[0:06] So I now call this, uh, meeting of the baytown. This meeting of the baytown city council order
[0:11] is thursday, april 14th. It is 6:31 pm we are in baytown city hall council
[0:15] chambers. We do have a quorum. Uh, we will be led in our pledge and invocation this evening by council
[0:19] member charles johnson of district number three.
[0:24] you would join me in reciting the pledge to the flag. I pledge allegiance, allegiance
[0:28] to the flag of the united states of america, and to the
[0:32] republic for which it stands, one nation under god and
[0:36] indivisible with liberty and justice. Now the texas
[0:40] flag, honor the texas flag. I pledge allegiance to
[0:44] the texas one state under god, one
[0:49] and indivisible. You would bow your heads for a moment of prayer.
[0:54] dear lord, heavenly father, we thank you for your many abounded abundant
[0:58] blessings. Thank you for life itself. Thank you for the ability to be involved
[1:03] in useful work and for the responsibility associated with
[1:07] it. I pray for the various levels of city officials. I ask that
[1:11] you grant us the ability to work in harmony even when there is honest
[1:15] disagreement, the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding needed to
[1:19] govern. And I pray that you protect all of our first respond responders
[1:24] and our armed forces. I pray for
[1:28] the agenda that is set before us tonight. Please give us the assurance of what you
[1:32] would have us to do and how you would have us to do it for the benefit of those
[1:37] citizens in our city. I ask all of these things in your son,
[1:41] our lord and savior jesus. The christ's name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank
[1:45] you councilman. Alright.
[1:51] alright. Our first item we have is item one, a approval of the minutes for the baytown
[1:55] city council regular meeting held on march 10th, 2022. Uh, to entertain a
[1:59] motion for approval as written. Motion to approve. Second, we have a motion to second any
[2:03] questions or comments or abstentions, if not all those in favor of the, of the minutes.
[2:08] uh, to approve the minutes as written, please say, aye. Aye. Those opposed. We'll
[2:12] move on to item two, a recognition of city of baytown employees, laia
[2:16] ton and lanette leon. For awards received from the american water works association,
[2:21] we have mr. Frank semino. Hopefully I got the, I'm gonna read yes,
[2:25] yes. But, um, but certainly we have some awards, uh, and it's always great when our,
[2:29] when our employees can be recognized for outstanding work they do
[2:33] for our citizens. Um, so once again, this, this is recognition
[2:38] from the, uh, american waterworks association,
[2:42] latia ton. Superintendent wastewater treatment received the w the william d. Hatfield
[2:46] award, which recognized an operator wastewater treatment plans for outstanding performance
[2:50] and professionalism. Leon leon asset manager received the sydney
[2:55] l allison award, which recognizes a person who has made a significant contribution to
[2:59] the, to the engineering, science and or operation and maintenance of wastewater
[3:03] collection and pumping stations with the mission to transport wastewater to a treatment
[3:07] plant. She also received the water environment association of texas innovative
[3:12] technology award, which recognizes individuals who have deployed or deployed
[3:16] innovative technologies to solve water challenges. So I'd like to recognize
[3:20] these two individuals, uh, by our director of, uh, engineering and public works.
[3:24] uh, mr. Semino.
[3:40] that or just one? Okay. There was just one.
[3:44] okay. Thank you. So next, there'll be a
[3:48] proclamation and recognition for the lee college basketball team, which we're all proud of. So if I can go, I
[3:52] think I'm gonna read a proclamation down there and say a few short comments. And then,
[3:56] uh, I would, if I can, I get counsel to go and join me as we recognize these individuals,
[4:01] and I'm sure we'll take a picture with them. Uh, I would assume charles
[4:05] and myself and others will be well in front of all these young men.
[4:13] such a,
[4:22] I'll go ahead and read the proclamation for these, these young men, their
[4:26] successes in lee college athletics. So proclamation c of baytown lee college,
[4:30] men's basketball, uh, 20 21, 20 22. Whereas lee college
[4:34] men's basketball team is made up of the following players. Joshua cooper,
[4:38] devonte austin, darius smith, kyron gibson lemon, jean
[4:43] nicholas trailer, mario whitley, terrence johnson, reese peel,
[4:47] uh, jean vinney, uh, chance brown di jean
[4:52] dii. I, uh, edrick wil, uh, wilkinson, darrell washington,
[4:56] braden reed. And is also coached by obviously, uh, coach nicholas wade,
[5:01] who are, we're all very proud of, uh, all his accomp accomplishments that he has done here in
[5:05] lee college. Lee college men's basketball, through countless hours of practice and preparation
[5:10] off the court, had a great year ending with the season with 27 wins, the most wins
[5:14] in a single season in school history, an 18 game win streak in the highest rank
[5:18] the school has ever achieved, which is 14th. Coach wade earned the
[5:22] distinguished honor of being named region 14 south zone coach of the year, while leading
[5:26] the team to the first south zone championship in school history and earning
[5:31] an invite to the national tournament. And whereas the members of the team were invited to
[5:35] participate in all region teams, including kyron gibson and chance brown, chosen
[5:39] for the first team all region selection, darius smith and mario whitley chosen for the
[5:43] second team all region selections with kyron gibson also chose for all
[5:47] american. So now, therefore, I, brandon cap's mayor of the city of baytown, texas, do
[5:51] hereby pro came april 15th, which is tomorrow 2020 as lee college
[5:55] men's basketball day in baytown. And I urge all our citizens to join me in
[6:00] recognizing the dedication and hard work the team put to achieve the successful,
[6:04] uh, season. And certainly we wish 'em a very, uh, very bright future next
[6:09] year. We have a lot of returning players. I got to meet with them, uh, briefly before the meeting. And so we're
[6:13] certainly excited that we go deeper into the playoffs. So if I can get counsel and myself,
[6:17] uh, to go and recognize these individuals.
[6:30] yes, you have your own day. You have your own day. Yes. We, we
[6:34] can wear red, everybody can wear red tomorrow. But I, I would also like to recognize
[6:38] if I can, I think we have some lee college regents and I know we have, uh, dr.
[6:42] linda, linda eva to join us.
[6:47] and if you're at lee college regent, uh, we have, uh, regent susan
[6:52] morono, regent gilbert santana.
[6:56] we have regent gina guillory, regent weston
[7:00] cotton. Who are we missing?
[7:05] that's four. That's it. Okay. That's fine.
[7:09] anyone else? Any other regents? I wanna make sure I didn't miss them. Alright, thank you.
[7:15] where spokes make forgot.
[7:22] so we want not give you another one of these next year if we can
[7:28] you,
[7:36] this has been signed by all the baytown city council and our city manager. So best
[7:40] of luck.
[7:54] go guys. Alright, ready?
[7:59] 1, 2, 3
[8:07] blinding moments. Get
[8:11] it.
[8:41] are you gonna rec, am I gonna recognize the people that
[8:45] are here? Okay. They have names, right? Smaller when you're in
[8:50] the stands.
[9:00] good start. Yeah.
[9:04] what are these, what are these? This for something else.
[9:15] next item.
[9:37] is that scott? Back there? Is that scott?
[9:43] where? In the back? Right here, outside the door.
[9:50] is that him? Yeah. That's,
[9:55] this is just a solution. Uhhuh.
[10:01] well, we, we should give some time to present
[10:07] this. I don't.
[10:14] okay. Do.
[10:29] okay. Next we'll move on to item three a. We're gonna consider resolution adopting the city of bay town's five-year
[10:33] community-based strategic plan. We have mr. Brian moham, I believe they'll be presenting, or
[10:38] mr. Rick davis and spac
[10:42] chair kelly williams. Okay.
[10:46] uh, you wanna go? There's three names.
[10:51] okay. Well, mayor and council, I'll, I'll tip it off right here and then I'm gonna hand
[10:55] it over to, uh, mr. Mackey smith, who has been our facilitator
[10:59] in this whole process. I'm extremely proud of the work that
[11:03] our strategic planning advisory, uh, committee has done. Uh,
[11:07] we have one council person that, uh, knows what it's like to go through this process,
[11:12] and it was, uh, very instrumental in creating our first five year plan, which
[11:16] was successfully implemented and continues to be implemented until the end of
[11:20] this year. This sets a blueprint, uh, for the next five
[11:24] years, and it is based on a, a multitude of,
[11:29] of exercises designed to, uh, to encourage deep
[11:33] community listening as I like to always, uh, say so that
[11:37] we can adequately evaluate what our citizens believe are the
[11:41] factors, the initiatives, ideas, and dreams that are most likely to elevate their
[11:45] quality of life. Uh, very proud of this, in fact, uh, as
[11:50] I read through this, and I hope you've had the chance. Also, I, I'm
[11:54] so impressed with the process and in fact, in the 15 years
[11:58] that I've been engaged in community based strategic planning, uh,
[12:02] I do not recall a process that has gone better than this one
[12:06] and a plan that's better than this one. And, uh, with that,
[12:11] I commend them, uh, for their, um,
[12:15] their participation. Uh, and I'll just gonna
[12:19] slaughter your names. Um, ali singh,
[12:24] rebecca kojo, steven bingham, mark stafford,
[12:28] kelly williams, tommy smith, nicholas rice, trevor smith,
[12:33] and taylor henkel. So, uh, just commend you
[12:37] and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And aren't you glad we don't need to do this
[12:42] for another five years? 'cause it will. But honestly, at
[12:46] the end of this process, I think you could say that you know this community
[12:51] fairly a lot better than you did before. I'm guessing that would be
[12:55] true. With that, I'm gonna turn some time over to, uh, mr.
[12:59] mackey smith. And, uh, we'll take it from there the rest of the way. And look for
[13:03] your ratification of the five year strategic plan for the city of baytown.
[13:12] hello, counsel. It's a real pleasure to be here. Um, thanks to
[13:16] everyone in the room for showing up to listen to me speak. I came all the way from utah,
[13:20] and so I just, yeah, you guys knew about it. I don't know how I, I know
[13:25] you're here for this, right? Um, so
[13:29] following on, based, what I wanna start off with is outline the process
[13:34] by which we got to having this plan. In some ways,
[13:38] it's as important or even more important than what the final deliverable is.
[13:42] uh, a phrase that we like to use is the broader the base in participation
[13:47] of creating the plan, the higher the likelihood of actually implementing the
[13:51] plan. It's this process that ensures that it, it establishes
[13:56] an expectation of accountability, and it also ensures that the plan doesn't
[14:00] sit on the shelf, but actually leads to, uh, to guiding
[14:04] the city's budget and the initiatives that you choose to focus on over the next five
[14:08] years. So, to start the process, this committee helped lead out
[14:12] and identify groups that we wanted to talk to. We followed this community engagement
[14:17] approach where we facilitated dialogue sessions in my time of doing
[14:21] community-based strategic planning. I don't think I've ever gotten close to the number
[14:25] of focus groups we did, uh, with this community. Big thanks to this
[14:30] committee and to brian and rick for their help and to all the council members who
[14:34] each hosted a session in each of your districts. So we facilitated 26
[14:38] dialogue sessions, both to the public and already going to a meeting that was
[14:42] taking place with different organizations throughout the community. We collected
[14:46] over 2,500 public survey responses. We didn't do a statistically
[14:50] significant, well, we did a sta a statistically significant survey as well.
[14:54] but we leveraged this survey to guide the plan because everyone who wanted
[14:59] to participate had the chance to fill this survey out by design other
[15:03] type types of surveys. You're only allowed to take certain amounts of people in different neighborhoods.
[15:07] we wanted to make sure that any resident who wanted to participate could.
[15:11] we also launched an essay contest where you had over a hundred,
[15:15] uh, eighth graders respond of what does a perfect baytown
[15:20] look like in the future? Um, and I believe you, uh, you honored the, those
[15:24] essay contest winners here in a previous council meeting. So really the
[15:28] goal and the result of this was to leave no stone unturned as to how we got
[15:32] to this plan. We took the feedback that was create that, that the
[15:37] citizens gave us, and we analyzed that feedback
[15:41] and created the strategic plan to reflect and capture the feedback
[15:45] that was given. This isn't, uh, we didn't do community outreach
[15:49] to say, oh, thanks everybody, pat them on the head now we're just gonna go into a back room and create
[15:53] a plan. It was a really transparent process, and nothing that's in this plan
[15:57] wasn't brought up directly by residents as a priority to them. So for
[16:01] those in the room who participated, thank you so much. Again, this is your plan,
[16:06] not, not ours. So with that, I'm gonna turn over to start talking.
[16:10] well actually, let me, um, jump in right here and talk about the format of the
[16:14] plan. The primary directive is to, uh, capture
[16:18] what quality of life do we want in our community? And in a way it's the mission
[16:22] statement of this plan. What is the city's mission statement for the next five
[16:26] years? Under that are five strategic directives or key
[16:31] focus areas. How should the city focus its resources? Under
[16:35] those are strategic initiatives, what I like to call action items. What specifically can
[16:39] we do to drive success in each of these key focus areas?
[16:43] and lastly, how will we measure success that what what we typically
[16:47] refer to as goals. So with that format in mind, I'm gonna turn it
[16:51] over to rebecca who's gonna talk about the mission statement or primary directive of
[16:55] the city.
[17:01] I hello. Good evening. Thank you all for having us tonight. Uh, my
[17:05] name is rebecca coho and I'm the first, uh, committee member that you'll hear from tonight.
[17:10] so to start our primary directive, this is as maggie mentioned, our mission statement,
[17:14] our main idea, ethos, thesis, if you will, that we want the city of baytown
[17:18] to continually pursue as the strategic plan is carried out over the next five years.
[17:23] our primary directive is to build upon vibrant, build upon
[17:27] our vibrant economy and unique sense of community by strengthening a more
[17:31] connected baytown that further embraces people from all backgrounds of life,
[17:35] um, from all backgrounds, and invest in improving their quality of life. As we considered
[17:39] the previous primary directive, we really wanted to focus on building upon the successes
[17:43] of the last strategic plan as the city works to achieve more and grow in the next five years.
[17:47] and with that, the first strategic, uh, directive we have is economic prosperity.
[17:53] uh, citizens want to live in a city that provides a multitude of essential
[17:57] and recreational activities where they can live, work, and play
[18:01] without the need to leave baytown. And so why is this in the plan? Well, in
[18:05] community feedback, as mackey mentioned, such as the survey sent out, the residents when
[18:09] asked for their priorities, uh, really want the city to focus on things like upscale
[18:14] shopping, fine dining, fine dining, and really things to do. Uh, so the
[18:18] key initiatives for this directive, uh, first continue to recruit new shopping and dining options.
[18:23] this next one, adopt, uh, sorry, action plan for mall
[18:27] renovation. So why is this in the plan? Well, the mall was brought up in every focus
[18:31] group. Residents are ready for the area to thrive and bring new opportunities.
[18:35] and citizens are hopeful that renovation will contribute to new options.
[18:39] and then we also noticed that residents and especially younger families, uh,
[18:43] desired more options when it came to entertainment. So, uh, things like enter,
[18:48] um, sorry, businesses like air entertainment are seen as a big win, but really
[18:52] as a starting point in the right direction. Um,
[18:56] uh, so success for this in, uh, this initiative. Uh,
[19:00] we would wanna track it in continued high and, uh, high employment rates,
[19:04] diversified retail and dining options and average household income. And with that,
[19:08] I will turn it over to my next to the next committee member.
[19:18] hi, I'm kelly williams, and I'll be going over, uh, strategic directive number
[19:22] two, which is focused on providing improvements to critical infrastructure
[19:27] and in and mobility. Um, as it says, uh,
[19:31] our citizens wanna live in a community that's cognizant of growth with manageable
[19:35] traffic, where they can arrive safely and timely
[19:39] based on our citizen feedback and considering projected growth. This directive
[19:44] asked the city to focus on traffic management to improve congestion as well as,
[19:48] uh, pedestrian access improvements to improve safety and connectivity along major
[19:52] thoroughfare. Go back. One. Um, when asked
[19:57] where they wanted resources applied, applied citizens responded,
[20:01] roads and traffic relief were among their top concerns after the shopping
[20:05] and dining options, of course. But, um, in order to be able to get there in time
[20:09] for your entertainment, um, we need infrastructural
[20:13] improvements that will resolve traffic on major roadways, and that
[20:17] was a frequent point of feedback in our surveys.
[20:22] to address these concerns, we've identified three key initiatives. The
[20:26] first being, um, additional investment into road and traffic improvements,
[20:31] which will include coordination between stoplights, uh, being improved,
[20:35] alleviating traffic congestion, and completing planned road projects
[20:40] for major thorough affairs such as garth road and others. Uh,
[20:44] the second initiative is to improve connectivity of sidewalks, walkways, and trails
[20:48] so that the city is safer and more walkable, uh, particularly along
[20:52] school routes. This will be accomplished by constructing additional sidewalks,
[20:56] walking and biking trails, and improving pedestrian access to city
[21:00] facilities and amenities. The third objective objective focuses
[21:05] on continuing to implement, um, flood mitigation projects throughout the
[21:09] city. While our strategic plan expands on all these initiatives and
[21:13] sets metrics to gauge success, um, those include reduced
[21:17] traffic at the primary streets and intersections and proof pedestrian access,
[21:21] which will be measured through additional feat of sidewalk constructed over the next
[21:25] five years. And I believe mackey will go over our next initiative.
[21:32] tag me back in. Um, one thing I do want to clarify, um, for those
[21:36] in attendance, these aren't the only initiatives that are in the plan. It's
[21:41] a rather large document that we invite you all to read. It's really, you know, exciting stuff
[21:45] before you go to bed. Um, but there's
[21:49] just, if it isn't mentioned today, it is still, there are a lot of other things that are
[21:53] in the plan. We just want to cover those highlights of what's going to get us furthest along in terms of
[21:57] implementation. So the third directive was beautification and environmental
[22:02] stewardship. Residents want to live in a community where they can be
[22:06] proud to call it home, where and where they can take neighbor, where neighbors take
[22:10] pride in maintaining their homes and to enjoy the rich beauty of the
[22:14] area. So likewise, of residents
[22:18] voicing what they do. Like, um, we also were able to better
[22:23] understand what do residents not like so much. As you can see, location
[22:27] was one of the top things that residents love about baytown,
[22:31] but on the flip side, they don't necessarily like the city reputation and image when it
[22:36] specifically, when it comes to physical appearance. Now, location, which is a good thing,
[22:40] you can't change that. So we already have that under check . But,
[22:44] uh, enhancing the image and the way that that's going to be done is through these key initiatives.
[22:49] one is partnering with local stakeholders on cleanup initiatives of the trash
[22:53] that we find throughout town. Um, that's an effort that is
[22:57] ongoing and something that the city is already mindful of and is going to find
[23:01] new ways to address that. Same with continuing to enact consistent
[23:05] and proactive code enforcement. And lastly, uh, continue efforts of
[23:09] tree planting, tree preservation and natural beautification efforts, whether
[23:13] it's land ordinances and ensuring that there's enough green space and access to
[23:17] the bay for residents. The way that the city will measure success is
[23:22] quite simply the less number of residents that are calling in and complaining.
