That's right. All right. Welcome, everybody. Good evening. And welcome to the June 15, 2026
meeting of the city council of the city of Bel Air. And as I look around, I can happy to
announce that not only do I call this meeting to order, but I announce that we have a full
quorum with all members of council present. And so as we always do, as you all know,
we have our inspirational reading and or invocation and the honor this meeting
goes to council member Brian Witt. Thank you very much I want to thank everyone
for coming out tonight especially Julie and baby Jack in the background I
thought at one point we're gonna have to have a boat.
Tonight I want to talk
about two things one two events that are happening this weekend one as you
might have noticed is Father's Day is coming up and we'll get to the
other one in a second, but Father's Day.
Father's Day is a chance to honor the men
who have helped shaped our lives,
not only the fathers, but also the grandfathers,
step fathers, uncles, mentors, coaches, teachers,
and friends who have helped stepped into a role
when it was needed most.
Many of us can think of lessons
that we learned from our father or father figures.
Some were taught with words,
but many were taught through examples.
We learned the importance of showing up,
up, keeping our commitments, treating people with respect, and doing the right thing even
when no one was looking.
The qualities we admire most in fathers are the same qualities that help build a strong
community.
Responsibility, service, patience, sacrifice, and the willing to put others before ourselves.
Fatherhood reminds us that leadership is often found in small everyday moments.
It's helping with homework after a long day at work.
It's attending a game or recital or an event.
It's teaching a child how to ride a bike to drive a car.
That's actually coming up, by the way.
Not with this one.
Balance a checkbook or simply navigating life's challenges.
These moments may seem ordinary at the time, but they can leave a lasting impact.
Leave a lasting impact.
As members of this community, we benefit every day from fathers and father figures who invest their time, energy and love into raising the next generation.
Their influence extends far beyond their own families and help shape the character and future of our city.
Sorry, for those not on the camera, there's a little distraction in the background.
But the other thing I want to bring up is something, a new holiday for the city, which is Juneteenth.
Juneteenth is a holiday that has deep Texas roots.
It was this week in 1865, the word of emancipation proclamation reached Texas, almost two years
after the fact.
Juneteenth has become a time for communities to come together through celebrations and
music and food and fellowship, it reminds us that understanding our history helps
us appreciate how far we've come and inspire us to continue building communities where
everyone has the opportunity to thrive. I think it's fitting that both of these observance
fall so closely together because in their own way they're both about legacy. They're
both about passing knowledge down to future generations. Whether it's lessons we learn
from our father or the hard-earned freedoms and opportunities secured by those who
came before us, we all benefit from the efforts of previous generations. So this
week, I hope everyone gets to spend some time with their family, enjoy a good meal,
maybe enjoy a few grown, morally father's day jokes, and for me I hope I get a nap.
But I also hope we get a chance to reflect on the people and events that
helped shape our community. With that, happy Father's Day, happy Juneteenth. Please
Please join me in the Pledge of
Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and
justice for all.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States, one nation under God, one indivisible.
That isn't a distraction.
No question about that.
What a handsome fellow.
Well, thank you, Brian, and congratulations will be another special Father's Day for you.
And the driving thing, good luck.
So we move along on our agenda to the recognition of proclamations, and we have a proclamation
this evening with regard to National Park and Recreation Month in the city, in recognition
recognition of the benefits derived from Parks and Recreation resources and encouraging all
residents to get out this month and enjoy them.
Whereas Parks and Recreation is an integral part of communities throughout this country,
including the city of Bel Air, and whereas Parks and Recreation promotes health and
wellness, improving the physical and mental health of people who live near parks, and
whereas Parks and Recreation encourages physical activities by providing space for
popular sports, hiking trails, swimming pools, and many other activities designed to promote
active lifestyles.
And whereas parks and recreation is fundamental to the environmental well-being of our community,
and whereas the U.S. House of Representatives has designated July as National Parks and
Recreation Month, now, therefore, I guess, Pappas, Mayor of the City of Bel Air, Texas,
do hereby proclaim the month of July 2026 as National Park and Recreation Month in the City
of Bel Air, Texas, in recognition of the benefits derived from parks and recreation resources and
encourage all residents to get out this month and enjoy them and witness wherever I have here
them to set my hand and cause the seal of the City of Bel Air, Texas to be affixed this 15th
day of June 2026. And as most of you all know, the next time we meet, July and Parks and Recreation
Month will have already started and we will have given it a big welcome with our July 4th
grade and so any further way we do this in anticipation of July. So come forward.
All
right, next on our agenda is the approval of the minutes.
We have the minutes from the City Council of April 13th and April 20th.
And so is anybody on Council have any comments, corrections, suggestions, what have you?
Okay, good.
So by virtue of a nod of a head, I will consider those approved.
Very well.
Okay.
Thank you all for that.
Tracy, as always.
Moving right down.
And we move on to personal audience comments.
I noticed that we do have one written comment, but I think we also – Mr. Tran, are you
there?
Okay.
I knew that you were thinking about coming and speaking to us about that matter of interest
to you.
And even though you've made a written comment, by all means please come forward
and speak.
You've got five minutes and we'll tell you to stop when it's ready, okay?
Well,
thank you so much. I can assure you it is problematic. I go by it every single day,
but so I'm not sure what we can do about it, but we certainly will take it up. So thank
you. And Mr. Strang, you've given us a written comment is that we'll make it a part of the
record but I presume that I haven't read it entirely yet but I presume everything
that you said in here you've shared with us okay
absolutely well thank you so
much
is there I don't think there's anybody else I don't think we either have
any other written comments and I don't think anyone else is signed up is
anybody else want to speak please of course I
think that's I think that's
your pet peeve. Laura Zito, longtime resident, longtime commenter. So I know tonight there's
something on the agenda about a logo and I know years ago when we were in the other building
that the logo was a topic of hot contention. And it was also, or Tracy got lots and lots
of emails because people were directed to her with comments regarding the proposed logo
after a study was done. At that time, lots of people on social media, on Nextdoor
in particular, voiced a lot of opinions about the logo that
was being proposed.
And I see that we've come full circle,
and we're back here discussing it again.
I would have thought that with the interest in the logo
from people years ago that that might be something that
would have been put out more so to residents
It's a comment to weigh in on, you know, and I didn't see anything.
I happened in on the cultural art board meeting where they were voting on the top three, maybe
it ended up being four logo designs that they came up with.
All looked interesting, but I just wondered why this is being put forth to council today
with a singular design being presented and yet I haven't seen anything in the
community to get others to be able to be a part of at least voice their opinion.
So that was a concern of mine.
Then moving on to the banners that in the
In the past, there was concern about the cost, and previous counsel did not fund that.
They've now been funded.
I had the opportunity to see them in place as I drove this weekend through Bel Air on
Bel Air Boulevard.
They look nice.
They look nice, and especially coming along with the 250th anniversary of the founding
of America.
I think it's timely.
Finally, on my drive downtown to work, the city of Houston has some banners up as well.
And one thing I noticed that
That when there was a tree whose limbs interfered with being able to see the banner, they simply
didn't put it up, even though there was a post for it.
And one thing I did notice was a banner that we have up that is being obstructed by tree
limbs.
And so we've gone to the effort to purchase these and to have them in place.
I think they all need to be seen. So if there's something that can be done, I'm not sure
if it's a residence or a commercial property, but there are tree branches that interfere with that banner being seen.
So I'm wondering if
somehow someone at the city can go and make sure that these are all visible, highly visible, and
would ask that
that be done. Thank you.
Well, thank you, Laura. Appreciate it. Is there anyone else that wants to speak? Okay.
Well, then we will then move on to our reports and presentations, and we start generally with
our city manager, and tonight is no different. So, Sharon?
Good evening. I'm pleased Mayor and Council to present tonight's city manager report.
We wanted to start with a note about the weather. Of course, it's been raining for
or anybody who's been outside, inside listening,
you can tell that there's a lot of rainfall
that's already come and that's predicted to come.
So we wanted to assure you in the community
that our emergency management team
is watching the weather closely.
We are receiving updates daily and more often than that
to make sure we stay on top of that.
And we are prepared to respond if needed.
We wanted to remind the community to drive
with caution, never drive in high water,
flooded roadways, turn around, don't drown.
Part vehicles in your driveway or in your garage and bring in small items that
could blow away in strong winds and stay tuned to your local media for updated
forecasts. So we will be sharing information and the best way for you to
receive information from the city of course is to stay updated through all
of our media. You can sign up for Prepare Bel Air and notify me alerts.
You can check our website for current information and you can follow our
social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram, and Nextdoor.
We wanted to welcome a couple new staff members.
We have Mario Scott, who's our equipment operator with our Public Work Solid Waste Division.
We also have Jessica Lerma, a project manager with our Capital Projects Group, so we're
really happy to have them.
We also wanted to share with you information about a couple of our staff members who
received certifications recently.
Carl Netzel, our fire captain, obtained his Fire Instructor 3 certification from the Texas Commission on Fire Protection.
And Austin Wilson received his credentials as a paramedic. It's advanced paramedic credentials.
From the city's medical director, he's one of our firefighter paramedics.
So we wanted to acknowledge that because those folks are the ones who keep us safe.
And those credentials mean that we are prepared to provide that high level of service to this community that they expect and deserve and that we want to deliver.
A few upcoming events to share with you, of course, you mentioned Juneteenth. We will
be closed on Juneteenth, that's June 19th, and Friday, July 3rd, both for Independence
Day. City offices will be closed, no solid waste or recycling pickup. Bel Air City Library
will be closed, but the Bel Air Recreation Center will be open on both holidays. Celebration
of Independence Parade and Festival on Saturday, July 4th, 9 a.m. to noon. The parade
The parade starts at 9 a.m. at South Rice and Valerie, that's the same location that
we have been in the last several years, and ends at South Rice and Linden.
