2026-09-01 - City Council

01:12Good afternoon everyone. I'm call this

01:15meeting to order. It is now 5:00 p.m.

01:20and

01:22prophetist Jennifer Beasley with stay

01:25free where it matters will give the

01:29invocation and I will give the pledge of

01:32allegiance. Each you the pledge of

01:33allegiance. Let us stand please.

01:43>> Jennifer

01:45Mrs. easily.

01:49>> Let us bow our heads.

01:54>> Precious Father, we thank you for this

01:56day. This is truly the day you've made,

01:58and we thank you for this meeting. We

02:01ask for your wisdom, your guidance,

02:04and we ask that we thank you for this

02:06great city of Khen. We thank you for our

02:09military. We pray your protection, your

02:13blessings upon our military family and

02:15all of the residents of this great city

02:18of Khim. We ask for your guidance again

02:20in this meeting. In Jesus name we pray.

02:24Amen.

02:24>> Amen.

02:26>> I pledge algiance to the flag of the

02:29United States of America and to the

02:32republic for which it stands. One nation

02:35under God, indivisible, with liberty and

02:38justice for all.

02:46Council, need a motion to approve the

02:48agenda.

02:50>> Council member Brown.

02:51>> Move to approve the agenda.

02:54>> It's moved by Council Member Brown.

02:55Council member Williams.

02:58>> I second it.

03:00>> A second by Council Member Williams. Any

03:02discussion?

03:04No discussion. All in favor signify by

03:06saying yes. All oppose? No.

03:22motion pass 7 to zero.

03:26Madame Secretary,

03:33>> presentations. Item one, PR-26-018,

03:40present proclamation for National

03:42Preparedness Month.

03:44>> Mr. Mayor, Sarah Williams, our director

03:46of emergency management, will meet you

03:48at the front.

03:52Before

04:05I read this proclamation, I want to say

04:08we are recognizing the national

04:10preparedness month of September. And

04:12it's so important for all of us to

04:16prepare for

04:18situations that may arrive. Whether it's

04:20a fire, whether it's severe weather,

04:24we want to be prepared. So, this is a

04:26good time to start in terms of planning,

04:29making sure that we have all of the

04:31items that we need to be ready for any

04:34given situation. And I want to say thank

04:37you to our first responders and our

04:39emergency professionals. emergency

04:42management professionals. They do a

04:44great job in keeping us safe and

04:48preparing us. And with that said, it's

04:52an honor to read this proclamation.

05:01Whereas for more than 22 years, National

05:03Preparedness Month has been observed

05:06each September as a nation as a

05:09nationwide effort to raise awareness

05:11about emergency preparedness and

05:13encourage individuals, families,

05:15businesses, and communities to take

05:17proactive steps to protect lives,

05:20property, and the places we call home.

05:23And whereas

05:25preparedness begins with each of us and

05:27includes creating an emergency plan,

05:31building an emergency supply kit,

05:33staying informed through trusted

05:34emergency alerts,

05:36and taking steps to ensure our families,

05:39neighborhoods, and communities

05:42can respond effectively when emergencies

05:45arrive.

05:48Whereas the city of Colleen is committed

05:50to strengthening community resilience

05:51through emergency planning, public

05:54education, and collaboration with first

05:56responders,

05:58emergency management professionals,

06:00volunteers, and community partners who

06:02work year round to safeguard our

06:05residents. And whereas as a central

06:08Texas community, Colleen recognizes

06:13the importance of preparing for hazards

06:15such as severe storms, flooding,

06:17tornadoes, extreme heat, and other

06:20emergencies

06:21and encourages residents to take action

06:24today to help protect themselves, their

06:27families, and their neighbors.

06:31And whereas the city of Colleen believes

06:33preparedness must include all members of

06:36our community and continue to promote

06:39accessibility, inclusion,

06:42equitable access to emergency

06:45information, resources, services, and

06:49support for all residents.

06:54Now there now therefore I Joseph Solomon

06:56by virtue of the authority vested in me

06:59as mayor of the city of Colleen do

07:01hereby proclaim the month of September

07:042026 as national preparedness month

07:08signed Joseph Solomon mayor

07:12[applause]

07:15thank you thank you for what you do

07:17thank you thank

07:21take.

07:23>> Okay.

07:40[applause]

08:07Okay, we will begin our work session.

08:11Discussions of items 7 through 10 for

08:15[snorts] the September

08:171st, 2026 regular session. No final

08:21action will be taken until regular

08:23session. [snorts]

08:25Madame Secretary, the first item,

08:27please.

08:29>> Resolutions.

08:31Item number 7 RS-26-132.

08:36consider a memorandum resolution

08:37appointing commissioners to the youth

08:39advisory commission for FY27.

08:45>> Good afternoon, ma'am.

08:46>> Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

08:47>> M. Roberts.

08:49>> So, today we'll be going over um

08:51appointments for commissioners to the

08:53Youth Advisory Commission for FY27.

08:58>> So, a little background. The youth

08:59advisory commission was created in 1993

09:02to serve as a liaison to the city of

09:04Colleen city council. The bylaws were

09:06amended and approved by city council

09:08August 4th which changed the number of

09:10commissioners that YC is comprised of up

09:13to 15 commissioners and unlimited

09:16resource members and junior members.

09:20The mission statement here is to provide

09:22the youth of our community opportunities

09:25through volunteerism and service by

09:27taking initiatives that are directed

09:29toward effective change. FY2027

09:32interviews were conducted by council

09:34member Bass and parks and recreation

09:36staff on August 1st and 13 students are

09:39recommended to serve as commissioners

09:41for the FY27

09:43based on their leadership ability and

09:45community involvement.

09:49So this list uh will all be student

09:51representatives. Anna Lisa Emaco Alamea

09:55Rivera Roman Juliana Lewis Raina Kumbi

10:00Ozvaldo Kamacho Bergos Jackson Stoval

10:04Sarah Sanchez Emmeiliano Quantero

10:09Ava Mcuade Destiny Wilson Gazelle Issa

10:15Chelsea Neves Ortiz and Gina Issa

10:20staff recommends City Council appoint

10:22the recommended nominations as youth

10:24advisory commissions for FY27.

10:32>> Council, is there any questions or

10:34comments?

10:36>> I do not. Right.

10:42Item 8, RS-26-133,

10:47consider a memorandum resolution

10:48approving an amendment to the pro

10:51professional services agreement with the

10:53Schlutoter Group for state legislative

10:55representation.

10:56>> Good evening, ma'am. Miss Clemens.

10:59>> Good evening, mayor and city council.

11:03All right. Um, the city this is your

11:05item regarding amendment to the

11:06professional services agreement with the

11:08Schlutoter group. The city's actively

11:10engaged with state legislative process

11:12as directed by council state legislative

11:14priorities and principles. As part of

11:16its strategy, the city has engaged

11:18Slutter Group since 2002. The term that

11:21where for the current contract is from

11:23August 19th, 2025 through August 19th of

11:262028, and it does renew for one

11:29successive two-year term. So, it goes

11:30through 2030. The proposed amendment to

11:33date tonight would reduce the $100,000

11:35annual fee to $1 for year two of the

11:38agreement. That's year two that it began

11:40August this year. Staff recommends that

11:43council authorize the city manager to

11:45execute amendment number one to the

11:47agreement with Schlutoter Group to

11:48reduce the annual fee of $100,000 to $1

11:50for year two of this agreement.

11:54Here

11:54>> for any questions.

11:55>> Okay. Council, is there any questions,

11:57comments?

11:58You can raise your hand because I do not

12:01cannot see you.

12:04Okay, there are no questions. Thank you,

12:06city secretary.

12:13I'm sorry, my city attorney.

12:16Now on city sec madam city secretary

12:23>> ordinances item number nine o--26-015

12:30consider a city initiated ordinance case

12:33Z26-11

12:35to reszone approximately 0.16 of an acre

12:38being part of lots 1 and 5 block 6 north

12:43side edition from B3 local businesses

12:46district to R1 single family residential

12:49district. The subject property is

12:51locally addressed as 312 East Texas

12:54Avenue, Kellen, Texas.

12:56>> Good evening, ma'am.

12:58>> Good evening. Pleasure.

12:59>> Good evening, Mayor and Council. Thank

13:00you. Uh this item is for consideration

13:04of uh an item that was tabled uh at your

13:07last meeting to reszone uh the property

13:10at 312 East Texas [clears throat]

13:12Avenue. Uh,

13:15as you know, on May 14th of 2024, the

13:19council directed staff to begin

13:20processing city initiated resoning cases

13:23for non-conforming uses. Since then,

13:26staff has processed 15 city initiated

13:29resoning cases, including 123 individual

13:33parcels. All property owners uh within

13:36those areas that were reszoned were sent

13:38a letter informing them of this

13:39initiative as well as a form to consent

13:41or opt out of the resoning process. So

13:44this is a summary of the city initiated

13:46cases processed to date. So in 2024 we

13:49did seven city initiated cases including

13:5189 parcels. Of those we received 12

13:54consent forms um and one property owner

13:57declined to be reszoned. In 2024, we did

14:00four city initiated cases which included

14:02a total of 20 parcels and we've received

14:06five consent forms. And in 2026, we've

14:09had four cases uh including a total of

14:1114 parcels and we've received only when

14:14this was prepared, we receive we had

14:16received one consent form. Since then, I

14:17think we've received a total of four.

14:21So, of the 123 consent forms that were

14:23sent out, we received only 19 responses.

14:26Again, we've received three since then.

14:27So, it's 22 responses. Um,

14:32and so based on those numbers, the

14:34overall response rate is relatively low

14:35at 15%. Um,

14:39with that, uh, with regard to 312 East

14:42Texas Avenue, this is the red star

14:44indicates location of that property. And

14:45this is, uh, the zoning of the the

14:49subject property in the surrounding

14:51area. This is an aerial of that parcel.

14:55This is a view of the subject property.

14:58and a view of the property across the

15:00street

15:02facing east and facing west.

15:05It's located within the infill and

15:07enhance area on the grow sector map and

15:09designated traditional neighborhood on

15:10the future land use map. We not notified

15:1363 surrounding property owners. Um and

15:17we did receive the signed consent form

15:19from the property owner on August 28th.

15:22This is the notification boundary. With

15:24that, staff is recommending approval of

15:26the city initiated request to reszone

15:28the property at 312 East Texas Avenue

15:29from B3 to R1 is presented. Planning and

15:32zoning commission also recommended

15:33approval unanimously. I'm happy to

15:35answer any questions.

15:36>> Councel, is there any questions,

15:38comments?

15:40Council member Brown.

15:43>> Was this owner occupied?

15:45>> No, ma'am. Okay. I think I'm looking at

15:48the right ones. The attachment we had on

15:50our packet said that you had not been

15:52able to get it.

15:53>> It [clears throat] did. We we received,

15:54as I said, the the assigned consent form

15:56on August 28th.

15:58>> Okay. And

15:59>> and we did that by making well, first we

16:01made contact with the tenant. Well, we

16:02attempted to make contact with the

16:03tenant. Uh it was subsequently

16:05determined who the property owner was,

16:06and so we were able to make make contact

16:08with him that way.

16:09>> You read my mind. Thank you.

16:11>> Yes, ma'am.

16:12>> Okay. Council member Bess.

16:17>> So to uh clarify,

16:19the staff recommends disapproval.

16:22>> No, sir. So the staff is recommending

16:23approval because we've received the

16:24consent form.

16:25>> Okay, got it. So

16:26>> the consent form was received after the

16:28agenda was posted.

16:29>> So now,

16:30>> so we've updated our recommendation.

16:31>> Now it's recommend approval. Thank you.

16:36>> Uh, council member Brown.

16:38>> Sorry, one more question. Miss Clemens,

16:40if I may, mayor,

16:45>> may I ask a little?

16:47>> Yes, you may.

16:47>> Okay, thank you. said our presentation

16:50uh clearly was not able to be updated in

16:53time when we make uh the motion on this

16:57one.

16:59>> Ignore me because I I looked at it as if

17:01it was part of consent and my question

17:03is now going to be irrelevant. I have a

17:05migraine to everybody. I apologize.

17:09>> That's good. Thank you, ma'am. Uh if

17:12there's no other questions, uh you have

17:14the next item, ma'am. Council, Madame

17:16Secretary,

17:18>> item 10. Item 10, PH-26-27,

17:24consider a city initiated ordinance,

17:27case Z26-12,

17:29to reszone approximately 0.144

17:33of an acre out of the H. O'Neal survey

17:36abstract 645 from B3 local business

17:39district to R2 family residential

17:42district and lot one block one Mulford

17:45edition from B3 local business district

17:48to R1 single family residential

17:50district. The subject properties are

17:52locally addressed as 1401 and 1411

17:55Mulford Street, Kellen, Texas.

17:59>> Mayor and council, thank you. Uh this

18:01item is for 1401 and 1411 Molford

18:03Street. Uh 1401 is an existing detached

18:07single family home and 1411 is an

18:09existing two family home.

18:11Uh as you know both both are considered

18:14legal non-conforming because they're

18:15currently zone B3 and if approved this

18:17request will bring them into conformance

18:19with the zoning ordinance. Red star

18:21indicates location of the subject

18:22properties. Uh this is the zoning of the

18:26property as well as the zoning of the

18:27surrounding properties and the aerial.

18:31This is the property at 1401 Mulford.

18:34This view facing 1401 Mulford,

18:381411 Mulford, and facing east across the

18:41street from 1411 and a [clears throat]

18:43view facing south on Mulford towards

18:45Dean Avenue

18:47and a view facing north.

18:50Subject properties are located within

18:51the infill and enhance area on the

18:52growth sector map and designated

18:54traditional neighborhood on the future

18:55land use map. We notified 70 surrounding

18:57property owners uh and both property

19:00owners were provided with a consent

19:01form. We have received the written

19:04consent from form from 1411 Mulford but

19:08not from the property owner of 1401.

19:12This is the notification boundary. With

19:14that staff is recommending approval of

19:16the request to reszone 1411 Mulford

19:19Street from B3 to R2. But since we have

19:22not received the written consent form

19:23for 1401, we are recommending

19:25disapproval of

19:27reszoning that particular parcel. Uh

19:30planning and zoning recommended approval

19:31of both on July 13th unanimously.

19:34>> Council, is there any questions? Council

19:37member Brown.

19:38>> Oh, that's it.

19:41>> Okay. Uh Council Member Kimble.

19:45>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. based on our last

19:47meeting on this. So, if you don't get

19:48the written consent, do we are we going

19:51to move forward eventually or are we

19:53just going to wait for it or

19:56>> so without the written consent form?

19:58That's at council's discretion. There's

19:59nothing prohibiting you from from

20:01reszoning the property without the

20:02written consent.

20:03>> You have an internal timeline in which

20:04you go bring it back so we can move

20:05forward.

20:07>> We've we've made several attempts to

20:08contact the property owner and receive

20:09that written consent form. It is not

20:11owner occupied either. We made contact

20:13with the tenant who indicated that he

20:14would let the property management

20:16company know. Um I'm not aware if that

20:20happened or not. That was we don't know

20:21who the property management company is.

20:23Um so we've not been able to to obtain

20:26the written consent at this time. So uh

20:28in the absence of that um unless council

20:32directs otherwise we wouldn't bring it

20:33back.

20:35>> Do do we have do we have the option to

20:37move forward to can we recommend to move

20:39forward with it tonight if we wanted to?

20:41you can move forward with reszoning this

20:44property. We've sent all um required

20:46notices um that consent is not required

20:49>> um but I know it was something that

20:50council was concerned about.

20:51>> Okay. Thank you,

20:55>> Council Member Brown.

20:59In staff's defense, this was a a kind of

21:02lengthy discussion at the last meeting

21:05after the presentation where we came to

21:08I I suppose a consensus on the fact that

21:12since there was no written proof that

21:14they were okay with the reasonzoning

21:18that the council would decline anything

21:20right now that came through without that

21:22consent form and moving forward, staff

21:25wouldn't even take those hours to go

21:28through the process. process until the

21:29consent form returns to them. Um, since

21:33then I am aware that we have at least

21:35one property that is going through a

21:38zoning process now that had we not done

21:41the city initiated prior to then that

21:46would it would be properly zoned for

21:48what the intention of it is right now.

21:50Um, so I'll be sticking with my

21:52recommendation to and with staff's

21:55recommendation to um disapprove anything

21:58where we don't have written consent just

22:00to avoid any liability to the city in

22:02future.

22:06>> Okay. Any other discussion? Okay. There

22:10is

22:11no more discussion. Thank you ma'am.

22:14>> Yes sir.

22:14>> Thank you so much.

22:19Okay. That takes us to citizens comments

22:22on agenda items. Uh now is the time for

22:25cent com comments. Citizens will have

22:28three minutes to speak with one minute

22:30time allotted for coun for city council

22:33to respond with a statement or

22:35explanation without engaging in

22:37dialogue.

22:40Uh,

22:42city attorney you call.

22:44>> And I believe the city secretary has

22:46this city. The

22:47>> Okay.

22:48>> First speaker is Nira Zachary.

22:59>> Good evening.

23:02>> Good evening, ma'am. How you doing?

23:03>> I'm doing well. How about yourself?

23:05>> Great. Thank you.

23:06>> All right. My name is Nira Zachary. I'm

23:08a resident of Colleen and a social

23:09worker. Um I was looking through the

23:12proposed FY 2027 budget and the only

23:15thing there's really one thing that

23:17stood out to me. Um that is that Colleen

23:20in the budget it says that Colleen is

23:21the grow continuing to grow and as the

23:23city grows the demand for city services

23:25grows with it. More people mean more

23:27demand on public safety, our streets,

23:30parks, developmental services,

23:31infrastructure and the departments

23:33responsible for keeping this city

23:34running. But while reviewing the budget,

23:37I also looked at the city's unfunded

23:38requests. General fund departments

23:41submitted 70 unfunded requests totaling

23:44over 6 million. These requests included

23:4644 and a half positions and just over 3

23:48million in personnel cost. And those

23:51weren't all minor requests. They

23:53included staff needs involving police,

23:55fire, mental health response, animal

23:58services, code enforcement, parks,

23:59emergency management, and other city

24:02services. Um, now I'm not saying that

24:04just because a department asks for a

24:06position, council should automatically

24:07fund it. I understand that there's a

24:09budget and choices must be made. But my

24:11question is, how do we determine that

24:13the city can meet the needs of a growing

24:15population without those positions? Are

24:19our own departments identified these

24:21needs. So I want to understand what

24:22criteria was used, which positions were

24:25unnecessary, which ones could wait, and

24:27what happens to all the workload of

24:28those positions that aren't funded.

24:31because if Colleen is growing naturally,

24:33the workload is growing for the city as

24:35well. And if residents are being asked

24:37to contribute more to support that

24:39growth, which I think is fair um and I

24:42think it's fair to ask whether we're

24:44also making sure that the people who

24:46actually provide our city services have

24:47enough staff and resources to do their

24:49jobs. And that leads to a bigger

24:51question about the budget. Where should

24:53residents expect to see Colleen improve?

24:56If we come back a year from now, what

24:57should be different? What should be

24:59better? And most importantly, how are we

25:02going to measure whether the money

25:04approved in this budget actually made a

25:06difference for the people that live

25:07here? I'm not asking the city to spend

25:09money just for the sake of spending it.

25:11I'm asking how the money we are spending

25:13connects to what residents actually

25:15experience every day. If Colleen is

25:17growing, I want to make sure that the

25:19city is growing with us, not just in

25:20population, but in its ability to ser to

25:23serve the people that live here. Thank

25:25you.

25:27>> Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.

25:31Madam Secretary,

25:33>> next speaker is Michael Fino.

25:45>> Good evening, sir. [snorts]

25:55Five-year capital improvement program,

25:57five-year plan. That's what communists

25:59do. We need to do something a little bit

26:00better than that.

26:03We're the tax rate that you're going to

26:05vote on. I seem to recall the mayor at a

26:08campaign stump speech on Stan Schlutoter

26:12earlier this year complaining about

26:14taxes telling us it's too high. We need

26:17to do something about it. And what did

26:19you do? You proposed the exact same

26:21thing you did last year. One point shy

26:24of it having go to the voters.

26:26You cannot tax people into prosperity.

26:29I'm a little disappointed that there's

26:31not more citizens in the gallery

26:33tonight. You raise taxes, that's going

26:35to raise mortgage rates. And for those

26:37who say, "I don't worry about taxes. I

26:38rent." Their rents are going to go up.

26:42Where does it stop?

26:44Where are the jobs

26:47that can support these constant and

26:49continual tax rates?

26:51Fiscal responsibility in this town just

26:53does not exist. We cannot pick a new

26:55city manager fast enough. And if there's

26:58any true fiscal responsibility to be had

27:00with this year's budget, we should get a

27:02tax lowering next year.

27:07With regard to [sighs]

27:13annual budget, again, when we when we

27:15look at it, I said earlier today at the

27:18special meeting, this for the benefit of

27:20those who weren't here, we spent $28,000

27:24on the search for a new city manager.

27:26Why? We have an HR director, an HR

27:29department, and we have an entire

27:30communications department. Why are we

27:32paying to do what we have people already

27:36on staff to do? I keep hearing from this

27:38council over the last decade about how

27:42we love the staff. We trust the staff.

27:44We're doing really good stuff. But for

27:46some reason, the staff is not allowed to

27:48do their job. So, we just keep throwing

27:50good money after bad on things that we

27:52don't need to do. Why don't we have our

27:54staff actually go out and look for key

27:57personnel? they would have a stake in

27:59the game, not some foreign entity that's

28:02just happy to take our money. I say it's

28:05an even bet 5050 as to whether you got

28:07presented the best candidates or the

28:08worst candidates. I don't know. But I

28:11think if we had our staff, our city, our

28:13money that we've already spent

28:15concentrated on that effort, in the end,

28:18we would have a better result.

28:22And when it comes to budget

28:23accountability, when we start asking for

28:25stuff, the data breach,

28:29boil water notices in this next year, if

28:31we don't get answers,

28:35there is an election coming up and all

28:37of you are up against it, one way or the

28:40other. Consider your votes wisely

28:42tonight. This tax increase just this is

28:47untenable. This is probably the last

28:49straw for a lot of people. We take a

28:52look at the survey

28:54if I could have just 30 seconds more

28:56council

28:59>> yes sir

29:00>> thank you I'll end with this

29:04latest city survey as opposed to what

29:06you folks are concentrating your efforts

29:08on I've said this before this is not to

29:11anybody specifically

29:14the town that you preside over or think

29:16that you preside over is not the one

29:17that many of us live in

29:19take a look at the citizen survey see

29:21what we care about, what we want

29:23accomplished. There's not a disconnect.

