this is on that this is on the deleted.

On that item, okay, perfect.

Yeah, go ahead.

If we delete this item, what happens if we exceed the three year?

So we've these particular bonds of 2021.

We've already identified through our review in December of last year that right now we exceed the yield restriction.

So we're we've exceeded the three-year time frame.

So that temporary exception is no longer available.

Um so these bonds right now are we don't have any yield restrictions.

So anything that's being calculated going forward over the next year.

Um, so we re have to rebate essentially any additional yield above and beyond that bond yield after the time period of the three years, we need to be rebated.

We'll need to essentially uh make a payment to the IRS for those funds.

There's also a um a potential of having to tax those bond dollars.

Is that is that that's correct?

So um hedge bonds are something that are very clearly stated in the IRS code as well as far as the time frame that you have to be able to spend those bonds down.

Um five years, you're supposed to have 85% spent.

Uh these particular bonds we are not there yet.

However, again, we don't want to wait until we get there.

We don't want to be audited by the IRS and not be in compliance with IRS code.

And so, and these bonds is what's the dollar amount we're talking about?

I'm sorry.

The dollar amount of this portion of the bond.

So the in 2021, there's a total of 157 million that was issued.

And so the no, but the the the what the portion that Representative Treho wants to to postpone or move or it's 3.6 million.

So what's the potential?

1.2 has been spent already on the project.

There's 3.6 remaining.

As again, there's no threat to the project.

It's just that these construction dollars aren't needed at the same time.

Right.

Well, what's a potential uh IR uh tax um penalty or if we had to pay taxes on the 3.6 million, just ballpark.

Well, and so these particular bonds we've already calculated about 2.8 million in yield restriction that we're gonna have to rebate the IRS as of right now.

We don't have to rebate until year five.

Um it's done every five years.

Okay.

So we have another year before we'll redo that calculation to know exactly what that amount is, but as of right now, it's about 2.8 million yield restriction that we'll have to rebate.

Okay, thank you.

And and just real quick um, Robert, on those rebates, is there penalties and interest that you pay back to the IRS?

I don't believe not on the yield restriction.

We would just whatever that amount is, we would just make the payment to the IRS on the hedge bonds.

That's a whole other discussion.

That's something that obviously we're we don't want to run into that situation, we want to make sure that we avoid that.

Okay.

Representative canalis.

Thank you, Mayor.

I had very similar questions.

Sounds like we've had a very healthy yield.

Kudos to our investment folks.

Um But yes, again, if we I guess I'll ask the question from the other the other angle, and that's we're looking to transfer this to the debt service fund, correct?

Correct.

Uh what is the implication of not service not making that additional debt service payment?

So bond proceeds can only be used for two things either capital projects or for debt service.

And so since we don't need the funds for the capital project at this point in time, we'll transfer it into our debt service fund just like we've done um just recently with you all approved uh the defeasons.

So we can utilize those funds to make uh an early payment, uh, make an additional principal payment.

We have options now that would be restricted for uh debt service payment.

Right.

And the additional debt service payment helps us in the long run.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Representative Trajo.

Thank you, Mayor.

So I you know, I'm not looking to to transfer all the funds to District 4.

I'm actually looking just as a portion portion of it.

Um million, and then the rest, uh 2.6 can continue to go into the debt service fund.

This is just to make sure that we're able to cover those unforeseen expenses that may take place within within this uh project.

Um I do have a question, Robert.

We're you know, so we've already surpassed the the three-year mark.

And you have this 2.8 million, more or less.

Yes.

Uh that's due.

It's my understanding that if you go into the five-year mark, so we can do the if we're able to do a capital project within the five years and have 85 percent of that completed, then you're not you're not uh passing surpassing that mark or you're with you're still within the five-year deadline.

Would that eliminate that penalty or that amount that needs to be paid if you go into the five-year capital project that we're looking we're considering here?

Would that help?

Yeah, that's something we'd have to probably get with our bond council and the arbitrage company that we use when they do the calculations on the arbitrage.

Okay.

So at this point in time right now, based on the last report that we did from the arbitrage specialist, it's arbitrage compliance specialist is the name of the company that does it for us.

Um as of right now, they've identified that we've exceeded three-year arbitrage yield restriction, currently about 2.8 million dollars that we're looking to have to rebate next year.

