All right, we're gonna go ahead and begin.

Then time is now 2 02 p.m.

on April 14th, 2026, and the meeting of the audit committee is now called to order.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez.

Councilmember White.

Cit Citizen Member Taino.

Citizen Member Pacheco.

Chair Viegran.

Here, Madam Chair, we have quorum.

Great.

I'll be allowing members uh of this members, speakers, two rounds of comments per item.

We have three minutes the first round and three minutes the second round.

Um first item on the agenda is approval of the minutes.

Are there any corrections to the minutes?

No.

Can I get a motion and a second to approve the minutes?

I've got a motion and a second.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say no.

Motion carries.

Madam Clerk, are there any members of the public signed up to speak?

We have no members of the public signed up to speak.

All right.

Uh we have individual items.

We have one pre-solicitation and two post-solicitation briefings.

Uh, Madam Clerk, please read the caption for item two.

I'm sorry, am I going too fast?

Item two is a briefing on the release of a solicitation for one contract to provide the city of San Antonio with a downtown accessibility and mobility study for an estimated total value of $500,000 for one year with one option, one one year option to renew.

All right.

Can we get the staff presentation?

So uh good afternoon, uh Chair and Committee members.

Uh bear with me this afternoon.

I think the allergies are getting the best of me, so I'm gonna try to hopefully my voice makes it all the way through here.

But um, this is a pre-solicitation uh briefing on a downtown proposed downtown accessibility and mobility study.

Um we want to engage a consultant to do this study to look at vehicular and pedestrian traffic scenarios.

If we think about the current state of downtown, and we have events, sometimes we have challenges moving vehicles and people in and out of downtown.

If you add into that the proposed ballpark here on the northwest end of downtown, a proposed sports and entertainment district on the southeastern part of downtown, that would include a number of venues.

Both of those developments would include a lot of mixed use development.

So we really want to step back and look at how we move vehicles and people in and out of downtown.

And this is what this study would look at.

Um initially, when we talked about this back in January, it was styled more as a parking feasibility study.

We've really broadened it.

Um really parking is just one of those solutions that we would be looking at in a broader mobility context.

We really want to look at transit, we want to look at um ride share, we want to look at micromobility, we want to look at all of those options to come up with comprehensive solutions in terms of how we manage uh this traffic within a downtown um footprint.

You know, at the end of the day, we really want to try to comprehensively align our built infrastructure.

So we are um as it relates to the downtown sports entertainment district looking at some of the needed physical infrastructure improvements that we need to make.

Some of that would support our partners like VIA to help buses get in and out to support park and ride, um, but other uh infrastructure improvements downtown as well.

We're in the process of updating those assumptions and our planning around that and plan to come back to council in um uh late summer, probably in the August September time frame.

Along those same lines, I mentioned coordination with stakeholders.

Via is a hugely important partner with us as we go forward and kind of think about this text dot as well.

Um talking about improvements on some of the highway systems, so they would certainly be a part of these conversations, and then our other partner, uh, other stakeholders like Centro Central will be key as we move forward.

Um, we want to make sure we stay coordinated with Central as we think about these planning efforts downtown.

Excuse me.

So again, looking at these parking facilities in this broader um comprehensive mobility um view.

Um, if we come to a conclusion that we do need to build additional parking facilities, then um that would that feasibility would really be coming in in phase two, or we would do some feasibility analysis around how that garage could perform.

The last piece is technology.

So if we think about all those different platforms, everything from ride share uh to via to parking.

So if we think about all those different platforms, everything from rideshare to via to parking, how can we overlay technology across all of that to create a singular platform where the user at the end of the day is accessing a platform and app, something that allows it to be an easy user-friendly experience in terms of how they plan their trip downtown.

So that'll be part of looking at this as well.

And then lastly, we certainly want to leverage a lot of the studies have been done to date.

You probably saw our recent press release, I think it was about a month ago.

We did a joint study with uh Centro that looked at our downtown parking.

So we want to leverage all of the work that's been done to date to include some of the traffic uh modeling and scenarios that have been built.

We would share that with the consultant as well.

Um then at the end of this study, we really want actionable short-term and long-term solutions.

So this isn't let's go study it for a long period of time, and then maybe two or three years down the road we implement something.

No, we want to be implementing incrementally here as we go.

So we want to define short-term solutions that we can implement and then define those long-term solutions that we want to work towards.

Um the solicitation type will be an RFP.

Um, the term is a one-year contract with a one-year renewal.

The renewal there is in case we need to do some additional work.

I don't anticipate this work going past the first one year term.

Um, the estimated value is 500,000.

We tried to look at a number of other studies that have been done in other cities to try to get a ballpark idea.

The range was um pretty significant, so we took our best estimate based on what we thought what we believe the scope to be, and um have set a value of 500,000.

We're proposing to fund this from the parking fund, our parking enterprise fund.

Um it's got dollars available, so this would support the entire parking um system uh and parking is support uh in support of a larger uh transportation effort.

Um, real quick here, I won't go through the outreach on the left hand side.

We'll go through all the normal outreach channels that we that we typically do.

On the right hand side, we've got the proposed evaluation voting members there for you.

Um it'll include myself, John Peterek, one of our assistant city managers, Alex Lopez, an assistant city manager, Craig Hopkins, our chief information officer, Shannon Miller, our uh chief uh downtown officer, Mike Shannon, our director of capital delivery, Bridget White, our director of planning, uh Victoria Roder, our deputy assistant director and finance, and Rod Sanchez, who's a senior vice president of planning and development with VIA.

Um here you see the solicitation requirements, uh experience, background and qualifications at 30 points, proposed plan at 35 points, so 65 points around those two categories.