The festival begins after the parade at the Great Lawn and Lofton Park, and for more
information you can contact our Recreation Center.
Also upcoming, we have our dive-in movie night on Thursday, August 6th at 7 p.m. at
the Bellaire Town Square Family Aquatic Center.
The featured movie this year is How to Train Your Dragon.
You can bring your family friends, towels and get ready for an unforgettable night.
Those are really fun events for you and your family.
Tickets are coming soon. You can visit LRParks.org for more information.
Also, another really fun event for families are cardboard boat regatta and duck derby.
This year they'll be combined.
That occurs on Saturday, August 22nd from 9 a.m.
and that's when the boat regatta begins and at 10 a.m. the duck derby.
Both will take place at Evergreen Pool at 4500 Evergreen Street
And anyone can participate in the cardboard boat regatta.
All you need is some cardboard and duct tape.
And the duct tape might even be optional, I'm not sure,
but definitely cardboard.
You can purchase your ducks at wearevergreen.org
backslashduckderby.
And you can also contact the Bel Air Rec Center
for more information.
So some agenda items that we're prepared to bring to you,
and these may make the July 6th agenda.
We are still working on them, so if they don't,
they'll just have to go pushback.
But we've got an appropriation of metro funds for streets maintenance to bring that into the current budget of public works
Some amendments to chapter 2 article 7 for boards and commissions related to our workshop that we had last week and
also citation authority for our fire code violations seeking permission to
Authorize our fire marshal to issue citations for non-compliance with the code
Then on June 13th. We'll be doing a workshop regarding user fees
These are our non-enterprise fees for our other services that we provide through Parks of Rec and
through development services. We have a consultant, Will Dan, who also prepared our enterprise fees
a few years back. You may remember them. They'll be here on the 13th to provide that information.
Then looking ahead on July 20th, we'll be presenting the fiscal year 2027 proposed budget.
We'll also have a public hearing called for fiscal year 2027 proposed budget,
the truth and taxation information, as well as an agreement with Harris Galveston
Subsidence District for the groundwater credits that we do annually and Board
and Commission appointments. And so with that, that concludes my report and I'm
happy to take any questions you may have. All right, does anybody have any
questions for the city manager?
None. Wow, look at you. Ross, I feel it
coming. Yeah, and I would just note in regard to our speaker's question on
On the intersection of Fornes and South Rice, folks should be aware that as part of the proposed
development of that location, the developer was working with the city of Houston to try
and widen South Rice at that location, moving street lights and so on.
The actual widening has not happened yet, but as the mayor said, we're very aware
of how narrow that street is.
What's very interesting there is that north of Fornes is City of Houston.
And so it's taken a lot of effort from multiple parties to start the process of trying to
get that fixed.
But I don't know if you had any updates on where that stands, beyond that it's still
working its way through.
No, I think you're right, Council Member Gordon, that is a complicated project.
But now that I have that information, we'll take that back to both our public works
folks as well as our development services folks to understand kind of that the relationship
with Houston and the developer and who's responsible for what to make sure that we if we have a
safety out there that issue that we can address as a city that we address it or if it's Houston's
issue to address that we follow up with them and try to stay diligent. So we appreciate
you bringing that forward. If I may. Yes. Council member. I would also add that
yes you're right. The curves here are fairly recent because fairly recently I think
They updated the traffic signals, they were working on that box, and they also were working
on the wheelchair access, but yeah, it's been done very recently.
But it is city of Houston, that intersection, that part, that belongs to the city of Houston.
We were told years ago that the city of Houston right away is all the way to the
other side of that sidewalk on the east side.
So that's why City of Bel Air is not doing any major construction out there.
It would be lovely.
I did advise.
I did ask the Public Works Director if he would at least notify City of Houston that there is an issue.
Yeah, I think the curb is constantly being repaired based on everything I can see as I go.
Yeah, it's very obvious because all the trucks, particularly with those big huge trailers on them are going right over it.
And that's why you see all the tire tracks there because every day that happens.
I sit in that left turn lane and cringe just, you know, please don't.
I'm even thinking about just moving in my mirrors just so, you know, anyway.
No, it's a problem and the development does require there to be some expanded lanes over
there if they ultimately get to that point.
So maybe there'll be some relief then, but thanks so much.
We'll say what we can.
I recently got a request for somebody that should be in Bel Air, but they're not.
They're in the city of Houston, and they wanted some help on some speed bumps, and
And unfortunately, we really couldn't do much about it, although, you know, we can advise
or we can make a recommendation or we can ask for some help, but oftentimes they've got
their own agenda and timetable and budgets that dictate their actions.
So any of that.
But thank you for bringing that up and we'll do what we can.
Can I bring something up?
Of course.
I don't know if this is the appropriate time, but something that's been happening
in our neighborhood, and I just came to my mind, so I just want to ask if this is common.
We have been seeing a lot of squirrels that are dead. Yeah, it's in a cat. And so some weird
things have been happening enough that the neighbors are commenting on the chat. So
is that something? We are having a lot of construction. Is that something that commonly
happens when construction is going on, or do you think that someone is poisoning these
Poor little animals or how do we go about finding out what's going on because it's like six or seven. Hmm. It's a lot
We do have Hawks
I mean, I have no idea. Okay. Are they falling from trees? I mean is it
People are just finding them. Yeah finding them. Yeah, I have a comment
Okay, I do know this associate with a construction site. I beg my neighbor not to put out
rat poison. She didn't like the dumpsters. They throw their food in the
dumpsters as well as everything else and had a rat problem. I begged her not to
put out the rat poison and unfortunately I had a cat who liked to eat the rats.
So he's gone. He was an older cat so I don't blame her. He could have
had kidney failure for all I know but yeah it's very likely that someone
put out poison and if they put out poison for the rats then the cat
we'll get it. I also think there's just been a boon of squirrels. I know in my
yard now I have eight that live in my front yard and they've started sitting
on my porch swing like there's so many of them. Yeah they talk to me too but I
think it's also possible just that we had a boom of animals because
yeah it's I've never seen as many squirrels as I've seen on our block
in years. Well when the wind blows the possums fall out of the trees and so
you see them in the streets as well at that point.
No, that's a real thing.
That's a real thing.
Sad, true, but that's a real thing.
Now, we're just playing with the jacket.
None of that's good enough.
So anything else by anybody for the city manager?
Okay. I know that we've got our July 4th parade coming and I know that all of us will be involved
in that to the extent that we're here. I know that we have a time capsule and Cheryl tells
me that time has not been good to the capsule.
But we did find it. We found it. So anyway,
way, we're working on that. We're working on that. With regard to, you know, with regard
to Laura's comment about the signs there, yeah, it'd be nice if all of them were seen.
I mean, I guess it's something that I'm not sure exactly. Laura, if you could pass along
where you saw, where you saw that you couldn't see it, you know, to give that to Sharon
or somebody and maybe they can go take a look at it, or Cheryl. Cheryl. So, okay,
Okay, thank you for letting us on that.
All right, anything else?
Well, great, then we will move on.
I think that's it for reports on the agenda tonight.
We'll move into our consent agenda,
and we've only got one item on our consent agenda,
and as all of y'all know,
it seems kind of silly with one item,
but anyway, we don't really debate this one.
It's just simply an up or down vote unless somebody else wants to say, hey, let's discuss
it and vote on this one.
But it's a recommendation from Capital Projects to award bid number 26-006 bonds for better
Bel Air 216 Group A Phase III water and wastewater improvements project to ISJ Underground Utilities
LLC.
Could we do more of that in an effort not to exceed 3,941,163, and on the adoption of
an ordinance authorizing City Manager to execute a construction agreement with ISJ Underground
Utilities LLC for the replacement of existing water distribution lines with approximately
24,120 linear feet of new water lines in the size ranges of 2 inch to 12 inch in diameter
along with fire hydrants, valve services, and all labor equipment materials and incidentals
required for the project in an amount not to exceed $3,941,163.
So does anybody want to separately discuss that item?
No?
All right.
than all those in favor of our loan consent.
Please signify by raising your right hand. Thank you very much. It passes unanimously.
I would just say there are big things to city staff. You guys put together a fantastic packet
of information on the whole procurement process and bidding. It was really excellent, so thank you.
Right. I think you did send out, Tracy, you did send out a little notification on that that we went with regard to picking the lowest bid on that as well.
so thank you for that as well. Okay, we move on to number two, adoption of
ordinances and resolutions, but before we do that, or do any of y'all have a
problem if we move up the local discussion before? Okay, it's set on
number three in the A, items for individual consideration, but let's
let's go ahead and move that one up and we'll take that one first out of
turn and with that, what we're talking about is a presentation, discussion, and possible
action on a recommendation by the Beller Culture and Arts Board for a conceptual design of
a city logo.
So anyway, hi Cheryl.
Hi.
Okay.
Cheryl Bright.
Tell us about this.
Yeah, Community Relations Administrator.
And I'm here to introduce Gay May you, the chair of the Culture and Arts Board and
Christy Coffey who will be presenting the conceptual logo to you and asking for feedback
and direction.
So, here they are.
Oh, and it will also be available for questions after.
Hello.
I got to get organized here.
Let me just make room for Christy.
You want to come over here?
I don't think that one is working.
Good
evening.
Mayor Pappas, city council, city staff.