[23:27] it's, uh, it's a pretty simple science there. You can, you can more easily track that.
[23:31] and then also measuring the amount of trash that's found and additional
[23:35] green space. So fourth, we have outdoor recreation and amenities.
[23:45] good evening, I'm mark stafford. Uh, and to share the strategic directive four,
[23:50] outdoor recreation and amenities. You see the quote there. I wanna live in a community
[23:54] where all members of my family can enjoy an active lifestyle. So a lot of
[23:58] good discussions about involvement of families and our recreation areas
[24:02] in, uh, three key initiatives. Uh, for this, as you can see, the first one is
[24:06] identify waterfront front property to develop for recreational
[24:11] use. And if you notice the phrase there, uh, kayak and paddleboard rentals access
[24:15] to the bio, but the phrase emphasize the bay and baytown,
[24:19] uh, and continue to do that because we know that our city does that. Uh,
[24:23] and has been, uh, secondly to expand trails and bike paths
[24:27] and recreational pedestrian access. So improve connectivity
[24:32] of our trails, expand trails. Goose creek trail was often mentioned
[24:36] in discussions and maintain properties and enable organized
[24:41] sports for all ages. Increasing opportunities for both youth and
[24:45] adult rec leagues. And just again, the idea of connecting, uh, young
[24:49] families, uh, uh, uh, folks, um, all, all in between in
[24:53] our community. And the metrics for this for success. Uh, increase quality
[24:57] waterfront access points, improving satisfaction survey
[25:01] scores, and increased enrollment in our organized sports
[25:06] here.
[25:14] good evening. I'm tommy tommy smith. I'm
[25:18] going to discuss our fifth directive. As he stated earlier, it's not
[25:22] our final one, but one of our final points that we'll make this evening one of our quotes
[25:26] from our surveys. I want all members of baytown to enjoy the same connection and
[25:30] sense of community that I do that really grounded our work and my feelings
[25:35] about building a connected baytown. And this being a key initiative
[25:40] that really hit home with me. Uh, one initiative that I really,
[25:44] really hold true is a way to
[25:49] engage our community and, uh, through different plans
[25:53] and implementation. Another way we want to, um, achieve
[25:57] this initiative is to leverage, um, civic, uh, academy
[26:02] and to expand our opportunities to volunteer. Even with this, for myself,
[26:06] volunteering really told me a lot about my community, learned
[26:10] a lot about the people that I live with and what people want. Uh, the key initiative
[26:15] also discusses, um, help from all
[26:19] backgrounds for all backgrounds by way of community development and
[26:23] pro uh, programs. A metric that we will use to determine success
[26:27] would be, again, our satisfaction survey scores, uh,
[26:31] reduce the discrepancy of neighborhoods. When we drive from one end of town to the other, we
[26:35] see that different things are there and other things may not be here. And also we want
[26:39] to increase our volunteerism with our citizens. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.
[26:49] so before I discuss, uh, next steps, um, I wanna take a moment to
[26:54] commend our department directors and their staff for their commitment, uh, to implementing
[26:58] the plan. During the last five years, um, we have annually
[27:03] been able to successfully complete 75 to 85% of
[27:07] the strategies and ideas, uh, the council has developed,
[27:11] um, to meet the desires identified, um, by the community.
[27:15] of course, not everything can be accomplished within the year.
[27:19] specific projects like the reconstruction of garth road take multiple years
[27:23] to accomplish. However, many of our successes would not be realities
[27:28] without their professionalism and expertise to keep our
[27:32] momentum moving forward. We're also upgrading our community scorecard to an online dashboard
[27:37] that will be more visibly able to depict, um, the progress that we're
[27:41] making and implementation of our plan and help increase engagement with
[27:45] the community. The dashboard will be updated quarterly and available
[27:49] on baytown.org. We are looking to launch the dashboard later
[27:53] this year that will coincide, um, with our fiscal year 23
[27:58] budget in october. And one
[28:02] thing that we'll also be doing is the spac will conduct annual status
[28:06] updates with staff on the implementation as well as an annual report
[28:11] to the city council. And as you all are aware of, one thing that we do
[28:15] currently is an annual go goal setting, uh, between staff
[28:20] and council on the annual implementation plan.
[28:28] so what questions do you have? Alright, counsel,
[28:32] is there any questions that, uh, mackey could, uh, could answer for you if
[28:36] you have any? No. Okay. Awesome. Well, thank
[28:40] you. I guess I'll exit out , easy enough. Well, thank you. And, and certainly,
[28:44] uh, I think it's, it is certainly a great plan and, and, uh, I do really do appreciate
[28:48] this. It's pretty easy to read and understand, I think the, uh, the outcomes,
[28:52] uh, and deliverables from, from a lot of effort. So we do appreciate, uh, all
[28:57] the effort in, in this, this plan itself. So being with that, I guess we
[29:01] didn't consider resolution in a, in adopting this item.
[29:05] so there's an item three a, so I'd entertain a motion for that move to
[29:09] approve three a second, but motion to second. Any additional questions or comments,
[29:14] if not, all those in favor? Item three as presented, please say, aye. Aye. All those opposed?
[29:18] item carries. We have item three b, recognize the members of the city of baytown strategic planning advisory committee.
[29:23] mr. Moran or mr. Davis,
[29:28] we have all the spac members. Please come to the podium, please.
[29:33] surprise, . Now
[29:48] this order? Yeah, there. Okay.
[29:53] get a picture. Okay. Oh, there you go. I can
[29:57] see the names now. . All right. Rebecca kho.
[30:01] so thank you again for, for one second.
[30:06] how about if I go there and, and you handle me one. Okay, let's go over here.
[30:19] okay.
[30:25] sync? Yes. Thank you.
[30:32] then we'll do a applause out. Thank you. Say the
[30:36] name of the microphone. Okay, I'm sorry.
[30:41] taylor henkel. Sorry.
[30:51] kelly williams. Ms. Williams. Thank
[30:56] you. Enjoyed that process. Thank you.
[31:02] okay, and tommy smith.
[31:20] mark stafford.
[31:33] can we get a photo with all them all, uh,
[32:02] stand basketball players?
[32:07] close up
[32:14] a little bit closer.
[32:20] okay, here we go. One, two.
[32:28] okay. Thank you.
[32:39] thank you. You're welcome.
[33:17] all right, counsel. What I'm gonna do next in the interest of, uh, I'm sure we have a lot of assistance here that
[33:21] are, uh, signed up to speak. Uh, we do have to take, take. We took care of some items that
[33:25] we needed to, uh, but I'm gonna take a point of privilege. I'm gonna move items 11 a
[33:30] 12 a, and 12 b up. So we'll start taking this in that order.
[33:34] uh, what we'll do first is we're gonna, we're gonna get go in executive session, then we'll
[33:39] come back out and then we'll continue, uh, continue our meeting. So folks,
[33:43] thank you for coming out this evening, but just please hang on, we'll be back. We're gonna go go into
[33:47] an executive session here from our attorney, um, and then we'll come back
[33:51] out and we'll continue our meeting. Okay, so let me, I do have to read
[33:55] this. So we'll now recess into and convene an executive session pursuant
[33:59] to texas government code sections 5 5 1 0.071 and 5 5 1 0.087
[34:04] to deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect and to seek the
[34:08] advice of the city attorneys on legal matters related there too.
[34:17] yeah, I always do that. I forgot because there's another one in there.
[34:21] alright, we're good.
[34:26] so I'll now reconvene our open meeting with the baytown city council and, and announce that in accordance with section
[34:31] 5 5 1, uh, 1 0 2 of the texas government code. No action was
[34:35] taken in executive session.
[34:39] so we were, we're gonna move on to item 12 a. And so, um,
[34:45] I'm assuming we're gonna go ahead and move to public comment. Is there a list of individuals, I'm
[34:49] assuming?
[34:55] okay,
[35:02] so everybody signed up on for 12 a
[35:06] b okay. Alright.
[35:10] so I believe what's gonna, what's gonna take place, folks, tonight, obviously there's many people that signed up. It
[35:14] is eight 40. Um, I will, will
[35:18] ask you to do a few things for, for us this evening. Um, there's
[35:23] a long list of people who wants, who have, who wants to make comment, and we want to give everybody the opportunity
[35:27] to do so. This item is obviously very important to our community.
[35:32] um, um, there's lots of things to say. I ask
[35:36] that everyone in the room be respectful, make your comments. I think each of you'll have three minutes
[35:40] each. Uh, you don't have to use the full three minutes, but you can, uh, if
[35:44] you'd like. Um, and then, um, there's gonna be some beeps that take place. So I, I
[35:48] believe the, the yellow light gives you a minute. So if you're up, if you speak here at the
[35:52] podium, uh, at when the yellow light comes on, you have one minute, and then when the red light
[35:56] goes on, I'm, I'll give you about a second or two, but I'll ask you to make
[36:00] your closing comment, whatever it may be. Okay. So with that,
[36:05] uh, we will hear from our citizens this night. We will start first with, uh, pam wolfer.
[36:09] uh, when you do come up here, please uh, state your name and your home address. Brandon,
[36:14] I'd like to relinquish my time to chris wilford, please. Okay, thank you.
[36:18] alright, so next we have chris wilford .
[36:26] all right, thank you mayor council. I really appreciate y'all being here
[36:30] tonight and hearing me. Um, as much as you know, pam and I are lifelong bayton
[36:35] and, uh, we only want the best for our community that we love. It's very important to
[36:39] us. We are strongly in favor of the proposal before
[36:43] you tonight. We believe the proposal will greatly benefit our community.
[36:48] we could bring golf back to baytown in less than two years
[36:53] and begin the process of developing the south side and the waterfront
[36:57] property that I feel like is probably our biggest asset in this town
[37:01] with the hotel and convention center opening. Hopefully by next summer.
[37:05] the time I feel like in, in pam and I feel like is now the
[37:10] development of the property has unlimited potential, but has to
[37:14] be addressed now rather than later. With the addition of the golf course, we
[37:18] can now have restaurants, bars, and possibly even a boardwalk. The possibilities are totally
[37:22] unlimited. As far as the golf, I believe rio
[37:27] ano and david henkel had put together an unbelievable team
[37:31] of, of expertise with rick buckin, who has developed over
[37:35] a hundred courses and with landscapes unlimited, who have managed,
[37:40] uh, some of the top courses in the country as well as 40 in the state of texas.
[37:44] his team of expertise is unbelievable and I really think we're
[37:48] fortunate, very fortunate to have that here. And I really do believe that
[37:53] they have developed a concept of taking, essentially using half the amount of property, of
[37:58] traditional golf course and building it to where you can actually have a full par, 71, 72 18,
[38:03] even probably 36 hole golf course. These are experts
[38:07] in the industry that are putting their reputation on the line because
[38:11] they know how successful this can be. We
[38:16] recognize that the concept will be a huge part of golf in the
[38:20] future. This concept will pursue all over the country,
[38:24] and we have the opportunity here in baytown to be unique in that we can
[38:28] be the first one if we think nine hole golf courses.
[38:32] know many people here think 18 is the only way to go. Nine hole golf courses are not new. In
[38:36] 19 74, 9 hole, there were more nine hole golf courses in this country than 18.
[38:41] right now, the nine hole concept is being pursued all over, even in the houston area
[38:45] right now in chambers creek, which is just outside of north of in willis, texas.
[38:49] they're building a 4,000 home community and they're building a tom layman
[38:54] nine hole double golf course. And it's also in
[38:58] considered one of the top golf courses to be built in 2022 on a lot of the golf
[39:02] magazines. This concept even takes it better,
[39:06] even farther. The development site we know has so much potential.
[39:11] you know, we know as much as maybe in a hundred million over the next 10 years,
[39:16] and we feel like now is the time.
[39:20] we all remember keah fishing village, clear lake,
[39:25] a mud hole, cattle grazing asked eddie gray, he was there doing it.
[39:29] look at it today. In closing, I belief this is an opportunity
[39:34] the city can't let pass by. Now's the time. We need to be
[39:38] bold. We need to be proactive, not reactive.
[39:42] it's something that I feel like we need to go forward with and, and, and make this for all.
[39:46] be victorians for the kids. Who knows if the next tiger woods didn't
[39:50] right around the corner, but he hasn't had much opportunity here in baytown.
[39:56] the other thing I have to say is after hearing the strategic plan, oh my gosh,
[40:01] this is it. After hearing the strategic plan, this is right along with that
[40:05] strategic plan. So in closing, I just wanna say thank you very much
[40:10] and that, um, I feel thankful that you'll allow us to speak tonight and
[40:14] I hope that you'll consider voting for this proposal. Thank you. Thank you dr. Wilford.
[40:18] alright, move on, uh, down the list. Um, I'm gonna skip two names. I think they're gonna speak a
[40:22] little bit later. Uh, we have philip yoder. Is it, is that correct?
[40:27] alright sir,
[40:35] thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. My name's phillip yoder. I live at
[40:39] 2 4 0 2 doral drive, that's in the evergreen, uh,
[40:44] fairways subdivision. Um,
[40:48] when my, my, when my wife and I decided to move back to
[40:53] the houston area, we spent a great deal of
[40:57] time looking at communities all over
[41:02] and we decided, I started to say settled,
[41:07] but we didn't settle. We chose baytown,
[41:12] we chose baytown for a number of reasons. We chose our house for
[41:16] a number of reasons. One of them is the
[41:20] park. Um, yes,
[41:24] it was a golf course. Yes, I used to play golf.
[41:29] I don't anymore. Um, I do see a lot of
[41:33] people out there on the discourse and they seem to be enjoying it.
[41:38] and we're talking about, I've seen in the last
[41:42] three years that we've lived there, I've seen
[41:47] probably 10 tournaments that's pretty good for disc,
[41:52] uh, um, anywhere in the city. I
[41:56] would like to see a number of things happen. One is
[42:00] I'm not seeing a, a revenue off of this
[42:05] proposal. I see revenue for
[42:09] the developer to the tune of 6,000 or $6 million
[42:14] out of my pocket, mine and every other person in
[42:18] baytown. Um, and we
[42:22] get $40 back. I have a problem with
[42:26] that. I would like to see the council
[42:31] vote. No,
[42:36] I don't wanna see this tabled. I think it's a poor proposal.
[42:41] I think that if we wait for a couple of years after
[42:46] the 99 corridors has, uh, finished opening up,
[42:50] we're going to see a lot more development all around us.
[42:55] and at that time we may see multiple people
[43:00] interested in bidding on this project. Thank you
[43:04] again for your time and I appreciate you hearing me. Alright,
[43:08] thank you sir. Next we have it looks like robert, is it yda?
[43:28] good evening ladies and gentlemen and counsel. My name is robert guevara
[43:32] and I live at 1 4 1 1 doral court in the evergreen fairways,
[43:36] uh, subdivision. I am greatly
[43:41] opposed to the development of the golf course
[43:46] and some of the reasons why are, when we bought this
[43:50] house that we live in, one of the main reasons that
[43:54] we purchased a house is we like our privacy.
[43:59] it's close enough to the main city of baytown,
[44:03] but far enough out and secluded enough that we get that
[44:07] privacy. The golf course was just shutting down
[44:11] when we moved into our house and they
[44:15] turned it into a park that we enjoy very much that still has the
[44:20] streams and the little ponds and the walking trails.
[44:24] and you know, a lot of, a lot of our neighbors enjoy
[44:28] it as well as he earlier stated. But some of my concerns
[44:33] are is so we live a little bit, even though we're in the
[44:37] sea limits, we still live to the outskirts.
[44:41] and with no disrespect to the law enforcement sir, but it takes
[44:45] the baytown law enforcement a little bit of time to get there
[44:50] for any type of call. They're probably undermanned
[44:55] because I used to be a peace officer, so I understand how that goes.
[45:00] um, but we're bringing in something
[45:04] that is supposed to be a gentleman's sport
[45:09] and you're basically trying to put
[45:13] something that's more like a pup putt golf on
[45:17] this property. In my opinion,
[45:21] I don't feel that that this is in any way
[45:25] gonna help us as bayton as far as the revenue
[45:30] goes, like it was already stated. And
[45:35] we need to build something for us, not against
[45:39] us. And that's all I have to say and thank
[45:43] you for hearing me out. Alright, thank you sir.
[45:48] alright, next, uh, dave hessel. I'd like to text my time to
[45:52] calvin. Okay. And then we have, is it tom,
[45:56] is it shop or chop? Chop?
[46:06] my name is tom s chop. I live at 2 4 1 1 doral drive.
[46:11] it's also in the evergreen subdivision. I happen to be the hoa
[46:15] president of the subdivision. And after conferring with people, we had
[46:19] a couple concerns, uh, with the proposal. One, the biggest concern
[46:24] is that of the 12 acre track, uh, that is attached
[46:28] to this. The reason for that is that it backs right up to people's
[46:32] backyards that bought that property so that they could be on a golf
[46:36] course. It worried me a little bit that that
[46:41] part of the proposal had not been identified for doing anything with, which left
[46:45] it up to the developer after all said and done, that they could come in
[46:49] and change what they wanted there. So we,
[46:54] we, we met and we just wanna make sure that the concern was, was felt that that
[46:58] 12 acres there that runs parallel to evergreen,
[47:02] that backs up right to those people's backyards was something that you would
[47:06] take into consideration of thinking let's possibly cut this section out of
[47:10] that. If something were to, to be, uh, looked at later on
[47:14] in this proposal. And if that was to be done, we,
[47:18] we would really thank you a lot. At least the neighbors of that, that side of that,
[47:23] uh, subdivision. I think that I want to stand in favor of,
[47:27] uh, making sure that they're kept in, in your hearts and things as, as
[47:31] property owners. And that's really what I've had to say.
[47:36] thank you. Thank you, sir. If, if I may counsel, I think and may
[47:40] thank you sir. Okay. Um, if I may, and this may help with, with some other people who speak,
[47:44] um, may, may be a good time to have councilman lester if you can at
[47:48] least address that 12 and a half acres that may help future comments.
[47:52] alright, thank you mayor tom, tom, I appreciate your comments. After visiting with your
[47:56] group, I got back with the mayor and we talked about it. Um, and
[48:01] you're correct that that 12 acre track, which you was referred to as
[48:05] track b, um, the developers really
[48:09] didn't have a specific plan or guidance, what they wanted to do with it. And in discussion
[48:13] they've agreed to, to pull that from this agreement so that
[48:17] 12 acres is off the table. So that's where
[48:22] we stand with that today. And I, I appreciate you again, that's
[48:26] one of the issues that I've been talking with and trying to resolve for a while.
[48:31] the developers have agreed that they really didn't have specific plans
[48:35] and if that was such a concern for the neighborhood, they agreed
[48:39] to, to drop it and they did so. And we, it has been removed.