Um pricing at 10 points, and then we've allocated uh 10 points for SBE Prime and 10 points for local preference and five for veterans based on our current approved policies.

Um, this slide I need to mention is different than the one you got on your packet on Friday.

The one you got, I'm sorry, last Wednesday.

The package you originally got had a longer time frame.

Um we were not going to get to under that timeline, wouldn't have gotten to council in probably until August or September with contract award.

Um we have accelerated that here.

Our goal is to get this uh consultant back for your consideration for the city council's consideration in June.

So that is the biggest difference between what we gave you last week and what's on this slide.

Um so again, we would release no later than the end of this week.

It would be out for about 30 days with uh proposals due back on May 18th.

We would uh commit to a pretty tight evaluation process to get the evaluations done and completed very quickly so that we could get into contract negotiations in that late May, early June time frame with the goal of being on the uh city council consideration or for uh city council consideration on June 18th.

So again, pretty ex pretty um accelerated timeline, but this is some important work that we want to get a consultant on board and get started.

I mentioned the infrastructure work that we're doing and updating all of that, also is hitting that same time frame around August or probably September of this year.

So this will feed into that, really need to align that work.

So that is why we're proposing this accelerated timeline and are going to target that June 18th date.

So, with that, uh Madam Chair and committee members, that completes my presentation.

I'd be happy to answer questions.

Thank thank you, Ben.

And we've talked about this before, and and I just want to kind of um bring some things up.

I don't really have any questions.

In terms of downtown parking, if you could just be very uh specific when we're putting out there what we're considering for uh this study, what they're considering one side of the block, both sides of the block.

I know that there's areas of town that people try and put up their own signs that says this is for residents only.

If it's a city street, it's not for residents only.

The other is do we look at permit uh parking by permit only, identifying those spaces in the downtown area.

The other thing is uh, and this is King William area.

Um during certain weekends, they'll bring out their blue and green trash cans to keep people from parking in and around their yard.

That I don't want to see happen anymore.

That's not what the the blue the blue and green trash cans are not for them to reserve parking spaces for their friends.

That does not that is street parking, and we have to do that.

So I want to make sure that we take that into consideration when I look at everything we have available.

The other is if we can identify the lots that do not open or do not offer parking over the weekends, and this is uh surface parking lines like those in and around the school, surface parking lots of retailers that close that up.

Uh, because as we move downtown, I need everybody in the downtown area to understand that they there is an opportunity for them to um make money and uh really contribute to the fact that maybe we don't need to to build another uh a garage if we have the lots there, but is understanding that the technology where they can charge could be something that could possibly be helped with by the city of San Antonio if and when we decide on one sort of system uh to pay for parking downtown, and then the school could get their portion or the re retail store could get their portion as well as the city.

So that's what I want to make sure that we're cons that this group is considering uh when we talk that and they have the technology to kind of manage that as we look at at what it takes to move people around downtown.

Umdeally, and I don't know, I know some of us have been to New York.

I don't want to see elevator parking lots where people are putting cars there.

Could it possibly happen?

Yes, but what I would really like to see is people using the fact that downtown is walkable, using the fact that we have uh via and transportation that can get us from one location, and looking at how we can get people from let's say the market square to the baseball field or from uh somewhere over by the dome to the basketball arena, so we can just utilize that whole area as we think about downtown it as a whole, or the city of San San Antonio as a whole, our sports and entertainment district truly as a district that goes further than what we have presented for first and first m for the state right now.

So those are just my comments.

Thank you.

I appreciate this.

I think it's gonna be very helpful as we move forward and help make the decisions.

I'm sure my committee members have comments also.

We'll start with Councilman White.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh, thank you for the presentation.

Look, this is a uh a massive project that we are I guess that's I guess getting underway downtown, and um I I'm supportive of it, bless you.

Uh but you know how we get people around down there is is honestly one of the most um common questions I get, right?

Number one is is Mark, what's this gonna cost me, of course?

And and and as I've said from the beginning, we have to make sure that this project downtown does not the cost does not fall on the backs of our citizens.

Uh but in terms of how we get people around and in this study that that's obviously really important because uh the whole city needs to be able to to enjoy what we do downtown, and and that includes getting there and getting around and getting out of there as easily as as possible.

So what I guess what I want to understand is the scope of this study.

Um what are we doing to make sure that we're we're avoiding getting duplicative work of some of the things that via and text dot and our own transportation office has been doing?

No, councilman, that's a great question.

And um, you know, there are partners, um, those are stakeholders that we're gonna have engaged in this process.

So to the extent that we've already done work, uh, V has done a lot of planning work, obviously, around their routes, their um their um rapid bus uh uh transit uh lines.

So we're gonna take all of that into consideration, provide all of that work to the consultants so they can look at it.

But to your point, this is really looking at trying to comprehensively look at a number of different mobility options in terms of how we solve this, and hopefully it doesn't include I shouldn't say hopefully.

Um at the end of the day, we're not going into this hoping we can build a parking garage.

I guess my hope is by the time we're done planning, we don't have to build a parking garage downtown.

That there are other ways to solve this problem and some of these challenges, and just on the terms of the scope, I'll note that it is really more than the proposed sports entertainment district.

It is looking at all of downtown, and as it looks at downtown, we're gonna have to look at areas outside of downtown.

We think about via uh park and ride, those nodes, where can we create nodes where we can um congregate people outside of downtown, but then move them in and out of downtown?

So it's really looking at all of those options and scenarios to give us actionable solutions that we can both do short term and long term.

Yeah, and I think it's great that we're looking at all of downtown.

I just you know, I I focus on this the sports and entertainment district because it's coming and we're gonna spend a lot of money um on it, and uh you know, I hear from my residents all the time, you know, how how's this gonna be done done right in transportation and parking and all that is is a big part of it.