And and so we're from what from what I understand, and this is why I'm asking for to be postponed until or deleted until we can bring it back up because I do have additional questions.

It's my understanding though if you do not make the three-year mark that you can go into a five-year uh exemption.

And so you know, I'd want to get some more clarification on this to see if there is something that we can do.

We're talking two weeks.

If it's not possible, then we continue forward if if there is some opportunity that we can do something with that.

I'd like to have that opportunity to do that uh in the next couple of weeks.

Thank you so much.

Representative Chavez?

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I have a few questions regarding um this amendment.

Is the money specifically allocated to the railroad project?

I mean, or could you just flip it and use it for something else?

I don't I don't know how to do that.

The bonds were issued for the railroad project.

I mean, we've done budget transfers in the past where we've taken either excess funds or added additional funding to a capital project.

It could be used for another project.

Um ultimately that's not what's before you today.

That's not the recommendation.

But yes, the funds could be used for another.

We check the bond covenants facilities as one of the um allowable uses for these particular bonds, so that wouldn't be an issue.

But this 3.6 million, is that the amount allocated to finish the rubber project?

Is that the estimate amount that's needed to finish the rubber project?

Yes, ma'am.

So originally there was as I mentioned over 13 million, I believe it was about 13.3 million was originally identified that budget was reduced in 2020, as I mentioned.

Currently there's a budget of 4.8 million for railroad drive reconstruction project.

So 4.8 is the budget, about 1.2 million has been spent to date.

And so there's 3.6 million dollars of unspent bond proceeds.

Okay, but if you were to pull a million from this, then you wouldn't have enough to complete the other project, even though you've already started it.

How does it work?

I mean that's what I'm trying to figure out.

On the railroad drive reconstruction project.

So back in April, there's a list of uh projects that we've identified that are gonna require a city match through the MPO process.

So that's where we're leveraging PO funds, putting up the city's match in order to get these projects accomplished.

One of them is now the railroad drive reconstruction project, it's an MPO project.

And so uh the state infrastructure bank loans is something that we presented to FOAC, we present it to the full council.

You all approved the list of those projects.

And so all we're doing is we're changing the source of funding that we're going to utilize to be able to fund the construction of that project.

So once we get closer to construction, uh Joaquin and his team will identify what exactly that amount is that we need to issue that sublan for that come for you all for approval, so the projects won't be impacted in any way.

Yeah, and I think that's the same thing.

But I guess what I what I'm not understanding is if if we're gonna pull money from one project to put it into another project, which we don't even have the cost of, probably do we, Ms.

Mac, on the other project right now?

Do we have an estimate?

So the construction um started yesterday.

Okay.

Um so um as you'll recall, one of the transfers we have here is for an additional 900,000 to go to facilities.

Okay.

Um during the budget process, we added about an additional five.

With additional dollars on hand, we do have sufficient funds to be able to do the roof and also to do the plumbing piece.

But as the rep said they may be unforeseen circumstances, but we're committed to getting those portions of the project done.

Um that building will be closed probably for about a year.

Okay.

What I'm trying to get at is uh, you know, I know representative Trejo has some projects in mind.

Does does the funding need to come from this?

Because I also understand the importance of of making this transfer uh for all the reasons that you've already explained.

So is two things.

Is it necessary the 3.6 million to complete the railroad project, which I'm thinking it is?

Is yes or no, basically?

Uh yes, but I don't know what that amount is going to be in 2027 or 28 when we start the short term.

Well, with today's dollars.

Let's the 3.6 million.

That's what we need to complete the railroad project.

We can't say only 2.6 and then presume that we'll we'll gain it back in interest or something like that, right?

Okay.

That's my first question.

Thank you.

The second question is do we have money for this other project that she's just mentioned?

We do have money for the elements that I mentioned, but as the rep said it's an older building.

Um it does have other needs within the building, and our commitment is to make sure that the mechanical and the roof job and at least a paint job is what we have under contract right now, and that work began yesterday.

Okay.

So, Robert.

So I'm sorry if I'm repetitive.

I'm probably gonna be thinking out loud a little bit from everything that you've said.

So you said that the project is 4.8 million.

There's 3.6 left.

And you should spend money in five years and be at 85 percent in terms of the amount spent, right?

So there's two different things.

So one is the yield restriction, and so it's a three-year requirement.

You have to spend down 85 percent of that amount.