[48:44] so I appreciate that. Thank you mayor. Alright, thank you councilman. Alright.
[48:48] I believe this may be tom kincaid if I'm not mistaken, but if
[48:52] not, if not, I can tell you what street you live on. You live on, on weight lane,
[48:56] so whoever lives on, or your right lane, excuse me, tom, is that tom
[49:01] tom still here? I seen him earlier, but, um, okay.
[49:05] so we'll move on down. So we have, uh, sharon johnston.
[49:12] sharon johnson.
[49:22] okay. Okay. Alright, thank you.
[49:30] so next we have, uh, steve white.
[49:39] uh, thank you for the opportunity. My name is steve white, I live at 83 0 6 pine falls drive,
[49:44] houston, texas. I live in cyprus. Um,
[49:49] june, june the 13th, I'll be moving to baytown. Uh,
[49:54] and I will be living in the subdivision.
[49:58] I want to thank you for taking tract b off the table, but I want to know
[50:02] one, what table did you put it on? What's
[50:06] it gonna be? Is the city gonna maintain ownership of that?
[50:12] yes. Yeah, it's city property. Okay. Alright. So,
[50:16] so, alright. So if it, if they, if you wanna sell it, it's gonna have
[50:20] to be through the okay. Through the same process.
[50:24] the, the, the biggest question I have as far as this whole process
[50:28] goes, and I've been following this since it broke, uh, back in, in
[50:33] nove, uh, january, is the, the lack of
[50:37] due diligence on the part of baytown as far as
[50:41] projections, uh, looking at, uh,
[50:46] development plans, you know, seeing what would be done,
[50:50] you know, a nine hole course that's supposed to be 18 holes. How much
[50:54] would, how much traffic would that generate as far as players playing it?
[50:59] how much would that be affected by tournaments, whether
[51:03] it's local tournaments or tournaments through the, through the convention center?
[51:07] I wanted, I, and you know, there doesn't seem, you know, I haven't seen anybody
[51:12] bring out any, uh, plans that show that there have been studies
[51:16] done that it's gonna create all this business, you know, the
[51:20] millions and millions of dollars of business that everybody call keeps talking about.
[51:24] you know, it's, as best I could tell, it's the developers telling you
[51:29] that there's going to be millions of dollars of business generated.
[51:33] I I wanna see a study that will show a hundred thousand dollars worth
[51:37] of business generated. That's all. I,
[51:41] I hope you'll vote against it. Thank you. Thanks sir.
[51:46] alright, we have, next is mitch martinez.
[52:03] good evening. Um, I would just like to
[52:07] address, hmm, address. Oh s**t, what is my
[52:11] address? , I just moved there. I'm sorry. I'm, I
[52:15] just moved there. Well, um, I'll, I'll repeat it for you. 24 30.
[52:20] there we go. That's the one. Um, I would just like to address the fact that, like
[52:24] I said, I did just move to the neighborhood. Okay. And I enjoy that
[52:28] neighborhood because like the other gentleman said, it's, it's a little bit farther
[52:32] away, you know, um, I don't, I don't like the hustle and bustle
[52:36] all the time. You know, you're surrounded by folks all day long. You're in traffic all
[52:40] day long and while growth is good for the city and
[52:44] all that, it's encroaching and encroaching and encroaching, encroaching. And soon
[52:48] if I want to get away from it, I'm gonna have to move again. And that's
[52:53] just not something that I want to do. Is this a great thing?
[52:57] it could be potentially, but disneyland is a great
[53:01] thing. That doesn't mean I wanna live there. Um, and in this
[53:05] case it's not even a full golf course from what I'm understanding.
[53:10] so it's not even really disneyland, it's
[53:14] like a rodeo carnival that comes and goes
[53:18] and, you know, that's just not something that I want to have to deal with. And like
[53:23] all these other points have been made, it's gonna increase traffic. It's gonna
[53:27] have a negative effect in the sense that you
[53:31] don't know who or what or where is gonna be around your house
[53:35] and all of the houses in this neighborhood, they're not like the neighborhoods that you have
[53:39] closer to town where you have your tall fences and you have more privacy.
[53:44] these are low fences you can see right into everyone's backyard, but it's a tight-knit
[53:48] community. You start bringing in people that don't live there and
[53:53] it, it defeats the purpose of a gated community in my opinion. Uh,
[53:58] thank you. I'm gonna go and memorize my address. .
[54:02] alright. Oh no, you can, uh, get a little
[54:06] latch and tie your address around your, your, your, your, I get it.
[54:10] alright, next we have calvin inger. I believe you have nine minutes.
[54:23] I my time mark wilkerson.
[54:28] okay. Uh, so you have 12 minutes. I, I was asked not to pick up the microphone, so
[54:32] I won't, uh, counsel, it's good to be back before you this evening.
[54:37] uh, I appreciate as always, uh, what
[54:41] y'all do and endure, uh, for the betterment of our citizens.
[54:45] uh, I would also like to thank chris
[54:49] presley for his words in the paper today. Uh,
[54:54] and I, and, and the, the, the
[54:58] beautiful, serene peaceful nature
[55:03] of that facility and that property.
[55:08] and I'll tell you why in a little bit
[55:12] why that struck home with me. But
[55:16] I, I, I just wanna reiterate just, and, and I know y'all
[55:20] understand this, but I, I just allow me to reiterate,
[55:24] we're gonna pay somebody $6 million. We're gonna
[55:29] give them a $2 million clubhouse.
[55:33] the use of the use of city property, the use of a parking lot,
[55:37] the use of a driving range, the use of two big metal
[55:41] buildings, a practice facility,
[55:46] and other city property, as you said it best, that totals up to about $14 million
[55:51] when you consider the value of all that. Okay?
[55:57] so I think, chris, that was a good number. I think that was a fair
[56:01] number. Now, as y'all recall, will recall the
[56:05] last time I was here, I made a request
[56:09] for some additional due diligence to pump the brakes. Okay,
[56:15] well I took it upon myself to do that
[56:19] and I think I have some good interesting numbers for y'all to look
[56:23] at.
[56:37] there might be two in there. Make sure, see if heather, yeah, there's two. Give heather one
[56:44] and wall off.
[56:49] okay, so last mon, last monday
[56:56] I called, uh, outbid
[57:00] called fusion golf. A nice young man named casey jones.
[57:05] and he were talking, he, and I was asking him, I'm trying to get from casey
[57:11] a price per hole to build an
[57:15] 18 hole golf course. Okay? These guys,
[57:19] they're not as big as, uh,
[57:24] landscape unlimited. They're not even close, but they're a good solid little
[57:28] company. They built golf courses, they work on golf courses, they built golf
[57:32] courses in europe. They're good guys and they know what they're talking about.
[57:38] about, he offered to meet me out there to look at it. 'cause I said basically this
[57:42] used to be a golf course. Some of the holes are still there, some aren't.
[57:47] but yeah, if he come see this casey, that would really be a good thing.
[57:51] and he did. He came out and we visited and he looked at everything
[57:56] before he came out. He said, you're looking at
[58:00] comfortably $400,000 per
[58:04] hole to build an 18 hole golf course. Okay?
[58:09] he comes out, he looks at everything, he goes, well,
[58:13] this looks better than I had imagined it. He said, now I can say,
[58:17] and I, I sent an email, you have the email,
[58:23] casey, thank you for our meeting yesterday.
[58:27] correct me if I'm wrong, or let me reiterate, you said a rough
[58:32] estimate per hole was 350 k to 400
[58:36] k. Is that correct? And you'll notice at the top of the email
[58:40] he says, yes, sir. Okay, so now
[58:45] you have some rough math that I've attached. I apologize for the loose
[58:49] leaf notebook, paper copy, golf course
[58:54] construction. Cost 350 k to 400
[58:58] is a range of 6.3 million
[59:02] to 7.2 million. Now, again, revisit, this
[59:06] is just for a golf hole, okay? Not a parking lot,
[59:11] not a clubhouse. Not a driving range, not for all the ancillaries. By
[59:15] the way, this number also does not include irrigation.
[59:19] okay? So,
[59:24] but this is, this is what's
[59:28] 6.3 million to 7.2. Okay, there it is.
[59:32] we're, that's 18 holes. Okay?
[59:36] we're knocking on the door of an 18 hole golf course
[59:40] for between 6.3 and 7.2. There'll be other costs to
[59:44] that. But this is the shocker. Here's the shocker.
[59:50] eight holes out there are intact. They are intact.
[59:54] there's tee boxes, there's fairways, there's greens, and
[59:58] elevated greens. Okay, did any of y'all know that? Did any of y'all
[1:00:02] know that that was out there? Eight holes, they're
[1:00:07] only using six. They're adding three small, three parts, I think to theirs.
[1:00:12] eight holes are intact. So now look at your math
[1:00:17] eight, which is the eight holes times $200,000
[1:00:21] to get those holes in operation. That's 1.6 million.
[1:00:26] you can add another three hole golf, uh, hole for another 200 grand.
[1:00:30] now you're up to 1.8 million. Then there's your
[1:00:34] 10 times 400. I'm using the higher range of what casey
[1:00:38] said. 10 times 400,000, $4 million,
[1:00:44] 5.6 million. Add another 1.2 million
[1:00:48] for irrigation, and you're at 6.8 million. There
[1:00:52] will be other costs, okay? It won't be at six minutes. But
[1:00:56] here's the killer. Here's the catch. This is amazing.
[1:01:02] remember the eight holes in tact, there are also golf. The
[1:01:06] golf, the, the cart trails are still in place.
[1:01:10] that's how much they are. And so for eight times two,
[1:01:14] 200,000, 1.6 million plus another two for a
[1:01:19] three hole golf course, add in,
[1:01:23] add in. That's just under 2 million. Add
[1:01:27] in $800,000 for irrigation. Okay?
[1:01:32] you're under 3 million. You could actually,
[1:01:36] and it wouldn't take long to build and get these holes functional.
[1:01:41] the point is, you can have a functional nine hole golf course
[1:01:46] with a plan to build 10 more later
[1:01:50] for $3 million less. That's $3 million
[1:01:55] less than you're gonna pay them to have a nine hole functional golf
[1:01:59] course with a plan to bill nine more later.
[1:02:03] that's a better deal. That's due diligence. Okay, ladies and gentlemen,
[1:02:07] that's doing your homework. And
[1:02:11] I beg you, I beg you to table this
[1:02:16] and engage in some real due diligence. Go out for some bids,
[1:02:21] find other math in mind. Don't rely on what I've showed you. Go out
[1:02:25] and find others to do the same thing that I've done and come up
[1:02:29] with other numbers. This begs to put the brakes on
[1:02:33] and, and stop this and engage in real due diligence
[1:02:37] and save a whole bunch of money in the process as to
[1:02:42] pose to building this nine hole gimmick that
[1:02:47] lemme take the, the achilles te heel of what they want to do. It's nine holes.
[1:02:52] it's basically you, it's nine fairways, okay? You can add all the
[1:02:56] greens you want, but the fact is, if it's nine
[1:03:00] holes, you can only have 18 foursomes, maybe 20
[1:03:05] on that course at a given time. If you have 18 holes, you
[1:03:09] have 36 to 40 foursomes. It's simple math and revenue.
[1:03:15] so please, you have new information, that's good information,
[1:03:20] that's cost effective information that saves you money from what
[1:03:24] you're gonna be giving them along with all the other property for nothing.
[1:03:29] you have a good deal here. Explore it. I'm just asking you to
[1:03:33] pump the brakes and look deeper into this. That's all I'm asking
[1:03:38] you. And I think it's a, I I think you'll ultimately,
[1:03:42] I hope y'all will consider rethinking everything and,
[1:03:46] and, and let's end up with a quality facility.
[1:03:50] one other thing, if I'm mike brandon, fred marty,
[1:03:55] uh, I grew up knowing fred marty. He was on the u of a golf team that won
[1:04:00] the national championship back in the sixties. He
[1:04:04] worked with tim hazelwood and those guys, fred, uh,
[1:04:08] was a tour professional for many years. Went out and worked for the city of phoenix
[1:04:12] and, and helped manage four golf courses.
[1:04:17] he told me saturday he, and he told me the number, I can't remember,
[1:04:21] it was in their youth golf program and their youth
[1:04:26] golf program. If you were a youth golfer, you didn't pay a green fee.
[1:04:31] thousands and thousands of youth golfers in phoenix never
[1:04:35] paid a green fee ever. We can do that.
[1:04:40] we can be that. We can, we can do youth golf. We can't do a viable
[1:04:44] youth golf environment because they can't afford it. They
[1:04:48] can't afford to have all those kids running around out there. So that's
[1:04:53] just one of the things I would love to see. He's, fred
[1:04:57] said we had one of the best youth programs in the united states. We
[1:05:01] could have that here. We could have that here. So thank
[1:05:05] y'all. Please do the right thing. Let's look down the road and
[1:05:09] let's make a good decision. Thank y'all. Alright, thank you.
[1:05:17] so next we have david mccartney,
[1:05:25] david mccartney, 1 0 5 3 9 eagle drive. Uh,
[1:05:29] good evening, mayor and council. Uh, you know, I just
[1:05:33] want to state, I am pro golf. Uh, after all, I was the
[1:05:37] district council member for the golf course for many years and I did try
[1:05:41] to have a successful boat to get the golf course passed.
[1:05:45] and unfortunately we lost it by, uh, 61 boats.
[1:05:49] and now that the hotel convention centers coming in, that
[1:05:54] is a game changer. And I'd like to see a golf course. It would help,
[1:05:58] uh, the development in the area and it would help the hotel convention center.
[1:06:03] however, I, I just don't like this deal. I think it's a bad deal. It's
[1:06:07] one of the worst I've ever seen. It's way too rich for the developers and the
[1:06:11] city's getting too little back in return and there's just too many unknowns.
[1:06:16] and I didn't like the rfp process. We have one bidder
[1:06:21] and in the past, whenever we had, uh, rfp with one bidder, we always
[1:06:25] went out and put it out again to see if we could get more. We didn't reach out in
[1:06:29] any golf trade magazines. We didn't really try to get anybody
[1:06:33] in that industry to come out here and give us any more options.
[1:06:37] and that's another thing I don't like. We're all told there are no other options.
[1:06:42] there are no other options. Uh, we have to do this one.
[1:06:46] well, you know, it takes a former mayor to go out in three days.
[1:06:50] he can come up with another option. So I know that there's other options that
[1:06:54] could be done. We just need to pump the brakes and look at it. Let's
[1:06:59] not make a mistake. Let's make sure we're making the right deal for the taxpayers
[1:07:04] and the citizens of baytown and do our due diligence. There's
[1:07:08] no rush to do this. So we have nothing to lose and everything to
[1:07:12] gain. And, and calvin just made a perfect example of what,
[1:07:16] what might be able to be done. That that's what I gotta say. So I encourage you
[1:07:20] to either table this or, or vote no. Okay. Alright. Thank you.
[1:07:27] so next I think I see, uh, so next we have jeff walters, you move seat.
[1:07:32] so I didn't know where you went. I'm jeff walters 2303
[1:07:36] james bowie drive. Um, you know, we
[1:07:41] elect y'all to represent us in, uh,
[1:07:45] have good financial sense. Um, this wasn't
[1:07:49] looked into as well as I thought it should be.
[1:07:53] um, you know, baytown definitely needs a golf course.
[1:07:57] there's no question about it. Uh, there's an oil field that backs up to that
[1:08:01] property. You could put 18 holes, beautify the city, but instead,
[1:08:07] uh, this was very short term in trying to find someone
[1:08:11] to put something in. Uh, kind of raises
[1:08:16] questions of why, um,
[1:08:21] you know, I vote for you and you
[1:08:25] we want the best for our city. Um, don't
[1:08:30] bring in some half baked idea of a golf
[1:08:34] course. Put something in here we can be proud of. Um,
[1:08:38] that's all I have. I know that there's other people looking into it,
[1:08:43] uh, because of the way it was done.
[1:08:47] so vote your conscience, vote what's financially responsible
[1:08:52] for our city and build something that we'll be proud of.
[1:08:57] so that's all I've gotta say. Alright, thank you. Alright, next we have scott johnson.
[1:09:17] good evening. Uh, scott johnson, 24 18 dorell
[1:09:21] drive in baytown. I live in evergreen sub fairways for
[1:09:25] over 19 years and it is a great neighborhood.
[1:09:30] I never, ever planned to ever attend another council meeting.
[1:09:36] much less to end up here at the podium. And I'm sure mike probably said the same thing.
[1:09:40] and there we are. So when I retired less than six months
[1:09:45] ago, there was no talk of a golf course. So discussion
[1:09:49] of a cop of a golf course completely surprised me.
[1:09:53] first of all, I love to play golf. I'm not any good,
[1:09:58] but I love the game. And I want you to know that I support
[1:10:02] a golf course, a quality course.
[1:10:06] baytown deserves a first class course.
[1:10:11] baytown has spent millions on evergreen park, including
[1:10:16] the purchase of land. We've heard all this before. The renovation of the clubhouse,
[1:10:20] lighting the parking lot, irrigation improvements, trail improvements,
[1:10:24] disc, golf cart. This park offers so much to the community.
[1:10:28] fishing, backing, walking the trails, driving range in beautiful
[1:10:33] green space. And habitat. The, the
[1:10:37] city has several first class facilities, pirates bay,
[1:10:41] uh, the nature center, the marina, and soon to be a first
[1:10:45] class hotel in the convention center and several other fantastic
[1:10:49] parks around town. Let's hire a, a golf course architect,
[1:10:55] the silver firm, do a feasibility study, get input from,
[1:10:59] from, uh, area golfers and design the first class golf
[1:11:03] course, one that we could all be proud of.
[1:11:07] bid it out and do it right. Our neighborhood in trinity
[1:11:12] oaks has a beautiful park around it. It serves as a community,
[1:11:16] as a park. It has a sign, evergreen park.
[1:11:21] this land is more valuable than a dollar a year.
[1:11:26] I know municipal uses is on the deed,
[1:11:30] but it's an established park. Just say no.
[1:11:34] thank you. Thank you, scott.
[1:11:41] next I have, uh, byron beck. Oh, there you are,
[1:11:56] byron beck, 47, 27 blackstone street, and the,
[1:12:00] uh, beautiful east point subdivisions. Mr. Johnson. Uh,
[1:12:06] we've heard a lot of info, uh, interesting information tonight. Um,
[1:12:12] I, I'm a reformed sunday duffer. I guess, uh,
[1:12:16] my back won't allow me to play golf anymore. So, uh, I approached
[1:12:20] this from somebody that's been on the course. Um,
[1:12:26] I'm not opposed to the city building a golf course, and what
[1:12:30] I'm hearing from other people is really, for the most part, people
[1:12:34] are in favor of building a golf course. They're just not in favor of this deal
[1:12:39] and the way that this process is moving ahead. Um, there's
[1:12:43] a lot of red flags that I've seen in this that
[1:12:47] I think we should all take note of. Um, one
[1:12:51] is I've never seen so many former
[1:12:55] council members and mayors come out publicly against
[1:13:00] something that the council is considering right now. I know many
[1:13:04] of them would counsel, uh, counsel you privately
[1:13:08] if they disagreed with something, but, uh, it's really an unprecedented step
[1:13:12] to, for them to come out publicly in the sun and to address, uh,
[1:13:16] you folks against something that you're considering. I think that has a lot of weight.