29:25Once you get on the other side of that

29:26strap there, you get to do your own

29:28thing. You're supposed to be

29:29representing us. Listen to the people.

29:32This is our money. Listen to what our

29:34concerns are.

29:35>> Thank you, sir.

29:38>> City Secretary,

29:42>> Dr. Sue Nissi Croft.

29:51Good evening, ma'am.

29:55>> Good evening, [snorts] mayor,

29:56councilman, and city manager. I'm

29:58speaking specifically uh to the proposed

30:015-year capital improvement program for

30:05uh fiscal year 2027 through 2031.

30:09On page 32, project 925004,

30:13North Colleen grocery site remains

30:15listed as a project approved in a prior

30:18year scheduled and underway with a

30:20project uh project to date budget of

30:2320250,000.

30:26I have confirmed that no expenditures

30:28have been incurred against this project.

30:31North Colleen has waited for

30:33approximately 15 years for a grocery

30:36store solution. So before this council

30:38adopts another five-year capital

30:40improvement program, I believe residents

30:42deserve to understand what happens next.

30:45What is the current imple implementation

30:47plan for project 925004?

30:52Is there currently a site perspective

30:54grocery operator development agreement

30:56timeline or other active strategy

30:59associated with this $250,000

31:02project? I also want to draw council's

31:05attention to project 925003

31:09strategic land acquisition on page 70.

31:13That project has two 500,000 in in

31:16projecttoate funding for strategic land

31:19acquisition within t trirz number two.

31:23Its description specifically uh mentions

31:26that Rancier project but it also uh

31:29provides for other land purchases within

31:32TRIRZ number two that would further

31:34economic development.

31:37I understand that no expenditures have

31:39been incurred against that project

31:41either. Therefore, my second question

31:43is, has the C has the city evaluated

31:46whether these projects can strategically

31:50work together, project 92 uh 925003

31:55for eligible elig eligible land

31:58acquisition and project 925004

32:02for the North Colleen grocery site

32:04objective to finally move with

32:06longstanding priority towards

32:08implementation. And if they cannot be

32:11used together, I would like to

32:12understand what restrictions prevent

32:14these that coordination. This is not a

32:17request to create a new priority. The

32:20North Colleen grocery store project is

32:23already in the capital improvement

32:25program. The funding is already

32:27accounted for. The question is, what is

32:29the city's plan to turn an existing

32:32capital project into an operating

32:34grocery store for North Colleen? Uh,

32:37thank you. And the 494. Thanks you for

32:40listening.

32:40>> Thank you ma'am.

32:42Madam city secretary.

32:46>> Next speaker is Christian Bishop.

33:00>> Good evening sir.

33:01>> Good evening.

33:03I'm here [clears throat]

33:06I am here to speak about DS26-079

33:10city council retreat and team building

33:12workshop. While I will not be in the

33:14chambers after citizens comments, my

33:16questions are not rhetorical.

33:18I'm not in favor of this agenda item for

33:21the following reasons. My first question

33:24is where is the funding for this coming

33:26from? I think it's rational for the

33:28public to assume this comes from tax

33:29revenue. If it's not, where is it coming

33:32from? Assuming this comes from tax

33:34revenue, I think it's reasonable to

33:36request, if not require transparency and

33:38public spending. What is the budget and

33:41itinerary for this trip? Will receipts

33:43for this trip be made public and easily

33:46accessible? If there are excess funds

33:49after the trip is completed, how will

33:51they be allocated?

33:54assuming alternate funding. I also think

33:56it's reasonable for taxpayers to know

33:58who else has financial equity or

34:00influence on the sitting administration.

34:02[sighs and gasps]

34:03What entity, group or institution, etc.

34:06is funding this trip? What does said ind

34:10what does said entity get out of the

34:12transaction?

34:14What is the itinerary for this trip?

34:18What purpose does this retreat serve?

34:20The agenda mentions team building, but I

34:22feel this would be better served in

34:24Colleen where the city administration

34:26can a inject some money back into the

34:28local economy, b engage with local

34:31perspectives, and c promote some more

34:34trust in clean government.

34:36To conclude, I think that the timing and

34:39perception around this retreat is poorly

34:41thought out. In the most charitable

34:43case, I see an ill-advised attempt to

34:46regroup. And in the least charitable

34:48case, I see an administration that knows

34:51most of them won't be returning next

34:52year and figured they might as well give

34:54themselves a vacation on the way out. I

34:57am personally frustrated that a couple

34:59weeks ago we were discussing shutting

35:01down the only homeless shelter in town

35:04and today we're talking about sending

35:06the city sitting council on a retreat. I

35:10yield my time.

35:13>> Thank you, sir. Madam City Secretary,

35:18>> next speaker is Jamie Carroll.

35:32Maybe a little surprisingly, I'm going

35:33to actually speak in favor of what uh he

35:36spoke out against except instead of

35:38going away on a retreat. What I'd like

35:40to see is I'd like to see you guys get

35:42together in one of our city parks, live

35:44stream it. I want to see sack races. I

35:47want to see I'm not kidding. The egg in

35:49the spoon, some trust falls. It's not

35:52going to cost the citizens any extra

35:53money. And that's also additional

35:56community engagement. You guys want to

35:58be better team members. be a team with

36:00the city because you guys aren't just

36:03this special group that is you guys

36:05versus us. It's all of us. You're

36:07representing all of us. So, let's do

36:09some what is it? The three-legged race.

36:12I'd love to see some of the people on

36:14this side do some of the race with some

36:16people on this side. I think it would be

36:18funny. And also, I mean, we're in here

36:21every week talking about super serious

36:23stuff. None of us are agreeing on

36:25anything. So why don't you seriously why

36:28don't you get out and do some real cheap

36:32on the-fly team building it. It's our

36:34classics, right? It's our classics as

36:36America. We've all done these goofy

36:38things and they're not going to cost in

36:40anything. You don't need to leave the

36:42city to build a better team. You can do

36:43it right here, set it on the uh the

36:46calendar, pop it on the live stream and

36:49let it rip. You know, we've already been

36:51in here 10 plus times talking about the

36:53budget. So, I'm not going to hound you

36:55on the budget and what we've wasted any

36:58any more than that. But, you know, if if

37:00you are going to go forward with this,

37:03let's keep it cheap. Let's keep it local

37:05and let's let the lid off of it a little

37:06bit so that we can all kind of enjoy it

37:09and maybe actually have some laughs and

37:11get on the same ground with one another.

37:14Thank you.

37:15>> Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Madam City

37:17Secretary.

37:20>> Next speaker is Leo Gugasen.

37:25Leo Kukeisen.

37:28>> I apologize.

37:33>> Good evening, sir.

37:36>> Good evening, Mr. Mayor,

37:38Madame Mayor, Promp, Council members,

37:40City Manager. Um, first I'd like to say

37:43um

37:45that uh this will be my uh last time

37:47here for a while since football season

37:49started. I'll be busy on Tuesdays,

37:52Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and

37:54Sundays. Um, but I just wanted to come

37:57up tonight and talk about a quote as I

38:00always do. Uh, starts off with nuts. It

38:04was it was a reply from the acting

38:10division commander of the 101st Airborne

38:12Division on December 22nd, 1944 at

38:15Baston during the Battle of the Bulge to

38:17the German commander who demanded their

38:19unconditional surrender.

38:22I'm here to talk about the uh retreat.

38:25Um

38:26I concur with what the fir the last two

38:29speakers have said but um

38:32taking it at face value I think is a a

38:35bad time to be talking about going away

38:39holding hands and singing kumbaya for

38:42the last few months now four five six

38:45whatever it has been

38:48this body has stated that you know we

38:50are short on funds and all of a sudden

38:53when we're about to when you are about

38:55to vote on the tax rate which will be

38:57increased just right below as another

39:00resident said below the voter approval

39:03rate.

39:05Um, here you are talking about wanting

39:07to discuss a retreat and a and and a

39:10workg groupoup session thing that could

39:13be done as a second person said here in

39:16Colleen very cheap

39:19fun people come out and watch you and

39:21have fun whatever. But to me coming up

39:23now, speaking of going out of town,

39:26possibly going out of town, excuse me,

39:29um, and spending extra excess amount ex

39:33excess funds on something that is not

39:35needed in the time that we're struggling

39:38to keep um, our streets up. Yes, we have

39:42a plan for that. I understand that. But

39:44there's a lot of potholes out there and

39:46clean. I don't know if y'all rode over

39:47them or not, but I have. You know, we

39:50need more firefighters, more police,

39:53more EMT people that we could be using

39:57that money for instead of going out on a

40:01session to to hold hands and sing

40:03kumbaya.

40:05This council, no, I'm sorry. This body

40:08did that once before. I think it was Mr.

40:11Cosper was the mayor or I think it was

40:14Cosper was the mayor. And uh there was a

40:17lot of flack brought on to that about

40:19that. I don't know if you're familiar

40:20with it, but I think it was Mr. Cosper

40:22was the mayor [snorts] about ex spending

40:25money on things that should not have

40:26been spent on. Not to say that if you do

40:28go do this that you will do that, but

40:31that was the last one that came out.

40:33Everything if there was anything good

40:34about it was [clears throat] buried

40:36because of that particular scandal about

40:39spending money on stuff that wasn't. I

40:42think if you do

40:43>> So your time is up, would you?

40:44>> May I have one more minute? I'll be

40:45closing out. Yes, sir. You're good. Uh,

40:48if you do decide to do it, I the second

40:50person that addressed this issue, doing

40:52it here in Colleen would be cheaper,

40:55would be beneficial for the city because

40:56you can go out and buy lunch at a a

41:00local restaurant or whatever. But, um,

41:02go and going out of town for it, I don't

41:05think that is very wise now because

41:07you're possibly going to raise the taxes

41:10on people and every penny nowadays

41:13counts. Especially talk about people

41:15talk about on a fixed budget

41:18in the long run it might not seem a lot

41:20a couple pennies but for them it does.

41:22Thank you for your time.

41:24>> Thank you sir.

41:26City man city secretary.

41:29>> There are no more speakers your honor.

41:36>> I'm sorry one more. Uh Ana Neu

41:40glad she jumped up.

41:43Good evening, ma'am.

41:44>> It happens.

41:45>> You're good.

41:46>> Thank you, council mayor. I want to

41:49speak on the CIP budget uh regarding

41:52animal adoption center uh bill uh

41:54remodel.

41:56So, um the council is being asked well

41:59first of all thank you this council for

42:02having a special meeting discussing that

42:04particular item that was very important

42:08and it gave us a lot of information. So,

42:10thank you for that. You're being asked

42:12to spend $1.7 million to remodel this

42:15building because quote, "The building

42:19was not prepared for heavy water use and

42:22interior layout was not configured for

42:24safe and efficient animals housing,

42:26potentially posing health risks to staff

42:29and animals. Um, let's see what the city

42:33council was told in 2023 when the city

42:36council was asked to approve $1.7

42:39million to buy this building.

42:45Then this is the presentation from 2023.

42:49The facility offers improved canels,

42:52enhanced amenities, and accommodations

42:56that would enhance our customer service.

42:59Well, that directly contradicts what

43:01you're being told today.

43:05They wanted to convince you to spend

43:06$1.7 million, so they made everything

43:09sound great. They also at that meeting,

43:12they failed to inform the council that

43:15there was a conflict of interest.

43:18It is concerning to me that it's so easy

43:20for some staff to lie to city council.

43:23Maybe now that we have a former police

43:25chief on the council, maybe it's less

43:27likely uh that for the city council to

43:30be lied to,

43:32that building is in a bad location,

43:36which means that even if you spend one

43:38that's that's a terrible idea, but even

43:40if you spend $1.7 million, you're still

43:43not going to have a proper building as

43:45an animal shelter because there's no

43:48room to build proper dog kennels. and

43:52they knew that in 2023, but there was a

43:54conflict of interest and unfortunately

43:57we're here. Um, as far as a tax rate is

44:01concerned, I do not agree with raising

44:03the tax rate. The no revenue tax is what

44:07I want. Citizens should not be forced to

44:10pay for mistakes that were made by staff

44:15or council like the purchase of that

44:17building that was not adequate. And

44:20these are my comments. Thank you.

44:22>> Thank you, ma'am.

44:25I want to say, Madam City Secretary,

44:27that's the last one.

44:28>> That was the last one.

44:30>> Okay. Thank you. Let me just say this

44:31and I'll see council member Brown and

44:33Council Member Nashkin. Um, just a

44:36spoiler. Um, in reference to the

44:41retreat,

44:43uh, team building, it's not planned to

44:46be

44:48nowhere out of town, out of state. It's

44:52right here. Uh, it's it's proposed to be

44:55right here. So, I don't know where

44:57everybody's getting that. It's out of

44:59town, but it's not out of town. The

45:02proposal is not out of town at all. I

45:05agree with you. it should be right here

45:08and uh if the council decides it it will

45:11be right here and so um at minimum cost

45:16and you'll hear more about that but I

45:17just wanted to give you a spoiler that

45:20is not out of town. We're not catching

45:22any planes. We're not flying off to

45:25Hawaii somewhere for a retreat. So I

45:28just wanted to clear that up. Um,

45:30Council Member Brown,

45:37>> I'm trying to decide if I want to do

45:39this now or when the budget comes up.

45:41But I I [snorts] want to reiterate under

45:43that CIP. You'll see some items there

45:47that we do not have future funding for,

45:50but we have spent money on, and that's

45:53why they're there. So, for example, the

45:54grocery store. The city has spent money

45:56on the grocery store.

45:58>> [snorts]

45:59>> um both on studies and on um primarily

46:04on studies. Uh you see that there

46:08because we are still required to list

46:10prior year spending up to a couple years

46:13back. That is is one of the requirements

46:16that we have.

46:19The city isn't putting money into that

46:22fund for the coming year because this

46:24council just unanimously told KEDC that

46:28that is one of their top priorities and

46:30we're putting money into KDC and so

46:33we're not going to duplicate efforts and

46:35we're not going to double the money that

46:37we're spending toward a particular

46:38project.

46:42>> Council member Nashki.

46:44>> Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um, when

46:46it comes to the budget, I'm not sure how

46:48far staff will go into the budget, but

46:5160% and it could be more, but the last

46:53time I checked, 60% of our budget, one

46:57budget, 60% go to our first responders.

47:0060%.

47:02Taking that in consideration, we have

47:04other departments are just as important

47:06and and valued by this council and by

47:10our city manager. So when they decide on

47:14the budget, every director, the police,

47:17fire chief, police chief, every director

47:20meets with the city manager and they go

47:22through this list and they decide what

47:24what is their top priority. So if you

47:27see things that were not in the budget,

47:29you can believe that the police chief,

47:32fire chief, and every director uh had an

47:36executive director had a say in what

47:38they wanted and what they didn't want.

47:40But we also have a responsibility with

47:43taxpayers dollars to take care of our

47:46our street infrastructure, take care of

47:48our airport, take care of our waste

47:50management, and most important take care

47:52of all of our uh employees through

47:55benefits, through their salaries so they

47:58can be competitive and we can keep them

48:00and not constantly have to retrain and

48:02then hire new people. So the bal the

48:05budget is balanced at the best of our

48:08ability, our input, but what's important

48:11that the police, fire, the chief, and

48:13the executive directors have a say in

48:16what they want to see in their budget.

48:18Thank you,

48:19>> Council Member Kimell.

48:23>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. There's been a lot

48:25of talk about the retreat. Um it's a

48:29item that

48:33that I guess when we or I guess when the

48:38the agenda is made then when you approve

48:41the agenda you have gotten some input

48:43from from council members. I I again um

48:47it has been it's been put on the agenda.

48:50Um I don't think a whole lot of disc I

48:53think it's been put on an agenda with

48:56discussion to be had but I just want to

48:58let the the citizens know that um

49:03I I agree with them that that that the

49:05it looks bad and the timing is not the

49:09most ideal. Um and I don't and I don't I

49:12don't even know what the plans are. I'm

49:14waiting to hear what they are. But um I

49:16think that as people as members can put

49:19stuff on the agenda and then we as

49:21council members can decline it if so be

49:23it. That's all I have to say.

49:30All right. Any other discussion?

49:33Anybody? Okay. Great.

49:36Okay.

49:38We will now go into regular session.

49:42Madam Secretary, consent agenda, please.

49:54Item number two, MN-26-024,

49:58consider minutes of special city council

50:01meeting of June the 16th, 2026.

50:04Item three, MN-26-025,

50:09consider minutes of city council special

50:11meeting of June 22nd, 2026.

50:15Item four, MN-26-026,

50:19consider special openhouse meeting

50:22minutes from June the 23rd, 2026.

50:25Item five, RS-26-130.

50:30Consider a resolution entering a

50:33memorandum of agreement with Fort Hood

50:35Garrison Command to provide mutual aid

50:38for police services and information

50:41sharing. Item 6, RS-26-131,

50:46consider a memorandum resolution

50:48authorizing the rejection of all

50:51received submissions for bid number

50:5427-02

50:56FY27

50:57annual street construction materials.

51:02>> Council, I will take a motion on the

51:03consent agenda items. Council member

51:06Nazki.

51:07>> Mr. Mayor, council, I move to approve

51:09the consent agenda items. It's a motion

51:11by council member Nash King. Um second

51:14um council member Brown.

51:16>> Second.

51:18>> Second by council member Brown. Any

51:20discussion?

51:22No discussion. All in favor signify by

51:24yes.

51:26All oppose. No.

51:32Motion carries 7 to zero. Thank you

51:35councel.

51:37Okay. Now we will go into our regular

51:40session resolution for individual

51:43consideration. Madame secretary,

51:48[clears throat]

51:52resolutions. Item number 7, RS-26-132,

51:57consider a memorandum resolution

51:59appointing commissioners to the Youth

52:01Advisory Commission for FY27.

52:08Okay.

52:10Council, uh, Miss Robins reviewed this.

52:12Uh, would you all like for her to go

52:13over it again?

52:17>> Okay. Then I'll take a motion. Council

52:19member Brown.

52:21>> Uh, with great congratulations to all of

52:24our new and returning commissioners. I

52:27move to approve RS-26-132.

52:32>> Okay. Is there a second? Council member

52:35Kimble.

52:36>> I happily happily second it.

52:39>> Okay. Is there any discussion?

52:43Discussion.

52:46Raise your hand. I'm sorry. I'm having

52:48trouble here. Uh, Council Member Bass,

52:55I just want to say um how much I enjoyed

52:58sitting on that uh selection committee.

53:00Um, these young people are the best of

53:03the best of Colleen and they're going to

53:05do a great job. Thank you.

53:08>> Okay. Um, Council Member Brown, Council

53:12Member Kimell, Council Member Williams.

53:16Okay. All right. My apologies. We Okay.

53:20If there's no other discussion, um,

53:23we'll take it to the vote. Um, all in

53:25favor signify by saying yes.

53:28All oppose, no.

53:38Did everyone voted?

53:42Okay. Let the record show that council

53:44member Nash King

53:46is not here. Um the motion pass

53:50uh six to zero.

53:55Okay. Madam City Secretary,

54:02>> item 8, RS-26-133,

54:06consider a memorandum resolution

54:08approving an amendment to the

54:09professional services agreement with the

54:11Schlutoter Group for state legislative

54:14representation.

54:16>> Council U city secretary has uh did a

54:20presentation. Would y'all like the

54:21prayer to do it again? Okay. Uh, I would

54:24take a motion. Um, Mayor Pro Tim,

54:27>> I make a motion to approve RS26-133.

54:31>> Council member Kendricks.

54:33>> A second.

54:35>> Any discussion?

54:38Um, I'm seeing names. Council member

54:42Kimble.

54:44>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll be I will be

54:46uh voting uh for this, but I do say that

54:50I will say this for the record. I

54:52appreciate what the Schlutoter Group has

54:53done. I believe that we should pay

54:55people what they're what what they're

54:58worth and their their services are for

55:00$100 $100,000. They voluntarily dropped

55:03that price. I appreciate that. I want to

55:05say that for the record, but I also say

55:07that we should pay people for and pay

55:09pay for the services rendered to the

55:11city. I I want to again thank them, but

55:15we should be paying them for what

55:16they're worth for the services that they

55:17do for this city. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

55:20>> Okay. Any other discussion?

55:22All in favor signify by saying yes. All

55:25oppose. No.

55:34Everyone voted.

55:41Okay. The motion pass uh 6 through zero.

55:46Okay. Madame U city secretary,

55:53>> item number nine O-26-015.

55:59Consider a city initiated ordinance case

56:02number Z26-11

56:04to reszone approximately 0.16

56:08of an acre being part of lots 1 and 5

56:11block 6 north side edition from B3 local

56:15business district to R1 single family

56:18residential district. The subject

56:20property is locally addressed as 312

56:24East Texas Avenue Keen Texas. The

56:28ordinance caption reads, "An ordinance

56:31amending the city of Khen zoning

56:34ordinance by changing the zoning of

56:36approximately 0.16

56:38of an acre being part of lots 1 and 5

56:41block 6 northside edition from B3 local

56:45business district to R1 single family

56:47residential district providing a savings

56:50clause providing for the repeal of

56:51conflicting provisions and providing for

56:54an effective date.

56:57Okay. Council, Miss Meer has reviewed

56:59this presentation. Would you like for

57:00her to to go over it again? Uh, if not,

57:04I will entertain a motion. Council

57:07member Williams.

57:11Okay. Council member Kimble.

57:15>> Okay. I'm

57:17Council Member Brown.

57:21Move to approve O-26-015.

57:26>> Okay. Is there a second? Mayor Pro Tim.

57:28>> I second.

57:29>> Okay. Is there any discussion?

57:32There is no discussion. Uh

57:36all in favor signify by yes. All oppose.

57:40No.

57:52Everyone voted.

57:56Okay. Motion pass 6 to zero.

57:59Madame secretary. Next item, please.

58:08>> Public hearing.

58:09>> Item number 10, PH-26-027.