Um, what are the technical qualifications that are gonna be required of um of the respondents?

And and are are we requiring prior experience in studying mobility for for the folks that are gonna be uh responding here?

Yes, sir.

So we're gonna be looking at um asking them to give us um their qualifications as it relates to this scope of work, and then we're asking them to give us very specific examples of engagements that they have done that are similar.

I was gonna say, are we gonna are we gonna look for for people involved with with sports entertainment districts?

Um not specific sports entertainment districts, they can do that, but it's really about transportation planning, downtown they can add in.

Right?

I mean, they will have um experience around large venues, may not be an arena, but places where you have large volumes of people that you're needing to move in and out.

That's kind of the experience we're looking for.

Yeah, okay.

All right, well, um, you know, we're spending a lot of money on the study, so to the extent that we can make sure it's really tailored to what to what we are doing down there and and not again overlapping with some of the other folks, I think that would be beneficial.

So thanks, Chair.

Right.

Councilman Mesconzales.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you for the presentation.

Um, just a couple of quick comments, really.

Um I appreciate that we're leveraging the Centro study because obviously it's there, and so want to make sure that um we're bringing that in.

Um I wanted to know is there actionable because it says here there's gonna be data-driven recommendations, so it's recommendations in light of what's coming with construction projects with obviously arena and convention center expansion.

And are those recommendations you're looking for within this next year, or what yeah?

So, as they do that, um they as they look at that modeling and they simulate what that looks like.

What we're looking for is later this summer and around that September time frame to have draft um solutions uh recommended by the consultant, so that really we want to make sure that as we think about this piece that it aligns with the infrastructure conversation that we're gonna have.

We we talked about the fact that um we're gonna update those assumptions and be back in September.

Some of those, for example, um help via with park and ride.

So accessing the Robert Thompson Center, being able to get in and out of there when big events are happening, are part of some of those recommendations, but all of that really needs to comprehensively fit together and align.

Um we're gonna be working off the same set of assumptions and assuming that we're solving it from several different perspectives.

Okay.

Um, and then these folks are obviously gonna talk to all the stakeholders in the area.

Or how what's how where does that study involve, I guess, community or folks in the neighboring area?

So we're doing uh community engagement in a lot of different other areas.

For example, the Department of Transportation Planning Grant, there's a lot of public engagement that will go on there as we think about that connectivity to the east side to the west side.

Um we didn't anticipate doing additional engagement here.

This scope is really um focused on data-driven solutions, okay.

Really looking at, yeah, it's really the technical analysis around traffic patterns, yeah, how people get downtown today, how does it look like in the future, assuming these things get built?

Um, how do we build a comprehensive transportation plan around that?

Understood.

Okay.

Yeah, and I mean, similar to what uh councilman White said.

I I think we saw this even in the community engagement on the sports and entertainment district, most of the residents in district eight.

Um do attend the games and all of those activities.

It's really just uh getting downtown that's uh so burdensome.

So um this will hopefully alleviate that.

Um so thank you for the presentation.

Thank you.

All right, I think that's it for questions.

Uh we'll move on to the next item.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ben.

Item number three, Madam Clerk.

Uh please read the caption for item three.

Item three is approval to proceed with scheduling one contract for city council consideration for the finance department to conduct a study to determine projected cost of service impacts and identify new revenue opportunities for the proposed sports and entertainment district for an estimated total value of 316,350.

Can we get a staff presentation?

Yes, ma'am.

And good afternoon, Chair and members of the committee.

Troy Elliott, Chief Financial Officer.

Um, as Debbie mentioned, and city clerk mentioned, we're bringing back for your consideration a post-solicitation briefing, meaning that we have completed the evaluation process specifically for the district study for the sports entertainment district program.

Just as kind of refresher, what is the scope that uh respondents were proposing on?

Um, this was issued as a request for proposal, and we were looking for a qualified qualified firm to really propose on two different pieces.

One is a cost of services to actually run the district as it's being built out.

Um, as Ben mentioned, you know, the districts can be comprised of a lot of different moving components, looking at an expanded convention center, proposed new MBA arena, opportunities at the Alamo Dome, um, and other pieces that are going on at the same time.

So, what we're asking this consultant to do is to step back and create a scalable model to kind of what are the what is the cost of those services to run that district, and it would be scalable based on the number or the type of events that are being happened that are happening at the time.

For example, do we have an event or a major concert going on at the Almo Dome and a large convention at the convention center?

And are the spurs in the playoffs?

What would it take to run that in terms of traffic control?

That traffic control is going to change based on the number of events and the size of the events and the cost associated with that traffic control.

Um the security for the district, as well as the emergency services for fire and EMS, and also maintaining that just district.

So at the end of this contract, having a scalable model that we can actually anticipate and model, what are the going to be the costs associated with running a new district put in place?

On the flip side, the second component of the scope is looking for new revenue opportunities, uh preparing a revenue forecast, and both the cost of services model and the revenue forecast modeling would be over a period of 30 years approximately, so we can kind of see what that impact is going to be and roll that into our budgetary processes.

But the revenue forecast looks at what are what happens to our primarily our cell tax revenue, for example, as we build the district.

Are there new revenue opportunities that we can evaluate that similar districts that put in place to support our cost of services and running this district and also um benefit our general fund?

Um, and so looking at those types of opportunities.

At the end of the day, this was a request for proposals.

The proposed term is through April 2027.

The results of this study will also help inform some of the other studies that are going on at the same time and potential conversations with some of the stakeholders as we move forward.

The estimated value here, I think this is different from what you may have had in your packets.

It's 350,000.

When we did the pre-solicitation, we were targeting 350,000.

The bid that we got back and the vendor that we're going to be recommending is proposing 316,000.