I will tell you I'm thrilled to be here and I know Christy is too. This is something we've worked on for a while
I know the city has worked on it for a while and so we're thrilled to be here to make this presentation
Now Christy is one of our board members, but she's also one of our creative people her creativity and dedication
Have been instrumental in creating this logo concept
And this is a concept of the logo and that's what we're presenting is the concept of logo
We have a ways to go yet
Tonight we're not simply discussing a logo, we're discussing how Bel Air presents itself to residents, visitors, and future generations.
So purpose of today's discussion, the purpose of our discussion is pretty straightforward.
We want to share the logo concept that we've developed, explain why we believe it reflects Bel Air's identity, and receive feedback on the proposed path forward.
The recommendation is a result of research, discussions, lots of discussions, and thoughtful consideration by the culture and arts board.
Our goal is to create a symbol that honors Belair's history, but also representing the community we are today and the future we hope to build.
I'll get this right in a minute. There you go.
Yeah. So why does the city need a logo? A city logo is more than a graphic. It serves as a recognizable visual identity or the community. It creates consistency across city communications. It helps residents and visitors instantly recognize Belair and reinforces our community pride.
Many cities have logos, and they've come inseparable from their identity.
San Francisco has its cable cars, New Orleans has its street cars.
Belair has a story of its own, and we believe that story deserves a symbol that is uniquely ours.
With that in mind, I'm going to turn it over, turn the presentation over to Christie,
who's going to discuss what a city logo should represent and how we arrived at our recommendation.
This
is the top button, right? That's what I've been hinting.
Thank you. They're the creative part in the tech.
Okay, all righty.
So what should Bel Air's logo represent?
Simply put, it should tell our story.
It should tell the story of our history and the qualities of our city
that our residents value the most.
It should be memorable.
It should be unique.
It should be simple to appoint.
It should be appropriate for municipality and it should be a visual symbol that incites a sense of pride amongst our residents.
And as we began this process, we asked ourselves a few questions.
How can we capture some of these elements in a single identity? That is a challenge.
So we have our history and our heritage, our trees and green space that residents really value, our community character,
and also something that while including history is a forward-looking vision for the city of Bel Air.
And as our city continues to involve what visual symbol can be a constant and really
stand the test of time, so we're not back up here every 10 years or so revisiting this.
So to be a good steward of public funds, the Culture and Arts Board, instead of recommending
commissioning news research around this, we looked to some of the research conducted
by residents as part of prior initiatives.
Many of you remember in 2016, there was a visioning Bel Air study as part of a beautification
effort conducted by Terrain Studio, 2017-2018 rebranding initiative conducted by Design
By Principal.
Sorry.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Design By Principal, 2023, there was a community survey done as part of the research for
the Comprehensive Plan, and then in 2024, a citizen survey.
So some consistent themes emerged.
Residents repeatedly described Bel Air
as a true small-town community in the heart of Houston,
a city with beautiful tree-lined streets
and iconic live oak arches, a community known
for safety, strong neighborhoods, and civic pride,
a place with a strong sense of history and identity.
It was interesting, the 2024 Citizen Engagement Survey
They found that 78% of Bel Air residents
believe that Bel Air is better than surrounding communities.
And I think that's meaningful because it's not just saying
that 78% of people are satisfied to live here.
They truly believe that Bel Air is superior
to surrounding communities.
They chose to live here.
They continue to choose to make a home here.
And so that alone shows this overwhelming sense
of civic pride.
We looked at neighborhoods like Westview
or Southside Place that do have visual representations
and a seal or logo.
And there's been some things like state loyal local campaign where we've had a city of Bel Air up here next to those and we've just had a typography
So I'm overjoyed that you all have asked the arts board trees to revisit this and
So let's see practical design considerations. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I was just showing in the logo. Oh, sorry
I'm sorry. Okay. Okay. So practical design considerations and these are really important as far as
the logo is not just being an attractive visual identity, but are they effective, are they
functional, are they cost effective for the city? And I think there's probably no better
space than this building because you will see, you know, a logo would be on an agenda,
business cards, staff shirts, outdoor signage, vehicles. I mean, there's a million different
applications just within this building alone of different ways the logo will need to
represent itself. So it should be able to present them all in one color, have enough
contrast, because one color is going to be a lot more cost-effective than four
color. And most of the time in printouts and things like that you will need a one color logo.
So not too many gradients, not too many colors. Should work on
the signage vehicles, embroidery, digital media, the website, city social media,
city communications, our public works vehicles, anything like that.
Must remain readable at small sizes. So if you're seeing a business card
or a smaller piece of paper, social media icons,
you should still be able to recognize
the city of Bel Air logo and then avoid too much detail
because that will make it harder
and more expensive to reproduce.
We want something that is cost-effective
to reproduce at scale.
And we don't want something that's too trendy
that we are revisiting it every few years.
All right, now we can,
the next one, did you want to go over that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay, so I actually hadn't seen some of these before.
Cheryl showed them in our last
Coltern Arts Board meeting.
I'd seen the prior city logo and some of the things we looked at when we were conducting research on the cookbook
And many of these former seals I have not seen before and it's kind of interesting to look at them because from farther away
There's certain elements that you really can't make out
I mean or that are not unique to the city of Bel Air and they some of them have common elements of municipalities such as people trees buildings
places of worship and
And then some of them it's really honestly hard to tell
what's there at all. So it's a good time to kind of revisit this project. So we
were thinking, as a board, what symbol is more unique to Bel Air? What kind of sets
us apart in the Houston region? And so one symbol that's unique to
Bel Air that we found within all of the past studies I mentioned on the
earlier slide is the trolley. The trolley, for the most part, made it
possible for us to connect to greater downtown to grow as a community for our
businesses to grow. When William Wright Ball when established Bell Air 1908
the trolley connected it connected residents to downtown and help support
the growth of Bell Air which is one of Houston's earliest planned residential
communities. And so now we're gonna go forward to the next slide which I will
Just the top button.
Top button.
Thank you.
Okay.
All right.
So we worked on probably 50, I mean at least a minimum of logo concepts.
We are asked to come forward with one concept, not a final logo, a concept as far as what
elements we recommend be included in this logo.
The trolley.
That was, again, one of the most enduring elements and also an element that came up
again and again and again in our past research. It really isn't just a decorative piece on
Bel Air Boulevard. It kind of is why Bel Air exists today. The live oak arch is something
that residents continue to identify as one of the most beautiful elements within our
city. So we have the, and then how the trolley is enclosed to communicate a sense of safety
because residents value safety and that's one of the top reasons that they love living
in this city, the city does a tremendous job with public safety.
So we recommended a main trolley element enclosed by a live oak arch with the city typography
and year of establishment around as our primary, I'm sorry, a recommendation.
And why we like it, we feel that it's unique to Bel Air.
There's not many cities that have a trolley car in their logo.
It's definitely different than any logo you would see in the surrounding area.
It's distinctive, recognizable, it symbolizes connectivity, accessibility, community, and
it's forward-facing progress.
So it reflects really both our origins and our future, and it's something that is not
going to change.
This trolley car is as an element of really one of the founding distinctive icons of
the city is something that will not change over time.
So, it connects us to where we came from by providing a symbol of what moves us forward.
And then, sorry, I keep forgetting that I'm doing this, I'm sorry.
Well, I don't want to do it because I'm not sure when you're ready.
No, no, no, you're good.
Okay, so, Gay, thank you for putting this together.
She put together a variety of mock-ups, if you will, because it's really important
to see how a logo will look on different pieces of material.
What I like to do is print a bunch of them side by side, hang them, look at
them from far away because the farther back you move, you lose certain elements depending
on how complex they are. So these, again, are just mock-ups of how this logo could look
on items such as, you know, city hats, shirts, signage, website, all of that. So because,
you know, Bel Air means so much to so many people who call it home, our visual identity
really should be, you know, more of a logo. It should be a symbol that residents recognize
and one that they are proud of.
Thank you.
Sorry.
I do want to point out the shirt with the big one.
We aren't saying that the logo should be that big on a shirt.
I just want to make sure y'all knew that.
And then the other thing I would like to point out on the lower right-hand corner,
there's a logo and then there's also like a cutout.
Those wouldn't be on the same sign,
but you can see how the logo would look if it's the logo.
And you can kind of see how it looked if it was just a cutout of a metal.
So we just wanted you all to get an idea of how it would reproduce.
Okay, so tonight what we're requesting, we're requesting approval to move forward with the logo design concept
and to authorize funding of up to $25,000 for professional design services.
After approval, we would hand this off, the implementation of the new logo to city staff.
And based on your feedback, city staff may coordinate community engagement and gather stakeholder input.
A professional brand designer would then refine the approved logo concept,
translate it into a final design package suitable for implementation across city communications,
signage and materials.
So just, oh sorry, I got to press both of them. They aren't
connected. All right. And these are just some closing thoughts. We chose, as
Christy has already mentioned, we chose the trolley as a centerpiece for our
logo because it did help connect Bel Air to opportunity and played a
defining role in the city's early growth. By incorporating this historic symbol
into our logo, we honor Belair's past, celebrate its unique identity, and create
a timeless image that can represent our community for generations to come. And
we are very keen on trying to
We're working on trying to come up with something that would be lasting. So, again, I mean, we
hope 10 years from now, we still have the logo assuming it's the one that's adopted.
So, thank you for your kind attention. Questions, feedback?