And it's not just for that particular project.

We look at the all of the bonds in that particular year.

So that the any time we issue bonds, they're lumped together.

We look at the spin down for that particular bond series.

Um it's a three-year temporary exception that's provided on the yield restriction.

Okay.

And so once you exceed that three-year time period, essentially you're limited on how much yield you can generate on the investment compared to the bond yield.

And there's a reason why the IRS doesn't want tax exempt for municipalities going and issuing taxes and bonds and generating a high investment yield because you're either issuing more of the money than you need or you're uh issuing too far in advance.

Really should be limited and focused on issuing the amount that you need for projects to get projects done.

And so that's um something that's in the IRS code, it's been there for since 1986.

Um it's the hedge bonds, and so that's a different requirement, and then that's when you get into calculations on those spin downs, and that gets into the point about the tax exempt versus taxable.

So again, it's the same concept.

Essentially, the IRS has these things in place so that municipalities are taking advantage of tax exempt to go out and issuing bonds that they don't need, trying to generate investment interest off of it again by having that tax exempt status.

Okay, and why has this project been so delayed?

I don't know that it was delayed, and so uh and talking to Joaquin.

Apparently, the project has always been under this time frame.

Okay.

Um so I know that I believe they've been working on the design for a while now.

Uh I can't tell you why we issued the bonds in 2021.

Yeah.

I mean, we work closely with the city engineer.

We always put together the list of the projects and the amounts that we need.

So my understanding is that this project's always been on this timeline.

Um, but again, until 2027 or 28, those construction dollars are needed.

So uh I mean we're just at a point where we don't need those bond proceeds right now.

We've identified another funding source, the project won't be impacted.

Okay, and so you want to your recommendation is cancel these bonds when we're ready to fund the rest of the project in 2728, we'll get a SIB loan and that'll be the funding for it instead instead of these bonds, and that's why you want to cancel them now.

Yes.

Okay.

And Ms.

Mac.

Um in terms of the pool, and you know, I have two closed pools in in my area, and so it it kind of hits me hard on on that front.

Is there if this was if this amendment passes right now?

Would there be sufficient time in two weeks for you to come back and tell us we actually identified we need new bathrooms and give us an amount that is more real?

I don't think we'll I think one of the concerns I heard I think you heard the rep say it is because of the age of the building and doing trenching right now.

So once they do the trenching, that may be where we might have some additional expenses.

I just spoke with Yvette, she felt very comfortable that the scope that is related to the trenching and that work will be covered.

Um, in terms of the bathroom piece, I don't know that we'll have it in two weeks.

Let me see.

Two weeks.

We could have it.

You could have it.

So that that would give us a more real amount on what these 3.6 million would turn into maybe it's another 50, 100 grand or 200 grand or something like that.

If it's in that range, I feel very comfortable that the facilities fund can cover that.

The one that the additional that we're getting out of this.

Yes, because we're transferring 900,000 into facilities funds with this action that you're taking.

And we had 500,000 that we added during the budget process.

So I think for those two pieces, if it's within that range, but we'll at least have that number to be able to provide to the rep.

So then we we could have this in two weeks, and you could say, you know what, we have an amount and we'll get it from the facilities budget, and rep Trecho will be happy with the poll.

Is that okay?

Okay.

I'll okay, thank you.

Okay.

Rep trail.

Thank you.

I uh thank you, uh Repa Sevedo for clarifying that.

So the the 3.6 is not needed for the railroad project anymore.

That's they're using a dis different uh funding for that, just so that you had that answer on that.

And uh yeah, I think in two weeks I would be plenty of time to have that information, and then we can know if there's additional funding that is needed.

And if this can just go ahead and move forward the way you had anticipated.

Thank you, Robert.

Okay, we're voting on the amendment.

And I believe, Ms.

Bryan, if I get this right, it's the resolution number six.

And I believe the number three on the first portion that says transfer unspent bond proceeds in an estimated amount of three point six million from CO 2021 C and then on the second portion of the resolution to delete number six that says transfer to the debt service fund in an estimated amount of three point six million dollars.

Is that correct, representative?

Okay, and before we vote, Robert, what's your recommendation?

One more time.

What's before you today to transfer to debt service?

Okay.

I I just had a point of clarification on this amendment.

Would it still function the same way as a deletion rather as a instead of a postponement for two weeks?