58:15Consider a city initiated ordinance case

58:18number Z26-12

58:20to reszone approximately 0.144

58:23of an acre out of the H. O'Neal survey

58:26abstract 645 from B3 local business

58:30district to R2 family residential

58:32district and lot one block one Mulford

58:35edition from B3

58:38local business district to R1 single

58:40family residential district. The subject

58:42properties are locally addressed as 1401

58:46and 1411 Mulford Street, Colleen, Texas.

58:49And the ordinance caption reads, "An

58:52ordinance amending the city of Khen

58:54zoning ordinance by changing the zoning

58:57of approximately 0.144 of an acre out of

59:00H. O'Neal survey abstract 645 from B3

59:04local business district to R2 two family

59:08residential district and lot one block

59:10one Mulford edition from B3 local

59:13business district to R1 single family

59:16residential district providing a savings

59:18clause providing for the repeal of

59:20conflicting provisions and providing an

59:22effective date.

59:25>> Council Miss Measure has went over this.

59:27Would you want her to go over it again?

59:29Uh, if not, I would entertain a a

59:31motion.

59:34Uh, Council Member Brown,

59:37>> I just need to verify something real

59:39quick with the attorney, please. This

59:40one for real this time. [laughter]

59:43>> A motion to approve as presented. Would

59:45approve 1411 and disapprove 1401.

59:49Correct.

59:50>> As presented. That's correct. Um, you

59:53may want to be clear since the there was

59:55a presentation included initially that

59:57changed from the presentation. So on

59:59this one, I would actually recommend to

1:00:00be clear as presented to approve 1411

1:00:04and disapprove 14. And it would still be

1:00:06proper to make that as a single motion

1:00:08since it's a single item.

1:00:09>> Yes.

1:00:09>> Okay. With that, I move to approve um

1:00:14the zoning request for 1411

1:00:18Mulford Street and disapprove the zoning

1:00:22for 1401 Mulford Street.

1:00:26>> Okay, the motion's been made. Um, is

1:00:29there a second? Council member Williams.

1:00:31>> Yes, sir. I second that motion.

1:00:36>> Any discussion?

1:00:38Council member Kimble.

1:00:40Yeah. Um, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I I I I

1:00:43say my piece on this. I don't know how

1:00:45long we know we're we're trying to move

1:00:46forward. There are in do our infield. I

1:00:49don't know how long we wait for the the

1:00:51owner. I will be voting with the council

1:00:53on this, but I just hope staff can come

1:00:54up with a plan. If the owner never

1:00:56responds. Um, that's just that's just my

1:00:58concern. Thank you.

1:01:02>> Any further discussion? There's no

1:01:04further discussion. All in favor signify

1:01:06by saying yes. All oppose? No.

1:01:15Okay, the motion pass six to zero.

1:01:20Thank you, councel.

1:01:25>> Okay. Um, madam.

1:01:28>> Item 11, PH-26-028.

1:01:32Hold a public hearing and consider an

1:01:34ordinance amending the code of

1:01:36ordinances chapter 24 solid waste

1:01:39collection and disposal services. The

1:01:41ordinance caption reads, "An ordinance

1:01:44amending chapter 24, solid waste of the

1:01:47code of court ordinances of the city of

1:01:49Ken, Texas, by establishing a fee for

1:01:52curbside brush collection services, and

1:01:55adopting disposal regulations for

1:01:57non-collectible items placed at

1:01:59curbside, providing for the repeal of

1:02:01conflicting provisions, providing for a

1:02:03severability clause, providing a savings

1:02:06clause, and providing for publication

1:02:08and an effective date.

1:02:11Okay. Good evening, sir. Mr. Dudley,

1:02:14>> how you doing? Uh, council, uh, mayor,

1:02:16uh, city manager. Um, the item I have

1:02:19before you today is the solid waste

1:02:21ordinance amendment.

1:02:24Uh, a little bit of background. Uh, in

1:02:26FY26, there was some new fees added to

1:02:28the fee schedule to assist with

1:02:30offsetting the cost of disposal and

1:02:32transportation of these items. Um, we

1:02:35have addition of section 24-32

1:02:38non-collection material. uh addition of

1:02:41section 24-50 brush collection and

1:02:44amendment of section 24-116

1:02:46commercial rates. Uh updating the code

1:02:49with ordinance uh chapter 24 solid waste

1:02:52collection services is necessary to

1:02:54provide details of these additional fees

1:02:56as well as make as as well as making

1:02:59various grammatical edits throughout the

1:03:01ordinance to ensure clarity and provide

1:03:03a document to the citizens of Ken that

1:03:05is thorough and concise.

1:03:09Uh here we have a section 24-32

1:03:12non-collection material. This is uh

1:03:14solid waste Y. uh it is to establish a

1:03:17cost recovery process for the removal of

1:03:20non-collectible materials placed at

1:03:22curb. Uh non-collectible materials are

1:03:24not part of the routine curbside

1:03:27collection uh but may be accepted at the

1:03:29transfer station. Um construction and

1:03:32demolition uh materials such as drywall,

1:03:35lumber, concrete, brick, tile uh they

1:03:38all require disposal methods and

1:03:40equipment appropriate for those

1:03:42materials. uh and also it provides a

1:03:45process for addressing the material that

1:03:47remains in the public right of way after

1:03:49notice.

1:03:53Little bit more background for 2432-32

1:03:56non-collection material. This is uh

1:03:58solid waste process. Uh we have a

1:04:01property owners will receive written

1:04:03notice and a 48 hour opportunity to

1:04:05voluntarily remove the material at no

1:04:07charge. Uh if the material is not

1:04:10removed within the allotted time, the

1:04:12city may remove it and assess an

1:04:14applicable fee. Uh it's worth noting

1:04:17that non-colctible uh at curbside does

1:04:20not mean nonacceptable at the transfer

1:04:22station.

1:04:26Little bit more background here for

1:04:27section 24-50. to brush collection is to

1:04:31establish a userbased fee structure that

1:04:33aligns the cost of brush collection

1:04:35services uh with the customers utilizing

1:04:38the service. The proposed fee will

1:04:40recover a portion of the cost of

1:04:42providing brush collection and promote a

1:04:44more equitable distribution of expenses

1:04:46among customers and support the

1:04:48long-term sustainability of the city's

1:04:50residential brush collection program.

1:04:54Here

1:04:56we have uh section 24-116

1:04:59uh the commercial rates. Uh the proposed

1:05:01adjustment is intended to move the

1:05:03commercial rolloff services towards cost

1:05:06recovery uh while providing a phased

1:05:09increase that is more manageable for

1:05:11customers. Uh the 25% uh for FY2027

1:05:16increase reflects the rate studies

1:05:18direction to establish a more manageable

1:05:21initial adjustment. uh the 15% annual

1:05:25increase thereafter through FY2031

1:05:28followed the phase rate path identified

1:05:30in the cost of ser the cost of uh

1:05:33service study. Uh and this was approved

1:05:35by council uh following a public hearing

1:05:38held June 16, 2016 I mean 2026 I'm

1:05:41sorry.

1:05:44Uh recommendation that uh council

1:05:47approve the ordinance amending chapter

1:05:4924 solid waste of code of ordinance to

1:05:51clarify residential and commercial

1:05:53services and establish uh cost recovery

1:05:55provisions and incorporate the adopted

1:05:58commercial rolloff rate adjustments. And

1:06:00I'm here to take any questions that you

1:06:02may have.

1:06:04>> Council

1:06:08council member Kimble.

1:06:12>> Thank you Mr. Mayor. So

1:06:15thank you for the presentation. So what

1:06:17customers enjoy now versus if this

1:06:20ordinance is adopted

1:06:22for example let's go to brush.

1:06:24>> So right now you guys come by somebody

1:06:27cut stuff down put a brush pile in front

1:06:29of the house you come by pick it up

1:06:31right now.

1:06:32>> Yes sir.

1:06:32>> What? No. What happens?

1:06:34>> Uh we pick it up. It depends on the size

1:06:36of it.

1:06:36>> Yeah depend on the size.

1:06:37>> Yeah. Yeah. If it's six cubic yard right

1:06:38now. If it's six cubic yards or less

1:06:40it's free. Uh if it's

1:06:43>> in your in your in your opinion, does a

1:06:45lot of the cities do that for free?

1:06:47>> Um

1:06:49>> similar size cities.

1:06:50>> Uh they they kind of incorporate it in

1:06:52the rate the residential rate from what

1:06:54I'm understanding.

1:06:55>> But there's a cost. It is is it's put

1:06:58inside the rate for whatever that city

1:07:01rate may be. But it is a lot of cities

1:07:03that don't pick up brush. Exactly.

1:07:05>> They do have drop off points and well

1:07:08not drop off points, but have a drop off

1:07:10place for them to bring their brush.

1:07:11When this ordinance passed, what does

1:07:13this look like when that same brush is

1:07:14out in front of the house, the ordinance

1:07:16will pass? What there's a now there's a

1:07:17fee associated with it.

1:07:18>> Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So, what happens is

1:07:21that we're going to come over there uh

1:07:23do a service verification and uh we're

1:07:25going to service the uh stop. Uh we're

1:07:27going to assess the size of it and then

1:07:29we go charge accordingly.

1:07:31>> Do you I know there's cameras on the

1:07:32trucks. Is there some kind of

1:07:34photographic evidence or

1:07:36>> That's our service verification through

1:07:37routeware. I'm just trying to make it

1:07:39plain for those that because it's going

1:07:40to be this because for for many for a

1:07:43lot of for many years we've enjoy many

1:07:45citizens have enjoyed this service

1:07:46without payment. Now there's going to be

1:07:49a change of service and we might just

1:07:50have to

1:07:52>> do a little education and talk our our

1:07:54way through that as part of that

1:07:55education.

1:07:56>> Absolutely. We we have our uh team. We

1:07:59actually out there uh for the most part

1:08:01we going to be out there trying to

1:08:02explain things as we see people and

1:08:06and and the city's not making people you

1:08:08say hey you city's charging and making

1:08:10money. We're just trying to get close to

1:08:13100 at least in my opinion looks like

1:08:14we're just trying to get to close to

1:08:16100% cost recovery instead of losing

1:08:19money

1:08:20>> on this operation. We're just trying to

1:08:22get some back and it looks like you

1:08:23staggered that over I mean still I don't

1:08:26think it's going to be 100% cost. It's

1:08:28not going to be,

1:08:28>> but you're still over amount of time

1:08:30trying to recover some of the cost that

1:08:33it cost to to do business to do this for

1:08:35the citizens to enjoy so they don't have

1:08:37to actually go down themselves and and

1:08:39and do it. Is that correct statement?

1:08:41>> Yeah, that's that that's correct. And

1:08:43and and again, um um

1:08:47our job, we just here to pick up the

1:08:49brush and whatever whatnot. Uh we're not

1:08:52trying to charge people uh absorbing

1:08:54charges. I think this is a fair um fee

1:08:58>> and I think um it will recover a portion

1:09:01of the cost which still helps overall

1:09:04>> because those costs in turn you still

1:09:06have to buy trucks and do maintenance

1:09:08and and repair equipment all those

1:09:10things that go with that and and there's

1:09:12a cost associated with that. So, I just

1:09:14I I think I I congratulate you and your

1:09:16staff for for, you know, through this

1:09:19presentation trying to trying to explain

1:09:21to to everyone that yeah, it it may not

1:09:24be across across and nothing's really

1:09:26free, but for many years, we haven't

1:09:29citizens have enjoyed the city picking

1:09:31that up without cost and we're just

1:09:33trying to get some of that cost back.

1:09:34Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1:09:35>> Thank you,

1:09:36>> Council Member Kendricks.

1:09:39Uh, good afternoon, Mr. Daly. Me and you

1:09:41talked intensively about this here and

1:09:44um

1:09:45>> um council member um Kimell actually hit

1:09:48all of the points that me and you talked

1:09:49about when we talked about this. So I'm

1:09:52not going to go over all of those points

1:09:54again. Um, but I will just like council

1:09:58member Kimble said to the citizens,

1:10:02um, for for years,

1:10:04we've been able to get this this service

1:10:08without charging and and now we're

1:10:11trying to get, like you said, as close

1:10:13to cost recovery as we can. We're not

1:10:15never going to get 100% because we are

1:10:19still below the the earmark of any other

1:10:22city. We're still doing more than any

1:10:25other city um the size of Colleen. And

1:10:29we just want the citizens to know when

1:10:31citizens say we don't care, we do care

1:10:35because you're actually getting

1:10:36something a lot cheaper than those other

1:10:39cities. Is that correct?

1:10:40>> That's correct. Especially the service

1:10:42that we provide cuz we do provide uh

1:10:45additional services that other cities

1:10:47and municipalities don't. Okay.

1:10:50>> That's all I have. M

1:10:51>> council member Brown.

1:10:56>> Hey, Mr. Dudley.

1:10:57>> How you doing, ma'am?

1:10:59>> I don't know if you heard me. I have a

1:11:00migraine. So, please bear with me. All

1:11:01right.

1:11:02>> When did we get route wear on brush

1:11:04trucks? Cuz I was only aware we had them

1:11:06on the residential and some of the the

1:11:09commercial trucks for for routes like

1:11:12that.

1:11:13>> We've we've always had routeware on the

1:11:15brush trucks.

1:11:17>> Okay. And all of

1:11:18>> all of them are equipped and operating

1:11:20that.

1:11:21>> Yes, all of them are equipped. Um we are

1:11:23getting extra cameras for the trucks uh

1:11:25preparing ourselves for October one. Um

1:11:28some of the trucks have one camera on

1:11:29it, but we want them to have two cameras

1:11:31on the side, but even if they don't,

1:11:33they do have the routeware tablets where

1:11:35they can take them out and do a service

1:11:36verification when they actually take the

1:11:38picture at the stop. And

1:11:39>> you said currently up to six yards cubic

1:11:42yards of brush can be collected.

1:11:45>> Yes, ma'am. And that'll be at $10

1:11:48>> currently.

1:11:48>> Yeah. Well, currently, no. Up to six

1:11:50cubic yards is free right now.

1:11:52>> Right. How do we measure that six cubic

1:11:54yard?

1:11:57>> The I don't have the dimensions right

1:11:59here in front of me right now, but Well,

1:12:01we do measure them though. We do measure

1:12:03them.

1:12:04>> Okay. I because I just don't want to. My

1:12:07concern is we start sending out the

1:12:09bills for this and then we start getting

1:12:10the complaints. We How do you know

1:12:12that's how much we have? And then can

1:12:14you remind me how much did we set if you

1:12:16go over six cubic yards because I didn't

1:12:19recall seeing that number.

1:12:20>> Okay. If you over six cubic yards, each

1:12:22additional cubic yard is going to be

1:12:24$7.50.

1:12:25>> When did we Was that in the chart?

1:12:29>> Yes, ma'am.

1:12:30>> That was in the chart. Okay.

1:12:33750. Um, are we going to have a grace

1:12:37period after October 1? like, hey, you

1:12:40know, we picked up 5 and a half uh cubic

1:12:44yards of uh brush and so you would have

1:12:48been paying this much.

1:12:52>> Um I'm I don't understand a line of

1:12:54question. Can you repeat that again?

1:12:55>> Well, because I believe that we're

1:12:58already behind the curveball to put any

1:13:00notice out in September. We couldn't

1:13:03officially put notice of any fee

1:13:05increases until the council votes to

1:13:07approve them.

1:13:08>> So, we don't have a way to put it in

1:13:11utility bills for

1:13:12>> the month of September and then in

1:13:15October, you know, hey, we've started

1:13:18this, but by the time they get the

1:13:19notice, we're already charging them and

1:13:21it's already on their November bill.

1:13:23>> Understandable. And and that's that's

1:13:25doable. We can we can be flexible. If

1:13:28the city managers found with that, we

1:13:29can wait until November if that's the

1:13:31case. And that to give somebody 30 more

1:13:32days to get prepared for that.

1:13:40>> Sure, we can do that.

1:13:42>> Thank you. And then what's the

1:13:44difference between a rolloff container

1:13:46and the dumpsters that we see at

1:13:48businesses and apartment complexes?

1:13:51Uh the dumpster, the dumpsters and the

1:13:53roll. The difference between them is

1:13:55more so the size and uh the ability to

1:13:59like the rolloffs are like for

1:14:01construction demolition and type of

1:14:03things like that, really heavy material,

1:14:05big materials, while the dumpsters is

1:14:07more suited for uh household trash just

1:14:10like the 96 gallons that we put at uh

1:14:12curbside.

1:14:13And where I'm going with that one is I

1:14:16don't want residents of apartments. So

1:14:18anything above uh if I remember

1:14:22correctly what I was told at finance,

1:14:24anything above forplex becomes a

1:14:27commercial account. So I don't want

1:14:29those individuals to feel like because

1:14:32they're in an apartment complex and

1:14:33there's a dumpster that solid waste rate

1:14:35is going to go up and then they're

1:14:37paying more toward their rent bill.

1:14:40Um,

1:14:42>> I don't know how to answer that question

1:14:43to be honest with you right now.

1:14:45>> I it it rolloffs are not used at

1:14:48apartments. That is where I was really

1:14:51getting at is to make sure that's what's

1:14:53the difference because I want to make

1:14:55sure [snorts]

1:14:56>> there's a difference between the roll

1:14:57off and the the dumpsters you would have

1:14:59in an apartment complex or a business

1:15:01would be using because I don't want to

1:15:02see our small businesses coming up and

1:15:05struggling more because their utility

1:15:07bills are increasing because of this fee

1:15:09increase. So,

1:15:10>> okay.

1:15:10>> And just just to add the the rolloffs

1:15:13are the large rectangular containers if

1:15:16they only only one per truck. They're

1:15:18they're so large and that is actually

1:15:21the one area of garbage service that's

1:15:23competitive. There are are private

1:15:25contractors that do this and we are by

1:15:28many factors far under the the going

1:15:31rates of the privates. In fact, we're so

1:15:33far under I don't know how they have any

1:15:34business. Um but um it's it's mostly

1:15:37construction and and when we do the the

1:15:40collections around town sometimes those

1:15:42those are the big rectangular boxes you

1:15:44see. Those are the rolloffs. and and I

1:15:47recall seeing them out at the transfer

1:15:49station with Mr. Dudley when we went out

1:15:51there to look and actually, believe it

1:15:53or not, one or two of our competitors

1:15:54were out there, but

1:15:56>> I appreciate it. Thank you.

1:15:57>> Thank you,

1:15:58>> Council Member Williams.

1:16:01[clears throat]

1:16:04>> How you doing?

1:16:04>> How you doing, man?

1:16:05>> A lot of this you explained uh during

1:16:07our tour

1:16:09>> uh that we had and I appreciate that.

1:16:11And my question for you would be um does

1:16:14this ordinance provide reasonable

1:16:16accommodation for elderly uh the

1:16:19disabled or otherwise vulnerable

1:16:21residents who may have difficulty

1:16:22complying with collections requirements?

1:16:26>> It depends on what which one you're

1:16:29talking about like brush collection or

1:16:33>> I mean if they put it out at the road

1:16:35we're going to pick it up. uh we it's

1:16:37not our you know we can't bring it to

1:16:39the road for them in in that situation

1:16:42but if they can bring it to the road

1:16:43we'll again we'll service them like we

1:16:45service everybody else.

1:16:46>> Now when it comes to the non-collectible

1:16:49materials that's the same thing you know

1:16:51um if it's at the road we'll take care

1:16:53of it. Uh other than that I have no way

1:16:55of accommodating them to get it to the

1:16:57road other than just picking it up and

1:16:59servicing it when my trucks come

1:17:01through. Okay.

1:17:03>> All right. Well thank you. Appreciate

1:17:04it.

1:17:08Okay. There's no other m Mr. Mayor.

1:17:11>> Okay. And with that's it,

1:17:12>> Mr. Mayor. Yes. If you don't mind, I

1:17:14just just might add,

1:17:15>> go ahead, sir.

1:17:16>> Part of this part of the concept behind

1:17:18this if if you if you just have the

1:17:20regular residential container that you

1:17:22roll out to the street once a week and

1:17:24that's all you ever do. Um, for many

1:17:27years, you've been subsidizing all the

1:17:28people that put out lots of stuff at the

1:17:30curb. And rather than raise the rate for

1:17:32everybody, uh, we're trying to put the

1:17:35charge on the people actually creating

1:17:37the cost. That's sort of the concept

1:17:39behind this. And, and hopefully it will

1:17:41keep us, we've had this same rate, the

1:17:44the weekly garbage collection rate for a

1:17:46long time. And, and if this works as

1:17:49planned, we, you know, should be able to

1:17:51go a little bit longer without raising

1:17:53that uh, basic rate on everybody.

1:17:56>> Great.

1:17:58>> Great. Thank you, sir. Council

1:18:01member Brown,

1:18:04>> sorry, Mr. Dudley, just when you thought

1:18:06you escaped. [laughter]

1:18:08Can you remind me what the fee is for

1:18:11the non-collectible items?

1:18:14>> The non-collectible fee,

1:18:15>> uh, that's going to be $150 and $10 per

1:18:18cubic yard.

1:18:20>> $150. That's base rate, right?

1:18:23>> Yes, ma'am.

1:18:25>> And then 10 per cubic yard.

1:18:27>> Yeah. $10 per cubic yard.

1:18:30Okay.

1:18:31And so how does that affect us? Because

1:18:35in the past, currently, let me let me

1:18:37rephrase that. Currently, if a person or

1:18:42an entity puts something near their

1:18:44garbage collection

1:18:46that is non-colctible,

1:18:50>> it just sits there until code

1:18:52enforcement comes through them. Is that

1:18:54the way it currently works?

1:18:55>> Kind of. That's what it's been doing.

1:18:57you know, uh, we get calls from code

1:18:59enforcement about nuisance calls about,

1:19:01uh, CND and non-collectibles at

1:19:03curbside. Um, the only thing that we

1:19:05we've been doing now is trying to make

1:19:07contact with the customer and letting

1:19:08the customer know they have to remove

1:19:10it. And if they don't remove it, would

1:19:12end up happening, code enforcement end

1:19:13up getting involved by us putting this

1:19:15in place here. This going to help code

1:19:17enforcement as well as give us

1:19:19opportunity to uh, provide that

1:19:20information to the customer and let them

1:19:22know kind of, hey, look, you have to

1:19:24remove this off the side of the road. If

1:19:26you don't, then this is what going to

1:19:28happen. And they then we let them know

1:19:30that you can take it to the transfer

1:19:31station and we accept it at the transfer

1:19:33station and they can use their utility

1:19:35bill too as well.