All right. Well, thank you so much, Gaye Christie. Thank you for all the work that
y'all put into this. I know that y'all came a few months back and had several different,
a few different options similar but a few different options my first question
right off the bat was was was this the color scheme and what have it was this
one of them one of the ones that you'll showed to us okay how did you guys narrow
it down and say hey this was the one we like versus some of the other ones that
were there well we had a lot of discussions about it and we had all the
ones we liked had the trolley in it let me just say that and there's lots
of different ways to display the trolley we like this one because the
trolleys going forward, which indicates progress.
We wanted to show some progress, not just tie it to history,
but tie it to what the city can become down the road.
Would you like to add anything?
We did try, Professor.
We did lay out a bunch of other logos.
Some had people, some had a water tower,
some had gazebo, and when you would lay them all out
next to each other and kind of move farther back
and then also muck them up on various materials,
some of them became almost a little too busy
to reproduce, well, and you kind of almost lost the local center, in a sense.
So the trolley, again, and we went back through the research and it showed that, you know,
the trolley was really something that people identified with historically, sense of pride,
and then the live vote canopy.
And adding park elements, green space elements that people also really enjoyed, did make
it too busy.
the people, I think there is an issue, potentially in the last logo, about having a four-person
family or different family types, not necessarily representing all of Bel Air. So this is how
we ended up with this.
Go back, if you wouldn't mind, to your process or what you're asking us. There you go.
We're going to process the next step.
So tonight, are you asking us for the actually approve this or just simply say go to the
next step?
Well, I think going to the next step would indicate approval.
That's what we're saying.
We don't feel like we can go to the next step until we have some type of direction
from City Council.
Well, the reason I ask is that, and I get that, and that makes perfect sense, but
But you've got community workshop and stakeholder input on the third line.
So my question would be, what are you looking to accomplish through that process?
So the way this works or the way I was explained, the way they explained it to me, is that
our job was simply to put forth a recommendation.
From that point over, city staff would take over and they would do the implementation.
Part of that implementation could be a community workshop or stakeholder input.
So that would come after we agree on something to present to them.
And overall, it's a kind of overall direction on the concept, not a final logo.
So we're not necessarily looking for city council approval.
This is going to be the city of Bel Air logo.
This, we're looking for like feedback on the concept as far as the trolley, the canopy,
which then after this point, we're also looking for approval for funds
that the city would manage as far as going to a graphic designer who would then develop
iterations of this logo. Then those iterations would come to the community in the workshop
period as a final logo is selected during that part.
And I appreciate that. It seems to me just having been part of this historically and
particularly some of the efforts in the past, there was a fair amount of work that was
done with regard to the issue of replication, how would it appear on trucks, what it would
look like. It seems like there had to be a little bit of work involved in those to determine
whether or not this could work. And so it sounds to me like, and I want to be clear
because I think it's important for us, is if we said, okay, we like this well enough
to where go forward make all that possible to see if we could even if we
could even actually implement it. That's what I'm hearing and then at the same
point time after you get all of that input then of course if it works
ultimately then that would come back to us and say yes let's do it. Does that
make sense? Yes, but I just wanted to add we did show this to a professional
a professional graphics person who does logos and a lot of different like for, I mean, like
HEB and some Coca-Cola.
And we showed it to her and she said that this should be very easy to replicate.
We didn't go so far as to get her to do anything because we didn't want to extend any funds
until we knew this is the direction we wanted to go in.
And again, you know, when you get a professional involved in that, maybe the colors are
a little different, maybe things are a little different, whatever.
but like Christy's saying, this is the concept.
These are the features that we want to have in it,
which is the trolley and the trees.
And the amount we're proposing that we've asked for
would go towards development of a brand standards guide.
So all the pieces you referenced, Mayor,
and those would be part of that.
So they would, the designer, once they refine the logo,
and we've heard from the community,
this is a final logo, that final logo would then be taken
And it would be put into a pamphlet, a PDF document of,
here's exactly how it's going to look on a city t-shirt,
on city vehicles, what scale,
the exact pantone colors,
the space that it should reproduce
so you don't get too close to the edge.
All of those things will be part of a brand standards guide
which is very typical of what any city would undertake
when adopting a logo or any kind of branding.
So that fee, the 25,000, that would cover all of that.
Oh, yeah, that's the amount we have in mind is up to $25,000 would we need a budget amendment for that?
Or what what is where do we stand on that? I know we apportioned some certain amounts of money
Toward the signage and sort of the entrance way markers and things such as that is would this be within that
I think staff has been discussing that in conjunction with knowing this project was coming and with the budget preparation
under way. We were going to tentatively schedule into the budget so that the funds would be
there on October 1st, some to cover this graphic designer. So depending on the direction, just
as the art board said, if council is agrees to the concept and the features of the logo,
then we can advance that come October 1st. And I don't know where all the public engagement
depending on the direction of council and what that might look like, but we could
be undertaking some activities before them, but that was our thought.
Of course, if Council decided they wanted to go ahead and move, it is June now.
We couldn't move that, you know, it would take, we would get a couple months' jump,
but we could always amend the budget now.
If we needed to.
If you would like to, correct?
Okay.
Okay, gotcha.
Council Member Gordon.
Well, first off, I think you guys said the most important word, which is pride.
And I am very, very proud of you guys, of the work that the Culture and Arts Board
did. It was a community effort by the community, for the community, and I just really couldn't
be more impressed with the process you guys employed, the ideas you came up with, and
the recommendation that you have. And I go back to pride. When you see something like
that, it makes you proud to be in Bel Air. It makes you excited to be in Bel Air. I
think we run in fear from our logo for too long instead of embracing something that
That is modern, that is beautiful, that is crisp, that is simple, that's forward looking.
So I'm just really pumped.
I think this is a fantastic step in the right direction.
I for one think the decided upon logo is great.
I do have concerns with a design by community approach because it's really hard to please
every single person and if you take a hundred elements from a hundred different people
and try and merge them together, it becomes a nightmare and so I think what you guys have
done is given us such a big head start. You've synthesized it all. You've got us somewhere
that I think the community can really step behind it and have that pride in it and
so I'm just very excited. I don't have a lot of comments. I think it's beautiful.
I think it reproduces and wayfinding, all this stuff. It's something that if I were
driving down the street and I entered Bel Air and saw that on a pedestal, I'd
be like, man, our city is on top of it.
We are a great place to live.
And it's just very exciting.
So I'm really pumped about it.
I think it's time for us to do this.
I think you see that community pride across the board.
Our banners, like we talked about, we're in Bel Air now.
You see you're in Bel Air.
You feel you're in Bel Air.
You have pride to be in Bel Air.
I think this just continues that piece.
For me, I think that number one,
I think the hiring of a professional, very important, you know, it's easy to try, number
one we should say thank you Christy for all the work that you've done.
You've done so much pro bono work for this, but that being said I think hiring somebody
to make sure that we have the right brand guidelines that everything works out perfectly
that the implementation is seamless is really important.
So it seems like a lot of money but it's really worth it because it'll be there
across everything we do.
So I support the money as far as the process goes. I really like the way that we laid this out
I think we do need to give
The opportunity for feedback what I don't necessarily want to do is open up for a let's start from scratch again
Because you know, I think we're really heading in the right direction
So at this point I think you know having an opportunity to be able to see it people to comment on it
You know if we have feedback that pushes us in a different direction
So be it, you know, but we've got a guiding light here that I think is perfect and I'm just really excited. So thank you guys
I'm really really excited. We're excited to
Councilmember Lewis and then I'll go over there. Oh
Well, thank you. Councilmember Gordon. Well said very much. Well said
I do like the logo as it stands as it is and I speak from the position a unique position here
I have a BFA in studio arts and graphic design, and I am not nearly as talented as you are.
You have done, I couldn't conceive, I mean my training was how to design logos, and
I couldn't do this.
This is terrific.
I am a little bit leery about the professional brand designer.
I don't want to see this thing redesigned.
I like it.
Now, you know, if colors works, the stitching, you know, as far as the stitching on shirts
and all, that's another issue, but I like it.
And again, yes, I agree, yeah, we want to present this very well to the community, but
I'm not putting it out there.
We have been through years of talking about bringing back the old logo.
and the thing is that you know there was a church and there was a bungalow house
which many people don't live in bungalow houses anymore some of us do and what
and then the small family you know and it's different now Bella it's just it's
just better and I like I like the concept I like what it looks like I like
the trolley, the connection to history, I like the way you presented it, and hang on
to that. We're not going to sell that out. A professional can do whatever he has to do
to make it reproducible, but I wouldn't change it. And no, I wouldn't go back to the – I
would rather present it to the community and say, this has council's endorsement,
this is our history, and this is our green canopy, just as you presented it to us.
And I wouldn't open it up like you like councilmember Gordon said I wouldn't open it up to
People who want to bungle a house or you know something else on there
Thank you
Well, I love it. I and I can even tell by the way you're talking about it
I see you know what you're talking about the terminology you're using like I'm like well
I could I just could hear every word you said and I was like just so amazed by it
But I think you are nailing,
you're hitting the nail on the head
because one thing that keeps coming up
even from like people from my industry
that live in this city, they'll call me,
they'll say, the trolley has a broken window.
Can we repaint the trolley like it's important to people
that the trolley looks good?
I personally wanna bring the trolley back.
Sharon knows that.
I want it to like transport people between our businesses.
Go to the 401.
One, if you get drunk, the trolley will take you home.
I mean, that's what I want to see happen.
But I also totally agree.
They never over-serve.
What are you talking about?
Right?
Have you ever been there with the winnings?
I'm sorry.
OK, so I also agree on the community.
I feel like you guys did your homework.
We've done this 1,000 times.
We keep going back to the community.
The one thing that keeps coming back up is the trolley, the trees, the green space.
I'm not saying don't take it to the community.