What can um staff would have to read the process?

We'll bring it back in two weeks.

They would have to read.

You understand the direction with the deletion versus postponement?

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

So we're voting.

We're voting on the amended.

This is to amend the resolution listing the budget transfers and the amendment is to delete on the first portion number three that says transfer unspent bond proceeds and an amount of three point six million from CO 2021 C.

And on the second portion to also delete number six, the transfer to the debt service fund and an estimated amount of 3.6 million.

Was there two amendments that were discussing the other thing?

Because the the top half of the resolution is the front, so it's the source of funding, and then the bottom half is where it's going to.

So it's we're deleting the one transfer, but it's coming from one account and going to another account.

Okay.

Represent Canales.

Thank you, Mayor.

I I understood that there was another motion to delete the entire item.

That's what I thought it was.

It was there was a second, it was a second motion.

I'm sorry, I didn't catch that one.

That's what I thought we were discussing.

It's to delete the 3.6.

So it's item number six.

Line item number six on the Again, just a point of clarification.

Was there not a second motion made to delete the item?

Yes, it was a second.

Yep.

But it was to delete the line item that she was thinking of the 3.6 portion of the resolution.

I thought she then made a second motion that said to delete the item to have time to speak with Robert and to bring it back.

Right.

So it's to delete it, the the 3.6 line item number number number six.

So are you to return back to the remote?

I'm deleting it because they're going to bring it back into the next higher resolution.

No, not the entire resolution, just the line of amendments.

Right.

Represent Canalis.

You wanna I just I I made my comment under the impression that we were deleted.

There was a motion on the floor to delete the entire item.

That's what we had the motion and the second on.

Representative um Chavez.

I see you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Is there a motion to delete the entire item?

I want a point of clarification.

Is there?

Did it get seconded?

And the and that's not what I motioned.

I motioned to delete the 3.6, which was just that one item.

I I understood it was to amend the resolution to delete the line item.

That's just what I understood.

That is correct.

Okay.

Then there was a second motion.

Wait, we we we gotta let the rep say what she wants to do and have a community pod here.

Uh-huh.

It's to delete the transfer of the 3.6 of unspent bond proceeds.

Which is line item what?

Six.

Is that correct?

It's two.

So it's line.

Three at the top and then six at the bottom.

So again, we have listed out the sources of where the funding is coming from, and then at the bottom it's the where the funds are going to.

Oh, thank you.

Mayor, can I make my comment now?

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh thank you, Robert.

If it's for two weeks and uh Ms.

Mac feels confident that we can get an update on a price on whatever changes might be necessary, I'm comfortable with that.

Anything beyond that I would not be comfortable with because I do think that this is a time-sensitive issue.

We need to uh move forward with it.

Um and we can't hold up money.

We can't hold our our our city um accountable for any uh other implications that might come from not doing the right thing.

So if it's two weeks, I'm okay.

If there's any other time involved in this, then I would not be okay with that.

Thank you, Robert, because I I I understand the the necessity of of making these transfers.

So we're gonna get this to vote here soon too.

Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor.

And and Robert, I know we spoke about this earlier.

Uh is there any risk to bringing this back in two weeks?

Uh is it does it change things?

Well, so I mean we've already, as I mentioned, this is four years now going on when these bonds were issued.

And so if the project takes another nine months, that's nine more months of uh essentially delayed on the calculation that's gonna impact that yield restriction amount.

So it imp it would impact the potentially the debt.

Potentially, I mean it again we do the calculation every year.

Right.

And so next year when we have the consultant come in and do the arbitrage calculation.

I mean, at that point in time, I mean, depending upon where we're at, that number could go up, it could go down.

I and then the total taxable amount is not just the 3.6, is that correct?

Correct.

It's the total amount of the CL.

And the total amount of the CO bond is 140?

154 million, and that would become the taxable piece to it.

Versus the tax exempt.

That's the potential.

Okay, thank you.

All right, representative trail.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh so to clarify the other thing that I that I because we're not we're not going into this yet.

I mean, we we're looking at this in a couple of weeks, but was to ensure that the that the funds, if they're transferred, that they're applied first to the project, and so they're used immediately to purchase material, to pay the contractor, and so those funds are being used immediately and within the time frame that is that is allowed.