1:19:36>> I have a house over here on the north

1:19:38side that I I can guarantee the property

1:19:41owners are going to love that because

1:19:42they have had a roll of carpet sitting

1:19:45outside for a couple of years that we

1:19:48haven't had a way to pick up or way to

1:19:50get through that. Code has been all

1:19:53credit to code enforcement. They've

1:19:55opened a case. they've done what they

1:19:56can with it, but you know it. So for a

1:20:00couple years that's just been sitting

1:20:02out there. I will go back to my previous

1:20:05question though on this one. Maybe not

1:20:07so much leeway on timing, but how are we

1:20:10going to put the word out there about

1:20:12the specific items that because if I

1:20:15leave a can of paint sitting on the

1:20:18ground next to my garbage can,

1:20:20>> Mhm.

1:20:21>> I would prefer you just leave it there.

1:20:23I don't feel like spending $160 for you

1:20:27to take that one can of paint away.

1:20:30>> So, how do we get that word out and make

1:20:32it so it's equitable? Because if there's

1:20:34two, three things that we can clearly

1:20:36see, I can't see charging them that much

1:20:39money for it.

1:20:40>> Okay. And that's I I get it. I

1:20:41understand. Um what we're going to do,

1:20:43we're going to we're going to knock at

1:20:45every door. We're going to leave uh

1:20:47pamphlets. We're going to also leave

1:20:49information on the material that's not

1:20:51supposed to be there along with the

1:20:53supervisor's card or the specialist card

1:20:55and we're going to follow up with that

1:20:57customer. We're going to get a customer

1:20:58opportunity after we let them know, hey,

1:21:00these things have to be removed. Um, and

1:21:03when it comes to paint, we'll let them

1:21:04know. Uh, certain paints, you know, if

1:21:06you put kitty litter in them and

1:21:08solidify them, you can solidify them

1:21:09that way and you could actually throw

1:21:11them away once they're dried out, you

1:21:13know. So, we'll take it that way so you

1:21:14won't have to worry about having that at

1:21:16curbside that way. So,

1:21:19>> I didn't know that, but that is great

1:21:21information to have. I I'll just say to

1:21:23save uh a little bit of the budget for

1:21:26your department instead of going out

1:21:28creating all these. I know Sikh has all

1:21:31the forms they use for uh the household

1:21:34hazardous waste collections. Most of the

1:21:36items that are on that are the items

1:21:38that we can uh deem non-colctible

1:21:41anyway.

1:21:41>> Yes. And so perhaps we could work with

1:21:44Sikitco, get some of those, stick a

1:21:46Colleen label on them and say, "Hey,

1:21:47look, put these out, pay this much."

1:21:51>> Okay.

1:21:52>> Just if you want, if that's how you want

1:21:54to use your budget, go ahead. But I'm

1:21:56trying to help you out.

1:21:57>> I get you. I appreciate that.

1:22:00>> Okay. Council Council Member Bess.

1:22:02>> Uh, Mayor, I was going to make a motion,

1:22:04but I see a couple of other people want

1:22:06to speak, so should I wait till after

1:22:08them?

1:22:10Uh you uh well it's a public hearing so

1:22:14we've got to do public hearing first.

1:22:16>> Yes sir.

1:22:17>> Yeah.

1:22:18>> Thank you sir. Council uh member

1:22:21Kendricks.

1:22:24All right. [clears throat] First first I

1:22:26don't want to throw no shade but um we

1:22:28actually did throw shade [clears throat]

1:22:30on our code enforcement. Um but um

1:22:33they're they're out. Um, I know I'm out

1:22:35and I I go through the neighborhoods and

1:22:39anything that I see out of place, I I

1:22:42take a snapshot and I I send this to

1:22:44code enforcement or I use what is called

1:22:47the Colleen Connect app

1:22:49>> and the citizens can use this app. Um,

1:22:53if you see your neighbors got something

1:22:55out there that don't belong, you can

1:22:57assist code enforcement, assist the city

1:23:00in in helping out with with removing

1:23:03these items. But I also know on the site

1:23:07itself, on the city site, they have a

1:23:10lot of little people say they kind of

1:23:12crazy little commercial like deals, but

1:23:15they also talk about this things that

1:23:17shouldn't be put out on the curb. and

1:23:20our citizens. We're putting stuff out

1:23:24on on our site to inform citizens and it

1:23:28comes to a point where a law officer

1:23:32told me this one time, ignorance to the

1:23:34law is no excuse. If it is put out there

1:23:38and there's ample amount of time for you

1:23:41to make your adjustments, then it is

1:23:44what it is. And we're we're not here to

1:23:46hold anybody's hand. We're going to put

1:23:49the notices out when the notices need to

1:23:51be put out, but also we need the

1:23:54citizens to read and get on the city

1:23:57website because a lot of this

1:23:59information is already out there.

1:24:01>> And that's all I have, Mr. Mayor.

1:24:03>> Council member Kimble.

1:24:08>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It be the last

1:24:09time I speak on this my second time, but

1:24:11I do want to uh just confirm with U.

1:24:14Councilman Kendrick, you know, when we

1:24:15go around the our the city and our

1:24:17districts and talking to citizens, one

1:24:19thing we always hear uh speeding uh we

1:24:22we hear uh code enforcement and we hear

1:24:25beautifification. And this is just

1:24:27obviously this is this is an effort to

1:24:29to improve that beautifification. I

1:24:31think it was on our on our um surveys

1:24:34and everything we do. People say the

1:24:35city looks bad and this is just this is

1:24:37just part of a plan that we keep

1:24:40building upon to add to our

1:24:42beautifification of the city. Thank you

1:24:43for your efforts, sir.

1:24:44>> Absolutely. I agree with you 100%.

1:24:46>> Okay. Thank you, sir.

1:24:48>> Thank you.

1:24:48>> I really appreciate it. With that said,

1:24:50I'm going to um

1:24:53call for public hearing. Public hearing

1:24:55is now open. Madame City Secretary,

1:24:58please call first person first name.

1:25:02>> There are no uh speakers signed up for

1:25:05public hearing 26028.

1:25:08>> Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Well, that case

1:25:11public hearing is now closed.

1:25:16Okay, that takes us.

1:25:20I want to uh we can take a I need a

1:25:22motion on this um consideration of the

1:25:25ordinance. Mayor Pro Tim.

1:25:30>> Yes, sir. I make a motion to approve.

1:25:33[clears throat]

1:25:37I make a motion to approve

1:25:41PH26-029.

1:25:48>> It's actually uh two um 28.

1:25:50>> I'm sorry, 28. I apologize. 28 26-028.

1:25:56>> Is there a second? Council member Bess,

1:25:59>> I second the motion, mayor.

1:26:01>> Okay. Is there any discussion?

1:26:04Council me Okay. All right. If there's

1:26:07no discussion, uh, signify

1:26:10yes.

1:26:12If you four, signify by yes. All oppose.

1:26:17No.

1:26:30Okay, the motion passed by to one with

1:26:33council member Brown opposing.

1:26:38>> Okay, thank you councel.

1:26:41>> Madame city secretary.

1:26:47>> Next item, please.

1:26:48>> Item 12, PH-26-029.

1:26:53Hold a public hearing and consider an

1:26:55ordinance amending the code of

1:26:56ordinances chapter 30 water sewers and

1:27:00sewage disposal to amend residential and

1:27:02commercial water rates and residential

1:27:05sewer rates.

1:27:07The ordinance caption reads, "An

1:27:09ordinance amending chapter 30, article 4

1:27:12of the code of ordinances of the city of

1:27:14Khen by amending commercial and

1:27:16residential water rates and residential

1:27:19sewer rates, providing for the repeal of

1:27:21conflicting provisions, providing for a

1:27:24savings clause, providing for

1:27:26publication and an effective date. And

1:27:29your honor, we do have one virtual

1:27:31commenter uh and she is waiting for the

1:27:34public hearing to start.

1:27:36Thank you. Um, good evening, Miss

1:27:39Stangler.

1:27:40>> Good evening. Thank you, mayor. Thank

1:27:41you, council members. This item is for

1:27:44chapter 30 ordinance rate amendments.

1:27:48Uh, a background. On July 7, 2020, the

1:27:51city council received the results of the

1:27:532020 water and sewer rate study. The

1:27:56study indicated that water revenues were

1:27:58insufficient to fully fund projected

1:28:01expenses to include infrastructure

1:28:03replacement. recommended a five-year

1:28:06phase approach to increase the base

1:28:07charge for commercial meters based on

1:28:10the American Waterworks Association

1:28:12standards for meter size capacities. Uh

1:28:14phase one uh was implemented in 23 2 24

1:28:183 and 25 phase 4 and 26 and we're doing

1:28:2120 uh phase five and 27. Uh all

1:28:24additional revenue created by the

1:28:26increases are proposed in the fiscal

1:28:28year 2027 budget are the phase five of

1:28:31the five-year commercial water rate

1:28:33increase. uh that will uh create 141,752

1:28:37in revenue, a 5% increase to residential

1:28:40waterbased rate, all meter sizes. Uh

1:28:43that it will increase revenues by

1:28:44523,726

1:28:47and a 65 cents increase to residential

1:28:50sewer base rate that will increase

1:28:52revenue by 425,360.

1:28:57This is the water rates residential

1:28:58proposed increases. As you can see it's

1:29:005% increase across the board for

1:29:03volumetric rate uh will be uh 5% for 2

1:29:06to 15,000 another 5% for 15 to 30,000

1:29:10and 3,000 gallons and over will be 10%.

1:29:16This is the proposed increase uh for a

1:29:18water race commercial that is the phase

1:29:2055 that we started in 2022.

1:29:23Um and then uh the uh amounts will match

1:29:26in a slide that I have next that it will

1:29:29be uh the five meter equivalents face in

1:29:33for commercial from the 2021 2020 uh

1:29:36rate study. So these are the uh the

1:29:39increases in 22 23 24 and this is the

1:29:42increases for this fiscal year.

1:29:48Uh for the sewer rates, you you see 65

1:29:50cents change for the minimum for first

1:29:523,000 gallons. That's the base rate for

1:29:55residential.

1:29:58And this will be a utility bill change.

1:30:01An average residential customer that

1:30:03spends uh 5,600 gallons of water per

1:30:06month will see a $2 increase, $25

1:30:09increase from uh the current um bill to

1:30:12the recommended uh rate. Uh an increase

1:30:15of 2.16%.

1:30:19recommendations that the city council

1:30:21approve the ordinance amending chapter

1:30:2330 water sewers and sewer disposal of

1:30:25Dakota ordinance to amend residential

1:30:27and commercial water and residential

1:30:29sewer rates as presented.

1:30:31I will be happy to answer any questions

1:30:33you may have.

1:30:35Council member Brown,

1:30:38>> Miss Tanglin,

1:30:40uh the council pre previously a couple

1:30:43months ago approved an increase on the

1:30:47uh lateral line insurance. Correct.

1:30:49>> Uh yes, ma'am.

1:30:50>> And that was another $1.50

1:30:53uh for the uh warranty.

1:30:56Uh what's the third?

1:30:58>> Last year.

1:30:59>> That was last year.

1:31:01We didn't increase it this year.

1:31:04Okay. I I remember seeing uh the

1:31:06presentation come up though. So in this

1:31:099680

1:31:11is the uh the sewer water and sewer line

1:31:15warranty. Is that included in that

1:31:17$96.80?

1:31:23>> No, it's not.

1:31:24>> It is not. Um

1:31:29does anybody Mr. Dr. Kaggel, do you

1:31:30happen to remember what that is per

1:31:33account? No, I can look it up real quick

1:31:36while someone else talks if if I need

1:31:38to.

1:31:38>> I don't have it off the top of my head.

1:31:39We can look we can look it up, too.

1:31:41>> Okay. I just We're getting like so close

1:31:44to having a minimum well average, but

1:31:48essentially a minimum uh $100 bill

1:31:51coming in the mail to people. Um we're

1:31:55my presumption is that this council's

1:31:58about to increase the tax rate and most

1:32:01definitely the tax levy.

1:32:04Um

1:32:06we just increased [music]

1:32:08another line item on the utility bill.

1:32:12um with increase well potentially when

1:32:15if someone has brush out there that

1:32:17increases a line item on their utility

1:32:20bill that automatically puts them up

1:32:22over $100 for that month. I'm just

1:32:25nervous about how much we push in a

1:32:27single year um where we're not nobody

1:32:31has that opportunity to adjust to small

1:32:34incremental changes. Thank you.

1:32:39>> Okay. Is there any other questions or

1:32:41concerns? Council member Kimble.

1:32:44>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Tangulant, are

1:32:45we um what what percentage of meters are

1:32:49are have the new meters on them where

1:32:51where we feel that that that the water

1:32:54is being, you know, metered at the at

1:32:57the at the right rate.

1:32:58>> I believe we have 15 out of 50 15,000

1:33:01out of 50,000.

1:33:02>> Okay.

1:33:04>> That are actually uh working.

1:33:06>> Okay.

1:33:06>> We're in phase three right now.

1:33:07>> Phase three. Okay. Yeah, I I do have the

1:33:10same concerns. Council uh council um

1:33:11council member Brown um you know, you

1:33:14keep you keep picking, you keep you keep

1:33:16hitting is um and and and as we know

1:33:20things things are tough and and and when

1:33:22it comes to operations and maintenance

1:33:25um those these those prices are

1:33:27continually increasing. Um, and we know

1:33:31that the future when it comes to water

1:33:33and electric electric use in the state

1:33:35of Texas, I mean, we there's there's no

1:33:37relief in sight. So, whatever that we

1:33:39can do, whether it be with the with the

1:33:41new meters, uh,

1:33:44conservation,

1:33:46um, we we have to find a way to help

1:33:49taxpayers and and and users, um, and

1:33:52whatever we can do with that, you know,

1:33:54through, you know, the your office, the

1:33:56manager's office. Uh but you know when

1:33:58you start looking at people on you know

1:33:59this is you don't you don't say this is

1:34:01a retirement community but there's a

1:34:03whole lot of retirement to retired

1:34:04people uh on this DAS and and out there

1:34:07in the uh in the uh in in

1:34:12the

1:34:13the hall and and those who are listening

1:34:15and those who are going to read about

1:34:17this but we we have to find a way to

1:34:21give them some relief. Um and and I as

1:34:24as as us as as as council members, we're

1:34:26going to have to do our part, but we

1:34:27have to have water. We know that. But we

1:34:29still need to find a way long term um to

1:34:33help people out. So, um thank thank you

1:34:37for being up, you know, upfront and

1:34:38honest about this, but um we're going to

1:34:41have to find a way to help people save

1:34:42money. So, thank you, ma'am.

1:34:45>> I completely understand if I may. Uh

1:34:48water and sewer fund. Just want to make

1:34:49you guys aware it's really tight. Uh

1:34:52this year uh for 27 uh we decreased uh

1:34:55the uh uh transfers for uh the water

1:34:57rehab uh uh maintenance. So uh if we

1:35:00don't increase the rates, we won't be

1:35:02able to be doing uh maintenance and uh

1:35:04water infrastructure.

1:35:11>> Council member Williams.

1:35:15>> Yes. I want to just echo what the

1:35:17council member was saying here and uh

1:35:19about the how hard it is um now even

1:35:23before they pay your bills. And so my

1:35:25question be what would this rate change

1:35:27mean for households that are already

1:35:28struggling uh to pay their utility bills

1:35:31and do you all have some type of plan uh

1:35:35for them uh to pay their bills if they

1:35:37can't make it?

1:35:39We do have a senior citizens plant uh uh

1:35:42at the um utility collection u building

1:35:46uh they can apply for um help for senior

1:35:49citizens and depending on the income. So

1:35:51we have a program right now running for

1:35:53them.

1:35:54>> Uh uh also uh the utility collection

1:35:57manager she is really uh flexible if a

1:36:01customer call and I want try to do

1:36:03payment plan uh we try to work with the

1:36:06customers.

1:36:06>> Okay. So there is a plan for them. Then

1:36:08if they're struggling to pay the bill,

1:36:11the city already have a plan for them.

1:36:13[clears throat]

1:36:13>> We do a payment plans. They just have to

1:36:15call and communicate that we definitely

1:36:17helping.

1:36:18>> Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it.

1:36:20>> Mayor Pro Tim.

1:36:22>> Thank you, Miss Tangelan. You said

1:36:23something that's very important. Um I

1:36:25think that I just need a little clarity

1:36:26for the constituents. Um so I understand

1:36:29to my colleagues point about it being

1:36:31tough. I I totally get it. Um, however,

1:36:34you mentioned that because the fund was

1:36:36tight that we'd be unable to complete

1:36:39maintenance services. Can you explain

1:36:40exactly what that looks like? Can you

1:36:42paint a picture for our constituents as

1:36:43to what that means to them specifically?

1:36:48>> Or Mr. K, do you mind if I do that? Oh,

1:36:49please. Thank you.

1:36:50>> Well, what she was trying to say, we had

1:36:52started a few years ago transferring

1:36:54about two million to the CIP for

1:36:56waterline replacement. It's not in there

1:36:58anymore. Um, this 2% you see, I think

1:37:02everybody understands that's well below

1:37:04CIP. But, but the CIP is a basket of

1:37:08goods and services that a consumer buys.

1:37:11We're we're not a normal consumer. We

1:37:13buy lots of things that aren't reflected

1:37:16in the CIP. And so, a municipal

1:37:19CIP is going to be a lot higher than

1:37:222.16. And um so we balanced this budget

1:37:26by no no more money for or there might

1:37:29be a couple hundred thousand. I forget

1:37:30exactly what it is uh for waterline

1:37:33replacement. And so we were we were very

1:37:37far behind. We made a little progress

1:37:39but now we're we're not making progress

1:37:41anymore. And I just want you to remember

1:37:43when we made this presentation, remember

1:37:45the chart of all of our competitive

1:37:47cities and our rates? We're at the

1:37:48bottom. Our water is cheap.

1:37:52um in almost you can look at larger

1:37:56cities, smaller cities, we have one of

1:37:58the best bargains going and not just

1:38:00that but the fact that we have plenty of

1:38:02supply as well. Um, so

1:38:06it it's also tough to watch line breaks

1:38:09and watch water pour on the ground that

1:38:11we pulled out of the lake over in Belt

1:38:13and spend all the money to treat to

1:38:15transfer it all the way over here, use

1:38:16the electricity to put it up in in the

1:38:18elevated storage tanks to pressurize the

1:38:20system and then see it go out on the

1:38:22ground. So it just I guess it just

1:38:24depends on how you want to look at it.

1:38:27>> Thank you,

1:38:29Council Member Brown.

1:38:34July 23rd, 2025, the council voted to

1:38:38approve an increase or renew the

1:38:41contract with SLWA,

1:38:43which then put a fee of uh increase from

1:38:4850 cents per account to $1.33 per

1:38:52account on the utility bills. And that's

1:38:54the insurance for the lateral water and

1:38:56sewer lines that go through uh the

1:38:59public right ofway. As

1:39:02Monday I went ahead and looked that part

1:39:04up. Um

1:39:07that is tough news, Miss Tanglin and Mr.

1:39:09Kaggel that you know without increasing

1:39:13water rates uh we may not be at a point

1:39:17where we can do any of our maintenance

1:39:20for the coming fiscal year.

1:39:22>> Be careful not

1:39:25>> maintenance waterline replacement

1:39:26>> or replacement rather. Thank you.

1:39:29replacement. And and that kind of brings

1:39:31me to where I guess I wanted to go with

1:39:34this is to Mr. Kaggel's point. Every

1:39:37time we have a water line break, that's

1:39:41not a couple gallons of water that we

1:39:44end up just discharging out into our

1:39:47drainage system. That's tens of

1:39:49thousands

1:39:51depending on how large that break is.

1:39:54that can be hundreds of thousands of

1:39:56gallons of water. Uh depending on the

1:39:58severity, how large that man is, how

1:40:01long it takes anybody to report it in

1:40:04because it's not like we have a magic

1:40:07ball that sees the whole count the city

1:40:09where we can tell there's a water line

1:40:11break and where it is.

1:40:14I do think there are things that as a

1:40:16city we can do to cut back on that. Um

1:40:20water our our yards less, water the

1:40:22parks less.

1:40:24And and my personal pet peeve is the

1:40:27city paying to put in street trees that

1:40:30we are, you know, they they also need

1:40:33water. All that foliage that we put to

1:40:35make the sides of the streets pretty, we

1:40:37are going to have to decide really

1:40:39quick. Do we want the aesthetic where

1:40:41it's pretty or do we want to save money?

1:40:44Um, and it's up to y'all to tell us

1:40:46which one you prefer moving forward. If

1:40:49you want the sides of the streets to

1:40:51look nicer, to have those trees, to have

1:40:53those flowers, then you need to let us

1:40:55know that. But understand that that

1:40:57comes with a cost and an increase in the

1:40:59water rates. The only way that we can

1:41:02afford to continue doing that. If you

1:41:04would prefer that we don't do that, then

1:41:07that is a decision the council has to

1:41:09make every time a project comes up.

1:41:12But we have to be told that, too,

1:41:14because our 2040 plan does call for

1:41:17streetscaping. So, if we're going to not

1:41:19abide by that, then it has to come from

1:41:22the citizens.

1:41:22>> Council member Brown, your time is up.

1:41:26>> Council member Kendricks.