Laura, I agree.
We can do it in a way, but we've kind of taken it to the community,
and we're trying to take that information and do something with it.
We will get lost in a thousand opinions if we try to get too many people's thoughts on this.
And I feel like you are the expert.
You guys yeah, you're hardly experts you're taking it one level up to say like let's take it to one more expert
And it may not be the full $25,000 but personally, I know I'm gonna I'm gonna say give you the money because I want to see
This happen. I also love it as an entry point. I really like the metal
Carby whatever that's called like on a on something like that that looks so good
So, I am 100% supportive and I
I'm even supportive of giving you guys money, so thank you guys. Y'all did a great job, really.
Mayor Broadtem. Thank you, Your Honor. So last week in our
board meeting for this group, I think I told each one of them how awfully pride, proud I
was of them. That board consists of some very, very talented people who, if you looked
at their CVs, you would be impressed at the people who are on that board. It's amazing
what their professional lives are.
This is a job that you guys spent a lot of time working on.
You didn't just walk up here to council meeting,
oh, let's do something Monday night.
No, you guys spent a lot of time working on this, a lot.
You looked at the history of our city,
you looked at what has been done in the past.
I'm just very proud of what you've come to the council with.
And I think when our residents see the plan,
It's not found, there are some other steps that I know you've clearly articulated, but
at least you've come up with a plan that really looks good.
And it's a result of a lot of hard work.
In between the cultural arts board doing the cookbooks and doing our last show in the
Presale Park and working on another one, I tell you what, this is amazing what you
guys have accomplished.
Well done.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Thank you.
No, I just hope you all just take a minute and just appreciate the feedback you're hearing.
I mean, I know, like you've heard, this is not something that happened in one night.
It happened over a long period of time.
But if you listen to what everyone's saying, including myself, I think this is phenomenal.
And I think that when we submit it to the public, I mean, we have 100% of support.
No, but I think there's a vast majority of people will appreciate what y'all have done
and and how you've hit all the marks so I just say thank you and I hope you
appreciate the goodwill that you're you're hearing from from up here you
appreciate it thank you all so much yeah thank you and I'll make sure that the
entire board hears all your comments so thank you councilmember Thurberman and
I'm I agree with everybody so far the one thing again as a newcomer and I
think this was important one of the things that you did Christy is a lot
of times the public comments that you get are because the people don't
residents or anybody don't know the history of it. I thought when you went
through that again reminding these were the things that you've done work you
looked at all these things I don't know how to get that out to the public because
I agree is when you're at this point you don't go back to score one this is
building off of everything and so half of it is just letting the public know
that this is what we came up with this is what you looked at because yeah
I was thinking about there's to me I can't imagine what else you would do
for Bel Air. I mean, you're not going to put a, I mean, the water terrace nice, but
this is something that is nicer. Yeah, this is unique. And this is something that is Bel
Air. And actually, it's funny, it ties kind of to the city Houston's logo, too, with
the trains. I mean, there's a little bit of history there, you know, regionally.
And so this is important to me, but there's a way just to get that out in terms of
the public community work and, you know, the input.
If you just let them know what has been done up to the all,
you know, throw out there a couple of the alternatives
that you did have.
And yes, the key is focus on this concept
and now improve upon this concept.
I think that's the key.
So I agree.
I mean, just watching this kind of from the periphery,
this is the kind of process I love
and because you did get input.
And I think you've come up with something
that's pretty cool and the good thing is
It was done by residents so far though as far as I know very little dollars have been expended to this point
Just to get to here. There was a lot of sweat equity in and that's important to me. So good job
On the idea of
Commit getting this out to the community sure
I know you have lots of stuff to do but is this something that you have we have a
Website said logo and like a little tab on our landing page that
Well, not even but that too, but also to the point where the history will come up with a
with a plan to put it out there. We can put it on the website. We can explain the history
of it. We can figure out a way to receive community feedback, whether it be in a workshop
or online. So we'll discuss that and work through it and move forward.
I mean, I think what I'm hearing is that what y'all have presented is something that I think Council has found to be worthy of pushing it to the next step.
And I think that's what you're asking for. I think to the extent that your recommendation is, look, we've done, we've taken it, we think that it makes sense.
We think that it's going to translate.
We think that it's going to be able to be reproducible in the forms that we need it,
but we ultimately need it in such a way to where a professional needs to make sure that
that happens.
And I think that's what you're ultimately asking for, and then the rest of that.
So I think you've heard from counsel that I think by general consent we can say – unless
you have something –
I just wanted to add, but go ahead.
Sure.
Well, all I was going to say is I think by general consent that we can tell you, yes,
I think that we want to move forward with what you have presented in the manner in which
you have presented in the process that you have suggested.
And I'm comfortable that the money can either, depending upon the, I think, the timing
of it all, I think we can either amend our budget or it'll be coming up in our
budget starting on October 1st.
And so it sounds like we'll be able to handle that one way or the other in that regard.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Yeah.
I was just speaking in terms of process and the same thing.
I think we're at a good time as we're preparing the budget.
Like October 1st is just not that far away in this, and so I think it lines up very
well for us to plan for budgeting these funds in FY 27.
That doesn't mean that Cheryl couldn't get a head start on notifying the community
and so on.
There's a lot of excitement.
I mean, I'd love to see this on everything in the next two months, but you know what?
It's okay for it to take a little bit of time.
I think it's good for us to set some schedule expectations, which would be we'll have outreach
and engagement over the next couple of months, we'll award a contract January 1st, we'll
have final by March.
By the end of FY 27, it's sealed, done, ready to implement or something like that.
And we can debate the specifics of the timeline, but like I said, it's easy to say do it immediately
or it's also easy to drag it out forever.
I think we find the proper middle ground where we're doing it right, but we have schedule
expectations and we can know that in about a year from now, you know, this process will
be done and we're ready to move forward.
All right.
Is that, first of all, Cheryl, do you have enough and, again, Christie, do you
We all have enough to be able to move forward.
Okay.
Alan, the agenda item said discussion, presentation discussion and possible action.
I think our possible action doesn't mean approving that, means giving them the go-ahead to move
forward.
Is that from a legal perspective?
Are we okay with that?
Yes.
Yes, we are.
Okay.
All right.
Okay.
Can't take a unanimous vote, that would be fun.
Hey, all those in favor of moving forward,
please signify by raising your right hand.
Yes, there we go.
Okay.
Thank you.
I will tell y'all, I was the liaison
for Culture and Arts back in 2014
when that version first came up
with a lot of work back in those days
And then there was, as Christy said, there were several efforts that have come forward.
And so I think the time is right for us to do something.
I guess none of those were right, and that makes sense, but it seems like today is we're
getting to that point.
So thank you, Paul, for your comments and input, and also for the support you all
showed at the Coulter and Arts Board.
That gets them another 40 yards, I think, right there.
Okay. We will go back on our agenda to where we left off at item number 2, H2, which would
be an ordinance authorizing publication of a notice of intention to issue certificates
of obligation, authorizing the preparation of a preliminary official statement, and
notice of sale and providing for other matters incidental there, too.
So with that, tell us about that.
So before we start, Mayor, I wanted to mention we had a couple of errors on this item and
the next item, and I wanted to take ownership and responsibility for that.
We had uploaded some agenda materials that didn't really belong there, and staff will
talk more in detail.
We also had a couple of errors in the next item, and so I wanted to call that to
your attention.
Apologize for it.
Let you know that we're working on improving our process to ensure that you don't see those again
So with that I'm going to pass it over to Beth Jones and to Jim Harrison from finance
But just to follow up on that
There's nothing in in those in those errors that prohibited us from dealing with it and addressing it
No, absolutely not. They were just typographical and just a poor craftsmanship on our part in getting that to you
So I apologize. We appreciate we appreciate the the heads up
and your attention to detail.
Thank you.
Good evening, Mayor and Council.
Beth Jones, Assistant City Manager and City Engineer.
And Jim Harrison, Assistant Director of Finance.
Terence Beeman is unable to be here tonight,
so you have the B team.
I apologize.
This agenda item is for the first step
in issuing certificates of obligation.
As you know, I updated you in April
regarding our Glenmont property for public works.
This certificate of obligation is for $8.7 million.
When I spoke to you in April, I talked about the update of the process.
Originally, we had talked about $7 million.
And that was the original estimate as we went through the design process
and landed the plane and made several decisions about what exactly would need to be there.
The budget amount moved to $8.7 million.
So this item is for that bond issuance, excuse me, the certificate of obligation.
There were a few questions that were raised in the supporting documents by Councilman Gordon.
A standard language of attachment A to the ordinance.
If you'll go there, it was questioning about the reference to ad valorem taxes to pay for this,
as well as the language that it specifies a building and related facilities for the public works department.
There were two questions of the first one being how do we intend to pay for these certificates of obligation?
And then the second question being that as I mentioned in April, it's not just a public works facility.
There will be the police impound lot.
Several divisions of the parks department will be there too.
per Allen's guidance. Attachment A is more of a standardized language that when you issue
the certificates of obligation and the sale of it, it's a very formulaic language. And
so, yes, we could be more specific regarding what exactly will be there, but it's not
necessary and there's not too much of a pro to it. But the recommendation from Allen
was to keep the language more simple. As far as paying for it, the language, again, is a bit
standard, but so that you understand, because there is a shared use between Enterprise and
General Fund facilities there in our bookkeeping side of things, we're splitting those costs in
a 60-40, 60% Enterprise, 40% General Fund. So we anticipate that utility rates and the
enterprise fund would support 60% of that expense, and then the general fund, property
tax and so forth, would support 40% of that. So that's the idea behind that. And then
there was a question regarding the $12.5 million in bonds that we'll talk about next.