[1:13:21] uh, we heard tonight, everyone that lives in that
[1:13:26] area is against this. The ones that are most effective are asking
[1:13:30] you not to do this. Uh, I think that carries a lot of weight.
[1:13:34] uh, there's a few other things I'd like to maybe bring up that if we're gonna look at other
[1:13:38] proposals, there's some things that maybe we ought to look at
[1:13:42] to see if it would help out the situation. One
[1:13:47] is we have that eyesore of a
[1:13:51] former driving range on I 10 by the nissan store. I don't know if
[1:13:55] somehow that can be utilized to help out the students.
[1:14:00] um, another fact I looked up, uh, I haven't heard it here tonight, but
[1:14:04] I've heard it in many other places, is the, the
[1:14:08] students have to drive so far if they want to go to eagle point. I plotted
[1:14:12] it out on google. It takes 15 minutes to get to evergreen. It takes 22
[1:14:17] to get to eagle point. I, I don't see that worth $6 million.
[1:14:21] um, I would urge you to
[1:14:25] maybe take another look at everything, see what other proposals would be out there.
[1:14:30] uh, mostly go to the voters and tell 'em that you're very fiscally
[1:14:34] conservative. I don't think you could say that again if you voted yes on this proposal.
[1:14:39] so I would just urge you to vote your conscience, but consider everything
[1:14:44] and the amount of opposition that's come out to this particular plan.
[1:14:48] and I think it'll come to the right decision. Thank you. Alright, thank you.
[1:14:52] uh, next we have chet thi.
[1:15:01] hello, counsel. Mayor, my name is chet thi. I live at two 11 post oak drive.
[1:15:05] um, I'm a real estate appraiser by profession. A lot of you know that. And
[1:15:10] my whole little world revolves around comparable sales and comparable projects.
[1:15:15] um, there's nobody here that can tell me anything about
[1:15:19] comparables or similar projects to what this project, this t 36
[1:15:23] proposal is in reference to how it's being evaluated.
[1:15:28] uh, and that's a real problem for me as far as from a professional standpoint
[1:15:32] and just being a tax paying citizen. Uh, nobody can give me an idea
[1:15:37] of anything, but we're guessing the su the success of this project
[1:15:41] based on educated
[1:15:45] guesses at best. And I understand that's a part of our,
[1:15:49] that happens sometimes. But my concern with this is
[1:15:54] we're talking about multi-millions of tax dollars at hand here and into,
[1:15:58] it's going into an unproven with no similar projects,
[1:16:03] nothing to evaluate from a new concept, one
[1:16:07] of a kind never been done before. But the most concerning
[1:16:11] is unproven project with there being no similar
[1:16:15] comparable projects to evaluate from. I'm asking that,
[1:16:19] that if this proposal does come to a vote, that you please consider
[1:16:23] a no vote. Uh, and it's spending the city's tax dollars on such
[1:16:27] an unproven project. The city claims to be a citizen driven
[1:16:33] citizen that is driven by citizen comments. And I ask that
[1:16:38] you actually do that in this situation. There've been
[1:16:42] many, many citizens asking out loud where this
[1:16:46] conceptual ideas come from. And one
[1:16:50] thing's for sure, this hasn't been citizen driven in any shape, form, or fashion.
[1:16:54] there's only been a handful of citizens when you consider the total population.
[1:16:59] only been a handful of people have even commented. I appreciate your consideration.
[1:17:03] thank you guys. Alright, thank you, che. Alright,
[1:17:10] so we have two individuals. Uh, they are the developers of, of this project,
[1:17:14] and so we wanna hear from them. Before we do that, um, there is some letters that
[1:17:18] I did wanna make the community, uh, aware about. I'll read one and I think the city manager will
[1:17:22] read two. Um, the first one does come from, uh, goose creek schools.
[1:17:27] uh, it was, it's from the, uh, director of athletics, lee lee martinez.
[1:17:31] uh, dear mayor cap and council members, I'm writing to express my support for the proposed golf course
[1:17:35] in baytown for the benefit of our students athletes in goose creek. C uh, c-I-s-c-I-s-d.
[1:17:40] as the district athletic director, it is my responsibility to help provide resources for
[1:17:44] athletic programs under my purview. Our high school golfers have historically been
[1:17:49] provided with the necessary amenities in baytown to practice, uh,
[1:17:53] golf throughout the school year. Many, many years ago, students from the high school and sterling high school
[1:17:57] practice at the country club golf course, and more recently, our high school students utilize evergreen as a
[1:18:01] practice facility. Due to the unforeseen or unfortunate, uh, closure of
[1:18:05] these golf courses are high school students from and goose creek memorial are required to
[1:18:09] travel to neighboring mountain bellevue each day to practice golf at eagle point golf club.
[1:18:14] while appreciative, this agreement creates several challenges for our student golfers, the
[1:18:18] travel time and associated costs are higher due to the distance in relation to our local
[1:18:22] high schools. And in addition to that, our district pays thousands of dollars each year
[1:18:26] for this service. A golf course situated in baytown would allow our student golfers to
[1:18:30] practice in their hometown. This provision would also reduce the amount of travel time for
[1:18:34] most students on the golf team. Expenditures for this program would be locally allocated,
[1:18:39] which would benefit our local economy. A golf course in baytown would greatly benefit our
[1:18:43] golf teams in goose creek, cisd for many reasons. Uh, it is my hope
[1:18:47] that the golf course is approved by city council. Signed, uh, lee martinez,
[1:18:52] director of athletics. So just wanna make you aware of that. Uh, and then I, I believe there's two letters.
[1:18:56] if you can briefly, uh, I guess convey that message.
[1:19:00] sure. To whom it may concern, montego management two
[1:19:04] llc montego owns approximately 180
[1:19:09] acres of land immediately west of the former evergreen golf course located on
[1:19:13] evergreen road, baytown, texas. Montego is writing to submit
[1:19:17] this letter of support for the golf course proposed by miramar properties.
[1:19:21] montego has had numerous conversations with rio ano, the owner
[1:19:25] slash representative of miramar properties regarding the golf course development.
[1:19:30] we believe that the golf course project would be a significant enhancement to the amenities
[1:19:34] on the south side of baytown and ultimately attract both residents and visitors
[1:19:38] to the sector of town. The project would compliment the housing development that
[1:19:42] montego intends to develop on its property. The vistas afforded by
[1:19:46] a golf course and the residences that would use such a facility make high quality
[1:19:50] single family housing and attract a development option. Given the
[1:19:55] near completion of grand parkway and the improved access to the southern part of
[1:19:59] baytown, montego is eager to move forward with the development of his property.
[1:20:03] the layout and structure of its development will be impacted by the golf course project.
[1:20:07] therefore, montego submits this letter of support for the golf course project in
[1:20:11] hopes that it can work cooperatively with both the city and the golf course operator to
[1:20:16] achieve development that benefits all parties. Thank you. The second
[1:20:20] letter, and that's signed, by the way, bradford, a phillips president
[1:20:25] of montego management, llc.
[1:20:29] um, this is, uh, addressed to rio. As a developer
[1:20:33] with an interest on the south side of baytown, I support well-planned and quality
[1:20:38] development that brings value to the south side and community as a whole.
[1:20:42] it appears that you have done considerable due diligence and have surrounded yourself
[1:20:46] with top professionals that would result in a product that we can all be proud of.
[1:20:51] our hope is that the community will unite in an effort to do the same.
[1:20:55] matt wells. Wells holding. Alright, thank you.
[1:21:00] alright. Uh, now we will, um,
[1:21:04] we will hear from our, the two developers. So we have rio and david, whoever wants to
[1:21:08] go first or however y'all want to. You have.
[1:21:21] okay. I'll be brief. Um, I'm, uh, rio
[1:21:25] ano. I'm from east tennessee. And, um, my
[1:21:29] partner david henkel, also from east tennessee. Um, I wanted to,
[1:21:34] uh, also introduce, we've got, uh, our professionals,
[1:21:38] designers, builders and operators, uh, world class,
[1:21:42] uh, as has been, was aptly stated by, uh, chris, uh, dr.
[1:21:46] walford. Um, uh, thanks for, for your, your talk and
[1:21:50] your, your kind words. Uh, jack morgan, uh, with,
[1:21:54] uh, landscapes unlimited is on the, on the zoom call with us. Uh,
[1:21:59] jake rickson, uh, also one of our ops guys. He's on
[1:22:03] the call. Um, let's see. Mark mattingly,
[1:22:07] he's our operations guy. He would be operating the course, uh,
[1:22:11] for us, marketing, et cetera. He's also on the call with landscapes unlimited.
[1:22:16] uh, rick buckin is on the zoom call with us is, uh, rick buckin
[1:22:20] is our designer. Uh, rick has presently
[1:22:24] has five courses in the top 100 residential
[1:22:28] courses in the country, uh, currently has number five.
[1:22:32] um, the, uh, colorado golf club that he, uh, co-developed
[1:22:37] with, uh, mike mcg gidrick, um, who's also on the call,
[1:22:41] uh, who was a legend in, in, um, in the, uh, pga circles.
[1:22:45] and, uh, lpga, uh, he's a, a, an amazing golf
[1:22:49] swing coach as coach some of the legends of golf. So he's
[1:22:53] on the zoom call with us as well. And he's gonna say a few words here in a minute.
[1:22:57] and, uh, we also have jeff, jeff tennell. He owns allegheny
[1:23:02] image factory. And one of the things that we were planning to
[1:23:06] do as part of this development is actually film an eight
[1:23:10] episode, essentially kinda a reality tv show that would
[1:23:14] provide the city of baytown an opportunity to have a national platform,
[1:23:19] um, and showcase the course, obviously in baytown in general.
[1:23:23] um, so I'm gonna turn things over briefly to, um, mike
[1:23:27] mcg gidrick, who wants to say a few words about, uh, this 18 hole
[1:23:31] golf course. And I can't emphasize that, that enough. 6,200
[1:23:36] yards par. 71 72 18 hole golf
[1:23:40] course. Okay. It's not a gimmick, it's not a
[1:23:44] toy. It's not some mini golf. It's an 18 hole golf course.
[1:23:49] uh, mike, are you there? Angie? Is he there? Mike, if you would,
[1:23:53] I am. Mike. Yes. Can you hear me? Yes. You got the helm.
[1:23:58] yeah. Thank you for, uh, the opportunity to speak. My name is mike
[1:24:02] ettrick. I'm a pga golf professional. I've been a pga golf
[1:24:06] professional for 37 years. I'm a golf professional
[1:24:11] in at the robert trent jones golf course in gainesville,
[1:24:16] virginia. I used to be a golf professional in houston,
[1:24:20] texas, a golf club of houston. Many of you know, we used to host the shell
[1:24:24] houston open, and I was the developer and founder of
[1:24:28] colorado golf club, where rick ton was
[1:24:32] a land planner and a golf course developer. And I used landscapes
[1:24:37] unlimited to build colorado golf club. What I'd like to
[1:24:41] share with you is the essence of this golf course.
[1:24:45] and it's new, it's a new concept to some of the audience,
[1:24:49] but around the world, it really isn't new. If you would go to japan,
[1:24:53] for example, a large majority of their golf courses
[1:24:57] have duo grains on every hole. And the purpose for that is
[1:25:01] they have summer greens and they have winter greens in the, in
[1:25:06] the united states, there's many golf courses that have been designed both
[1:25:10] past and currently that have multiple,
[1:25:14] uh, tees and have multiple, um, green
[1:25:18] complexes on a golf hole, where you, you'll see two holes. So, for example,
[1:25:23] old memorial in tampa has, uh, a couple
[1:25:27] extra holes on their golf course. Uh, the traditions in
[1:25:31] palm beach, um, west or in, uh, california
[1:25:37] has, uh, a hole like that. And if you look at what
[1:25:41] rick buckin has designed, I think it's just magical because
[1:25:45] this is a regulation golf course that has multiple
[1:25:49] tees, that you have different shot lines to play. You have
[1:25:53] multiple greens. So think about it, if, if you're going to play nine holes,
[1:25:58] you're gonna play a regulation, nine holes, and now you're gonna play
[1:26:02] the second nine holes from a different tee box to a different shot line
[1:26:06] down the fairway to a different green. And so you're
[1:26:10] playing an 18 hole regulation golf course. So, because
[1:26:14] of land constraints, it's a brilliant concept. The best
[1:26:19] part about this is if you do your research, the usga,
[1:26:23] which is the governing body of, and which is the united states golf association,
[1:26:28] uh, will approve this golf course as a legitimate 18
[1:26:32] hole golf course. They will do the slope rating, the golf course
[1:26:36] rating, and it would be, this golf course would be a legitimate
[1:26:40] golf course to hold sanctioned golf tournaments at. So if you, if you
[1:26:44] ever had a usg golf tournament or other golf tournaments, state
[1:26:49] golf tournaments, this would be considered a legitimate
[1:26:53] golf course. Now, if you take the best architects in the world,
[1:26:57] ben crenshaw, bill coer, I've shown him this concept, jack
[1:27:01] nicholas, I've talked to about this concept. If you look at what golf is today,
[1:27:06] golf is different. Jack nicholas, the biggest name in golf, is
[1:27:10] building 12 hole golf courses. Right now, you're seeing a lot of nine hole golf
[1:27:14] courses being built that are reversible nine. So in atlanta,
[1:27:19] georgia, three years ago, they built a reversible nine hole golf
[1:27:23] course. It's one of the most popular golf courses in that area.
[1:27:27] so what they're trying to do, uh, I think reals, uh,
[1:27:31] assembled a great team. You'll have a fantastic golf course.
[1:27:36] and, and it is more than the golf course. It's a place to play golf on the golf course.
[1:27:41] it's a place to practice golf and learn golf with the practice
[1:27:45] facility. And then you have the clubhouse and the amenities to enjoy the
[1:27:49] social aspects of golf and the world. And so at the end of the
[1:27:54] day, you will have one of the top facilities in the country.
[1:27:58] and this, this will be known as, uh, one of the
[1:28:02] first ever 18 over nine golf courses. And, and I promise
[1:28:06] you, you will see many of these in the coming years.
[1:28:11] mike, thanks. Thanks very much, uh, for your words.
[1:28:15] um, mark mattingly, are you there, buddy?
[1:28:22] I am, yes. Hello. We go. Yeah. Thank you. Good evening, paul. Yeah, mark, can you basically give
[1:28:26] us a quick overview of your company, landscapes unlimited, and, uh, just
[1:28:30] talk in general terms, if you would, about what we're trying to accomplish, and,
[1:28:34] uh, we'll go from there. Sure. Well, as, as you said
[1:28:39] earlier, um, I represent the operations, uh, side of our company. Um, like
[1:28:43] mike before me here, I'm a pga member as well, and been in the business for about 30 years.
[1:28:47] but we have a, uh, team of experts in every element
[1:28:52] of, uh, golf operation, discipline, from marketing and human resources
[1:28:56] to food and beverage, obviously agronomics, golf operations, programming,
[1:29:01] and everything in between. And, uh, we would be fully deployed at this project to
[1:29:05] see, to it that, um, it really comes to life in the way that it's been,
[1:29:09] uh, prepared in the proposal. And, um, we're confident, uh,
[1:29:13] that there is definitely a market need there in the research that we've done in the area. And, uh,
[1:29:17] we've used some modeling, as a matter of fact, and using some of our benchmarking
[1:29:22] within the company. We're very comfortable at the, um, feasibility of this
[1:29:26] project from an operations perspective. And on the line with us, uh, tonight too, our other
[1:29:30] members of our team that really specialize in the, um,
[1:29:34] the execution or the construction, if you will, of the, uh, the project.
[1:29:38] and that would be, uh, jake brite and jack morgan. And if you want to ask a little
[1:29:42] bit more from them, rio, in terms of, you know, bringing it out of the dirt and into life, they
[1:29:46] can speak to that. But operationally, we're very comfortable with it. We're excited about it, and
[1:29:51] I really think it's gonna be an asset to the community. Thanks, mark.
[1:29:55] jack, jake, any of you guys want to, uh, kick in here? A few words,
[1:29:59] please?
[1:30:05] sure. Hi, bri. Thanks. Um,
[1:30:09] landscapes of limb has been building golf courses for 40 to 45 years, um,
[1:30:13] right across the country and internationally as well. Um,
[1:30:18] we have a, we definitely have a footprint in texas, in the houston area. Um,
[1:30:23] you know, our, our, um, our process, our approach
[1:30:27] with this one would be to work with rick, um, on the architectural
[1:30:31] side and come up with a schedule of values on an open book, uh,
[1:30:35] transparent cost plus scenario. Um,
[1:30:40] in terms of, you know, in terms of, um, one of the, the gentlemen that, that brought up the,
[1:30:44] the cost per whole, you know, really this is an iterative process where we
[1:30:48] take all things into account, retain what we can retain, um,
[1:30:52] and, and, and build, build from there. So, um,
[1:30:56] from jack, any, anything to add on there?
[1:31:01] no, I just, I, I think that open book cost plus is our approach
[1:31:05] with rick's group as far as our, uh, engagement and, um,
[1:31:09] you know, we'll, we'll work within a prescribed budget and, uh, we'll
[1:31:13] maximize those dollars and, and, uh, you know, figure out how to get this thing in
[1:31:18] at, in under our app budget. And that
[1:31:22] open book transparent approach is if it costs
[1:31:26] a dollar, you pay a dollar. So that's, that's the way this thing will work. And, uh,
[1:31:30] you know, we're dedicated to get this thing in the ground and at the best possible
[1:31:34] price of most efficient schedule with utilizing our best resources.
[1:31:40] thanks, joe. Uh, you know, I might add that we've done, I don't know, we've completed well over
[1:31:44] 2,500 projects. I think we're pushing up on 3000 now. Most of those
[1:31:49] are golf courses all around the country. We have had a significant
[1:31:53] presence in, in, in texas and done a lot of municipal work in texas.
[1:31:58] so, um, you know, we're well familiar with the, with the, with the marketplace.
[1:32:03] um, we we're, we're set up regionally, so we have a very strong texas
[1:32:07] region. We have equipment personnel all time there in texas,
[1:32:11] and a lot of resources in and around the houston area. So, um, you know, we're
[1:32:16] ready to, we're ready to get in the ground.