1:41:33>> All right. [clears throat]

1:41:35I understand everybody's um concern, but

1:41:38I'm I'm kind of also with the mayor pro

1:41:41Tim. We have to understand when there

1:41:44comes a time when we have to re replace

1:41:47those water lines or main or something

1:41:49like that to do maintenance. Um, we are

1:41:53still below

1:41:57the the the earmark of other cities our

1:41:59size. And I think on the slide that we

1:42:03had um back in June or July, we still

1:42:07was about $10 under that. And I think we

1:42:12are we are doing good. Um it it really

1:42:16isn't the city's fault that prices are

1:42:18going up on everything. Um the repair

1:42:23things, the prices are going up. And so

1:42:26we have to be prepared

1:42:29to to be able to repair things because

1:42:32if we are not prepared to repair things

1:42:36and when it happened, the first thing is

1:42:39going to be said, you had the

1:42:40opportunity to make sure you had the

1:42:44money to do these things. And so it's a

1:42:48tough decision that you have to make,

1:42:51but it is a decision that will better

1:42:55our for our citizens. It's tough

1:42:58decisions in everything that we make,

1:43:00but the decision is to prepare for the

1:43:04worst case scenario if we don't have

1:43:06money in there. So that is what I want

1:43:09to say to to my colleagues. I I

1:43:12understand prices are going up and but

1:43:16we still have to prepare. We we have to

1:43:18prepare. It does us no justice. It does

1:43:21the citizens no justice if we are not

1:43:24prepared for a major incident or

1:43:28something that happens with our water

1:43:29lines. Thank you.

1:43:33>> Okay. Um

1:43:36Okay. Well, there's no further

1:43:37discussion. Thank you, ma'am.

1:43:38>> Thank you. I'm going to open up the uh

1:43:41public hearing now.

1:43:43Public hearing is now open. City

1:43:46Secretary.

1:43:47>> Yeah.

1:43:50>> Our virtual speaker is Heather McMillan.

1:43:57>> Good evening, council and staff.

1:44:00>> Good evening.

1:44:02>> Um I strongly oppose the rate increase

1:44:05for the water and sewage services. First

1:44:07and foremost, my opposition comes from

1:44:10the fact that the fact that there's

1:44:12possibly misappropriated usage of these

1:44:14funds, such as $40,000 for the drainage

1:44:18fund for plants to look pretty near the

1:44:20mall. Over $360,000

1:44:23of the utility funds are allocated to

1:44:26KEDC for who knows what. And by the way,

1:44:30that doesn't include that this same

1:44:31nonprofit receives $80,000 eight

1:44:35$800,000

1:44:37from the general fund. And as also,

1:44:40let's not forget the money that has been

1:44:42given to the golf course the past few

1:44:44years out of these funds. If funds from

1:44:47the utilities were not allocated to just

1:44:49a few of these items, water revenue

1:44:51would not be insufficient and there

1:44:54could be maintenance this year and any

1:44:56other year. Or my question is, were

1:44:59these types of items budgeted all along

1:45:02with fee increases in mind? If so, be

1:45:05honest with the citizens of Colleen

1:45:08because the examples I gave are just one

1:45:10drainage product project and one

1:45:13nonprofit using fees that you now want

1:45:16to increase. How many other projects and

1:45:19nonprofits are funded the same way with

1:45:21these fees? US [clears throat] council

1:45:24have asked for accounting and

1:45:26accountability from some of our

1:45:27community partners like FIC and IBCC

1:45:32but not all community partners you have

1:45:34requested this type of information from.

1:45:36You should be required in the same

1:45:38accountability and accounting from all

1:45:40community partners and also include city

1:45:43departments like water and sewer. These

1:45:46sponge should not be used as a slush

1:45:48fund for whatever. As those few examples

1:45:52I've given you are a prime example of

1:45:54why you should be asking those questions

1:45:57starting today. By asking the questions

1:45:59and giving citizens true transparency.

1:46:03Second, increasing rates on water and

1:46:05sewage for these types of slush funds is

1:46:08just wrong when not all services are

1:46:09even available to all residents. Now, if

1:46:13you want to increase rates to bricks

1:46:15drainage ditches, like on Onion Road,

1:46:17where a man almost died on July 4th this

1:46:19year and was in a coma from his injuries

1:46:21from unsafe conditions of a drainage

1:46:24area, or road and street lights on an

1:46:27unsafe valley road drainage area, or

1:46:30assist galvanized line replacements

1:46:33for,300 homes to have safe drinking

1:46:35water, or possibly septic tank removal

1:46:38system program, or even a FEMA flood

1:46:41zone. map to update the drainage plan to

1:46:44prevent many of these drainage water and

1:46:45sewage issues in the futures. I would

1:46:48not be opposed to the increased rates

1:46:50because that's helping our citizens and

1:46:52our cities in the long run. So again, be

1:46:56real with me. Please tell me how does

1:46:58pretty plants

1:47:00May I have one more minute, please?

1:47:03[music]

1:47:05>> Yes, you may.

1:47:07>> So again, be real with me. Please tell

1:47:09me how does Pretty Plants by the Mall

1:47:12and the EDC, a nonprofit and a golf

1:47:15course help me, the average citizen

1:47:18because I believe most citizens want

1:47:20their money to go to the don't want to

1:47:22go to those things either. Do not

1:47:24increase these rates so you all continue

1:47:26to have a slush fund for unnecessary

1:47:29items when we have real issues where

1:47:31those funds and fees can be used for.

1:47:34Thank you. I would like a qu I would

1:47:36like the answer on why we are giving EDC

1:47:40$360,000

1:47:43extra money as a nonprofit

1:47:46as somebody likes to quote. They don't

1:47:48like to give money to nonprofits on that

1:47:50council. So we're giving them now over a

1:47:53million dollar a year. I do have a

1:47:56question. $360,000

1:47:59extra dollars out of that. I would like

1:48:01an answer. Thank you.

1:48:05Thank you, ma'am, for your comments.

1:48:07Madam City Secretary,

1:48:10>> there are no other speakers for this

1:48:12public hearing.

1:48:14>> There's no other Okay, with that said,

1:48:18um

1:48:20public hearing is closed.

1:48:23Uh council, I would entertain a motion

1:48:25to consider the ordinance.

1:48:28Council member Bess.

1:48:32>> Mayor,

1:48:34I make a motion that the city council

1:48:36approve the ordinance amending chapter

1:48:3830 water sewers and sewer disposals

1:48:42disposal of the code of ordinances to

1:48:44amend residential and commercial water

1:48:46and residential sewer rates as

1:48:48presented.

1:48:51>> Is there a second? Uh, Council Member

1:48:53Williams,

1:48:56>> I second it.

1:48:58>> Is there any discussion?

1:49:01>> Council member Brown.

1:49:07>> Mr. Kaggel, can you explain why we take

1:49:10funds from the water department and give

1:49:12them to KEDC, please? Well, I can I can

1:49:15answer that, but there was a lot of

1:49:16mathematical problems in the statements

1:49:18that were made, but that was accurate.

1:49:21About 360,000 comes out of the water and

1:49:24sewer fund. And and when this was

1:49:26started, I don't know how long ago,

1:49:28decades ago. Um the idea was the general

1:49:31fund and the water fund were the two

1:49:33largest funds in the city and both

1:49:35benefit from economic development. So,

1:49:36they both shared. There's more that

1:49:38comes out of the general fund than the

1:49:39water and sewer fund, but that's the the

1:49:41basic concept.

1:49:45What benefit does economic development

1:49:48bring to the water fund?

1:49:51>> Uh, more customers.

1:49:54>> I'm going to very respectfully say more

1:49:57customers and more revenue, but also

1:49:59more expense.

1:50:00>> Sure. Yeah. You asked me where I thought

1:50:03this came from. It's been done for

1:50:04decades. I gave you the best answer I've

1:50:06got.

1:50:08Realistically,

1:50:10is there some a different place that we

1:50:13can get KDC money from rather than Well,

1:50:16let me back that up. How is it that

1:50:19we're allowed to even take um money from

1:50:24an enterprise fund and put it into a

1:50:26non-governmental use?

1:50:30>> Well, it is a governmental use. KEDC is

1:50:33the city of Colleen. I'm I'm sorry. A

1:50:35nonoperational.

1:50:38>> Well, I would argue that it is

1:50:40operational as opposed to if you're

1:50:42talking about operations and capital,

1:50:43that's operations, economic development.

1:50:46Just as if we had if if KDC didn't exist

1:50:50and we had an economic development

1:50:52department in the city, it would be fun.

1:50:53It could be funded out of the general

1:50:55fund and the utility fund. It could be

1:50:57um

1:50:59so

1:51:00>> and I promise I'm not trying to be

1:51:02confrontational. I I just don't see how

1:51:05KDC is an operation of water and sewer

1:51:08within the city and and in the budget

1:51:10it's listed under the the nonoperational

1:51:13breakdown of costs.

1:51:16>> I understand what you're saying, but I I

1:51:18was looking at it differently between

1:51:19operations and capital. Um, no, it can

1:51:22all come from the general fund if that's

1:51:24what you want.

1:51:26>> Okay. I just wanted to give our citizen

1:51:28an answer as to the money coming out of

1:51:31the water fund.

1:51:33Um,

1:51:34>> and and and money is not going to buy

1:51:36pretty plants by the mall from the water

1:51:38fund. Money is not going to the golf

1:51:40course from the water fund.

1:51:42>> No, but to your point, she did say that

1:51:44the the foliage or the the plants came

1:51:47out of the drainage fund. Um,

1:51:49>> yeah, we're talking about the water and

1:51:50sewer fund,

1:51:51>> correct? But she did specify out of the

1:51:53drainage fund. So, thank you.

1:51:57>> Okay. If there's no other discussion,

1:52:00um,

1:52:01all in favor

1:52:03of the motion, signify by saying yes.

1:52:06Those opposed, no.

1:52:15Motion pass five

1:52:18to

1:52:19one with council member Brown opposing.

1:52:24Thank you. We're going to take a uh few

1:52:27minutes break here. 10-minute break.

1:52:56We'll call the meeting back to order.

1:53:00Madame city secretary, uh the next item

1:53:03budget. Uh we will now go into

1:53:08um items that related to our budget and

1:53:11tax rate.

1:53:13Um it is a public hearing and only on

1:53:17the tax rate.

1:53:19>> Yes sir. Secretary

1:53:21>> item 13 PH-26-030

1:53:26hold a public hearing on the proposed

1:53:28tax rate for the fiscal year beginning

1:53:30October 1, 2026 and ending September

1:53:3430th, 2027.

1:53:38>> Hello again, Mr. Kegel.

1:53:40>> Mayor and Council, so I get the pleasure

1:53:42of standing up and talking about

1:53:44everybody's favorite topic, taxes.

1:53:47Um, and just a a little bit a little bit

1:53:51of commentary. Uh, there are no good

1:53:53taxes. Nobody likes taxes. Um, but

1:53:59we're funded basically by the property

1:54:01tax. And and whether it's property or

1:54:03whatever it is, the best tax is one

1:54:05that's a very low rate that everybody

1:54:07pays.

1:54:10And that way you get good compliance

1:54:12when it's a low rate most people pay.

1:54:15But uh what we've done in Texas is is

1:54:18state and local governments funded

1:54:19really three ways. Income taxes,

1:54:22property taxes, sales taxes. We don't

1:54:23have an income tax. Nothing wrong with

1:54:25that. Typically means your property and

1:54:28your uh sales taxes are are going to be

1:54:30a little higher.

1:54:33But then we've taken that another step

1:54:34forward and

1:54:37given many many exemptions. And I'm not

1:54:40just talking about the veterans

1:54:41exemption. Not even going to talk about

1:54:42that tonight. Uh but there are lots of

1:54:45other exemptions that the state gives

1:54:47out that the state doesn't

1:54:50um levy a property tax but they give out

1:54:53lots of tax abatements. So that means

1:54:55the group of people that actually pay

1:54:57taxes are getting smaller and smaller

1:55:00and smaller.

1:55:02And so

1:55:04it I like to complain about taxes too,

1:55:07but that's one of the big reasons that

1:55:09that's such a big topic in Texas is

1:55:12because what we're doing to people is we

1:55:15have decided that the wealthiest segment

1:55:17of our society, those over 65, you can

1:55:19go to the census data and see it, that

1:55:22they can't pay their taxes, so we got to

1:55:24freeze them or exempt them. And the

1:55:26state's bragging today about how many

1:55:28people now pay zero property taxes. But

1:55:31when you got so many people that are

1:55:33frozen, the wealthiest segment, does

1:55:35Jerry Jones really need a property tax

1:55:37brace on his house in Highland Park?

1:55:41That means there's a certain segment of

1:55:42society that's going to be paying a lot.

1:55:44Now, we're talking about our taxes. So,

1:55:47we got to talk about that. All that

1:55:48other stuff's a given. That was just my

1:55:50frustration and and commentary with the

1:55:52way we're we're doing things. Um,

1:55:57we don't provide, and we'll talk about

1:55:59the budget in a minute, but regards to

1:56:01the tax rate, which funds that budget,

1:56:03we don't provide a lot of extravagant

1:56:05services. We're we're not into social

1:56:06services. Very, very small. We've we've

1:56:09talked a whole lot about homeless

1:56:11services, but that's about all we do as

1:56:14far as social services. We're the

1:56:16basics. We fund police and fire and

1:56:19streets and then to a much lesser extent

1:56:23parks and wreck and libraries and that's

1:56:25pretty much our general fund. Um, and

1:56:28it's funded primarily by property tax

1:56:30and sales tax. And so we're now to this

1:56:34calendar. It says the budget calendar.

1:56:36It's also the tax rate calendar. And you

1:56:38see we started back in February and now

1:56:40we're at September 1st and uh we're

1:56:43having this public hearing on the

1:56:45proposed tax rate. You know, our current

1:56:48rate is here. It's set.7014.

1:56:55Now, uh the state has a lot of laws and

1:56:57regulations and they've determined what

1:56:59a a no new revenue rate. It it's a rate

1:57:03that generates the same tax revenue as

1:57:05the prior year from properties taxed in

1:57:07both years. And that that's a a very

1:57:10slight increase at 7048.

1:57:15Our proposed rate 7215.

1:57:18That's the the rate uh we've used to

1:57:21develop this budget and and then it was

1:57:24amended. And then the voter approval

1:57:27rate is 7302. If we go above that, it

1:57:30triggers an automatic election.

1:57:34The tax rate that I'm recommending

1:57:36tonight is 7301.

1:57:39Uh you can adopt tonight, you can adopt

1:57:42a tax rate that's lower than that, but

1:57:43you can't go higher without starting a

1:57:45whole new new process and that would

1:57:47take us to the end of September.

1:57:50um from our certified roll that you see

1:57:54the the similar numbers what's being

1:57:56proposed [clears throat] the 7301

1:58:00is an increase of 0287

1:58:04and what does that mean well let me look

1:58:06at historically

1:58:08um you can see in uh 21 22 23 24 when

1:58:15property rates

1:58:17property values really started going up

1:58:19we did reduce the rate and we were under

1:58:21some of those statemanded mandated rates

1:58:23for quite a while. Um,

1:58:26we're still not up to the 2020 high, but

1:58:32as has been said before, property values

1:58:34are a lot higher now. I just think this

1:58:36shows we've tried to do the best we can

1:58:38with a tax rate in the past um since

1:58:422019.

1:58:47So the recommended preliminary rate of

1:58:5073.01

1:58:53generates a levy of 78,27,959

1:59:01which would provide uh a balance which

1:59:03would meet the requirements of the

1:59:05budget. If we would adopt a tax rate

1:59:07that's lower than that, we're going to

1:59:09have to uh make some budget reductions,

1:59:13taxpayer impact. So on in 26 these are

1:59:18the these are the current numbers

1:59:22and the proposed numbers for fiscal year

1:59:262027

1:59:28and that would be a difference on the

1:59:30median homestead value. Now the state

1:59:34uses two different terms in in two

1:59:38different ways. I'll show you that.

1:59:39Number one is the median. That's if you

1:59:41list all the values from the lowest to

1:59:43the highest. the one right in the

1:59:44middle. No, I'm sorry. That's uh that is

1:59:47the median. That's the median. It's the

1:59:49one that's right in the middle. And so

1:59:51that is would be an increase of $237.

1:59:55I I'm sorry. On the value, let me back

1:59:57up. The estimated city tax bill would be

2:00:00an increase of $6848

2:00:05or $5.71

2:00:07a month.

2:00:09The reason I talked about this number is

2:00:12because when we do an advertisement,

2:00:14I'll show you here in a minute, they say

2:00:16you use the mean, which is the average.

2:00:18Sometimes those two are close and

2:00:21sometimes they can be very far apart. I

2:00:23don't think that was done intentionally.

2:00:24It just happened.

2:00:28And so, um, on our notice when we had to

2:00:33put the notice in the paper, um, I can't

2:00:36enlarge this, but if you can see it down

2:00:39here, you can see right right there,

2:00:41right there it says average. That's

2:00:44mean. That's the average. You take all

2:00:46the values and you average them up and

2:00:48you get some slightly different numbers.

2:00:49So, I just want everybody to know

2:00:52we're doing what the state tells us to.

2:00:54It just sometimes doesn't make a lot of

2:00:56sense.

2:01:01Oops. Let me go back. And so, um,

2:01:06that's the proposed tax rate and we have

2:01:08a a public hearing tonight, but I'd be

2:01:10happy to answer any questions before the

2:01:11hearing that you might have.

2:01:15>> Okay. council. Uh, Council Member Brown,

2:01:20>> just to make sure I I have it correct,

2:01:23you said approximately 1 cent on the tax

2:01:26rate is a million dollars in revenue to

2:01:28the city.

2:01:28>> Yes, ma'am. It's a tiny bit. I don't

2:01:30have the exact number, but yes, that I

2:01:31would say that. Yes.

2:01:32>> Thank you,

2:01:37>> Council Member Nash King. Let the record

2:01:39show that Council Member Nash King is

2:01:41here.

2:01:42>> Yes, sir. I was Yes, sir.

2:01:46Um Mr. Kagel, thank you and um the

2:01:49finance team for your hard work and

2:01:51council. We um have gone over this a lot

2:01:54and gave a lot of input on it. Um there

2:01:57is a need and I can understand the

2:02:00residents concern and reference to in

2:02:03reality no one wants their taxes raised,

2:02:07>> right?

2:02:08But I don't know how we can get around

2:02:11to continue to provide the services that

2:02:14are necessary to keep our city afloat.

2:02:18Some of the biggest things I know the

2:02:20council was concerned about the

2:02:22incentives to pay the insurance. We want

2:02:25to ensure that our employees are taken

2:02:27care of because they work extremely

2:02:28hard. And the things that I really care

2:02:31about, well, our safety first, correct?

2:02:34the safety should come first, but it's

2:02:36also the quality of life when it comes

2:02:38to the basic services that we provide

2:02:41that I noticed that some cities do not

2:02:43even provide those services. We go

2:02:45beyond like if we give the brush on the

2:02:48street, stuff like that, we try to go

2:02:50and pick it up and try to help out move

2:02:52big furniture. Even though there's a fee

2:02:54to that now, why is that? because it has

2:02:57to be in order for us to continue to

2:02:59operate and our the maintenance on our

2:03:02vehicles, our employees, they want more

2:03:05employees. Yes, we all want more. We

2:03:08need more employees, but it comes with a

2:03:10price. So, I'm just grateful that we uh

2:03:14the council we the council have have

2:03:16really had this deep discussion and

2:03:18dived into it, listened to the

2:03:20residents, and I know they the residents

2:03:22still have some concerns, but if there

2:03:24is a a magic wand that we can have to

2:03:27come up with a solution that is

2:03:29functional for everyone, I think we

2:03:32would have used that wand by now. So,

2:03:35with the best we could do with the

2:03:36resources we have, thank you all.

2:03:40And I I picked on Jerry Jones, but I

2:03:42turned 65 this year, so I mean I I don't

2:03:46know why my taxes are frozen either.

2:03:50>> Council member Kimble.

2:03:53>> Thank you. Uh Mr. Mayor, hey, Mr. Keg,

2:03:55if you could can we can you give give me

2:03:59an explanation? And you you you you told

2:04:01me why the average and the mean is

2:04:03different. But but the total tax levy

2:04:08that that's different from

2:04:10>> Sure.

2:04:11>> that number should be the same, right? I

2:04:13mean, or

2:04:14>> No, but because we're going to have the

2:04:16the tax rate on the total taxable base.

2:04:20That's that's going to be the same. But

2:04:22but what the state has said is what how

2:04:26does that impact

2:04:28an average homeowner? But they use two

2:04:31different terms. One they said use the

2:04:33average and [clears throat] one they

2:04:35said use the median. So for instance the

2:04:39estimated city tax bill using the median

2:04:44homestead value is $1,699.

2:04:49And if I go over here to the ad where we

2:04:53used the average, it is um

2:04:58>> 1681. Is that what it is?

2:04:59>> Let me find it. I can I can barely see

2:05:01the 1,770.

2:05:04Okay.

2:05:05>> So, using the mean, the number is 1,770

2:05:10and using the median, it's 1,699.

2:05:14Not not a huge difference, but I just

2:05:15want people to know these are not

2:05:17mistakes. We're We're following the law,

2:05:19>> but the total tax levy is a $4 million

2:05:23difference.

2:05:24>> Um, no sir, let me go back. Our our

2:05:27total um the total levy

2:05:32um is 78,27,959.

2:05:40That that's that's the the taxes. When

2:05:42you add up all the commercial, all the

2:05:44residential, multif family, everything

2:05:46on the tax rate,

2:05:49this

2:05:51number is is uh

2:05:54>> advertised in the papers as 74 million

2:05:57746.

2:06:00>> Let me go back to that. Oops, going the

2:06:02wrong way.

2:06:11It is. So

2:06:15>> that calculation is provided by the tax

2:06:17district.

2:06:19>> Okay. We don't put the we don't get to

2:06:22do this calculation.

2:06:24>> Okay.

2:06:24>> It's the the appraisal district that

2:06:27does that, but

2:06:32>> this is ours.

2:06:33>> Yeah. I mean that's that's $4 million.

2:06:37Yep. That's poor.

2:06:38>> Well,

2:06:41we know what our taxable value is and we

2:06:44know what the rate is. Um,

2:06:48>> I'll just say there have been a lot of

2:06:49issues,

2:06:50>> okay,

2:06:50>> over there this year.

2:06:55>> Is that good?

2:06:56>> So, for the sake of this conversation,

2:06:58we're going off we'll be

2:07:01>> Yes, sir. This will be doing the

2:07:02proposed 2027

2:07:04number or with a total levy of 782 78

2:07:08million.

2:07:09>> Yes, sir.

2:07:12>> Okay, that's all I have. Thank you, Mr.

2:07:14Mayor.

2:07:15>> Council may approach [clears throat]

2:07:16two.