Should that be an attachment B? And the answer from Council is no, we don't need to,
because we're going to issue the certificates of obligation first. That will be sold
in August and the general obligation bonds the water wastewater bonds will be
sold in September. So this attachment is what exists today at the sale of these
certificates of obligation. So I hope I've cleared up some questions and I'm
happy to answer more and I really want to give Jim an opportunity to talk so
ask something hard please.
Any questions? Council Member Thurber.
While you're
not including the 12.5 are the other bond in here. You have considered those together
from just a financial standpoint. So that was part of the reason we wanted to bring
these two items on the same night so that you can look at it holistically and we can
have a discussion about the two different kinds of debt that we're going to be issuing
almost at the same time and have a holistic view. So while it's not listed in Attachment
We did talk about the preliminary official statement that was erroneously attached to the agenda item.
That's a working document. That's what you're actually granting us permission to start working on.
That's where we'll really get into the meat of that information there.
I had another question just overall again to explain kind of for the public is kind
of the bond rate or tax rate and everything just I know they're again they're linked
together and it's a very general discussion right now but I want to make sure that that's
been looked at in terms of the rates and our debt overall.
So, Jim can speak to some specifics, but I can tell you that when Terrence and I worked
on this, he was worried about...
You know, the tax rate and how it would hit our budget and so forth, and then I backed
in from the capital standpoint of when we needed money and how.
So we work together and the certificates of obligation are one thing that's kind of more
you issue it as you need it, but the general obligation bonds are a little bit different
and there are particular times of year that are more preferred to sell them.
and Terence and Jim can speak to it, but August,
that timeframe is the more preferred because of how it hits our tax rate.
So I worked on August, and I backed out those numbers.
Did you want to speak to what was paid?
Sure. I'm not sure I fully understand your question.
Is just without detail, our tax rate with it,
it's been considered for both of these, the CO and the GO bonds
bonds has been considered as with our overall tax rate and it's reasonable. I think it's
just that as you've evaluated that versus our overall debt of the city and so it's
without getting in the detail because that'll be coming later when you have more detail
on the bonds, but this is a general statement that to go and just have us to consider
these now. Y'all have looked at all the detail with the bond rating, the total
debt. Yeah, a bond rating is not going to be a problem. These will be triple A rated on positive.
You know, in 2019, I think we had almost $130 million worth of debt. We now have about $91
million. We were triple A then, and that was, I guess that was 2019. And that was in 2019
dollars. We've had a lot of inflation since. And I'm confident the bond rating is not going to be
an issue with this. Our tax rate does have two components. It's got the debt component
and the general fund operations and maintenance component.
There won't be a whole lot of this.
It's really going to be in the debt tax rate.
40% of the public works building we're allocating towards that.
The other 60% is going to be funded through the enterprise fund utility rates.
The $12.5 million that's all water and wastewater.
So that's going to be utility rates.
That's not going to be the tax rate either.
So we pay down about $8 million of principal every year on the bonds.
That almost takes care of the CO as far as the trade-off there last year we
issued 7 million of debt we paid off just over 7 millions of debt so the debt
didn't overall didn't change last year because of the timing of it so we do
manage to the extent we can the timing a lot of it's project-based but our
financial advisor is also always watching you know what's maturing and
when so we we do try to manage timing somewhat within the parameters of
the projects we need to get done in order to manage overall you know the
the debt load. So we do look at all that. The tax rate won't be super impacted by this
because most of this is going to be funded through utility rates.
Thank you, Jim. Thank you, Pat.
Any other questions? Council Member Lewis?
Yeah. I know this is going to come as a question from the public as they brought
it up before, but certificates of obligation, they have a certain purpose. I know my
understanding of it and what I would say to them but they'll say why didn't you
put this out to the voter for bonds and I figure shall I let you answer that?
Certificates of obligation are very limited in their nature and so the
state law has allowed for us to have very specific framework in which to
work in. It works well for purchase of properties and then the existing
construction of it or renovation of it.
So the most conservative answer is you could take it to the voters, however, we had a very
specific timeline that we needed to continue.
Ellen, did you want to speak more to that?
Just also that there is a notice process.
So the resolution you're authorizing today, if you authorize it, would be for us to
publish notice of our intent to issue these certificates in August and there's
a time period where we have to publish notice of that and in fact if sufficient
people were to file a petition protesting they could force an election so
there there is a sort of a backstop if the public were to be vehemently opposed
And my answer would be, what I understood about Certificates of Obligation is they are
for essential services for the city.
And I have told people before, you have to provide a place for these people to go to work.
You want your trash picked up, you want your streets repaired, you got to provide a place
for them to report to work, take their showers after they've been out on a hot,
sweaty day, and you have to provide this.
this is essential. And that was my understanding of certificates of obligation. It's for something
that is essential to the city. It was, well, we knew eventually we'd have to do something
about a public works building. And this was, on the radar, we were looking for a warehouse,
something industrial that was just outside the city of Bel Air, just outside the city
a bell-air where it's off of Houston's tax base, not off of ours, but that's my understanding
and that's what I also would tell them, because I know we're going to get some flack. We're
going to get flack about certificates of obligation. I just want to make sure publicly it's all
very clear this is a board, we're not doing something behind closed doors, and it is
essential. It's just essential. If you want your trash picked up, provide a place for
them to go to work.
Well,
first of all, we kind of lucked into this, right? I mean, we were so lucky that
it even showed up when it did. So that's one thing that I would say publicly also is
it was the perfect unicorn that we needed. And weren't we leasing, weren't we making
some money by leasing it also so there was some income coming from it that I
just want to make sure everybody understands that this isn't just about
how we're you know increasing any kind of debt which we have to anyway but that
there was income coming also. Yes we have a tenant until the end of July and
we've been receiving lease payments for that.
Mayor for attendance. Thank you
very much the honor. First of all thank you for the presentation. You
You mentioned you had consultable counsel, you meant legal counsel, right?
Yes.
Thank you.
The other, a couple of things, when does a 45-day notice trigger?
Is it?
It starts the first day of publication, which will be later this week, if approved.
Okay.
And you mentioned the uses of these types of the, I think, urgent repairs, utility
projects, public safety equipment, I think, or a couple of things, project, capital project
equipment, infrastructure. So these are the things that typically are city, and we are
one of them that will use certificates of obligation. Thank you, Your Honor.
Council Member Gordon.
No, I just wanted to say how excited I am for this facility. We had a great presentation
a few months ago on an update of the design. The fact that one facility can address
so many of our city-wide facility needs is just fantastic.
We really are in a good spot.
This building will fill so many needs.
And we're doing it in a way that absent all these other discussions.
It's also just very financially prudent.
Like, we're remodeling buildings, we're doing it in a way that we're trading land
that we can now use for drainage, for land elsewhere.
So the totality of this, I think, has just been a really well engineered arrangement
by city staff. And I'm just very proud of how we got here today. And I think it's a big step
to sell these certificates. And to our construction start date should be...
Well, I'll be back in, I believe, August to finalize our guaranteed maximum price with our
CMAR contractor. And that's when we'll have already sold these and be ready to go.
And hopefully we'll have our permits from Houston permitting. And so we're looking
We're looking for a groundbreaking this early fall is probably what we have going on.
So very exciting to have that happen.
And as always, we're very, very lucky to have Alan, our financial counsel and our whole team here,
Terence, Jim and everybody to take us through bond sales because they're the experts at it
and they know how to do it.
And we've been very lucky with how they've managed them in the last couple of years.
the past. So thank you guys very much. All right, Council Member Thurber. Just to follow up kind of
from Council Member Lewis though, we usually don't issue COs that often, correct? It is very rarely.
This is yeah the second time that okay so again for the public is that very seldom do you utilize
these things. Well there has not historically used it as a funding mechanism but it is very
common in other municipalities, especially when it comes to infrastructure and necessary
equipment. So it is a common tool. Belair has chosen not to use it very often.
And normally we go to the voters for a bottle of it. That's what I want to make sure of.
That's right. Just as we did with regard to the Cypress Ditch Project and just like
we did with regard to the wastewater treatment plant and the water pipes and the sewage
pipes and what have you. I also think that we've touched upon through some of your comments
that we've also been paying rent to house a public works building and it's been more
than a decade that we have been without. We'll be able to use all of the land within
the city for extremely necessary drainage purposes. It really touches on so many
different aspects, and then now with regard to the multiple use by crossing department
sizes as well, we'll also, I think it'll also improve, we'll have a lay down yard there.
We'll have the ability to house a lot of our vehicles and the maintenance will drop
because you've got such a big, big building.
So it provides so many different uses, plus because of the staging of some of the debt
that we've had, as you've noticed and Jim's outlined, you know, we were, we got down
about $92 million a couple of years ago, but we have done some significant improvements
from an infrastructure perspective in this city, and we're still at the same spot.
And next year we'll likely be close to the same spot because we also have $54 million
from the state from which to go off from with regard to our Cypress Stitch project,
which, of course, a lot of this is about timing.
And I think we have hit about as good a sweet spot as we can with regard to that.
But I agree with them, we were at $125 million, $130 million in debt, and we were still clicking
around at a AAA bond rating because of our per capita wealth that exists in this town.
And so I think we're good there.
I think your division of the 6040, I think it makes perfect sense and it's excellent.
I mean, I think it's about being smart.
I think the timing of this is necessary.
the certificate of obligation, our important tool in that regard, and I think we are being
good stewards of that.