Uh going back to the uh the amendment, it's to delete number three, which is this transfer of unspent bond proceeds, and the estimate of three points uh three point six from the qual uh CO bonds of 2021, and number six transfer of debt service fund, which is it again the 3.6 to be brought back in two weeks.

Thank you.

Ms.

Brian, did you get that?

I heard that I still hear that she wants to amend this resolution to remove two line items to bring them back in two weeks.

Is it okay?

Can we vote on this?

Are we voting on two different things?

It would just be to amend the resolution, just to amend the resolution because it just wants to remove two of the the items on the resolution.

Okay, and Robert, did I hear you say we shouldn't be using funds for other projects?

Did I hear you say that earlier?

They can be used for the projects again, as I mentioned, though the big issue is the timing.

It's been four years now that the bonds have been issued.

That's the concern, and that's the reason why we brought this forward.

And there could be risk and delay potential.

So we've already again so we've already exceeded the three-year temporary exception for the yield restructure.

We've already exceeded that on these bonds, and so every day that goes by that we're not spending those bonds down.

It's cost of money.

Okay, call for the vote.

Okay, council.

This is on the amendment made by Representative Borgetrejo, seconded by Representative Nino to amend the budget resolution, and this is to strike out item number three on the first section of the resolution, and number six on the bottom portion of the resolution that's that's uh transferring the unspent bond proceeds of three point six million dollars on the amendment.

Call for the vote and the voting session and the amendment passes five to three representatives Pierro Limon Canales voting a representatives Chavez Acevedo Maldonado Rocha Boyatrejo and in your voting aye.

The amendment passes.

All right, let's take the the main one.

And we do have public comment from Ms.

Osmond on item 43.

Ms.

Osman star six, please to unmute mute your telephone.

Good afternoon.

You have three minutes.

Uh good afternoon.

Uh I'm gonna try to just speak really quick about some bullet points in what I've heard from Robert.

One in regards to the bond that just seems to be a baiting switch shell game with that bond money.

Secondly, to use any funds to find a billionaire to do socialism for a billionaire with the ballpark is an insult, but not as bad, as the disgrace that you all have on here to move 88 funds, which is American disabilities at to make sure that senior citizens and the disabled are able to utilize sidewalks and streets and so forth to strip that away from strength and maintenance and put it into capital improvement is disgraceful.

The capital improvement funds can be used to again fund millionaire and billionaire projects that come about.

But the cake curves are especially necessary.

A city financial officer six years ago can't you the five-point business association in flat out admitted that the cut curves done in central were not done to 88, and we're gonna have to be redone.

Evidence of that is there is a resident's home that is getting flooded because the cut curves are funneling floodwaters onto their foundation into their home.

That is already lacking funding, and you want to vote to strip that funding funding is disgraceful.

Everybody's complaining we need the budget, we don't have enough money for streets and meeting, yet you're fine with the socialism to a millionaire and billionaire class in the city.

Yet you're fine with the socialism to a millionaire and billionaire class in the city.

When the city is also heavily senior citizens retired in better.

And you're gonna strip that 88 money from that youth and caught it in case capital improvement.

I'm still a capital improvement done.

They give away millions in incentives that don't help our community.

It doesn't reduce our tax burning.

But you're gonna harm the disabled citizens in this city, stripping that money away from what it was intended.

The capital improvement.

It is a bait and switch show game is just great.

Thank you, Miss Osman.

You raised the three minutes.

Thank you, ma'am.

Just to clarify, the ADA funding is not being taken away and being used for another purpose.

It's still going to be used for those ADA on demand projects.

All we're doing is consolidating all that prior funding into one pot and then transferring the function under the capital approvement department.

Still to be used for the ADA on demand projects.

Okay.

All right, call for the vote, Ms.

Bryan.

Yes, sir.

There was a motion made by Representative Limont Secondary by Representative Ganales, and this is to approve the resolution as revised on that motion.

Call for the vote.

And the voting session.

And that motion passes unanimously.

Okay, Miss Bryan.

I think we need to convene the downtown development corporation.

Yes, sir.

Is there a motion to uh recess the city council meeting?

There's a motion and a second to resess the city council meeting.

All in favor?

Element corporation meeting.

All in favor?

All right.

Anyone opposed?

Miss Bryan.

We got to redo it again.

Because I didn't vote.

Okay.

Is there a motion to reconsider?

Motion to reconsider.