But we'd like to have a little bit of a cushion or a contingency about 34,000 for anything that's unanticipated.

So the base contract with the vendor would be 316,000 with the contingency up to 350,000.

The funding source is the hot redemption and capital fund.

This is a portion of our hot pro forma or a hot fund.

Um that redemption and capital fund is used for funding our capital improvements and um and redeeming and redeeming debt, which is um we're planning on doing as part of this hot pro forma and our hot redemption and capital fund in the future.

This is also a new contract.

This was a two-phase approach.

We had the written evaluations that the committee scored, and just as a refresher, the committee is comprised of uh Berea Via Gomez, our deputy city attorney, our deputy city manager, Ben Gorzell, myself, Justina Tate, and Freddie Martinez.

So the evaluation committee evaluated the written scoring, and um based on those written scores, we made our recommendation to move forward for the um the actual interviews.

The one thing I will mention is that uh we received four responses.

One response the committee evaluated or read through, but we didn't potentially evaluate because it really didn't accomplish the entire scope of services.

They had a really good concept for producing revenue in the district, but they did not meet the detail require requirements or minimum requirements of uh performing a cost of services analysis and a revenue forecast.

So we deem them non-responsive and moved forward with the three on the initial scoring matrix.

Um you can see on the initial scoring, we had experienced background and qualifications of 30 points, proposed plan of 35 for a total of 65, and then we had our pricing at 10, Sabata at 10, local preference at 10, and then our veteran known small business preference program at five points.

You can see the scoring based on the initial score matrix and how they they um fared when they were evaluated, and then we had one company that got the local preference at five points out of the total of 10.

And just as a reminder, that five points is um indicative of uh having a substantial business preference presence here in San Antonio with 20% of their workforce being located here locally or having a hundred more employees.

Vendor A, a total of approximately 64 points, 58.77 at the end of the day for vendor B, and then vendor C at 49.20.

We asked the um the vendors for a series of follow-up questions, which they responded to before we actually moved into the um oral interviews and um use those as part of our final um recommendation or final evaluation.

After the interviews, you can see how they changed.

We'll I would say close alignment on the experience background and qualifications.

In this piece, the one thing that set vendor A apart from Brielsa, they had a very detailed and robust proposed plan.

And as we looked at that, and as we went through the interviews, that resulted in 56.8 points for the vendor A, resulting in a total of 64.95 compared to the other vendors.

With that, um, I've already talked a little bit about the four responses, and one response was deemed non-responsive for failing to admit all the other components of the proposed plan.

Um, and so they were deemed non-responsive.

There were no material findings as we went through our minimum requirements review, or we did our due diligence from a city auditor's office, city attorney's office, and a finance perspective.

With that, Chair, we'll be happy to answer any questions.

We'd also like to recommend this to move forward to the full council for consideration on the city council A session agenda on April 30th.

Thank you.

Thank you, Troy.

And when we this will be on individual consideration, correct, if we move it forward.

Um I mean, we're planning on keeping it on consent, but it could be on individual if that's something the committee would like to consider.

Uh I'm gonna move that we keep this on individual, uh, because if not, somebody's gonna pull it.

And because it's it's high profile, even though it feels it falls within the um the city manager's purview where we he didn't need to come to it.

I think it is important that everything regarding this sports and entertainment district gets discussed by the full council.

Um because I would like to see who vendor A B and C are just because of the lack of local preference and Sabata in all of these.

So I know this is gonna be hard and not easy, but I I don't feel I don't feel comfortable sending this on consent.

I I wouldn't want to see I I think somebody's gonna pull in anyway, so let's leave this on.

Um I'd I'd like to move this forward to council uh as an individual item.

Um agree.

Okay, so do I need to make a formal motion to do that?

No.

No, okay.

All right, so we'll we'll go ahead and move it out.

Well, we have a motion, uh, but understand it is going to be uh listed as individual, and Troy, you'll probably need to do a presentation just because I know this council and they're gonna ask about Sabata and local preference.

I think uh right now we just you know it it's a big ask in terms of this district study, and um we just need to see what that plan is regarding all of these things um in terms of scenarios as we move forward.

So and certainly we um we'll switch the focus from a process focus more towards the actual evaluation, and so we'll have a more of a robust presentation ready as you go.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Do I have any other um comments?

Yeah, briefly, and and I and I agree with the chair.

Um it probably would be would be pulled, so may as well, and then I agree with what you said, keeping it in terms of the process.

But just so that I'm clear, this particular study is simply looking at uh a cost of service impact analysis, right?

And then number two, um these folks are gonna tell us uh the new and innovative revenue opportunities that they've come up with that that we can have down here.

Yeah, based on their experience at other districts, what type of new opportunities may be available, not only looking at the new revenue opportunities but also looking at our base revenues, how those may be impacted and grown.

Right.

But and um sales tax, they will not be focused on I guess what we're calling the pledged revenues because I think as we've presented to council in the past, our PFZ, our hot revenues, our TURS, those are pretty much already analyzed and I just I know what the chair's concerns are and and I hope that that when we do get to discuss this that folks realize that we are just dealing with in this particular study those those two things.

Um, and I am glad that we're looking at the new revenue opportunities uh that we can put down there because again, to me, the whole purpose of this project is to create economic development and revenue for our city, and so we need to maximize whatever we do down there in terms of revenue that that comes into San Antonio that then we can go use for all the uh basic necessities that we need around the city.

Thanks, Chair.

Sir, is there any other discussion?

So with that, I'll make the motion that we move this to um a session on individual.

Do I have a second?

We have a motion and a second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

All opposed motion carries.

Uh uh, yeah.

Uh I just have a quick question on the the studies, whether it's uh accessibility study or the cost of service study.

This does the EPM use that in some way, or how does that influence or impact?