I think, quite frankly, for things just like this, I think we have finally realized that
there are tools out there, and we should use them, and we have, when appropriate.
And I think this is one of those occasions.
So I do not think we have a motion unless anybody else has got anything to say.
I'll entertain a motion to approve of the ordinance authorizing publication of
notice of intention to issue a certificate of obligation,
authorizing the preparation of a preliminary official statement
and notice of sale and providing for the other matters
incidental there, too.
Do I have such a motion?
Some move.
Some move by Council Member Witt.
I was pointing at him, man.
But you get the second.
OK.
Todd's got the second.
Oh, Todd's got the second, too.
OK.
All right, Todd.
You got the second.
All right. All right. Is there any further discussion on this particular matter?
Anything further? All right. Thank you.
Well, then, all those in favor of the ordinance as so stated and moved and seconded,
please signify by raising your right hands.
Thank you very much. It passes unanimously.
Thank you, Beth.
All right. Good job, guys.
Thank you.
Excellent. Let's move forward.
Not going anywhere.
Okay, we've got one more item, I believe, on our agenda.
I've got so much stuff on here now.
Let's see.
I think it's direction to the city manager to proceed with Preparation 4
in the acceptance of a preliminary official statement in bond sale,
timetable for the sale of $12.5 million in general obligation bonds,
Series 2026.
All right.
Why don't you take that forward, please?
This item is for general obligation bonds for the sale of water and wastewater bonds.
As many of you recall, a couple of November's ago, we went to the voters with a referendum
for $30 million in water wastewater bonds and then $40 million in drainage bonds.
Luckily, we don't need those drainage bonds just yet, but we are going to need some of the water wastewater bonds.
And in the agenda statement, we discussed how we arrived at the $12.5 million.
It's worth noting that it's our intention to sell about exactly $12.5 million this August-September.
And then we intend to come back and do another sale in August of 2017 for an approximate
$13 million, but we'll know better how much we spend out of the first tranche as to
For this first tranche, how we plan on spending that is we're going to refund three work orders
that we previously issued for HDR work when we took that
Allowing us that if we chose to in the future to repay ourselves with bond money, so that's
that first bullet. And then we also need to fund the engineering and professional services
for decommissioning of the wastewater treatment plant, the lift station and force main connection
to Houston, demolition of the public works lay down yard and buildings, and then some
smaller CIP projects for FY 27, including next steps in SCADA, water storage tank rehab,
alternative analysis for the Bel Air lift station, and the Feldpark water plant generator.
So these are just a few of our capital projects that we'll be rolling out in FY 27, but these
are the projects that we anticipate meeting bond funding for.
why don't we do this why don't we get a motion on the floor and then the second
and then we can discuss it make a motion so moved second you honor seconded by
the mayor see how easy that was amazing mayor all right councilman Gordon did
send over a few questions and if I may address those for and
others. Part of the question was the fiscal impact of this, because these are the water
wastewater bonds. Any impact would be seen in our rates. However, this issuance was not
originally incorporated into our current rate structure, so our enterprise fund will
handle it until we do an update of our rate study, which we anticipate doing in
a couple of years. So then that will be baked into that amount. But in this current
state, it'll be absorbed in the enterprise fund balance. And then, again, as I mentioned,
we'll probably do another sale in August of 27 for approximately the same amount, another
$13 million. And in that, we anticipate paying impact fees to Houston, among other capital
projects that we'll be moving forward.
All right. Questions? Councillor Berlis.
Were you trying to address one of my questions?
I believe you asked about drainage. Unfortunately, the agenda statement erroneously referenced
the drainage impact fee. These aren't going to be drainage bonds, so they will be funded
and paid from wastewater and enterprise funds. So when we do our rate study again, the water
wastewater rates will incorporate these bonds.
Okay.
All right. Anything else?
I would just say I know I appreciate the way this is presented. I appreciate the collection
of projects that we're looking at. We mentioned before these are all part of a lot of different
things coming together and making sure they're aligned at the right time. And so you see
you know demolition planning force mains and all that. That's all geared towards the
broader piece. I guess just a quick question, Alan, when we sell these bonds, they if
different water wastewater project comes up or we need to tweak something we can
reprogram inside the water wastewater world we're not specifically tied to
these dollar amounts or these projects if we need to adjust that that is correct
as long as we stay within the water wastewater category okay and I bring
that just because let's say for example the city of Houston demands impact
repayment earlier than we thought we could still do that here and then
shuffle on the back end and so on which is good flexibility to be able to handle
these changing demands. So no, I really appreciate the work and
it's good to get all these projects moving. This list was meant to just be
transparent with how we arrived at the 12.5 so that council knew and
understood where we got there. So it's not written in stone as you mentioned,
but it's it's how we got to the 12.5 and just quickly you said we were this
was going to be paid through the enterprise fund and we and we're in
good shape yes okay and I would just say that the biggest component of this is
the lift station and force main connection to the city of Houston which
that is our critical path towards all the things that we're doing because
that has to be done before we can decommission the wastewater plant and
that has to be done before we can build out the detention and so the most
important piece is is in here for funding so that's great.
Alright anything
further on this particular item? Okay we have a motion on the floor it's been
seconded we've had discussion on the item and so unless there's anything
further we'll have a vote on the direction to the city manager proceed
with the preparation for and the acceptance of a preliminary official
statement and bond sale timetable for the sale of $12.5 million in general obligation
bond series 2026. All those in favor please signify by raising your right hand. Thank
you. It passes unanimously. Thank you all very much for all the work that you've done
on that. All right, big moves folks in the city. I guess we are looking through
through all of this. I've scratched through a lot of things here, but I think we've come
to the end of our agenda. Anybody see anything we've missed? I think we're good, okay.
And so we come to community interest and items of the Mayor and City Council, and Council
Member Witt talked to us about Juneteenth and Fathers, and it just teared me up
and it did. It did. I think of my dad, and that always makes me smile and cry
at the same time. So, in any event, thanks for those wonderful words and we'll let you start
it off.
Man, after that, I don't know if I should just like walk away.
Yeah, exactly.
You're on a high?
Yeah, it's on a high. The last thing I will say is that it's hard to believe that we're
not going to meet until after July 4th. And it's 250 years for an experiment that
turns out has lasted. And I think the amazing thing about our country is that we are
not perfect, but it's our ability to change over time. I was looking for quotes
and one of the things that Winston Churchill – well, it's a tribute to him, but lots
of people may have said it before that – was democracy has been the – it has been said
that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the reforms that have been
tried from time to time. And, admittedly, we have a constitutional republic. I mean,
it's a little different. But I do think it's amazing that as we celebrate 250 years,
we have to celebrate that we are part of a country that knows that we're not
perfect and we can change over time. And that's, I think, what leads to us
being the country that we are. Yeah I love that. It's not perfect but it's the best step that's out
there. Okay I really just want to a couple things that are just I love that we're you know you mentioned
the appropriation of the metro funds for the street maintenance I mean I'm so glad we're doing that.
The culture and art boards I just want to again thank you guys so much like I can't believe
how much work you guys did and that is coming from our residents you know it's coming
from a board, like I just really appreciate what you guys did and we need it so bad.
And I also want to just again point out, and the mayor was making the point here, but the
holistic approach to the bonds for the public works, like I really want everybody to think
about that from a very high level financial point of view where we're not just increasing
debt.
we are increasing debt because we have to, but it's also because that was the perfect scenario
and we had to take advantage of it. But in addition to that, we have been increasing income
from this leasing to our tenant, and also we are decreasing expenses because we are
eliminating some costs that we have on our books. So everybody needs to think about it from that
perspective, don't get too caught up in the, you know, lose the force for the trees.
So, and then I love that we have worked so hard, our enterprise fund is healthy, and here
we are in a scenario where we need to, this project, to kick off the really big water
project that we've been trying to work on for so long, and we took steps early on
to make our enterprise fund, maybe not knowing what we would need that for, but
But here it is.
We need it.
So these are the things that make us solvent.
These are the things that make us a healthy, financially healthy for, you know, our government.
And so I hope everybody can appreciate that.
And, you know, as we get kind of, you know, pushed back on certain scenarios, this is
what we're doing.
It's a big picture perspective.
So I'm leaving for Greece in two days, so see you later.
but everybody enjoyed their summer.
Thank you.
Yeah, now she'll be back.
She'll be back.
First of all, I want to say comes from Whit.
I enjoyed your comments tonight.
Both about Father's Day and also about Juneteenth.
You know, two of the top eight Juneteenth celebrations
in our country are in the state of Texas,
the Galveston and the Houston area.
So it is a big deal for our state and thank you very much for bringing it up in your comments tonight along with Father's Day.
So happy Father's Day as you wish for all the fathers out there.
Secondly, I wanted to compliment our staff also a lot of a lot is happening between budgets and the presentations that they've made that they may give every council meeting.
It's a lot of work.
And clearly, we have a great team that's working well together and witness these documents.
If you read through these documents, I encourage our residents to take the time to go into the
files.
All of it's published.
You can read about it, but there's a lot of work that they've put into these.
It may take a few minutes to present, but it's days and weeks of preparation to get
to this point.
Thirdly, we had a meeting last week, Cheryl.
Cheryl, your community close-up meeting, where many organizations, your honor, came together
and listed all of the great things that they're doing almost for the next year.
I think that's a good thing because if you sit there and you witness, you see how much
is happening in our city.
We may only go to a couple of these things, but when you get to those meetings, you
realize every week there's something going on in our city.
We live in a great city between our schools and other organizations.
There's a lot going on.
So Cheryl, thank you for putting that together.