2:07:21>> Mr. Google just just for [clears throat]

2:07:23clarity sake on this again. So when

2:07:25you're looking at these two different

2:07:26numbers, are we saying I know you said

2:07:28the appraisal district gives you no

2:07:30choice there to calculate it that way on

2:07:32the average versus the uh median. So

2:07:36would this average then be considered

2:07:37the worst case scenario based on the

2:07:40formula and then what we're looking at

2:07:41with the median as our actual based on

2:07:44what we know our average home prices

2:07:46are?

2:07:48Well, the the numbers we're talking

2:07:50about are what

2:07:54an average or the median that they what

2:07:59they would pay.

2:08:00>> So, um

2:08:03I I believe uh the numbers that we have

2:08:08here are correct [clears throat] on the

2:08:12estimated

2:08:15tax bill.

2:08:18as well

2:08:20as these numbers. The average homestead

2:08:25uh tax on the I can't get the line

2:08:28right, but the tax on the average

2:08:30homestead, that's I believe that is

2:08:32correct, too.

2:08:33>> Okay. And so to the the folks that are

2:08:36listening at home, if if the council

2:08:38does approve the 7301

2:08:41recommended rate, um they

2:08:44[clears throat] are on average looking

2:08:46at approximately $5.71

2:08:49monthly.

2:08:49>> Yes, ma'am.

2:08:50>> As an increase,

2:08:52$5.71 on their tax bill.

2:08:54>> Yes, ma'am.

2:08:55>> Okay. Thank you.

2:08:56>> Per month. Yes.

2:08:56>> Per month. Thank you.

2:08:59Council member Brown.

2:09:03>> Council member Brown.

2:09:04>> I was trying to get the microphone to

2:09:06come on. Okay. I apologize for circling

2:09:10back to this one more time.

2:09:13>> On the one we're seeing right now,

2:09:16[clears throat] that doesn't account for

2:09:19if we have twice as many homes that cost

2:09:23a half a million dollars than we do that

2:09:26cost

2:09:28$50,000.

2:09:30It just says this is the exact middle

2:09:32point in your housing market. Correct.

2:09:35The median.

2:09:38>> Yes.

2:09:39>> Okay. And then on the other one where

2:09:41it's our average home price, that takes

2:09:45every single property, adds it together,

2:09:48divides it by that total number,

2:09:51>> and that on average each person pays

2:09:53that. Now, some people, if your [snorts]

2:09:56house is only valued at $100,000, you're

2:09:58going to pay a lot less than this.

2:09:59>> Yes, ma'am.

2:10:00>> If your house is valued at $600,000,

2:10:03you're going to pay a lot more than

2:10:04that. Right.

2:10:05>> Right.

2:10:06>> And then when we do the budget,

2:10:09correct me if I'm wrong, you take that

2:10:11that tax rate and you multiply it out by

2:10:14the certified tax roles to come up with

2:10:18how much revenue goes into the budget.

2:10:20>> Correct? I just hope that helps to

2:10:23clarify it for some of our citizens who

2:10:26are watching. Thank you.

2:10:32>> Okay. Is there any other discussion?

2:10:34>> Okay. There's no other discussion. Uh

2:10:37Mr. Kaggel, thank you sir on that one.

2:10:40>> Um having said that, I'm going to open

2:10:43up u public hearing now is open.

2:10:48Madam City Secretary.

2:10:53>> Yes sir. The first speaker is Michael

2:10:55Fernino.

2:11:04[snorts]

2:11:10Comment was made. Don't know how to cut

2:11:13back things or words to that effect.

2:11:17How many things in this city all this

2:11:20last two years, as I mentioned before,

2:11:23we've got road projects that are

2:11:24languishing. How much money did we spend

2:11:27on that? And how much money are we

2:11:28spending further on projects that are

2:11:30behind schedule and over budget? We

2:11:33don't need to send people to a USA every

2:11:35year. Little things like that in the

2:11:37aggregate, it all adds up.

2:11:41We're in no danger. I mean, as Mr.

2:11:44Kaggel said about sales tax. All right.

2:11:46People can't spend what they don't earn.

2:11:48I've used this example

2:11:51time and time again. What's the most

2:11:53expensive watch you can buy in Khen?

2:11:56What's the most expensive and nicest car

2:11:58you can buy in Khen?

2:12:01We're in no danger of having Ethan Allen

2:12:03open up a store in this town. Why?

2:12:06Because that's a reflection of our

2:12:08buying power. Our buying power is tied

2:12:10to our earning power.

2:12:13If we could have a decent wage where our

2:12:15tax money keeps going to places like the

2:12:18EDC that we never see any benefit of, we

2:12:20never get a choice as people where this

2:12:23almost million dollars a year, year over

2:12:25year goes, we don't have any say in it

2:12:27what to develop. We're just taking their

2:12:30word for it. I

2:12:33that's all of our money. We have nothing

2:12:35to show from the EDC, whether it be the

2:12:38grocery store. Think back. I realize

2:12:40this is going back in history, but

2:12:42imagine what this town would have looked

2:12:43like if we had had the Dell headquarters

2:12:45and Toyota building pickup trucks here.

2:12:49Imagine the economic power and that

2:12:51triad right there. The Fort Toyota and

2:12:54Dell. Imagine what this town would look

2:12:56like now. Time after time, I say this

2:12:59council, this body lacks over the

2:13:03horizon thinking. They can't correct

2:13:05that. We're never going to get a Dell or

2:13:08Toyota. Everybody's worried about their

2:13:10own little piece of the pie around here.

2:13:11When it comes to taxation, we need to

2:13:14get a break. Hey, we have to adjust our

2:13:17budget every time the taxes and the fees

2:13:19go up. The street maintenance fee, which

2:13:21is a tax by a different name. Street

2:13:24maintenance. Yeah, I get the street

2:13:26sweeper down my street from time to

2:13:27time, but I've yet to see anybody

2:13:29actually repaving it, resurfacing it,

2:13:31maintaining it. maintenance around here

2:13:34seems to be let's wait until the road

2:13:35falls apart and then we got to spend 18

2:13:3820 $25 million to rebuild the road and

2:13:41then we do that

2:13:43it takes forever it goes over cost over

2:13:46schedule

2:13:48tighten your budgets not ours I mean

2:13:50that's that's just common sense I don't

2:13:52have to be Milton Freriedman or Thomas

2:13:55Soul or any big economic theorist to

2:13:57know this there's too many projects too

2:14:00many things that are being spent

2:14:02frivolously

2:14:03tighten up the city's budget, not ours.

2:14:06I'm sick of it. I mean, look around. I

2:14:09mean, if we were such a powerhouse, tax

2:14:10money went to that museum that was

2:14:12promised millions upon millions of

2:14:13people are going to come here. Where are

2:14:15they?

2:14:15>> Time is up, sir.

2:14:16>> They're not spending money here.

2:14:20>> Madam City Secretary,

2:14:22>> second speaker is Dr. Sue Nissi Croft.

2:14:38I'm standing at this podium tonight

2:14:41because our city is trapped in a

2:14:43destructive financial loop. For multiple

2:14:46physical uh cycles, we have watched a

2:14:49repetitive pattern play out. Early

2:14:51warnings about structural deficits are

2:14:54presented, but instead of tightening our

2:14:56operational belts, we paper over the

2:14:59cracks. We shuffle funds, expand

2:15:01long-term debt liabilities, and pass

2:15:04late night budget amendments that add

2:15:06millions in permanent payroll costs.

2:15:09Then we turn around and ask our

2:15:11homeowners of this city to pick up the

2:15:14tab through higher property taxes. We

2:15:18are told that our hands are tied because

2:15:20the statemandated veterans exemptions

2:15:22the drain that drain over 13 million

2:15:25annually from our tax. That revenue loss

2:15:28is a real significant hurdle. But the

2:15:31state shortfall does not excuse our own

2:15:34lack of internal spending discipline.

2:15:36During past budget cycles, our city

2:15:39manager explicitly warned this body that

2:15:41the general fund was stretched to its

2:15:44absolute limit with zero room for extra

2:15:47spending. Yet, the council still voted

2:15:49to tack on millions and late amendments,

2:15:52adding an extra 1% cola, creating

2:15:54multiple unbudgeted administrative roles

2:15:57and prioritizing non-essential aesthetic

2:16:00projects like the milliondoll bridge

2:16:03painting. We cannot keep st uh treating

2:16:07a uh permanent structural spending

2:16:09crisis as a temporary revenue problem.

2:16:13Passing a budget that uh relies on

2:16:16squeezing local families up to a higher

2:16:18tax rate is unsustainable and unfair.

2:16:22Fortunately, you have the immediate

2:16:24power to fix this without waiting for an

2:16:26lengthy charter election. You can take

2:16:29the easy way by voting tonight to amend

2:16:32our act of financial governance

2:16:34policies. I'm asking this council to

2:16:37introduce a resolution to add two

2:16:39critical binding safe uh guard rails to

2:16:42section V of our budget rules. First,

2:16:45implement a strict pay as you go offset

2:16:48mandate. If any council member wants to

2:16:50oppose a late stage budget addition or

2:16:54create a new municipal position, they

2:16:56must legally identify an equally uh

2:16:59recurring spending cut from a

2:17:01non-essential department in the exact

2:17:03same vote. No more adding unbudgeted

2:17:06costs out of the thin air. Second,

2:17:10establish a automatic unassigned fund uh

2:17:13balance stabilizer. If our emergency

2:17:16cash reserves drop below our mandated

2:17:1818% floor, an automatic physical freeze

2:17:22must trigger instantly. This will remove

2:17:24political discretion and immediately

2:17:26halt non-essential city hiring,

2:17:29outofstate travel, and discretionary uh

2:17:32civic con contracts until our safety net

2:17:35is naturally restored to 22%. With local

2:17:39elections approaching, the city of

2:17:41Colleen are watching closely to see who

2:17:44will champion. May I have an additional

2:17:46minute, please?

2:17:49>> Yes, you may.

2:17:51>> Watching closely who will champion uh

2:17:54true taxpayer transparency. Do not pass

2:17:57the buck to the uh voters or faith or

2:18:00force us to use petition drives to strip

2:18:02away your spending authority. Use your

2:18:05legislative power right now to enforce

2:18:08structural balance, amend our physical

2:18:10uh physical governance policy, absorb

2:18:13our revenue shortfalls through internal

2:18:15administrative discipline, and protect

2:18:18clean uh homeowners from future property

2:18:21tax hikes. I have attached through this

2:18:24uh thingy right here that I spoke with

2:18:27you about uh language that you can

2:18:30automatically insert or modify into our

2:18:34uh financial governing standards and the

2:18:37uh city uh secretary has a copy of that.

2:18:40Uh the 494 thanks you for your

2:18:43listening.

2:18:48Thank you, Madam City Secretary.

2:18:52>> There are no more speakers.

2:18:54>> Okay.

2:18:58[clears throat and cough] If there's no

2:18:59more speakers, then we will um public

2:19:02hearing is closed.

2:19:06All right. Madam City Secretary, uh the

2:19:08next item, please.

2:19:12Next item number 14, O R-26-016.

2:19:18Consider an ordinance adopting the

2:19:20annual budget for the city of Khen for

2:19:22the fiscal year beginning October 1,

2:19:242026 and ending September 30th, 2027.

2:19:28The ordinance caption reads, "An

2:19:31ordinance approving and adopting a

2:19:32budget for the operating of the

2:19:34municipal government of the city of Keen

2:19:37for the fiscal year beginning on October

2:19:391, 2026 and ending on September 30th,

2:19:432027, appropriating money for the

2:19:46various funds and purposes of such

2:19:48budget, including appropriations of

2:19:50money to pay interest and principal

2:19:53seeking uh syncing fund requirements on

2:19:56all indebtedness, providing a savings

2:19:59and severability clause, repealing all

2:20:01ordinances and appropriations in

2:20:03conflict with the provisions of this

2:20:05ordinance, and establishing an effective

2:20:07date.

2:20:09>> Hello again, Miss England.

2:20:11>> Thank you. Uh thank you, council. Thank

2:20:13you, mayor. Uh this uh presentation is

2:20:16uh kind of pretty straightforward. It's

2:20:19just to walk you guys through to voting

2:20:21uh through the budget and the tax rate.

2:20:24Uh so uh as you see the budget calendar,

2:20:26Mr. who already present the public

2:20:28hearing for for the proposed tax rate.

2:20:30Now we're going to go to the ordinance

2:20:32to adopt the fiscal year 2027 budget to

2:20:36ratify the property tax revenue increase

2:20:38and to set the tax rate.

2:20:41Uh and after that we're going to look at

2:20:43the CIP. Uh the required order will be

2:20:46we're going to record both on budget

2:20:48first. Then we're going to uh ask you

2:20:50guys to vote to ratify the property tax

2:20:53increase and then we're going to record

2:20:55the vote on setting tax rate. This is

2:20:58the fiscal year 2027 proposed budget

2:21:00summary that includes uh the uh changes

2:21:02that we did uh in the prior meetings.

2:21:07And this is just to record the b the

2:21:09vote on your uh budget for fiscal year

2:21:122027.

2:21:15>> Okay. Um, any questions? Uh,

2:21:20yes, Council Member Bess.

2:21:27Thank you, Mayor. Uh, as I have stated

2:21:30previously, I favor the no new revenue

2:21:32rate. However, this budget presented by

2:21:36Mr. Kaggel is a solid budget that will

2:21:38deliver the services our residents

2:21:41expect and need. I disagree with a few

2:21:44line items, but the budget itself is a

2:21:47very professional, well- constructed

2:21:50budget. I will be voting yes on this

2:21:53really great product. Thank you.

2:21:59Okay,

2:22:01no other comments. Okay.

2:22:04Uh on that case, I will take a motion to

2:22:06consider the ordinance.

2:22:07>> Public hearing.

2:22:10>> I'm sorry. public hearing.

2:22:14>> I don't

2:22:17>> No,

2:22:18>> there's not a public hearing on the or

2:22:20on this ordinance. Correct. There's a a

2:22:22public hearing on the tax rate.

2:22:24>> Thank you.

2:22:26>> Which we already had.

2:22:28>> Council member Neski.

2:22:30>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Council, I move to

2:22:32approve.

2:22:34>> Is there a second?

2:22:37Council member Kendricks.

2:22:39>> I second. Okay. [clears throat]

2:22:42Is there any discussion?

2:22:46We're in discussion. Council me council

2:22:48member Williams.

2:22:52Okay. There's no discussion. All in

2:22:54favor signify by saying yes. All oppose.

2:22:58No.

2:23:10The motion passed. Six.

2:23:12>> I'm sorry.

2:23:13>> We need to take a roll call vote on

2:23:15this.

2:23:16>> Roll call.

2:23:17>> City Secretary.

2:23:18>> Yes, I can uh read that from this if

2:23:22you'd prefer that instead of me calling

2:23:25the names.

2:23:26>> I think historically people if we can

2:23:27just go ahead and and take a roll call

2:23:29vote with the

2:23:30>> we'll call the roll call.

2:23:33Uh, David Bass,

2:23:37>> yes.

2:23:38>> Melissa Brown,

2:23:40>> no.

2:23:41>> Jessica Gonzalez,

2:23:43>> yes.

2:23:44>> Anthony Kendrick,

2:23:45>> yes.

2:23:46>> Charles Kimble,

2:23:47>> yes.

2:23:48>> Debbie Nash King,

2:23:50>> yes.

2:23:50>> And Beverly Anne Williams,

2:23:53>> yes.

2:23:54>> Thank you.

2:23:58>> Okay,

2:24:01so the motion passes.

2:24:04six to zero with council member

2:24:09I mean 6 to one

2:24:12with council member

2:24:14Brown opposing. Okay. Uh Mrs.

2:24:18Tanglewood.

2:24:20>> Okay. The next uh item will be to vote

2:24:22to ratify the property tax increase uh

2:24:25for local government code uh 102.007c.

2:24:29A separate vote is required to ratify

2:24:31any property tax revenue increase over

2:24:33the prior year. The total tax revenue

2:24:36increase is 1,742,497.

2:24:40And you can see the M and INS uh

2:24:42breakdown in here.

2:24:45And now uh we wait for vote to ratify

2:24:48property tax increase.

2:24:51>> Okay. Um council, I would uh take a

2:24:55motion. Council member Kimble.

2:24:58Mr. Mayor, I move that the property tax

2:25:00rate be increased by the adoption of a

2:25:03tax rate of

2:25:067301,

2:25:08which is effectively a 3.59%

2:25:11increase in the tax rate.

2:25:14>> Okay. Is there a second? Council member

2:25:17Williams,

2:25:17>> I second [clears throat] it.

2:25:20>> Open for discussion.

2:25:23Council member Brown.

2:25:28Okay, if there is no discussion, uh sec

2:25:32city secretary, would roll call, please.

2:25:44>> Uh, Council Member Bass,

2:25:47>> no.

2:25:51>> Council member Brown,

2:25:52>> no.

2:25:53Council

2:25:55member Gonzalez.

2:26:00>> Yes.

2:26:03>> Yes. Thank you.

2:26:05>> Council member Kendrick.

2:26:07>> Yes.

2:26:09>> Council member Kimble.

2:26:10>> Yes.

2:26:12>> Council member Nash King.

2:26:13>> Yes.

2:26:15>> Council member Williams.

2:26:17>> Yes.

2:26:22>> Okay. So

2:26:23>> 5 to two

2:26:25>> motion pass 5 to two. Thank you councel.

2:26:28Okay, Mr. Angler.

2:26:33>> The next one you need to read.

2:26:35>> Yes,

2:26:35>> that was to ratify the increase of

2:26:37property tax rate. Now this is to set

2:26:39the tax tax rate as uh

2:26:42>> Would you like me to read it?

2:26:43>> Yes, ma'am.

2:26:46>> I'm sorry, Madam Secretary. [laughter]

2:26:48>> That's okay. I wasn't fast enough.

2:26:50>> My apologies. Item 16 O-26-017

2:26:56consider an ordinance setting a tax rate

2:26:59of 0.7301

2:27:01per $100 valuation comprised of 0.5562

2:27:06for maintenance and operations and

2:27:080.1739

2:27:11for debt service for fiscal year 2027

2:27:14tax year 2026 with the ordinance caption

2:27:17reading an ordinance setting the tax

2:27:20rate and levy being a tax upon all

2:27:22property subject to taxation within city

2:27:25limits of the city of Keen,

2:27:29[cough and clears throat] pardon me, for

2:27:31the 2026 tax year and for the use and

2:27:34support of the municipal government of

2:27:35the city of Khen for the fiscal year

2:27:37beginning October 1, 2026 and ending

2:27:41September the 30th, 2027, aortioning

2:27:44said levy among the various funds and

2:27:46items for which the revenue must be

2:27:48raised, including providing a sync

2:27:50banking fund for the retirement of the

2:27:52bonded debt of the city and establishing

2:27:54an effective date.

2:27:57>> Mr. Tanglin.

2:27:58>> Yes, thank you. Uh this is to sect the

2:28:01tax rate at the total tax rate 7301. Uh

2:28:05that will uh do a budgeted revenue of

2:28:0878.2 million.

2:28:12Uh you guys saw this uh slide in the

2:28:15previous uh um presentation with Mr. KGO

2:28:17[clears throat]

2:28:18is this is an increase of $68.48

2:28:21a year for a uh med median homestead

2:28:24value of 232,822.

2:28:28Uh the setting the tax rate for tax code

2:28:302605B if the tax rate exceeds the

2:28:33non-new revenue rate a record vote is

2:28:35required approval by at least 60% of

2:28:38council by members and the motions must

2:28:41state and we have the uh motion in here.

2:28:45We if we need to read it, do we need to

2:28:47come back to it? And uh now a way to

2:28:50record vote on tax rate.

2:28:54>> Okay. Mayor Pro Tim, I'll take a motion

2:28:56to consider the ordinance.

2:29:03>> I make a motion to approve.

2:29:07I'm sorry. I move that the property tax

2:29:09rate be increased by the adoption of a

2:29:11tax rate of

2:29:137301

2:29:15which is effectively a 3.59%

2:29:19increase in the tax rate.

2:29:22>> Okay. [clears throat] Second,

2:29:26Council Member Williams.

2:29:28>> I second it.

2:29:30>> Okay. Um Madam Secretary, could you take

2:29:34a roll call, please?

2:29:43Council member Bass,

2:29:44>> no.

2:29:46>> Council member Brown,

2:29:48>> no.

2:29:48>> Council member uh Mayor Pro Tim

2:29:50Gonzalez,

2:29:51>> yes.

2:29:53>> Council member Kendrick,

2:29:55>> yes.

2:29:55>> Council member Kimell,

2:29:57>> yes.

2:29:58>> Council member Nash King,

2:30:00>> yes.

2:30:01>> Council member Williams,

2:30:03>> yes.

2:30:04Motion passes 5 to two.

2:30:06>> Okay.

2:30:08Thank you, council. Miss Tangler.

2:30:24>> Item 17.

2:30:24>> I'm sorry, Madam Secretary.

2:30:2717.

2:30:29>> Item 17.

2:30:31RS-26-135

2:30:35consider a memorandum resolution to

2:30:36adopt the 5-year capital improvement

2:30:38program for fiscal year 2027 through

2:30:422031.

2:30:44>> Yes, ma'am.

2:30:46>> Thank you again. This is uh this item is

2:30:48for fiscal year 2027 proposed CIP

2:30:51aduction of the fire capital improvement

2:30:53program for fiscal years 2027 to 2031.

2:30:57This is our last item for the budget for

2:30:592027.

2:31:03The background uh the annual five-year

2:31:05CIP required by capital project policies

2:31:08is based on master plans and

2:31:10departmental needs new projects and

2:31:12additional funding for ongoing projects.

2:31:15It has equipment, vehicles, facilities

2:31:17and infrastructures over 100,000 and the

2:31:20project summarized by type and funded

2:31:22source.

2:31:24This is the CIP summary by type. We have

2:31:26a total of 97 uh uh projects that

2:31:29include vehicles and equipments with a

2:31:31total amount of 47.5 million.

2:31:35Uh this is the CIP summary by funding

2:31:38source. Uh we have governmental CIP,

2:31:40CBDG bone funds, aviation CIP and ground

2:31:43funds, water and sewer CIP, bone impact

2:31:46feed funds, solid waste CIP fund, tears

2:31:49fund and drainage CIP fund.