That's different than right.

Um, the EPM will see um the results of some of this work, but this is being done by separate consultants.

Right, no, no, no, I understand that, but I guess yeah, at the end of the day, we want as much alignment as we can.

So if you kind of look at the the timing of this study as George just went over it, you know, being done like late summer.

Well, we want that to line up with the mobility study as well because depending upon how we solve for transportation, right?

That may affect the amount of traffic control that we need.

So then that affects SAPD and what we're doing there.

So it's really all connected at the end of the day.

So we're really uh gonna be using the EPM to help us manage a lot of this as well.

Okay, thank you.

All right, so all right, so that motion carries.

We're gonna move on to the next item, which is uh very similar to this item.

So uh we I'm sorry, Madam Clerk, can you please read the caption for item four?

Item number four is approval to proceed with scheduling one contract for city council consideration for the finance department to provide executive program management support services for the proposed sports and entertainment district in downtown San Antonio.

Yeah, so really like we talked about um with the um the study on the district study.

This is also a post-solicitation briefing.

This one is for the executive program manager for the sports and entertainment district.

Uh and bringing forward a recommendation to move forward.

I'm assuming that based on that prior discussion, um, the committees um the committee's desire is gonna bring bring this forward to council in an A session as well as an individual item.

But at a very high level, um, I think to the councilman's question a while ago, there's a lot of moving pieces in the district.

And I think we as staff have done an excellent job of kind of identifying these pieces, putting preliminary timelines together.

But this EPM will really be part of a staff-led our staff um team to actually bring all those pieces of the puzzle together.

Um I talk about pieces of the puzzle.

We have the infrastructure component.

We have all the studies that we've been talking about this more this afternoon, and bringing those pieces together and tracking them and making sure they're being brought forward a resolution and how they're fitting into the actual puzzle.

You have the convention center expansion, possible improvements to the Almodome, keeping making sure all those pieces are moving timely and based on the that the cadence and the putting the project management and rigor around that is what this EPM will be actually facilitating or working with staff to do that.

Just as a reminder, the solicitation who was a request for qualifications.

When we met in the pre-solicitation, the proposed term was a little bit shorter as we've gone through this.

We're proposing a probably expanded term of five years with five one year options.

That's a total of 10 years.

And the reason why we're recommending that is because this project is a long-term project, and we someone some consistency from today through the building of the MBA arena, the opening of that arena, and all those other components with the mixed use facilities in the future.

In the event that we need to pivot, we have the ability to terminate the contract in the event that there's a challenge and move forward with somebody else.

So we have a lot of flexibility in that proposed term, but we're going to have an overall overarching contract for basically with a base term of five years or five one year options.

I'll talk a little bit about the estimated value, but the total contract value we're going to be recommending to actually be estimated and proposed upon the completion of phase one.

As we work through, I guess talking about the airport, the airport has been a very successful model in managing the EPM and the terminal development program at the airport, very similar process.

Went forward with the phase one, and as part of that phase one, we put together a budget associated with that phase one, and then we identified all the future components that had to happen, and we came back to council with a future phase dollar amount.

And we'll be proposing the same thing here.

The funding source is really two different components.

And I talked a little bit about this last time.

Capital project funds, once we have the funding sources, once we have the debt issued, we are allowed to capitalize those costs and make them a part of the project and basically use debt proceeds to pay for those costs associated with the EPM as long as they're working on an identified project.

For example, once we have a design and construction contract for the convention center expansion, any work associated with the convention center expansion can be charged to that project and capitalized as part of the cost of that project.

When we don't have a project, like a lot of the costs we're talking about now being incurred under this contract, there's not a project out there such as the convention center.

We don't have the components for infrastructure moving forward yet.

We don't have the components or the AlModome moving forward.

There's nothing to charge to and capitalize, but in the interim, we're going to use the hot redemption and capital fund to fund those initial costs and then flip those costs over to the capital project funds once we have projects available and ongoing.

As I mentioned, we're talking about a multiple multi-phase project here.

Phase one scope of work will include at a minimum kind of the planning.

As I mentioned, there's a lot of moving pieces.

We need to bring all those pieces together, put that project management rigor around all those pieces, and come up with a project schedule and a cadence to actually make sure all these pieces are in sync.

How's the infrastructure being built in terms of the timing of the MBA arena?

We certainly and the mixed-use development and a convention center expansion.

Those things need to be monitored, synced up, and then in the event they become unsynced, we need escalation processes through a fairly rigorous governance process in place.

Talked a little about governance, project organization and governance is key in a project like this.

How are you managing the project?

What is when there's an issue?

How is that being escalated?

Who's it being escalated to?

What is the communication that's happening through the steering committee and the city council?

Talk about the coordination, for example, with the convention center feasibility plan as we go through and we dust the feasibility of the convention center off, looking at our cost estimates, having somebody represent the city and actually looking over our shoulder to making sure that those estimates are correct and valid from a timing standpoint and actually building out the convention center.

There's been a lot of conversation with this council about the development of a dashboard, both internally for city use but also for the public and transparency.

That would be a component of this first phase as well.

What are the procurement delivery methods?

As we move through and we want to build a convention center, is it a CMAR?

Is it design build?

How are we going to design?

What type of solicitation are we going to use for the design?

Looking at those alternate delivery methods.

Coordination of the district infrastructure plan.

And also, I think this is a key one, but since the Spurs are building the MBA arena with the separate construction contract, keeping those things in sync.

Also using the APM to identify where can we reduce costs?

For example, if the convention centers being built or expanded and the MBA arena is being built at the same time.

Are there opportunities to leverage requests for steel?

And decrease those costs based on just the pure volume that we need, combining the two projects.

So we're looking at kind of those innovative things.