I vote the first time.

Scheduled programming or regular scheduled meeting.

Second.

There's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting.

All in favor?

Aye.

Anyone opposed?

The meeting is back in session at 2.07 p.m.

And we're on page number 12, item number 36.

Okay, Miss Brian, we're gonna take item 38 because we have members of the public that have been here for quite some time.

Yes, sir.

We'll move to item 38, and this is discussion and action to direct the city manager to have staff work in coordination with the El Paso Short-Term Rental Alliance and return to city council within 60 days with a written report outlining identified safety issues and concerns related to short-term rentals in the city of Al Paso and an update on the current state of short-term rentals within the city.

This item was placed by Representative Malonado Rocha.

Okay, is there a motion to approve?

Motion to approve.

Second.

All right, Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I just I this is a collaborative effort to be able to get the information that uh I know a lot of us are are looking for, but working together with the experts that um that work in this industry, and so I'm yeah, I'm very proud to bring this forward, and I look I ask for your support.

Representative uh Fierro.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um Ms.

Mack, I have some questions regarding this um what we originally talked about when we talked about this issue.

There was concerns from some of the um council members at that time that there was um an abnormal amount of of police calls and uh having to respond to the short-term rentals.

Uh do we have any data or has any data been put together?

Because there wasn't any at that time.

Has any data been put together on whether that issue is still occurring, ever occurred, or or oh hi, Miss Cody.

Miss Cody knows all things about I know.

I was afraid of that.

Good morning, Mayor and Council Nicole Cody from the city manager's office.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, sorry, yes, sir.

Hi, Representative Fiat.

Yes, um, so we have been we've not only been tracking the the listings, of course, for the short-term rentals is what we're talking about, right?

Right, yes, yes, yes, I had to ask the same question by the way.

Yes, as well as um we have been working, of course, we had worked with last year with 311 to ensure that the question was being asked.

So what we're looking at um being able to do is a cross-reference based on the addresses that we were provided during those complaints.

We just cross-reference it to the data that we actually have and determine whether or not it truly was a short-term rental or was listed as a short-term rental because we still haven't confirmed with the property owner, of course.

And the complaint was, and then we always categorize it like we presented in the past.

Sure.

Thank you.

And I know last time that that came up, and there was a lot of um accusations, but there was no data.

Correct.

So thank you for doing that.

When we presented last year, we had only approximately 25 complaints over the past, it was about three years.

Right.

Yes, sir.

Now do have we compiled any data as far as um what we're talking about in the big picture.

What we're talking about, if it's if there's a tax assessed to it, if there's a fee assessed to it, if there's um regulations assessed to it.

Have we have we looked at that type of data or and really in regards to how it would affect this business, this short-term rental business?

So we have not done uh recently uh a review or an estimated an impact on not only the industry itself but on what type of revenue would be generated.

We have not done anything recently, no sir.

Okay, no, perfectly and then what we're talking about here in Representative Maldonel's um um item is really a living document that it's not gonna be based on what's successful or what's happening in Austin or Dallas, or it's gonna be um what will work or what will not work in our community to include back to to go revert back to having the stakeholders part of the conversations and part of the the final product.

Yes, that's correct.

Okay.

Oh, I thought I'm done her we we need to hold her feet to the fire.

No, I just want to I just didn't want to speak for you, representative.

That's basically no and I just want to make sure that whatever we decide at the end, um, it's what's best for the the community that uh for economic uh growth for the business environment as in the city as a whole.

So um when we started this conversation, it was July 18th of 2023, and we had brought forth to council an introduction to an ordinance, and that's really at that council at that time directed us to really go back and ensure that we had the public's input.

You need to take this out and do the outreach that we need to hear from not only the property owners but also the neighborhoods.

What impact is it having on their neighborhoods?

And at that time, um, the information that we brought back was there was an overwhelming from the uh response, and they can speak to it, of course, uh, from the short-term rental owners to to not have regulation.

And so we provided this uh survey in multiple areas.

We did multiple outreach at that time, and then um we had been asked to come back to council and provide how are we working together though to respond to any complaints that might arise.

If there is a problem, how are we going to be working together to resolve it?

And so that was really the concern of council at that time.

So um I am with this report, I think you just want an update is my understanding on where are we at?

Are there any complaints?

Are we seeing anything new?