[1:32:20] thanks, jack. Uh, in the interest of time, um,
[1:32:25] I'm gonna go ahead and just, uh, finish up here. Um, and, and
[1:32:29] what I wanna say is, uh, you know, mackey smith,
[1:32:33] uh, you enlightened me, uh, you know, I'm, I'm glad you
[1:32:37] came up before me. And here's, here's, here's
[1:32:41] their package right here. Okay. They presented you guys, and here we are knocking at
[1:32:45] your door and write down in under key initiatives,
[1:32:50] it says, maintain, expand properties to enable organized sports
[1:32:54] such as soccer, football, disc, golf pickleball, and more
[1:32:59] evaluate partnerships with private sector entities on increasing
[1:33:03] golfing amenities to your residents, namely the private development
[1:33:08] of evergreen golf course. And here we are knocking at your door
[1:33:13] and closing, what I'd like to say is vote for yes, brings
[1:33:17] 18 holes, 6,200 yard public golf course to your community.
[1:33:22] it brings junior golf back to your community. A vote for
[1:33:26] yes, brings approximately, probably in excess of a hundred million
[1:33:31] of new development to the south side overlay
[1:33:35] u-haul. Have several lois, this isn't something we
[1:33:39] just pulled outta the air that specifically touches on who those
[1:33:43] people are. They're willing to come to your community. They're willing to come
[1:33:47] to south side overlay
[1:33:53] a vote for yes. Uh, for an entertainment hub for
[1:33:57] the new convention center. The convention center needs somewhere
[1:34:02] off campus where your patrons and your convention years can go.
[1:34:06] right now, you do not have that. We can provide you that.
[1:34:15] and the last thing I'd say is a vote for yes, brings hundreds of jobs
[1:34:20] to the south side overlay, which is also extremely important to
[1:34:24] baytown and a vote for no
[1:34:29] kills all the entertainment opportunities that, uh, and indefinitely
[1:34:34] that we could provide you. And, uh, mayor, I thank you for your time,
[1:34:39] council members appreciate your time as well. I'm gonna turn things over to, uh, my
[1:34:43] partner, david henkel .
[1:34:50] thanks, uh, appreciate the opportunity to speak to you guys again for the
[1:34:54] citizens who are here. Um, my background is retail,
[1:34:58] retail development. I've spent 34 years working both
[1:35:02] as a retailer on the development side. And we started this process working
[1:35:07] with the city on the golf course. Uh, couple of things that I
[1:35:11] did, I wanted to really show the council members and city leadership
[1:35:15] some of the things that I've been involved with and really introduced in some city leaders,
[1:35:20] uh, in oklahoma city that I think has really done a great job
[1:35:24] with a public, private, um, program over the last 30 years.
[1:35:28] so we, we met in oklahoma city, we toured an outlet center that I'm
[1:35:32] the managing partner of a 400,000 square foot outlet center, is the only outlet
[1:35:36] center in the state of oklahoma. We met city leaders, uh,
[1:35:40] who really have been instrumental in, and again, creating programs,
[1:35:44] public, private, uh, programs over the last 30 years
[1:35:49] because oklahoma city, like houston in the late eighties was hit hard
[1:35:53] when with oil prices. So we, you know, the mayor, city
[1:35:57] manager, economic development, councilman lester, councilman johnson,
[1:36:02] we all spent a day and a half up there. And so I'm immersed in
[1:36:06] a world of retail, entertainment concepts,
[1:36:10] food and beverage. So we met earlier today
[1:36:14] with a, a big name in the entertainment concept, with an entertainment
[1:36:19] concept about baytown. I brought them
[1:36:23] to the community. I met with, uh, some sit leaders up here
[1:36:27] three or four weeks ago. This has nothing to do with the golf course.
[1:36:32] and what I say to everybody in this room is, we're here because we want to be here.
[1:36:36] and economic development is momentum based.
[1:36:41] and on the south side right now, there's no momentum to speak of.
[1:36:45] and we think the golf course starts that. And we've been in discussion with all
[1:36:49] the adjacent landowners. I've been asked more than once, david, can you guys give
[1:36:53] us a master plan? And the example I I would say to you is, we can't
[1:36:57] master plan your neighbor's yard to build a
[1:37:01] swimming pool. You don't own that. But I can tell you there's strong interests by
[1:37:06] rio. And I have not only developing the golf course, but
[1:37:10] also being part of making baytown a better community by
[1:37:14] offering some of the things that was presented in this presentation tonight. That's why we
[1:37:18] named the the llc build baytown one. We
[1:37:22] hope that there's a build baytown two and a three and a four.
[1:37:27] and again, you know, these guys have, have seen some of
[1:37:31] my work. You know, the relationships that we have are real, I'm on the
[1:37:35] board of a, of a food tech company, just put a ceo in
[1:37:40] 30 plus year professional, and he's gonna be part of developing
[1:37:44] the food and beverage concept for the clubhouse. So we have
[1:37:48] invested an inordinate amount of time, energy, not just in the project, the
[1:37:52] golf project itself, but trying to, to be part of
[1:37:56] helping craft the future of baytown. So I can
[1:38:01] understand, a lot of questions have been asked about
[1:38:05] the golf course. It's different. I get that. But, you know, there's been a lot of,
[1:38:09] of, of untruths of a lot of things said that just flat
[1:38:13] out aren't true. So we're here tonight 'cause we want to be here.
[1:38:18] we've worked with, with leadership to try to help our part
[1:38:22] of helping baytown move forward. So obviously we want you guys to
[1:38:26] vote yes. 'cause we want to be here. We're not a couple guys flying in
[1:38:31] doing a deal and leaving town. That's not the way I built my career.
[1:38:35] that's not the way rio has built his career. So, council members, we appreciate
[1:38:40] the opportunity to speak to you tonight. You know, I, I think the team that rio
[1:38:44] has assembled is world class. You know, everybody has strong opinions,
[1:38:49] but this group of professionals is at the top of the food chain
[1:38:53] when it comes to the golfing industry. Our goal is to build this golf course
[1:38:58] and then find ways to do the other developments, retail developments with
[1:39:02] entertainment components and food and beverage. So we appreciate your support and
[1:39:06] thank you for the opportunity to speak. Alright, thank you.
[1:39:10] alright. That, that has been everyone who has signed up to speak and obviously we heard from the developers.
[1:39:15] uh, what I'm gonna do now is, um, go, and I'm gonna start with district
[1:39:19] six, uh, the district council member, uh, to hear, hear some comments. Um,
[1:39:24] I'm go from there. Second. Gonna go
[1:39:28] seconds. Okay? Yes, sir. Okay, mayor, thanks.
[1:39:32] um, I tell you this, this whole process, in my opinion
[1:39:38] has been difficult without a doubt. I, I don't think anybody up here would disagree with that.
[1:39:42] and in some aspects it's been backwards. Um,
[1:39:46] typically we look at three 80 agreements. Uh, developer will come in
[1:39:50] and say, we're gonna do a, b, and c. And for that we want
[1:39:55] d, e, and f. And then we sit up here as a council and say, okay, we, we like
[1:39:59] that and we go for it. Or don't.
[1:40:03] this process kind of was, well, we'll, we'll come in and,
[1:40:07] and please don't be offended to anybody. We'll, we'll come in and we'll build a nine hole
[1:40:11] that plays 18 or an 18 hole course. It's got a little extra proper on it.
[1:40:15] we'll decide what we're gonna do that later. But trust us. Give us 6 million bucks and we'll, we'll
[1:40:20] call you when we're done. We'll, no,
[1:40:24] that didn't settle well with me. And so since january, we've been going back and forth
[1:40:28] and, and we have modified and tweaked and discussed and made changes
[1:40:33] to the three 80 agreement. And I've said all along, that was my whole point
[1:40:37] was to get it where the three 80 agreement and the lease would
[1:40:41] be better for the city. Now how much
[1:40:45] has that changed? Originally, I think the original three 80 agreement was
[1:40:50] probably 99% developer, 1% city, in my opinion. I think it's
[1:40:54] about a 60 40 split at this point in time. Could it be better? Yeah,
[1:40:58] but at what point do they say, eh, it doesn't,
[1:41:03] the difference between nine that plays 18 or 18 hole, I like the comment that it would be
[1:41:07] approved as an 18 hole versus an absolute 18.
[1:41:12] I'm not gonna get into that argument. I'm really not. Um,
[1:41:17] when it first started out, I got phone calls, how could you be opposed to golf
[1:41:21] in the city of baytown? You're crazy. And then I got the same
[1:41:25] amount of phone calls from people who said, we've already voted on this, and the answer's no.
[1:41:31] now that's transitioned to if you're not for 18,
[1:41:35] the answer's no. And if golf never comes back, that's better.
[1:41:39] well, that can't be, we, we can't draw those hard lines like that.
[1:41:44] but I've worked hard over the last few months along with the mayor and a couple other members of this council
[1:41:48] to get this contract more equitable for the city.
[1:41:53] we've added in a performance matrix, we've added in clarification that
[1:41:57] any amenities beyond the golf course itself
[1:42:01] on the what's left of the 105 acres, has to be golf related
[1:42:05] and approved by the city, by us, the landlord.
[1:42:09] um, we've made some, again, again, changes and changes
[1:42:14] incremental. And it's gotten to a point that,
[1:42:19] you know, do we want to have golf to be an amenity for our our hotel
[1:42:23] conference center or not? And again, I'm not gonna argue nine versus
[1:42:27] 18, a traditional 18 versus a modified 18.
[1:42:31] you know, if, if we vote no on this deal, golf is gonna go away
[1:42:36] because I got half the people calling me say they voted and they said no golf.
[1:42:42] and I have the other half saying, well, we want golf off. So
[1:42:46] here we go back again. How are we gonna argue that point? Um,
[1:42:50] $6 million. This is a lot of money. I I got stormwater
[1:42:54] issues in my district that never will end. $6 million will go a long
[1:42:58] way towards those, the $6 million for a course
[1:43:03] that somebody else is gonna own and operate basically, even though it's our property. I,
[1:43:07] I use the term own loosely. They're gonna, if there's a loss on
[1:43:11] an annual basis, they're gonna absorb that loss. The city's not. If the city builds
[1:43:16] an 18 hole golf course and we operate it, if there's a loss, we absorb that
[1:43:20] loss. I don't know if any municipal course in this area that doesn't sustain
[1:43:24] a loss on an annual basis. So when you start talking about what it costs the city, you gotta build
[1:43:28] back that loss every year. So it may cost us
[1:43:33] double, okay, six to $12 million and then we have a $500,000 a
[1:43:37] year loss every year. It's an amenity, it's a part. We
[1:43:41] would absorb that, but this is a private entity gonna absorb
[1:43:45] that loss. So it's a difficult
[1:43:49] issue. There's been a lot of going back and forth. I've had folks
[1:43:53] that I've known for a long time, uh, very terse conversations
[1:43:58] with me and that's fine. I like those conversations. Um, but I also
[1:44:02] heard that, you know, we need to listen to the people. And, and believe me, we are, I am. And that's
[1:44:06] why we have delayed this until this point in time.
[1:44:11] we have, you know, we started off pretty much running downhill with scissors
[1:44:15] and, and a couple of us up here, and chris is one of them, have said, no, we're
[1:44:19] not doing that. We're gonna, we are gonna methodically do that. Would I like to see
[1:44:23] some, some options? Yeah, I would, but there's really not
[1:44:27] an appetite for it. So again, do we walk away from a potential
[1:44:31] deal? You know, I'll wait till the
[1:44:35] vote comes to make my vote. But it, it's, it's tough. It
[1:44:39] is tough to do this. Any developer doing any project, there's always incentives
[1:44:44] and so forth. And so we're looking at a return on investment.
[1:44:49] the potential return on investment is truly being a catalyst.
[1:44:53] disperse some stuff up there. And I've argued with this council for months, 99
[1:44:57] is gonna be significant activity down there. They're already starting
[1:45:01] to clear some of those properties down there. It's amazing. So get ready.
[1:45:06] it's gonna be a whirlwind when that stuff kicks in. So,
[1:45:11] and mayor, I'll just let go with that. But it, it's pretty frustrating.
[1:45:16] again, the coalitions that have transitioned since january today,
[1:45:20] there are people that are working together that I thought would never
[1:45:24] work together, but they are. So it is just one of those things.
[1:45:28] but yeah, it is folks that say that we're not listening. They're not paying attention
[1:45:33] 'cause we are listening. But for every one of you that sits up here and says, I want it this
[1:45:37] way, I've got somebody else on my phone says, I want it a different way.
[1:45:41] so it's not that, it's not like flipping the switch. It's not that cut and dry.
[1:45:46] so again, we've, we've done the best we can. We carved out some of the properties.
[1:45:50] some of the biggest issues that we had or that I had was
[1:45:54] the extra property that's not being used specifically by the course. That's
[1:45:58] a question mark. It's a blank. What are we gonna put in there? Well, some
[1:46:02] of that's come to light and I appreciate that. Again, that's a little different than a normal three
[1:46:06] 80 because a normal three 80 would, you've already laid it all out to me. So
[1:46:10] it, it's, it's been a long process. It's difficult, it's difficult for the developers.
[1:46:15] um, so, you
[1:46:19] know, it really comes down to me to we want golf or not. And,
[1:46:23] and we'll make that decision here in a little bit. Thank you, mayor.
[1:46:27] thank you councilman. I think, uh, councilman resley, you wanna go next and yes sir. You may
[1:46:31] have take a small recess. I'm not sure. . Okay. Alright. So
[1:46:38] I've talked from the very start about the process. And in
[1:46:42] my opinion, it was a backwards process.
[1:46:46] and it, it, it was a poor process in my
[1:46:50] opinion. And,
[1:46:55] you know, it, it, it appears their, their council may be somewhat divided to
[1:46:59] some degree. And when I came here tonight and saw how crowded this room was,
[1:47:03] I thought, well, the community is divided. But sitting
[1:47:07] through these open sessions, to
[1:47:11] the best of my knowledge, out of all the people that have spoken,
[1:47:16] out of all the people that have come up to that podium and said, I'm for or against it,
[1:47:21] I only know of, of the wars that have said there are for it.
[1:47:26] every other voice and every other person that has come to that podium
[1:47:31] other than the developers are not for it. So
[1:47:36] I don't think the community is divided. I think the community
[1:47:40] is together. And I am frustrated.
[1:47:44] I'm a passionate person and, and I'm a little rough around the edges sometimes,
[1:47:49] but I am frustrated that that council has
[1:47:54] been put in a tough position and the developers have endured.
[1:47:58] but it's a position, in my opinion, we didn't have to be in.
[1:48:03] and to me,
[1:48:07] all, you know, all it takes to rectify the situation
[1:48:12] is four of us to vote no or to table it
[1:48:16] indefinitely and allow
[1:48:20] the taxpayers, all of the citizens that have opposed it,
[1:48:25] the respect they deserve, and to see
[1:48:29] what other options may exist, possibly the developers
[1:48:34] involved in that process. I don't know. I,
[1:48:39] you know, the, the question to me is, is why pump the, you know,
[1:48:44] is it's not why pump it's, it's why not? I do agree there. There's nothing to
[1:48:48] lose by doing that. And you know, mayor, you, you mentioned last time
[1:48:52] that the former mayor spoke, you know, you, you closed with the comment
[1:48:56] that you're not opposed to looking at options. And
[1:49:01] you know, we've heard tonight, , there there may be other options
[1:49:05] that could save the city millions of dollars. And
[1:49:10] so, you know, that's, that's kind of where I'm at. And I, I
[1:49:14] represent the lowest income district in this city. And
[1:49:18] I, I'm here to tell you, I haven't had any calls
[1:49:22] to me that said we voted no, we don't want golf.
[1:49:27] I've had zero. And you know, I,
[1:49:31] I'm not gonna rep plow old ground. Clearly. I don't think it's a good deal.
[1:49:35] but, and, and I usually look at everything from a business perspective,
[1:49:40] that's sometimes that's a fault of mine. But I, I've lived on texas avenue
[1:49:44] for 17 years and I was attracted
[1:49:48] to the area. And what I was most attracted
[1:49:52] to were the people down there because I met a lot of
[1:49:56] good people that cared. And I've sat on this dais for nine years,
[1:50:00] and I can't tell you the number of times that we voted and talked about
[1:50:05] very important issues, and no one cared.
[1:50:10] and, and I see a room full of people that care. And that's what
[1:50:14] we have here tonight. And it's very special. And I think this
[1:50:18] council should listen to it and heed to that.
[1:50:23] so that's where I'm at. You know, I, I respect these developers.
[1:50:27] I had the opportunity to meet 'em. I think they're nice guys. I, I really do. I mean, it
[1:50:31] was a pleasure to meet you and and you guys haven't called me or, or leaned on
[1:50:35] me and tried to convince me of anything, and I really respect that. I do.
[1:50:40] so I'm just putting it out there. I'm, I'm making a personal
[1:50:44] plea , and, and I've served with these folks
[1:50:49] for a long time and, and I respect everybody up here. I'm making a
[1:50:53] personal plea to pump the brakes. And I'm asking the developer
[1:50:58] to, to be okay with that and, and, and give
[1:51:02] the respect to these citizens. They, they deserve that. So I'm making a
[1:51:06] personal plea. I've done everything I can and, and I'm just, I'm not gonna
[1:51:10] fight anymore. I guess we'll vote it up or down or table. And, and I've been an open
[1:51:14] as and as honest as I can be. And, and I appreciate the time.
[1:51:18] thank you.
[1:51:25] so we'll move on to other council comments and then, uh, then, uh,
[1:51:29] we'll move from there. Yes, ma'am. I'll, I'll start at district one if you have any comments or questions. Um,
[1:51:33] just a few comments. Uh, mayor and I, I do appreciate those
[1:51:38] that, that showed up and spoke, but I also have those that
[1:51:42] would call me. They may not be here, but we also listen to
[1:51:46] those that may not have been able to show up or, or just preferred
[1:51:50] to call or email us. So it's not just those that show up
[1:51:54] that we listen to. But I do appreciate y'all taking time out of your
[1:51:59] schedule to come down. And I know it's already gonna be 10 o'clock and you're hanging in
[1:52:03] there with us. Um, you know, a year, a year
[1:52:07] ago before this whole golf course came into play,
[1:52:11] um, I was told about a, a, a root at report that the
[1:52:15] city had conducted back in the nineties. And so I'm like, what
[1:52:20] is that? And so I, I looked it up and, uh, made
[1:52:24] copies. I gave some to council during a retreat. I talked to rick about
[1:52:28] it. Um, and it was the regional urban design assistance
[1:52:32] team that visited baytown on june 7th through the 11th
[1:52:36] in 1990. Since that report,
[1:52:42] they stated that we are underutilizing our waterways,
[1:52:47] 1990. Here we are in 2022. Now granted a
[1:52:51] lot of the stuff that was on the report, the city has moved
[1:52:55] tremendously forward. And that was credit also to those that were here before
[1:53:00] us on this da. So I give them a lot of credit as well, because
[1:53:05] we are where we are because of this report and the, the needs
[1:53:09] that they identified that we needed for the city, and again,
[1:53:13] the waterways, um, to quote one of the residents that was
[1:53:17] a part of this is to be successful. I'm afraid
[1:53:21] we'll just have to work together. We have to work
[1:53:25] together to bring forward the future that we need for baytown.