2:31:53This is the project funding by sources.

2:31:56You can see we're using fund balance

2:31:57grant reimbursement programs and bones.

2:32:00And the recommendation is the city

2:32:02council adopt the 5-year capital

2:32:03improvement program for fiscal year 2027

2:32:0620231. I will be happy to answer any

2:32:08questions you may have.

2:32:10>> Any question? Council member Kimble.

2:32:15>> Thank you. Uh Mr. Mayor, uh Mr. Tang,

2:32:18what are the um the projects for water

2:32:21and sewer and drainage? There's nine of

2:32:22them. Do you know what they are?

2:32:24>> Uh we have the book uh posted and uh and

2:32:27online. I I don't have the the book

2:32:30right now with me.

2:32:31>> Okay.

2:32:33>> Okay. Thank you,

2:32:35>> Council Member Kendricks.

2:32:41>> Um Mayor, I don't have a forsake

2:32:44question. I I had a statement. Can I

2:32:46make a statement?

2:32:48>> You may.

2:32:50>> Okay. I [clears throat] want I want to

2:32:52say this and I wanted to be on the

2:32:53record. Um we we we talk about the

2:32:57things that we are trying to do for the

2:33:00citizens and for the betterment um of

2:33:03the citizens of um Colleen.

2:33:07And I find it very disheartening

2:33:11to sit here when we talk about the

2:33:13betterment of the city. And I'm not

2:33:18complaining about whichever way you

2:33:20voted,

2:33:22but some of these things we're we're

2:33:25talking about the citizens

2:33:28and and and I and I honestly it's just

2:33:32me speaking

2:33:34when people are playing on people's

2:33:38emotions

2:33:40and and and doing other things besides

2:33:44what is better for the betterment of the

2:33:46city and I feel I must make this

2:33:48statement um for the simple fact that

2:33:51anything that I vote on I look at it and

2:33:54I make the statement or I make the

2:33:56decision for the betterment of the

2:33:58citizens

2:34:00not a political statement

2:34:03on one side or the other and I feel like

2:34:06some things were made that way tonight

2:34:09and it's very disheartening that we're

2:34:12not thinking about the citizens and the

2:34:14things that we need to do as a council

2:34:16to ensure all of our citizens, not just

2:34:20the ones that think one way, but all of

2:34:22the citizens. And that's all I have.

2:34:24Mayor.

2:34:27>> Okay. Um, Council Member Brown,

2:34:32>> I'm going to bring us back to the

2:34:34agenda. This is not a public hearing,

2:34:36correct?

2:34:37>> No. No, ma'am. With that, I move to

2:34:40approve RS-26-135.

2:34:45>> Uh, okay. Um, go ahead. We had a

2:34:49procedure, but go ahead.

2:34:52>> Okay. I apologize.

2:34:56Go ahead.

2:34:57>> Um, go ahead. You The motion is in in

2:35:00play. Yes, ma'am.

2:35:01>> Yeah. Yeah. So, I move to approve

2:35:03RS-26-135.

2:35:07Okay. Is there a second? Council member

2:35:11Nashking.

2:35:12>> Uh, is there any discussion? Council

2:35:15member Kimble.

2:35:17>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Tangle, I

2:35:18found the the five items. I I did look

2:35:20at them. I just just for the records. I

2:35:22know uh based on what council member

2:35:24Kendrick said, they were the um

2:35:26particularly when it comes to the Long

2:35:28Branch Park improvements, things that we

2:35:30have talked about, the low water

2:35:31crossing, uh we talked about water, the

2:35:34the water uh meter replacement that I

2:35:36brought up earlier, the 195. Those are

2:35:38all things that again that all citizens

2:35:40uh could take advantage. I'm glad that

2:35:42when we look at um our 5-year

2:35:46uh project and plans that we're looking

2:35:49at things that's really going to

2:35:51hopefully improve our water and sewer.

2:35:53So, I I found them. Thank you.

2:35:56>> Okay.

2:35:58Is there any other discussion?

2:36:00There's no other disc.

2:36:03>> I don't know why it disappeared.

2:36:04>> Council member Brown,

2:36:08>> one point of clarification. The CIP

2:36:10funds are not coming out of the FY27 tax

2:36:14dollars that we bring in. Correct?

2:36:17>> No. C the CIP funds are already in there

2:36:20for excess fund balance. And then uh if

2:36:23we have any uh like vehicle replacement

2:36:26that is included in the uh budget

2:36:28already.

2:36:30>> Thank you. That's all I wanted to

2:36:31clarify.

2:36:32>> Yes, ma'am.

2:36:37>> Okay. Council Mayor Pro Tim.

2:36:40>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It looks like we

2:36:42have a motion and a second on the floor

2:36:43to vote and consider the ordinance per

2:36:46tax code 26

2:36:5005B.

2:36:53If the tax rate exceeds the no new

2:36:56revenue rate, a record vote is required.

2:36:59Approval by at least 60% of the council.

2:37:02Five members must state required

2:37:05wording. That is I move that the

2:37:07property tax rate be increased by the

2:37:08adoption of the tax rate.

2:37:11>> Oh, we already did that.

2:37:12>> That's it. Say thank you. Cancel that

2:37:16part. Wait ahead.

2:37:18>> Yeah.

2:37:18>> Is that is that kind of [laughter]

2:37:22>> so all in favor?

2:37:25Council member Neski.

2:37:26>> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just have a

2:37:28quick question. when you said that u the

2:37:31excess funds for this project I thought

2:37:34we had more than that

2:37:36>> uh well what I'm trying to say was uh if

2:37:39you see

2:37:42if I can make this work thank you let's

2:37:44see when you look at the uh

2:37:48CIP summary by funding source we have

2:37:51government CIP there uh and the uh

2:37:53aviation CIP water and sewer CIP all

2:37:56those funds are funded by excess fund

2:37:58balance

2:37:59So all the projects that are in there is

2:38:01the extra fund balance on this uh from

2:38:03these funds. Uh but we do have other

2:38:06projects like the replacement vehicles

2:38:07where we uh uh transfer money in there

2:38:10uh for public safety. Okay. Yes. Okay.

2:38:12Yes ma'am. Thank that's the part. Okay.

2:38:15Thank you.

2:38:15>> Yes.

2:38:20If

2:38:20>> there's no other discussion all in favor

2:38:22signify by saying yes. All oppose. No.

2:38:32The motion pass 7 to zero. Okay. Thank

2:38:35you. Um madam secretary

2:38:40>> discussion item number 18 DS-26-079

2:38:47discuss and consider scheduling a city

2:38:49council retreat and team building

2:38:50workshop.

2:38:53>> And uh thank you Miss Tanglin. Thank you

2:38:56for that presentation. Uh Mr. Kegel.

2:39:00>> Yes, sir. Mayor and Council, uh the

2:39:01mayor had asked me about this uh to look

2:39:03in into what it would take to have a

2:39:08a council workshop team building, and

2:39:10there was never any discussion from the

2:39:12mayor about going out of town. In fact,

2:39:13he had already lined up some free space

2:39:16at CTC. Um what I did, I went back and

2:39:19looked back in 2021.

2:39:22Uh we had a proposal uh from Coleman and

2:39:25Associates to to do the same thing and

2:39:27roughly stay in town as well. No no no

2:39:30money going outside of town. Uh what the

2:39:33mayor had discussed was a a day or maybe

2:39:36a little less than a day. What we had

2:39:38back then was a day and a half plus

2:39:40additional time uh from the moderator

2:39:42spending individual time with all the

2:39:44council members and and so it was much

2:39:46more involved. And then that was about

2:39:49$12,000.

2:39:50If if you want a moderator, you could

2:39:52probably do it for half or less less

2:39:55than that. And I think in order to do

2:39:58it, you probably need an if you're going

2:40:00to do this, you need an outside

2:40:02moderator. And I I I think one way to

2:40:04look at this is you're you're a board of

2:40:06directors of a company that has about

2:40:10300 million in revenue every year, about

2:40:121,400 employees, and you're responsible

2:40:14for the the value of the private

2:40:17property is about 15 or more billion,

2:40:20and then then another then hundreds of

2:40:23millions in public property. It's a very

2:40:27significant operation and I don't think

2:40:30there's anything wrong with trying to

2:40:32come together as a board to find out how

2:40:34you can work together to achieve goals

2:40:36if you do that. Um if you're more

2:40:39effective as a board and the

2:40:40organization is more effective. Uh I

2:40:43think it's money very well spent if ju

2:40:46just my opinion. But um nothing was

2:40:49decided. The mayor just wanted to put it

2:40:50out there to see what the count if the

2:40:52council would like to do this. And what

2:40:53I'm telling you is I think that's about

2:40:56the cost and um where where the money

2:40:59would come from. They're they're

2:41:03do it in this year. We're under budget

2:41:05in the council's budget on um

2:41:09the uh hearing services. We we haven't

2:41:12been using that for quite some time.

2:41:14Probably the the same thing next year.

2:41:16That that would be my guess. I guess the

2:41:19first question would come where does

2:41:20that5 or $6,000 come from? Um any case,

2:41:26mayor, that's uh

2:41:27>> Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kaggel.

2:41:29And uh to add to that again, it wasn't

2:41:32um I want to emphasize that it's wasn't

2:41:35to be out of town. Uh it wasn't proposed

2:41:38to be out of town at all. It's just a

2:41:41day or a half a day that uh council that

2:41:44we can come together and and really just

2:41:48um allow us to to to team build, you

2:41:52know, and to um uh we call it a retreat.

2:41:56And I guess when you say retreat, you

2:41:58know, people automatically think that

2:41:59you're going out of town. Um it it's u

2:42:03something that

2:42:05can work if we if you wanted that. I

2:42:07just wanted to bring it up to you,

2:42:09council. Um, if you want it, that's

2:42:13fine. If you don't, it's just is fine. I

2:42:14just uh just thought that would be a

2:42:17good idea since we are uh pretty much

2:42:20new and we can just uh just get together

2:42:23and um

2:42:25just team build. So, um I'm just open

2:42:28for discussion on that. Um Council

2:42:31Member Nash King.

2:42:33>> Thank you, Mr. [clears throat] Mayor and

2:42:35Council. I have several questions. Um,

2:42:36one of them is for Mr. Kagel. When we

2:42:39bring all the council together, are we

2:42:42talking about a special meeting or is it

2:42:44open to the public?

2:42:46>> It would be open. It would be open to

2:42:48the public. If you had it at CTC, you

2:42:50would have an agenda that says, you

2:42:52know, the council retreat and team

2:42:53building activities and the public would

2:42:55be [laughter] invited.

2:42:57>> Yes, sir. and uh within my time limit. I

2:43:00I do understand the purpose of having a

2:43:03retreat uh trying to get us to do uh

2:43:05team building. We did a lot of that in

2:43:08the military and there's not anything

2:43:10wrong with that. But from my perspective

2:43:13that we uh was elected by the people and

2:43:16we should conduct ourselves without

2:43:19having to be told how to treat each

2:43:21other, respect each other and talk to

2:43:23each other. Um that's my stance on that.

2:43:26um because um we represent the people.

2:43:30So rather the council have a retreat or

2:43:33not, I mean that's fine. But I just

2:43:35think these are some things that we

2:43:36should do without another adult trying

2:43:39to tell us how to conduct oursel

2:43:42professionally in a municipality

2:43:45environment. Thank you,

2:43:48>> Council Member Brown.

2:43:53I'm going to say that I loved the uh

2:43:56recommendation that came from our

2:43:58citizen during comments of doing what

2:44:03sounds to me more like a field day in

2:44:05our local park, which could still be

2:44:07used for that team building and that

2:44:10bonding situation. Uh I believe in the

2:44:13military that would be called a

2:44:14mandatory fun day. [laughter]

2:44:18Um, I I really think it would be good

2:44:22for us. We sit up here, we work, we

2:44:26argue, we go back and forth on a lot of

2:44:28this stuff if we were to do a a field

2:44:32day with some family-friendly

2:44:34activities. I think it would be a great

2:44:36idea, mayor. Um, but I like to do it a

2:44:38little bit bigger. So, I would like to

2:44:40bring in some of our staff members that

2:44:42want to participate.

2:44:44we have to work with the staff every day

2:44:46also. So why not have an opportunity to

2:44:50team build with the staff as a council.

2:44:53[snorts] Um and if it's clearly we would

2:44:56not make this mandatory. Um I don't

2:45:00think any of us up here are talking

2:45:01about mandating anything onto our fellow

2:45:04council members. But I will say this

2:45:07that um I would volunteer to be one of a

2:45:11one member of a committee of the council

2:45:14members that would plan this um and even

2:45:18go out and talk to some of our local

2:45:20businesses to get sponsorships so that

2:45:23the the net expense to the city would be

2:45:26none. Thank you.

2:45:29>> Okay. Thank you, uh Council Member Bess.

2:45:33Um [clears throat]

2:45:34thank you mayor. Uh my personal

2:45:36experience uh with these types of events

2:45:39uh were were in the army uh and uh in

2:45:42the army uh it was just the unit just

2:45:46the team and uh my experience with this

2:45:50uh serving on nonprofit boards again it

2:45:54was just the board just the team uh I

2:45:58just don't see how we can do what I

2:46:00perceive as a a retreat uh under the

2:46:05open meetings act. It just doesn't I I

2:46:09just don't see how we can do that um w

2:46:13with uh it because it's more than just

2:46:15the team. In my experience, the the

2:46:18value was uh being able to speak very

2:46:21frankly to each other. Uh being able to

2:46:24learn from each other and uh having

2:46:27observers

2:46:29uh nothing against anybody who might

2:46:31show up kind of changes the uh the vibe

2:46:35of the event. Uh so I just don't see how

2:46:39we could uh do it uh as I perceive uh

2:46:42these retreats uh are intended to be.

2:46:45Thank you.

2:46:47>> Thank you, sir. Council member, uh,

2:46:49Kimell,

2:46:52>> thank you, uh, Mr. Mayor, and thank you,

2:46:54uh, Mr. Kagel for your your insight. I

2:46:58guess I got no problem with

2:47:02team building exercise, but, you know,

2:47:04when you look at how this item even came

2:47:08about, um, I I didn't know we were going

2:47:10to be discussing this. There was, you

2:47:12know, this decision was kind of made in

2:47:13a vacuum. kind of wish we had had a

2:47:15little bit of head out head up about so

2:47:17we wouldn't even take any necessary

2:47:19criticism. Are you going out of town?

2:47:20Are you going to Vegas? Are you going

2:47:22whatever? Whatever. Man, a lot of lot of

2:47:23that could have been headed out tonight

2:47:25by a little communication. Um and I I I

2:47:29I

2:47:31just my personal opinion that

2:47:36items that need the business of the city

2:47:39needs to come first. We have mechanisms

2:47:42to do that. I know me and some fellow

2:47:43council members, you know, we went down

2:47:45to Round Rock, you know, did some

2:47:47things, learned a lot, we learned off of

2:47:49each other, some other professionals.

2:47:51There are mechanisms out there that's

2:47:52already in place. Uh, I I plan on taking

2:47:55advantage of those uh so I can better

2:47:57serve the citizens. Um, you know, my

2:48:00relationship with with my colleagues, I

2:48:02think that's going to happen naturally

2:48:04and organically. Uh, I don't necessarily

2:48:06think a team building exercise to go

2:48:08with Councilman Bass is necessarily

2:48:10going to fulfill that, but I do, you

2:48:12know, look into this the senior members

2:48:14up here, the Mayor Pro Tim, the mayor,

2:48:17uh, Madam U Councilwoman Nash King. Um,

2:48:20and and learning from the staff. Uh,

2:48:22those those are my my touch points. Um,

2:48:25and I I look forward to enjoying those

2:48:28things that that that are already

2:48:30offered. But again, this decision was

2:48:32made in a vacuum, not without a team. So

2:48:34just kind of ironic we're talking about

2:48:35team building and then uh and we get the

2:48:37lambasted by the by the citizens today

2:48:39because there was no input from us. So

2:48:42um that's where I stand on it. I don't

2:48:43think it's necessary.

2:48:45>> Okay. Let let me let me say this. Uh

2:48:47this was not made in the vacuum as far

2:48:50as my decision. I actually I went to

2:48:52some of y'all. You were all for it. Some

2:48:54of you were for it. So um it's okay. Uh

2:48:59I I I really it's okay. I just wanted to

2:49:01bring it to the council.

2:49:04It's nothing secret about it. I just

2:49:06thought that it would be good for us to

2:49:08get together and and gel together, talk,

2:49:13find out about one another. We've done

2:49:15it. I've done it before in the council

2:49:16and it worked. It worked. And so it's a

2:49:20different it's okay. I just wanted to

2:49:23bring that to you. I appreciate your

2:49:25thoughts. Um but uh I just wanted to

2:49:27bring it for discussion and to get your

2:49:30consensus. So obviously

2:49:33um um the council does not want that and

2:49:36that's and I do understand and I respect

2:49:38that but uh council I just wanted to

2:49:41bring that to you that's all and to to

2:49:42make it find ways that we can come

2:49:45together as a council and uh I mean we

2:49:48we're doing good but I just thought that

2:49:51would be that would add to it. Council

2:49:53um council mayor prom.

2:49:56>> Thank you. Um, I do think it's important

2:49:59um on on different levels to have these

2:50:01sorts of conversations. I think that to

2:50:04a couple of points, I love the idea of

2:50:06the community involvement and the field

2:50:08day type activities. Um, but I also

2:50:10believe that uh there's a need for

2:50:12strategic visioning. Um there's things

2:50:15that uh regarding our city, our

2:50:16direction of our city, um our

2:50:18comprehensive plan, ensuring that new

2:50:21council members are understanding the

2:50:23vision and the goal overall of the city,

2:50:24but then also as it relates to us as

2:50:26district members and it's at large

2:50:28members. We did away with the group town

2:50:31hall at the end of uh at the start of

2:50:33the new election cycle. So unfortunately

2:50:35for our community members, it doesn't

2:50:37give them the opportunity to hear where

2:50:39we're coming from, what our vision is

2:50:41for the city, for our districts or for

2:50:43the city overall. So I think that for

2:50:45strategic visioning, it could be

2:50:47important. I guess Mr. Kaggel, we've

2:50:48never done this before. So I've never

2:50:50done this before. So if it were to

2:50:52happen, what does that look like to

2:50:54council members Bass Bass's point,

2:50:56especially if it's an open meeting um

2:50:58and you're trying to actually have a

2:51:00structured dialogue?

2:51:02>> You it would be an open meeting. Lot

2:51:04lots of cities do it. You you do have to

2:51:06have an agenda, but it would be fairly

2:51:09broad. You'd talk about goals and

2:51:11objectives for the city. It would talk

2:51:13about team building, the ways to

2:51:14communicate better, the ways, you know,

2:51:16to work with each other better. There

2:51:18there would have to be an agenda. Um,

2:51:20but this is it's done fairly regularly.

2:51:23>> It's done regularly and is the comments

2:51:25are open to the public and then they

2:51:26provide feedback just like a regular

2:51:27Yes, ma'am.

2:51:28>> a regular meeting.

2:51:29>> Okay. All right. I appreciate it. Thank

2:51:31you. Council

2:51:34member Brown,

2:51:38just a second, Tom.

2:51:41>> I'm formulating to make sure I say this

2:51:45as nonoffensively as possible, and I do

2:51:48mean it with the utmost respect. But if

2:51:52we're talking about planning and

2:51:55strategic planning and the team, there's

2:51:58nothing that we should be saying behind

2:52:00closed doors that we're not willing to

2:52:02say in public in front of everybody.

2:52:06We shouldn't act one way just because

2:52:10nobody's eyes are on us and act another

2:52:12way because we're sitting on the dis and

2:52:15everyone can see us.

2:52:17I'm not concerned

2:52:19about what happens if the public sees us

2:52:23team building because I think that it

2:52:25would be great for the public to see

2:52:28that each and every one of us is willing

2:52:30to extend our olive branches, put our

2:52:33hands out and say, "I am ready to work

2:52:37together with you for the benefit of the

2:52:41future of the city of Colleen that we've

2:52:43all been selected and elected to

2:52:45represent.

2:52:47That's why I I don't mind doing team

2:52:50building. Uh it really if we went along

2:52:55with the the concept of doing team

2:52:57building exercises,

2:52:59you don't do a whole lot of talking if

2:53:01you're trust falling. You don't do a

2:53:03whole lot of strategic talking if you're

2:53:06doing a three-legged race, which I will

2:53:08tell you I am at a severe disadvantage

2:53:10for. So that citizen wasn't thinking

2:53:13about me being on the council and my

2:53:15height difference.

2:53:18Again, it's an opportunity to relax. I

2:53:21think sometimes some of the tension that

2:53:23people might feel out in the public is

2:53:26because all we're ever doing is having

2:53:29these very deep, tense conversations.

2:53:33People once they start having fun

2:53:35together and start relaxing, you start

2:53:38seeing where people have more in common.

2:53:40That's why I'm still supportive of the

2:53:42idea as long as we can do it with

2:53:44sponsorships on city property, not cost

2:53:47the citizens anything.

2:53:50>> Council member Kendricks.

2:53:55Well, my Vernon Maxwell voice. I don't

2:53:58know if y'all ready for this one. Uh,

2:54:01hey, I'm okay with team building. Um,

2:54:06uh, like you just say, if I just think

2:54:09sometimes if you team building, it was

2:54:11just said, if you going to have fun, you

2:54:13going to have fun with it. All right.

2:54:15Well, I'mma have fun with it a little

2:54:16bit right now. I would love to do team

2:54:19building so we could talk and kind of

2:54:21figure out why people talk too much.

2:54:25And so,

2:54:26>> we talk about why you can't stay on

2:54:27subject.

2:54:29>> Point of order.

2:54:32So, I'm I'm just I'm I'm all about the

2:54:34team building. That way can find out

2:54:37what it is that the other person may

2:54:40dislike about you or whatever. That's

2:54:42part of team building and to get the to

2:54:45get those things out. That's how you get

2:54:48them out. I told you I'm I'm going to

2:54:49have a little fun with it, too. Um those

2:54:52that know me off the dis is I'm a joker.

2:54:56I like to have fun and I talk smack. But

2:54:59on the same token, I can be serious

2:55:01about it and I can understand where you

2:55:04coming from. You can understand where

2:55:06I'm coming from and maybe we can meet

2:55:10halfway and everything works out

2:55:12perfect. That's all I'm saying.