Proposed uh initial term for phase one would be through March 2027.

Estimated values of approximately six million dollars.

That is comparable and in line with what the airport was to get all these preliminary items completed.

And then again, the same for the funding source being the capital project funds versus the hot redemption and capital fund.

In terms of the evaluation, we had eight responses, pretty robust responses, and the number of responses.

We um we did not do an initial written evaluation.

We went through all of them.

Um there were a couple questions that we wanted to get answered prior to moving into the full evaluation.

So we decided to send out a list of questions to all the potential respondents.

Um of those, just for example, one of those questions was getting additional information of where have you done this work before in a lead capacity for the evaluation, just as a reminder, our experience, background, and qualifications was 50 points.

The proposed plan 25 for a total of 75, and then we had 10 for SBE, 10 for local preference, five for veteran for a total of 100.

After the interviews, after the evaluation of the written responses, you can kind of see the scoring is how it laid out.

Vendor A stood out in terms of both the experience background and qualifications and the proposed plan for a total of 68 points.

And then you can kind of look through the side.

There was kind of, I guess, groupings.

You can kind of see vendor B through vendor E closely aligned, and then you have F through H.

There was also a Sebeta subcontracting requirement of 14% for small business that had to be met as a minimum requirement to be considered for this evaluation.

Um you can also see looking at the local preference programs or a number of firms who received either five points or the 10 points, and then we had one vendor who got the five points for a veteran-owned small business.

So, in terms of the due diligence, as I mentioned, we had eight responses received.

There were no material findings out of the eight from the city attorney's office, um, city auditor's office or from finance procurement.

And again, we'd like to move this forward for your consideration at the full council on April 30th.

With that, that concludes my presentation.

Be happy to answer any questions you have.

All right, thank you.

Um again, this is one I think that we need to leave on individual consideration as we look at this.

I think when we have the conversation, Troy, also in terms of experience, background, and qualifications.

For what this tells me is that vendor A had a lot more experience.

I'm hoping it was experience and not qualifications than the rest of our vendors did.

Uh, but maybe it was background or qualifications.

So I think that's important to know as we move forward.

Um in terms of of how we're doing this.

Now, uh the other thing I would like presented to full council is the again, if we can get that visual of the map of what this looks like and what this project manager is going to be responsible for, because I don't want council members to be confused and think that they're going to be responsible for more than what is in what we've agreed to with the state as the sports and entertainment district.

We've had a lot of conversation over the last week and a half about when we talk about downtown, about the market square, about the softball field, about I call it softball field, about the baseball field, about you know past the dome.

So I want to make sure that we we're looking at what we expect this uh EPM, this executive program manager to actually manage.

This has worked really well at the airport.

I think it will work really well here.

But um part of this is being in a breakfast this morning, setting the standards and showing the council members, this is what it looks like, because you and I have both been here before, where we send them something and then they're like, Well, I thought they were gonna do that too.

And we're like, no, that's not what we that wasn't that wasn't the boundary, that wasn't the standard.

So let's make sure that we that's why I want to set this out.

But I I look forward to moving this forward.

I think it's gonna be key.

I think in some projects, executive program manager is the way to go, and um we've seen that work, and I I want to see us use it here.

I just do not want to set the council's expectations that they're gonna take care of you know, a lot a lot more than we had intended, and we had cut gone into an agreement with the uh Spurs and with the state as we asked for this special designation.

So um I have a mo I I make the motion.

Do I have a second?

We have a motion and a second.

Let's continue conversation.

Who would like to go first?

Councilman White.

Thanks, Chair.

Um so I you know, uh on the scoring, I mean, a huge disparity between number one and number two.

So, you know, the first thing it made me think of is did we just not have a bunch of qualified applicants apply for this?

I don't think it's it's not that you didn't have a bunch of qualified applicants.

I think when we're looking at the scoring in my earlier part of my presentation, when we went through the written proposals, we asked for clarification from all the respondents, and one of the key things was you know, please describe to us examples where you have led for a district of this size.

You've played, you've performed in this role.

All the firms have experience and some piece of it, but we were looking for that broader breadth of experience kind of overarching.

Right.

Um, and that's really what drove some of this disparity in the scoring.

Well, um, I mean, it wasn't even close, so obviously vendor A is the way to go, but but I will say that in the past six months or so, I have met with a lot of local San Antonio businesses that feel like they're being overlooked, and that the city is not doing their part to um make sure they get some of these contracts, and specifically as it relates to what's coming with this sports and entertainment district.

Um I was just I met with seven or eight folks the other the other week uh at a coffee shop, and and they said um they said, Mark, we we want to be a part of this, you know, in some shape, form, or fashion.

And to me, there's going to be so much work to go around here in terms of contractors, um, engineers, architects, you know, on and on and on.

Um, I do hope that we are going to make sure that our local folks get a piece of the pie.

I think I think that that is extremely important.

Um I also want to make mention here of uh some of my colleagues join me on that um dashboard, right?

That we're gonna put together, I think, to make sure that the city that we transparently um do this hiring and that the city, this the citizens of San Antonio are gonna get to see every step of the way uh who is hired, uh, what connection they they have to San Antonio, how many jobs are created, what what they're gonna be doing, the whole thing.

And so whoever this um EPM ends up being, I think at least in some respects, we're gonna have to work with the EPM to get us the information.

I mean, is this EPM gonna be keeping track of exactly who is working on each aspect of this project?

They will be, they'll be monitoring all the different components and all the different pieces of the puzzle.

Okay, well, I I think that that's great, and we need to we need to I guess have somebody there then that knows that we are gonna have this dashboard and is gonna be responsible for um for putting the information in there for for our citizens to see now.

In terms of being responsible for the actual work, you know, the the EPM is described, I think in one of these slides as sort of a liaison to the Spurs program manager.