[1:53:30] it goes on to say that building a better baytown will require not only
[1:53:35] a community consensus about the direction in which baytown should
[1:53:39] move forward in the future, but a willingness to
[1:53:43] spend money to bring that future forward. It's a 79
[1:53:48] page report. Uh, you know, the city has a copy of it. You can google
[1:53:52] the report and read it page by page because I did.
[1:53:56] and I took a lot of that to heart. The, one of the other
[1:54:00] questions that I got from, um, some of my residents were about, you
[1:54:05] know, is this golf course going to be eco-friendly? And
[1:54:09] they kept telling me that golf courses were not eco-friendly.
[1:54:13] look at all the waste and, and, and, you know, it's not environmentally friendly. So
[1:54:17] I went back and I did some research as well, according to golf
[1:54:22] digest, environmentally friendly golf courses are the wave
[1:54:26] of the future. I asked rick, I said, do we need to put
[1:54:30] something in into this agreement that ensures these
[1:54:34] developers are gonna create an eco-friendly golf course for the environment
[1:54:39] being so close to our waterways? And he said, we don't
[1:54:43] need to put it into the, the contract, but we can
[1:54:47] look at it during the design design phase of the golf
[1:54:51] course. And that's certainly something that I would be keeping an eye on should
[1:54:56] this measure pass tonight. Um, mossy oak
[1:55:00] over in west point, mississippi, they, they were the ones that
[1:55:04] this article was written about. Palm desert. Um, country club
[1:55:08] also has an eco-friendly golf course. So this is not going
[1:55:13] to be something that they're just gonna go throw out there, and it's
[1:55:17] not gonna be eco-friendly. I'm addressing this because it was brought up by
[1:55:21] a resident. So I'm addressing their concerns. So there it goes
[1:55:25] on to state how golf courses can be eco-friendly, but, um,
[1:55:29] many of you may already know that. But, um, to me,
[1:55:36] every business begins with an idea. I heard comments about,
[1:55:40] oh, this is unique. This is one of a kind, whatever. Every business,
[1:55:44] you know, starts with an idea. You, if you are a business owner,
[1:55:49] you had an idea to build your business, did someone tell you it's not gonna work?
[1:55:53] don't do it. It's too much money, you're gonna lose money. Did you move forward?
[1:55:57] probably, and hopefully you were successful in your business,
[1:56:01] but we're beginning with an idea and I, I really,
[1:56:06] you know, I have had those mixed reviews of yeses and nos and, you
[1:56:10] know, do I fall in between? So I have had those. So really
[1:56:14] our goal is to create and, uh, you know, and foster
[1:56:18] economic development in an area that has not had it and has
[1:56:22] been asking for it since 1990. So that's where
[1:56:26] I'll leave my remarks. Thank you, councilwoman. I'm going to
[1:56:30] district three.
[1:56:38] I wanna say thank you to everyone that came out tonight. Uh, the developers,
[1:56:42] I'm gonna call out some people in my district that I see sitting in the audience that I've had
[1:56:47] communication with. Chet ths, mr. Rebeck, um,
[1:56:51] I really appreciate you all coming out and showing your concern
[1:56:56] for the city of baytown with this being so far away from our district.
[1:57:01] that being said, I'm going to address some issues that I've,
[1:57:05] I've had maybe six emails today
[1:57:10] from some people from my district with their concerns.
[1:57:14] I'm out, I'm out and about around town with my family a lot,
[1:57:19] and I've had more phone calls, dinner interruptions,
[1:57:24] grocery shopping trips that took an extra 30 minutes.
[1:57:29] not complaining, but I love those opportunities where I have an opportunity
[1:57:33] to interact with our citizens out in public.
[1:57:38] one of the main concerns was safety. Going
[1:57:42] back to the, uh, first time that the developers presented, they said
[1:57:46] that the greens were going to be, I believe, twice the size of
[1:57:50] nor of, um, the average golf course. So I
[1:57:55] looked up some statistics on people getting hit by golf balls.
[1:57:59] and what I found was that it is less than 1% of individuals
[1:58:04] who play golf or hit by golf balls and even smaller number
[1:58:08] are killed. And that's not a joke. I've had a couple of questions
[1:58:12] asked about if we were gonna get sued if someone was killed by a golf ball,
[1:58:17] looked it up. That being
[1:58:21] said, something else that was brought to my attention
[1:58:25] on several occasions was the opportunity to bring golf back. Not
[1:58:30] for us older people before the children.
[1:58:34] I had a son this year, well last year that was asking me
[1:58:38] about wanting to play golf. We went out to
[1:58:42] the golf course up I 10, we played,
[1:58:47] he enjoyed himself, started asking some constituents and friends
[1:58:51] about their experience. And the one thing that really
[1:58:55] struck a chord with me is how our children are being treated
[1:58:59] on the golf course up the road from us. I don't wanna subject
[1:59:04] my child to that. I don't want to hear of any of our children being
[1:59:08] subjected to that type of treatment. I think we need
[1:59:12] a golf course here. I've listened to the developers,
[1:59:16] trained professionals. Five of the top
[1:59:20] 100 golf courses have been, these guys have had
[1:59:25] a part in that. We talk about the image of the city. Rick can
[1:59:29] attest to this. When I got on council, I said, we need to really look at the image of our city.
[1:59:34] people on the outside have a bad, we have a bad reputation
[1:59:38] on the outside. And even with on the inside with misinformation,
[1:59:43] this is an opportunity to bring something new to baytown. We
[1:59:47] say that we are different here in baytown, that we want a better baytown.
[1:59:52] this is something that's new and different that is being
[1:59:56] offered to us. We have an opportunity for development,
[2:00:01] had comments in the paper. I've said it from the beginning. When was the last time
[2:00:06] we had a developer want to come in and do anything south of 1 46?
[2:00:10] I, I can't remember, of a town.
[2:00:16] but we have an opportunity here, and I don't know if we're gonna get that opportunity
[2:00:20] again, talking about working together
[2:00:25] if we can't come to an agreement that if
[2:00:30] it's something that we need, something that people want. It came up in,
[2:00:34] um, some studies some years ago that everyone wanted
[2:00:39] a golf course. When it come to answer the question about taking our time,
[2:00:43] we've been talking about this since november,
[2:00:47] december, january, february, march, april, roughly five or
[2:00:51] six months. I don't think we've taken this, this much time on any topic
[2:00:56] that I can remember since I've been on council except
[2:01:00] the hotel conference center. And this is gonna be a compliment to it. Hopefully
[2:01:05] we can do something to have a golf course open
[2:01:09] that would coincide with the opening of the hotel conference center.
[2:01:13] hopefully we can, um, make that happen.
[2:01:18] I keep hearing the word gimmick being thrown out. So I looked up the definition
[2:01:22] of gimmick. It's a trick to bring attention to.
[2:01:28] I don't believe that we have trained professionals here trying
[2:01:32] to trick us into something new is not always bad.
[2:01:37] I keep hearing about traditional tee boxes,
[2:01:41] fairways greens in a hole. I think that is pretty
[2:01:45] traditional. We also heard tonight, and I've seen it myself,
[2:01:50] when golf started, it was nine hole courses.
[2:01:54] looking at research, it's saying that it's going back to
[2:01:59] less than 18 because people don't want to spend five hours
[2:02:03] on a golf course. They're gonna rate this as an
[2:02:07] 18 hole golf course. You don't have to play 18. You can play nine and
[2:02:11] go home. 75 minutes. I can go play
[2:02:16] golf with my children and be back home in the amount of time it would take me to go
[2:02:20] to showbiz and watch a movie. I'm, I like the family
[2:02:24] aspect of this. I really hope that
[2:02:28] we can come to an agreement. I hope that the misinformation,
[2:02:32] um, if it's voted one way or the other would cease.
[2:02:37] that's not what we should be about. And we should really think about our image when
[2:02:41] we're giving misinformation out and, and, and, and we're speaking
[2:02:45] it as a truth. There's a difference between truth and fact.
[2:02:50] a fact is like math two plus two is not going to change. Truth is
[2:02:54] relative to the person and their perception and their opinion. We
[2:02:58] should be speaking facts when we speak about this. Fact is it's gonna cost us $6 million.
[2:03:04] it's a matter of opinion. If you think it's too much. That's something that we've
[2:03:08] been debating. And really, when
[2:03:13] mr. Lester said that we are listening, we are listening,
[2:03:17] I, I applaud us as a council for getting this
[2:03:22] agreement worked out to where it's more favorable
[2:03:26] for the city. I applaud us for that. We've had some tough conversations,
[2:03:31] but we're not separated up here. Once this vote goes through,
[2:03:35] guess what's gonna happen? We're gonna support it 100%. One way or the other.
[2:03:42] I would like to see us come together. That's what I'm
[2:03:46] looking for.
[2:03:50] um, I'm gonna leave that with my comments. Thank
[2:03:54] you for the opportunity, mayor. Thank you councilman councilwoman.
[2:03:58] so for me, the course design's never really been an issue for me. Um,
[2:04:03] I see both sides of it. Um, I could have gone either way with traditional 18
[2:04:07] or this new design. Um, so that, that's
[2:04:11] never really been the deal. Um, for me, the, the deal's always been the details
[2:04:16] of the three 80 agreement. Um, from the beginning,
[2:04:20] I've always thought that the, the 40 year land lease
[2:04:24] and the 20 year tax free was a really excellent incentive
[2:04:28] to build any development. And I was always kind of stumped on why the
[2:04:32] 6 million needed to be, um, on top of that and, and something that I
[2:04:36] was always stuck with, um, I had asked from the very beginning
[2:04:41] that we maybe, um, recruit some financial partnership with the
[2:04:45] school district. And the reason for that is because they have always expressed
[2:04:49] to me and others that a golf course is a need for baytown. Whereas
[2:04:54] for us as a city, it's just been a want for our citizens. And so
[2:04:58] when this opportunity came up, I was really hoping that,
[2:05:02] um, this would be, um, a financial partnership with the school district. And I'm very
[2:05:06] disappointed that that couldn't come to fruition by tonight. Um,
[2:05:11] the big thing that I keep hearing over and over is that this isn't about
[2:05:15] a golf course. This is a catalyst or a multiplier effect
[2:05:20] for what was just said could be a hundred million in new development
[2:05:24] south of 1 46. Um, some citizens ask, you
[2:05:28] know, what's in it for us? What's the revenue? Um, if that
[2:05:32] new development was, would come to fruition, that would be, that would be
[2:05:37] the revenue and the properties being developed and the property taxes generated
[2:05:41] and the sales tax. That, that's, that would be the revenue for the city. Um,
[2:05:46] the question is, because none of that new development is in this
[2:05:50] contract. So the question is, is, uh, do we trust
[2:05:54] the developers to deliver what's just a promise?
[2:05:59] um, and do we think that $6 million plus
[2:06:03] the, the other, the land, uh, value is worth that, um,
[2:06:08] that development, if it did come to fruition, if this was
[2:06:12] heather bettencourt $6 million, I would be, I would be all in.
[2:06:17] um, because, um, you know, I don't mind taking that kind of risk.
[2:06:21] and you guys are, are reputable developers. Your resumes and y'all's experience
[2:06:25] is, um, is great. And I'm really disappointed to hear you say,
[2:06:29] if this doesn't pass, that it would kill development by you indefinitely in
[2:06:33] baytown. Because I think you do have a place here, as you can
[2:06:37] see, this particular issue or property is contentious, but there are so many
[2:06:42] other opportunities in case this doesn't go through. So I hope you would
[2:06:46] reconsider that. If it doesn't, um, it, like
[2:06:50] I said, if this was my money, it'd probably be no brainer when it's other people's money. Um,
[2:06:54] I have to take a second look at it. And, and what I'm voting on is what
[2:06:58] is in this three 80 agreement. And, and all it is is the golf course.
[2:07:03] um, the last thing I just wanted to mention, mayor, was how disappointed
[2:07:07] I am in the amount of misinformation that was put out there
[2:07:11] about this entire experience. Um, there were rumors,
[2:07:16] innuendos, and flat out lies passed out as fact.
[2:07:20] um, I have to say that I am fully confident in the rfp
[2:07:25] process for this. And I have, uh, no doubt
[2:07:29] in my mind that anyone up here is going to
[2:07:33] personally gain from this development whatsoever. And the innuendos
[2:07:38] that we are pushing this through for personal gain is just offensive. Thank
[2:07:42] you. Thank you ma'am. Councilman,
[2:07:46] uh, just wanna thank everyone who came out, uh, to speak tonight. I really do value,
[2:07:51] um, the input from each one of you. Um, got a lot of
[2:07:55] calls and text messages, um, over the last few days. Tried to
[2:07:59] return as much of those as I could. Um, and, but today
[2:08:03] actually I decided to reach out to, I just randomly picked some people who I hadn't
[2:08:07] heard from. 'cause I mean, the folks that are calling me are very passionate one
[2:08:11] way or the other. Right? And I was kind of curious where, um, everyone in the
[2:08:16] middle stood, um, unfortunately about every single one of 'em said, oh, I'm
[2:08:20] on the fence. And I said, well, welcome. It's comfort,
[2:08:24] it's comfortable here. Unfortunately, I have to fall off the fence one way or
[2:08:28] the other. They don't necessarily have to make that decision. So, um, for me,
[2:08:33] um, as far as the, the, the golf course itself,
[2:08:37] um, that was not a, um, you know,
[2:08:41] a make or break type point for me. The, the nine that plays is
[2:08:45] 18. Um, I believe in the, in the, the, the folks you've put
[2:08:50] together that have reviewed that, and I, I believe it will work. Um, and
[2:08:54] so for me, the thing that I had to look at was, um, similar
[2:08:58] to what you said, it was just this, this deal that we have in front of us. Um,
[2:09:03] and I do, I do think $6 million is, um,
[2:09:08] a substantial amount of money to, to give out on the front end of
[2:09:12] a contract. You know, most of our three eighties. Um, we have some other way
[2:09:16] to, uh, give that back to developers farther along in the process,
[2:09:21] um, through through sales tax incentives or, or, or something having to do with a
[2:09:25] valorem. Um, and so, uh, and that's, that's what
[2:09:29] I've heard from, from, from uh, residents is they're, um,
[2:09:34] you know, they have hesitation with giving out that much, um,
[2:09:40] that much cash on the front end of this deal on a, um,
[2:09:44] unproven, uh, concept. Whether, whether you believe it's gonna work or
[2:09:49] not, it is the first of its kind. So it is unproven in that regard.
[2:09:53] um, and so I, I think, um, for
[2:09:57] me, uh, there was a, um, a pastor, uh, that I had once who actually lived
[2:10:01] in evergreen fairways. Uh, he, he would always say, you can't wanna do something
[2:10:06] so badly that you do it badly. Um, and I, and I'm, so, I I
[2:10:10] think we have, this has moved very quickly. Um, I mean, up to tonight
[2:10:14] we're still talking about little tweaks in the lease. And so,
[2:10:18] um, you know, for me, uh, it's just,
[2:10:22] I think this is a bit fast and, and there is still more discussion
[2:10:27] we could have to make this a better deal for the city. Okay.
[2:10:32] alright. So obviously we've heard from many of our citizens, and for me, uh,
[2:10:36] I'll, I'll take a little bit, maybe a broader perspective and certainly,
[2:10:40] uh, more of a, a legacy in a sense from cradle to grave.
[2:10:44] so, you know, I've been here for quite a while in a sense where
[2:10:49] the, at least a since the, uh, the golf field that took place, uh,
[2:10:53] a few years ago, so many in your room in the room here have been contacting
[2:10:57] me for years. And it's really on two on two things that
[2:11:01] I'll discuss. One, golf, once we didn't,
[2:11:06] you know, at one time we've had two golf courses, 18 hole traditional courses.
[2:11:10] it was great. And I'm sure in the heyday it was, it was awesome and it was well played.
[2:11:14] however, we don't have any today.
[2:11:19] there is zero golf in baytown right now. It doesn't matter if it's nine hole,
[2:11:23] 18 hole, 36 hole, you name it. Not one golf
[2:11:28] round today. So for years, people like chat and
[2:11:32] others have, we've had, I don't know, maybe spent 40
[2:11:36] hours on the phone talking about golf chat and, and all that. And
[2:11:40] what are you gonna do, mayor, to bring golf back to baytown? What can I do to help you?
[2:11:45] right? I've heard it from many, many folks, uh, on both
[2:11:49] sides of this issue, to tell you the truth, right? Golf is an amenity.
[2:11:53] I believe that a city our size, we should have, there's, and I think everybody
[2:11:57] in the room seems to have expressed that there's no doubt, you know, mr. Walters,
[2:12:01] you're in real estate. You understand that an amenity, even if you don't play golf,
[2:12:06] brings value. It brings value to evergreen
[2:12:10] fairways, it brings value to the south, south side of town and it brings value to our
[2:12:14] entire community. And so, um, I will tell you, uh,
[2:12:18] golfers that have been been calling me for years about mayor,
[2:12:23] what, what will it take to bring back golf? What I have told them repeatedly, because
[2:12:27] the hyatt regency was on the hills, right? The convention center hyatt.
[2:12:32] and to compliment that, to add an amenity for those individuals that are gonna stay
[2:12:36] at the hyatt regency in baylor island, they need somewhere to go. They may come in here and
[2:12:41] have a half a day, whatever the case may be. Uh,
[2:12:45] offering the amenity of golf nearby is, I think, very
[2:12:49] much needed. And I think we all can agree on that. So what
[2:12:54] has taken place though is, and what I've told these guys said, after we break ground
[2:12:58] on the height regency, let's talk golf, because I believe it's a game changer,
[2:13:02] okay? What has occurred was, in last november,
[2:13:06] a developer came forth with a concept when they toured our city,
[2:13:11] as is expressed by ms. Alvarado and, and others, that throughout the years is
[2:13:15] baytown. We do not take advantage and we have not taken advantage of our water frontage.
[2:13:19] we just haven't. And now there's an opportunity in front of us from these developers
[2:13:24] that were able to see something that either we haven't seen ourselves, or
[2:13:28] whatever the case may be. They, they go, they see this water frontage along the bay
[2:13:32] there, along galveston bay, along evergreen. And it is true. There is no doubt. It is a
[2:13:36] beautiful neighborhood. I considered moving there myself. Uh, still may, who
[2:13:40] knows. But I will tell you that, uh, when it comes to golf,
[2:13:45] I'm not gonna sit here and debate what nine holes looks like and what 18 holes
[2:13:49] look like. At the end of the day, it's grass and sand and bunkers and all that.