2:55:15>> That's good.

2:55:17>> That's all I got. Council member

2:55:19Williams,

2:55:26>> I'm all for um retreats. I've gone to a

2:55:30lot of retreats uh in the past and

2:55:32retreats are for to bring us um together

2:55:36and we are to share uh any type of

2:55:39discrepancies or whatever that we have

2:55:41with each other. But here is my issue

2:55:43here. uh the very ones who's talking are

2:55:46the very ones who has the issues.

2:55:49So my question would be when we have the

2:55:52retreat will we really come together and

2:55:54that's my thing is that we need to come

2:55:57together. We need to come together so we

2:55:58can make sound decisions uh for our city

2:56:02and community and for our citizens

2:56:05and the hostile environment. Yes, it's

2:56:08here. It's a hostile environment because

2:56:11it goes deeper than what we're saying up

2:56:13here. Some of the wounds are deeper. I

2:56:16don't have [clears throat] to get into

2:56:18um um what they are or how deep they

2:56:21are, but they are deep. And so I think

2:56:24that we are grown enough or mature

2:56:27enough um to say to not to be selfish

2:56:30and say, "Okay, I'll lay those down." I

2:56:32mean, is that too much to to ask that

2:56:35you just can lay down your selfish ways

2:56:37and and the way that you feel about each

2:56:39other for the best of the community? It

2:56:42breaks my heart, and I'm being real

2:56:44tonight. It breaks my heart to see that

2:56:46we are grown and we are adults and we

2:56:48cannot get along even for the city.

2:56:53And make sound decision for the city.

2:56:56So, if we're going to have a retreat,

2:56:58let's have a real retreat. Let's have a

2:57:01retreat to where for real, we're going

2:57:03to come together. We're going to lay

2:57:05down our animosities.

2:57:07We're going to lay down all of the

2:57:09problems and issues that we have against

2:57:11each other because they go deep.

2:57:14And get along so that we can be

2:57:17effective as a council. That's my part.

2:57:24>> Council member Nash King.

2:57:25>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is my second

2:57:27time. As I stated earlier, a retreat is

2:57:32fine. However, an individual has to make

2:57:36a choice. Councilwoman Brown and I

2:57:40extended olive branches to each other

2:57:43without having to go to a retreat,

2:57:45without having to have someone to come

2:57:47in and tell us. And this happened

2:57:50because we made a choice that we are

2:57:54wanted to work together. Matter of fact,

2:57:56we have a project that we're working on

2:57:59now that you will hear about in the

2:58:01future. So, if I got to have an adult to

2:58:05tell me right from wrong and when we

2:58:07should be telling our kids right from

2:58:09wrong and our grandkids right from

2:58:11wrong, a retreat is not going to change

2:58:13your character, the person as an

2:58:16individual and who they are. You have to

2:58:18have a will to want to change. So,

2:58:20trying to dig in why you like me, you

2:58:23don't like me, that's child's play. What

2:58:25you need to do is separate that when you

2:58:27get on the diet. One, don't interrupt

2:58:30each other. Two, don't make sly remarks

2:58:32about each other. It's just simple petty

2:58:35stuff that we can do self our own

2:58:38self-reflection. And once we realize

2:58:40that we can work together on our own and

2:58:44try to test it to see if it works,

2:58:46taking accountability for ourself and

2:58:48our action, we won't be having to to

2:58:51schedule a retreat. But it's an

2:58:53individual choice and that's what we

2:58:56have free will that was given to

2:58:58everyone to do right, respect and love

2:59:00each other. And if you choose not to do

2:59:02it, a retreat is not going to change

2:59:04your character overnight. I can honestly

2:59:07say I look forward to working with

2:59:09Council Member Brown on a project that

2:59:12is for the good of the residents that we

2:59:14serve and you will be hearing from us

2:59:17soon. Thank you,

2:59:20>> Mayor Po Tim. Thank you. Um, and what

2:59:25we're experiencing right now is actually

2:59:26the purpose of what I feel is the

2:59:28purpose of a retreat, which would be

2:59:31again strategic visioning and again

2:59:32understanding our communication styles.

2:59:35Uh, that causes a lot of what the

2:59:36discord is that's been referenced across

2:59:38the aisle. So, I do think it is

2:59:39important. It's not about changing

2:59:41character, but it's about learning

2:59:42communication styles and how to best

2:59:44communicate effectively. Um, Mr. Kaggel,

2:59:47should we decide to do something like

2:59:48this, who sets the agenda for for that?

2:59:51And do we set the agenda and then topics

2:59:53that we would like to have moderated?

2:59:55>> Sure. You a couple of ways you could do

2:59:57it. The mayor could set it. You could

2:59:58you could have an agenda item in a a

3:00:01future council meeting where you you set

3:00:03your agenda.

3:00:05>> Thank you.

3:00:09>> All right. Okay. Well, council, I thank

3:00:11you for the discussion. Um appreciate

3:00:14that. Uh we will move on uh to citizens

3:00:19comments. non-aggenda items. It's time

3:00:22for citizen comments on items that are

3:00:26not listed on the agenda for the meeting

3:00:28[snorts] tonight. Citizens will have

3:00:31three minutes to speak. Comments under

3:00:33this section are limited to the first 10

3:00:36members of [snorts] the public to sign

3:00:39up and speak.

3:00:42Mayor and council will not discuss items

3:00:45that are not on the agenda, nor respond

3:00:48other than response than possible offer

3:00:52a brief statement or specific factual

3:00:56information

3:00:58or propose to place an item on the

3:01:01agenda for a future meeting. Madame City

3:01:05Secretary, please call the names.

3:01:08>> We have four speakers. Uh first speaker

3:01:12is Michael Fornino.

3:01:29This is kind of

3:01:31dovetales off of what the mayor was just

3:01:33talking about earlier and several of you

3:01:35about communication, which I didn't know

3:01:37was going to come up, but I put that on

3:01:39on my form to speak for this topic.

3:01:42Uh, first off, when it comes to

3:01:44communication, I'm noticing I switched

3:01:47to a different email account. I put read

3:01:49receipts, and I'm astounded as to how

3:01:52many of you, especially you, Mr. mayor

3:01:54don't actually read my emails, nor do

3:01:56any of you respond to my emails.

3:02:02Well, the exception of you. I got one

3:02:05response. But there again, when it comes

3:02:08to transparency and accountability, you

3:02:10just voted to spend a lot of our money.

3:02:13And my general theme on accountability

3:02:17on this is where I said tighten up your

3:02:20budgets. You voted to grab our money. So

3:02:22now you have our money hostage for the

3:02:24next fiscal year. And the word is

3:02:26fiscal, not physical.

3:02:28As

3:02:30you have that, all the choices from here

3:02:32forward

3:02:34is a reflection of what you've committed

3:02:36to. I would suggest I and many others

3:02:40have had this conversation from time to

3:02:41time. Over the years, we've noticed that

3:02:44members of staff present all of these

3:02:47things are about 80% done and then

3:02:49they're looking for funding to get it

3:02:50done and approved and all that. And we

3:02:52the people never got any heads up on

3:02:54what it was. And I'm getting tired of

3:02:58that. I really am. I mean, I'm not

3:03:01saying that the staff shouldn't be doing

3:03:03any work, but how about we get a list of

3:03:05what do the people want spent? What

3:03:08projects do we prioritize? maybe meet

3:03:11somewhere in the middle on that. But

3:03:13this, oh well, the staff worked really

3:03:15hard and the the job's 90% done and they

3:03:18just need that final approval from you.

3:03:21I where I'm from, I'm going to ask who

3:03:23asked you to start this job

3:03:24meaninglessly anyway. I mean, you should

3:03:26be driving the staff's task, not the

3:03:28other way around. Who works for who?

3:03:33You, boss, the employee.

3:03:36That's that's a relationship that has

3:03:38long since been forgotten around here.

3:03:40You drive the agenda. You drive the

3:03:42priorities. I mean, you hear it from us

3:03:45one way or the other. What we see in the

3:03:47streets not getting repaved, projects

3:03:50not getting done. But again, you need to

3:03:53be driving the agenda. You need to be

3:03:56setting the priorities.

3:04:00Dial the clock back. The grocery store

3:04:02issue. You were supposed to be driving

3:04:04EDC. We just kept throwing money at

3:04:05them. Nobody ever bothered to follow up.

3:04:08Took it on faith. Where are we with

3:04:10that?

3:04:13I've had conversation with council

3:04:16member about the grocery store even

3:04:18prior to all of that. But think about

3:04:20what you're going to do with our money

3:04:21now that you have it. Be responsible. Be

3:04:24fiscally responsible.

3:04:29>> Madam city secretary.

3:04:32>> Next speaker is Dr. Sue Nissi Croft.

3:04:47Mayor, council members, city manager,

3:04:50KEDC, and fellow citizens. For years, we

3:04:53have talked about the need for a grocery

3:04:55store on the north side of Khen. The

3:04:58city council has already given KEDC

3:05:01directive to prioritize bringing a

3:05:03grocery store to North Colleen. Today,

3:05:05something different is happening. The

3:05:08citizens aren't waiting. We are

3:05:09organizing. On Saturday, September the

3:05:125th, from 1 to 3:00 p.m., North Colleen

3:05:15residents will hold the first official

3:05:17steering committee meeting for the North

3:05:19Side Cooperative Market, a

3:05:21communitydriven effort to explore

3:05:23building a sustainable grocery solution

3:05:25for North Colleen. More than 2500 people

3:05:29viewed our initial announcement and 25

3:05:32plus Colleen residents have already

3:05:34volunteered to help do the work.

3:05:36Tonight, I would like to publicly invite

3:05:38KEDC city staff members and this council

3:05:42uh community organization, business

3:05:45leaders, potential partners, and

3:05:47interested residents to attend our

3:05:49September the 5th meeting. This is not

3:05:51about competing with KEDC. It's about

3:05:54collaboration.

3:05:55KEDC has given a direct was has been

3:05:59given a directive to help uh bring a

3:06:01grocery store to north side. that

3:06:04citizens have independently organized

3:06:06around that same objective. So perhaps

3:06:09it's time for those two efforts to meet

3:06:11instead of KDC working on one side and

3:06:14the citizens working on the other. Let's

3:06:16sit at the same table and ask what can

3:06:19KEDC, the city, the business community,

3:06:22and the people of North Ken accomplish

3:06:24together that none of us have been able

3:06:27to accomplish separately. Our first

3:06:30steering committee meeting will be held

3:06:32Saturday, October the 5th from 1 to 3:00

3:06:34p.m. at the New Life Village Suite B.

3:06:38Thank you, mayor, for putting together

3:06:40that uh faith event. I did connect with

3:06:43them during that time at 704 uh B East

3:06:48Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Colleen.

3:06:51We aren't coming to that meeting

3:06:53claiming to have all the answers. We're

3:06:55coming prepared to work and we're

3:06:57inviting everyone who has a legitimate

3:07:00interest in uh finally solving uh North

3:07:03Colleen uh grocery access problem to

3:07:06come work with us and I hope to see uh

3:07:09interested parties there so that we can

3:07:11move this forward. I thank you

3:07:19>> Council Member Neski.

3:07:21>> Thank you Mr. Mayor and Council. I just

3:07:24wanted to add to that that um Dr.

3:07:27Phileima Brown, Minister File Lima Brown

3:07:30started a co-op working with the city

3:07:33council and also with Mr. Kagel and he

3:07:36has already laid the foundation for a

3:07:39co-op. uh he asked for people to and I

3:07:42think maybe was this was a year ago and

3:07:45I know I spoke to him recently when this

3:07:47came up maybe last month and he stated

3:07:50that they're continue looking for people

3:07:53to join. So, um, one other

3:07:55recommendation would be,

3:07:56>> excuse me, I think, um, that's off

3:07:59subject.

3:08:00>> I just I just want to remind this is an

3:08:03citizen comments on non-aggenda items

3:08:05and so any statement should be very

3:08:07brief, factual in response to a

3:08:09question, but not a discussion or

3:08:11anything. Um, since it's on the agenda,

3:08:13haven't given

3:08:14>> Thank you. I'm just giving a

3:08:16recommendation. Let me cut it short

3:08:18then. U, Mr. File Lima Brown started it

3:08:21and I would reach out to him to see how

3:08:23far he's gotten. Thank you,

3:08:26>> Madam City Secretary.

3:08:28>> Next speaker is Ana Nego.

3:08:35>> Thank you, council. Um,

3:08:38I'm here on behalf of several citizens

3:08:41that reach out reached out to me for

3:08:43help. One of them is the owner of uh

3:08:46Gizmo and I pull out u um open records

3:08:50and I saw the email from Mr. Kaggel that

3:08:53he sent to you in response to that

3:08:55article. Um and Mr. Kaggel says that for

3:08:58owners that cannot afford the impound

3:09:00and boarding fees. We work out payment

3:09:03arrangements through municipal court.

3:09:07That's excellent. Except they don't do

3:09:10that. Mr. Kaggel is telling you that

3:09:13they do that. They don't. Gizmo was not

3:09:17um Gizmo's owner was not offered that.

3:09:19They flat out refused. She had no idea

3:09:22there were going to charge her that high

3:09:25of a fee. They flat out refused to give

3:09:27the dog back and then they gave her the

3:09:29wrong information and of course and then

3:09:32so they kept the dog several days longer

3:09:34and then they gave it for free to a

3:09:37rescue. So they didn't even collect a

3:09:40fee. Just today I was contacted by the

3:09:43owners of some pets. They were um saved

3:09:47by with the help of the actually police

3:09:50department um from a house fire on

3:09:53Brenda Lane. And Chief, if you can find

3:09:56out who the police officer is, they were

3:09:59very grateful for the help they got. Uh

3:10:02Brenda Lane lot 194. Uh the police um

3:10:07made sure that the animals are I well

3:10:09one pet didn't make it but the others

3:10:11made it they were taken to the shelter

3:10:14and several days later the shelter made

3:10:18them pay 66 $660

3:10:21which they didn't have. They're

3:10:23extremely desperate.

3:10:26Again they were not offered payment

3:10:28arrangements. They were going to keep

3:10:30the pets. So I'm not sure what Mr.

3:10:32Kaggel is

3:10:35saying when he's telling you it sounds

3:10:38great except it's not true.

3:10:41So um and

3:10:44[sighs] in the first case, okay, Gizmo

3:10:47got out. It's it's the owner's fault. I

3:10:49understand. In this case,

3:10:52the house burned down. How cruel do you

3:10:55have to be to say, "Look, it's too bad

3:10:58you give us money or you lose your

3:11:01pets." And after after the police were

3:11:03so kind and so nice to these people and

3:11:08then they go to the shelter and boom,

3:11:11they're desperate. Desperate even now

3:11:14they're they just can't believe that the

3:11:17shelter would do that to them. And the

3:11:20same with Gizmo. They had so many

3:11:22opportunities to give that animal back

3:11:25to the owner. Very easy. And they knew

3:11:28that the owner wanted the dog back. I

3:11:31understand they did something. You're

3:11:32you're correct. But doesn't mean you

3:11:35confiscate the animal.

3:11:37Just find them, but not like flat out

3:11:40confiscate.

3:11:41>> Thank you, ma'am. Your time is

3:11:42>> Thank you,

3:11:44>> Madam City Secretary.

3:11:48>> Uh, Mr. Mayor, the next speaker is our

3:11:51online speaker.

3:11:53>> Uh, excuse me, just one minute. Uh,

3:11:54council member Kimble.

3:11:57>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. U Mr. Kaggel,

3:12:00can you,

3:12:03as a matter of fact, to stay within

3:12:05guidelines, uh, can you find out how

3:12:08often the court provides owners of dogs

3:12:10that are taken to to pay the fees as

3:12:13part of the court fines?

3:12:15>> Thank you, sir.

3:12:19>> Madam City Secretary,

3:12:21>> uh, Mr. Mayor, the next speaker is

3:12:24Heather McMillan.

3:12:27Okay.

3:12:29Good evening, council council. Thank

3:12:31you. Hello.

3:12:33>> Good evening, council.

3:12:35>> Um, so I really had no intentions to

3:12:37speak again this evening. Um, but

3:12:41something was brought up about code

3:12:42enforcement and the connect app. So I

3:12:45feel this would be a good time to

3:12:47address the issue and I want to thank

3:12:49you allow for me to doing so via Zoom.

3:12:53The carpet roll that councilwoman spoke

3:12:55of in my neighbor is in my neighborhood

3:12:57and the councilman that said we have an

3:13:00app. You are correct.

3:13:03And yes, I've used it and reported that

3:13:05carpet roll that the council woman spoke

3:13:08of along with a trailer on the street,

3:13:11debris in a yard, and broken sidewalks

3:13:14many times on that app. And guess what?

3:13:18That carpet is still there on that

3:13:20sidewalk two years later after being

3:13:22reported repeatedly. So, I'm throwing

3:13:26code enforcement under the bus. I have

3:13:29spoken to code enforcement about this

3:13:31situation when they came out to a

3:13:33different home in my neighborhood and he

3:13:35said the cart crit roll isn't his

3:13:37department. I needed to contact solid

3:13:39waste department. The trailer is the

3:13:41police department's issue. The broken

3:13:44sidewalk is public works department. So,

3:13:46I needed to contact them. So, now that I

3:13:50just said that it I now need to contact

3:13:53four different departments.

3:13:56Why aren't these departments

3:13:58communicating with each other? The app

3:14:01isn't working and now it's the sp the

3:14:03citizens responsibility to be doing all

3:14:06of that, contacting four departments

3:14:09under one complaint at one location.

3:14:12What is the point of code enforcement

3:14:14and this app for if it's not being

3:14:16utilized properly? Please look into the

3:14:19workings of the app and the cross

3:14:21communication of departments instead of

3:14:23passing it on to citizens to tackle it

3:14:25and have to reach out to everybody.

3:14:27Also, I must note it was reported

3:14:29through a councilwoman city email on

3:14:32that app and it was finally partially

3:14:34addressed. Yet, that carpet role is

3:14:36still there today. So, how does it look

3:14:38to me as a citizen that a council member

3:14:41gets action before a citizen on the same

3:14:44complaint that I've been filing for over

3:14:46two years? I would like you all to

3:14:49consider this item on the agenda for

3:14:51future meetings to find solutions on the

3:14:54communication disconnections between

3:14:56departments and the apps and the use of

3:14:58the distribution of this information to

3:15:01the departments and how it effectively

3:15:03could make things better for the staff

3:15:04and citizens. We should not be having to

3:15:07be contacting every department and

3:15:09there's no direction for us to do so.

3:15:12Also, I'll point out that code

3:15:14enforcement officer has only been in my

3:15:16neighborhood in three times in two years

3:15:20and there is violations. They never

3:15:23drive around, especially when we're

3:15:25paying extra money to have them there.

3:15:27So, again, please put this on your um

3:15:30agenda futures. Thank you.

3:15:35Thank you.

3:15:37City

3:15:39city secretary.

3:15:42>> Final speaker is Leo Gaisen.

3:15:53>> Uh good evening again, Mr. Mayor, Madame

3:15:55Mayor Promp,

3:15:57>> Council Member, City Manager. Uh, I

3:15:59wasn't really going to speak this

3:16:00evening about anything on this matter,

3:16:03but after the last item on the agenda

3:16:07and the discussion that was made by all

3:16:10parties, I have to admit that was pretty

3:16:13darn good.

3:16:15Um, everybody spoke their peace about

3:16:18this retreat or whatever it was going to

3:16:21be called, workshop, whatever. Um cuz I

3:16:24remember days back when um we were

3:16:27across the street over there at the

3:16:29utilities collection office, you know,

3:16:31two sitting council members stand up and

3:16:34we're going to fight each other right

3:16:37there in front of every God and country

3:16:38there, you know, and you talk about an

3:16:42embarrassment. And I've seen other

3:16:44things going on, but I have to admit,

3:16:46and I might be getting soft to my old

3:16:48age, but please don't repeat that. Um

3:16:52what I saw just at that one little

3:16:55discussion

3:16:57you know that was what we need more of

3:17:00open discussion and I have to agree with

3:17:04one part of the body that we don't need

3:17:07adult we're adults we don't need another

3:17:08adult to tell us how to do things we

3:17:11should know that by now you know we're

3:17:13all up there we've all you know retired

3:17:16from one or two jobs already and we have

3:17:19the experience it's just getting

3:17:21together and willing to talk about

3:17:24openly on what you what's going on. And

3:17:27like I said, I really was surprised

3:17:30at that last item of discussion where it

3:17:33was open. Everybody spoke their mind. No

3:17:36one got their feelings hurt. There was

3:17:38no

3:17:39repeat of that one incident where two

3:17:41council members wanted to fight right

3:17:43there in front of everybody. Um, one the

3:17:46one party admitted that they have

3:17:49extended an olive branch to another

3:17:51party and they are working together on a

3:17:54project which is good. That's the way it

3:17:57should be. That's what we need. That's

3:17:58what we the people want to see. We don't

3:18:01want to see up here pe our

3:18:04representatives arguing with each other.

3:18:07You know, that's not the image we want

3:18:09to see. And then that's what sets a bad

3:18:12tone to people who have said in the past

3:18:14they don't come to these meetings

3:18:16because everybody argues amongst

3:18:17themselves.

3:18:19But I just want to say congrat kudos and

3:18:22if I was wearing a hat I would take it

3:18:23off to y'all for that last item there.

3:18:27How y'all handled that and what y'all

3:18:28said. I think that was that was real

3:18:30good and that's what I would like to see

3:18:32more of and I'm sure other residents

3:18:34would like to see more of that too. And

3:18:37again, thank you for your time and y'all

3:18:39have a good evening. Thank you, sir.

3:18:43>> There are no more speakers.

3:18:44>> Thank you. Um, city secretary, thank you

3:18:47for your help. Uh, council member Nash

3:18:49King.

3:18:50>> Mr. Mayor, if there's no more

3:18:52discussion, I'd like them to make a

3:18:54motion to adjourn.

3:18:56>> There's a second.

3:19:00You have a second.

3:19:01>> Second.

3:19:03>> Okay. Second by May Pro Tim. All in

3:19:05favor? Hi.

3:19:09>> Okay.

3:19:10>> Yes, ma'am. I'm coming.