Um, and then also get the feedback, of course, from council if there should be any changes in the policy.

So, representative um um Rocha, we're we're really even talking about potentially if we even have to do anything once the report's given to us.

Is is that what you're how you envisioned this?

Yeah, it's just an update to see where we stand.

Well, thank you for for this, and thank you for letting it be a living document, and thank you for letting it be pro-business.

Thank you, Mayor.

Again, representative canalis.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I just had a couple questions too about what the items seeks to do, kind of like it says identified safety issues and uh return with the within 60 days with a written report outlining identified safety issues and concerns related to short-term rentals.

Is this safety issues identified by reports from the public identified through code enforcement or code code more more um what the city is doing if there's any issues with safety concerns regarding regarding the short-term rentals?

Okay, but only within our own like we're not are we gonna be reaching out to the platform to get a report of the plat different platforms to get their reports on safety issues?

That's the collaboration between the short-term rental alliance and the city.

Well, respectfully the short-term rental alliance is not the companies.

They don't represent the platforms, they're individual property owners.

But they represent the representative.

Will you turn on your microphone, please?

Oh, thank you.

Sorry about that.

It is on.

Yes, and I'm sorry, my question's for Miss Cody.

Yes, sorry, go ahead.

So I think we needed just a small clarification on to what you were envisioning from this request.

And I think that with that information, you really want to understand what's been how is El Paso impacted, what looks, what does it look like for El Paso?

And so if we're able to get that information as far as complaints through the Airbnb Venmo platforms themselves, we can we can attempt to do so.

We've struggled in the past only because we don't have an ordinance that requires them to work with us in the sense that requires a registration, requires a hotel occupancy tax.

And so in the past it has been challenging.

So I do want to make sure that you're aware of that.

But we will we will do our best to get that information.

Yeah, I mean, surely the platforms have the data.

I I understand the challenges in getting them to share that with us.

Because we don't require any data collection.

And then again, I mean it says an update on the current state of short-term rentals.

Is there anything in particular that we'll be looking for?

Um what we can do is a comparative analysis of when we first brought this to the city council, what happened last year, and then just really the current environment and what we're seeing.

Um we can provide that information as well in collaboration with the short-term rental alliance as well.

And um I don't know if there's any other items that the the that Representative Rocha might have been looking for.

Um we had, and when I talked about reaching out to each of the council members, we're intending to come and meet with each and every one of you and understand your um questions regarding short-term rentals.

And also if you have um I don't know, uh, changes and or would like to um have us research or review possible ordinance changes.

And the reason for that is is we've been very open about it, is that right now it's in contradiction with our current um code in the sense that they are under a bed and breakfast.

And so with that, we've been very and they know we've been very open in the sense that we eventually do need to reconcile that.

What and what that looks like, of course, this council will help shape, but um we do need to reconcile that.

Okay um and uh obviously we're not proposing any policy right now.

Um I would like for this report, if possible, just to include an estimate of the number of uh units that are currently active, and uh further break that or uh a further estimate of uh if those were paying hotel occupancy tax as lodgings, uh what that figure would look like.

Okay.

Just as just so that we understand the scenario.

Yes, sir.

We can provide those estimates.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Representative Le Mon.

Thank you, Mayor.

Nicole, are you going to be heading off this committee or this group that's gonna do the review?

So this was a short-term, I'm sorry, so this is a cross-functional team.

Um, and I will no longer be the lead, it will actually now be um Philip Etway, our director of planning and inspections, uh, will be uh the lead for this cross-functional team, and it was a cross-functional team because it does impact multiple departments, including our code enforcement, police, fire, um, of course, planning inspections, legal was also involved, and I know I'm forgetting somebody, but yes, it's a it's a multi-departmental.

Well, that's good.

I would just hope that you will have um we were reminded today that things like this need to be people driven, people in our community, not just uh you know, organizations, but let's get the community um activist or community involved as well.

Yes, Mayor.

Thank you.

Representative Chavez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Uh Nicole, thank you, Representative Alonado Rocha for putting this item on the agenda.

Um reference to what Representative Canala said.

So this summer, um, because of all the pool parties and things that were occurring all over the city.

I had asked um Steve Alvarado from Code Enforcement to kind of give me a breakdown of pools in my district specifically, and that was very helpful to me.

He told me the total number of pools in the city and then the number of pools in district one.