[2:13:53] I leave that up to the, to the experts. Not these two guys, but the folks that,
[2:13:58] that, that were on the call earlier, um, to go and hear that
[2:14:02] this would be a sanctioned 18 hole golf course, usga,
[2:14:07] you know, sanctioned, that we could have that, that means something to me. It may not mean something
[2:14:11] to you, it means something to me. And, uh, a lot of you, I look,
[2:14:15] I can look at the list right here. I mean, a majority, obviously, you live on evergreen, and
[2:14:19] I've talked to many of you, I've talked to the president of hoa and y'all had a, y'all's
[2:14:23] biggest concern was the fact that y'all were told multi-family
[2:14:27] apartments were gonna come right in front of your neighborhood. And we, we went,
[2:14:31] it was misinformation, it was disseminated, and it was wrong, okay?
[2:14:36] and there's many things that have been said and, and printed in the local paper.
[2:14:40] and it's just really, it's, it's disturbing. And, um, anybody
[2:14:45] who goes and operates irresponsibly like that, um, certainly has certainly
[2:14:49] lost my respect. But I still have to go and govern as
[2:14:53] a mayor and look at everything that y'all have told me throughout the years. So what happens? So
[2:14:58] we have golf now, or we have golf. We have a proposal here for
[2:15:02] somebody that looked at the acreage. I believe they looked at one 17, I think the footprint's
[2:15:06] one 105. And they went and put their, put their experts
[2:15:10] together, people who have developed courses like tory pines, and
[2:15:15] I think four of the top 200 golf courses in the world. That is the
[2:15:19] team that we're looking at. So, I do value a lot of your opinion as citizens
[2:15:23] on everything. There's people in this room, the mike wilson's, everybody. I lean
[2:15:27] on y'all for advice on how do we progress our city, right? And
[2:15:31] you give me the advice, and I value it. I value, even if I disagree with it, I do value it.
[2:15:35] but I gotta rely on the experts when it comes to anything and any decision that
[2:15:39] I make. And so, when I hear people of
[2:15:43] the magnitude that, that these guys put the team, a team together, when it comes to the number
[2:15:47] one, uh, you know, developer in texas for golf, that means
[2:15:51] something to me in a decision making authority. Okay? And it should mean something to you.
[2:15:57] so we'll put golf aside, 'cause we have to talk about the rest of the
[2:16:01] picture. I think we solve and mitigated the issue with, um,
[2:16:05] apartments that are gonna, that are not gonna come to, uh, evergreen fairways.
[2:16:09] the, the entire 12 and a half acres is taken out of the agreement. And the city,
[2:16:13] as it was expressed by count, councilman lester, that is our responsibility. And
[2:16:17] it, it, there is no development, uh, in its future. I mean, who knows, but
[2:16:22] I'm just gonna say nothing from what we're talking about today. And so
[2:16:26] I asked myself, okay, let's look at the bigger picture. And I've said it before,
[2:16:31] this is more than golf. And it is, okay, when it, when
[2:16:35] we go and, and I have, um, had many conversations. So as
[2:16:39] councilman lester, so as councilman johnson and, and others, if they've had conversations,
[2:16:44] uh, I've visited this individual, uh, david henkel, uh, uh,
[2:16:48] retail center in oklahoma city. And there's a lot of great, great things
[2:16:52] that can come to baytown. That's the other side of this. For years,
[2:16:57] I have councilmen out there. Uh, I have, uh, councilman hoskins and
[2:17:01] hessel and mccartney, if he's still here. I have, uh, former mayor
[2:17:05] minger for years. The one thing we hear all the time, besides
[2:17:10] what's gonna happen with the mall, is why can't we have this? And why can't
[2:17:14] we have that? Why don't we have one of these things? Why don't we have one of those things?
[2:17:18] why does, why do these things develop not here in baytown?
[2:17:22] and sometimes I think it's 'cause well, one, nobody's been knocking on our door.
[2:17:27] that's just the truth. The other reason is, are we able, as
[2:17:31] a council and as a community be, are we able to be innovative, to
[2:17:35] go and really be a community that can welcome when good developers come knocking
[2:17:39] at your door? And I believe these two definitely are, are we able
[2:17:43] to go put aside our personal purposes on how we pray, play golf?
[2:17:48] are we able to really, really wrap our mind around and listen to the experts
[2:17:52] value our citizens and move forward with something? And for me,
[2:17:56] I believe, and I have to trust, I wish we could, if I, believe me, I tried. If I can
[2:18:00] go and say, david henkel, I want you to guarantee me this, that, and the other,
[2:18:05] and a hundred million dollars development, I would love to put that in a contract. But unfortunately,
[2:18:09] that's just not how it works. Okay? And so when people tell
[2:18:13] me, why don't we have this? And why don't we have that? It's because people haven't been knocking
[2:18:17] on our door or the people. We have people knocking on our door, but they don't have the resources. Okay?
[2:18:22] so when I look at all these pieces of the puzzle that could really progress
[2:18:26] baytown of where, what we really think our city wants to be like when it comes to
[2:18:30] retail and entertainment and food and beverage and all the neat things. These
[2:18:35] are some of the guys, I can't say they can make it all happen. Uh, I have trust that
[2:18:39] they can make some of it happen. And I think you'll be very happy and rewarded with that.
[2:18:43] um, I do wanna respect all the, the individuals that live in evergreen. I've been very protective
[2:18:47] of them along with councilman lester encroachment and, and, and
[2:18:51] obviously the, uh, the, uh, the beautiful serene surroundings. That is
[2:18:55] something we still wanna respect. But it was a golf course there before and everybody seemed
[2:19:00] to be happy then. A lot of people. And, and actually
[2:19:04] recently a personally, a personal friend of mine moved there 'cause he was hoping golf would return. And
[2:19:08] so I did. I hear, I have heard a lot of those calls from the individuals in,
[2:19:12] uh, in the area. I will tell you what, I've actually also
[2:19:16] had a lot of calls on, uh, especially on that side of town. And I think that's what councilwoman
[2:19:21] alvarado mentioned. Uh, people along the alexander corridor off
[2:19:25] of ward road in eva, maud in plumwood, all those areas,
[2:19:30] uh, it's about, and, and roseland, uh, they're all like, why can't
[2:19:34] we get something here on alexander? Why don't, why do we
[2:19:38] get nothing that travels here? Why don't people look here? And I could tell you this, council
[2:19:42] and administration, you've seen a little bit of improvement. Sidewalks and
[2:19:46] painting and, and that, and ward road is, uh, yeah, ward road has just recently been,
[2:19:50] uh, kind of been redeveloped. And we're hoping, we're hoping that with 99
[2:19:55] hyatt regency and people like this and a golf course will
[2:19:59] make things, those things happen. Um, fiscal responsibility.
[2:20:03] you know, mr. Beck, I, I, you and I, we go round and round all the time about fiscal responsibility.
[2:20:07] there's no doubt. You know, we may not share the same perspective of what that looks like, but I
[2:20:11] could tell you this, this is what I do know. I know. Um, I mean, we did
[2:20:15] have mayor manager, he did present some options on possible stuff on, on paper.
[2:20:20] but I have to listen to experts at the end of the day, what it didn't say in there, and I'm
[2:20:24] gonna tell you, I'm gonna make a statement that I can't believe I'm gonna, that, that I'm gonna make.
[2:20:28] but I came to this realization recently was I'm actually glad that
[2:20:33] the, the vote that took place a few years ago about an 18 hole golf course, I'm
[2:20:37] glad that it felt, and I'm gonna tell you why, because I believe
[2:20:41] this is actually a better product at the end of the day
[2:20:45] for the height regency for our citizens. It's a sanctioned course. It's
[2:20:50] 18 holes, regardless if it's what you may see as 18 holes. But I guarantee you
[2:20:54] that these guys have run all the numbers and analysis. It's not our course.
[2:20:58] and that's what's good about it. It's a public course and a municipal property.
[2:21:02] but at the end of the day, these guys are on the hook for that, uh, maintenance
[2:21:06] and operations. And I'm gonna tell you that if you want 18 hole golf, then we're gonna have to go
[2:21:11] and do a lot of more digging and some deep pockets that we don't have right now for this particular
[2:21:15] type of amenity that we all want. There's not, the land doesn't
[2:21:19] matter, but there's been statements about land and all this magic land that exists. But if you go look
[2:21:23] on maps other than a beach, there is not land to go and
[2:21:27] put 18 holes on. These guys went and recruited the experts to
[2:21:32] do the best they can to give us a sanction 18 hole golf course on
[2:21:36] 105 acres or whatever it may be. And that's the reality that we gotta
[2:21:40] look at. Okay? And that's the reality I have to make a decision on.
[2:21:44] um, I'm hopeful I'm trustful that, that these guys will do what they say. If this
[2:21:48] passes. Um, I, I certainly think baytown is a great place for them to invest.
[2:21:52] uh, but when it comes to the course itself, um,
[2:21:57] I have a lot, I mean, I, the renderings, the renderings have been out there, all the type of golf play. I don't
[2:22:01] think golf balls are gonna rain on our head, but we have to make a decision on really
[2:22:05] what do we wanna look like? And, and, and really the information I have is I
[2:22:09] gotta rely on the experts, uh, to go and move this forward. Um, I
[2:22:13] do appreciate everybody's input and certainly opinion. And I hate that a golf
[2:22:17] course, even even six years ago or seven years ago was divisive.
[2:22:22] why is it that we have to divide our community on something,
[2:22:26] uh, that we should be enjoying, but for some reason we do that.
[2:22:30] um, my, the reason why I made the statement about I'm glad the golf course failed is because the
[2:22:35] operational cost 6 million is all, is a chunk and change, a chunk and change.
[2:22:39] but believe me, it is. But that's nothing compared to if we
[2:22:43] go into an 18 hole course and go and try to operate it with someone else.
[2:22:47] 'cause these guys are gonna go away. We will be on the hook for millions of dollars
[2:22:51] every year perpetually, okay? And it's not gonna be anything like
[2:22:55] $6 million. So for me, when I look at it, the investment of $6 million
[2:23:00] for what we get is an amenity and the, and the development that's gonna take place.
[2:23:04] 'cause I gotta consider, I have to consider all those things. Chet does not,
[2:23:08] chet wants to play golf, I understand that. But we have to consider all those type of
[2:23:12] things. And I respect you, chet, you know that. But I'm just saying, we, I have, those are the things that's in front of us as a
[2:23:16] council. And so I wish I could share the opportunities of some really
[2:23:21] neat stuff that can come to baytown. I hope that comes to fruition. I really, really do.
[2:23:25] I gotta trust david henkel and, and rio on that. But that's where I'm at.
[2:23:29] that's where I'm at on the decision. It's tough. This is a tough job, believe me. Okay?
[2:23:34] you get dragged through the mud just 'cause you're sitting up here in one of these chairs, okay?
[2:23:38] and so I do appreciate everybody's time this evening. It is late and I, and I think let's,
[2:23:42] it's time to make a decision. So what I'm gonna do, okay,
[2:23:50] what I'm gonna do, unless there's any reason why I think we need to go in executive session,
[2:23:56] okay? If not, then I'm gonna do a roll call vote. I'm gonna start with just, I have one last
[2:24:00] question for the city manager please, or city attorney. One last question, quick question. Sure.
[2:24:05] so just to clarify, so I have asked
[2:24:09] about the patent pending status several times, and I think some folks
[2:24:14] kind of see that as a way to, to maybe catch somebody to
[2:24:18] lie or gig somebody or whatnot. But really,
[2:24:22] you know, , believe it or not, one of the reasons why I ask
[2:24:27] is that if, if we do this product,
[2:24:31] listen, I, I don't have to see it, but has the city attorney or the city
[2:24:35] manager, I I, I wouldn't want the city to have any liability
[2:24:40] for infringement or anything like that. So have, have,
[2:24:44] has the city attorney seen the, the patent application or the patent pending status,
[2:24:49] or has the city manager so that we don't incur any
[2:24:53] potential liability? I have not council member as the city attorney. I have
[2:24:57] not. Well, that
[2:25:01] seems like it could be a problem, mr. Mayor. Uh, we, we, we could incur
[2:25:07] substantial liability if someone else has the patent on the design
[2:25:12] hole. So, okay. So
[2:25:16] for if you, if you're gonna, if you're gonna speak it, you're gonna have to go to the mic though.
[2:25:26] yeah. Since we started on this path, there's been lots of questions about
[2:25:31] the business model and about the intellectual property
[2:25:35] and we've disclosed what we have to
[2:25:39] date. And quite frankly, when you read the newspaper and
[2:25:43] you see quotes out there, I think it's very smart that we have disclosed
[2:25:47] what we have within reason. But the patent process
[2:25:53] and how that impacts disagreement are mutually exclusive
[2:25:57] events. The only way the city could violate a patent is if the city decided
[2:26:01] to build a competing golf course. So
[2:26:05] I'm not sure what you're, you're asking about patent protection, quite frankly,
[2:26:10] it's not relevant okay. To this business transaction. Okay. In your opinion it's not.
[2:26:14] and I just wanna be sure we, we have a duty to do the best we can. And listen,
[2:26:18] you understand it has no relevance to this. No, sir, I don't. Or I wouldn't ask it. Yeah. Well,
[2:26:22] you've asked me three times and I've told you and I just asked you four. Okay, we're gonna move on guys.
[2:26:27] so, so the good thing is on the patent
[2:26:31] I will say this is that that is their worry. If anybody were to go and replicate
[2:26:36] whatever they do, wind up patenting, if it gets patented, I guess then
[2:26:40] that is, that the risk is on them. That has really nothing to, it's irrelevant to the city
[2:26:45] itself. So I that I'm gonna do a roll call vote. I'm gonna start with district six. Uh, uh,
[2:26:50] confirm motion and second. Oh yes, that's right. I guess we do need to do that, right? Alright, let
[2:26:54] me get my agenda here.
[2:26:58] you're right. No, you're right. So it's getting late. So the first item, so we know, yes, it's getting very
[2:27:03] late, um, but I will say we are on item 12 a. So
[2:27:07] the first, the first item that I'll entertain a motion on would be item 12 a consider an
[2:27:11] ordinance authorized in a chapter three 80 economic development agreement for public golf course and golf
[2:27:15] related amenities. S the long term lease of evergreen park, previously located
[2:27:19] at 1530 evergreen road to build baytown one, llc.
[2:27:24] um, I think I, I wanna say a few things on this, if I may. And, and councilman,
[2:27:28] if you can express, um, I, I'm gonna call 'em controls,
[2:27:32] but kind of the things that made this a more equitable type of
[2:27:36] agreement. If, if you don't mind sharing that. Yeah, thank you mayor. Um,
[2:27:41] again, as a couple of my colleagues have, have indicated up here, it's,
[2:27:45] it's been the three 80 agreement all along for me. The, the, the course itself
[2:27:50] not that much. Um, but we've added in a significant number of controls.
[2:27:55] um, one of the things we clarified is to any other amenity other
[2:27:59] than the course that goes in, has to come, it has to be golf related
[2:28:03] or inter golf entertainment related. And we have the ability
[2:28:08] to review and approve that. Now, there's a type timeline
[2:28:12] on that, and I can understand from the developer's point, they bring a concept forward for the few acres
[2:28:16] that are left, that's not part of the course. They want
[2:28:20] a quick turnaround. I got that. So, so that, that's one of those, we,
[2:28:25] um, shorten the valorem from the full 40 to down
[2:28:29] to 20. I've, I've asked the questions of other entities and,
[2:28:33] and 15 to 20 valor for if they build buildings and so forth
[2:28:37] is, is appropriate. I had, uh, clarified and,
[2:28:41] and made sure of that. What happens to those buildings if they build
[2:28:45] something, what happens at the end of the lease and it reverts to the city.
[2:28:50] so there's a lot of comments out there. Well, we're giving it away. We'll never get it back. Now the property belongs
[2:28:54] to the city, will always belong to the city, and if they build something at the end of the lease,
[2:28:58] it belongs to the city. Um, I also asked this evening, what
[2:29:02] if they default, they go outta business, then whatever they build
[2:29:06] belongs to the city so the property doesn't go away. Um,
[2:29:12] what are some of the other, we, we built a significant number of those issues
[2:29:16] in, we were able to carve out the 12 point half, 12.6 acres
[2:29:20] right along evergreen because the, the, the folks out there were concerned about that.
[2:29:25] the developers came forward and said, you know, we really don't have an idea
[2:29:29] what we're gonna do with that yet. And it's kind of, okay then if you don't, we're gonna pull it out. And they
[2:29:33] said that's not an issue for them. So we pulled that out. So there's been progress
[2:29:38] all the way through. And I would agree that when, when we're talking about how we're rushing into
[2:29:42] this, um, I've been around through the city a long time and this
[2:29:46] is probably one of the longest debated, discussed, heated
[2:29:51] arguments in closed door sessions that I've ever been
[2:29:55] aware of. Um, so could we continue this
[2:29:59] and continue to browbeat it down? It, it basically comes down to
[2:30:03] are we gonna do golf or not? And so there's a lot of stuff in the three 80.
[2:30:07] yeah. You know, I'd like to see it better, but at what, at a point in time in
[2:30:12] any negotiation for anything, you've gotta be willing to
[2:30:16] take some and give some. And, and I think the developers have, have, they've
[2:30:21] been real tightlipped on what their, their thoughts and processes are, and I can somewhat understand
[2:30:25] that. But we as a city, the bottom line is do we want to put a
[2:30:29] golf course down there or not? And so that's where we
[2:30:33] are. Alright. So I think we still need a motion
[2:30:37] and, and, and again, up until tonight, and I told folks what I may do
[2:30:42] and what I might do, and I wasn't going to decide upon listening
[2:30:46] to the folks tonight, the discussions that we had, you
[2:30:50] know, the five minute discussion we had in the executive session,
[2:30:54] I'll move that. We approve the current three 80 agreement as discussed in executive
[2:30:59] session. Okay. I think with that one thing, if I may and may be in use to
[2:31:03] them, um, I don't think he touched on it. So this course is
[2:31:07] 6,210 yards. Correct. Uh,
[2:31:11] one control that, that we were looking at because there was information,
[2:31:16] you know, that this course can be a putt putt golf course, whatever the case may be. So
[2:31:20] there was one provision that we were looking at to entertain, um, uh, a
[2:31:24] could not be reduced more than 10%. We just kind of just came up with a 10% clause.