And finally, and I said it earlier,
but this board, the fabulous job you guys did,
a lot of work went to this, a lot.
Weeks and weeks of work and meetings,
and meeting even when you were not in board meeting,
I know you guys had sub-meetings
with individuals working at home,
a lot of work went to this.
And the reason you're on a mission at this time,
because obviously we're about to approach
assignments of boards and commissions.
And so these organizations, we witness what they present
tonight and what planning and zoning does.
What building standards of ESB, what the parts board,
every one of them does a lot to enhance our city
and witness tonight an example of why this board exists
in the type of effort it takes to put forth the work
to us.
So I want to thank everyone who does serve on the Board and Commission. We do take it seriously
And we're very happy to see our residents be a part of this. Thank you. Thank you
Councilmember Lewis. Okay with that
We do want to remind everyone that the deadline to apply for positions on the board and boards and commissions is
Friday June 26 at 5 p.m. And those are due either online or to Tracy herself
I believe there's a paper form if you live in the, if you're still living in a cave.
But anyway, well, anyway, we do hope to have a lot of applicants.
We've had, why do we have 32 so far?
Yeah, okay.
So also, just a note, is that summer solstice is next Sunday, June 21st at 3.25 a.m.
So technically, at that point, we're halfway through summer.
Wouldn't it be nice?
And happy Fourth of July.
And thank you for your work on the logo.
Hal's over, Gordon.
All right.
Well, as you can hear tonight, I'm just very excited by all
the things that we're working on and the progress
that we're making.
I think what's important is that it's not just about
tackling the problems of today and fixing the things that
come up at us here and there.
But it's really about chipping away
at our strategic long-term plans,
whether it's all the infrastructure things we are doing, or this logo is not just about the logo.
It's a broader initiative for placemaking, for sense of identity, for community pride.
It's one of many things that when we work at them together, at the end of the day we're going to be so proud of what we do.
And that takes great leadership from staff and this council for continuing to make sure that we have our eye on the big picture.
So I'm just very excited overall and thank you to the Culture and Arts Board for everything
tonight that was fantastic.
I did want to use this as a chance to give an update from the Environmental and Sustainability
Board where I'm the liaison, so I'll pass this out.
I did send you guys an email summarizing this, but what the Environmental and Sustainability
Board did at their last meeting was they passed a motion to recommend to staff
and council how to handle some of the events that have been best known for
ESB in the past. Part of the challenge that they're working through is how to
balance volunteer-led efforts versus institutionalized city-led efforts and
one of the things that they elected to do this year was to essentially try and
narrow a little bit the number of events that they're taking responsibility for, but as
part of that is to try and institutionalize those events inside city operations.
And I think it's a very smart way to try in a...
Inability in these events. One example, recycling day is an event that ESB, Brian, you've been involved in it, started, pushed forward, and so on.
And now, I think city staff runs it effectively. It's part of our planning. It's institutionalized.
It happens every year. It works. And it doesn't require a unique volunteer effort every year to get it done.
So, what ESB put in this motion, and you'll see here, is that they would like to institutionalize
the city's involvement in Recycling Day, as it is currently.
The Pumpkin Recycling Program has also been a high-demand, high-impact effort that they
would like us to see city staff take on the role of managing that program.
And the third one is participation at Earth Day, as kind of the showcase environmental
event for the city. An important note there is that Earth Day is an event that
actually Evelyn's Park hosts and that ESB has participated in, but the the ask
here is that we find a way for city staff to augment that and to help make
that more sustainable and easier. Not that ESB members can't volunteer and
help with it, but that it's a joint effort of the city to recognize the
importance of Earth Day and environmental sustainability.
So this is a recommendation from ESB.
We've talked about it in the board and Sharon's been there.
There may be budget implications to some of these.
When you go through this, institutionalizing it staff time, overtime, and so on.
And that ultimately, if there's costs associated with institutionalizing these events, that
will be up to us as part of the budgeting process to decide if we want to allocate
the resources to do that or not. And so this was really a transmittal from the board to
kind of tee up that future discussion both with staff and with council about trying to
clarify our commitment to these programs and work towards a sustainable long-term approach
to it. So with that, there's no action. I'm just providing it for updated information.
And if you guys have any questions, you can reach out to Giles or Patricia or anybody
on the Environmental and Sustainability Board.
But I wanted you guys to have this and wanted us to make sure that we were considering it
when we went into the budget cycle so that we could decide how best to support that
board in pushing forward the things that they think are important for the city.
So there you go.
Thank you.
Council Member Thurber. Since I'm last, I'm not going to add a whole lot more to
agree. Again, good comments. I did want to say Cheryl, Gaye, and Christy again.
Thank y'all because what you do see is the importance of again the residents
getting engaged in something and falling through and getting the input. Good
things happen so and because it really does relate to reminding again has
Councilmember Lewis you said again apply for the boards and commissions it is a
very important part of what we do as a city everybody up here is volunteers
everybody on the commissions are volunteers it's very important and you
do see good results when you get good public participation so thank you again
for everything thank you thank you all for your comments tonight especially
good. A couple of things.
So I guess you'll be gone for July 4, Jackie? Are you going to
be gone? You're going to be back. You're going to be gone? Gotcha. Okay. Well, I hope to see
everybody else here on that. That's going to be a wonderful day, particularly since
the country will be celebrating its 250th anniversary. And I think that's exactly
right. 250 years, we have pursued under a constitutional that in some instances was
aspirational and we were lagging a bit behind, but we constantly make an effort to make sure
that it becomes less and less aspirational as we go along, and I think that's a credit
to all of us.
And I hope that we do our part here in the city of Bel Air to make sure that that is
reality day into day out, and I think we do.
So as a part of that, I hope you guys are following the U.S. soccer team because they're
playing a really fantastic soccer at this point in time.
time, the world cup being here, you know, I know it's not affecting us all that much
hopefully although 610 may be packed from time to time as a result of that, but it is
pretty amazing to see the world here in that regard.
I think we're getting to see it up close because we're so close to energy.
As far as, and I appreciate you talking about the weather, you know, they were saying
maybe there's 10 to 14 inches of rain depending upon the timing of it, that can affect things,
but that's a constant reminder of why we're doing what we're doing, why we are doing
cyber-stitch, why we are pushing really, really, really hard on these things because when those
weather forecasts pop out and they say 10 to 14 inches of rain, we understand what that means
and particularly affects on certain parts of the city. And so I particularly am not bashful
about the things that we are doing.
I think we are doing everything we can within our power
to make sure to protect the city and keep it going
and keep our infrastructure strong.
One thing about Bel Air in local governments
are so many times people spend money,
cities spend money and they don't even know where it goes.
They can't see where it goes.
Our residents can see where our money is going
every single day.
They see it in the Dirk work.
They see it in the infrastructure.
They see it in the public works building.
building. They see it in these buildings. They'll see it in the detention ponds and Cypress
Stitch. They will see that is where our money is going. We are building the foundations of
our city house and as well as it should be.
As far as, you know, I think, look, I think,
you know, with regard to our boards and commissions throughout time, at least in my, you know,
I don't know 12 14 years of really being a part of the city. I have seen every single one of our boards and commissions excel
I've seen every single one of them excel in so many different ways even the stat story boards and then the ones that we've created here in
The city they have all done some really really fabulous things and bar none and right now you guys are at you guys are excelling
You guys
You're knocking out of the park
I mean, you did the banners, you did the arts and crafts, and you're continuing to expand that.
You did the cookbook to start out, fabulous, fabulous effort.
And now you've put forward something that really we haven't had this kind of jumpstart and enthusiasm for a long time.
And so you are a model, you really are.
And it's a model of dedication to just doing good, solid work, to volunteerism,
to you can accomplish really, really wonderful things
if you've gotten, you set your mind to it
and you keep the heart of the city
and what it really means at the forefront.
And so I think a lot of our boards
and commissions kind of look at that model
and I think y'all have done it in two ways.
You've done it because you've received input
in requests from city council and members of council
and on your own.
So you've organically made some of these decisions
yourself and have pushed these things forward.
So you've worked in both ways
But it's also something to help us as counsel to be a little bit better and we've had our conversations about boards and commissions to be a
Little bit better about maybe how we message things
What we expect of our boards and commissions what we want out of them and how we can help them help the city
And so you provide us with a lot of good input on that regard. So I thank you for that as well
But good job. Well done
You know, it still amazes me how many people in our city don't really know what's really
going on here.
Somebody came up to me the other day and they said, I saw this vehicle, it was really large,
and it had big huge tires on it, and he said, you mean our high-water vehicle?
And they go, yeah, is that what it is?
We have one of those?
I said, yeah, we got a high-water vehicle.
It really, really is amazing, and a lot of people don't even know about the events
that are going on over there with the detention ponds and in cyberstitch and so you know I
think it's just a function of function of us we're just kind of doing what we're doing
and we're doing what we're supposed to be doing and letting other people live their
lives and enjoy their lives the way they're supposed to and so that's what representative
government is all about so I I think that's a I think that's a good thing we've got
We'll be seeing all our folks for a board and interviews.
I think we've agreed to see them all, which is also a good thing, but I think we've got
a few messages with regard to how we want to do that and what we want out of it.
I look forward to seeing you guys on July 4th, and for those of you out of the city,
oh, one more thing.
For you, this can be good.
We're going to probably have to take our picture after you come back, because you'll
be gone in two days, and you'll be tan.
See, I know.
I know. It's all about you. I know. So, in any event, so Cheryl, we'll just, we'll get
it situated after Jackie comes back. Well, with that, I think that does it for the evening.
that at 755, we are adjourned. Thank you all.