So who exactly is responsible?

You know, who is ultimately accountable?

Let's say something, something goes wrong with the Spurs arena or with some street outside of the arena.

Something goes wrong, it takes too long, it's out of budget.

Who's desk does that fall on?

I guess a couple things, and I'll kind of lay out the process.

Um kind of stepping back a little bit.

But the EPM will report directly to the city and take direction from the city.

One of the pieces that they are going to be responsible is the governance framework, for example.

That governor governance framework is going to be kind of the key as far as you know, keeping in touch with the Spurs and their EPM.

That liaison, as you mentioned, councilman, as things pop up, it floats through the governance process.

That governance process is built to where to identify issues timely and communicate those issues timely.

So through this process, um, hopefully it never gets to a point where something's going totally wrong.

That's and that's one of the reasons why we're hiring the EPM is to establish that governance process to identify these things in advance.

But all the decisions that'll be made will be made by the city.

So the city is gonna make the decisions, and the EPM is going to be responsible for implementing those decisions.

That's correct.

And so again, back to my my example, like let's say the street outside of the new arena takes twice as long to get it right than it should have, and it comes in one and a half times over the budget.

And then who's who's accountable there?

Well, the EPM is gonna be monitoring that process, but ultimately who's gonna be accountable is the contractor who's gonna be actually developing that street, paving that street, building that street.

So the EPM will actually have that monitoring.

In the event something's gone wrong there, that governance process will communicate and report it.

But if there is an issue with that street, then it's gonna be on the contractor to actually remedy that.

And and the EPM can just say, well, listen, I tried to do the oversight, tried to push the contractor, it still took too long.

And that's it.

I mean, it doesn't nothing there, there will be no penalties.

And I don't want to get into the incentive latent contract that um Ben and I talked about the other day, and I understand that that's that can't be a part of the contract going forward.

I I I just um it just seems to me that we are hiring somebody to oversee and coordinate the whole thing, but they're in they're in a position where if things go wrong, they can just say it's not our fault.

I think one thing I'll say from uh as we work through the contract provisions, one of the things that's um gonna be in the contract is in the event that there's issues, first of all, governance process is gonna be designed to resolve that.

But in the event that we're not satisfactory, we're not set, we're not satisfied with the performance of this EPM, we will give them time to cure.

Ultimately, if they're not curing, then we'll terminate the contract for convenience.

But I mean that's our ultimate hammer.

How would that would it even be possible on a project of this scale to fire an EPM and then bring somebody else in and get them up to speed on everything and still have the project move on time?

So I don't uh let me stop you there.

So is it possible?

I'm gonna say yes, it is possible to do that because there is going to be safeguards without it's not one person running it.

So uh is there anything regarding this other than what ifs, because we could do what if what ifs all day, uh is there anything regarding this this um this overview and their selection of the vendor?

Yeah, and chair, I don't I don't want to go down in rabbit trails on on hypotheticals, but but I think this does directly relate to the contract that we're gonna be asked to approve at council A session.

And let's get to A session because I can tell you right now, I don't think anybody that garnered as many points as this vendor uh is is the type of vendor that would would uh would risk their reputation on that.

So let's let's uh we can save that for a session.

You guys can bring examples of what we will we will have the the uh vendor's name out there by then and and I know my council call while we're gonna leave it on individuals.

I know my council colleagues are they know how to use Google, so they'll Google it away.

So um let's let's uh anything else?

That's it.

Okay.

All right.

Uh anybody else uh Ben, would you like to just on that point?

But councilman, I think at the end of the day, it's what Troy said.

We should not wake up one morning and be surprised that something happened.

That's why we've got an EPM on board.

The Spurs will have their own consultants working on the arena, so they are responsible for delivering that project.

They have to be synced up.

So to use your example of that street being designed, we will know the schedule, the time frame, when that needs to get delivered.

We'll hire a design team that's gonna be working on that same schedule have input.

That contractor, depending on how we procure it, will know what that time frame is.

They will all be in communication.

If there starts to be an issue because we run into some problem, that should get elevated immediately, then it's in a then we're on problem solving mode, right?

We're trying to figure out how to keep it on schedule.

If the EPM at the end of the day has to be able to perform, they've got to be able to coordinate all of those activities to our satisfaction to be able to say it's not about issues aren't gonna happen.

We know they're gonna happen.

We see that at the airport, it's about what is the system we have in place to quickly identify them and resolve them and move them forward.

But we can resolve, I mean, we can get into more of that, I think, as we talk about um the A session item on uh uh on the 30th.

Can I just ask one follow-up?

How do they get paid?

Is it is it as the project goes along or up front, or how does that work?

So we essentially define task.

I apologize.

As we define task, that task has a value in a set number of hours that they need to deliver that on, then we're tracking that uh along with the other budgetary pieces.

And we get paid when the hours are complete, or they will um we can set it up based on uh the milestones that we've got to do.

Based on the milestones and based on the then we will once they complete those, then we'll accept them and we will pay them.

Yeah, thanks, Chair.

Thank you.

Uh uh Tana.

Thanks, Chair.

Um, so as someone coming in again, newer to all of this, uh, you know, we have three different um high profile solicitations we're looking at here, all touching on the sports entertainment district.

Is there any way it like for future iterations of this?

You guys can paint uh like Chair said, uh a map, a mosaic of the whole, the greater whole.

And I'm not even asking you to put something on on a slide, more of the way we discuss it, because it it's like I'm trying to track you know what pieces of the scope for the entertainment district are being touched on, and I'm like, did we already touch this?

So wherever you can help us lean forward and you know, be like, hey, we did a gap analysis here at City of San Antonio, and we determined these pieces weren't covered, but these pieces are so however you can help us like digest it so we can provide the the proper support to it would be welcome.