[2:31:29] um, we can either shrink that or just put a period that you could not reduce this
[2:31:33] less than 6,210 yards. I hate to do this on the dice, but
[2:31:37] is that something that would be acceptable to you? Absolutely. The last thing we wanna do is reduce,
[2:31:42] well, I figured that, but we were trying to add absolutely some brackets and controls. So,
[2:31:47] so that's good. So, um, I would say your, just so you'll know, the, the
[2:31:51] agreement would include, or at least on operation would include the, it would be that
[2:31:55] it would be 6,210 yards no less. So this
[2:31:59] could never be reduced. I think additionally there, I wanna let, I want everybody to
[2:32:03] know what's taking place was also, um, we
[2:32:07] want to, we wanna put some kind of some performance metrics or at least some measures in a sense where,
[2:32:12] um, after five years of, of, of operation, we
[2:32:16] will average that, uh, round of golf, uh, play
[2:32:20] in a sense yearly, we'll come up with an average, let's say it's 500,
[2:32:25] any, any subsequent year following that, what will trigger something
[2:32:30] to, to kind of revisit with them to, to go and, and mitigate why are they're not promoting
[2:32:34] the course, whatever the case may be. It could never fall below 50%
[2:32:38] of, of whatever that five year average was. So we're, we, were trying to put everything
[2:32:42] we could in play that would go and add control to make sure that, that these guys,
[2:32:47] um, are being held accountable for, uh, a, a golf course, 18 hole
[2:32:51] golf course. It can't be reduced. It couldn't get enc encroached in our, in
[2:32:55] our neighborhood. So those are a lot of the things that, that were included in that. So there is a motion.
[2:32:59] do I hear a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any
[2:33:03] additional question of comments on, uh, item 12 a? If not, uh,
[2:33:07] we'll do a show of hands, um, or we'll do a roll call vote. I'm
[2:33:11] gonna start with councilman lester in district six.
[2:33:16] aye. All right. Uh, I'll go back to district one.
[2:33:20] aye. Uh, district two nay.
[2:33:25] district three aye. District four nay,
[2:33:29] district five nay, and myself is a yes.
[2:33:33] so item 12 a does pass and we move on to item 12
[2:33:37] b. Consider an ordinance accepting, uh, the bid of miramar properties llc
[2:33:42] and authorizing the lease of approximately 117 acres of land situated
[2:33:46] in the williams caught lower league abstract number 65, harris county, texas
[2:33:50] to build baytown one llc for the development and operation of a public golf course.
[2:33:54] so I'd entertain a motion for item 12 b. Councilman
[2:33:59] move to approve 12 b. Second motion. Second. Yes sir. For a moment to
[2:34:03] clarify that motion is for the reduced amount, not the one that was in the record, but one,
[2:34:07] it was just information. Yes. Alright. Okay. So obviously whatever agreement would
[2:34:11] reflect that that yard at 6,210.
[2:34:15] okay. So we have a motion to second any additional questions or comments, if
[2:34:19] not all those in favor of well, I'll just do a roll call, vote again. Uh, we'll start with district six
[2:34:24] again. Aye. District one, aye. District two
[2:34:28] nay. District three. Aye. District four,
[2:34:32] nay five, nay and myself is a yes. Item 12
[2:34:37] b does carry. So we do appreciate everyone for coming out this evening. Uh, we
[2:34:41] do have some more business to take care of. If you want to sit here and
[2:34:45] do consent agenda with us, you can. Alright.
[2:34:54] so we have item four a.
[2:34:59] we have to conduct a second hearing. We gotta go
[2:35:03] to the hearing.
[2:35:08] yes. We did the resolution or did we? Yes.
[2:35:13] okay. Yes, yes, we did the three a. Recognize that we're on four and yeah, we
[2:35:17] recognize. Does anybody need a recess for three minutes or something for
[2:35:22] bathroom break or not? No, I'm okay chris. No, I'm good. It went away, believe it or not.
[2:35:26] well, I don't know where it went, but, okay. Alright. Well maybe,
[2:35:32] nah, just went away. I don't have to go. It don't just, he went away. My
[2:35:36] son used to say that. Alright, let's move forward guys. Alright, we have item four a. It's,
[2:35:41] uh, conducted a second public hearing regarding the proposed annexation appro, approximately be quiet, 18.9,
[2:35:45] uh, 18.95 acres of privately owned land located generally south
[2:35:49] of I 10 and east of thompson road. So, uh, yes sir, go ahead.
[2:35:55] as you know, this came before you already, this had our first public hearing last month.
[2:36:00] uh, this is 19 acres at I 10 and thompson road. Uh, it
[2:36:04] is also going through the rezone process to, uh, light industrial.
[2:36:08] um, so this part of the process is just par for the course. Alright.
[2:36:12] ah, no pun intended. Alright, so let me read this public hearing for today is being held for
[2:36:16] the purpose of giving all interested persons the right to express their views regarding the subject of this public
[2:36:20] hearing. Everyone desired to be a part of today's hearing. Should it be either signed the appropriate list in the foyer
[2:36:24] or emailed the city clerk prior to the posted time of this meeting. Each participant
[2:36:29] shall give his or her name and address in order to provide a proper record of this hearing. The rules allow,
[2:36:33] uh, each person three minutes to present information. However, I encourage everyone to be as
[2:36:37] brief and to the point as possible. If you are a group of persons wishing to address the council on
[2:36:41] this same subject, please select a spokesperson to present the information. And if anyone
[2:36:45] has any questions, please direct 'em to me. So it is now ten forty two. So
[2:36:49] I now call this, uh, uh, second public hearing, uh, regarding the
[2:36:54] proposed annexation of the land. I did describe to order, uh, if the subject matter has
[2:36:58] been summarized by staff. I believe there is one person that is, that has signed up to speak. Mr.
[2:37:02] tus, I'm assuming you do not want to speak. I know
[2:37:06] , I'll tell you what anyway,
[2:37:10] but I do appreciate it. I'll tell you what, you're a trooper. Alright, so, uh, there being
[2:37:15] no one else desiring to speak, it is now 10 42 still, uh, pm
[2:37:19] uh, and I close the second public hearing regarding the proposed annexation of the land that I did
[2:37:23] described. So we move on, on to item five
[2:37:27] a consider resolution to establish, uh, a city baytown naming policy for city
[2:37:31] parks, roadways, trails, and facilities. For this, I'm gonna move, uh, if
[2:37:35] I can, if I can get a motion to table this item to a future agenda, that'd
[2:37:40] be great. Move to table this item to april 24th.
[2:37:44] second. Second. 28th. 28th. 28th. Yeah. 28th, second. Okay,
[2:37:48] we have a motion to second to table, uh, item five, eight to april 28th. I will
[2:37:52] say, uh, only comment I'll make on this, I think this item that we will have some good discussion.
[2:37:56] uh, and so obviously, uh, moving it beyond tonight, I appreciate the feedback
[2:38:00] that I've received from you all. I know we're having some so much fun guys, but let's just move forward. Thank
[2:38:04] you. Yes. We have a motion to second on item five a to the table.
[2:38:08] yeah, yeah, we we got that. Did we get a second? Yes, I made a second.
[2:38:12] oh, did, okay. Thank you. Alright, motion second, uh, for table. So all those in favor of table
[2:38:17] tabling item five a please say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed discussions, receive and
[2:38:21] discuss a presentation of the comprehensive plan 2040. That is not gonna happen tonight
[2:38:25] on that on united. So, so I, I would, I would like to,
[2:38:29] um, just meredith dang from our consultant, this is the
[2:38:33] second time we've made her sit for hours and not oh, you're another trooper. So I'd
[2:38:37] like to, let's do respectfully request that we give her 15 minutes to just go ahead
[2:38:41] and give you what we got. Okay. If that'd be all right. Well, I, yes. 'cause you're here.
[2:38:46] I'm gonna, if that's the case, I'm gonna ask for a three minute recess, or,
[2:38:50] or you can go ahead and give it. And chris, if you can come here, sit there and I'll be right
[2:38:54] back. Okay. I'll sit here. Okay, we're good? Yes, sir. You
[2:38:58] got 15 minutes. I'll be back 15 minutes. So, well, well, I'll, I'll give meredith
[2:39:02] a quick intro only to say that, um, remember that
[2:39:06] as the comprehensive plan, um, we, we just wanna make sure
[2:39:10] that this is basically the quick intro to say over the next month or so
[2:39:15] before we bring this back for adoption. We wanna make sure that you understand
[2:39:19] kind of how it's, uh, how it's organized, how it got to where we're at,
[2:39:23] and that we really want everybody, uh, to, to take some time and,
[2:39:27] and go over the document as it is. Um, if you have any questions,
[2:39:31] obviously staff is, is easily available for this. Um, we'd also
[2:39:35] like to offer if anybody would like, um, some one-on-one time to go through the
[2:39:40] document. Again, it is a big document, but we feel it's important enough that it warrants
[2:39:44] that kind of attention. Um, and, uh, remember we only get
[2:39:48] to do this every few years and it is an important document. We wanna make sure
[2:39:52] that it jives with everything that, that you guys have set forth, everything
[2:39:56] that's in the strategic plan for the next five years. And, um, everything that's
[2:40:01] in all the other related plans. Remember we just did a parks plan last year that was
[2:40:05] 600 pages or something like that. Um, so we, we wanna make sure that everything fits
[2:40:09] together. So with that, I won't take any more of meredith's time.
[2:40:14] all right. Good evening. It's a pleasure to join you. Uh, can I get
[2:40:18] my presentation second? And I will try to make it
[2:40:22] way quicker than 18 minutes because I know it's, uh, very late.
[2:40:27] it's a bf thank you for hanging out. There you go.
[2:40:31] all right, so my name is meredith dang. Again,
[2:40:35] I'm the practice leader of community planning at ken keys collaborative, and we've been assisting
[2:40:39] the city on developing the comprehensive plan.
[2:40:43] okay, let's get through that. So the comprehensive plan is a 20 year
[2:40:48] long range plan. So we're looking out to the year 2040. It touches on
[2:40:52] land use, infrastructure, housing and neighborhoods, economic development, parks and
[2:40:56] recreation. So really all sorts of, uh, things that the city deals with every
[2:41:00] day. It is a policy and guidance document, and it provides
[2:41:04] the legal basis for the city's land development regulations.
[2:41:10] we've been working on this plan since january of last year. We've gone through
[2:41:14] multiple different phases, um, and now we're kind of nearing the end. So
[2:41:18] the plan finalization stage, we have, uh, throughout
[2:41:22] this, uh, process, been engaging the community. And I want to thank
[2:41:26] the members of the comprehensive plan advisory committee for all their input and
[2:41:31] feedback, um, over the course of the project, as well as all the public and stakeholders
[2:41:35] that came out to the various listening sessions, town halls, open houses,
[2:41:40] um, surveys, community events, and also, um, providing
[2:41:44] feedback through baytown engage. One of my favorite things
[2:41:49] was we held an art contest, uh, last summer. And
[2:41:53] since this is looking out to the year 2040, uh, the plan is, is really
[2:41:57] for, uh, uh, the youth of tomorrow as well. And we asked them
[2:42:01] to imagine what will baytown look like in the year 2040. And the art
[2:42:05] that they generated, um, has become the covers of each of our planned sections.
[2:42:10] so I think this is, uh, really neat. On the left, uh, that's our land use and development cover, and
[2:42:14] on the right, that's our economic development section cover. So
[2:42:18] the plan, uh, when you go through it, you'll see that there's sections on growth, capacity,
[2:42:23] land use and development, housing and neighborhoods, transportation, economic
[2:42:27] development and recreation and amenities starts with existing city,
[2:42:31] which is the existing conditions in baytown today. So in each of those different topic areas,
[2:42:35] there's information about, um, what those things are like
[2:42:39] in baytown today, whether it's transportation or land use. And there's
[2:42:44] also, um, a series of demographic data.
[2:42:49] skip through that. Then the plan is all the, uh, recommendations
[2:42:53] are organized by these top priority themes, which we presented to you. Um, last
[2:42:57] fall. They, uh, jive very well with what's in the strategic
[2:43:01] plan. So things like enhancing mobility and access, putting the bay back in
[2:43:06] baytown, which, um, y'all were talking about tonight as well. Um, image
[2:43:10] and appearance. So a lot of these same, same themes.
[2:43:14] then in the future city, again, we try to integrate that feedback that we got from
[2:43:18] residents as much as possible. So you'll see quotes from residents throughout.
[2:43:22] and then we have a, uh, matrix that summarizes all the recommendations in each section
[2:43:26] as well as if it's a short range, medium range, or long term, um,
[2:43:31] initiative. And then proposed, uh, action leaders as well as partners.
[2:43:37] and then, uh, each of the recommendations has, um, specific details
[2:43:42] and also call out boxes or best practices that kind of provide a little bit more
[2:43:46] background information on different topics. This is also, I wanna
[2:43:50] mention an online plan. So, um, when you go through it, we're still in the process
[2:43:54] of kind of linking all the different, um, other, other plans and things like
[2:43:59] that, but it will be, um, hopefully a very accessible plan.
[2:44:03] uh, the land use map is a, um, an important part of all comprehensive
[2:44:07] plans. The future land use map is, uh, different than a zoning map.
[2:44:11] it, um, is not, uh, parcel based. It's a little bit more generalized
[2:44:15] development pattern, and it shows the, uh, desired and, and
[2:44:19] or expected land uses in the future. Uh, so there are eight different land
[2:44:23] use categories ranging from rural all the way, um, up to industrial.
[2:44:28] and for each of those, we have information about the land use types
[2:44:32] you might find in that category, as well as some location criteria.
[2:44:36] uh, so this is what the, uh, draft map looks like. And we won't go into details
[2:44:40] tonight, but you can take a look, um, at your leisure and let us know
[2:44:45] if you see anything, um, that, uh, again, we're still in the draft phase,
[2:44:49] so we can still, um, update this map.
[2:44:53] so how the comprehensive plan will be used, it is a guidance document that,
[2:44:57] uh, you all and city staff will use during your normal processes like budgeting,
[2:45:02] capital projects, planning grant pursuits, uh, planning and zoning. Uh,
[2:45:06] commission uses the future land use map during their zoning and subdivision applications,
[2:45:10] for example. And of course, um, partnerships.
[2:45:14] so, uh, once the plan is adopted, um, any of the recommendations would require
[2:45:18] additional action by city council, um, since it's not a regulatory
[2:45:23] document. So recommendations move forward through, um, ordinances,
[2:45:27] budgeting, et cetera. And then
[2:45:31] the outdated presentation here. Um, but we have, uh, since there are like over
[2:45:36] a hundred recommendations in the plan, we whittled it down to kind of
[2:45:40] the top 20. And then over the past month, um, we've had an open house in
[2:45:44] the library and, uh, we had, um, folks come out and
[2:45:48] they voted for their, uh, top three. So I won't go through, um, all these
[2:45:52] tonight. Um, but they are things like updating the unified, uh, land
[2:45:56] development code, um, working on things like storm
[2:46:00] water detention, uh, regional storm water detention,
[2:46:05] um, revitalizing and protecting older established neighborhoods,
[2:46:10] looking at congestion mitigation programs and, um,
[2:46:14] key intersections in traffic flow and, uh, protecting
[2:46:19] large trees and using low maintenance, uh, landscaping.
[2:46:24] so a variety of different, um, priorities that kind of have filtered up
[2:46:28] to the top. Oh, and economic development. Um,
[2:46:32] looking at revitalizing commercial corridors, including sites away from guard
[2:46:36] row. So alexander road, I know that, uh, was brought up tonight. That
[2:46:40] was also a focus, um, that we heard. So in terms of, um,
[2:46:44] beyond tonight, we just wrapped up our month long open house and
[2:46:48] public online commenting period. We're working on finalizing the public hearing
[2:46:53] draft. We'll be taking the, um, public hearing version of the plan
[2:46:57] to the planning and zoning commission in, in may. And then we'll bring
[2:47:01] the plan before you all at your, um, late may meeting as
[2:47:05] well. And plan is online.
[2:47:10] we'd love to get any comments from you all.
[2:47:14] hopefully that was less than 15 minutes. Thank you all very much. Um, we hope
[2:47:18] you're able to, uh, take a look at the plan and we welcome any,
[2:47:22] um, questions or comments anyhow, any
[2:47:26] questions, comments, sir? Thank you for sticking with us. Thank you, ma'am.
[2:47:30] mayor, I just want it, appreciate it. I just wanted to say thanks to meredith and, and your group and
[2:47:34] our planning step. It's, it's hard to to adequately describe to you the
[2:47:39] amount of work that went into this plan and, and how closely they
[2:47:43] tied it to the community-based strategic plan in stretching that five
[2:47:47] year plan out, even, even further 18 years to kind of see what it looks like,
[2:47:52] uh, that plan looks like in the future. And so thank you for your work. Very fine work.
[2:47:56] thank you. Frankie. Is frankie here? Thank you. Frankie.
[2:48:01] thank you. Thank you.
[2:48:06] I know she's probably thinking this. It'll be 2040 by the time this meeting's over. Alright,
[2:48:10] so we'll move to a consent agenda. Agenda. We have items
[2:48:15] there on the consent. It is seven, eighth through
[2:48:20] k. Is it? K? Hold on. I know we're gonna pull some, but mm-hmm
[2:48:24] . Uh, so what is printed as a a through m? Um,
[2:48:28] I guess there's three items. So first, if I can, uh, get, uh, three items to be pulled
[2:48:32] that we're not ready on. I'm assuming they're not ready. So, uh, first we need
[2:48:36] to pull or we can just, um, omit them from the consent motion.
[2:48:40] which three? It's a, b, and k move to approve
[2:48:44] consent items a through m, save and accept a, b, k. Second,
[2:48:49] you have a motion to second. So with that consent agenda, all those in favor consent as
[2:48:53] presented, minus the three items as said, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed?
[2:48:57] alright. Uh, then we have appointments item eight a, consider
[2:49:02] two appointments at the baytown housing authority. Ms. Jackson, uh, looks like, uh, there's two reappointments,
[2:49:06] grace, coronado, and fran parent I'd entertain a motion for these two individuals. Uh,
[2:49:10] second, a motion a second. Any questions or comments? If not all those, uh,
[2:49:14] are those willing, uh, to reappoint these two individuals, please say, aye. Aye. Those
[2:49:18] opposed? Carrie, we'll go to item eight b, consider one appointment to the baytown fire control prevention
[2:49:23] emergency medical services district board. Uh, we have district
[2:49:27] reappointment, uh, mr. Pre singh motion to approve.
[2:49:31] second, I have a motion and a second. Any questions or comments on mr. Singh?
[2:49:35] not all those, uh, for approval please say aye. Aye. Aye. Those opposed? We have our managers
[2:49:40] report way too much about my career to
[2:49:44] come up with anything right now. I good choice. I, I'm ju I'm just fine, mayor and
[2:49:48] council. Thank you. All right. And I, I would assume, uh, for the, in the interest of time that, uh, let's,
[2:49:52] uh, the next agenda item, let's place the council member district report, uh, for councilman
[2:49:56] johnson on that item please. So I'll entertain a motion. I guess we have to suspended.
[2:50:01] suspended. Okay. Suspended to the next meeting. Motion to suspend until
[2:50:05] april the 28th. Second. Motion to second.
[2:50:10] all those in favor? Uh, for suspension please say aye. Aye. Opposed? And
[2:50:14] we have taken care of all the other items. So that being that baytown city council has addressed
[2:50:18] all post agenda items as meetings now adjourned.
[2:50:23] bye.