Um, and then um I think that's that's the main thing I I had a question on, but is that something that you you guys would and it not trying to create work for you, but just in the way you brief it to us to articulate it.

I don't think that should be an issue, and we should be able to outline for you.

Um what's contemplated in the district, and then we can certainly show you the consultants that we've engaged, the scope of work, what they're working on, because we've got a variety in a lot of different areas to your point.

I think I understand what you're looking for.

I think we can put something together.

No, I appreciate that, Ben and Troy.

Um and then um had something else I can't remember it now.

Go ahead.

All right, well, come back around if you remember.

Uh Councilman Mescontal.

Thank you.

Um thank you for the presentation.

Uh also I think a map would be helpful just to remind ourselves what all of this entails, whether it's the feasibility, the accessibility study.

Um, you know, there's even this convention center feasibility plan, you know.

So there's so many things like you've all said, we all know that we're juggling all of this, so um, I think that's really important.

Um does it include the tower?

The EPM?

Uh the tower is not with part of the uh no, ma'am, it's not.

Okay, I just I that's why a map would be helpful.

Um and just I I know we keep referring to the the airport, and I think it's it in a lot of ways, yes, we need that EPM because it's such a large project, but the airport is also we all know that it's not a new concept, right?

The airport is not this is a completely new concept, and I think because of that, um, how we're communicating to the neighbor, the neighborhoods around that is just it has to be part of every plan.

Um and these last three um slideshows, I I don't feel like hit on community engagement.

And so again, I understand an EPM like the airport.

Yes, I've been there toward it, and it's run, I think very well.

Uh, but it's not a new concept.

This is entirely new from start to finish.

And so, how do we really make sure that we're incorporating and where does community engagement fit in?

Did any of these vendors bring in the community engagement piece at all?

No, I think that I think that's a very good point.

So the EPM community engagement here.

I think the map will be helpful as far as who's doing what from a scope standpoint to your point community engagement.

The EPM won't be doing the community engagement again as a project or program manager.

They'll be tracking when it's gonna happen, who's gonna do it, and who's being communicated with as part of the overall program plan and project.

So but I think to your point, when we actually put that kind of overarching plan together, you'll see kind of all the pieces who's actually doing the community engagement, and then what the role of the EPM is in terms of managing it.

Okay, yeah.

I I just want to step in here because remember, we are audit, so we're just looking at the contracts.

So uh, in terms of community engagement, we need to look at that from our different.

I don't want to, I do not want to step on my planning committee's toes.

Understood.

So yeah, I got it.

Um on the dashboard that was incorporated in uh in these proposals.

Is it a real time dashboard or how are we?

I think in the beginning it's gonna go through phases.

I mean, I think we'll talk to the EPM to design it.

Okay, I think in the beginning, as we kind of get something out very, very quickly, it's probably gonna be relying on stagnant back end data.

Okay, as it evolves and as it becomes more real time, then we'll kind of switch to a real time version.

Okay, and then on the liaison to the Spurs program manager, do the Spurs know that they're the liaison.

I guess want to make sure they understand the EPM's role as well.

So we've um in past conversations, the Spurs are having their um EPM as well.

Okay, we've had conversations in the past about where there's opportunities to have that liaison with our EPM, because we really want to look at where there's opportunities for cost savings, as I mentioned.

As we build this, there's gonna be a lot of volume in terms of concrete, labor, steel.

Um, and we don't want to enter the market on our own.

If there's opportunities for those volume purchases, then we want to take advantage of those type of things.

And that's just one example.

Okay.

Yeah, I just even outside of the savings, just the sequencing, how we do the work, how it all fits in, the infrastructure, it's all got to get delivered in a timely manner.

Um it's gotta fit together.

So the EPM will be driving that process.

Okay, and just I think uh councilman white and and the chair all mentioned just the clear discrepancy from vendor aid uh really everyone else, and so concerns with that of just you know how ready and capable are our local vendors, right?

Um, and that's a bigger conversation, but that that just really um stands out on that uh call or that row.

Um, and so that's not for here, I know, but it just stands out.

So thank you all for uh the presentation.

I think the other thing we will just add in real quick is just on the map we lay it out.

I think the other thing we'll build in is timing and phasing.

Yeah, so that as we've talked about on the past, some of the district will come much later, but we want to consider those elements when we're thinking about, for example, mobility and access.

We want to plan for that, we want to think about it, but you're gonna see the work plan heavier in some areas than others, so we'll lay that out.

Maybe the other thing we can do is kind of outline um the work that we have engaged to date.

They'll give you some context around how we're doing some of the work in the district, but maybe also what we anticipate is coming, because this isn't the last stuff you'll see for the district.

There'll be other things coming, and maybe we need to try to forecast that a little bit, give you an idea of the other work that is coming down the pipe.

Yeah, no, thank you.

And so um the one thing I want to do is there's a lot to talk in terms of the vendor and the discrepancy uh in in terms of economic work person development, so we can talk about that there, and then in the outreach to the community, that's a lot to talk about in planning, and then also um what are what the expectations of the public are for individual council districts to communicate to them and when our responsibility is to get out there.

But today we we we're our job is to take a look, and as my committee member uh Tricia mentioned, it's a lot, and this is going to be us because it is high profile, and some of it is going to hit in that um over the what is within the discretion of the um city manager, it's gonna be quite a few.

So if we can get that roadmap to kind of understand what's coming next and how it's impacting, I'd really appreciate it.

So thank you, Ben, for agreeing to that.

So we have a motion and a second.

All those in favor to move it to an individual item for a session, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right.

With that, motion carries.

And with that, I believe we are done.

That's all the business today.

The time is 3 07, and the meeting is adjourned.